The Soul said
If I had the knowledge of Nature and of the Creatures, I would then rule the whole World as I listed.
The Devil said
The whole ground of their knowledge lieth in thee. Do but turn thy Will and Desire from God or Goodness into Nature and the Creatures, and then there will arise in thee a lust to taste; and so thou mayest eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and by that means come to know all things.
The Soul said
Well then, I will eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, that I may rule all things by my own power, and be of myself a Lord on Earth, and do what I will, even as God himself doth.
The Devil said
I am the Prince of this World; and if thou wouldst rule on earth thou must turn thy lust towards my Image, and desire to be like me, that thou mayst get the cunning, wit, reason, and subtlety that my Image hath.
Thus did the Devil present to the Soul the Power that is in the fiery root of the Creature, that is the fiery Wheel of Essence in the form of a Serpent. Upon which,
The Soul said