A New Light of Alchemy

4I asked further, “Sir, is it cooked with a strong fire, and for how long?” He replied, “This water has an inward fire. Assisted by continuous heat, it burns three parts of its own body together with this body of the fruit. Only a very minute part remains, scarcely imaginable, but of the highest power. It is cooked through the master’s discerning ingenuity for seven months at first, then ten. Meanwhile diverse things appear, and always at about the fiftieth day.” I asked again, “Sir, can this fruit also be cooked in other waters, or is anything added to it?” He answered, “There is only this one water useful in this region or island. No other water can penetrate this fruit’s pores. Know that the solar tree itself arose from this water, extracted from the rays of Sol or Luna by the magnet’s power. They therefore have a great concord with one another. If anything foreign were added to it, it could not accomplish what it does by itself. Leave it by itself, then, and add nothing except this fruit. After decoction it is an immortal fruit, possessing life and blood, for its blood makes all barren trees bear fruit of the same nature as this fruit.”