THE FATE OF THE SLOTHFUL An Apologue. I went by the field of the slothful And by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; Then I beheld and considered well; I saw and received instruction. Yet a little sleep and a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to sleep! So shall thy poverty come as a robber, and thy want As an armed man. THE HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL TO THE MIDDLE OF THE NINTH CENTURY, B. C. BY THE JUDAIC AUTHOR, J. CHAPTER I TO THE DEATH OF JACOB (ISRAEL) SECTION I. From the Creation of Man to the Confounding of Language and the Consequent Separation of Nations. (Genesis ii, 4b-iv; vi, 1-9; vii, 1-5, 10, 12, 15b, 20-23; ix, 18-28; xi, 1-9.) Materials used by J. Myths preserved in early Semitic Epics in Babylonia, and probably current among the Canaanites before the time of Abraham. In the day that the God Yahweh made heaven and earth, no plant of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprung up; for the God Yahweh had not yet caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no man to till the ground. And the God Yahweh formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. And the God Yahweh planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. And the God Yahweh caused to spring up out of the ground every tree pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And the God Yahweh commanded the man, saying: Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat, for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. And the God Yahweh said: It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helpmeet for him. And the God Yahweh formed from the ground every beast of the field and every fowl of the air, and brought it to the man to see what he would call it; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. And the man gave names to all cattle and to the fowl of the air and to every beast of the field, but for man there was not found a helpmeet for him. And the God Yahweh caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept. And He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh in place of it; and the God Yahweh made the rib which He had taken from man into a woman and brought her to the man. And the man said: This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of man; therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and they were not ashamed. Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field that the God Yahweh had made. And he said unto the woman: Truly hath 29 God said, ye shall not eat of any tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent: Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden God hath said: Eat ye not of it nor touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman: Surely ye will not die; but God knoweth that in the day ye eat thereof your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasing to the eyes and desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she gave also unto her husband with her and he ate. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed together fig leaves and made themselves girdles. And they heard the voice of the God Yahweh, walking in the garden in the cool of the day; and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the God Yahweh amongst the trees of the garden. And the God Yahweh called unto the man and said unto him: Where art thou? And he said: I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, and I hid myself. And He said: Who told thee thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said: The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And the God Yahweh said unto the woman: What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said: The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. And the God Yahweh said unto the serpent: Because thou hast done this, Cursed be thou above all beasts Upon thy belly shalt thou go, and above all creatures of the field; and dust shalt thou eat Enmity I put between thee and the woman, He shall bruise thee on the head, Unto the woman He said: and thou shalt bite him in the heel. Very sore will I make thy travail-pains; in sorrow shalt thou bring forth sons; Yet toward thy husband shall be thy desire, and over thee shall he rule. And to Adam He said: Because thou hast hearkened to the voice of thy wife and hast eaten of the tree concerning which I commanded thee, saying: Eat not of it, Cursed is the ground because of thee; by toil shalt thou eat from it all the days of thy life. Thorns and thistles shall it bear, and thou shalt eat of the herb of the field. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, until thou return unto the ground, For from it wert thou taken; for dust thou art, And unto dust shalt thou return. And for Adam and his wife the God Yahweh made tunics of skins and clothed them. And the God Yahweh said: Behold, the man is become like one of us, to know good and evil. Therefore, that he should not put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat and live for ever, the God Yahweh sent him forth from the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. So He drove out the man; and He placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubim, and the flame of a sword which turned every way to guard the way of the tree of life. |