When Adam and Eve looked out upon the world round about them; when they
saw the flowers and the grasses; when they heard the splashing of the
sun-lit waters, and the rustling of the soft branches,--then their
hearts were filled with love for each other, for their home, and for the
Father who had made all this joy for them.
For a long time they wandered up and down the Garden of Eden, singing
songs, and ready always to hear the voice of God when he spoke to them
in the soft winds that played among the tree tops.
Now, there was a wicked angel, named Satan. He had been cast out from
heaven, down, down from the blue sky. And in his own unhappy home he
dwelt now, alone, wretched and revengeful. And when he saw this happy
man and woman, so good and pure, their hearts bounding with love to God
and joy in right doing, his cruel face grew black.
"Such happiness shall not last," he said. So he crept into the Garden,
took on the form of a serpent and spoke to Eve.
"Eat of the fruit of this tree," he said, "and give it to Adam that he
may eat too."
"But we are forbidden," Eve said.
"The fruit is like no other. Eat! Ye shall not die," the serpent
answered.
[Illustration: THE EXPULSION OF ADAM AND EVE FROM THE GARDEN OF EDEN.
(_Dore._)]
Then Eve gathered the fruit and ate of it. It was sweet, even as the
serpent had said. Then she gathered more, and Adam, too, ate of it.
Then darkness fell upon the earth. A great wind arose, the thunder
rolled, and God drove Adam and Eve out from the Garden of Eden; and at
the entrance He placed cherubims and a flaming sword for no one who had
sinned could dwell in a land so beautiful and free from sorrow.
But God pitied these children of his; and, although they had sinned
against him, he saw that, after long years of suffering, One should be
born, who would bring back to earth the joy and peace and happiness that
had once been theirs, and which would have been to all their children in
all the time to come, had not these parents sinned.
And so Adam and Eve went out into the world to work and struggle and
build homes for themselves.
[Illustration: ADAM AND EVE. (_Raphael._)]
By and by two baby boys were born to them,--Cain and Abel. Pure and kind
and good these children should have been. But now they were born into a
world of sin, and of the nature of sin they too partook.
When these children were grown men, Cain hated his brother. He grew
sullen and revengeful towards him. The serpent that had tempted Adam and
Eve now tempted him. He listened; and one day, when they were at work
together in the field, Cain slew Abel and hid him in the earth.
Then a great storm gathered across the sky; and a voice said, "Cain,
where is thy brother?"
Cain trembled with fear; for he knew it was the voice of God. But he
raised his wicked face towards the heavens and cried, "Why should I
know? Am I my brother's keeper?"