Conjugial Love

And the angel replied, “The first table is for Abraham, the second for Isaac, the third for Jacob, and the rest in order for the twelve apostles. On the other side are the same number of tables for their wives: the first three are for Sarah (Abraham’s wife), for Rebecca (the wife of Isaac), and for Leah and Rachel (the wives of Jacob). The other twelve are for the wives of the twelve apostles.”

They did not have to wait long before the tables were covered with dishes. Between the dishes, at regular intervals, were ornaments shaped like small pyramids holding sweetmeats. The guests stood around the tables, waiting to see the leaders who would preside over them. These leaders soon entered according to their rank, beginning with Abraham and ending with the last of the apostles. Then each leader, taking his place at the head of his own table, reclined on a couch and invited the bystanders to take their places, each on their own couch. Accordingly, the men reclined with the patriarchs and apostles, and the women with the wives of those leaders. They ate and drank with much festivity, but with proper decorum.

When the meal was finished, the patriarchs and apostles retired. Then, various sports and dances performed by young men and women were introduced, and these were followed by theatrical performances original: "exhibitions". At the conclusion of these entertainments, the guests were again invited to feast, but with this specific restriction: on the first day they would eat with Abraham, on the second with Isaac, on the third with Jacob, on the fourth with Peter, on the fifth with James, on the sixth with John, on the seventh with Paul, and so on through the rest in order until the fifteenth day. At that point, their festivities would start over again in the same order, only with the guests changing their seats—and so on for eternity.

After this, the angel called together the group that had accompanied him and said to them, “All those people whom you have observed at the various tables had held the same imaginary ideas as yourselves regarding the joys of heaven and eternal happiness. The Lord appointed and permitted these festive displays so that these people might see the emptiness original: "vanity" of such ideas and be turned away from them. Those who presided at the tables with such dignity were actually just old men playing roles; many of them were farmers and peasants who, because they had long beards and were exceedingly proud and arrogant due to their wealth, were easily persuaded to imagine that they truly were those patriarchs and apostles. But follow me to the paths that lead away from this place of festivity.”

They followed him and noticed groups of fifty or more people here and there, stuffed original: "surfeited" with the heavy load of meat in their stomachs. Above all things, these people wished to return to their household chores, their professions, trades, and manual labor. However, many of them were detained by the keepers of the grove, who questioned them about how many days they had feasted and whether they—