(Synopsis: woman finds fruit. Woman and man eat of it. Angel comes and
tells then that they have done wrong; man knocks it down with a rock,
woman takes its sword, they chase it out of the garden. The Creator
appears.)
The Creator raised His hand and pointed at the man, who steeled
himself for a blast that did not come. Instead, in a solemn voice, like
retreating thunder, the Creator said, "You have broken My law and struck
down My servant, and you show no remorse. Will you kneel before Me and beg
forgiveness?"
"No. I have done no wrong."
"I can destroy you."
"Then destroy me, and make a creature that will crawl before You,"
the man said.
"And a new companion for him," said the woman. She came to the
man's side and placed her hand tight in his.
The wind fell, and the storm passed, and for a moment all was
still. Side by side, the man and the woman awaited their doom.
"At last!" the Creator cries into the silence. "At last!" He cried
again, and the darkness lifted. A joyous light shone forth from His
countenance and illumined all around the man and woman and embraced them.
"Over and over, on worlds beyond numbering, I have created you. On every
world I put you to a test. And of all who take the test, none has yet had
the courage to accept the consequences. Eat the fruit, and you can become
as I. They could not bear this. When I faced them, they crawled before Me,
and cringed, and whimpered for mercy. I demanded guilt and shame, and they
gave it to Me, and they live in thrall to it forever. But you gave Me
courage."
He stepped closer, and held out His arms. They came to Him, and he
enfolded them in light and pressed them to Him. "On a million million
worlds I have slaves and worshipers," He said softly. "But here, at last,
I have My children.""