The tempting fruit | Sunday Observer

The tempting fruit

11 December, 2022

Peduru Seeya sat in his easy chair to relate another Christmas story. As usual he asked the children what he should tell them. All of them wanted to know the story of the tempting fruit.

“As you know, there was nothing to spoil the happiness of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. However, as in the modern society, there was one person who wanted to spoil their happiness.”

“Who was that Seeya?” an intelligent child asked.

“Let me tell you all about him. He was Satan, the enemy of God. He was a cynic who did not like beautiful things.”

“By the way, have you seen snakes?” Peduru Seeya asked.

“Of course, there are plenty of them in our village,” a child said.

“Unlike the snakes you have seen, the Snake in the Garden of Eden was more cunning than all the other creatures created by God.”

“What did he do, Seeya?” a child asked.

“The Snake approached Eve and whispered something to her. The Snake wanted to know whether God had asked her not to eat any fruit in the Garden. Eve said God had not forbidden her to eat any fruit except the one that was on a particular tree. God had warned that if she ate it, she would die.

The Snake said God had forbidden her not to eat that fruit for a different reason. Eve wanted to know what it was. The Snake said, “God knows that if you eat that fruit, you will be wise as he is.”

The Snake’s words had the desired effect on Eve. She thought how wonderful it would be if she became wise like God. She immediately ran to the tree, picked a fruit and ate a part of it. Eve gave the other part of the fruit to Adam.

Instead of becoming wise they felt miserable and ashamed of themselves. They realised that they had disobeyed God for the first time. They were not eager to meet God in the evening. Instead they covered their bodies with leaves and went into hiding.

Suddenly God appeared. “Where are you, Adam and Eve?” he asked. Then they meekly crept out of their hiding place to meet God.

Next: Paradise lost 

Comments