Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa ("of a hundred paths") 9.3.3.6

9.3.3.6

sa āha | ekā ca me tisraśca me catasraśca me 'ṣṭau ca ma iti yathā vṛkṣaṃ rohannuttarāmuttarāṃ śākhāṃ samālambhaṃ rohettādṛktadyadveva stomānjuhotyannaṃ vai stomā annenaivainametadabhiṣiñcati

He says, 'May the One and the Three (prosper) for me!'--'May the Four and the Eight (prosper) for me!'--even as one climbing a tree would climb up by taking hold of an ever higher branch, so is this. And as to why he offers the Stomas,--the stomas are food: it is with food he thus consecrates him.