The Eden Project

In this captivating tale, a narrator known as "Adam" embarks on an idyllic journey in the Eden Project, a lush sanctuary governed by a mysterious "Master." Entranced by the abundance of nature, Adam tends to the garden, indulges in simple pleasures, and befriends a lone cockerel.  Soon his life is transformed when Eve arrives and everything changes. A bonus track has been added to the Eden Project. The American poet Ruth Sabath Rosenthal emailed me to say that the Eden Project had reminded her of one of her poems “Lilith, on Adam & the Infamous Apple” and she thought it would make a good companion piece to the story.  I loved it and added it to the Podcast.

Transcript

The Eden Project

Day 1 

I have arrived, the weather here is most enjoyable. The air is warm and only a light breeze can be felt. I found a vegetable patch full of produce and an orchard containing many varieties of fruit and nuts. There is one very large apple tree at it centre. The Master told me I can eat anything from the fruit and nut trees but not to eat the fruit of the apple tree. He did not explain why. 

There are some animals, the Master tells me they are chickens and lay eggs which are simple and easy to cook. There is also a stream which runs into a small lake which has an abundance of fish swimming in it. The stream water is fresh and pure.

 I am delighted. It is everything the Master promised and so much more. My accommodation is a dry and well ventilated cave very close to the orchard. I have made a simple bed of straw and I cooked one of the chickens in a stew of vegetables over a fire made from some fallen branches and dry leaves that I found in the orchard. I also found herbs that I included in the pot. I am not sure how I knew they would be good to eat but the Master told me that if the smell and the taste is pleasant to me they will be safe to use. The stew was one of the most delightful things I have ever eaten, although I can remember little of the before time until the Master brought me here but it is hard to imagine anything could be more enjoyable than this stew.

Day 7 

I have settled in my new home and am much content with my life. The Master visited today and I told him of my satisfaction. He asked me what had happened to the chickens as he made twelve for me and now there was only nine. He told me that more chickens could come from the eggs but I must get a male chicken that would not lay eggs but would cause the chickens egg to make more chickens. This seemed to be a very whimsical idea to me but I know better than to disagree with the Master for as he likes to brag that he is all powerful, so I hold my council on the chicken and egg thing.

Day 12 

A male chicken called a cockerel has appeared and seems to spend much of his time jumping on the backs of the chickens. I would have thought the chickens would not like to be jumped on but on the contrary they push and jostle each other for the attention of the cockerel. 

Day 40 

I have spent forty days and forty nights in the Eden and although everything is wonderful and my daily tasks of looking after the garden and the trees keeps me busy, I am becoming a little bored. it is twenty days since the Master last visited and I have no one to talk to except the cockerel but it is a somewhat one sided conversation.

Day 60 

The Master visited today and I told him of my boredom and how I am now so bored I am talking to a chicken and he told me he would consider the matter. 

Day 61 

This has been an extraordinary day I woke up this morning with a terrible ache in my rib cage and on my way for my daily soak in the lake I visited the orchard to get some peaches for my breakfast when under the apple tree I saw another human almost like myself. I say almost for there was no dangling bit between the legs and the chest was not flat but had two bulges. We stood before each other and for a short while said nothing. The Master then appeared and explained that this was Eve and I would now be called Adam and she was like the chickens and could make humans rather than little chickens but that she would need help from me. I was much comforted by that thought and my dangly bits seems quite excited by the idea as well. 

The Master told Eve and I that we could eat everything in the garden and we could stay as long as we liked and he hoped we would make some small humans to help us make the garden bigger and better. He then pointed to the red apples that hung from the large tree in the centre of the garden and told Eve that you must not eat the fruit of this tree and if you do you will have to leave the garden. I then asked why we could not eat the fruit. The Master said we must not and that is all we needed to know. I was not content with the answer and once again asked the Master why we could not eat the fruit from this tree when we could eat the fruit of any other tree. 

The master then explained to me that the tree was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and these were things we do not need to know about.

Day 65 

I have become more and more curious about the apple tree. What is evil? What will happen if I know evil? What will the master do? I told Eve that I wanted to taste the apple from the tree of good and evil. Eve responded by telling me not to be so stupid, we have a great life here she said with plenty to eat and water to drink and maybe one day we will have baby chickens of our own. “Let’s not spoil that," she said. 

Day 70

All I think about is the apple tree. I am obsessed, consumed with it. I sat under the tree last night and looked up into it willing an apple to fall so I might claim I did not pick the fruit, I just picked up a fallen apple. Also, a strange thing then happened, I swear I saw a snake curled around the upper part of the tree but when I look closely, I could not see anything

Day 80

I saw the snake again last night, it whispered to me. It told me the apples were the sweetest I would ever taste; that the knowledge of good and evil was mine to know and the Master was hiding it from me because it would make me as powerful as he is.

 I told Eve all about the snake that whispers but she said it was lack of sleep that was making me hallucinate and that snakes do not talk and to leave the apples alone and get on with my work. She then proceeded to scold me for a very long time about how I was neglecting the garden and the cave and most importantly, her and how I no longer jump on her at night in the cave. 

Day 90

I am determined tonight I will eat the apple from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Day 91

Well, what a disappointment that turned out to be. It was just an apple and a rather bitter one at that. It did make me realise that all this “Do what you’re told” and “I’m your Master” rubbish is not for us. I told Eve that I thought we should leave and find a place of our own and not be part of some weird experiment that the Master was conducting. 

Day 100

We packed our few possessions and left the garden; we have travelled quite a long distance and discovered that the land beyond the garden is just as rich and fertile. We have built ourselves a shelter and started to make our own garden. Eve tells me she has a human growing inside her and that we will soon be three.  We are content.

The American poet Ruth Sabath Rosenthal emailed me to say that the Eden Project had reminded her of one of her poems “Lilith, on Adam & the Infamous Apple” and she thought it would make a good companion piece to the story. In Jewish literature, Lilith is depicted as Adam’s first wife and was made from the same soil as Adam and therefore his equal.

 Whereas Eve was created from Adam's rib and meant to be subservient to him, I loved the poem and asked Ruth if she would record it for me and I have added it to the podcast as a bonus track. Her wonderful New York accent adds an extra dimension to the text. I know you’ll enjoy it. This is Lilith on Adam and the infamous apple.

Lilith, on Adam (& the Infamous Apple)  

Here it is in a nutshell: It hurt like the devil when I figured out Adam had been  a diehard prick from the get-go by not allowing me to flower atop his stem.  His refusal to soften his manner, or change his position had me swallowing  bile, biting my tongue.  

Playing shrinking violet in a vessel of only his delight, I found my roots  twisting beyond measure. That I’d been his wife for as long as I had  boggles my mind still. What a jackass he was! A boor, regularly getting  in a few good kicks to boot! Not to mention, the pervasive boredom  when we weren’t fighting!  

So, in time, I found myself siding up to a snake who’d wormed his way  into me by declaring he loved women on top (riding him like the stud he was!).  The downside, he said kids were not fit to live with &, since I was down  with that, I began making plans to leave Adam & his religiously  ridiculous countdown to fatherhood.  

All that put in peril by three angels descending on me, threatening if I  ever left Adam they’d kill off score upon score of children they claimed  I was fated to bear in the coming years. I countered with a diabiblical twist  on their threat: I’d do the killing myself, the angels conceding only after  making me swear I’d spare all newborns wearing a talisman bearing  the angels’ images &/or their names.  

Feeling rather ballsy after sealing that deal, I hatched a second scheme:  I’d demonize men deep in sleep, turning the bulk of them into  licentious prigs lusting to distraction & the rest, further, to perversion.  

With score upon score of my offspring expected from these nocturnal liaisons  (not to mention the three sons I bore Adam during our failed reconciliation),  I plan on carrying out my campaign for eons to come:  

Whispering in women’s ears daily, I’ll encourage each to cease acting  beneath men in any manner or form. As for Adam and his fanciful notion  of “a fit wife” (which I well remember unmercifully ribbing him  about, upon leaving), the fact that she actually materialized &  right by his side as he slept, has long-rivaled the best of my conjurings  thus far & is testament to my ungodly powers of persuasion.  

Think about this: when Eve bit into the now infamous apple, she revealed  herself as the apt pupil I’d envisioned she’d be. In that auspicious moment,  Eve sealed the fate of generation, after generation of her & Adam’s progeny.  Progeny cursed with infant mortality & infanticide, all manner of  sexual depravity, infidelity, divorce, & God knows what else. ...