Chapter XLI

 The first Human thirst.

 

 

1 Then Adam took the fig¹, and laid it on the golden rods. Eve also took her fig, and put it on the incense².

 

2 And the weight of each fig was that of a water-melon; for the fruit of the garden was much larger than the fruit of this land*.

 

3 But Adam and Eve remained standing³ and fasting the whole of that night, until the morning dawned.

 

4 When the sun rose they were still praying, but after they had finished praying, Adam said to Eve:—

 

5 "O Eve, come, let us go to the border of the garden looking south; to the place from where the river flows, and is parted into four heads. There we will pray to God, and ask Him to give us some of the Water of Life to drink.

 

6 For God has not fed us with the Tree of Life, in order that we may not live. Therefore, we will ask him to give us some of the Water of Life, and to quench⁴ our thirst with it, rather than with a drink of water of this land."

 

7 When Eve heard these words from Adam, she agreed; and they both got up and came to the southern border of the garden, at the edge of the river of water a short distance from the garden.

 

8 And they stood and prayed before the Lord, and asked Him to look at them this once, to forgive them, and to grant them their request.

 

9 After this prayer from both of them, Adam began to pray with his voice before God, and said;—

 

10 "O Lord, when I was in the garden and saw the water that flowed from under the Tree of Life, my heart did not desire, neither did my body require to drink of it; neither did I know thirst, for I was living; and above that which I am now.

 

11 So that in order to live I did not require any Food of Life, neither did I drink of the Water of Life.

 

12 But now, O God, I am dead; my flesh is parched⁵ with thirst. Give me of the Water of Life that I may drink of it and live.

 

13 Of Your mercy, O God, save me from these plagues and trials, and bring me into another land different from this, if You will not let me live in Your garden."

 

 

* This is substantiated⁶ by Genesis 3:7 whereby the leaves of the fig tree were large enough that Adam and Eve could fashion garments from them.

 

1 fig   

n.无花果(树)

参考例句：

• The doctor finished the fig he had been eating and selected another.这位医生吃完了嘴里的无花果，又挑了一个。
• You can't find a person who doesn't know fig in the United States.你找不到任何一个在美国的人不知道无花果的。

2 incense   

v.激怒；n.香，焚香时的烟，香气

参考例句：

• This proposal will incense conservation campaigners.这项提议会激怒环保人士。
• In summer,they usually burn some coil incense to keep away the mosquitoes.夏天他们通常点香驱蚊。

3 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

4 quench   

vt.熄灭，扑灭；压制

参考例句：

• The firemen were unable to quench the fire.消防人员无法扑灭这场大火。
• Having a bottle of soft drink is not enough to quench my thirst.喝一瓶汽水不够解渴。

5 parched   

adj.焦干的；极渴的；v.（使）焦干

参考例句：

• Hot winds parched the crops.热风使庄稼干透了。
• The land in this region is rather dry and parched.这片土地十分干燥。

6 substantiated   

v.用事实支持（某主张、说法等），证明，证实( substantiate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The results of the tests substantiated his claims. 这些检验的结果证实了他的说法。
• The statement has never been substantiated. 这一陈述从未得到证实。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》