III. THE FORBIDDEN FRUIT, (vii.)
RINCE who gave a clear admonition to Eve and to Adam,l. 1081
that they should eat of the produce of Paradise
according to God's command:
"Eat ye of them freely,
of the fruits of Paradise—sweet the fragrance—
many, all of them (a festival to be shared)[1]
are lawful for you save one tree.
"In order that you may know that you are under authority,
without sorrow, without strife,
without anxiety, without long labour,
without age, evil, or blemish;
"Without decay, without heavy sickness;
with everlasting life, in everlasting triumph
on your going to heaven (joyous the festival)
at the choice age of thirty years."
- ↑ Lit. "share of a festival"; this is one of those chevilles which are frequent in this poem, often introduced without much sense to fill out a line, or to give a rhyming word. We have omitted a few of them in the translation.
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