THE BOOK OF        IS  (chapters I - XXV)

i.

ii.

Thus the Earth rested, and every plant grew a man. But there went up a mist and the whole face of the ground breathed the breath of life. And a garden formed out of the ground and grew the tree of evil. And a river of gold took the man and put him into a dress: but the tree of evil said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a God formed of the air. And the air caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and said, This is now a Woman, and shall be naked.

iii.

Now the serpent was more subtle than any God, and said unto the man, Ye shall not eat, lest ye die. And the serpent saw that the tree was pleasant to the eyes, and desired to make it her husband; and sewed leaves together and made aprons. And the tree said, Who told the man to be a woman? And the serpent said, I put enmity between the man and all living. And behold, man put forth his hand from the cherubim flaming the way.

iv.

And he conceived, and bore a man, and he was fat and his countenance fell. And he said, Why is thy countenance fallen if sin lieth at the door? Unto thee shall be desire. And he rose up and slew him and said, I know not the voice of the ground. And the Earth opened her hand and said, Behold, thy face shall be a mark upon the land. And he built a city and called the name of the city after the name of all such as handle the harp and organ. And every voice bore a son to call upon.

v.

In the day that the female created them, they begat a son: and died. And the son lived seven days and begat nine hundred and sixty three sons and daughters: and he died, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our curse. And all the days were years: and he was old.

vi.

And it came to pass, when daughters were born that the daughters were fair; and they were giants in the Earth in those days; and also after that, when they were old, and saw that the wickedness of man was in the Earth, and that every imagination was only evil continually. And the man said, I will destroy the air; for it repenteth me that I have eyes. And the Earth was filled with violence and said, The end is come before me; for, behold, I will destroy the gopher wood in the fashion of a window. And, behold, I, even I, the Earth, shall die. But thou shalt come to be male and female to keep alive. And thou shalt gather food for thee, and for the God.

vii.

And the birds of the air made a man of water with a hat of earth, and it came to pass that the great window of heaven opened and the night entered, and the man shut him in. And the Earth increased, and lifted up all the high hills, and the mountains moved upon the dry land and the birds of heaven remained in the water a hundred days.

viii.

And a cat made a wind to pass over the Earth, and the window of heaven was strained. And after the end of the hundred days the tops of the mountains opened: and a raven went forth to and fro, until he found a dove. And the dove came in to him in the evening, and, lo, in her mouth was water, which returned not again to him any more. And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year: the Earth spake, saying, Bring forth every creeping thing that creepeth that they may be every beast of man’s imagination, and day and night shall cease.

ix.

And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every man; Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, be ye fruitful and multiply; and, behold, every living creature shall be a living creature for perpetual generations: I do set my cloud between me that I may remember flesh. And a man planted a vineyard: and he drank of the wine and he saw the nakedness of his two brethren without. And he took a garment and covered the wine. And he said, Cursed be a servant of servants of a servant and his servant. And after nine hundred and fifty years he died.

x.

Now these are the generations of the sons of the sons of the sons of the sons of the isles of the nations of the sons of the sons of the mighty kingdom in the land of the great city out of whom came the families of the sons of all the children of the brother of the brother’s sons. And their dwelling was the mount of tongues.

xi.

And the whole Earth was language and speech. And it came to pass that they found a stone, and they said, Go to, let us build us a heaven. And the children said, Behold, the people have language; and they begin to do nothing which they have imagined to do. Go to, let us confound the language, that they may understand other speech. So the language did scatter upon the face of all the Earth a hundred years, and lived nine hundred and seventy years in the land of the child. And a son of a son’s son went forth from the land: and died.

xii.

Now the house departed, as he had spoken unto the souls of the land who appeared unto him. And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of the west. And there was in the land a man; and he was very fair. The princes saw, and the man was taken into the house. And he entreated the house, and said, What is this that thou hast done unto me? Why didst thou not tell my sister? And they sent him away.

xiii.

And the south was very rich in silver, and in gold. And he went unto the place he had been at the beginning; unto the place of the first name. And he was not able to bear her: for the substance was great. And there was a strife between the men and the land. And the whole land lifted up his eyes and beheld all the water cities, and said, If a man can number the dust of the Earth, then I will give it unto his tent.

xiv.

And it came to pass in the days of nations that the salt sea rebelled. And in the fourteenth year the wilderness returned, and came to the country of the slime pits, and fell there; and the mountain took all the victuals, and departed. And there came one that had escaped and dwelt in the plain of the brother, and when that brother was taken captive, he pursued the night, and smote him at the valley of bread and wine; and said, Blessed be thy hand that will not take even a shoe-latchet, lest thou shouldest say, I am rich.

xv.

After these things came a vision, saying, Fear not thy child, and, behold, he shall not be thine heir; but he shall come forth out of the stars, if thou be able to see him. And the land said, Whereby shall I know her? And he said unto him, Take the birds. And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep of great darkness fell upon him. And he said, Know of a surety that a stranger shall come and shall come again: for the iniquity of the sun is a great river.

xvi.

Now a child said unto a bear: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; so it may be that I may obtain her voice. And he went in unto her, and her eyes fled from her face and said, I flee from the face of my mistress. An angel said, Return to thy mistress, and the bear will be a man; his hand will be every man’s hand: and he shall dwell in the presence of she that seeth.

xvii.

And when he appeared and said, I am perfect, he fell on his face and made fruit come out of the seed. And the land said, Thou shalt keep the seed between you and the child. And it shall be in your house, or bought with money of a stranger, which is not seed: and the man whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised shall be king of his heart, a child that is a hundred years old! And thou shalt call his name Is: and he shall establish the time in the year. And he left off talking and went up from the men; and in the selfsame day, all the men of the house bought strangers.

xviii.

And the door of eyes looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and the door bowed himself and said, My favor in sight, pass not away from thy servant: let a little water wash your feet, and rest your tree: and I will fetch ye your hearts. And they said, So do, as thou hast said, and make cakes. And he fetched a young man; and he hasted to dress the tree, and they said unto him, Behold, the tent will certainly return unto thee according to life. And, lo, the tent was behind him. Now the man laughed, saying, After I am waxed shall I have pleasure, my lord? Wherefore did a laugh say, I am old? I will return to life, and laugh not. And the men rose up and said, Shall the Earth be blessed? For man and his house shall keep the way of the spoken. And he said, Go and sin now, and see whether I will know. And the men turned their faces toward the city: and the man of earth said, I am but dust and ashes: I will not be found if I speak unto the angry.

xix.

And there came two angels to the gate of seeing; and he bowed himself and said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant’s house, and tarry all night, and ye shall rise up all night. And they entered into his house; and said unto him, Where are the men? Bring them to us that we may know them. And the door said, Let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes under the shadow of my roof. And they said, Stand back. And one fellow came in to deal with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, and came near to break the door. But the men put forth their hand to the men of the house both small and great so that they wearied themselves. And the men said, hast thou here any besides? Son-in-law, sons, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them. And he went out, but when the morning arose, the angels hastened and laid hold upon him, and set him in a mountain, and said, Lo: now hath sight magnified life. Therefore the sun rained fire out of heaven over all the plain, and all that which grew upon the ground became salt. And all the cities of the mountain dwelt in a cave. And the first said, There is not a man to come in unto us after the man of earth: come, let us drink wine, and we will lie with the night: and the first went in, and lay with him; and the father lay with him also, and called his name the child of day.

xx.

And from thence he sent a dream, and a dead man said, The integrity of this dream is in the integrity of thine heart; for I suffered to live: not die. Therefore all the men were sore afraid and said unto him, What offended thee, that thou hast brought a kingdom that ought not to be? And the God of sheep said, Behold the silver eyes that heal the children.

xxi.

And he conceived, and bore a son which spoke to him. And the name of his son was Is. And Is was a hundred years old when born unto him. And he said, I have borne a son in his old age. And the child grew, and was weaned: and made a great feast the same day, for he rose up early in the morning, took bread and water, and wandered in the wilderness under the shrubs. And he said, Let me not see death. And he sat and wept. And a God called out of heaven, and said, What aileth thee? Fear not; arise, lift up thine eyes of water, and fill the wilderness with kindness. And he rose up and planted a grove there.

xxii.

And it came to pass after these things, that in the land of the mountains of morning, two young men went unto the place of the third eye, and saw the wood, and laid it upon Is; and he took fire in his hand, and he went to his father, and said, My father, behold the fire and the wood: but burnt I am not, neither am I thine only son, that in blessing thee, I will multiply the stars of heaven. And he returned unto his young men, and they rose up together to the other ear.

xxiii.

And the land came to weep for his dead sons, saying, I am a burying-place, that I may bury my dead out of my sight. And the children answered, saying unto him, Hear us, my lord, thou art a mighty prince among the dead; none of us shall withhold from thee. And the land continued with them, saying, I hear the city; hearken unto the trees of the cave of sons.

xxiv.

And old age had blessed the hand of heaven, and Is said unto him, Peradventure a man will not be willing to follow me unto this land: must I needs bring the land from hence? And heaven spake, saying, I shall send thee to my son. And if he will not be willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be his master and servant. And he arose, and went unto the city of camels at the time of the men. And he said, Behold, I shall drink; and thereby shall I know my master. And it came to pass, he came out, and he was very fair to look upon: and he ran to meet the camels. And he held his peace, to wit whether he had made his journey prosperous or not. And he took a golden earring and two bracelets of gold; and said, Who art thou? Tell me, I pray thee: And he said unto him, I am the son of truth: and the house ran out unto the man, and when he saw the earring and bracelets upon his hands, and when he heard the words of the camels, he said, Come in; wherefore standest thou without? For I have prepared water to wash the men with. And there was set a meal before him to eat: but he said, I am come to take a son of the land unto my house and put the earring and bracelets upon him. And he brought forth gold, and tarried all night; and they rose up in the morning, and he said, Wilt thou go with this man? And he said, I will go. And he said, Be thou millions of millions, and let camels follow: and he and Is went out at the eventide: and light said, What man is this? And he said, It is my master. Therefore he took a veil and covered Is. And he became his wife, and he loved Is as his other.

xxv.

Then Is gave gifts to the ghost in the cave of death; and dwelt by the well of names, in the castle: and the ghost died, and was gathered unto Is: and Is entreated him, and conceived. And the children struggled together within; and he said, If it be so, why thus? And he went to inquire of the womb, and she was cunning; and said, I am faint: therefore this birth shall wear a birthright of lentils.

(continued...)

- Jason Wingate

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