Orage said: ‘Some of you still criticize the faulty grammar and punctuation and ask why I do not do something about it. Well, although from the first writing the sense is in each chapter, Gurdjieff is constantly re-writing and revising. As you may know, he writes in pencil in Armenian; this is translated into Russian, and then into literal English by Russians; it is then gone over by one or two English and American pupils at the Prieure who have only a rough knowledge of the use of words. All I can do at present is to revise the English when it obscures the sense. Although I’ve talked over the chapters with Gurdjieff and discussed the sense of them, he will never explain the meaning of anything. His task is to write the book, ours to make the effort to understand. The style and sense are Gurdjieff’s. The surprising thing is that, in spite of the difficulties of translation the sense and style come through so well. It can be said that in English, this being a more flexible language than French, it is possible to play with words, so that the English translation will have a quality of its own.’

Orage cautioned us about attempting to explain to new pupils the meaning, as we understood it, of things in Beelzebub, one could only throw out hints. With those on the same level of understanding as oneself, discussion was useful. In the weeks that followed he reviewed the chapters; we, on our side, striving to contribute. And since we were all more or less on the same level of understanding the talks were very helpful indeed. What follows of his commentary is only an outline, so to say, of Beelzebub’s Tales to Hassein — hints of the richness and depths of the wisdom. Each reader will understand according to his own inner development; at first it is like a bud; then it opens out, like a flower.