For such companionship, I would not now
Have stood before thee as I am: a serpent
Had been enough to charm ye, as before.[bz]
Cain. Ah! didst thou tempt my mother?
Lucifer.I tempt none,
Save with the truth: was not the Tree, the Tree
Of Knowledge? and was not the Tree of Life
Still fruitful? Did I bid her pluck them not?
Did I plant things prohibited within200
The reach of beings innocent, and curious