After I was created, God divided Paradise and all the animals therein
between Adam and me. The east and the north were assigned to Adam,
together with the male animals. I was mistress of the west and the
south and all the female animals. Satan, smarting under the disgrace of
having been dismissed from the heavenly host, resolved to bring about
our ruin and avenge himself upon the cause of his discomfiture. He won
the serpent over to his side, and pointed out to him that before the
creation of Adam the animals could enjoy all that grew in Paradise, and
now they were restricted to the weeds. To drive Adam from Paradise
would therefore be for the good of all. The serpent demurred, for he
stood in awe of the wrath of God. But Satan calmed his fears, and said,
"Do thou but become my vessel,[117] and I shall speak a word through
thy mouth wherewith thou wilt succeed in seducing man."
The serpent thereupon suspended himself from the wall surrounding
Paradise, to carry on his conversation with me from without. And this
happened at the very moment when my two guardian angels had betaken
themselves to heaven to supplicate the Lord. I was quite alone
therefore, and when Satan assumed the appearance of an angel, bent over
the wall of Paradise, and intoned seraphic songs of praise, I was
deceived, and thought him an angel. A conversation was held between us,
Satan speaking through the mouth of the serpent:
"Art thou Eve?"
"Yes, it is I."
"What art thou doing in Paradise?"
"The Lord has put us here to cultivate it and eat of its fruits."
"That is good. Yet you eat not of all the trees."
"That we do, excepting a single one, the tree that stands in the midst
of Paradise. Concerning it alone, God has forbidden us to eat of it,
else, the Lord said, ye will die."
The serpent made every effort to persuade me that I had naught to
fear—that God knew that in the day that Adam and I ate of the fruit of
the tree, we should be as He Himself. It was jealousy that had made Him
say,[118] "Ye shall not eat of it." In spite of all his urging, I
remained steadfast and refused to touch the tree. Then the serpent
engaged to pluck the fruit for me. Thereupon I opened the gate of
Paradise, and he slipped in. Scarcely was he within, when he said to
me, "I repent of my words, I would rather not give thee of the fruit of
the forbidden tree." It was but a cunning device to tempt me more. He
consented to give me of the fruit only after I swore to make my husband
eat of it, too. This is the oath he made me take: "By the throne of
God, by the cherubim, and by the tree of life, I shall give my husband
of this fruit, that he may eat, too." Thereupon the serpent ascended
the tree and injected his poison, the poison of the evil inclination,
into the fruit,[119] and bent the branch on which it grew to the
ground. I took hold of it, but I knew at once that I was stripped of
the righteousness in which I had been clothed.[120] I began to weep,
because of it and because of the oath the serpent had forced from me.
The serpent disappeared from the tree, while I sought leaves wherewith
to cover my nakedness, but all the trees within my reach had cast off
their leaves at the moment when I ate of the forbidden fruit.[121]
There was only one that retained its leaves, the fig-tree, the very
tree the fruit of which had been forbidden to me.[122] I summoned Adam,
and by means of blasphemous words I prevailed upon him to eat of the
fruit. As soon as it had passed his lips, he knew his true condition,
and he exclaimed against me: "Thou wicked woman, what bast thou brought
down upon me? Thou hast removed me from the glory of God."
At the same time Adam and I heard the archangel Michael[123] blow his
trumpet, and all the angels cried out: "Thus saith the Lord, Come ye
with Me to Paradise and hearken unto the sentence which I will
pronounce upon Adam."[124]
We hid ourselves because we feared the judgment of God. Sitting in his
chariot drawn by cherubim, the Lord, accompanied by angels uttering His
praise, appeared in Paradise. At His coming the bare trees again put
forth leaves.[125] His throne was erected by the tree of life, and God
addressed Adam: "Adam, where dost thou keep thyself in hiding? Thinkest
thou I cannot find thee? Can a house conceal itself from its
architect?"[126]
Adam tried to put the blame on me, who had promised to hold him
harmless before God. And I in turn accused the serpent. But God dealt
out justice to all three of us. To Adam He said: "Because thou didst
not obey My commands, but didst hearken unto the voice of thy wife,
cursed is the ground in spite of thy work. When thou dost cultivate it,
it will not yield thee its strength. Thorns and thistles shall it bring
forth to thee, and in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread. Thou
wilt suffer many a hardship, thou wilt grow weary, and yet find no
rest. Bitterly oppressed, thou shalt never taste of any sweetness. Thou
shalt be scourged by heat, and yet pinched by cold. Thou shalt toil
greatly, and yet not gain wealth. Thou shalt grow fat, and yet cease to
live. And the animals over which thou art the master will rise up
against thee, because thou didst not keep my command."[127]
Upon me God pronounced this sentence: "Thou shalt suffer anguish in
childbirth and grievous torture. In sorrow shalt thou bring forth
children, and in the hour of travail, when thou art near to lose thy
life, thou wilt confess and cry, 'Lord, Lord, save me this time, and I
will never again indulge in carnal pleasure,' and yet thy desire shall
ever and ever be unto thy husband."[128]
At the same time all sorts of diseases were decreed upon us. God said
to Adam: "Because thou didst turn aside from My covenant, I will
inflict seventy plagues upon thy flesh. The pain of the first plague
shall lay hold on thy eyes; the pain of the second plague upon thy
hearing, and one after the other all the plagues shall come upon
thee."[129] The serpent God addressed thus: "Because thou becamest the
vessel of the Evil One,[130] deceiving the innocent, cursed art thou
above all cattle and above every beast of the field. Thou shalt be
robbed of the food thou wast wont to eat, and dust shalt thou eat all
the days of thy life. Upon thy breast and thy belly shalt thou go, and
of thy hands and thy feet thou shalt be deprived. Thou shalt not remain
in possession of thy ears, nor of thy wings, nor of any of thy limbs
wherewith thou didst seduce the woman and her husband, bringing them to
such a pass that they must be driven forth from Paradise. And I will
put enmity between thee and the seed of man. It shall bruise thy head,
and, thou shalt bruise his heel until the day of judgment."[131]