came to him in the first hour of the night; and after he had greeted
them he sent away his servants, and said to the brethren, "Listen
to me. Life and death are before you; choose which you will have:
will you die like women or fight like men? I overheard your brother
Joseph saying to my father Pharaoh, 'Dan and Gad and Naphtali and
Asher are no brethren of mine; they are the sons of my father's
handmaids, and I am only waiting till my father dies to make an end
of them and their families. It was they who sold me to the
Ishmaelites, and I am going to repay it into their bosom.' And my
father said, 'It is well spoken: you have leave to take any of my
bodyguard and deal with them as you will.'" Then Dan and Gad and
their brothers were sorely troubled, and they said, "O sir, help us,
and we will be your servants for ever." And he said, "I will. Hear me
now: this night I will kill my father Pharaoh--for he is the helper
of Joseph--and do you for your part slay Joseph. Then I will take
Aseneth to wife, and you shall be my brethren and joint heirs with me
in the kingdom." So they said, "We will do so, and thus it shall be:
we heard Joseph say to Aseneth that she should go to-morrow into the
vineyard, for it is the time of vintage. We therefore will go this
night into the bed of the river and hide among the reeds; and do you
take with you fifty archers upon horses, and go on before. Then will
Aseneth come and fall into our ambush, and we will kill the men that
are with her, and she will flee in her chariot and fall into your
hands, and you shall do to her as seems good to you. As for Joseph,
while he is mourning for Aseneth we will kill him; but first we will
slay his children before his face." And Pharaoh's son rejoiced
greatly, and sent them forth with a great body of mighty men, and
they went and hid themselves in four companies among the reeds of the
river on either side of the road.