(92) Here there appears to us the most terrible, lamentable, and miserable Gate of Despair, upon the Committing of Sins; for when God said, Cursed art thou upon the Earth, which has opened its Mouth, and received thy Brother's Blood from thy Hands; then the lofty, self -potent, glistering, hypocritical, flattering Kingdom of Antichrist was rejected of God; and it has (with its entering into the fierce Wrath, in the Murder) separated itself from God.

(3) O blind cupidity, O wrath insane, That spurs us onward so in our short life, And in the eternal then so badly steeps us! I saw an ample moat bent like a bow, As one which all the plain encompasses, Conformable to what my Guide had said. And between this and the embankment's foot Centaurs in file were running, armed with arrows, As in the world they used the chase to follow. Beholding us descend, each one stood still, And from the squadron three detached themselves, With bows and arrows in advance selected; And from afar one cried: "Unto what torment Come ye, who down the hillside are descending? Tell us from there; if not, I draw the bow." My Master said: "Our answer will we make To Chiron, near you there; in evil hour, That will of thine was evermore so hasty." Then touched he me, and said: "This one is Nessus, Who perished for the lovely Dejanira, And for himself, himself did vengeance take. And he in the midst, who at his breast is gazing, Is the great Chiron, who brought up Achilles; That other Pholus is, who was so wrathful.

(37) And now our father hath caused us to swear, me and him, that we shall not mutually devise evil, either against his brother, and that we shall continue in love and in peace each with his brother and not make our ways corrupt."

(8) And thus let the sinners by these means be foiled ; and consumed be they likewise. Let them shriek in their anger. With good kings let (our champion ) deliver the smiter (as a captive in battle), giving peace to our dwellings, and peace to our hamlets. Let him charge those deceivers, chaining death as the strongest ; and swift be (the issue).

(87) It is true indeed, when the World became so evil, malicious, and murderous, then there must needs be Judges and Magistrates, that the fierce Wrath might be stopped by Punishment and Fear; but if thou hadst continued in Love, then thou shouldst have had no Lords, but loving Brothers and Sisters. O Cain! thy potent Kingdom comes not from God, but has its Influence from the starry Heaven in Anger, which domineers over thee, and many Times gives thee Tyrants, who consume thy Sweat in Pride, and this thou hast for thy Paradise.

(55) And so Cain and his Successors have set up a potent Kingdom, from whence Dominion proceeds, whereby one Brother aspires above another, and has made them Slaves. And thus horrible Tyranny has been hatched, and the Potent has done whatsoever he listed; he has oppressed the Needy at his Pleasure; he has got to him the Kingdom of the Earth, and therewith exercises Tyranny, Wickedness, and Wrong, and yet Men must say to him, it is right; he has contrived all Sorts of Policy and cunning Devices, and made Laws of them [and established them for Right,] and afterwards sold them to others for Rights, and has brought up his Children with Wickedness and Falsehood. He has beaten down the Conscience of the Simple-hearted in his good Meaning; he has invented Rights, which in his Laws serve to promote his Deceit, contrary to the Light of Nature; all Reproach and Blasphemies have subsisted in his Strength and Authority, whereby he has terrified the Simple-hearted, that his Power might be great.

(26) And by thy sword wilt thou live, And thou wilt serve thy brother. And it shall come to pass when thou becomest great, And dost shake his yoke from off thy neck, Thou wilt sin a complete sin unto death,* And thy seed will be rooted out from under heaven."

(7) And shall appear to each one the foul deeds Of uncle and of brother who a nation So famous have dishonoured, and two crowns. And he of Portugal and he of Norway Shall there be known, and he of Rascia too, Who saw in evil hour the coin of Venice. O happy Hungary, if she let herself Be wronged no farther! and Navarre the happy, If with the hills that gird her she be armed! And each one may believe that now, as hansel Thereof, do Nicosia and Famagosta Lament and rage because of their own beast, Who from the others' flank departeth not."

(16) Or dost thou suppose that we are mad? If we did not see thee, we would be silent. Thou boastest now (by the Flatterers) of a golden Time; but they are most of them Wolves of Babel; when the Day breaks, then they will be known. Or should I not tell thee this, thou proud Whore? Behold, when thou with Adam and Eve wentest out of Paradise into the Spirit of this World, then thou wast as a God in the Spirit of this World; thou Slightest seek all Mysteries, and use them for thy Ornament. If thou hadst always gone cloathed in Silk and Purple, [or Scarlet,] yet thou hadst not [thereby] offended God; but thou hadst gone [in them] to the Honour of the great God in his Deeds of Wonder. Why hast thou forsaken the Love, and art become a Murderer? Was not Covetousness thy Sin, in that thou affordest not thy Members so much as thyself? Thou desirest to be only fine thyself alone. Thy Way only i should be holy. Wherefore was the Fratricide between Abel and Cain? The self-honouring Pride brought it about, so that Cain envied Abel's Uprightness, for the Sake of which he was so much beloved of God. Why was not Cain also humble and pious?

(7) (Then in our coming strife let both her mortal foes be slain.) Let the Wrath-demon of rapine be cast down. Smite ye against the envy (which would plot against our Throne ), O ye who, abiding by the Good Mind, and in accordance with our holy Order, desire to hold that refuge fast, to whose sacred bond the bounteous man belongs. And therefore, O Ahura! (to save Thy struggling saint who toils with changing lot) will I place (that refuge) for him in Thy world.

(4) For the sake of things unloved and things loved have I sinned these many times; and never have I thought that I must surrender everything and depart. They whom I love not, they whom I love, I myself, shall be no more, naught shall remain. All the things whereof I have feeling shall pass away into a memory; like the vision of a dream, all departs, and is seen no more. The many whom I love or love not pass away while I stand here; only the dire sin wrought for their sake remains before me. I understood not that I was but a chance comer, and through madness, love, or hatred I have wrought many a sin. Unceasingly through night and day the waning of vital force increases; must

(101) And in those days in one place the fathers together with their sons shall be smitten And brothers one with another shall fall in death Till the streams flow with their blood. 2 .For a man shall not withhold his hand from slaying his sons and his sons' sons, And the sinner shall not withhold his hand from his honoured brother: From dawn till sunset they shall slay one another.

(5) Now hast thou power to judge of such as those Whom I accused above, and of their crimes, Which are the cause of all your miseries. To the public standard one the yellow lilies Opposes, the other claims it for a party, So that 'tis hard to see which sins the most. Let, let the Ghibellines ply their handicraft Beneath some other standard; for this ever Ill follows he who it and justice parts. And let not this new Charles e'er strike it down, He and his Guelfs, but let him fear the talons That from a nobler lion stripped the fell. Already oftentimes the sons have wept The father's crime; and let him not believe That God will change His scutcheon for the lilies. This little planet doth adorn itself With the good spirits that have active been, That fame and honour might come after them; And whensoever the desires mount thither, Thus deviating, must perforce the rays Of the true love less vividly mount upward. But in commensuration of our wages With our desert is portion of our joy, Because we see them neither less nor greater.

(43) How then should we steal any utensil ? Behold here are we and our sacks; search, and wherever thou findest the cup in the sack of any man amongst us, let him be slain, and we and our asses will serve thy lord."

(107) Then it begins venomously to hate the Body, wherein it has borne the Image of God; and many run headlong into the Water, or take a Rope, or a Sword, and murder the Body, which has bereaved it of the Image of God, through temporal Pleasure, through false Confidence, relying upon itself, to contemn and scorn its Brother and Sister, to murder him, to take away his daily Bread, and also to give Occasion of Wantonness to their Brethren and Sisters.

(5) The two younger brothers then discussed the way to overcome Hunbatz and Hunchouén. "We shall only change their nature, their appearance; and so let our word be fulfilled, for all the suffering that they have caused us. They wanted us to die, that we might be lost, we, their younger brothers. In their hearts they really believe that we have come to be their servants. For these reasons we shall overcome them and teach them a lesson." Thus they spoke.

(63) Now they shall say unto themselves: 'Our souls are full of unrighteous gain, but it does not prevent us from descending from the midst thereof into the †burden† of Sheol.'

(5) 1 not die? Lying here on my bed, or standing amidst my kin, I must suffer the agonies of dissolution alone. Whence shall I find a kinsman, whence a friend, when the Death-god's messengers seize me? Righteousness alone can save me then, and for that I have not sought. Clinging to brief life, I have been blind to this terror, heedless; 0 my Masters, grievous guilt have I gathered. He who is taken to be maimed of his limbs at once withers away; thirst racks him, his sight is darkened, the world is changed to his sight. How then will it be with me when I am in the charge of the Death-god's hideous messengers, consumed by a fever of mighty terror, covered with filth, looking with timid glances to the four quarters of heaven for aid? Who will be the friend to save me from that awful terror? I shall see in the heavens no help, and sink back into madness; then what shall I do in that place of horror? Now, now I come for refuge to the mighty Lords of the world, the Conquerors eager for the world's protection, who allay all fear; to the Law learned by them I come with all my heart for refuge, and to the Congregation of the Sons of Enlightenment.... Whatsoever guilt I have gathered in my foolishness and delusion, alike the wrong of nature and the wrong of commandment, I confess it all as I stand before the Masters with clasped hands, affrighted with grief, and making obeisance again and again. May my Lords take my transgression as it is; never more, O Masters, will I do this unholy work.

(112) Thus thou continually murderest poor Abel two Manner of Ways, and givest him great Occasion of stumbling; by thy Pomp and Power thou drawest him away from God into the Spirit of this World, where he then grows stark blind, and so he will continually ride after thee; he will still sit upon thy Beast, and be Lord also, and ride over the bended Knees; and thus the Kingdom of this World is a right Den of Thieves, and in the Presence of God a Lake of Abominations. 1 13. The Spirit of thy stout Beast is the hellish Worm; the crowned Bride that sits upon it is the false Woman [or Whore] of Babel: She drinks only out of the Cup of Whoredom and Abominations, her Drink in that Cup is the Fierceness of the Anger of God, of which the People [or Nations] drink, and become drunk, and so in their Drunkenness they become Murderers, Robbers, Thieves, false perfidious Mockers, Jesters, Scorners, proud, high-minded, Self-honourers, stern malicious People, there is no End of the Number of those that hate one another; every one supposes his Way is right, and that he walks in the right Path; if his Brother and Sister go not in the same Way with him, he scorns them, and calls them Heretics; and so one Wolf bites another; his Way is in his own Opinion, as his Master teaches him, who yet never regards any Thing but his a Belly- God, that his Esteem and Glory may be great among Men; thus one Hypocrite deceives the other, and they are Scorners and Persecutors one of another among themselves; and one is a Wolf as well as another; and the poor Abel (who stands in true Resignation, and relies upon God) must continually be their Footstool, he is continually murdered in a two-fold Manner. 1 14. One is, that he is deceived, and goes along into Babel, and is murdered, as to the Kingdom of Heaven. The other is, that if he remains constant, then the Devil (with Cain) will not endure him, but murders him outwardly, as to the Body, or takes away his good Name and Credit, and covers him so that he may not be known, that so the Kingdom of Cain and the Antichrist may remain in Babel; of which we know well how to speak by our own Experience, if Wrath and Anger did please us. But it fares very well with our Abel, and our being scorned springs up in the Blossoming of the Lily, whereat we will rejoice well enough, when we return again from Jericho to Jerusalem to our Father Abel.

(100) And again I swear to you, ye sinners, that sin is prepared for a day of unceasing bloodshed.