《A Memorable Fancy， Plates 17-20(其他)》歌词

[00:00:05] 7

[00:00:05] A Memorable Fancy 4

[00:00:06] An Angel came to me and said：'O pitiable foolish young man O horrible O dreadful state consider the hot burning dungeon thou art preparing for thyself to all eternity to which thou art going in such career '

[00:00:21] I said：'perhaps you will be willing to shew me my eternal lot &we will contemplate together upon it and see whether your lot or mine is most desirable '

[00:00:38] So he took me thro' a stable &thro' a church &down into the church vault at the end of which was a mill：thro' the mill we went and came to a cave：down the winding cavern we groped our tedious way till a void boundless as a nether sky appear'd beneath us &we held by the roots of trees and hung over this immensity but I said 'if you please we will commit ourselves to this void and see whether providence is here also if you will not I will ' but he answer'd：'do not presume O young man but as we here remain behold thy lot which will soon appear when the darkness passes away '

[00:01:36] So I remain'd with him sitting in the twisted root of an oak he was suspended in a fungus which hung with the head downward into the deep

[00:02:00] By degrees we beheld the infinite Abyss fiery as the smoke of a burning city beneath us at an immense distance was the sun black but shining round it were fiery tracks on which revolv'd vast spiders crawling after their prey which flew or rather swum in the infinite deep in the most terrific shapes of animals sprung from corruption &the air was full of them &seem'd composed of them：these are Devils and are called Powers of the air

[00:02:56] I now asked my companion which was my eternal lot he said 'between the black &white spiders '

[00:03:12] But now from between the black &white spiders a cloud and fire burst and rolled thro' the deep black'ning all beneath so that the nether deep grew black as a sea &rolled with a terrible noise beneath us was nothing now to be seen but a black tempest till looking east between the clouds &the waves we saw a cataract of blood mixed with fire and not many stones' throw from us appear'd and sunk again the scaly fold of a monstrous serpent at last to the east distant about three degrees appear'd a fiery crest above the waves slowly it reared like a ridge of golden rocks till we discover'd two globes of crimson fire from which the sea fled away in clouds of smoke and now we saw it was the head of Leviathan his forehead was divided into streaks of green &purple like those on a tyger's forehead：soon we saw his mouth &red gills hang just above the raging foam tinging the black deep with beams of blood advancing toward us with all the fury of a spiritual existence

[00:05:42] My friend the Angel climb'd up from his station into the mill I remain'd alone &then this appearance was no more but I found myself sitting on a pleasant bank beside a river by moonlight hearing a harper who sung to the harp &his theme was：'The man who never alters his opinion is like standing water &breeds reptiles of the mind '

[00:06:42] But I arose and sought for the mill &there I found my Angel who surprised asked me how I escaped

[00:06:51] I answer'd：' All that we saw was owing to your metaphysics for when you ran away I found myself on a bank by moonlight hearing a harper But now we have seen my eternal lot shall I shew you yours ' he laugh'd at my proposal but I by force suddenly caught him in my arms &flew westerly thro' the night till we were elevated above the earth's shadow then I flung myself with him directly into the body of the sun here I clothed myself in white &taking in my hand Swedenborg's volumes sunk from the glorious clime and passed all the planets till we came to saturn：here I staid to rest &then leap'd into the void between saturn &the fixed stars

[00:07:52] 'Here ' said I 'is your lot in this space if space it may be call'd ' Soon we saw the stable and the church &I took him to the altar and open'd the Bible and lo it was a deep pit into which I descended driving the Angel before me soon we saw seven houses of brick one we enter'd in it were a number of monkeys baboons &all of that species chain'd by the middle grinning and snatching at one another but witheld by the shortness of their chains：however I saw that they sometimes grew numerous and then the weak were caught by the strong and with a grinning aspect first coupled with &then devour'd by plucking off first one limb and then another till the body was left a helpless trunk this after grinning &kissing it with seeming fondness they devour'd too and here &there I saw one savourily picking the flesh off of his own tail as the stench terribly annoy'd us both we went into the mill &I in my hand brought the skeleton of a body which in the mill was Aristotle's Analytics

[00:10:17] So the Angel said：'thy phantasy has imposed upon me &thou oughtest to be ashamed '

[00:10:34] I answer'd：'we impose on one another &it is but lost time to converse with you whose works are only Analytics '

[00:11:06] Opposition is true friendship