Satan following behind them, to show him. On arriving at the garden, they showed him the fruits, saying, 'This is sweet, this is sour, this is bitter, this is astringent, this is savoury, this is fiery; but this tree, we know not whether it is sour or sweet. Our Father God said to us, "Eat not the fruit of this tree. If you eat you will die." We eat not, and do not know whether it be sour or sweet.' 'Not so, O my children,' Satan replied; 'the heart of your Father God is not with you. This is the richest and sweetest; it is richer than the others, sweeter than the others, and not merely richer and sweeter, but if you eat it you will possess miraculous powers: you will be able to ascend into heaven, and descend into the earth; you will be able to fly. The heart of your God is not with you. This desirable thing He has not given you. My heart is not like the heart of your God. He is not honest; He is envious. I am honest; I am not envious. I love you and tell you the whole. Your Father God does not love you; He did not tell you the whole. If you do not believe me, do not eat it. Let each one eat carefully a single fruit, then you will know.' The man replied, 'Our Father God said to us, "Eat not the fruit of this tree," and we eat not.' Thus saying, he rose up and went away. But the woman listened to Satan, and, thinking what he said rather proper, remained. Satan deceived her completely; and she said to him, ‘If we eat, shall we indeed be able to fly?' 'My son and daughter,' Satan replied, I persuade you because I love you.' The woman took one of the fruit and ate. And Satan, laughing, said, 'My daughter, you listen to me

well; now go, give the fruit to your husband, and say to him, I have eaten the fruit; it is exceedingly rich. If he does not eat, deceive him, that he may eat.' The woman, doing as Satan told her, went and coaxed her husband, till she won him over to her own mind; and he took the fruit from the hand of his wife, and ate. When he had eaten, she went to Satan, and said, 'My husband has eaten the fruit.' On hearing that, he laughed exceedingly, and said, 'Now you have listened to me, very good, my son and daughter.'"

The Curse.

"The day after they had eaten, early in the morning, God visited them; but they did not (as they had been wont to do) follow Him, singing praises. He approached them and said, 'Why have you eaten the fruit of the tree that I commanded you not to eat?' They did not dare to reply, and God cursed them. 'Now you have not observed what I commanded you,' he said; 'the fruit that is not good to eat, I told you not to eat; but you have not listened, and have eaten. Therefore you shall become old, you shall be sick, and you shall die!""

Origin of Sacrifices to Demons.

"After this, one of their children became very sick, and the man and his wife said to each other, 'We did not observe God's command, "Of the fruit of the tree eat not," but we ate. Now what shall we do? God has cast us off; we cannot tell what to do. We must go and see Satan, and ask him.' They arose and went to

him. 'O Satan,' they said, 'God commanded us, Eat not of that fruit. Thou saidst, Eat; and we hearkened unto thy words, and ate. Now our child is sick, what wilt thou say? What wilt thou devise?' Satan replied, 'To your Father God you did not hearken, you hearkened unto me; now that you have hearkened unto me, hearken unto me to the end.'"

Satan then institutes the principal sacrifices, offerings, and ceremonies that are practised in worshipping demons. First, he orders a hog to be sacrificed; and when that fails, a fowl; and after that, he prescribes the mode of fortune-telling by fowls' bones, with many other rites and ceremonies, the details of which would not be interesting.

Creation and Fall, in verse.

"In ancient times God created the world;
All things were minutely ordered by Him.
In ancient times God created the world;
He has power to enlarge, and power to diminish.
God created the world formerly;

He can enlarge and diminish it at pleasure.
God formed the world formerly;

He appointed food and drink.

He appointed the fruit of trial;

He gave minute orders.

Satan deceived two persons;

He caused them to eat the fruit of the tree of trial.

They obeyed not, they believed not God;

They ate the fruit of the tree of trial,—

When they ate the fruit of trial,

They became subject to sickness, old age, and death.

Had they obeyed and believed God,

We should not have been subjected to sickness;

Had they obeyed and believed God,

We should have prospered in our doings.

Had they obeyed and believed him,

We should not have been poor."

Temptation and Fall.

Although the elders say, "Satan is a being of superhuman powers, able to take the form of either male or female," he is usually represented as a woman; but in the following fragment he appears in the character of a dragon. This tradition is further remarkable for the names of the progenitors of the human race; and it is worthy of observation, that had it been a modern composition, Adam would not have been Thah-nai; nor Eve E-u,* but A-wa, as written and printed by both Protestant and Catholic missionaries in Burma :

"God commanded man anciently;
Satan appeared, bringing destruction.
God commanded man formerly;

Satan appeared, deceiving unto death.
The woman E-u and the man Thah-nai
Did not meet the eye of the great dragon;

The woman E-u, and the man, two persons;

The dragon looked on them, and they did not meet

his mind.

The great dragon deceived the woman and Thah-nai ;

* U, pronounced like the French u.

How is it said to have taken place?

The great dragon succeeded in deception, deceiving

unto death;

How is it said to have been done?

The great dragon took a yellow fruit,

And gave to eat to the son and daughter of God:

The great dragon took a white fruit,

And gave to eat to the children of God.

They did not observe all the words of God;
They were deceived, deceived unto death:

They did not observe all the commands of God;
They were deceived, deceived unto sickness :
They transgressed the words of God,
And God turned His back on them:

Having transgressed the commands of God,

God turned away from them."

Tree of Life, and Tree of Death.

"O children and grandchildren! in the beginning, God, to try man, whether he would or would not observe His commands, created the tree of death and the tree of life, saying, concerning the tree of death, 'Eat not of it.' He wished to see whether man believed. Not believing, he ate of the fruit of the tree of death, and the tree of life God hid. Because the tree of life has been hidden, men have died since that time."

"Temptation, temptation, the fruit of temptation,

The fruit of temptation fell on the ground;
The fruit of temptation was bad,