dawn, so that he 2575
again stood in the place where the pious leader had
formerly spoken with his Lord in words. He saw the
reek of death and destruction ascending widely from
the earth. Riches and feasting preoccupied [the people]
to such an extent that they had become bold in wicked 2580
deeds, eager for sin: they forgot the Truth and God's
commandments, and who had given them prosperity
and wealth in their cities; therefore the King of the
Angels sent his fervid fire to punish them. Our faithful 2585
Lord then remembered Abraham mercifully, the dear
man, as he often had done, and saved his kinsman, Loth,
when the multitude perished. The [latter] hero, famed
for his deeds, did not dare to tarry longer in the strong- 2590
hold for fear of the Lord, but Loth departed from the
city with his children to seek a dwelling-place far from
the place of slaughter, until they found a cave in the
side of a high dune: there the pious Loth, dear to his 2595
Lord, dwelt in righteousness for a great number of days,
with his two daughters....[35]

They did thus with the drunken man: ... the elder
of the two went first to her father's bed. Nor did the 2600
venerable man know when the two maidens ... were
with him in the manner of a bride, fast bound [as he
was] in heart, mind, and memory, drunken with wine, 2605
so that he could not escape the enterprise of the maidens.
The young women became pregnant, and the devoted
sisters brought men-children into the world, sons to
their old father. One of these noble children was called
Moab by his mother, that daughter of Loth who was the 2610
elder in years of life; the Scriptures tell us, the sacred
Books, that the younger called her son Ammon. From
these princes sprang numberless people, the glories of 2615
two nations: one of these nations all earth-dwellers call
Moabites, a widely famed race; the other, men and
sons of heroes call Ammonites.

XXXII.

Then the brother of Aron set out with his wife to take 2620
his possessions and his household to Abimelech. Abra-
ham told all men that Sarra was his sister, [and] thus
preserved his life by his words: he knew very well that 2625
he had few relatives and friends among that people.
Then the king sent his ministers and bade them bring
to him [the wife of Abraham].[36] Thus for the second