8 We are travellers, saith the
girl, and we are seeking for an inn
to lodge at.
9 They replied, Go along with
us, and lodge with us.
10 They then followed them,
and were introduced into a new
house, well furnished with all
sorts of furniture.
11 Now it was winter-time, and
the girl went into the parlour
where these women were, and
found them weeping and lamenting
as before.
12 By them stood a mule, covered
over with silk, and an ebony collar
hanging down from his neck, whom
they kissed and were feeding.
13 But when the girl said, How
handsome, ladies, that mule is!
they replied with tears, and said,
This mule, which you see, was our
brother, born of this same mother
as we;
14 For when our father died,
and left us a very large estate, and
we had only this brother, and we
endeavoured to procure him a suitable
match, and thought he should
be married as other men, some
giddy and jealous women bewitched
him without our knowledge.
15 And we one night, a little before
day, while the doors of the house
were all shut fast, saw this our
brother was changed into a mule,
such as you now see him to be:
16 And we in the melancholy
condition in which you see us,
having no father to comfort us,
have applied to all the wise men,
magicians, and diviners in the
world, but they have been of no
service to us.
17 As often therefore as we find
ourselves oppressed with grief, we
rise and go with this our mother
to our father's tomb, where, when
we have cried sufficiently, we
return home.