" After this,
he said, "Follow me to our repository of curiosities:" so we followed
him, and he shewed us the writings of the most ancient people, which
were on the tables of wood and stone, and afterwards on smooth blocks of
wood; the writings of the second age were on sheets of parchment; of
these he brought me a sheet, on which were copied the rules of the
people of the first age from their tables of stone, among which also was
the precept concerning marriages. Having seen these and other ancient
curiosities, the angel said, "It is now time for us to take our leave;"
and immediately our host went into the garden, and plucked some twigs
off a tree, and bound them into a little bunch, and gave them to us,
saying, "These twigs are from a tree, which is native of or peculiar to
our heaven, and whose juice has a balsamic fragrance." We brought the
bunch down with us, and descended by the eastern way, which was not
guarded; and lo! the twigs were changed into shining brass, and the
upper ends of them into gold, as a sign that we had been with the people
of the third age, which is named from copper or brass.
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