Page:Folk-lore of the Holy Land.djvu/61

Rh cherub on guard there to give him a single fruit from the tree of Life. The Angel, unable to grant the request, yet touched with pity for the fallen race, by Allah’s leave plucked a branch that had three twigs, and gave it to the messenger. Seth returned to find his father dead. He planted the branch at the head of Adam’s grave, where it took root and grew through the centuries. Though it survived the Flood, it was forgotten by mankind.

Now the patriarch Lot, whose wife had been changed into the huge column of rock-salt which is still a sight of wonder near Jebel Usdum on the southern shores of the sea which bears his name, fell into sin so grievous that, when his conscience awoke, he despaired of salvation. He might have killed himself had not an angel from Allah appeared and told him to take a jar full of water from the Jordan, and go into the hill-country to water a small tree that he would find growing at the head of Adam’s grave. The angel also told him that the plant, if it throve, would be a means of grace for all mankind. Lot sped with joy on his errand. It was a terribly hot day, and a fierce scirocco-wind was blowing when Lot set out to do the angel’s bidding. As he toiled up the steep ascent to the spot where the khan, called the “Inn of the Good Samaritan,” now stands, he saw a pilgrim (some say a Russian pilgrim) lying beside the road, apparently at the last gasp. Lot, being kind of heart, knelt down and offered him a draught of water. Great was his astonishment when the pilgrim, who was no