to me:
âSir, thereâs no truth in what you say.
 You lament that your pearl is lost for ever
 when the exquisite coffer encasing her
 is this wonderful garden and glorious estate,
 and here is her home for eternity
 where misery and melancholy never come near.
 What worth this casket would truly hold,
 if measured and judged by a master jeweller.
Â
23
âBut gentle jeweller, if you are dejected
 at the loss of a gem which lent you such joy,
 then your mind pursues a mad purpose
 and troubles itself with a trifling cause.
 What rendered you bereft was only a rose
 that flowered and faded as nature intended.
 But now, through the nature of the chest where it lies,
 its worth as a precious pearl is proven.
 And you falsely infer your fate is a thief,
 when He conjures you something from nothing, quite clearly.
 Since you heap blame on the healing balm
 I judge you to be no natural jeweller.â
Â
24
 That visitor was a jewel to me then, a vision
 whose noble words were no less gemmed.
âOh best and blessed one,â I said to her,
âyou dispel my grief and great distress,
 so I ask you please to pardon me
 for believing my pearl was oblivionâs prize.
 Now that Iâve found it again Iâll rejoice,
 and dwell with that beauty in the bright dells,
 and love my Lord and all His laws
 who has brought blissfulness back to me.
 To join you beyond this wide water
 would make this man a joyful jeweller.â
Â
25
âJeweller,â that glittering gem then said,
âwhy must men joke? You must all be mad.
 Three utterances you issued all at once,
 each as null and empty as the next.
 What meaning they have must escape the man
 whose mouth moves ahead of his mind.
 Firstly, you feel you have found me in this valley
 having seen the evidence with your own eyes.
 Secondly, you state you will stay right here,
 and live your life alongside me in this land.
 Thirdly, you think you will bridge this brook â
 no gentle jeweller could make such a journey.
VI
26
‘I judge unworthy of praise the jeweller
who only believes what his eyes behold,
and call him discourteous and worthy of blame
for believing our Lord would speak a lie,
who faithfully promised to lift up your life
should Fortune cause your flesh to rot.
You set the words of our Saviour askew
by clinging to the saying that seeing is believing,
an expression of a person’s love of pride.
It is unbecoming in a courteous man
to try and to test but to trust no truth
beyond those facts which flatter his judgement.
Â
27
âNow judge for yourself if you have spoken
 in the manner a man should address the Almighty.
 You say out loud you will live in this land â
 I think you must plead for permission first,
 and such a favour could well be refused.
 And you wish to pass over this watercourse,
 but first you must plot a different path:
 your cold corpse must sink through the soil;
 it was forfeited by our ancestor, Adam,
 who misguarded it in the Garden of Eden.
 Every man must experience cruel demise
 before God in his judgement will grant the crossing.â
Â
28
âSweet one,â I pleaded, âthat judgement you pass
 is a life sentence of sorrow and loss.
 Now I have gained what I thought was gone
 must I lose it again before my lifeâs end?
 Why must I find then forfeit my prize?
 My priceless pearl, you inflict such pain.
 What use is treasure if it leads to tears,
 when its absence causes the heart to ache?
 Iâm indifferent now to how far I might fall
 or the distance and depth to which Iâm driven.
 Deprived of my precious pearl I expect
 a dark journey till my judgement day.â
Â
29
âYou
âSir, thereâs no truth in what you say.
 You lament that your pearl is lost for ever
 when the exquisite coffer encasing her
 is this wonderful garden and glorious estate,
 and here is her home for eternity
 where misery and melancholy never come near.
 What worth this casket would truly hold,
 if measured and judged by a master jeweller.
Â
23
âBut gentle jeweller, if you are dejected
 at the loss of a gem which lent you such joy,
 then your mind pursues a mad purpose
 and troubles itself with a trifling cause.
 What rendered you bereft was only a rose
 that flowered and faded as nature intended.
 But now, through the nature of the chest where it lies,
 its worth as a precious pearl is proven.
 And you falsely infer your fate is a thief,
 when He conjures you something from nothing, quite clearly.
 Since you heap blame on the healing balm
 I judge you to be no natural jeweller.â
Â
24
 That visitor was a jewel to me then, a vision
 whose noble words were no less gemmed.
âOh best and blessed one,â I said to her,
âyou dispel my grief and great distress,
 so I ask you please to pardon me
 for believing my pearl was oblivionâs prize.
 Now that Iâve found it again Iâll rejoice,
 and dwell with that beauty in the bright dells,
 and love my Lord and all His laws
 who has brought blissfulness back to me.
 To join you beyond this wide water
 would make this man a joyful jeweller.â
Â
25
âJeweller,â that glittering gem then said,
âwhy must men joke? You must all be mad.
 Three utterances you issued all at once,
 each as null and empty as the next.
 What meaning they have must escape the man
 whose mouth moves ahead of his mind.
 Firstly, you feel you have found me in this valley
 having seen the evidence with your own eyes.
 Secondly, you state you will stay right here,
 and live your life alongside me in this land.
 Thirdly, you think you will bridge this brook â
 no gentle jeweller could make such a journey.
VI
26
‘I judge unworthy of praise the jeweller
who only believes what his eyes behold,
and call him discourteous and worthy of blame
for believing our Lord would speak a lie,
who faithfully promised to lift up your life
should Fortune cause your flesh to rot.
You set the words of our Saviour askew
by clinging to the saying that seeing is believing,
an expression of a person’s love of pride.
It is unbecoming in a courteous man
to try and to test but to trust no truth
beyond those facts which flatter his judgement.
Â
27
âNow judge for yourself if you have spoken
 in the manner a man should address the Almighty.
 You say out loud you will live in this land â
 I think you must plead for permission first,
 and such a favour could well be refused.
 And you wish to pass over this watercourse,
 but first you must plot a different path:
 your cold corpse must sink through the soil;
 it was forfeited by our ancestor, Adam,
 who misguarded it in the Garden of Eden.
 Every man must experience cruel demise
 before God in his judgement will grant the crossing.â
Â
28
âSweet one,â I pleaded, âthat judgement you pass
 is a life sentence of sorrow and loss.
 Now I have gained what I thought was gone
 must I lose it again before my lifeâs end?
 Why must I find then forfeit my prize?
 My priceless pearl, you inflict such pain.
 What use is treasure if it leads to tears,
 when its absence causes the heart to ache?
 Iâm indifferent now to how far I might fall
 or the distance and depth to which Iâm driven.
 Deprived of my precious pearl I expect
 a dark journey till my judgement day.â
Â
29
âYou
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