(A.A. publication in class C)
 

He slayeth Sir Argon le Paresseux

Now Brother Perardua, though he was but a Zelator of ourancient Order, had
determined in himself to perform the Magnum Opus, andto procure for himself
one Tincture of Double Efficacy. Not fully did he yetcomprehend the Mysterium
of our Art, therefore imposed he upon himself the painfulsevenfold regimen.
For without the Bell of Electrum Magicum of Paracelsushow should, the adept
even give warning to the Powers of the Work of his entrythereunto.

Yet our brother, being of stout heart- for he had beena soldier in many
distant lands- began right cheerfully. His head thatwas hoary with eld he
crowned with five petals of white lotus, as if to signifythe purity of his
body, and went forth into that place where is no field,nor any furrow
therein; and there he sowed a scroll that had two andtwenty seeds diverse.
 

He slayeth Sir Abjad the Saracen

Nor for all his care and labour could he gather therefrommore than seven
planets, that shone in the blackness; and each plantbeareth a single blossom
that hath seven petals© one would have thought themstars; for though they
were not of a verity in themselves brilliant and flashing,yet so black was
that wherein they grew that they seemed brighter thansuns. And these were
placed one above the other in a single line and straight,even according unto
seven centers of his intention that he bare about himin the hollow tube that
hath thirty and two joints.
 

He slayeth Sir Amorex le Desirous

These plants did our brother Perardua pluck, as the mysticrites ordain; and
these did he heat furiously in his alembic, yet withvegetable heat alone,
while he kept them ever moist, dropping upon them ofhis lunar water, whereof
he had three and seventy minims left of the eight andseventy that his Father
had given him; and these he had borne upon a camel throughthe desert unto
this place where he now was, which is called the Oasisof the Lion, even as
the whole Regimen that in the end he accomplished isin the form of a Lion.

This then his Lion waxed exceeding thirsty, and lickedup all the dew. But the
fire being equal thereunto, he was not discomforted.
 

He slayeth Sir Lionel the Warder of the Marches

So now indeed he wrought the first Matter to a pitch ofexcellence beyond the
human; for without trouble was his tincture thus beautiful.First, it had the
crown and horns of Alexander the mighty king; also ithad wings of fine
sapphire; its fore part was like the Lion, whereby indeedit partook of the
highest Virtue, and its hinder quarters were as a bull's.Moreover it stood
upon the White Sphere and the Red Cube; and it is notpossible for any Elixir
to exceed this, unless it be by Our path and working.
 

He slayeth Sir Merlin the Wizard

Yet our brother Perardua- and by now he was right skillfulat the athanor!-
determined to attain to that higher Projection of ourart. Therefore he subtly
prepared a Red Dragon, or as some alchemists will haveit, a Fiery Flying
Serpent, whereby he should eat up that Sphinx of his,that he had nourished
with such ingenium and care.

Now this Red Dragon hath seven fiery coils, proper tothe seven silver stars.
Also was his head right venomous and greedy, and eightflames were about it;
for that Sphinx had two wings and four feet and two horns;but the Serpent is
one, even as the King is one.
 

He slayeth the Great Dragon called Stooping or Twisted

Now then is this work utterly burnt up and abolished inthat tremendous heat
that is in the mouth and belly of the Dragon; and thatwhich cometh forth
therefrom is in no wise that which went in. Yet are thesetwelve the children
of those two-and-twenty. So when he had broken the cucurbite,he found therein
no trace of the seven, but a button of fused gold- aswe say, for it is not
gold...

Now this button hath twelve faces, and angles twenty-foursalient and
reentrant; and Our Egyptian brethren have called it thePavement of the
Firmament of Nu.
 

He slayeth King Astur of the Arms Argent

Now this metal is not in any wise like unto earthly metals;let the brethren
well beware, for many false knaves be abroad. Three thingsbe golden: the
mineral gold of the merchant, that is dross; the vegetablegold that groweth
from the seed of the scroll by virtue of the Lion; andthe animal gold that
cometh forth from the regimen of the Dragon, and thislast is the sole
marketable gold of the Philosopher. For, behold, an Arcanum!I charge you,
keep secret this matter; for the vile brothers, couldthey divine it, would
pervert it.

This mineral Gold cannot be changed into any other substanceby any means.

This Vegetable Gold is fluidic; it must increase wonderfullyand be fixed in
the Perfection of the Sphinx.

But this our Animal Gold is to this mighty pitch unstable,that it can neither
increase nor decrease, nor can it remain that which itis, or seemeth to be.
For even as a drop of glass unequally cooled flieth ata touch into a myriad
fine particles, so also at a touch this gold philosophicaldissolveth his
being, ofttimes with a great and terrible explosion,ofttimes so softly and
subtly that no man may perceive it, be he never so acute,nay, as a needle for
sharpness or for fineness as a spyglass of the necromancers.

Yet herein lieth the core of the matter that in this explosionaforesaid
naught whatever is left either of the seven or the twelveor of the three
Mother seeds that lie concealed therein. But in a certainmystical way the
Other Ten are shadowed forth, though dimly, as if theBrazen Serpent had
become a Sword of Lightning. Yet this is but a glyph;for in truth there is
no link or bond between them.

For this Animal Gold is passed utterly away; there isnot any button thereof,
nor any feature of the Wings of the Sphinx, nor any markof the Sower or of
the Seed. But at that Lightning Flash all did entirelydisappear, and the
Cucurbite and the Alembic and the Athanor were shatteredutterly... and there
arose That which he had set himself to seek; yea, more!a grain of the Powder,
and three minims of the Elixir, and Six drachms of theTincture of Double
Efficacy.

... Yet the brethren mocked him; for he had imperilledhimself sore; so that
unto this hour hath the name of Perardua been forgotten,and they that have
need to speak of him say in right joyaunce Non Sine Fulmine.