162. When the spirit who had been a prelate and preacher was in the company of those who wore clothes, a woman was seen with an extremely pretty face; she was dressed in a simple garment, a tunic which hung down becomingly at the back and was put on over the arms. She wore a beautiful head-covering in the form of a garland of flowers. The spirit was very much delighted at the sight of this young lady, and he started talking to her and taking hold of her hand. But she, realising he was a spirit and not from her world, tore herself away from him.
Afterwards a number of other women were seen by him on his right; they were tending sheep and lambs, which they were then taking to a drinking-trough, fed through a small channel from a lake. They were similarly dressed, holding shepherds' crooks in their hands, with which they brought the sheep and lambs to drink. They said the sheep follow the direction pointed out with their crooks. The sheep seen were large with long, broad and woolly tails. The women's faces seen close up were full and lovely. Men were also seen with faces the colour of human flesh, as in our world. But there was a difference; the lower part of their faces was black instead of bearded, and their noses had a whiter colour than flesh.
[2] Afterwards the spirit, who in the world, as I said before, had been a preacher, was taken further on, but against his will, because he was still thinking about the woman who had so delighted him. This was plain from the fact that a kind of shadow of him was still to be seen where he had previously been. He then reached the people who were naked. These were to be seen walking about in pairs, being in each case husband and wife. They wore a loin-cloth, and some kind of covering around the head. While in their company the spirit was brought into the state he had been in when he wanted to preach; so he then said that he wanted to preach to them on the Lord crucified. But they said they did not wish to hear such a story, not knowing what it was. They knew, they said, that the Lord is alive. So then he declared that he would preach on the Lord living. But this too they refused to hear, saying that they felt something in his speech that was not heavenly, because there was much in it for his own sake or for the sake of his reputation and honour. They could tell by listening to the sound of his speech whether it came from the heart or not; and being of such a nature he could not teach them. So he fell silent. When living in the world he had been a most eloquent speaker, very skilled in moving his listeners to holy thoughts. But this eloquence had been a skill he learned, so something of his own and from the world, not from heaven.
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