Charles Reade - "The Woman Hater"

Miss Jane Porter - "The Scottish Chiefs"

William Shakespeare - "The Taming of the Shrew"

F. (Fulgence) Marion - "Wonderful Balloon Ascents; or the Conquest of the Skies"

First Book of Adam and Eve

R >> Rutherford Platt >> First Book of Adam and Eve




6 Then, when the angels heard these words, they all
grieved over him; and cursed Satan who had misled Adam,
until he came from the garden to misery; from life to
death; from peace to trouble; and from gladness to a
strange land.

7 Then the angels said to Adam, "You obeyed Satan, and
ignored the Word of God who created you; and you believed
that Satan would fulfil all he had promised you.

8 But now, O Adam, we will make known to you, what
came over us though him, before his fall from heaven.

9 He gathered together his hosts, and deceived them,
promising to give them a great kingdom, a divine nature;
and other promises he made them.

10 His hosts believed that his word was true, so they
yielded to him, and renounced the glory of God.

11 He then sent for us -- according to the orders in
which we were -- to come under his command, and to accept
his vein promise. But we would not, and we did not take
his advice.

12 Then after he had fought with God, and had dealt
forwardly with Him, he gathered together his hosts, and
made war with us. And if it had not been for God's
strength that was with us, we could not have prevailed
against him to hurl him from heaven.

13 But when he fell from among us, there was great joy
in heaven, because of his going down from us. For if he
had remained in heaven, nothing, not even one angel would
have remained in it.

14 But God in His mercy, drove him from among us to
this dark earth; for he had become darkness itself and a
worker of unrighteousness.

15 And he has continued, O Adam, to make war against
you, until he tricked you and made you come out of the
garden, to this strange land, where all these trials have
come to you. And death, which God brought to him, he has
also brought to you, O Adam, because you obeyed him, and
trespassed against God."

16 Then all the angels rejoiced and praised God, and
asked Him not to destroy Adam this time, for his having
sought to enter the garden; but to bear with him until the
fulfillment of the promise; and to help him in this world
until he was free from Satan's hand.



Chapter LVI - A chapter of divine comfort.


1 Then came the Word of God to Adam, and said to him: --

2 "O Adam, look at that garden of joy and at this
earth of toil, and behold the garden is full of angels, but
look at yourself alone on this earth with Satan whom you obeyed.

3 Yet, if you had submitted, and been obedient to Me,
and had kept My Word, you would be with My angels in My garden.

4 But when you transgressed and obeyed Satan, you
became his guests among his angels, that are full of
wickedness; and you came to this earth, that brings forth
to you thorns and thistles.

5 O Adam, ask him who deceived you, to give you the
divine nature he promised you, or to make you a garden as I
had made for you; or to fill you with that same bright
nature with which I had filled you.

6 Ask him to make you a body like the one I made you,
or to give you a day of rest as I gave you; or to create
within you a reasonable soul, as I created for you; or to
take you from here to some other earth than this one which
I gave you. But, O Adam, he will not fulfil even one of
the things he told you.

7 Acknowledge, then, My favor towards you, and My
mercy on you, My creature; that I have not avenged you for
your transgression against Me, but in My pity for you I
have promised you that at the end of the great five and a
half days I will come and save you."

8 Then God said again to Adam and Eve, "Get up, go
down from here, before the cherub with a sword of fire in
his hand destroys you."

9 But Adam's heart was comforted by God's words to
him, and he worshipped before Him.

10 And God commanded His angels to escort Adam and Eve
to the cave with joy, instead of the fear that had come over them.

11 Then the angels took up Adam and Eve, and brought
them down from the mountain by the garden, with songs and
psalms, until they arrived at the cave. There the angels
began to comfort and to strengthen them, and then departed
from them towards heaven, to their Creator, who had sent them.

12 But after the angels had departed from Adam and
Eve, Satan came with shamefacedness, and stood at the
entrance of the cave in which were Adam and Eve. He then
called to Adam, and said, "O Adam, come, let me speak to you."

13 Then Adam came out of the cave, thinking he was one
of God's angels that was come to give him some good counsel.



Chapter LVII - "Therefore I fell. . . . "


1 But when Adam came out and saw his hideous figure,
he was afraid of him, and said to him, "Who are you?"

2 Then Satan answered and said to him, "It is I, who
hid myself within the serpent, and who spoke to Eve, and
who enticed her until she obeyed my command. I am he who
sent her, using my deceitful speech, to deceive you, until
you both ate of the fruit of the tree and abandoned the
command of God."

3 But when Adam heard these words from him, he said to
him, "Can you make me a garden as God made for me? Or can
you clothe me in the same bright nature in which God had
clothed me?

4 Where is the divine nature you promised to give me?
Where is that slick speech of yours that you had with us at
first, when we were in the garden?"

5 Then Satan said to Adam, "Do you think that when I
have promised one something that I would actually deliver
it to him or fulfil my word? Of course not. For I myself
have never even thought of obtaining what I promised.

6 Therefore I fell, and I made you fall by that for
which I myself fell; and with you also, whosoever accepts
my counsel, falls thereby.

7 But now, O Adam, because you fell you are under my
rule, and I am king over you; because you have obeyed me
and have transgressed against your God. Neither will there
be any deliverance from my hands until the day promised you
by your God."

8 Again he said, "Because we do not know the day
agreed on with you by your God, nor the hour in which you
shall be delivered, for that reason we will multiply war
and murder on you and your descendants after you.

9 This is our will and our good pleasure, that we may
not leave one of the sons of men to inherit our orders in heaven.

10 For as to our home, O Adam, it is in burning fire;
and we will not stop our evil doing, no, not one day nor
one hour. And I, O Adam, shall set you on fire when you
come into the cave to live there."

11 When Adam heard these words he cried and mourned,
and said to Eve, "Hear what he said; that he won't fulfil
any of what he told you in the garden. Did he really then
become king over us?

12 But we will ask God, who created us, to deliver us
out of his hands."



Chapter LVIII - "About sunset on the 53rd day. . ."


1 Then Adam and Eve spread their hands before God,
praying and begging Him to drive Satan away from them so
that he can't harm them or force them to deny God.

2 Then God sent to them at once, His angel, who drove
away Satan from them. This happened about sunset, on the
fifty-third day after they had come out of the garden.

3 Then Adam and Eve went into the cave, and stood up
and turned their faces to the ground, to pray to God.

4 But before they prayed Adam said to Eve, "Look, you
have seen what temptations have befallen us in this land.
Come, let us get up, and ask God to forgive us the sins we
have committed; and we will not come out until the end of
the day next to the fortieth. And if we die in here, He
will save us."

5 Then Adam and Eve got up, and joined together in
entreating God.

6 They continued praying like this in the cave;
neither did they come out of it, by night or by day, until
their prayers went up out of their mouths, like a flame of fire.



Chapter LIX - Eighth apparition of Satan of Satan to Adam and Eve.


1 But Satan, the hater of all good, did not allow them
to finish their prayers. For he called to his hosts, and
they came, all of them. Then he said to them, "Since Adam
and Eve, whom we deceived, have agreed together to pray to
God night and day, and to beg Him to deliver them, and
since they will not come out of the cave until the end of
the fortieth day.

2 And since they will continue their prayers as they
have both agreed to do, that He will deliver them out of
our hands, and restore them to their former state, see what
we shall do to them." And his hosts said to him, "Power is
thine, O our lord, to do what you list."

3 Then Satan, great in wickedness, took his hosts and came into
the cave, in the thirtieth night of the forty days and one;
and he beat Adam and Eve, until he left them dead.

4 Then came the Word of God to Adam and Eve, who raised
them from their suffering, and God said to Adam,
"Be strong, and be not afraid of him who has just come to you."

5 But Adam cried and said, "Where were you, O my God,
that they should punish me with such blows, and that this
suffering should come over us; over me and over Eve,
Your handmaiden?"

6 Then God said to him, "O Adam, see, he is lord and master
of all you have, he who said, he would give you divinity.
Where is this love for you? And where is the gift he promised?

7 Did it please him just once, O Adam, to come to you,
comfort you, strengthen you, rejoice with you, or send his
hosts to protect you; because you have obeyed him, and have
yielded to his counsel; and have followed his commandment
and transgressed Mine?"

8 Then Adam cried before the Lord, and said, "O Lord
because I transgressed a little, You have severely punished
me in return for it, I ask You to deliver me out of his
hands; or else have pity on me, and take my soul out of my
body now in this strange land."

9 Then God said to Adam, "If only there had been this
sighing and praying before, before you transgressed! Then
would you have rest from the trouble in which you are now."

10 But God had patience with Adam, and let him and Eve
remain in the cave until they had fulfilled the forty days.


11 But as to Adam and Eve, their strength and flesh
withered from fasting and praying, from hunger and thirst;
for they had not tasted either food or drink since they
left the garden; nor were the functions of their bodies yet
settled; and they had no strength left to continue in
prayer from hunger, until the end of the next day to the
fortieth. They were fallen down in the cave; yet what
speech escaped from their mouths, was only in praises.



Chapter LX - The Devil appears like an old man.
He offers "a place of rest."


1 Then on the eighty-ninth day, Satan came to the
cave, clad in a garment of light, and girt about with a
bright girdle.

2 In his hands was a staff of light, and he looked most awful;
but his face was pleasant and his speech was sweet.

3 He thus transformed himself in order to deceive Adam
and Eve, and to make them come out of the cave, before they
had fulfilled the forty days.

4 For he said within himself, "Now that when they had
fulfilled the forty days' fasting and praying, God would
restore them to their former state; but if He did not do
so, He would still be favorable to them; and even if He had
not mercy on them, would He yet give them something from
the garden to comfort them; as already twice before."

5 Then Satan drew near the cave in this fair
appearance, and said: --

6 "O Adam, get up, stand up, you and Eve, and come
along with me, to a good land; and don't be afraid. I am
flesh and bones like you; and at first I was a creature
that God created.

7 And it was so, that when He had created me, He placed me
in a garden in the north, on the border of the world.

8 And He said to me, 'Stay here!' And I remained there
according to His Word, neither did I transgress His commandment.

9 Then He made a slumber to come over me, and He brought you,
O Adam, out of my side, but did not make you stay with me.

10 But God took you in His divine hand, and placed you
in a garden to the eastward.

11 Then I worried about you, for that while God had
taken you out of my side, He had not let you stay with me.

12 But God said to me: 'Do not worry about Adam, whom
I brought out of your side; no harm will come to him.

13 For now I have brought out of his side a help-meet*
for him; and I have given him joy by so doing.' "

14 Then Satan said again, "I did not know how it is
you are in this cave, nor anything about this trial that
has come over you -- until God said to me, 'Behold, Adam
has transgressed, he whom I had taken out of your side, and
Eve also, whom I took out of his side; and I have driven
them out of the garden; I have made them live in a land of
sorrow and misery, because they transgressed against Me,
and have obeyed Satan. And look, they are in suffering
until this day, the eightieth.'

15 Then God said to me, 'Get up, go to them, and make
them come to your place, and suffer not that Satan come
near them, and afflict them. For they are now in great
misery; and lie helpless from hunger.'

16 He further said to me, 'When you have taken them to
yourself, give them to eat of the fruit of the Tree of
Life, and give them to drink of the water of peace; and
clothe them in a garment of light, and restore them to
their former state of grace, and leave them not in misery,
for they came from you. But grieve not over them, nor
repent of that which has come over them.

17 But when I heard this, I was sorry; and my heart
could not patiently bear it for your sake, O my child.

18 But, O Adam, when I heard the name of Satan, I was afraid,
and I said within myself, I will not come out because he might
trap me as he did my children, Adam and Eve.

19 And I said, 'O God, when I go to my children,
Satan will meet me in the way, and war against me,
as he did against them.'

20 Then God said to me, 'Fear not; when you find him,
hit him with the staff that is in thine hand, and don't be
afraid of him, for you are of old standing, and he shall
not prevail against you.'

21 Then I said, 'O my Lord, I am old, and cannot go.
Send Your angels to bring them.'

22 But God said to me, 'Angels, verily, are not like
them; and they will not consent to come with them. But I
have chosen you, because they are your offspring and are
like you, and they will listen to what you say.'

23 God said further to me, 'If you don't have enough
strength to walk, I will send a cloud to carry you and set
you down at the entrance of their cave; then the cloud will
return and leave you there.

24 And if they will come with you, I will send a cloud
to carry you and them.'

25 Then He commanded a cloud, and it bear me up and
brought me to you; and then went back.

26 And now, O my children, Adam and Eve, look at my
old gray hair and at my feeble state, and at my coming from
that distant place. Come, come with me, to a place of rest."

27 Then he began to cry and to sob before Adam and
Eve, and his tears poured on the ground like water.

28 And when Adam and Eve raised their eyes and saw his
beard, and heard his sweet talk, their hearts softened
towards him; they obeyed him, for they believed he was true.

29 And it seemed to them that they were really his
offspring, when they saw that his face was like their own;
and they trusted him.

* The existence of the two words helpmeet and helpmate,
meaning exactly the same thing, is a comedy of errors.
God's promise to Adam, as rendered in the King James
version of the Bible, was to give him an help meet for
him (that is, a helper fit for him). In the 17th century
the two words help and meet in this passage were mistaken
for one word, applying to Eve, and thus helpmeet came to
mean a wife. Then in the 18th century, in a misguided
attempt to make sense of the word, the spelling helpmate
was introduced. Both errors are now beyond recall, and both
spellings are acceptable.




Chapter LXI - They begin to follow Satan.


1 Then he took Adam and Eve by the hand, and began to
bring them out of the cave.

2 But when they had come a little ways out of it, God
knew that Satan had overcome them, and had brought them out
before the forty days were ended, to take them to some
distant place, and to destroy them.

3 Then the Word of the Lord God again came and cursed
Satan, and drove him away from them.

4 And God began to speak to Adam and Eve, saying to
them, "What made you come out of the cave, to this place?"

5 Then Adam said to God, "Did you create a man before
us? For when we were in the cave there suddenly came to us
a friendly old man who said to us, 'I am a messenger from
God to you, to bring you back to some place of rest.'

6 And we believed, O God, that he was a messenger from
you; and we came out with him; and knew not where we should
go with him."

7 Then God said to Adam, "See, that is the father of
evil arts, who brought you and Eve out of the Garden of
Delights. And now, indeed, when he saw that you and Eve
both joined together in fasting and praying, and that you
came not out of the cave before the end of the forty days,
he wished to make your purpose vein, to break your mutual
bond; to cut off all hope from you, and to drive you to
some place where he might destroy you.

8 Because he couldn't do anything to you unless he
showed himself in the likeness of you.

9 Therefore he came to you with a face like your own,
and began to give you tokens as if they were all true.

10 But because I am merciful and am favorable to you,
I did not allow him to destroy you; instead I drove him
away from you.

11 Now, therefore, O Adam, take Eve, and return to
your cave, and remain in it until the morning after the
fortieth day. And when you come out, go towards the
eastern gate of the garden."

12 Then Adam and Eve worshipped God, and praised and
blessed Him for the deliverance that had come to them from
Him. And they returned towards the cave. This happened in
the evening of the thirty-ninth day.

13 Then Adam and Eve stood up and with a fiery passion,
prayed to God, to give them strength; for they had become
weak because of hunger and thirst and prayer. But they
watched the whole of that night praying, until morning.

14 Then Adam said to Eve, "Get up, let us go towards
the eastern gate of the garden as God told us."

15 And they said their prayers as they were accustomed
to do every day; and they left the cave to go near to the
eastern gate of the garden.

16 Then Adam and Eve stood up and prayed, and appealed
to God to strengthen them, and to send them something to
satisfy their hunger.

17 But after they finished their prayers, they were
too weak to move.

18 Then came the Word of God again, and said to them,
"O Adam, get up, go and bring the two figs here."

19 Then Adam and Eve got up, and went until they came
near to the cave.



Chapter LXII - Two fruit trees.


1 But Satan the wicked was envious, because of the
consolation God had given them.

2 So he prevented them, and went into the cave and
took the two figs, and buried them outside the cave, so
that Adam and Eve should not find them. He also had in his
thoughts to destroy them.

3 But by God's mercy, as soon as those two figs were
in the ground, God defeated Satan's counsel regarding them;
and made them into two fruit trees, that overshadowed the
cave. For Satan had buried them on the eastern side of it.

4 Then when the two trees were grown, and were covered
with fruit, Satan grieved and mourned, and said, "It would
have been better to have left those figs where they were;
for now, behold, they have become two fruit trees, whereof
Adam will eat all the days of his life. Whereas I had in
mind, when I buried them, to destroy them entirely, and to
hide them forever.

5 But God has overturned my counsel; and would not
that this sacred fruit should perish; and He has made plain
my intention, and has defeated the counsel I had formed
against His servants."

6 Then Satan went away ashamed because he hadn't
thought his plans all the way through.



Chapter LXIII - The first joy of trees.


1 But Adam and Eve, as they got closer to the cave,
saw two fig trees, covered with fruit, and overshadowing
the cave.

2 Then Adam said to Eve, "It seems to me that we have
gone the wrong way. When did these two trees grow here?
It seems to me that the enemy wishes to lead us the wrong
way. Do you suppose that there is another cave besides
this one in the earth?

3 Yet, O Eve, let us go into the cave, and find in it
the two figs; for this is our cave, in which we were. But
if we should not find the two figs in it, then it cannot be
our cave."

4 They went then into the cave, and looked into the
four corners of it, but found not the two figs.

5 And Adam cried and said to Eve, "Did we go to the
wrong cave, then, O Eve? It seems to me these two fig
trees are the two figs that were in the cave." And Eve
said, "I, for my part, do not know."

6 Then Adam stood up and prayed and said, "O God, You
commanded us to come back to the cave, to take the two figs,
and then to return to you.

7 But now, we have not found them. O God, have you
taken them, and sown these two trees, or have we gone
astray in the earth; or has the enemy deceived us? If it
be real, then, O God, reveal to us the secret of these two
trees and of the two figs."

8 Then came the Word of God to Adam, and said to him,
"O Adam, when I sent you to fetch the figs, Satan went
before you to the cave, took the figs, and buried them
outside, eastward of the cave, thinking to destroy them;
and not sowing them with good intent.

9 Not for his mere sake, then, have these trees grown
up at once; but I had mercy on you and I commanded them to
grow. And they grew to be two large trees, that you be
overshadowed by their branches, and find rest; and that I
made you see My power and My marvelous works.

10 And, also, to show you Satan's meanness, and his
evil works, for ever since you came out of the garden, he
has not ceased, no, not one day, from doing you some harm.
But I have not given him power over you."

11 And God said, "From now on, O Adam, rejoice on
account of the trees, you and Eve; and rest under them when
you feel weary. But do not eat any of their fruit or come
near them."

12 Then Adam cried, and said, "O God, will You again
kill us, or will You drive us away from before Your face,
and cut our life from off the face of the earth?

13 O God, I beg you, if You know that there be in
these trees either death or some other evil, as at the
first time, root them up from near our cave, and with them;
and leave us to die of the heat, of hunger and of thirst.

14 For we know Your marvelous works, O God, that they
are great, and that by Your power You can bring one thing
out of another, without one's wish. For Your power can
make rocks to become trees, and trees to become rocks."



Chapter LXIV - Adam and Eve partake of the first earthly food.


1 Then God looked at Adam and at his strength of mind,
at his endurance of hunger and thirst, and of the heat.
And He changed the two fig trees into two figs, as they
were at first, and then said to Adam and to Eve, "Each of
you may take one fig." And they took them, as the Lord
commanded them.

2 And He said to them, "You must now go into the cave
and eat the figs, and satisfy your hunger, or else you will die."

3 So, as God commanded them, they went into the cave
about sunset. And Adam and Eve stood up and prayed during
the setting sun.

4 Then they sat down to eat the figs; but they knew
not how to eat them; for they were not accustomed to eat
earthly food. They were afraid that if they ate, their
stomach would be burdened and their flesh thickened, and
their hearts would take to liking earthly food.

5 But while they were thus seated, God, out of pity
for them, sent them His angel, so they wouldn't perish of
hunger and thirst.

6 And the angel said to Adam and Eve, "God says to you
that you do not have the strength that would be required to
fast until death; eat, therefore, and strengthen your
bodies; for you are now animal flesh and cannot subsist
without food and drink."

7 Then Adam and Eve took the figs and began to eat of
them. But God had put into them a mixture as of savory
bread and blood.

8 Then the angel went from Adam and Eve, who ate of
the figs until they had satisfied their hunger. Then they
put aside what was left; but by the power of God, the figs
became whole again, because God blessed them.

9 After this Adam and Eve got up, and prayed with a
joyful heart and renewed strength, and praised and rejoiced
abundantly the whole of that night. And this was the end
of the eighty-third day.



Chapter LXV - Adam and Eve acquire digestive organs.
Final hope of returning to the Garden is lost.


1 And when it was day, they got up and prayed, after
their custom, and then went out of the cave.

2 But they became sick from the food they had eaten
because they were not used to it, so they went about in the
cave saying to each other: --

3 "What has our eating caused to happen to us, that we
should be in such pain? We are in misery, we shall die!
It would have been better for us to have died keeping our
bodies pure than to have eaten and defiled them with food."

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