This story is part of the Adam and Eve unit. Story source: The Forgotten Books of Eden, edited by Rutherford H. Platt, Jr. (1926): The First Book of Adam and Eve 1-2.
I. On the third day, God planted the garden in the east of the earth, on the border of the world eastward, beyond which, towards the sun-rising, one finds nothing but water, that encompasses the whole world, and reaches unto the borders of heaven.
And to the north of the garden there is a sea of wafer, clear and pure to the taste, like unto nothing else, so that, through the clearness thereof, one may look into the depths of the earth. And when a man washes himself in it, becomes clean of the cleanness thereof, and white of its whiteness, even if he were dark. And God created that sea of His own good pleasure, for He knew what would come of the man He should make, so that after he had left the garden, on account of his transgression, men should be born in the earth, from among whom righteous ones should die, whose souls God would raise at the last day when they should return to their flesh should bathe in the water of that sea, and all of them repent of their sins.
But when God made Adam go out of the garden, He did not place him on the border of it northward, lest he should draw near to the sea of water, and he and Eve wash themselves in it, be cleansed from their sins, forget the transgression they had committed, and he no longer reminded of it in the thought of their punishment.
Then, again, as to the southern side of the garden, God was not pleased to let Adam dwell there because, when the wind blew from the north, it would bring him, on that southern side, the delicious smell of the trees of the garden. Wherefore God did not put Adam there, lest he should smell the sweet smell of those trees forget his transgression, and find consolation for what he had done, take delight in the smell of the trees, and not be cleansed from his transgression.
Again, also, because God is merciful and of great pity, and governs all things in a way He alone knows, He made our father Adam dwell in the western border of the garden, because on that side the earth is very broad. And God commanded him to dwell there in a cave in a rock: the Cave of Treasures below the garden.
II. But when our father Adam, and Eve, went out of the garden, they trod the ground on their feet, not knowing they were treading. And when they came to the opening of the gate of the garden, and saw the broad earth spread before them, covered with stones large and small, and with sand, they feared and trembled, and fell on their faces, from the fear that came upon them, and they were as dead. Because, whereas they had hitherto been in the garden-land, beautifully planted with all manner of trees, they now saw themselves, in a strange land, which they knew not, and had never seen. And because at that time they were filled with the grace of a bright nature, and they had not hearts turned towards earthly things.
Therefore had God pity on them, and when He saw them fallen before the gate of the garden, He sent His Word unto father Adam and Eve, and raised them from their fallen state.
(600 words)
