coming to burn them.
1 After this, Adam and Eve continued to stand in the cave, praying and
crying, until the morning dawned on them.
2 And when they saw the light returned to them, they retrained from
fear, and strengthened their hearts.
3 Then Adam began to come out of the cave. And when he came to the
mouth of it, and stood and turned his face towards the east, and saw
the sunrise in glowing rays, and felt the heat thereof on his body, he
was afraid of it, and thought in his heart that this flame came forth
to plague him.
4 He then cried and beat his chest, then he fell on the ground on his
face and made his request, saying:--
5 "O Lord, plague me not, neither consume me, nor yet take away my life
from the earth."
6 For he thought the sun was God.
7 Because while he was in the garden and heard the voice of God and the
sound He made in the garden, and feared Him, Adam never saw the
brilliant light of the sun, neither did its flaming heat touch his body.
8 Therefore he was afraid of the sun when flaming rays of it reached
him. He thought God meant to plague him therewith all the days He had
decreed for him.
9 For Adam also said in his thoughts, as God did not plague us with
darkness, behold, He has caused this sun to rise and to plague us with
burning heat.
10 But while he was thinking like this in his heart, the Word of God
came to him and said:--
11 "O Adam, get up on your feet. This sun is not God; but it has been
created to give light by day, of which I spoke to you in the cave
saying, 'that the dawn would come, and there would be light by day.'
12 But I am God who comforted you in the night."
13 And God ceased to commune with Adam.
Chapter XVII - The Chapter of the Serpent.
1 The Adam and Eve came out at the mouth of the cave, and went towards
the garden.
2 But as they went near it, before the western gate, from which Satan
came when he deceived Adam and Eve, they found the serpent that became
Satan coming at the gate, and sorrowfully licking the dust, and
wiggling on its breast on the ground, by reason of the curse that fell
on it from God.
3 And whereas before the serpent was the most exalted of all beasts,
now it was changed and become slippery, and the meanest of them all,
and it crept on its breast and went on its belly.
4 And whereas it was the fairest of all beasts, it had been changed,
and was become the ugliest of them all. Instead of feeding on the best
food, now it turned to eat the dust. Instead of living, as before, in
the best places, now it lived in the dust.
5 And, whereas it had been the most beautiful of all beasts, all of
which stood dumb at its beauty, it was now abhorred of them.
6 And, again, whereas it lived in one beautiful home, to which all
other animals came from elsewhere; and where it drank, they drank also
of the same; now, after it had become venomous, by reason of God's
curse, all beasts fled from its home, and would not drink of the water
it drank; but fled from it.