came, lest their flocks should want water,
and lest it should be spent by others before they came. There were
now come, therefore, to this well seven sisters that were virgins, the
daughters of Raguel, a priest, and one thought worthy by the people
of the country of great honor. These virgins, who took care of their
father's flocks, which sort of work it was customary and very familiar
for women to do in the country of the Troglodytes, they came first of
all, and drew water out of the well in a quantity sufficient for their
flocks, into troughs, which were made for the reception of that water;
but when the shepherds came upon the maidens, and drove them away, that
they might have the command of the water themselves, Moses, thinking it
would be a terrible reproach upon him if he overlooked the young women
under unjust oppression, and should suffer the violence of the men to
prevail over the right of the maidens, he drove away the men, who had a
mind to more than their share, and afforded a proper assistance to the
women; who, when they had received such a benefit from him, came to
their father, and told him how they had been affronted by the shepherds,
and assisted by a stranger, and entreated that he would not let this
generous action be done in vain, nor go without a reward. Now the father
took it well from his daughters that they were so desirous to reward
their benefactor; and bid them bring Moses into his presence, that he
might be rewarded as he deserved. And when Moses came, he told him what
testimony his daughters bare to him, that he had assisted them; and
that, as he admired him for his virtue, he said that Moses had bestowed
such his assistance on persons not insensible of benefits, but where
they were both able and willing to return the kindness, and even to
exceed the measure of his generosity. So he made him his son, and
gave him one of his daughters in marriage; and appointed him to be the
guardian and superintendent over his cattle; for of old, all the wealth
of the barbarians was in those cattle.

CHAPTER 12. Concerning The Burning Bush And The Rod Of Moses.

1. Now Moses, when he had obtained the favor of Jethro, for that was
one of the names of Raguel, staid there and fed his flock; but some time
afterward, taking his station at the mountain called Sinai, he drove
his flocks thither to feed them. Now this is the highest of all the
mountains thereabout, and the best for pasturage, the herbage be