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that had come up from the deep and had not been quarried, but were thus placed into the building. and why first 10 stones were put into the foundations, then 25, then 35, then 40, and concerning the stones that had gone into the building and were again taken out and put into their own place; concerning all these things, set my soul at rest, Lord, and make them known to me. If, he says, you are not found to be vainly curious, you will know all things. For after a few days we will come here, and you will see the other things that are coming upon this tower, and you will know all the parables accurately. And after a few days we came to the place where we had sat, and he says to me: Let us go to the tower, for the master of the tower is coming to inspect it. And we came to the tower; and there was no one at all near it except the virgins alone. And the shepherd asks the virgins if the master of the tower had arrived. And they said that he was about to come to inspect the building. And behold, after a little while I see an array of many men coming; and in the midst a certain man, tall in stature, so as to be taller than the tower. And the six men who were set over the building walked with him on his right and on his left, and all who had worked on the building were with him, and many other glorious ones around him. And the virgins who were guarding the tower ran up and kissed him, and began to walk near him around the tower. And that man inspected the building accurately, so that he felt each single stone. And holding a certain rod in his hand, he struck each one of the stones that had been built. And when he struck them, some of them became black as soot, and some scabby, and some having cracks, and some stunted, and some neither white nor black, and some rough and not fitting with the other stones, and some having many spots; these were the varieties of the rotten stones found in the building. He commanded therefore that all these be removed from the tower and be placed beside the tower, and that other stones be brought and put into their place. And the builders asked him from what mountain he wished stones to be brought and put into their place. And he did not command them to be brought from the mountains, but commanded them to be brought from a certain plain that was nearby. And the plain was dug, and there were found bright square stones, and some also round. And as many stones as there were in that plain were all brought, and were carried through the gate by the virgins. And the square stones were quarried and put into the place of those that had been removed; but the round ones were not put into the building, because they were hard to be quarried, and it was done slowly. But they were placed beside the tower, as they were intended to be quarried and placed into the building; for they were very bright. When, therefore, the glorious man and lord of the whole tower had finished these things, he called the shepherd, and delivered to him all the stones lying beside the tower, which had been cast out of the building, and says to him: Carefully clean these stones and put them into the building of the tower, those which are able to fit with the rest; but those that do not fit, cast far from the tower. Having commanded these things to the shepherd, he went away from the tower with all those with whom he had come. And the virgins stood around the tower guarding it. I say to the shepherd: How can these stones go into the building of the tower, having been rejected? answering me

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βυθοῦ ἀναβεβηκότων καὶ μὴ λελατομημένων, ἀλλ' οὕτως ἀπελθόντων εἰς τὴν οἰκοδομήν. καὶ διατί πρῶτον εἰς τὰ θεμέλια ι λίθοι ἐτέθησαν, εἶτα κε, εἶτα λε, εἶτα μ, καὶ περὶ τῶν λίθων τῶν ἀπεληλυθότων εἰς τὴν οἰκοδομὴν καὶ πάλιν ἠρμένων καὶ εἰς τόπον ἴδιον ἀποτεθειμένων· περὶ πάν των τούτων ἀνάπαυσον τὴν ψυχήν μου, κύριε, καὶ γνώρισόν μοι αὐτά. Ἐάν, φησί, κενόσπουδος μὴ εὑρεθῇς, πάντα γνώσῃ. μετ' ὀλίγας γὰρ ἡμέρας ἐλευ σόμεθα ἐνθάδε, καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ ὄψει τὰ ἐπερχόμενα τῷ πύργῳ τούτῳ καὶ πάσας τὰς παραβολὰς ἀκριβῶς γνώσῃ. καὶ μετ' ὀλίγας ἡμέρας ἤλθομεν εἰς τὸν τόπον οὗ κεκαθίκαμεν, καὶ λέγει μοι· Ἄγωμεν παρὰ τὸν πύργον· ὁ γὰρ αὐθέντης τοῦ πύργου ἔρχεται κατανοῆσαι αὐτόν. καὶ ἤλθομεν πρὸς τὸν πύργον· καὶ ὅλως οὐθεὶς ἦν πρὸς αὐτὸν εἰ μὴ αἱ παρθένοι μόναι. καὶ ἐπ ερωτᾷ ὁ ποιμὴν τὰς παρθένους εἰ ἄρα παραγεγόνει ὁ δεσπότης τοῦ πύργου. αἱ δὲ ἔφησαν μέλλειν αὐτὸν ἔρχεσθαι κατανοῆσαι τὴν οἰκοδομήν. Καὶ ἰδοὺ μετὰ μικρὸν βλέπω παράταξιν πολλῶν ἀνδρῶν ἐρχομένων· καὶ εἰς τὸ μέσον ἀνήρ τις ὑψηλὸς τῷ μεγέθει, ὥστε τὸν πύργον ὑπερέχειν. καὶ οἱ ἓξ ἄνδρες οἱ εἰς τὴν οἰκοδομὴν ἐφεστῶτες ἐκ δεξιῶν καὶ ἀριστερῶν περιεπάτησαν μετ' αὐτοῦ, καὶ πάντες οἱ εἰς τὴν οἰκοδομὴν ἐργασάμενοι μετ' αὐτοῦ ἦσαν, καὶ ἕτεροι πολλοὶ κύκλῳ αὐτοῦ ἔνδοξοι. αἱ δὲ παρθένοι αἱ τηροῦσαι τὸν πύργον προσδραμοῦσαι κατεφίλησαν αὐτόν, καὶ ἤρξαντο ἐγγὺς αὐτοῦ περιπατεῖν κύκλῳ τοῦ πύργου. κατενόει δὲ ὁ ἀνὴρ ἐκεῖνος τὴν οἰκοδο μὴν ἀκριβῶς, ὥστε αὐτὸν καθ' ἕνα λίθον ψηλαφᾶν. κρατῶν δέ τινα ·άβδον τῇ χειρὶ κατὰ ἕνα λίθον τῶν ᾠκοδομημένων ἔτυπτε. καὶ ὅταν ἐπάτασσεν, ἐγένοντο αὐτῶν τινες μέλανες ὡσεὶ ἀσβόλη, τινὲς δὲ ἐψωριακότες, τινὲς δὲ σχισμὰς ἔχοντες, τινὲς δὲ κολοβοί, τινὲς δὲ οὔτε λευκοὶ οὔτε μέλανες, τινὲς δὲ τραχεῖς καὶ μὴ συμφωνοῦντες τοῖς ἑτέροις λίθοις, τινὲς δὲ σπίλους πολλοὺς ἔχοντες· αὗται ἦσαν αἱ ποικιλίαι τῶν λίθων τῶν σαπρῶν εὑρεθέντων εἰς τὴν οἰκοδομήν. ἐκέλευσεν οὖν πάντας τούτους ἐκ τοῦ πύργου μετενεχθῆναι καὶ τεθῆναι παρὰ τὸν πύργον, καὶ ἑτέρους ἐνεχθῆναι λίθους καὶ ἐμβληθῆναι εἰς τὸν τόπον αὐτῶν. καὶ ἐπηρώτησαν αὐτὸν οἱ οἰκοδομοῦντες, ἐκ τίνος ὄρους θέλει ἐνεχθῆναι λίθους καὶ ἐμβληθῆναι εἰς τὸν τόπον αὐτῶν. καὶ ἐκ μὲν τῶν ὀρέων οὐκ ἐκέλευσεν ἐνεχθῆναι, ἐκ δέ τινος πεδίου ἐγγὺς ὄντος ἐκέλευσεν ἐνεχθῆναι. καὶ ὠρύγη τὸ πεδίον, καὶ εὑρέθησαν λίθοι λαμ προὶ τετράγωνοι, τινὲς δὲ καὶ στρογγύλοι. ὅσοι δέ ποτε ἦσαν λίθοι ἐν τῷ πεδίῳ ἐκείνῳ, πάντες ἠνέχθησαν, καὶ διὰ τῆς πύλης ἐβαστάζοντο ὑπὸ τῶν παρθένων. καὶ ἐλατομήθησαν οἱ τετράγωνοι λίθοι καὶ ἐτέθησαν εἰς τὸν τόπον τῶν ἠρμένων· οἱ δὲ στρογγύλοι οὐκ ἐτέθησαν εἰς τὴν οἰκοδομήν, ὅτι σκληροὶ ἦσαν εἰς τὸ λατομηθῆναι αὐτούς, καὶ βραδέως ἐγένετο. ἐτέ θησαν δὲ παρὰ τὸν πύργον, ὡς μελλόντων αὐτῶν λατομεῖσθαι καὶ τίθεσθαι εἰς τὴν οἰκοδομήν· λίαν γὰρ λαμπροὶ ἦσαν. Ταῦτα οὖν συντελέσας ὁ ἀνὴρ ὁ ἔνδοξος καὶ κύριος ὅλου τοῦ πύργου προσε καλέσατο τὸν ποιμένα, καὶ παρέδωκεν αὐτῷ τοὺς λίθους πάντας τοὺς παρὰ τὸν πύργον κειμένους, τοὺς ἀποβεβλημένους ἐκ τῆς οἰκοδομῆς, καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ· Ἐπιμελῶς καθάρισον τοὺς λίθους τούτους καὶ θὲς αὐτοὺς εἰς τὴν οἰκοδομὴν τοῦ πύργου, τοὺς δυναμένους ἁρμόσαι τοῖς λοιποῖς· τοὺς δὲ μὴ ἁρμόζοντας ·ῖψον μακρὰν ἀπὸ τοῦ πύργου. ταῦτα κελεύσας τῷ ποιμένι ἀπῆλθεν ἀπὸ τοῦ πύργου μετὰ πάντων ὧν ἐληλύθει. αἱ δὲ παρθένοι κύκλῳ τοῦ πύργου εἱστή κεισαν τηροῦσαι αὐτόν. λέγω τῷ ποιμένι· Πῶς οὗτοι οἱ λίθοι δύνανται εἰς τὴν οἰκοδομὴν τοῦ πύργου ἀπελθεῖν ἀποδεδοκιμασμένοι; ἀποκριθείς μοι