Then it befell once that the blessed man was in his dwelling, drunken with wine; weary of feasting he slept, and thrust the robe from his body, as was not fitting, and 1565 lay there with naked limbs:  little he noticed that it went so ill with him in his hall, when intoxication in his breast gripped his heart in the holy house.  In this torpor his 1570 intelligence was cruelly crippled, so that he could not call to mind [the necessity for] covering himself with his clothing and concealing his nakedness, as was ordained for men and women, ever since the minister of Glory 1575 locked the native abode of life behind our [first father] and mother, with a fiery sword.  Now Cam, the son of Noe, chanced to come in where his father lay bereft of consciousness:  thereupon would he dutifully no honor 1580 show to his own father nor at least conceal the dis-grace from his kinsmen; but laughing aloud he told his brothers how the patriarch rested in the house.  They repaired thither speedily, their faces carefully 1585 veiled under cloaks, so that they bore aid to the dear man:  they were both good men, Sem and Iafeth.

Then the son of Lamech awoke from his sleep and soon perceived that Cham would not show him, the nobly 1590 born, any affection and duty, when honor was due him.  That was bitter to the heart of the holy man, and he began to curse his son with [harsh] words:  he said that Ham should be humbled under the heavens, the servant 1595 of his kinsfolk on earth:  on him and his race those baneful words have fallen heavily, ever since.  Then Noe enjoyed his broad heritage with his sons, free men, for 350 winters of this life after the flood:  then he passed 1600 away.

After that his sons dispensed the treasures:  they begot children:  great was their wealth.  Thus to Iafeth was progeny born, a pleasing family of promising young 1605 ones, sons and daughters.  He was a good man [and] ever prosperously held his patrimony, [sharing his] abundance with his children, until the treasure of his breast, his spirit longing for release, was summoned to 1610 the judgment of God:  thereupon Geomor, Iafeth’s son, shared his father’s property with his friends, dear ones, and relatives; with his descendants was filled by genera-tion no small portion of the earth.—­

Sons of Cham were born, likewise, heirs for the pa- 1615 trimony:  the eldest were called Chus and Cham, very noble of soul, the first-born of Cham.  Chus was the chief of the leaders, dispenser of treasure and worldly 1620 riches to his brothers, the private property of his father, after Cham fared forth from the body when death fell to his lot.  This leader of the people delivered judgments 1625 for his race until the number of his days had run:  then the hero yielded up this world’s goods and sought another life.