Page:Hebrew tales; selected and translated from the writings of the ancient Hebrew sages (1917).djvu/70

66 continued to indulge himself as usual. Resolved to leave no method calculated to produce a reform untried, they carried him one day, whilst in a state of intoxication, to the burying-ground, and placed him in a cave, where the dead were usually deposited; flattering themselves that, on awaking from his stupor, the melancholy scenes by which he would find himself surrounded, would make him seriously reflect on his past life; that he would then abandon a habit attended with such pernicious consequences, and readily pardon them an act which, however irreverent, was solely intended for his good. With this impression they left him. On the next morning they hastened to the cave, expecting to find their parent, weak for want of food, but certainly not in a state of inebriation. Their astonishment may therefore be more easily conceived than described, when, on entering the cave, they found him sitting apparently at ease, with a flask, nearly emptied of its contents, at his mouth; whilst a number of bottles, some empty, others still full, were lying near him. They spoke to him, but could obtain no coherent answer.

It appears that some smugglers had the preceding night passed that way with a quantity of wine, which they intended to introduce into the town; but perceiving the king's officers at a distance, and fearing detection, concealed the