3
Then said I, Yea, my lord. And he answered me, and said, I am sent to shew thee three ways, and to set forth three similitudes before thee:
4
Whereof if thou canst declare me one, I will shew thee also the way that thou desirest to see, and I shall shew thee from whence the wicked heart cometh.
5
And I said, Tell on, my lord. Then said he unto me, Go thy way, weigh me the weight of the fire, or measure me the blast of the wind, or call me again the day that is past.
6
Then answered I and said, What man is able to do that, that thou shouldest ask such things of me?
7
And he said unto me, If I should ask thee how great dwellings are in the midst of the sea, or how many springs are in the beginning of the deep, or how many springs are above the firmament, or which are the outgoings of paradise:
8
Peradventure thou wouldest say unto me, I never went down into the deep, nor as yet into hell, neither did I ever climb up into heaven.
9
Nevertheless now have I asked thee but only of the fire and wind, and of the day where through thou hast passed, and of things from which thou canst not be separated, and yet canst thou give me no answer of them.
10
He said moreover unto me, Thine own things, and such as are grown up with thee, canst thou not know;
11
How should thy vessel then be able to comprehend the way of the Highest, and, the world being now outwardly corrupted to understand the corruption that is evident in my sight?
12
Then said I unto him, It were better that we were not at all, than that we should live still in wickedness, and to suffer, and not to know wherefore.
13
He answered me, and said, I went into a forest into a plain, and the trees took counsel,