על חיי משה, ספר א י״אOn the Life of Moses, Book I 11
א׳
1[58] The girls went home in high glee, and told the story of the unexpected event to their father, who thence conceived a strong desire to see the stranger, which he showed by censuring them for their ingratitude. “What possessed you,” he said, “to let him depart? You should have brought him straight along, and pressed him if he showed reluctance. Did you ever have to charge me with unsociable ways? Do you not expect that you may again fall in with those who would wrong you? Those who forget kindness are sure to lack defenders. Still, your error is not yet past cure. Run back with all speed, and invite him to receive from me first the entertainment due to him as a stranger, secondly some requital of the favour which we owe to him.”
ב׳
2[59] They hurried back and found him not far from the well, and, after explaining their father’s message, persuaded him to come home with them. Their father was at once struck with admiration of his face, and soon afterwards of his disposition, for great natures are transparent and need no length of time to be recognized. Accordingly, he gave him the fairest of his daughters in marriage, and, by that one action, attested all his noble qualities, and showed that excellence standing alone deserves our love, and needs no commendation from aught else, but carries within itself the tokens by which it is known.
ג׳
3[60] After the marriage, Moses took charge of the sheep and tended them, thus receiving his first lesson in command of others; for the shepherd’s business is a training-ground and a preliminary exercise in kingship for one who is destined to command the herd of mankind, the most civilized of herds, just as also hunting is for warlike natures, since those who are trained to generalship practise themselves first in the chase. And thus unreasoning animals are made to subserve as material wherewith to gain practice in government in the emergencies of both peace and war;
ד׳
4[61] for the chase of wild animals is a drilling-ground for the general in fighting the enemy, and the care and supervision of tame animals is a schooling for the king in dealing with his subjects, and therefore kings are called “shepherds of their people,” not as a term of reproach but as the highest honour.
ה׳
5[62] And my opinion, based not on the opinions of the multitude but on my own inquiry into the truth of the matter, is that the only perfect king (let him laugh who will) is one who is skilled in the knowledge of shepherding, one who has been trained by management of the inferior creatures to manage the superior. For initiation in the lesser mysteries must precede initiation in the greater.