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to build the tower. And the virgins took the first ten stones that had come up out of the deep and laid them upon each other, and carried them one by one, together. And just as they stood together around the gate, so did those who seemed to be strong carry them, and they were under the corners of the stone; and the others were under the sides of the stone, and thus they carried all the stones; and they carried them through the gate, as they were commanded, and delivered them to the men for the tower; and they, having the stones, built. And the building of the tower took place upon the great rock and over the gate. Those ten stones, therefore, were fitted together, and they filled the whole rock. And they became the foundation of the building of the tower. And the rock and the gate were supporting the whole tower. And after the ten stones, another twenty-five stones came up out of the deep; and these were fitted into the building of the tower, being carried by the virgins just as the former ones were. And after these, thirty-five came up; and these likewise were fitted into the tower. And after these, other forty stones came up; and all these were put into the building of the tower; so there were four courses in the foundations of the tower. And they ceased coming up from the deep; and the builders also ceased for a little while. And again the six men commanded the multitude of the crowd to bring stones from the mountains for the building of the tower. They were brought, therefore, from all the mountains, of various colors, quarried by the men, and were given to the virgins; and the virgins carried them through the gate and delivered them for the building of the tower. And when the various stones were placed in the building, they became similarly white and changed their former colors. But some stones were delivered by the men for the building, and did not become bright, but just as they were placed, so they remained; for they had not been given by the virgins, nor had they been brought through the gate. These stones, therefore, were unseemly in the building of the tower. And the six men saw these unseemly stones in the building and commanded them to be taken up and carried away below to their own place from which they had been brought. And they say to the men who were bringing the stones: "You are not to give stones for the building at all; but place them beside the tower, so that the virgins may bring them through the gate and give them for the building. For," they say, "if they are not carried through the gate by the hands of these virgins, they cannot change their colors; do not labor, therefore," they say, "in vain." And on that day the building was finished, but the tower was not completed; for it was to be built upon again; and there was a certain pause in the building. And the six men commanded those who were building to withdraw and, as it were, to rest; but they ordered the virgins not to withdraw from the tower. And it seemed to me that the virgins had been left behind to guard the tower. And after they all withdrew and rested, I say to the shepherd: "Why is it," I say, "sir, that the building of the tower was not completed?" "Not yet," he says, "can the tower be completed, unless its master comes and tests this building, so that if any stones are found to be rotten, he may change them; for the tower is being built according to his will." "I wished," I say, "sir, to know what this building of this tower is, and concerning the rock and gate and the mountains and the virgins, and the stones that came from the

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οἰκοδομεῖν τὸν πύργον. αἱ δὲ παρθένοι τοὺς δέκα λίθους τοὺς πρώτους τοὺς ἐκ τοῦ βυθοῦ ἀναβάντας ἐπετίθουν ἀλλήλαις καὶ κατὰ ἕνα λίθον ἐβά σταζον ὁμοῦ. Καθὼς δὲ ἐστάθησαν ὁμοῦ κύκλῳ τῆς πύλης, οὕτως ἐβάσταζον αἱ δοκοῦσαι δυναταὶ εἶναι, καὶ ὑπὸ τὰς γωνίας τοῦ λίθου ὑποδεδυκυῖαι ἦσαν· αἱ δὲ ἄλλαι ἐκ τῶν πλευρῶν τοῦ λίθου ὑποδεδύκεισαν, καὶ οὕτως ἐβάσταζον πάντας τοὺς λίθους· διὰ δὲ τῆς πύλης διέφερον αὐτούς, καθὼς ἐκελεύσθησαν, καὶ ἐπεδίδουν τοῖς ἀνδράσιν εἰς τὸν πύργον· ἐκεῖνοι δὲ ἔχοντες τοὺς λίθους ᾠκοδόμουν. ἡ οἰκοδομὴ δὲ τοῦ πύργου ἐγένετο ἐπὶ τὴν πέτραν τὴν μεγάλην καὶ ἐπάνω τῆς πύλης. ἡρμόσθησαν οὖν οἱ ι λίθοι ἐκεῖνοι, καὶ ἐνέπλησαν ὅλην τὴν πέτραν. καὶ ἐγένοντο ἐκεῖνοι θεμέλιος τῆς οἰκο δομῆς τοῦ πύργου. ἡ δὲ πέτρα καὶ ἡ πύλη ἦν βαστάζουσα ὅλον τὸν πύργον. μετὰ δὲ τοὺς ι λίθους ἄλλοι ἀνέβησαν ἐκ τοῦ βυθοῦ κε λίθοι· καὶ οὗτοι ἡρμόσθησαν εἰς τὴν οἰκοδομὴν τοῦ πύργου, βασταζόμενοι ὑπὸ τῶν παρθένων καθὼς καὶ οἱ πρότεροι. μετὰ δὲ τούτους ἀνέβησαν λε· καὶ οὗτοι ὁμοίως ἡρμόσθησαν εἰς τὸν πύργον. μετὰ δὲ τούτους ἕτεροι ἀνέβησαν λίθοι μ· καὶ οὗτοι πάντες ἐβλήθησαν εἰς τὴν οἰκοδομὴν τοῦ πύργου· ἐγέ νοντο οὖν στοῖχοι τέσσαρες ἐν τοῖς θεμελίοις τοῦ πύργου. καὶ ἐπαύσαντο ἐκ τοῦ βυθοῦ ἀναβαίνοντες· ἐπαύσαντο δὲ καὶ οἱ οἰκοδομοῦντες μικρόν. καὶ πάλιν ἐπέταξαν οἱ ἓξ ἄνδρες τῷ πλήθει τοῦ ὄχλου ἐκ τῶν ὀρέων παραφέρειν λίθους εἰς τὴν οἰκοδομὴν τοῦ πύργου. παρεφέροντο οὖν ἐκ πάντων τῶν ὀρέων χρόαις ποικίλαις λελατομημένοι ὑπὸ τῶν ἀνδρῶν καὶ ἐπεδίδοντο ταῖς παρθένοις· αἱ δὲ παρθένοι διέφερον αὐτοὺς διὰ τῆς πύλης καὶ ἐπεδίδουν εἰς τὴν οἰκοδομὴν τοῦ πύργου. καὶ ὅταν εἰς τὴν οἰκοδομὴν ἐτέθησαν οἱ λίθοι οἱ ποικίλοι, ὅμοιοι ἐγένοντο λευκοὶ καὶ τὰς χρόας τὰς προτέρας ἤλλασσον. τινὲς δὲ λίθοι ἐπεδίδοντο ὑπὸ τῶν ἀνδρῶν εἰς τὴν οἰκοδομήν, καὶ οὐκ ἐγίνοντο λαμπροί, ἀλλ' οἷοι ἐτέθησαν, τοιοῦτοι καὶ ἦσαν· οὐ γὰρ ἦσαν ἀπὸ τῶν παρθένων ἐπιδεδομένοι οὐδὲ διὰ τῆς πύλης παρενηνεγμένοι. οὗτοι οὖν οἱ λίθοι ἀπρεπεῖς ἦσαν ἐν τῇ οἰκοδομῇ τοῦ πύργου. εἶδον δὲ οἱ ἓξ ἄνδρες τοὺς λίθους τούτους ἀπρεπεῖς ἐν τῇ οἰκοδομῇ καὶ ἐκέλευσαν αὐτοὺς ἀρθῆναι καὶ ἀπενεχθῆναι κάτω εἰς τὸν ἴδιον τόπον ὅθεν ἠνέχθησαν. καὶ λέγουσι τοῖς ἀνδράσι τοῖς παρεμφέρουσι τοὺς λίθους· Ὅλως ὑμεῖς μὴ ἐπιδίδοτε εἰς τὴν οἰκοδομὴν λίθους· τίθετε δὲ αὐτοὺς παρὰ τὸν πύργον, ἵνα αἱ παρθένοι διὰ τῆς πύλης παρενέγκωσιν αὐτοὺς καὶ ἐπιδιδῶσιν εἰς τὴν οἰκοδομήν. ἐὰν γάρ, φασίν, διὰ τῶν χειρῶν τῶν παρθένων τούτων μὴ διενεχθῶσι διὰ τῆς πύλης, τὰς χρόας αὐτῶν ἀλλάξαι οὐ δύνανται· μὴ κοπιᾶτε οὖν, φασίν, εἰς μάτην. Καὶ ἐτελέσθη ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἡ οἰκοδομή, οὐκ ἀπετελέσθη δὲ ὁ πύργος· ἔμελλε γὰρ πάλιν ἐποικοδομεῖσθαι· ἐγένετο δὲ ἀνοχή τις τῆς οἰκοδομῆς. ἐκέλευσαν δὲ αὐτοὺς οἱ ἓξ ἄνδρες τοὺς οἰκοδομοῦντας ἀναχωρῆσαι καὶ ὡσεὶ ἀναπαῆναι· ταῖς δὲ παρθένοις ἐπέταξαν ἀπὸ τοῦ πύργου μὴ ἀναχωρεῖν. ἐδόκει δέ μοι τὰς παρθένους καταλελεῖφθαι τοῦ φυλάσσειν τὸν πύργον. μετὰ δὲ τὸ ἀναχωρῆσαι πάντας καὶ ἀναπαῆναι λέγω τῷ ποιμένι· Τί ὅτι, φημί, κύριε, οὐ συνετελέσθη ἡ οἰκοδομὴ τοῦ πύργου; Oὔπω, φησί, δύναται ἀποτελεσθῆναι ὁ πύργος, ἐὰν μὴ ἔλθῃ ὁ κύριος αὐτοῦ καὶ δοκιμάσῃ τὴν οἰκοδομὴν ταύτην, ἵνα ἐάν τινες λίθοι σαπροὶ εὑρεθῶσιν, ἀλλάξῃ αὐτούς· πρὸς γὰρ τὸ ἐκείνου θέλημα οἰκοδομεῖται ὁ πύργος. Ἤθελον, φημί, κύριε, τούτου τοῦ πύργου γνῶναι τί ἐστιν ἡ οἰκοδομὴ αὕτη, καὶ περὶ τῆς πέτρας καὶ πύλης καὶ τῶν ὀρέων καὶ τῶν παρθένων, καὶ τῶν λίθων τῶν ἐκ τοῦ