Paradise

The story went like this...

After Adam and Eve had played at naming all the animals and plants in the garden they got bored. Roaming on the look out for some entertainment they finally arrived at the tree of knowledge. They well remembered God' prohibition to eat from its fruits. Eva had no problem with that but Adam chafed at the prohibition. He felt that if God had put that tree here they were meant to eat from its fruit. Maybe this was just a test or something.

Eve, being Eve, immediately considered all the implications of what a transgression could mean, filling Adam's ears with every conceivable consequence.

“Why do you always have to be such a drama queen?” Adam was disgusted. Eve, afraid that Adam was angry with her, shut up.

“And stop sulking. Why are you always so touchy?”

There was no pleasing Adam when he was pouting about having to suppress one of his impulses. Eve feared his tempers and tried to mollify him.

“Well, maybe it would not be so bad to have knowledge, but...” She had no time to finish her sentence because Adam plucked one of the luscious purple fruits that hung so enticingly within reach.

“What have you done!” Eve looked around, afraid of God turning up, full of wrath. But only a lonely snake blinked lazily at her. Adam, scared by her shout, soon regained his composure when God failed to materialise. He laughed.

“See. Nothing is happening! Here, take a bite. Smell its sweetness! Now that I have plucked it, we must take a bite.” Truly, the fruit smelled like no other, but Eve was more afraid of Adam's temper tantrum than enticed by the fruit. He was so horrible when bested, pulling her hair and throwing mud at her! She took a hesitant bite and then smiled. It was truly delicious.

Adam, seeing Eve's expression, snatched the fruit from her and devoured the rest of it greedily.

They looked at each other and Eve blushed furiously, slapped her hands around her and hid behind a bush.

***

After the loss of their innocence deprived them of paradise, Adam, being Adam, shouted angrily at Eve, “Why didn't you stop me from plucking it!” which soon after became, “It's all your fault, you took the first bite!” then, “You tempted me to pluck the fruit,” which finally turned into ,”It was all your fault! You gave me that fruit to eat!” Ever since then men's selective memory has served them well in putting the blame on others.

The poor snake, an innocent onlooker, luckily never knew what slander Adam heaped on its name.

Copyright text and image Pat Piper