And behold the dead man’s Accuser enters--the Evil Spirit of his former life. An unclean sack is in his hands and he stands near the left scale of the Balance. The sack of pure white contains the good deeds. The sack that is begrimed and black--the evil, sinful deeds. And the vindicator of the soul pours out the contents of the white sack on the right scale. The good deeds are of the odor of incense and glow with the radiancy of the stars. The Accuser pours out the contents of the unclean sack on the left scale of the Balance. The evil deeds--Heaven protect us--are as black as coal, and reek of the very stench of tar and pitch. And the poor soul stares at it all--and gasps. It never dreamt to behold such a distinction between the “Good” and the “Evil.” “There” it had often recognized neither of them and had mistaken the one for the other. The scales rise gradually. Now the one, now the other moves up and down ... and the indicator oscillates now a hair’s breadth to the left, now a trifle towards the right. But a hair’s breadth variation and that gradually ... an ordinary mortal this soul must have been; neither rebellious to the Holy Spirit nor yet dwelling much within it ... capable of trivial virtues and trivial vices only. The scales held but little particles, tiny dots of things, at times hardly visible to the eye. And yet, what a clamor of joy and of gladness from the empyrean when the Balance indicator turns but a trifle towards the right and what racking cries of agony mark every turn to the left. And slowly, ever so slowly the angels empty the sacks. With a zest they show up the tiny particles, just as decent burghers will add one farthing to another in self-exhibition to a seeing world. However, the deepest well will run dry--and the sacks, too, are soon empty. “Is that all?” inquires the court-usher. He, too, is an angel among his like. Both the Good and the Evil Spirits turn their sacks inside out. Absolutely nothing more. The court-usher steps forward to the Balance. He examines the indicator to see whether it is inclined towards the right or the left; and he stares at it good and long; for he beholds something that none ever saw since first the Heavens and the Earth knew creation.... “Why such hesitancy?” demands the Chief Justice. And the usher mutters: “But one moment! The index is exactly in the center. The Evil deeds and the Good are exactly of the same weight.” “Is that absolutely so?” queries a voice from about the table. The usher looks yet again: “Yea even to a hair’s breadth.”