"Such a soul does not see Osiris, nor the farther heavens where he dwells illumined by the glory of the divine disk of the Lord of the Sun. The reprobate spirit does not behold the Eye of Osiris, nor repose in its pure light. It is not manifested to the sacred deities of the inner heavens, nor does he hear the voice of the great god, saying, 'Thou art justified, O soul! Enter thou the Gate of Truth.' "If the soul is all wicked, with no virtues, then Horus releases its hand with horror, and the dog devours the wretched being in a moment. But if he has one or two virtues--such as honoring his parents, having saved a human life, or fed the hungry--then he is not given over to the monster; but Horus, with a sad aspect, leads him to the throne of Osiris, who, reading the dark tablet of Thoth, sternly inclines his sceptre in token of condemnation, and pronounces judgment upon him according to his sin, when, Horus leaving him, two evil gods from the realms of Typhon appear and lead him forth." "What is the punishment ordained?" "To be led back to the gate of Truth and delivered to Justice, who, without a head, sits thereat. The goddess seals the sentence of Osiris upon the forehead of the unclean soul, and instantly it assumes the form of a pig, or some other base animal. The god Thoth then calls up two monkeys, who take the condemned soul to a boat and ferry it back to the world, while the bridge by which it came from the earth is cut down by Anubis, in the form of a man with an axe." "As every thing in Egyptian mythology is symbolical, what is the signification of these monkeys?" "Monkeys are emblems of Thoth, the god of time," he answered. "The books of our mysteries teach that the human race began with the monkey, and progressively advanced to man. Osiris, by his judgment, condemns the unclean soul to the level of the monkey again, but first commands it to enter a swine's body, the uncleanest of all beasts, and make its way through the whole circle of animal creation, back to the monkey, and up through the black, barbaric races of men, who have arms like apes, to true man himself. Then, practising virtue and rejecting his former vices, he may after death finally attain to the mansions of the blessed, in the presence of Osiris. But I should add, the souls of bodies unburied can never enter the Gate of Truth." Here we came in sight of the gigantic pylon that opens to the Temple of the Pyramid of Cheops, and the hierarch ceased speaking. He had, however, but little to add, for his explanations covered all the ground of my inquiries.