In the corner of the room, nearly in front of the large, wooden doors, that are slightly open revealing a glimpse of the hallway beyond, you see this tiny miracle. A light is emanating from it that you had not noticed when it flew past you, and it appears to be a infant, the size of a small bird, with wings beating so quickly, that they appear more as a golden light, and fiery dark eyes that glance directly at you, and in an instant it flies through the crack in the door. Now you hear it in the hallway just outside of the door. You realize now that it is a cherub, and this tiny force seems to be calling you, asking you to follow him.
You walk across the woolen rug covering the stone floor of your room and open the heavy wooden door, entering a long, narrow hallway. When you look around in the hallway, you no longer see the cherubim, or hear the sound of its rustling wings. You wonder for a moment why it would have led you into this hallway, and then disappear, leaving you to find your way somewhere on your own. You hesitate for a moment, wondering which way - to your right, or to your left, that you should continue down the corridor.
You then see a flickering light that is coming from a considerable distance away but it is perceptible from the hallway. You travel to your right, towards this light, listening carefully for the sound of the cherubim, but your steps echoing in the passageway are the only sound you hear. Finally you see the source of the light; it is a candle, mounted in a recess in the wall. Just beyond the light, is an entrance and steps leading down to a dark passageway. You take the candle from its mounting, and holding the candle in your right hand, descend these steps carefully, the flickering light of the candle illuminating your path. There is still no sound of the cherubim, breaking your silent descent.
Finally, you reach a great, iron, door. You hold your candle up to it, and see that something is written upon it in large, copper letters. It is an old script, and holding the candle so the light illuminates it, you still cannot decipher this language, or the message that is conveyed. You try the door, pushing against it with all of your might, and it makes a creaking noise as it opens, slightly, but not enough of an opening for you to pass through. You sit down on the steps in front of the door for a moment, wondering if your journey will end here. You stand up and resolve to try the door one more time. This time as you prepare yourself to muster a greater strength in opening the door, it unexpectedly swings open, with the slightest effort, and you notice that it had only been stuck on a raised stone in the floor, and you had finally pushed past it. Now you descend down another dark passage, but this time you soon reach another small door, all copper, which stands ajar, beckoning you.
You walk through the doorway, and into a large vault. This vault has no light but that of some enormous carbuncles. Looking towards the center of this room, you glimpse a marvelous and most extraordinary sight. In the center of this vault is a triangular tomb, made of pure gold and encrusted with precious stones of all shapes and sizes. This must be a king’s treasury, you think to yourself. In the center of this tomb is a shiny, copper vessel. In this vessel stands an angel, and in his arms is an unknown tree from which small, ripe, round red fruits are slowly and continuously dropping into the vessel. You watch them for a moment, noticing that as soon as they drop into the vessel, the fruits turn to liquid, and the liquid from there then flows to 3 smaller golden vessels nearby.
Beneath all of the vessels, and the angel holding the tree, is a little altar. Three beasts; and eagle, an ox, and a lion, all standing on a richly carved white marble base, support this altar. Just beyond where the base of this altar is resting lies a copper door, set into the floor. You walk around the altar until you’re standing right next to this door, looking down upon it. Upon it is another inscription, written in the same foreign text, as you found upon the iron door, but now, you see that the words form a sentence that now with some difficulty, you may be able to decipher. Slowly you read, from the flickering light of your candle, which has now, almost burned to its base, "Here lies buried Venus, the fair woman who has undone many a great man in fortune, honor, blessing and prosperity."
Filled with curiosity, you lift the copper door and descend the steep and narrow passageway until you come to another room, lit by many torches mounted along the walls. Inside the room is a rich bed, much more lavish than the bed you had slept in the castle above, richly laid with a heavy, forest green, satin brocade, with golden tassels, and a canopy above hung about with the finest silken curtains. From an opening in the curtains you behold a lovely figure lying there upon this bed, perfectly still and pale as a white marble statue, and completely naked.
She is so exquisitely beautiful, that you breath is taken from you, and for a brief moment you are paralyzed with awe at the sight of her. Taking a deep breath, you take a step backwards, noticing behind the bed, above her is a stone tablet, on which is written, "When the fruit of my tree has completely melted, I shall awaken and be the mother of a king."
Leaving this astonishing scene you ascend the steps again, and emerge back in the first room where you beheld the tomb. When you look at the altar, beneath the tree you notice something you hadn’t seen before. At each corner of the altar a small, pyrite taper is burning. You can’t imagine how you had failed to notice before, since the pyrite lights are so bright, they look more like jewels than lights. You see now, that the tree must have been continually melting from their heat, yet it keeps bringing forth more fruits.
Standing for a moment in front of this altar, you, too, begin to feel the intense heat radiating from the jewel like lighted tapers. Feeling a glowing warmth come over you, you now remember that you haven’t slept much, and remembering your bed in your little room above, ascend again the many steps to the hallway, passing the open small copper door, and closing the large, iron door with copper letters behind you.
At last you are in the first hallway again, and although there is no longer any candlelight, the early light of dawn makes finding the way back to your room much easier. You open the heavy wooden door, and walk into your room, closing it behind you. Lying down once again on your bed, you wonder if this has all been only a dream. Almost in answer to this you hear a faint rustling sound. You imagine that this must be only some birds outside your window. You then, drift off into a sound sleep. When you hear the sound of birds outside your window, the sunlight is casting its warm beams into your room and you awaken.
