The Prohibited Food
When mankind first came to live upon the earth, the Great God saw fit to walk abroad in their midst frequently, and permitted them to hold converse with Him on matters pertaining to their duties and their welfare. At one time the discourse turned on the terrible consequences of disobedience, which caused punishment to fall, not only on the transgressor himself, but upon the entire human race also.
The man could not comprehend the mystery and sought for enlightenment from God, and in order to help him to understand, the Great God said unto him, “Do thou retire for seven days to meditate upon this matter; at the end of the seven days I will again visit the earth; seek me then and we will discourse further. In the meantime go into the forest and hew down the giant tree which I point out to thee, and on thy peril beware of cutting down any other trees.” And He pointed out a large tree in the middle of the forest.
Thereupon the Great God ascended into heaven, and the man went forth to meditate and to cut down the giant tree, as he had been commanded.
At the expiration of seven days the man came to the appointed place and the Great God came to him. He questioned him minutely about his work and his meditations during the week of retirement, but the man had gained no further knowledge nor received any new light. So the Great God, to help him, began to question him. Their discourse was after this manner:
“Hast thou cut down the tree as thou wert commanded?”
“Behold, its place is empty, I have cut it down.”
“Didst thou observe the command in all things? Didst thou abstain from cutting down any of the other trees?”
“I abstained from cutting down any other trees; only the one that was pointed out to me have I cut down.”
“What are all these trees and shrubs that I see scattered about?”