to persuade him, but he will not consent to my
wishes. I promised him everything that is fair, yet have I
met with no return from him, and therefore I am sick, as
you may see."

Her sickness increased upon her. Her husband and her
household suspected not the cause of her decline, but all the
women that were her friends knew that it was on account
of the love she bore Joseph, and they advised her all the time
to try to entice the youth. On a certain day, while Joseph
was doing his master's work in the house, Zuleika came and
fell suddenly upon him, but Joseph was stronger than she,
and he pressed her down to the ground. Zuleika wept, and
in a voice of supplication, and in bitterness of soul, she said
to Joseph: "Hast thou ever known, seen, or heard of a
woman my peer in beauty, let alone a woman with beauty
exceeding mine? Yet I try daily to persuade thee, I fall
into decline through love of thee, I confer all this honor
upon thee, and thou wilt not hearken unto my voice! Is it
by reason of fear of thy master, that he punish thee? As
the king liveth, no harm shall come upon thee from thy
master on account of this thing. Now, therefore, I pray
thee, listen to me, and consent unto my desire for the sake of
the honor that I have conferred upon thee, and take this
death away from me. For why should I die on account of
thee?" Joseph remained as steadfast under these importunities
as before. Zuleika, however, was not discouraged;
she continued her solicitations unremittingly, day after
day,[118] month after month, for a whole year, but always
without the least success, for Joseph in his chastity did not