1Listen to the parable I am going to tell you about fasting. A certain man had a field and many servants, and in one part of the field he planted a vineyard.
2And choosing a certain servant who was faithful, well-appearing and honored, he called him and said to him: 'Take this vineyard that I planted and put stakes in it until I come, and do nothing else to the vineyard; and keep this my order and you shall be free in my house.'
3And the master of the field left for abroad. And when he left, the servant took the vineyard and staked it.
4And having finished staking the vineyard, he saw that the vineyard was full of weeds. He thought to himself, saying: 'This order of my master I have fulfilled; I will now clean this vineyard, and it will be more beautiful when it is clean, and not having weeds it will produce more fruit, not being choked by the weeds.'
5He went and cleaned the vineyard, and pulled out all the weeds that were in it. And that vineyard became very beautiful and flourishing, not having weeds to choke it.
6After some time, the master of the field and of the servant came, and entered the field. And seeing the vineyard staked beautifully, and furthermore clean and flourishing and full of fruit, he was exceedingly joyful.
7Then he called his beloved son, who was his heir, and his friends who were his counselors, and told them what he had ordered his servant and what he had found done.
8And they congratulated the servant for the evidence his master gave him. And he said to them: 'I promised this servant his freedom if he kept the order I gave him; but he kept my order and added a good work to the vineyard, and pleased me exceedingly.'
9'Therefore, for this work he did, I desire to make him co-heir with my son, because when he had a good thought, he did not neglect it, but executed it.'
10With this purpose, the son of the master agreed with him, so that the servant should be made co-heir with the son. After some days, the master of the house made a feast and sent him many dishes from his table.
11But the servant, receiving the dishes sent to him by his master, took what was sufficient for himself and distributed the rest to his fellow servants. And his fellow servants, receiving the dishes, rejoiced and began to pray for him, that he might find greater favor with his master, because he had treated them so.
12All these things that had happened his master heard, and again was exceedingly joyful with his conduct. And the master, calling again his friends and his son, related to them the servant's conduct with the dishes he had received; and they agreed even more that the servant should become co-heir with his son.