12 Then will the good shine forth as suns in the kingdom of the soul. 13 And Philip said, Must men and women suffer in the flames because they have not found the way of life? 14 And Jesus said, The fire purifies. The chemist throws into the fire the ores that hold all kinds of dross. 15 The useless metal seems to be consumed; but not a grain of gold is lost. 16 There is no man that has not in him gold that cannot be destroyed. The evil things of men are all consumed in fire; the gold survives. 17 The inner kingdom of the soul I may explain in parables: 18 The son of man goes forth and scatters seeds of truth; God waters well the soil; the seeds show life and grow; first comes the blade, and then the stalk, and then the ear, and then the full wheat in the ear. 19 The harvest comes and, lo, the reapers bear the ripened sheaves into the garner of the Lord. 20 Again, this kingdom of the soul is like a little seed that men may plant in fertile soil. 21 (A thousand of these seeds would scarcely be a shekel’s weight.) 22 The tiny seed begins to grow; it pushes through the earth, and after years of growth it is a mighty tree and birds rest in its leafy bowers and men find refuge ’neath its sheltering boughs from sun and storm. 23 Again, the truth, the spirit of the kingdom of the soul, is like a ball of leaven that a woman hid in measures, three, of flour and in a little time the whole was leavened. 24 Again, the kingdom of the soul is like a treasure hidden in a field which one has found, and straitway goes his way and sells all that he has and buys the field. 25 When Jesus had thus said he went alone into a mountain pass near by to pray. CHAPTER 117. _A royal feast is held in Machaerus. John, the harbinger, is beheaded. His body is buried in Hebron. His disciples mourn. The Christines cross the sea in the night. Jesus calms a raging storm._ A royal feast was held in honor of the birthday of the tetrarch in fortified Machaerus, east of the Bitter Sea. 2 The tetrarch, Herod, and his wife, Herodias, together with Salome were there; and all the men and women of the royal court were there. 3 And when the feast was done, lo, all the guests and courtiers were drunk with wine; they danced and leaped about like children in their play. 4 Salome, daughter of Herodias, came in and danced before the king. The beauty of her form, her grace and winning ways entranced the silly Herod, then half drunk with wine. 5 He called the maiden to his side and said, Salome, you have won my heart, and you may ask and I will give you anything you wish. 6 The maiden ran in childish glee and told her mother what the ruler said. 7 Her mother said, Go back and say, Give me the head of John, the harbinger. 8 The maiden ran and told the ruler what she wished.