1. SHEM had many tribes, who settled on the borders of the sea at Haventi and Gats; and the Lord (Hirto) dwelt with them, speaking through the chief prophet, Tah (Tae), who made a record on stone, and wood, and cloth, of the Lord's word, and these were preserved in the Valens (house) of God (Hirto).
2. And when Tah was old, and died, the mantle of the Lord's gifts fell on Tah's son; who also had power to hear the Voice; and he also kept a record of the Lord's words.
3. And then he died, and his son succeeded in the same way; and, because of this truth, the Lord called all of them by the sacred name, Tah, the order of which continued for a hundred generations. And it came to pass that the I'hins filled the country far and near with cities; and yet, in all the while, they killed nothing that had been created alive to breathe, on the earth, or in the water, or in the air above.
4. In the early days of the I'hins, the Lord spake through the chief prophet, saying: When the inhabitants of one city or tribe marry with those of p. 145b another city or tribe, behold, it is but just that the names of father and mother be given to the offspring.
5. But men were in darkness in those days, and understood not God. So, accordingly, the inhabitants combined the names belonging to the neighboring tribes. That is to say, one tribe said, ut (wheat); another tribe, for the same thing, said, yat; and another tribe said, wat; and another, hoot; and so on. So, the after-generations said, utyatwathoot (wheat), and this was called the Yi-ha language; and so great were the number and the size of the words used, that the writings of the ancient prophets were lost, because none could understand them.
6. The Lord spake, saying: Because I desired to preserve the genealogy of my chosen, ye have applied the law to things that are worthless in my sight. Ye have built a babble, a tower of words, so that your tongues are confounded one with another. Ye strove to reach to heaven with a multitude of words, but made food for hada (hades).
7. The Lord said: Come, now, into murdhan (a spirit circle), and I will deliver you. So the people sat in crescent, and the Lord came betwix the horns, saying: Behold, ye are Tau, but I am the S'ri (Spirit). My word shall stand against all the world.
8. Hear, then, the commandments of God (Hautot). Because ye have built a tower of words, ye are confounded. But I come not in anger, but to deliver you. Neither will I write more, nor teach written words, for they are only folly, save to the learned.
9. By mouth-words will I teach, and ye shall repeat after me. And these shall be sacred words to the end of the world.
10. So the Lord taught orally in the temple, face to face with the people, and they learned the words and the meaning thereof.
11. And those who learned the best, the Lord named Ritvij, because he made them teachers over others. The Lord said: Because ye have confounded the language of the ancients, I will give you a new language, and it shall be vede (perfect), against all my enemies; nor shall any man more meddle with the words I give.
12. Hirto (Lord) said: Love thy Lord God only, and with all thy soul. Turn thy face away from the angels p. 146b who come to thee; they are the emissaries of Anra'mainyus.
13. Hirto said: Love the sun and moon, and all things on the earth, for they are the Lord's gift. What is spirit? It flieth away; it is nothing.
14. Smite the druj (spirits) that prophesy. They are nothing but lies; they are Anra'mainyus' emissaries.
15. Learn to prophesy by the sun, and by the moon and by the stars. They tell no lies.
16. The Lord then gave the signs of the zodiac (the horses, and cows, and lions, and sheep, and birds) that rule upon the earth, and upon the winds of heaven, and on the heat and cold, and the sun, and moon and stars, and spring and summer, and fall and winter. But these things are here omitted in this book, because they are known in mortal histories to this day.
17. The Lord saith in this day, the kosmon era: Behold, O man, in the time of Osiris, I, the Lord, raised up many philosophers on the earth, and inspired them not only to fulfill the legends of the ancients, but also to write books of disputation, in order to turn man's mind away from the consultation of familiar spirits. After this manner did I inspire men to write, to wit:
18. Touching the matter of the egg, and also of Anra'mainyus, they appear never to have been proven, neither are they given on the authority of Hirto, the Lord of earth. It is reasonable to suppose that the Great Spirit divided up the worlds amongst His Gods and Lords, and that the earth (Bhu) fell to the portion of Hirto; whilst the stars, which are also worlds like this, fell to other Lords and Gods. But as for evil Gods, like Anra'mainyus, who hath ever seen one?
19. As for Hirto, the Lord, I have seen him myself, and so have thousands of other honest prophets. But when the Lord spake it was not about foolish stories, but to teach man how to live, that he might be happy himself and a glory to the Great Spirit. Neither did I ever hear the Lord assert that he was more than the spirit of a man risen from the earth. In my opinion, therefore, the Lord is the captain over the earth, and over all other spirits. But even to know this, is not so great a good truth as to know how to do righteously.
20. Of all things, therefore, man should learn, especially of what he can see, and hear, and prove, rather than of spirits whom he cannot prove, nor find when he wanteth them.