In that day, the serpent possessed the keenest sight of all the
living things. And once while he lay waiting in the top limbs of a
tree, the serpent saw the Man, and said to him:
“Adam, you
are a faithful servant to your God, tell me: what did He say to
you, and to the Woman, about the fruit of the Garden’s trees ?”
Without
a pause Adam answered, “God told us not to eat the fruit from the
center tree. In its flesh it holds a secret knowledge that God did not
intend for us—if we eat the fruit of that tree, we will die.”
The
serpent eased its way around the top limbs of the tree; in its path it
left the leaves shredded by its tail. "That is what He told the two of
you. But He sends me to you now, not as the angel that I am, but as a
serpent. And He sends me with a message meant for only you to hear. I
see the Woman there beside the stream, but she has not seen me and
hasn't heard a word of what we've said."
Adam turned and saw the Woman kneeling before the stream; truly, her eye had never left the water’s flow.
“God
sent me on this day to tell you what He desires of you”, the angel
said. “Your life as well as hers, and every life thereafter will be
suffering without end and without purpose—unless you eat the fruit
from the center tree. God wishes you to offer it to Eve as a symbol
of your love. And see to it she eats before you do.”
Adam trembled, and opened his mouth to speak. The angel smiled and continued gently on:
“God
made Man for many things, and in part you were made to be the
caretaker of His Garden; in His wisdom, God limited the purpose of
the Woman to caretaker of the Man. He made her heart to flow like the
stream she kneels before, but in the order of creation her place is not
as great to God as yours. And her heart was only made to flow in one
direction.”
“But see, she kneels before the stream watching as
the water rises one way and tumbles in another. Because she does not
know her purpose in the Garden, in every toss of every wave she sees
possibilities that are impossible for her. It would be better if she
were spared this sight, or her heart may become forever small and
angry that she cannot have what in His wisdom, God reserved for you.
Offer her the fruit, and once she sees you sacrificed the secret
knowledge out of love for her, she will be drawn like water to your
side.”
Something bold as when the colors of the leaves ignite
the sky stirred in Adam’s heart. But ever mindful he was a servant to
his God, he asked the serpent-angel:
“God gave us eyes and ears
that see and hear the same. Our hands take in equal measure, and we
are satisfied with what we take. Why not bring her to the tree, and
share what I have learned about its fruit, and let her eat, or not, as
she sees fit ?”
“You believe because you seem the same, you are
the same ?”, the angel hissed. “The One who created you, who made the
Garden and entrusts its care to you—did He not create you before the
Woman ? Surely you, whom He created first, He thought more of.”
His
heart surged, full as any stream, but something about the serpent’s
message still troubled Adam : “If I am first in God’s favor, then Eve
has no advantage over me. What is lost if she should make her choice
to eat as I make mine ?”
Uncoiling and descending from the top limbs of the tree, the serpent-angel said :
“God
began the world with darkness, and favored everything He created
after accordingly. What grows largest and rises highest is favored with
His light, and has a higher purpose than what is left upon the ground.”
“The
mountain rises high above the Garden. It is solid, and only
imperceptibly it moves. The river runs, turns, and turns again, not
knowing where it’s meant to run or where it's meant to turn. It only
finds its stillness as it approaches the foot of mountains.”
“Because
He is without limit, God gave order to the world and what is closest
to His heart and to Himself is of a higher order. To that which He
loves most, He gives possibilities of vision and of purpose and
limits the purpose and the vision of those He favors less.”
“He
gave you the possibility to see what only mountains see. As the water
flows it hugs the river bed because it has no stillness of its own.
Being of a lower order in creation, the rivers are consumed by what
they cannot have and soon they flood their banks in anger and in
spite—but there is yet a way for the waters to be stilled.”
Ripe
fruit fell and split and stained the ground; sliding on its belly until
it reached the center of the tree, now eye-to-eye with Adam, the angel
said:
“For giving you His Garden and the Woman, in return, God asks only this of you:
Go
to where she kneels and gazes at the stream; tell her God sent His
angel to you, saying it is safe to eat the fruit you were forbidden
once to eat. The fruit of the center tree holds a tainted knowledge
in its skin. Its flesh is nourishment for one but poison to another.”
Frightened by the angel’s words, Adam cried, “But He brought Eve here and said that I should care for her…”
As if singing to a child the serpent said these words:
“If
she believes you sacrificed for her what would have made you almost
greater than your God, no harm will come to Eve. But should she take it
upon herself to eat the fruit and see that she is favored less, even
her deepest love will be as shallow as any river’s edge.”
“Offer
her the fruit, and as she eats you will see her sight is reconciled
with yours. Once her heart can flow in single purpose she will be
everything He intended her to be. God created you and blessed you with
the Woman and the Garden. Your gift to God is seeing that the Woman
finds her place in the order of His creation. Truly, can you call
yourself His servant and say you love Him best, so long as you have
failed to do the only thing He asks of you ?”
A dry wind rose,
crackling fevered pieces of parched leaves upon the ground. The
serpent-angel smiled, seeing that the Man was not afraid.
Certain
God had favored him, he knelt upon the ground, and as Adam sang his
praises to the Lord, a fly came to rest itself upon his folded hands;
its wings were veined as leaves, laced in ebon with signatures of
gold.
And seeing now that Eve no longer knelt before the
stream Adam shook it from his hand, eager to begin what he believed God
meant for him to do.
***
He saw her in the center of the
Garden looking towards the top limbs of the tree. Its fruit was
nourishment to one and poison to another, and truly, Eve had been
afraid.
But in that day, the serpent possessed the keenest ear
of all, and heard all things on earth and more below. And when he
heard the Woman’s cry he told her, as if singing to a child, those
which God made last, He thought longest on--surely that which He
thought longest on, He thought more of.
Now certain of her place in
the order of creation, when Adam called her name Eve turned to him and
smiled; in her open hand were broken bits of fruit, with flesh in
every color of the dawn.