(7) Some seed fell on stony ground where it had not much earth: and immediately it sprang up, because it had not much deepness of earth:

(13) And he saw. and behold, the land was very wide and good, and everything grew thereon — vines and figs and pomegranates, oaks and ilexes, and terebinths and oil trees, and cedars and cypresses and date trees, and all trees of the field, and there was water on the mountains.

(13) When our artisan awaked and told his dream, his apprentice said, "If the tree aimed at uselessness, how was it that it became a sacred tree?" "What you don't understand," replied his master, "don't talk about. That was merely to escape from the attacks of its enemies. Had it not become sacred, how many would have wanted to cut it down! The means of safety adopted were different from ordinary means, and to test these by ordinary canons leaves one far wide of the mark." Tzŭ Ch'i of Nan-poh was travelling on the Shang mountain when he saw a large tree which astonished him very much. A thousand chariot teams could have found shelter under its shade. "What tree is this?" cried Tzŭ Ch'i. "Surely it must have unusually fine timber." Then looking up, he saw that its branches were too crooked for rafters; while as to the trunk he saw that its irregular grain made it valueless for coffins. He tasted a leaf, but it took the skin off his lips; and its odour was so strong that it would make a man as it were drunk for three days together. "Ah!" said Tzŭ Ch'i. "This tree is good for nothing, and that is how it has attained this size. A wise man might well follow its example." In the State of Sung there is a place called Ching-shih, where thrive the beech, the cedar, and the mulberry. Such as are of a one-handed span or so in girth are cut down for monkey-cages. Those of two or three two-handed spans are cut down for the beams of fine houses. Those of seven or eight such spans are cut down for the solid sides of rich men's coffins.

(4) Afterwards, about that wonderful shaking out from the earth, they say that a great mountain is the knot of lands; and the passage for the waters within the mountains is the root which is below the mountains; they forsake the upper parts so that they may flow into it, just as the roots of trees pass into the earth; a counterpart (ângunî-aîtak) of the blood in the arteries of men, which gives strength to the whole body.

(50) Thus thou seest and understandest out of what the earth and stones are come to be. But if that kindled Salitter should have continued to be thus in the whole deep of this world, then the whole place thereof would have been a dark valley; for the light was imprisoned, together with and in the third birth or geniture.

(81) The hills came so to be in the driving together or compaction: For the corrupted Salitter was more abounding in one place than in another, according as the wheel of God was, as to its innate standing, or instant qualifying or fountain spirits.

(76) Man at his birth is supple and weak; at his death, firm and strong. (So it is with) all things. Trees and plants, in their early growth, are soft and brittle; at their death, dry and withered. Thus it is that firmness and strength are the concomitants of death; softness and weakness, the concomitants of life. Hence he who (relies on) the strength of his forces does not conquer; and a tree which is strong will fill the out-stretched arms, (and thereby invites the feller.) Therefore the place of what is firm and strong is below, and that of what is soft and weak is above.

(85) But when the lump of the earth was pressed and compacted together, then thereby the water came to be squeezed and pressed forth: But where the water was enclosed and pressed in with the astringent quality by hard rocks, there it is yet in the earth still, and has since that time worn and made some great holes or veins for its passage.

(12) For in that place wherein the astringent quality was predominant, there the Salitter was attracted together and dried, so that hard dry stones came to be; but in those places where the astringent spirit and the bitter were equally alike predominant, there sharp small gravel and sand came to be, for the raging bitter spirit brake the Salitter all to pieces.

(9) And some fell upon a rock: as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture.

(16) And they dug out a pit in the earth, and iron was obtained by them and beaten out with a stone, and without a forge they beat out a cutting edge from it; and they cut wood with it, and prepared a wooden shelter from the sun (pês-khûr).

(7) In the groves and gardens were hot and cold springs. There were numerous temples to various deities, places of exercise for men and for beasts, public baths, and a great race course for horses. At various vantage points on the zones were fortifications, and to the great harbor came vessels from every maritime nation. The zones were so thickly populated that the sound of human voices was ever in the air.

(8) but when the sun was up, because it had no depth of earth, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.

(16) So in like manner the earth and stones have their descent; for when the Salitter kindled itself in nature, then all became very rugged, thick and dark, like a thick dark mist or cloud, which the astringent quality dried up hard with its coldness.

(11) ¶Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house: and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

(91) When God had driven the corrupted Salitter of earth and stones, (which had generated itself in the outermost birth by the kindling), together on a heap as in a lump, then, for that cause, the third birth or geniture in nature in the deep, above the earth, was not pure and bright, because the wrath of God did yet burn therein.

(21) Now the Tree of the strong [Tartness or Wrath,] (which is in the Midst of Nature,) grew also in the Midst of the Garden of Eden; and was (according to the Ability of its own Form which it has from the eternal Quality in the Originality) the greatest and the mightiest [Tree.] And here it may be seen very clearly, that God would have preserved and had Man to be in Paradise, for he forbade him this Tree, and caused other Fruit enough [besides] to grow in the Forms and Essences. The Gate of the Tempting.

(6) [22 lines are missing here.]

Four leagues he traveled..., dense was the darkness, light there was none, neither what lies ahead nor behind does it allow him to see. Five leagues he traveled..., dense was the darkness, light there was none, neither what lies ahead nor behind does it allow him to see. Six leagues he traveled..., dense was the darkness, light there was none, neither what lies ahead nor behind does it allow him to see. Seven leagues he traveled.. dense was the darkness, light there was none, neither what lies ahead nor behind does it allow him to see. Eight leagues he traveled and cried out (!), dense was the darkness, light there was none, neither what lies ahead nor behind does it allow him to see. Nine leagues he traveled... the North Wind. It licked at his face, dense was the darkness, light there was none, neither what lies ahead nor behind does it allow him to see. Ten leagues he traveled...... is near,... four leagues. Eleven leagues he traveled and came out before the sun(rise). Twelve leagues he traveled and it grew brilliant....it bears lapis lazuli as foliage, bearing fruit, a delight to look upon.

(25 lines are missing here, describing the garden in detail.]

... cedar... agate... of the sea... lapis lazuli, like thorns and briars... carnelian, rubies, hematite,... like... emeralds (!)... of the sea, Gilgamesh... on walking onward, raised his eyes and saw...

(30) Now when I write of trees, plants and fruits, you must not understand them to be earthly, like those that are in this world; for it is not my meaning that there shall grow in heaven such dead, hard trees of wood, or such stones as consist of an earthly quality.