Chapter LXII

  Two fruit trees.

 

 

1 But Satan the wicked was envious¹, because of the consolation² God had given them.

 

2 So he prevented them, and went into the cave and took the two figs³, and buried them outside the cave, so that Adam and Eve should not find them. He also had in his thoughts to destroy them.

 

3 But by God's mercy, as soon as those two figs were in the ground, God defeated Satan's counsel regarding them; and made them into two fruit trees, that overshadowed the cave. For Satan had buried them on the eastern side of it.

 

4 Then when the two trees were grown, and were covered with fruit, Satan grieved and mourned, and said, "It would have been better to have left those figs where they were; for now, behold⁴, they have become two fruit trees, whereof Adam will eat all the days of his life. Whereas I had in mind, when I buried them, to destroy them entirely⁵, and to hide them forever.

 

5 But God has overturned my counsel; and would not that this sacred fruit should perish; and He has made plain my intention, and has defeated the counsel I had formed against His servants."

 

6 Then Satan went away ashamed because he hadn't thought his plans all the way through.

 

1 envious   

adj.嫉妒的，羡慕的

参考例句：

• I don't think I'm envious of your success.我想我并不嫉妒你的成功。
• She is envious of Jane's good looks and covetous of her car.她既忌妒简的美貌又垂涎她的汽车。

2 consolation   

n.安慰，慰问

参考例句：

• The children were a great consolation to me at that time.那时孩子们成了我的莫大安慰。
• This news was of little consolation to us.这个消息对我们来说没有什么安慰。

3 figs   

figures 数字，图形，外形

参考例句：

• The effect of ring dyeing is shown in Figs 10 and 11. 环形染色的影响如图10和图11所示。
• The results in Figs. 4 and 5 show the excellent agreement between simulation and experiment. 图4和图5的结果都表明模拟和实验是相当吻合的。

4 behold   

v.看，注视，看到

参考例句：

• The industry of these little ants is wonderful to behold.这些小蚂蚁辛勤劳动的样子看上去真令人惊叹。
• The sunrise at the seaside was quite a sight to behold.海滨日出真是个奇景。

5 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。