human
Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do!
gpt
Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all; in other words,
human
Do wait a little longer and I will pay back all the money. Suppose Alfred's mother owes the baker for a great many loaves, and he was to come to her house one day and say,
gpt
I must have my money; I won't go away till you pay it to me; and then your mother were to cry, and tell him how sorry she was she had no money, but that the children had been ill, and that she had had to give all her money to the doctor, but that if he would wait a week longer she would get the money and pay him. Well, suppose the baker was to feel quite sorry for your mother, and should say,
human
Well, I won't ask you for the money: you need not pay me at all. I will give you the bread you've had. Now, that is what this king did. The servant said,
gpt
Wait a little longer and I will pay you. The king said,
human
You need not pay me at all: I forgive you it all. The servant went away. As he was going away he met a man who owed him a hundred pennies: he went up to him, laid hold of him very rudely by the throat, and said,
gpt
Pay me what you owe me! The man fell down at his feet, and said,
human
Have patience with me, and I will pay you all. _How_ much money had the king just forgiven the servant? _How_ much did this man owe the servant? _What_ ought he to have done? But he did not forgive him, but had him put in prison directly. Some servants were standing by and saw what this unkind servant had done, so they went to the king and told him all about it. He ordered the servant to be brought back before him, and then the king said to him,
gpt
O you wicked servant I forgave you all that debt: ought you not to have forgiven the poor man what he owed you?