And in the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth by handfuls. And he gathered up all the food of the seven years which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities: the food of the field, which was round about every city, laid he up in the same. And Joseph laid up grain as the sand of the sea, very much, until he left numbering; for it was without number. And unto Joseph were born two sons before the year of famine came. And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: "For God hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father's house." And the name of the second called he Ephraim: "For God hath made me fruitful in the land of my affliction." And the seven years of plenty, that was in the land of Egypt, came to an end. And the seven years of famine began to come, according as Joseph had said: and there was famine in all lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread: and Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians, "Go unto Joseph; what he saith to you, do." And the famine was over all the face of the earth: and Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold unto the Egyptians; and the famine was sore in the land of Egypt. And all countries came into Egypt to Joseph to buy grain; because the famine was sore in all the earth. THE MEANING OF THE STORY 61. Recall rapidly the story of Joseph as far as we have studied it. Read §21 and consider the situation of the young prisoner. 62 (§22A). Who were these two great men that were sent to prison? It was a high office to be cupbearer to the king. The butler's speech later shows that it was his duty to squeeze the grapes into a goblet of water, making the refreshing drink for his royal master. The officer who had charge of the kitchen in a great palace would also be an important man. In our time a French "chef" sometimes has a salary of $25,000. Why were these men in prison? What did Joseph have to do with them? 63 (§22A). This was three days before the king's birthday and on that day it was customary to decide the fate of state prisoners. How would the two men feel as the day drew near? Would they be likely to dream about their former occupations? Tell the conversation that took place between them and Joseph in the morning. 64 (§22B). Tell the story. Note how natural it was for the butler to dream that he was again preparing the king's grape juice. What do you think of Joseph's request? Was it a reasonable request? 65 (§22C, D). Tell the story of the baker's dream and the interpretation. What happened on the king's birthday? How was it that the chief butler was so ungrateful?