61
I will have no regrets over the multitude who perish, for they are even now like vapor, the equivalent of flame or smoke; they burn and flare up and are quenched."
62
I replied: "Earth, what have you brought to birth? If consciousness is made of dust like other creatures,
63
it would have been better that the dust itself had never been born, so that consciousness shouldn't be made from it.
64
But now consciousness grows with us, and due to this we are tortured, because we perish and are aware of the fact.
65
Let the human race lament and let the wild beasts rejoice. Let all people who are born lament, but let four-footed animals and flocks be happy!
66
It is much better for them than for us. They don't expect judgment. They don't know about either the torments or the deliverance that you promise after death.
67
But what does it profit us that we will be preserved, only to be tortured with torments?
68
All who are born are mixed up with violations, full of sins, and weighed down with crimes.
69
If we were not to come into judgment after death, it would perhaps have been better for us."
70
He replied to me: "When the Most High made the world and Adam and all who are descended from him, he first prepared the judgment and the things that pertain to the judgment.
71
Now understand on the basis of your own words—because you said, ‘Consciousness grows with us.'