After separating the light from the darkness and the water from the land, the Almighty brought forth abundant varieties of beasts; the kinds that crawled, walked, flew, and swam. As He walked about the garden, enjoying the gentle breeze that swept through the passage of trees He planted, He thought it suitable to create a final being who would have authority over all that crept over the earth. He would be crafted in His image and he would be called man.
The Almighty knelt on the soft grass and took two great handfuls of moist, fertile earth. From one handful He created man; He gave him broad shoulders to endure rigorous labor and a gentle, obeisant mind. He thought that man would benefit from a companion and with the other handful of earth He created woman. When creating the woman, He made a conscious effort to give her counterparts that complimented man; a man’s form was robust while a woman’s was lithe, a man’s cadences were deep while a woman’s was soft, a man’s visage grew a thick stubble while a woman’s was devoid of it. They were to be inseparable. Like the gaze exchanged between the firmament and the sea, they would be in eternal adulation of one another.
The Almighty then gave them names. He named the man Adam and He named the woman Lilith.
He guided them through the garden and showed them the marvelous trees and animals of His creation. He showed them how to take respite beneath the shade of a grand oak tree, He taught them how to enjoy the ripe clusters of dates that hung from the palms and He showed them how the rustle of the juniper leaves in the breeze could lull them to sleep.
The Almighty also introduced them to the various beasts they would be masters to. Every animal who called the land, sea, or sky their home, was introduced to Adam. It was akin to a father acquainting his children with one another.
Adam and Lilith observed all of this and felt a profound sense of awe. But they quickly learned that this paradise came with its laws, for the Almighty soon addressed them both,
“Both of you may freely eat from any tree in the garden and be the masters of any beast of your choice,”
His tone then turned stern when he added,
“Yet you shall not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for eating its fruits and disobeying my orders comes with a severe cost.”
Adam, who had listened to the Almighty’s orders intently, nodded his head obediently. Lilith accompanied Adam’s gesture but she feigned compliance. After the Almighty left them to wander the garden, she kept taking furtive glances at the tree that was forbidden to them.
Adam and Lilith spent their days roaming around the garden. A favorite pastime of theirs was to sit beneath the shade of a tall pear tree and listen to melodious birdsong while gazing at the firmament. It was in these moments that they began to experience attraction to one another.
When he lay his broad back on her lap, Lilith would study Adam’s features. She loved to run her fingers through his head of soft black hair as she spoke to him. She loved the way his brown eyes sparkled like drops of morning dew in the sun. He had a voice as soothing as the feeling of oak wood against her palm. He had a character so pure and wholesome, yet boundless in devotion, much like the awe-inspiring spectacle of a cloudless azure sky.
Adam in turn found himself being captivated by Lilith. But where she admired him in the way one admires a gentle deer, he was captivated by her as if she were an elusive vixen of the woods. Lilith was a beautiful woman with charm and sharp intellect. Her straight hair ran down to her waist and it was as black as a starless night. He loved to see her full lips curl into a smile or laugh. Yet he sensed something clandestine beneath her serenity. He loved gazing into her blue eyes but he felt like there was a part of her she kept concealed from him.
But he trusted her despite all his suspicion, for she was given to him by the Almighty, and he trusted Him with the entirety of his soul. Then why, he thought, should he have any room in his heart to distrust Lilith? Even when he saw her observing the tree that bore the forbidden fruit with interest, Adam suppressed his doubts about her.
He was content to feast on the figs, dates, and pears that grew aplenty in the garden and be satisfied with what He provided. But Lilith soon found these fruits to be banal and unremarkable in taste. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil had a broad trunk the color of ash. It was a short tree and its branches, from which sprung exotically shaped leaves, were within arm’s reach. Lilith saw the sunlight cast a sheen on the scarlet pericarp of its round, red fruits. She believed that the fruit would bring Adam great power; there was no other reason why the Almighty could have made it impermissible to eat from. With this belief, her covetousness for the fruit grew stronger every day.
Then one day her desire grew overwhelming enough to devise a plan. She told Adam to rest in the glade surrounded by tall rubber trees while she went to pluck some fruit for them. It was a clear sunny day in the garden. The air felt cool and pleasant. Yet as the birds and beasts saw Lilith roam about the garden by herself, there was a hint of uneasiness that tensed the air. Even the mountains that surrounded the garden, standing over like apostles donning cloaks of green forestry, seemed to watch in disapproval as they saw Lilith approach the date palm.
She plucked out a few fronds from the tree. She investigated the fronds for a while and decided that she needed some other variety of leaf for her plan. She looked around the garden for a while and then noticed the oak tree to her far left. She quickly climbed the tree’s strong branches and plucked a few of its leaves.
Deciding that she had all she needed, Lilith then ran to the tree that bore the forbidden fruit. She stood before the tree for a few minutes with avarice gleaming in her eyes. Her gaze was fixed on one of the red, round fruits that dangled enticingly amidst the leaves. It was dancing in accompaniment with the leaves in the breeze. It was as if the fruit was inviting her to come and pick it up.
But beneath this overwhelming desire lay a feeling of guilt. It wasn’t of the same magnitude as the covetousness she felt, but while she carried out her plan and stood before the tree, she could hear it in the back of her mind crying;
‘You are biting the hand that feeds!’
‘How foolish it is to risk all this for one fruit?’
Lilith did not pay any of them any mind. She considered them to be voices from a pathetic and subservient part of herself. A part that was eager to bow down its head and pursue orders with the brutish simplicity of an ox. Her beloved Adam, despite all his generosity and handsomeness, possessed such derisive traits to a great degree. She thought that the forbidden fruit would be a remedy to this side of him. Her heart surged with love as she thought of this newly reformed Adam. She imagined how fearless and determined he would be with the knowledge that the fruit gave him.
It was with the strength of her love for him that she suppressed her doubts and plucked the forbidden fruit. At that moment all the birds and beasts of the garden fell silent. The only sound was of the trees that rustled conspiracies to one another in the wind.
Lilith then covered the fruit in oak leaves and wrapped the fronds of the palm around it. It looked like a completely different fruit and she was sure that Adam would not be able to recognize it. She ran excitedly to the glade he rested in.
Adam, seeing Lilith approach him with a smile across her face, stood up to greet her.
“What has brought you great joy, my love?”
She thrust out the disguised fruit in her palms towards him. He raised his eyebrows in intrigue as he beheld it.
“As I was walking about the garden, I came across a variety of fruit I had never seen before,”
She said this as she pressed down on the leaves and fronds about the fruit, taking care to not expose its true colors,
“I plucked it and came here so you could take the first bite. For the moment I lay my eyes on it, I immediately thought of you, beloved.”
The creations of the Almighty were plentiful. It was conceivable to Adam that he had never encountered such a fruit before. He was moved deeply by how thoughtful she had been in bringing a new variety of fruit for him. He doubted though that this strange fruit would have looked as appealing to him hanging from its tree compared to where it was at present. The loving warmth that radiated from his paramour’s soft, slender palms would have doubtlessly bettered its flavor than the sunlight could have.
“It would be my greatest pleasure,” she said gently, “if I could feed this apple to you, my love.”
Adam accepted her request with alacrity. She raised the fruit to his parted lips. She eagerly expected to hear him bite into the fruit with a resounding crunch.
But before the fruit could reach his maw a sudden, swift force struck against her hands. The fruit fell onto the grass and tumbled out of its elaborate hood of fronds and leaves. Adam stepped back in shock as he saw the scarlet surface of the scabrous fruit.
“That’s enough of your scheming, Lilith.”
A third voice boomed from the dark shade of the trees. It disarmed them both at first, but they immediately realized what it meant; He had been observing them all along.
He stepped out from the shade, stroking a noble blue-grey falcon perched on his forearm, before thanking it and setting it free.
“Look at you! Not only have you disobeyed my laws, but you have exploited the sacred trust that Adam had in you!”
Adam was appalled that Lilith had tried to beguile him. He recoiled from her the way a wounded hare does after narrowly escaping from the vicious fangs of a she-wolf.
Lilith lowered her head and quivered. Shame, fear, and the sting of wounded pride all threw her spirit into disarray. Her long, black hair fell distraught across her pensive face.
“For not heeding to my commands and attempting to trick your partner into sin, you no longer deserve to occupy a form made in my image. You shall fall into a lower rung in the hierarchy of beasts.”
So with His incredible power, the Almighty altered Lilith’s form. He turned her into a long, thin creature devoid of limbs or hair. The warm and supple human flesh she once adorned was supplanted with rigid green scales. She was to spend the rest of her days crawling about her abdomen, eating the food already trodden upon by other beasts.
“Be grateful that you still take residence in my garden, you defiant schemer!”
Lilith slithered away hastily in the face of the Almighty’s reprimand. She climbed up and disappeared behind the many branches of a fig tree to tend to her wounded pride.
Adam grew distressed after witnessing all this. He knew that Lilith had tried to trick him into sinning, but he still felt sad knowing what had happened to her. It made no sense to him; it was like blindly loving the flower which bloomed from the thorny vine. He harbored no resentment towards her and whatever anger he initially felt for her was quickly extinguished.
He approached the pear tree he and she used to frequent and sat in its shade. But the trunk of the tree felt hard against his back, unlike Lilith’s soft and welcoming lap. The serenade of the birds could never have hoped to replicate the music of her voice. The grand mountains that girdled the garden no longer invoked any sense of wonder in him. Realizing that he was infinitely alone, tears began to roll down his face.
The Almighty, who had been searching for Adam after he left, found him weeping beneath the pear tree and approached him,
“Adam,” He said consolingly, “do not feel weighed down by sorrow. Someone so deceitful is not worth shedding any tears for.”
The Almighty knew that Adam was listening, but His words could not dry his tears.
“You are someone who is pure of heart and intention, that I know, but no amount of love you had for her could have changed anything about her.”
The Almighty sat beside Adam and comforted him until sundown. When the skies grew dark and the birds and beasts returned to their homes to sleep, the Almighty advised Adam to do the same. Adam obeyed.
The Almighty knew the importance of Adam having a partner. Such a union could multiply happiness and mitigate sorrow between them. The Almighty then realized that, while adhering to His laws, such a companion also had to be subservient to Adam. She should be as pure-hearted as he and the very inclination to deceive should be unthinkable to her.
He first approached the sleeping Adam and erased any memory he had of Lilith and her schemes. He then carefully extracted one of the sleeping man’s ribs and began to work on a new partner for him. He then decided on a name for her; she would be named Eve.
Lilith often took to watching Adam and Eve while slithering unnoticed through the branches. She viewed Eve with the greatest scorn. The Almighty had replaced her with someone even more of a sycophant than Adam was. She found her smile to be irritating and her looks to be dull. She couldn’t possibly be a worthy companion to Adam.
And Adam, her beloved Adam. He was just as wonderful and virtuous as ever. But he still was an aimless fool content to frolic about the garden. If only she were still with him in a form that would have been pleasing. The Almighty had meted out the punishment of keeping her memories and intellect intact in the body of a beast lower than man. She was able to hear and comprehend all the exchanges of Adam and Eve. Compared to her discourse with him, Lilith found his new partner’s conversation to be nothing but meandering trivialities. It brought her great torment to hear it.
Even if she could never be with her again, Lilith still wished to see Adam with power. The Almighty had separated her from him and erased any memories he had of her, but Lilith still held affection for Adam. She still firmly held onto the belief that Adam eating the forbidden fruit would tremendously benefit him.
Refusing to yield to the circumstances of her current form, Lilith came up with a plan once again. Through her observations, she noticed that during the midday hours Eve would roam about the garden and inspect its sights. Eve took only a passing interest in everything she saw; including the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This was why she decided to slither about its branches one afternoon, waiting for when Eve would approach it. The moment she saw Eve near the tree, she called out to her,
“You must be the companion of Adam?”
Eve was surprised. She came closer to the tree to find the source of the voice. Her curious eyes met with the black, agate-like ones of the serpent.
“I am,” said Eve diffidently, “for what reason did you call out to me?”
“I simply wished to know if you have enjoyed all the fruits that the garden had to offer?”
Lilith hid her ulterior motives beneath an impressively affable facade. Eve grew contemplative for a few seconds before replying,
“I relish the sweetness of the date and the rich flavor of the fig. I enjoy the pear as well. But there is one fruit that the Almighty has forbidden us from eating.”
Lilith adjusted her long green coils and made the branches waver. The full, red round fruits dangled temptingly before Eve. The serpent saw a fleeting gleam of desire in her eyes.
“Oh,” continued Lilith, “and why has he not permitted you to eat the fruit?”
“Because it could kill us,” said Eve, refusing to surrender to temptation, “or, if nothing else, do us great harm.”
Lilith found it amusing that the two of them heed such a pathetic warning.
“This fruit is not capable of such harm. You can consume it and remain well.”
Eve stared at the serpent apprehensively. She was straddling the division between her fear and fascination with the unknown; that much was palpable to Lilith. All she needed was a nudge to one side. The serpent then swiftly turned her tone of persuasion to one of entreaty,
“In fact, the fruit could nourish more than just your beloved’s hunger.”
“What do you mean?” asked Eve in concern.
“He suffers from an illness he is unaware of. You suffer from it too. This fruit is the only cure for it.”
Seeing Eve gasp and stare at her in confusion brought Lilith great happiness. She fed her a few more words of false solicitude, “Trust me as one of His creations who wishes naught but to aid you, pluck the fruit and eat from it.”
Eve urgently snatched a fruit from the branch and ran to Adam. The instant she turned around, Lilith slithered onto the adjacent trees and followed Eve to the glade.
She called out to Adam and woke him from his slumber. He first asked her what had happened and why there was much panic in her voice. Then he noticed the bright fruit in her hands and he recoiled in shock. But then Eve eased his fears and told him about the medicinal merits of the fruit.
She raised her arms and held the fruit up to him. A smile spread across her face as she told him to eat it. Adam heard the love and care in her voice and all his hesitation faded away. He ate a piece of the fruit and urged her to do the same. Eve carefully took a bite of the fruit.
After they both swallowed the piece of the fruit, Lilith recognized a change in the expressions of the two. Adam backed away from Eve and covered his loins. Eve retreated from Adam and concealed her chest and loins with her long, slender arms.
“We are nude!” exclaimed Adam.
“How immodest!” cried Eve.
For once, Lilith observed the couple with a feeling besides derision. She was fascinated by how the fruit affected them.
“I hear Him coming!” said Eve worryingly.
Adam’s face grew pale.
“No! He must not see us like this, we must go and conceal ourselves behind something!”
But the Almighty saw them run away from Him and desperately look around the garden.
“Adam! Eve! You are both delighted in my presence usually, why do you try to cower and flee from me today?”
“We were ashamed to be naked in your presence, oh Lord,” answered Adam.
The Almighty was shocked to hear this. “Nudity? Shame? Who told you all of this?”
He looked around the garden and then noticed the red fruit that lay fallen on the ground between Adam and Eve. He saw the two bite marks on either side of it. He cast a stern glare at the two of them.
“You have eaten the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, haven’t you?
They lowered their heads in shameful silence. Eve was the first to confess, “I was the one who plucked the fruit and gave it to my husband, oh Lord. I ate from it as well.”
The Almighty peremptorily demanded, “And why did you eat from it? Even after I had instructed you not to?”
“I...I trusted the words of a serpent, my Lord. I now realize her words were well-crafted lies.”
At the mention of the serpent the Almighty turned angry. He realized that this was another plan engineered by that guileful witch. He didn’t take long to catch her watching from a nearby tree. He knew that she was the sort of villain who enjoyed observing the cataclysm she created.
“Vile serpent! Descend from the branches at once!”
Lilith obeyed His command and trembled before His might.
The Almighty first cursed the serpent. He declared that she would be the most ill-fated among the hierarchy of the animals. He then turned His attention to Adam and Eve. He cursed Eve to endure great anguish during childbirth and He cursed Adam to eat the fruits of the earth only after the greatest toil.
“No longer can you both take residence in my garden, for you have disobeyed my commands.”
As severe as the Almighty’s admonishments were, there was a discernible hint of disappointment beneath His words as he ordered, “For you now have become like one of us and you know how to distinguish between good and evil. As such you are no longer worthy in such a perfect state.”
As a final act of kindness, the Almighty gave Adam and Eve clothes wrought from tunic before he drove them out from the Garden of Eden. He exiled the serpent with them as well.
Standing on the stone steps that led into the garden, Adam and Eve looked out at the world they were exiled to. There was scarcely a plant or tree that sprung out from the coarse desert sand. Only dark outcroppings of rock occupied the limitless expanse of barren land. A strong gust of wind rushed over the desert and assailed the eyes of the couple with stray grains of sand. Hiding from them behind a boulder, Lilith watched Eve burst into tears and pour her guilt to Adam.
“My love! I-I have failed you. I have driven us out of paradise and into this harsh, hostile land! I c-cannot live with such guilt!”
Seeing Eve in despair brought Lilith immeasurable amounts of pleasure. It may have cost him paradise, but Adam now shared the divine cognizance of the Gods. The Almighty Himself had conceded to this. He would immediately see Eve for the pitiful fool she was. This was what should have happened. At least, that was how Lilith thought it should happen.
Instead, she saw Adam place his hands on Eve’s shoulders and speak to her tenderly, “Eve, do not blame yourself. You were simply fooled by that demonic serpent. In truth, I feel that my punishment is less harsh with you by my side,”
Her tears began to dry and she looked up at her companion with a new hope gleaming in her eyes.
“I truly believe that our love will overcome every trial and tribulation placed in our way; no matter how bitterly cold the nights become or how harsh the heat of the sun may be.” Saying these words, Adam embraced Eve and looked out into the desert. He braced himself to take on the countless challenges this imperfect state would hurl at him and his posterity.
Lilith witnessed all of this and turned speechless and shocked. How could he procure courage in the face of despair? How was he so magnanimous to Eve’s disastrous mistake?
A storm of exasperation and sorrow raged within her. She would have never admitted to it, but she desired to be in the place of Eve. Why could his compassionate words not soothe her ears? Why had he fled from her when he realized her act of sin but comforted Eve?
Lilith grew bitter and slithered away from the couple in disgust. The ugly black sentiments of envy and hatred polluted her soul. She swore enmity against the couple known as Adam and Eve. She swore that she would bruise their heels and ankles with her sharp venomous fangs. She promised that she would be the most iniquitous enemy to their happiness. Her serpent offspring inherited all these vile traits and passed them on to every generation. The children of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, soon perceived the serpents as their adversaries, much like how their ancestors would continue to long after they had returned to the dust their parents came from.
Author's Note - Some Context:
According to Jewish lore, Lilith was the first wife of Adam. Although not mentioned directly in the Bible, Lilith has been used to explain the two contradictory versions of Creation within the book of Genesis. Like Adam, Lilith was created from the dust and the earth, making them equal. By refusing to submit, Lilith incurred the wrath of God and fled to the Red Sea, where she was cast from paradise forever and became the succubus (a temptress of innocent men), the breeder of evil spirits, and a child-murdering monster of the night. She was a popular figure in the artistic movements of the Renaissance. In other interpretations, she was the serpent who tricked Adam out of revenge. My interpretation is based on the latter, but I have taken much liberty in depicting the tale with my embellishments.
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