Page:Jesus of Nazareth the story of His life simply told (1917).djvu/31

 "Of every tree of Paradise thou shalt eat. But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat. For in what day soever thou shalt eat of it, thou shalt die the death."

A simple command, but a very solemn one. Disobedience to it would make them lose the grace and favour of God, and deserve His most dreadful punishments in this world and in the next. They know, then, all that depends on that tree, and never pass it without a feeling of awe.

Eve is surprised to see the serpent there and stops to look at him. The serpent begins to talk and she listens:

"Why do you not eat of the fruit of this tree?" he asks.

Notice how he begins his first temptation as he has begun so many since, by trying to make God appear hard.

A little Spanish girl who heard this story for the first time said: "Eve should not have listened; she should have made the sign of the Cross and gone down another walk." But Eve did listen. She looked up shyly and wistfully at the tree and said:

"God hath commanded us that we should not eat, lest perhaps we die."

"Die!" answered the tempter, "no, you shall not die."

And then he makes a show of trusting her with a secret. There is always something fascinating about a secret. Eve is curious and draws nearer.

"God doth know," he goes on, "that in what day soever you shall eat thereof your eyes shall be opened and you shall be as Gods."

This was what enticed her. It was not gluttony, but curiosity and ambition that were her ruin. To