"I sacrificed my Son for man."
"And loosed Satan upon him."
"Is scarlet white?" asked God.
"Is justice the fruit of injustice? The two men were not of the Church,
and the Church may be holy in your sight."
"I have judged."
"And your judgment is past understanding," said Moses, and he sat at the
Balance.
The servants of the Lord spoke one with another: "I cannot eat of the
supper," said one; "The songs will be as a wolf's howlings in the
wilderness," said another; "The honey will be as bittersweet as Adam's
apple," said a third. But Satan exclaimed: "Come, let us seek in the
Book of the Watchers for an act that will turn Him from His purpose."
In seeking, some put their fingers on the leaves and advised Moses to
cry unto the Lord in such and such a manner.
"My voice is dumb," replied Moses.
Satan presently astonished the servants; he took the book to the Lord.
"My Lord," he said, "which is the more precious--good or evil?"
"Good," said the Lord.
"More precious than the riches of Solomon is a deed done in your name?"
"Yes."
"Though the sins were as numerous as the teeth of a shoal of fish?"
"So. Unravel your riddle."
"An old woman of the Dissenters," said Satan, "claimed four tablets,
whereas her deeds were nine."
God looked at the Balance and lo, the scale of white tablets was
heavier than the scale of scarlet tablets.
"Bid hither the apostles," He commanded the Overseer, "for they shall
see me, and this day they and their flocks shall be in Paradise."
Satan stood before the face of Moses, glowing as the angels; and he
brought out scissors to clip off the fringe of his beard. When he had
cut only a little, the Overseer entered the Judgment Hall, saying: "The
two apostles tricked Jude and crawled under the barrier, and they shot
back the bolts of the gate of the Chariot House and called a charioteer
to take them to Heaven. 'This is God's will,' they said to him."
Satan's scissors fell on the floor.