(107) And he arose in the hands of the midwife, and opened his mouth and blessed the Lord of heaven.

(6) Then, with her maids, the daughter of the king, To bathe her beauty in the cleansing stream, Came near, straight saw, and took and raised me up; And knew me for a Hebrew. Miriam My sister to the princess ran, and said, 'Is it thy pleasure, that I haste and find A nurse for thee to rear this child Among the Hebrew women?' The princess Gave assent. The maiden to her mother sped, And told, who quick appeared. My own Dear mother took me in her arms. Then said The daughter of the king: 'Nurse me this child, And I will give thee wages.' And my name Moses she called, because she drew and saved Me from the waters on the river's bank.

(1) Absorbed in his delight, that contemplator Assumed the willing office of a teacher, And gave beginning to these holy words: "The wound that Mary closed up and anointed, She at her feet who is so beautiful, She is the one who opened it and pierced it. Within that order which the third seats make Is seated Rachel, lower than the other, With Beatrice, in manner as thou seest. Sarah, Rebecca, Judith, and her who was Ancestress of the Singer, who for dole Of the misdeed said, 'Miserere mei,' Canst thou behold from seat to seat descending Down in gradation, as with each one's name I through the Rose go down from leaf to leaf. And downward from the seventh row, even as Above the same, succeed the Hebrew women, Dividing all the tresses of the flower; Because, according to the view which Faith In Christ had taken, these are the partition By which the sacred stairways are divided. Upon this side, where perfect is the flower With each one of its petals, seated are Those who believed in Christ who was to come.

(4) When Mary said this, she turned their hearts to the Good, and they began to discuss the words of the Savior.

(4) She became a poor desolate widow, helpless. In her affliction she had no food. From them she had gathered nothing but the defilements when they coupled with her. Her offspring from the adulterers are mute, blind, and sickly. They are disturbed. But when her father who is above looked down on her and saw her sighing, suffering and in disgrace, and repenting of her prostitution, then she began to call on him for help with all her heart, saying, "Save me, my father. Look, I will report to you, for I left my house and fled from my woman's quarters. Restore me to yourself."

(41) And as Judah was going along he found her, and thoughther to be an harlot, and he said unto her : " Let me come in unto thee " ; and she said unto him : " Come in," and he went in.

(17) And an angel of God, one of the holy ones, said unto her, " Why weepest thou, Hagar? Arise, take the child, and hold him in thine hand ; for God hath heard thy voice, and hath seen the child."

(107) And thereupon he arose in the hands of the midwife, opened his mouth, and †conversed with† the Lord of righteousness.

(1) It came to pass then, when Mary had finished saying these words, that he said: "Well said, Mary, for thou art blessed before all women on the earth, because thou shalt be the fulness of all fulnesses and the perfection of all perfections." Now when Mary had heard the Saviour speak these words, she exulted greatly, and she came before Jesus, fell down before him, adored his feet and said unto him: "My Lord, hearken unto me, that I may question thee on this word, before that thou discoursest with us about the regions whither thou didst go." Jesus answered and said unto Mary: "Discourse in openness and fear not; all things on which thou questionest, I will reveal unto thee."

(1) Mary started forward again, stepped into the midst, placed herself by Philip and said unto Jesus: "My Lord, my in-dweller of light hath ears, and I am ready to hear with my power, and I have understood the word which thou hast spoken. Now, therefore, my Lord, hearken that I may discourse in openness, thou who hast said unto us: 'Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.' "Concerning the word which thou hast spoken unto Philip: 'It is thou and Thomas and Matthew on whom it hath been enjoined--to you three by the First Mystery, to write all the discourses of the kingdom of the Light and thereto to bear witness '; hearken, therefore, that I may proclaim the solution of this word. This is what thy light-power prophesied aforetime through Moses: 'By two or three witnesses shall every matter be established.' The three witnesses are Philip and Thomas and Matthew."

(1) And when the Saviour had said this, Salome started forward and said: "My Lord, if our parents are the rulers, how standeth it written in the Law of Moses: 'He who shall abandon his father and his mother, let him die the death'? Hath not thus the Law made statement thereon?" And when Salome had said this, the light-power in Mary Magdalene bubbled up in her and she said to the Saviour: "My Lord, give commandment unto me that I discourse with my sister Salome to tell her the solution of the word which she hath spoken." It came to pass then, when the Saviour had heard Mary say these words, that he called her most exceedingly blessed. The Saviour answered and said unto Mary: "I give commandment unto thee, Mary, that thou speak the solution of the word which Salome hath spoken."

(44) Mary said to him: "Holy Lord, where did your disciples come from, and where are they going, and (what) should they do here?"

(1) "Deus venerunt gentes," alternating Now three, now four, melodious psalmody The maidens in the midst of tears began; And Beatrice, compassionate and sighing, Listened to them with such a countenance, That scarce more changed was Mary at the cross. But when the other virgins place had given For her to speak, uprisen to her feet With colour as of fire, she made response: "'Modicum, et non videbitis me; Et iterum,' my sisters predilect, 'Modicum, et vos videbitis me.'" Then all the seven in front of her she placed; And after her, by beckoning only, moved Me and the lady and the sage who stayed. So she moved onward; and I do not think That her tenth step was placed upon the ground, When with her eyes upon mine eyes she smote, And with a tranquil aspect, "Come more quickly," To me she said, "that, if I speak with thee, To listen to me thou mayst be well placed." As soon as I was with her as I should be, She said to me: "Why, brother, dost thou not Venture to question now, in coming with me?"

(7) "This shall be our way of overcoming them. Since they have the appearance of youths when they let themselves be seen in the water, then let two maidens who are really beautiful, and very lovely, go and provoke in them desire to possess them," they said. "Very well. Let us go, then; let us find two beautiful maidens," they exclaimed, and then they went to find their daughters. And truly beautiful were the maidens. Then they instructed the maidens: "Go, our daughters, go to wash clothes at the river, and if you see the three youths, undress before them, and if their hearts desire you, call to them. If they say to you, 'May we come to you?' answer, 'Yes.' And when they ask: 'Where do you come from, whose daughters are you?' tell them, 'We are daughters of the lords.'

(3) Then Mary, the mother of Jesus, came forward and said: "My son according to the world, my God and Saviour according to the height, bid me proclaim the solution of the words which Pistis Sophia hath uttered." And Jesus answered and said: "Thou also, Mary, hast received form which is in Barbēlō, according to matter, and hast received likeness which is in the Virgin of Light, according to light, thou and the other Mary, the blessed one; and on thy account the darkness hath arisen, and moreover out of thee did come forth the material body in which I am, which I have purified and refined,--now, therefore, I bid thee proclaim the solution of the words which Pistis Sophia hath uttered." And Mary, the mother of Jesus, answered and said: "My Lord, thy light-power hath prophesied aforetime concerning these words through Solomon in the nineteenth Ode and said: "'1. The Lord is on my head as a wreath, and I shall not depart from him.

(1) When Mary had said this, she fell silent, since it was to this point that the Savior had spoken with her.

(18) And he came to a well of water, and he said to his young men, " Abide ye here with the ass, and I and the lad shall go (yonder), and when we have worshipped we shall come again to you."

(41) And Judah went unto his sheep, and she went to her father's house.

(2) A king, whose empire stretched to the far horizons, had a daughter as beautiful as the moon. Before her loveliness even the fairies were abashed. Her dimpled chin resembled the well of Joseph, and the locks of her hair wounded a hundred hearts. Her eyebrows were twin bows, and when she loosed their arrows the space between sang her praise. Her eyes, languorous as the narcissus, threw thorns of her eyelashes in the path of the wise. Her face was as the sun when he took the moon's virginity. The Angel Gabriel could not tear his eyes from the pearls and rubies of her mouth. A smile of her

lips dried up the water of life in the beholder, who yet begged alms from these same lips. Whoever glanced at her chin fell headlong into a spring of bubbling water.

The king also had a slave, a youth, so handsome that the sun grew pale and the light of the moon diminished. When he walked in the streets and market-place crowds stopped to gaze at him.

By chance one day the princess saw this slave, and in a moment her heart slipped from her hand. Reason forsook her and love took possession. Her soul, sweet as Shirin, turned bitter. Withdrawing from her companions she mused, and musing and reflecting, began to burn. Then she called her ten young maids of honour. They were excellent musicians and played on the shawms and pipes; their voices wxre those of nightingales, and their singing, which tore the soul, was worthy of David. Gathering them around her she told them about her state, saying that she was ready to sacrifice her name, her honour, and her life for the love of this youth; for when one is deep in love one is good for nothing else. 'But,' she said, 'if I tell him of my love no doubt he will do something rash. If it becomes known that I have been intimate with a slave both he and I will suffer. On the other hand, if he does not possess me, I shall die lamenting behind the curtain of the harem. I have read a hundred books on patience and still I am without it. What can I do! I must find a way to enjoy the love of this slender cypress, so that the desire of my body shall accord with the longing of my soul - and this must be done without his knowing.'

Then the sweet-voiced maids said: 'Do not grieve. Tonight we will bring him here unknown to anyone, and even he will know nothing about it.'

Soon, one of the young girls went in secret to the slave and asked him, as if to play with him, to bring two cups of wine. Into one cup she threw a drug, contriving that he should drink it. He at once fell asleep, so that she was able

to carry out her plan, and the youth of the silver breast remained without news of the two worlds.

When night came the maids of honour went softly to where he lay and put him on a litter and carried him to the princess. Then they sat him on a golden throne and placed a coronet of pearls on his head. At midnight, still a little drugged, he opened his eyes and saw a palace as fair as paradise, and around him were golden seats. The place was lighted by ten great candles perfumed with amber, and sweet aloe wood burned in pans. The maidens began to sing, but in such sweet strains that reason bade farewell to the spirit, and the soul to the body. Then the sun of wine went round to the light of the candles. Bewildered with the joy of his surroundings and dazzled by the beauty of the princess, the youth lost his wits. He was no longer really in this world nor was he in the other. With a heart full of love, and a body possessed with desire, amid these delights he fell into a state of ecstasy. His eyes were fastened on her beauty and his ears to the sound of the reed pipes. His nostrils took in the perfume of amber and the wine in his mouth became like liquid fire. The princess kissed him, and he shed tears of joy while she mingled hers with his. Sometimes she pressed sweet kisses on his mouth, sometimes they were tinged with salt; sometimes she ruffled his long hair, sometimes she lost herself in his eyes. He possessed her; and so they passed the time until the dawn appeared in the East. When morning Zephyr breathed the young slave became sad; but they sent him to sleep again and took him back to his quarters.

When he of the silver breast came to himself, without knowing why, he began to weep. One might say the thing was finished, so what was the good of crying out. He tore his clothes, pulled his hair and put earth on his head. Those about him asked why he was doing this, and what had happened. He said: Ht is impossible to describe what I have

I

seen, no one else can ever see it except in a dream, for what has happened to me can never have happened to anyone before. Never was there a more astonishing mystery.'

Another said: 'Wake up, and tell us at least one of the hundred things that happened.' He replied: 'lam in a tumult because what I have seen has happened to me in another body. While hearing nothing I have heard everything, while seeing nothing I have seen everything.'

Another said: 'Have you lost your wits or have you just been dreaming?' 'Ah,' he said, 'I don't know if I was drunk or sober. What can be more puzzling than something which is neither revealed nor hidden. What I have seen I can never forget, yet I have no idea where it happened. For one whole night I revelled with a beauty who is without equal. Who and what she is I do not know. Only love remains, and that is all. But God knows the truth.'

(19) Therefore Eve was for certain created out of all Adam's Essences, and so Adam thereupon had a great Rent; and so likewise the Woman might come to her Perfection to [be] the Image of God; and this again shows a great Mystery, whereby the Virgin very preciously witnesses again, that the Son of the Virgin has not only suffered his Side to be pierced through, and shed his Blood out of the Hole of his Side, but he has also suffered his Hands and Feet to be struck through, and a Crown of Thorns to be pressed upon his Head, so that the Blood gushed out from thence; and in his Body he endured to be whipped, so that his Blood run down all over. So very lowly has the Son of the Virgin debased himself, to a help the sick and broken Adam, and his weak and imperfect Eve, to repair them and bring them again into the first Glory,