Paradise Lost

‘Honey, would you mind if I went away for a bit? I want to see the resting place of the lions.’ Came Adam’s voice from across the lush field that Eve and him were currently in, as they were eating their fill of fruit.

Eve loved Adam with all her heart, and she trusted that he would only be away for a while. She bit into a juicy guava fruit and smiled at him warmly.

‘Adam, that’s fine. But please don’t be gone for too long. You know how I miss you when you go away.’ She replied.

All around them were a multitude of fruit trees of every kind. Plump pineapples, rosy red apples, golden bananas, fat watermelons.  Delicately painted butterflies were flitting through the air, and a few yards away, an elephant was pulling mangoes from a tree and feeding them to its timid family.

Adam spoke again. ‘My darling, I won’t be gone long. I promise.’

He strode over to her and kissed her passionately. When they parted, eve laughed, and embraced him. She allowed herself to gaze upon his smooth olive skin, and the ruddy strength of his body. She was happy.

‘Go, tell me about it when you come back.’ She cooed.

He turned and slowly disappeared in the verdant horizon of the garden. Her eyes lingered on him every step of the way.

It was morning, and the sun’s golden rays cast speckled light across the grounds, and a light mist wafted over the ground. Birds were trilling their melodious songs, filling the air with music.

But eve turned and looked over the panorama of endless green, seeing something ominous. There was that tree, the one the master had told them not to eat of. It was one of the two largest trees in the garden, standing next to the tree of life. Adam and herself would eat every day from the Tree of Life, and each time they ate the fruit, it tasted different. As they did, she would often look at the other tree, wondering why it was there, and what purpose it served.

She sometimes wondered if its secrets could be discovered by gazing at it, as if it was a riddle to be fathomed, a mystery to be uncovered. She had had her fill of food, and found herself thinking of that tree again. Adam would not be back for a while, and she had nothing to do, so she began to walk slowly over in its direction.

Soon she was standing before the two trees, ringed as they were by crystal clear water. Stepping stones lead across the brook, and she walked across carefully. Coming closer, she sat with her back against the Tree of Life and stared at the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Whatever danger might be within, it did not manifest itself on the outside. Its fruit hung, ripened and luxuriant, a ruby red hue, beckoning and inviting.

Time passed, as the soft wind brushed lightly against her skin, the only sound the rustle of the trees leaves. She was only looking, she thought to herself. She knew the master cared for them, the world he had created was beautiful, and Adam was beautiful. But why would he put the tree here at all, why not just put it outside the garden? Why had he created it at all? Why wasn’t it protected by his zealous angels, with their fiery swords?

She sighed, and picked up a piece of fruit that had fallen off the tree of life, biting into it as she pondered all these questions. It was then that she saw, twining across the stepping stones, his feet making no sound, a serpentine dragon. His skin was encrusted with a trove of glittering gemstones, giving him a regal resplendent look. She had never seen him before but she could tell it was a male, no female would look so magnificent, and proud.

‘I’m sorry, I’m not interrupting you, am I?’ He said melodiously.

His voice was refined and pleasant to listen to.

‘No, I was just going.’ She replied, feeling guilty for being caught staring at the forbidden tree.

Now only a few yards away, the serpent lowered its head, looking at her with sparkling eyes. ‘Stay a while longer, please.’

‘Who are you?’ She asked, dropping the fruit and standing.

The serpents’ eyes narrowed. ‘Names are for friends, and were still strangers. For now, simply call me, Serpent.’

He seemed to mean her no harm, in truth, fear was an alien feeling to her, something not yet felt. If anything, she was somewhat awed by him.

‘I see you are looking at the forbidden tree, it’s beautiful, isn’t it?’ Intoned the serpent.

’We are not to eat of it.’ Said Eve, glancing behind the serpent at the tree.

‘It’s hardly much of fruit tree if you can’t eat the fruit.’ He replied.

Eve’s eyes widened a little. ‘You should not make light of it.’ She spoke.

The serpent curled and turned, still standing in the same place. Again, he addressed her. ‘I find a smidgeon of humor can brighten even the dullest of encounters. And you intrigue me. Why were you looking at it? Do you know what it is?’

‘I know what it is. ‘She quavered. ‘It is the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.’

‘Indeed, it is.’ Said the serpent softly. ‘And I must say, I am certain you hardly know what good and evil are.’

‘I know what good is.’ Said Eve, not wanting to sound stupid. ‘The master said the garden he created was good. He told us that Adam and I are good for each other.’

The serpents glamorous body coiled incessantly. ‘Why then, good just sounds like all you know. At least what you’ve been told. What if I told you, that to truly know something, you must know it’s opposite.’

‘It’s opposite?’ Asked Eve, her curiosity aroused. ‘I didn’t know there was an opposite.’

‘Why of course you don’t, there’s a lot of things you don’t know.’ Said the serpent smoothly.

‘How do you know so much?’ She questioned.

‘Well, that is a story for another time, my dear.’ The serpent crooned. ‘Looking at you though, I see the bravery of a woman who seeks the heart of all mysteries. Who desires wisdom. You are courageous, and I admire that.’

Eve lowered her eyes, her gaze turning inward. ‘You know so much about me?’

The serpent continued. ‘I am very perceptive, amongst my other qualities. Erudite and sophisticated, as I’m sure you can tell. And as urbane as I am, what if I told you, you could be just like me? Indeed, you’re not a long way off at all my dear. You have the unwavering heart of the philosopher, that seeks to ask every question. That seeks to know, who am I? And what is the nature of the world I find myself in?’

Eve looked up again. ‘You see all that in me?’

The serpent purred. ‘I do, my sweet one. Why else would you have come here? Let me tell you something else. Your master, do you think he could create a tree that gives the knowledge of good and evil, without knowing evil himself? But here’s the rub, if you were to eat a piece of that fine fruit, your mind, and your eyes would be opened, and you too would know what he knows. Doesn’t your master call himself God? Why, if you were to eat of that tree, you would not be unlike him.’

Eve stared into the serpents’ eyes. ‘He said we would die, if we even touched it.’

The serpent smiled. ‘How interesting. Is that what he told you?’

‘Yes.’ Replied Eve. ‘So, maybe I don’t want to know what he knows that badly.’

‘Backing away already. Have I perhaps misjudged you?’ Murmured the serpent.

‘I’m just being respectful.’ Said Eve guardedly. ‘I have never had a reason to doubt the master. He is good. He made Adam, he made me. Adam is also good. I love him.’

The serpent laughed. ‘Of course you do my child, of course you do. And yet, you’ve never wanted to… grow? To strive? Think of how impressed your husband would be by the profundity of the wisdom you could gain here?’

‘Profundity?’ Asked Eve.

‘Why yes. There is such a wondrous multitude of things you could learn by merely taking the smallest bite of that fruit that I can hardly be bothered to begin. And you say you love your husband. Love is best when it is bittersweet. Did you know that? Have you truly grasped the many facets of love? Did you know that love is sweet when it is given with pain?’

It had been an hour. Eve began to wonder if Adam had returned and was looking for her. The golden light of the afternoon was turning ever brighter, as morning receded into noon.

‘Well, none of this will do me any good if I’m dead.’ She answered.

The serpent was silent for a moment, seeming to be considering something. Eventually he answered. ‘You will not die.’

Suddenly Eve noticed, crossing the stepping stones, her husband Adam. Her eyes brightened, and she waved at him. Adam looked at her, innocently puzzled by the sight before him. Who was this creature his wife was spending time with.

Looking at her husband, Eve was reminded of how much she loved him. Yet the serpent had said that she did not know true love, in so many words.

The serpent whispered to her. ‘Listen to me innocent one, you will not die. The only reason the master has forbidden this tree to you, is that he knows that if you eat it, you will be like him. You will be as gods. Look at your husband. Don’t you want to enthrall him? Don’t you want to Fascinate him? And you… don’t you want to be all that you can be? The fruit is wisdom. Eat of it, and become a God.

Eve frowned at the serpent; it was the first time she had ever frowned. ‘I’m not going to eat it alone.’

She skipped over to the tree, and pulled two luscious red fruits from it. She saw Adam, looking at her with an expression of pain on his face, a hitherto unknown expression. When he was standing in front of her, she took a bite of one of the fruits, and held the other out enticingly. The serpent smiled a cunning smile.

‘Eve?’ Said Adam, looking at her with those eyes that she had always loved to stare into, molded into a new expression; sadness.

She held out the other fruit to him, wearing her most irresistible smile, even while her mind reeled.

He took it and ate.