Some time afterwards the king
called for the garments. The wise servants brought theirs clean and
neat, but the foolish servants brought theirs in a sad state, ragged and
unclean. The king was pleased with the first, and said: "Let the clean
garments be placed in the treasury, and let their keepers depart in
peace. As for the unclean garments, they must be washed and purified,
and their foolish keepers must be cast into prison."--This parable is
designed to illustrate the passage in Eccles., xii, 7, "Then shall the
dust return to the earth as it was, and the spirit shall return unto
God, who gave it"; which words "teach us to remember that God gave us
the soul in a state of innocence and purity, and that it is therefore
our duty to return it unto him in the same state as he gave it unto
us--pure and undefiled."
_Solomon's Choice_
of Wisdom, in preference to all other precious things, is thus finely
illustrated: A certain king had an officer whom he fondly loved. One day
he desired his favourite to choose anything that he could give, and it
would at once be granted him. The officer considered that if he asked
the king for gold and silver and precious stones, these would be given
him in abundance; then he thought that if he had a more exalted station
it would be granted; at last he resolved to ask the king for his
daughter, since with such a bride both riches and honours would also be
his.
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