The punishing spirit who was speaking forcibly, as was said [541], as if by forward thrusts of the voice, and standing at the left, below the mid portion of the body, came up to me and wanted, according to the custom on their earth, to punish me because of things I had thought and said. And those angels, as they call them, stood at the region of my head in order to guide him, to permit him to punish according to the circumstances, and thus to moderate. But he was not permitted to do anything to me, except to show me their various kinds of punishments, one being to cause a painful contraction around the midriff, like that of a sharp belt being tightened, which, they said, was attended with great pain to their people. Another kind was a privation of breathing, such that they finally came into a shortness of breath caused by the intervals of stoppage. Yet another was to announce their death, and the consequent loss of joy from their married partner, children, companions, or from those who are dear to them; for these spirits are able to find out in an instant what they love.