Some mock, some follow — the sower of wisdom's words
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Καὶ οἱ μὲν αὐτῶν καταφλυαρήσαντες ἀπέστησαν τῇ τοῦ θανάτου ὁδῷ ἑαυτοὺς ἐκδεδωκότες, οἱ δὲ παρεκάλουν διδαχθῆναι, ἑαυτοὺς πρὸ ποδῶν μου ῥίψαντες. ἐγὼ δὲ ἀναστήσας αὐτοὺς καθοδηγὸς ἐγενόμην τοῦ γένους τοῦ ἀνθρωπίνου, τοὺς λόγους διδάσκων, πῶς καὶ τίνι τρόπῳ σωθήσονται. καὶ ἔσπειρα αὐτοῖς τοὺς τῆς σοφίας λόγους καὶ ἐτράφησαν ἐκ τοῦ ἀμβροσίου ὕδατος. ὀψίας δὲ γενομένης καὶ τῆς τοῦ ἡλίου αὐγῆς ἀρχομένης δύεσθαι ὅλης ἐκέλευσα αὐτοῖς εὐχαριστεῖν τῷ θεῷ. καὶ ἀναπληρώσαντες τὴν εὐχαριστίαν ἕκαστος ἐτράπη εἰς τὴν ἰδίαν κοίτην.
And some of them, mocking, stood off, having given themselves to the road of death; but others begged to be taught, casting themselves before my feet. And I, raising them up, became a guide of the human race, teaching them the words — how and in what way they would be saved. And I sowed in them the words of wisdom, and they were nourished from the ambrosial water. And when evening had come and the sun's ray was beginning wholly to set, I bade them give thanks to God; and having fulfilled the thanksgiving, each turned to his own bed.
The response divides: some mock and depart on the road of death; others beg to be taught, casting themselves at Hermes's feet. He raises them, becomes a guide of the human race, teaching how they will be saved, sowing the words of wisdom, and they are nourished from the ambrosial water. As the sun sets, he bids them give thanks to God, and each, the thanksgiving fulfilled, turns to rest.
The preaching meets the response every teacher meets. Some 'mock and stand off,' choosing 'the road of death' — the word (καταφλυαρέω) is dismissive, jeering, the shrug of those who will not wake. Others fall at his feet and beg to learn, and Hermes lifts them (ἀναστήσας — the same verb as his own rising in I.27) and becomes what Poimandres named him: καθοδηγός, guide of the human race. The shape is exactly the parable of the sower — the word 'sown (ἔσπειρα)' in hearers who are ground, some barren, some fed.
The undercurrent is how gently the cosmic vision comes to rest in the ordinary. Those who receive are 'nourished from the ambrosial water' — the immortal drink of wisdom — and then the day simply ends: the sun sets, Hermes bids them give thanks (εὐχαριστία, the word behind 'Eucharist'), and each goes to his own bed. The revelation that climbed to deification closes on an evening of gratitude and sleep — the human frame quietly holding the divine.
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Corpus Hermeticum CH1.29 — The Great Library Project interlinear edition · greatlibraryproject.com/book/hermetica/CH1.29/