Children were born to Ham, Shem, and Japheth; and when these children
became men and women, children were born to them, until, after many,
many years, the valley was again filled with people,--all descendants
from Noah and his three sons.
Now, there came a time, long after Noah had died, and so could guide his
people no longer into the paths of right, that the people again grew
wicked and selfish to one another.
They boasted of their power, and said among themselves, "We will build a
tower that shall reach into heaven itself. Then who in heaven or earth
shall be greater than we?"
[Illustration: CONFUSION OF TONGUES.]
Now, God was angry that these people should have forgotten the God of
their fathers, and that the trustful, humble soul of Noah should so have
departed from them.
So, while all the people were at work upon the tower, now risen above
the trees and hill-tops, God touched them; and behold, from that instant
each spoke a language of his own; nor could one of them understand any
other.
Confusion followed, the building of the tower was forsaken, the people
scattered up and down the valley; and so the tower of Babel was left to
crumble into ruins.
[Illustration]