(ll. 663-673) He is the Lord, the Prince of angels, who died for
us; and, in the fullness of His mercy, the Maker of mankind once
fasted forty days. And it came to pass that the Accursed Fiend,
who was driven out of heaven and sank to hell, tempted the Lord
of all creation, bringing in his arms great stones, and bidding
Him make loaves to stay His hunger, "if Thou have so much power."
But the Eternal Lord made answer unto him:
(ll. 674-675) "Knowest thou not, accursed, it was written...."
((LACUNA of indeterminate length.))
(ll. 676-678) "....save Me alone? But Thou, O Lord of victory,
hast ordained the light for living souls, reward unending in the
heavenly kingdom, and holy joys."
(ll. 679-682) Then the malicious, evil spirit in derision lifted
Him up in his hands, and set Him upon his shoulder, and ascended
a high mountain, and placed the Lord God on a peak thereof:
(ll. 683-688) "Gaze now full widely over the dwellers of earth.
The world and the inhabitants thereof will I give into Thy hand.
Take now from me the city and the shining home which I will give
Thee in the heavenly kingdom, that Thou mayest truly be the King
of men and angels, as Thou hast thought."
(ll. 689-709) Then answered the Eternal Lord: "Depart, thou
cursed Satan, into the house of pain; for thee is punishment
prepared, and not God's kingdom. By most high might I bid thee
bring no hope to such as dwell in hell, but tell them now of
this, thy greatest woe, that thou hast met the Maker of creation,
the Lord of men. Get thee behind Me! Know, accursed fiend, how
measureless and wide and dreary is the pit of hell! Measure it
with thy hands, take hold upon its bottom. Go, then, until thou
knowest all the circle of it; measure it first from above even
unto the abyss. Measure how broad the black mist stretches.
Then shalt thou know more clearly that thou strivest against God,
when thou hast measured with thy hands how high and deep is hell,
the grim grave-house, within. Go quickly, that thou measure, ere
two hours are past, the home allotted thee."
(ll. 710-728) Then vengeance came upon the fiend. Satan, the
cursed monster, fled away and sank to hell. And first he
measured with his hands its torment and its woe. The black flame
leaped against the evil spirit; and he beheld the captives as
they lay in hell. And there rose a howling throughout hell, when
their eyes fell on the fiend. God's foes had striven... the
black evil spirit, so that he stood upon the floor of hell, and
it seemed to him that from the pit to the doors of hell was an
hundred thousand miles in reckoning, as the Almighty Lord had
bidden him, for his sin, to measure all his torment. And he
remembered as he stood in the depths of hell! The foul fiend
with his eyes gazed through the loathsome den, until its
overwhelming horror, the host of devils... then mounted up...
With words of malice the accursed fiends began to speak and say:
(ll. 728-730) "Lo! thus may evil be upon thee always! Thou didst
not wish for good!"