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The first wrote, "Wine is strongest."
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The second wrote, "The king is strongest."
12
The third wrote, "Women are strongest, but above all things truth is victor."
13
When the king awoke, they took the writing and gave it to him, and he read it.
14
Then he sent and summoned all the nobles of Persia and Media and the satraps and generals and governors and prefects,
15
and he took his seat in the council chamber, and the writing was read in their presence.
16
He said, "Call the young men, and they shall explain their statements." So they were summoned, and came in.
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They said to them, "Explain to us what you have written." Then the first, who had spoken of the strength of wine, began and said:
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"Gentlemen, how is wine the strongest? It leads astray the minds of all who drink it.
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It makes equal the mind of the king and the orphan, of the slave and the free, of the poor and the rich.
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It turns every thought to feasting and mirth, and forgets all sorrow and debt.