Then the chief butler spoke first, and said, "I thought that a great vine grew up, having three roots, and one very vigorous trunk, and flourishing, and bearing bunches of grapes as if in the height of autumn, and when the grapes became dark and ripe I picked the bunches, and squeezed the grapes into the king’s cup, in order to convey to my sovereign a sufficient quantity of unmixed wine."
Section 92
And Joseph, pausing for awhile, said, "Thy vision announces good fortune to thee, and a recovery of thy former situation; for the three roots of the vine signify figuratively three days, after which the king will remember thee, and will send for thee from hence, and will pardon thee, and will permit thee to resume thy former rank, and shalt again pour him out wine for confirmation of thy authority, and shalt give the cup into thy master’s hand." And the chief butler rejoiced when he heard these things.
Section 93
And the chief baker, gladly receiving this interpretation, and rejoicing in the idea that he too had seen a favourable dream (though his dream was of a very contrary character), being deceived by the fair hopes which were held out to the other, spoke as follows:— "And I, too, fancied that I was carrying a basket, and that I was holding three baskets full of cakes upon my head. And the upper basket was full of all sorts of cakes which the king was accustomed to eat; and there were in it confections and delicacies of all kinds imaginable for the king’s food: and the birds flew down and took them from off my head, and devoured them insatiably till they had eaten them all up; and none of the things which I had so skilfully prepared were left."
Section 94
But Joseph replied, "I wish that the vision had not appeared to you, or that, having appeared, it had been concealed in silence; or that, if any one would speak of it, he had done so at a distance, so that I might not have heard him, and that his account had been given out of the reach of my ears, for I disliked to be a messenger of evil: for I sympathise with those who are in distress, being greatly grieved at what befalls them by reason of my own humanity.
Section 95
But since interpreters of dreams are bound to speak the truth, since they are interpreters of the divine oracles, and prophets of the divine will, I will explain your dream to you, and conceal nothing; for to speak truly is in every case the best thing, and is, moreover, the most holy of all holy speeches.
Section 96
"The three baskets are a symbol of three days: and after three days the king will command you to be crucified, and your head to be cut off, and the birds will fly down and feast upon your flesh, until you are wholly devoured."
Section 97
And the chief baker, as was natural, was confused at this, and cast down greatly, expecting the fate which was thus denounced against him, and being full of misery in his mind. But when the three days had passed, the king’s birth-day came, on which all the natives of the country made an assembly and a feast, and especially those in the king’s palace.
Section 98
Therefore, while the magistrates were feasting, and while all the household and all the servants were revelling as in a public banquet, the king, remembering his eunuchs who were in prison, commanded them to be brought; and when he had seen them he confirmed the interpretation of their dreams which Joseph had given, ordering one of them to be crucified, and to have his head cut off, and restoring to the other the office which he had formerly enjoyed.
Section 99
But the chief butler, after he was released, forgot him who had foretold his release to him, and who had alleviated all the misfortunes which had befallen him, perhaps, indeed, because every ungrateful man is forgetful of benefits, and perhaps, too, because of the providence of God, who designed that the prosperity of the young man should not be owing to man, but rather to himself;
Section 100
for after two years he, by means of a dream, and by two visions, predicted to the king the good and evil which was about to happen to his land, each of the visions indicating the same thing, so as to produce a firmer belief in them.
Section 101
For he thought that seven oxen were coming slowly up out of the river, fat and very well fleshed, beautiful to look upon, and that they began to feed by the river; after which seven others, equal in number, destitute of flesh in a strange degree, and very lean, came up, exceedingly ill-favoured, and they too fed alongside of the others. Then, on a sudden, the better oxen were devoured by the inferior ones, and yet those who ate them were in none, not even in the very slightest degree, increased in bulk in their bodies, but were still leaner than before, or at all events, not less lean;
Section 102
and when he had awakened and gone to sleep a second time, he had a second vision appear to him; for he thought that seven ears of wheat sprang up from one root, equal in magnitude, and that they grew and flourished, and rose up to a height with great vigour; and then that seven other ears, thin and weak, grew up near them, and the root with good ears was devoured by the weak ears when they too had grown up.
Section 103
Seeing this sight he remained sleepless all the rest of the night, for cares stinging and wounding him kept him awake, and at dawn he sent for the sophists and related his dream;