(2) Mary answered and said: "My Lord, I have understood the mysteries of the things which have fallen to this woman's lot. Concerning the things then which have fallen to her lot, thou hast spoken unto us aforetime in similitude, saying: 'A man owned a fig-tree in his vineyard; and he came to look for its fruit, and he found not a single one on it. He said to the vine-dresser: Lo, three years do I come to look for fruit on this fig-tree, and I have not any produce at all from it. Cut it down then; why doth it make the ground also good for nothing? But he answered and said unto him: My lord, have patience with it still this year, until I dig round it and give it dung; and if it beareth in another year, thou hast let it, but if thou dost not find any [fruit] at all, then hast thou [to] cut it down.' Lo, my Lord, this is the solution of the word." The Saviour answered and said unto Mary: "Well said, spiritual [one]. This is [the solution of] the word."

(39) 1 have told you before, out of what Power the Tree is grown; viz. that it grew out of the Earth, and has wholly had Might. the Nature of the Earth in it, as at this Day all earthly Trees are [so,] (and no otherwise, neither better nor worse,) wherein Corruptibility stands, as the Earth is corruptible, and shall pass away in the End, when all shall go into its Ether, and nothing else shall remain of it besides the Figure. Now this was the Tree which stood in the Midst of the Garden in Eden, whereby Adam must be tempted in all Essences; for this Spirit should rule powerfully over all Essences, as the holy Angels, and God himself does.

(60) Now Christians know how they can, by the power of this Tree, press out from their death, through his death, to him into his life, and reign and live with him, wherein they also, with their pressing through with their new birth out from this dead body, can be with him in heaven.

(25) And as for this fragrant tree no mortal is permitted to touch it till the great judgement, when He shall take vengeance on all and bring (everything) to its consummation for ever. It shall then be given to the righteous and holy.

(119) And what would the tree be that you spoke of? He said to him: [It is] the powers/kochot of the Holy One, this on back of this, and they resemble/domin a tree: just as this tree, by means of the waters, brings out fruit, even so the Holy One by means of the waters increases the powers of the tree. And what are these waters of the Holy One? They are wisdom, and they are the souls/n’shamot of the righteous that bloom/grow/fly/por’chin from the spring unto the great channel. And he goes up and joins with the tree, and by what means does [the tree] bloom/grow? By means of Israel, [for] when they are righteous and good, Shekhinah rests among them, and through their deeds she rests in the bosom of the Holy One, and makes them fruitful and increases them.

(2) When then Jesus had said this unto his disciples, he said unto them: "Now, therefore, let him whom his spirit stirreth, come forward and speak the solution of the tenth repentance of Pistis Sophia." Peter answered and said: "O Lord, concerning this thy light-power prophesied aforetime through David in the one-hundred-and-nineteenth Psalm; saying: Jesus said unto him: "Well said, Peter, and finely. This is the solution of the tenth repentance of Pistis Sophia."

(3) And when she had first covered her shame with fig-leaves, she gave thereof to Adam and he ate, and his eyes were opened, and he saw thathe was naked.

(3) And she said to it, " Of all the fruit of the trees of the garden God hath said unto us, Eat ; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden God hath said unto us, Ye shall not eat thereof, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die."

(32) And as the fierce [wrathful] Essence of the Anger of God pressed into Adam, whereby he entered into Death, of which God spoke, saying, If thou eatest of the Tree, thou shalt die the Death, understand the Death in the Flesh, even while they were in the earthly Life, so the sharp Nails must pierce through the Hands and Feet of Christ, and so he must enter into Death; and as there is in the human Essences (before the Light of God) a Cross-Birth, so when the Light of God shines therein, all is turned into a pleasant flourishing Blossom, wherein the sharp Essences are not found or perceived.

(2) I think he thought that I perhaps might think So many voices issued through those trunks From people who concealed themselves from us; Therefore the Master said: "If thou break off Some little spray from any of these trees, The thoughts thou hast will wholly be made vain." Then stretched I forth my hand a little forward, And plucked a branchlet off from a great thorn; And the trunk cried, "Why dost thou mangle me?" After it had become embrowned with blood, It recommenced its cry: "Why dost thou rend me? Hast thou no spirit of pity whatsoever? Men once we were, and now are changed to trees; Indeed, thy hand should be more pitiful, Even if the souls of serpents we had been." As out of a green brand, that is on fire At one of the ends, and from the other drips And hisses with the wind that is escaping; So from that splinter issued forth together Both words and blood; whereat I let the tip Fall, and stood like a man who is afraid. "Had he been able sooner to believe," My Sage made answer, "O thou wounded soul, What only in my verses he has seen,

(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.

(4) From the ground where the tree was buried there immediately bubbled forth a spring of water, which became known as Bethesda. To it the sick from all Syria came to be healed. The angel of the pool became the guardian of the tree, and it remained undisturbed for many years. Eventually the log floated to the surface and was used as a bridge again, this time between Calvary and Jerusalem; and over it Jesus passed to be crucified. There was no wood on Calvary; so the tree was cut into two parts to serve as the cross upon which the Son of Man was crucified. The cross was set up at the very spot where the skull of Adam had been buried. Later, when the cross was discovered by the Empress Helena, the wood was found to be of four different varieties contained in one tree (representing the elements), and thereafter the cross continued to heal all the sick who were permitted to touch it.

(28) And it is the Gate of the Lily, concerning which the Spirit witnesses, that it will hereafter grow in the wrathful Tree, and when it grows, it will bring us true Knowledge, by its pleasant and fragrant Smell, in the Holy Trinity; by which Smell Antichrist will be stifled, and the Tree of the stern Anger be broken down, and the Beast enraged, which has its flight and Strength from the Tree for a Time, till it be dry and fiery, because it can get no more Sap from the wrathful Tree that is broken down; and then it will smell [or lift up itself] in the [fierce, tart] Wrath against the Tree, and the Lily, till the Tree of which the Beast did eat and was strong) destroys the Beast, and his Power remains in the Fire of the Originality. And then all Doors [will] stand open in the great Tree of Nature, and the Priest Aaron [will] give his Garment and fair Ornament to the Lamb, that was slain and is [alive] again.

(5) So he with greater strides departed from us; And on the road remained I with those two, Who were such mighty marshals of the world. And when before us he had gone so far Mine eyes became to him such pursuivants As was my understanding to his words, Appeared to me with laden and living boughs Another apple-tree, and not far distant, From having but just then turned thitherward. People I saw beneath it lift their hands, And cry I know not what towards the leaves, Like little children eager and deluded, Who pray, and he they pray to doth not answer, But, to make very keen their appetite, Holds their desire aloft, and hides it not. Then they departed as if undeceived; And now we came unto the mighty tree Which prayers and tears so manifold refuses. "Pass farther onward without drawing near; The tree of which Eve ate is higher up, And out of that one has this tree been raised." Thus said I know not who among the branches; Whereat Virgilius, Statius, and myself Went crowding forward on the side that rises.

(11) The disciple's shadow is from that bough. When the shadows in the disciples cease, For, O fortunate one, how can the shadow move, Unless the tree that casts the shadow move as well? Again, the great Creator, as you know, Thus man passed from one order of nature to another, Of his first souls he has now no remembrance, In order to escape from his present soul full of lusts Though man fell asleep and forgot his previous states, Yet God will not leave him in this self-forgetfulness;

(2) 'But if the life (the living Self) leaves one of its branches, that branch withers; if it leaves a second, that branch withers; if it leaves a third, that branch withers. If it leaves the whole tree, the whole tree withers . In exactly the same manner, my son, know this.' Thus he spoke:

(1) And when Jesus had finished saying these words, Philip started forward, held up and laid down the book in his hand,--for he is the scribe of all the discourses which Jesus spake, and of all of that which he did,--Philip then came forward and said unto him: "My Lord, surely then it is not on me alone that thou hast enjoined to take care for the world and write down all the discourses which we shall speak and [all we shall] do? And thou hast not suffered me to come forward to speak the solution of the mysteries of the repentance of Pistis Sophia. For my spirit hath ofttimes seethed in me and been unloosed and constrained me to come forward and speak the solution of the repentance of Pistis Sophia; and I could not come forward because I am the scribe of all the discourses."

The preceding story is followed by a short anecdote of the infants of the Virgin Mary and the mother of John the Baptist leaping in their mothers' wombs, and in reply to matter of fact cavillers and questioners of this anecdote, the poet says we must look at its spirit and essential basis rather than its outward form. This introduces the story of the tree of life. A certain wise man related that in Hindustan there was a tree of such wonderful virtue that whosoever ate of its fruit lived forever. Hearing this, a king deputed one of his courtiers to go in quest of it. The courtier accordingly proceeded to Hindustan, and traveled all over that country, inquiring of every one he met where this tree was to be found. Some of these persons professed their entire ignorance, others joked him, and others gave him false information; and, finally, he had to return to his country with his mission unaccomplished. He then, as a last resource, betook himself to the sage who had first spoken of the tree, and begged for further information about it, and the sage replied to him as follows:

(16) So also it went with this spirit: The first fire was but a seed, and not a constant lasting light: Since that time many a cold wind blew upon it; but the will never extinguished. 16a. This tree was also often tempted to try whether it would bear fruit, and shew itself with blossoms; but the blossoms were struck off till this very time, wherein it stands in its first fruit, in the growth or vegetation.

(1) It came to pass then, when Jesus had finished saying these words, that Philip came forward and said: "Jesus, my Lord, my thought is exalted, and I have understood the solution of the song which Pistis Sophia hath uttered. The prophet David hath prophesied concerning it aforetime in the one-hundred-and-sixth Psalm, saying: "'1. Give ye thanks unto the Lord, for he is good, for his grace is eternal. "'2. Let the delivered of the Lord say this, for it is he who hath delivered them out of the hand of their foes. "'3. He hath gathered them together out of their lands, from the east and from the west and from the north and from the sea. "'4. They wandered round in the desert, in a waterless country; they found not the way to the city of their dwelling-place. "'5. Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. "'6. He saved them out of their necessities. They cried unto the Lord and he hearkened unto them in their affliction. "'7. He led them on a straight way, that they might go to the region of their dwelling-place. "'8. Let them give thanks unto the Lord for his graciousness and his wondrous works unto the children of men. "'9. For he hath satisfied a hungering soul; he hath filled a hungering soul with good things, "'10. Them who sat in darkness and the shadow of death, who were fettered in misery and iron. "'11. For they had provoked the word of God and made wroth the determination of the Most High. "'12. Their heart was humbled in their miseries; they become weak and no one helped them. "'13. They cried unto the Lord in their affliction; he saved them out of their necessities. "'14. And he led them out of the darkness and the shadow of death and brake their bonds asunder. "'15. Let them give thanks unto the Lord for his graciousness and his wondrous works unto the children of men. "'16. For he hath shattered the gates of brass and burst the bolts of iron asunder. "'17. He hath taken them unto himself out of the way of their iniquity. For they were brought low because of their iniquities. "'18. Their heart abhorred all manner of meat and they were near unto the gates of death. "'19. They cried unto the Lord in their affliction and he saved them out of their necessities. "'20. He sent his word and healed them and freed them from their miseries. "'21. Let them give thanks unto the Lord for his graciousness and his wondrous works unto the children of men.' "This then, my Lord, is the solution of the song which Pistis Sophia hath uttered. Hearken, therefore, my Lord, that I may say it clearly. The word in Booth which David hath spoken: 'Give ye thanks unto the Lord, for he is good, for his grace is eternal,'--it is the word which Pistis Sophia hath spoken: 'I will give thanks unto thee, O Light, for thou art a saviour and thou art a deliverer for all time.' "And the word which hath David spoken: 'Let the delivered of the Lord say this, for he hath delivered them out of the hand of their foes,'--it is the word which Pistis Sophia hath spoken: 'I will utter this song to the Light, for it hath saved me and saved me out of the hand of the rulers, my foes.' And the rest of the Psalm. "This then, my Lord, is the solution of the song which Pistis Sophia hath uttered in the midst of the four-and-twenty invisibles, desiring that they should know all the wondrous works which thou hast done for her, and desiring that they should know that thou hast given thy mysteries to the race of men." It came to pass then, when Jesus had heard Philip say these words, that he said: "Well said, blessed Philip. This is the solution of the song which Pistis Sophia hath uttered."