Sir J. Franklin in his account of his expedition of 1825-27, is that
the first man was called Tschäpiwih. He found the earth filled with
abundance of all good things. He begat children and he gave to them two
sorts of fruit, one white and the other black, and he bade them eat
the white, but eschew the black. And having given them this command,
he left them and went a long journey to fetch the sun to enlighten the
world. During his absence they ate only of the white fruit, and then
the father made a second journey to fetch the moon, leaving them well
provided with fruit. But after a while they forgot his command, and
consumed the black fruit. On his return he was angry, and cursed the
ground that it should thenceforth produce only the black fruit, and
that with it should come in sickness and death.
Dr. Hunter, in his “Memoirs of Captivity amongst the Indians,” says
that the Delawares believe that in the beginning the Red men had short
tails, but they blasphemed the Great Spirit, and in punishment for
their sin their tails were cut off and transformed into women, to be
their perpetual worry. The same story is told by Mr. Atherne Jones, as
heard by him among the Kikapoos.
The ancient Mexicans had a myth of Xolotl, making out of a man’s bone
the primeval mother in the heavenly Paradise; and he called the woman
he had made Cihuacouhatl, which means “The woman with the serpent,” or
Quilatzli, which means “The woman of our flesh.” She was the mother of
twins, and is represented in a Mexican hieroglyph as speaking with the
serpent, whilst behind her stand the twins, whose different characters
are represented by different colors, one of whom is represented
slaying the other.[77] Xolotl, who made her out of a bone, was cast
out of heaven and became the first man. That the Mexicans had other
traditions, now lost, touching this matter is probable, for they had a
form of baptism for children in which they prayed that those baptized
might be washed from “the original sin committed before the founding of
the world.” And this had to do, in all probability, with a legend akin
to that of the Iroquois, who told of the primeval mother falling, and
then of the earth being built up to receive her, when precipitated out
of heaven.
The Caribs of South America relate that Luoguo, the first man and
god, created the earth and the sea, and made the earth as fair as the
beautiful garden in the heaven where dwell the gods. Luoguo dwelt
among the men he had made for some while. He drew the men out of his
navel and out of his thigh which he cut open. One of the first men was
Racumon, who was transformed into a great serpent with a human head,
and he lived twined round a great Cabatas tree and ate of its fruit,
and gave to those who passed by. Then the Caribs lived to a great age,
and never waxed old or died. Afterwards they found a garden planted
with manioc, and on that they fed. But they became wicked, and a flood
came and swept them away.[78]
In the South Sea Islands we find other traditions of the Fall. In Alea,
one of the Caroline Islands, the tale runs thus:--
“The sister of Eliulap the first man, who was also a god, felt herself
in labor, so she descended to earth and there brought forth three
children. To her astonishment she found the earth barren; therefore by
her mighty word, she clothed it with herbage and peopled it with beasts
and birds. And the world became very beautiful, and her sons were happy
and did not feel sickness or death, but at the close of every month
fell into a slumber from which they awoke renewed in strength and
beauty. But Erigeres, the bad spirit, envied this happiness, so he came
to the world and introduced into it pain, age, and death.”[79]
With the Jewish additions to the story given in Genesis, we shall
conclude.
The godless Sammael had made an alliance with all the chiefs of his
hosts against the Lord, because that the holy and ever blessed Lord
had said to Adam and Eve, “_Have dominion over the fish of the sea_,”
etc.; and he said, “How can I make man to sin and drive him out?” Then
he went down to earth with all his host, and he sought for a companion
like to himself; he chose the serpent, which was in size like a camel,
and he seated himself on its back and rode up to the woman, and said to
her, “_Hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?_”
And he thought, “I will ask more presently.” Then she answered, “He has
only forbidden me the fruit of the Tree of Knowlege which is in the
midst of the garden. And He said, ‘In the day thou touchest it thou
shalt die.’” She added two words; God did not say any thing to her
about touching it, and she spoke of the fruit, whereas God said the
Tree.
Then the godless one, Sammael, went up to the tree and touched it.
But the tree cried out, “_Let not the foot of pride come against me,
and let not the hand of the ungodly cast me down!_ Touch me not, thou
godless one!”
Then Sammael called to the woman, and said, “See, I have touched the
tree and am not dead. Do you also touch it and try.” But when Eve drew
near to the tree she saw the Angel of Death waiting sword in hand, and
she said in her heart, “Perhaps I am to die, and then God will create
another wife for Adam; that shall not be, he must die too.” So she gave
him of the fruit. And when he took it and bit, his teeth were blunted,
and thus it is that the back teeth of men are no longer sharp.[80]
V.
ADAM AND EVE AFTER THE FALL.
When Adam reached the earth, the Eagle said to the Whale, with whom
it had hitherto lived in the closest intimacy, “Now we must part, for
there is no safety for us animals since man has come amongst us. The
deepest abysses of ocean must be thy refuge, and thou must protect
thyself with cunning from the great foe who has entered the earth. I
must soar high above the clouds, and there find a place of escape from
him who is destined to be my pursuer till death.”[81]
According to certain cabbalistic Rabbis, Adam, when cast out of Eden,
was precipitated into Gehenna, but he escaped therefrom to earth, by
repeating and pronouncing properly the mystic word Laverererareri.[82]
In the Talmud it is related that when Adam heard the words of God,
“_Thou shalt eat the herb of the field_” (Gen. iii. 18), he trembled
in all his limbs, and exclaimed, “O Lord of all the world! I and my
beast, the Ass, shall have to eat out of the same manger!” But God said
to him, because he trembled, “Thou shalt eat bread in the sweat of thy
brow.”[83]
Learned Rabbis assert that the angel Raphael had instructed Adam in
all kinds of knowledge out of a book, and this book contained mighty
mysteries which the highest angels could not fathom, and knew not; and
before the Fall the angels used to assemble in crowds, and listen to
Adam instructing them in hidden wisdom. In that book were seventy-two
parts and six hundred and seventy writings, and all this was known;
but from the middle of the book to the end were the one thousand five
hundred hidden secrets of Wisdom, and these Adam began to reveal to the
angels till he was arrested by the angel Haddarniel. This book Adam
preserved and read in daily; but when he had sinned, it fled out of his
hands and flew away, and he went into the river Gihon up to his neck,
and the water washed the glory wherewith he had shone in Paradise from
off his body. But God was merciful, and He restored to him the book by
the hands of Raphael, and he left it to his son Seth, and Enoch and
Abraham read in this book.[84]
Along with the book Adam retained the rod which God had created at the
close of the Sabbath, between sun and sun; _i. e._ between nightfall
and daybreak, so says the Rabbi Levi. Adam left it to Enoch, and
Enoch gave it to Noah, and Noah gave it to Shem, and Shem to Abraham,
and Abraham delivered it to Isaac, and Isaac gave it to Jacob; Jacob
brought the staff with him to Egypt, and gave it to his son Joseph. Now
when Joseph died, his house was plundered by the Egyptians, and all his
effects were taken into Pharaoh’s house. Jethro was a mighty magician,
and when he saw the staff of Adam and read the writing thereon, he
went forth into Edom and planted it in his garden. And Jethro would
allow none to touch it; but when he saw Moses he said, “This is he who
will deliver Israel out of Egypt.” Wherefore he gave him his daughter
Zipporah and the staff. But the book Midrash Vajoscha relates this
rather differently, in the words of Moses himself: “After I had become
great I went out, and seeing an Egyptian ill-treat a Hebrew man of my
brethren, I slew him and buried him in the sand. But when Pharoah heard
this he sought to slay me, and brought a sharp sword the like of which
was not in the world; and therewith I was ten times smitten on my neck.
But the Holy God wrought a miracle, for my neck became as hard as a
marble pillar, so that the sword had no power over me. And I was forty
years old when I fled out of Egypt; and I came to Jethro’s house and
stood by the well and found Zipporah his daughter; and when I saw her,
I was pleased with her, and asked her to marry me. Then she related to
me her father’s custom, and it was this. ‘My father proves every suitor
for my hand by a tree which is in his garden; and when he comes to the
tree, the tree clasps him in its branches.’ Then I asked her where such
a tree was, and she answered me, ‘This is the staff which God created
on the eve of the Sabbath, which was handed down from Adam to Joseph;
but Jethro saw the staff at the plundering of Joseph’s house, and he
took it away with him from Pharaoh’s palace and brought it here. This
is the staff on which is cut the Schem hammphorasch and the ten plagues
that are in store for Egypt, and these are indicated by ten letters
on the staff, and they stand thus: _dam_, blood; _zephardeim_, frogs;
_kinnim_, lice; _arof_, various insects; _defer_, murrain; _schechim_,
blain; _barad_, hail; _arbeh_, locusts; _choschech_, darkness; and
_bechor_, first born:--these will be the plagues of Egypt. This staff
was for many days and years in my father’s house, till he one day took
it in his hand and stuck it into the earth in the garden; and then it
sprouted and bloomed and brought forth almonds, and when he saw that,
he proved every one who sought one of his daughters by that tree.’”
These are the words of the Book Midrash Vajoscha, and thereby may be
seen that the staff of Adam was of almond wood; but Yalkut Chadasch,
under the title “Adam,” says that the staff was of the wood of the Tree
of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.[85]
When Adam and Eve were driven out of the garden, says the Talmud, they
wandered disconsolate over the face of the earth. And the sun began to
decline, and they looked with fear at the diminution of the light, and
felt a horror like death steal over their hearts.
And the light of heaven grew paler, and the wretched ones clasped one
another in an agony of despair.
Then all grew dark.
And the luckless ones fell on the earth, silent, and thought that God
had withdrawn from them the light for ever; and they spent the night in
tears.
But a beam of light began to rise over the eastern hills, after many
hours of darkness, and the clouds blushed crimson, and the golden sun
came back, and dried the tears of Adam and Eve; and then they greeted
it with cries of gladness, and said, “_Heaviness may endure for a
night, but joy cometh in the morning_; this is a law that God has laid
upon nature.”[86]
Among the Manichean myths prevalent among the Albigenses, was one
preserved to us by the troubadour Pierre de-Saint-Cloud. When Adam was
driven out of Paradise, God in mercy gave him a miraculous rod, which
possessed creative powers, so that he had only to strike the sea with
it and it would forthwith produce the beast he might require.
Adam struck the sea, and there rose from it the sheep; then Eve took
the staff and smote the water, and from it sprang the wolf, which fell
on the sheep and carried it off into the wood. Then Adam took back the
staff, and with it called forth the dog to hunt the wolf and recover
the sheep.
According to the Mussulman tradition, Adam’s beard grew after he had
fallen, and it was the result of his excessive grief and penitence:
how this affected his chin is not explained, the fact only is thus
boldly stated. He was sorely abashed at his beard, but a voice from
heaven called to him, saying, “The beard is man’s ornament on earth; it
distinguishes him from the feeble woman.” Adam shed so many tears that
all birds and beasts drank of them, and flowing into the earth they
produced the fragrant plants and gum-bearing trees, for they were still
endued with the strength and virtue of the food of Paradise.
But the tears of Eve were transformed into pearls where they dribbled
into the sea, and into beautiful flowers where they sank into the soil.
Both wailed so loud that Eve’s cry reached Adam on the West wind, and
Adam’s cry was borne to Eve on the wings of the East wind. And when
Eve heard the well-known voice she clasped her hands above her head,
and women to this day thus testify their sorrow; and Adam, when the
voice of the weeping of Eve sounded in his ears, put his right hand
beneath his beard,--thus do men to this day give evidence of their
mourning. And the tears pouring out of Adam’s eyes formed the two
rivers Tigris and Euphrates. All nature wept with him; every bird and
beast hastened to him to mingle their tears with his, but the locust
was the first to arrive, for it was made of the superfluous earth which
had been gathered for the creation of Adam. There are seven thousand
kinds of locusts or grasshoppers, of all colors and sizes, up to the
dimensions of an eagle; and they have a king to whom God addresses
His commands when He would punish a rebellious nation such as that of
Egypt. The black character imprinted on the locust’s wing is Hebrew,
and it signifies, “God is One; He overcometh the mighty; the locusts
are a portion of His army which He sends against the wicked.” As all
nature thus wailed and lamented, from the invisible insect to the angel
who upholds the world, God sent Gabriel with the words which were in
after-time to save Jonah in the whale’s belly, “There is no God but
Thou; pardon me for Mohammed’s sake, that great and last prophet, whose
name is engraved on Thy throne.”
When Adam had uttered these words with penitent heart, the gates of
heaven opened, and Gabriel cried out, “God has accepted thy penitence,
Adam! pray to him alone, He will give thee what thou desirest, even the
return to Paradise, after a certain time.”
Adam prayed, “Lord, protect me from the further malice of my enemy
Eblis.”
“Speak the word, There is no God but God; that wounds him like a
poisoned arrow.”
“Lord, will not the meat and drink provided by this earth lead me into
sin?”
“Drink water, and eat only clean beasts which have been slain in the
name of Allah, and build mosques where you dwell, so will Eblis have no
power over you.”
“But if he torment me at night with evil thoughts and dreams?”
“Then rise from thy couch and pray.”
“Lord, how shall I be able to distinguish between good and evil?”
“My guidance will be with thee; and two angels will dwell in thy heart,
who shall warn thee against evil and encourage thee to good.”
“Lord, assure me Thy grace against sin.”
“That can only be obtained by good works. But this I promise thee, evil
shall be punished one-fold, good shall be rewarded tenfold.”
In the meanwhile the angel Michael had been sent to Eve to announce to
her God’s mercy. When Eve saw him, she exclaimed, “O great and almighty
Archangel of God, with what weapon shall I, poor frail creature, fight
against sin?”
“God,” answered the Angel, “has given me for thee, the most potent
weapon of modesty; that, as man is armed with faith, so mayest thou be
armed with shamefacedness, therewith to conquer thy passions.”
“And what will protect me against the strength of man, so much more
robust and vigorous than I, in mind and in body?”
“Love and compassion,” answered Michael. “I have placed these in the
deepest recesses of his heart, as mighty advocates within him to plead
for thee.”
“And will God give me no further gift?”
“For the pangs of maternity thou shalt feel, this shall be thine,
death in child-bearing shall be reckoned in heaven as a death of
martyrdom.”[87]
Eblis, seeing the mercy shown to Adam and Eve, ventured to entreat
God’s grace for himself, and obtained that he should not be enchained
in the place of torment till the day of the general Resurrection, and
that he should exercise sovereignty over the wicked and all those who
should reject God’s word in this life.
“And where shall I dwell till the consummation of all things?” he asked
of Allah.
“In ruined buildings, and in tombs, and in dens and caves of the
mountains.”
“And what shall be my nourishment?”
“All beasts slain in the name of false gods and idols.”
“And how shall I slake my thirst?”
“In wine and other spirituous liquors.”
“And how shall I occupy myself in hours of idleness?”
“In music, dancing, and song.”
“What is the word of my sentence?”
“The curse of God till the Judgment-day.”
“And how shall I fight against those men who have received Thy
revelation, and are protected by the two angels?”
“Thy offspring shall be more numerous than theirs: to every man born
into this world, there will be born seven evil spirits, who, however,
will be powerless to injure true Believers.”
God then made a covenant with Adam’s successors; He rubbed Adam’s
back, and lo! from out of his back crawled all generations of men that
were to be born, about the size of ants, and they ranged themselves
on the left and on the right. At the head of those on the right stood
Mohammed, then the other prophets and the faithful, distinguished from
those on the left by their white and dazzling splendor. Those on the
left were headed by Kabil (Cain).
God then acquainted Adam with the names and fate of all his posterity;
and when the recital arrived at David, to whom God had allotted only
thirty years, Adam asked God, “How many years are accorded to me?”
Allah replied, “One thousand.”
Then said Adam, “I make a present to David of seventy years out of my
life.” God consented; and knowing the shortness of Adam’s memory, at
all events in matters concerning himself inconveniently, He made the
angels bring a formal document of resignation engrossed on parchment,
and required Adam to subscribe thereto his name, and Michael and
Gabriel to countersign it as witnesses.
A very similar tradition was held by the Jews, for in Midrash Jalkut
(fol. 12) it is said: God showed Adam all future generations of men,
with their captains, learned and literary men. Then he saw that
David was provided with only three hours of life, and he said, “Lord
and Creator of the world, is this unalterable?” “Such was my first
intention,” was the reply.
“How many years have I to live?”
“A thousand.”
“And is there such a thing known in heaven as making presents?”
“Most certainly.”
“Then I present seventy years of my life to David.”
And what did Adam next perform? He drew up a legal document of
transfer, and sealed it with his own seal, and God and Metatron did
likewise.
To return to the Mussulman legend.
When all the posterity of Adam were assembled, God exclaimed to them,
“Acknowledge that I am the only God, and that Mohammed is my prophet.”
The company on the right eagerly made this acknowledgment; those,
however, on the left long hesitated,--some said only the former portion
of the sentence, and others did not open their mouths.
“The disobedient,” said Allah to Adam, “shall, if they remain
obstinate, be cast into hell, but the true believers shall be received
into Paradise.”
“So be it,” replied Adam. And thus shall it be at the end of the world.
After the covenant, Allah rubbed Adam’s back once more, and all his
little posterity retreated into it again.
When now God withdrew His presence from Adam’s sight for the remainder
of our first parents’ life, Adam uttered such a loud and bitter cry
that the whole earth quaked.
The All-merciful was filled with compassion, and bade him follow a
cloud which would conduct him to a spot where he would be directly
opposite His throne, and there he was to build a temple.
“Go about this temple,” said Allah, “and I am as near to you as the
angels who surround my throne.” Adam, who was still the size that God
had created him, easily strode from Ceylon to Mecca after the cloud,
which stood over the place where he was to build. On Mount Arafa,
near Mecca, to his great delight, he found Eve again, and from this
circumstance the mountain takes its name (from Arafa, to recognize,
to know again). They both began to build, and erected a temple having
four doors--one was called Adam’s door, another Abraham’s door, the
third Ishmael’s door, and the fourth Mohammed’s door. The plan of the
temple was furnished by Gabriel, who also contributed a precious stone,
but this stone afterwards, through the sin of men, turned black. This
black stone is the most sacred Kaaba, and it was originally an angel,
whose duty it had been to guard the Wheat-Tree of the knowledge of
good and evil, and to warn off Adam should he approach it. But though
his inattention the design of God was frustrated, and in punishment
he was transformed into a stone, and he will not be released from his
transformation till the Last Day.
Gabriel taught Adam also all the ceremonies of the great pilgrimage.
Adam now returned with his wife to India, and lived there till he
died, but every year he made a pilgrimage to Mecca, till he lost his
primitive size, and retained only the height of sixty eels.
The cause of his diminution in height was his horror and dismay at
the murder of Abel, which made him shrink into himself, and he was
never afterwards able to stretch himself out again to his pristine
dimensions.[88]
The Book of the Penitence of Adam is a curious apocryphal work of
Syriac origin; I give an outline of its contents.
God planted, on the third day, the Terrestrial Paradise; it is bounded
on the east by the ocean in which, at the Last Day, the elect will
wash away all those sins which have not as yet been purged away by
repentance.
On leaving this garden of delights, Adam turned to take of it one last
look. He saw that the Tree which had caused his fall was cursed and had
withered away.
He was much surprised when night overtook him, for in Paradise he
had not known darkness. As he went along his way, shedding tears, he
overtook the serpent gliding over the ground, and licking the dust.
That serpent he had last seen on four feet, very beautiful, with the
hair of a young maiden, enamelled with brilliant colors. Now it was
vile, hideous, and grovelling. The beasts which, before the Fall, had
coveted its society, fled from it now with loathing.
Filled with rage at the sight of Adam and Eve, to whom it attributed
its present degradation, the serpent flew at them and prostrated them.
Thereupon God removed from it its sole remaining possession--the gift
of speech, and it was left only its hiss of rage and shame.
Adam soon felt exhaustion, heat, fear and pain;--afflictions he had
not known in Eden. As the shadows of night fell, an intense horror
overwhelmed the guilty pair; they trembled in every limb and cried to
God. The Almighty, in compassion, consoled them by announcing to them
that day would return after twelve hours of night. They were relieved
by this promise, and they spent the first night in prayer.
But Satan, who never lost sight of them, fearing lest their prayers
should wholly appease the divine justice, assembled his host of evil
angels, surrounded himself with a brilliant light, and stood at the
entrance of the cave where the banished ones prayed. He hoped that Adam
would mistake him for God, and prostrate himself before him.
But Adam said to Eve: “Observe this great light and this multitude of
spirits. If it were God who sent them, they would enter and tell us
their message.” Adam did not know then that Satan cannot approach those
who pray. Then Adam addressed himself to God and said, “O my God! is
there another God but Thou, who can create angels and send them to us?
Lord, deign to instruct us!”
Then a heavenly angel entered the cavern and said, “Adam, fear not
those whom you see; it is Satan and his host. He sought to seduce you
again to your fall.”
Having thus spoken, the angel fell upon Satan and tore from off him his
disguise, and exposed him in his hideous nakedness to Adam and Eve.
And to console them for this trial, God sent Adam gold rings, incense
and myrrh, and said to him, “Preserve these things, and they will give
you at night Light and fragrance; and when I shall come down on earth
to save you, clothed in human flesh, kings shall bring me these three
tokens.”