But He was not content; for nothing He made was perfect in
His sight. He created the white man in His own image, and from this
first man's rib He created his mate--a woman. He turned them free in
a beautiful forest.
"Life was fair in the beautiful forest. The sun shone always, the
birds sang, the waters flowed with music, the flowers cast sweet
fragrance on the air. In this forest, where fruit bloomed always,
was one tree, the Tree of Life, the apple of which they must not
eat. In all this beautiful forest of abundance this apple alone was
forbidden them.
"Now evil was born with woman. A serpent tempted her to eat of the
apple of Life, and she tempted the man to eat. For their sin the
Great Spirit commanded the serpent to crawl forever on his belly,
and He drove them from the beautiful forest. The punishment for
their sin was to be visited on their children's children, always,
until the end of time. The two went afar into the dark forest, to
learn to live as best they might. From them all tribes descended.
The world is wide. A warrior might run all his days and not reach
the setting sun, where tribes of yellow-skins live. He might travel
half his days toward the south-wind, where tribes of black-skins
abound. People of all colors inhabited the world. They lived in
hatred toward one another.
Pages:
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149