_R._ _I wonder why thou speakest so. Suppose now if a letter with seal from thy lord should come to thee, canst thou say thou art not able to understand him by that, nor to recognise his will therein? If thou sayest that thou canst know his will therein, say then whether it seemeth to thee better to follow his will, or to follow after the wealth which he gave thee over and above his friendship._ _A._ _Whether I will or not, I must speak truly, unless I am prepared to lie. If I lie, God knoweth it. Therefore I dare speak only the truth, so far as I can know it. Methinks it is better to forsake the gift, and follow the giver, who is to me the steward both of the riches and of his friendship, unless I can have both. I should like, however, to have both, if I could follow both the wealth and also his will._ [Sidenote: 24.7--25.23] _R._ _Full rightly hast thou answered me, but I would ask thee whether thou supposest that thou canst have all that thou now hast without thy lord's friendship._ _A._ _I do not suppose that any man is so foolish as to think that._ _R._ _Thou understandest it rightly enough, but I would know whether thou thinkest that what thou hast is temporal or eternal._ _A._ _I never supposed it to be eternal._ _R._ _What thinkest thou about God and the anchors which we spake of--are they like these, or are they eternal?_ _A._ _Who is so mad as to dare say that God is not eternal?_ _R._ _If He is eternal, why lovest thou not the eternal Lord more than the temporal? Lo, thou knowest that the Eternal will not leave thee, except thou go from Him; and thou must needs depart from the other whether thou will or no; thou must either leave him, or he thee. Howbeit I perceive that thou lovest him very much, and also fearest and dost well; very rightly and very becomingly thou dost. But I wonder why thou dost not love the Other much more, Him who giveth thee both the friendship of the worldly lord and His own, and, after this world, life eternal. The Lord is the ruler of you both--thine and thy lord's whom thou so immeasurably lovest._ _A._ _I confess to thee that I would love Him above all other things, if I could understand and know Him as I would. But I can understand very little of Him, or nothing at all, and yet at times, when I think carefully of Him, and any inspiration cometh to me about the eternal life, then I by no means prefer this present life to that, nor even love it so much._ _R._ _Wishest thou now to see Him and clearly understand Him?_ _A._ _I have no wish above that._ _R._ _Keep, then, His commandments._ [Sidenote: 25.24--27.13] _A._ _What commandments?_ _R._ _I named them to thee before._ _A._ _Methinks they are very burdensome and very manifold._ _R._ _What one loveth, methinks, is not burdensome._ _A._ _Nor doth any work seem burdensome to me if I can see and have what I work for. But doubt begetteth heaviness._