Page:Anecdotescatechi00spiruoft.djvu/77



Q. Who  were  the  first  man  and  woman?

A. The  first  man  and  woman  were  Adam  and  Eve.

The world  did  not  come  into  existence  without a Creator. A young man  who  had  finished  his studies at  the  high  school  came  home  with  an overweening  idea  of  his  knowledge  and  wisdom. Amongst other  foolish  theories  which  he  enunciated, he  asserted  that  the  world  was  not  made,  it came  into  existence  of  itself,  and  was  not  the  work  of a Creator. His mother,  a simple  but  sensible  woman, let him  run  on,  and  listened  in  silence;  at  length  she said: ‘‘Since  you  have  such  definite  knowledge  on all  these  matters,  tell  me,  did  the  egg  exist  first,  or  the hen?” “The  egg  existed  first,”  the  youth  replied, “all chickens  come  out  of  eggs.”  His  mother  continued: “ That  is  impossible,  for  the  egg  comes from the  hen,  therefore  the  priority  of  existence belongs to  the  hen.”  Her  son  answered:  “ Perhaps you are  right,  mother.”  But  she  said  again:  “ Yet you must  not  forget  that  there  is  never  a hen  that did not  originally  come  out  of  an  egg.”  The  youth