(ll. 872-881) And straightway God made answer unto him: "Tell me, My son, why stealest thou away into the darkness with shame? Thou didst not formerly feel shame before Me, but only joy. Wherefore art thou humbled and abashed, knowing sorrow, covering thy body with leaves, sad of heart and wretched in thy woe, saying thou needest clothing, except thou hast eaten of the fruit of the tree which I forbade thee?"
(ll. 882-886) And Adam again made answer: "My Lord! this woman, this lovely maid, gave me the fruit into my hand, and I took it in trespass against Thee. And now I clearly bear the token upon me and know the more of sorrow."
(ll. 887-895) Then Almighty God questioned Eve: "Of what avail, My daughter, were My abundant blessings, the new-created Paradise and pleasant growing things, that thou shouldest stretch thy hands with yearning unto the tree, and pluck the apples growing on its boughs, and eat the deadly fruit in trespass against Me, and give to Adam, when by My word it was forbidden to you both?"
(ll. 895-902) And the lovely woman, put to shame, made answer: "The serpent, the deadly snake, with fair words tempted me, and eagerly enticed me to that deed of sin and evil appetite, until I basely did the deed and wrought the wrong, despoiled the tree within the wood, as was not right, and ate the fruit."
(ll. 903-905) Then our Saviour, the Almighty Lord, decreed unto the serpent, the guilty snake, an endless wandering, and said:
(ll. 906-917) "All thy life upon thy belly shalt thou go to and fro upon the fields of the broad earth, accursed, so long as life and spirit dwell within thee. Dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life for the grievous evil thou hast wrought. The woman shall loathe and hate thee under heaven. Her foot shall crush thy head, and thou shalt bruise her heel anew. There shall be strife between your seed for ever, while the world standeth under heaven. Now thou knowest clearly, thou foul tempter, what thy life shall be."
XVI
(ll. 918-924) And unto Eve God spake in wrath: "Turn thee from joy! Thou shalt live under man's dominion, sore smitten with fear before him. With bitter sorrow shalt thou expiate thy sin, waiting for death, bringing forth sons and daughters in the world with grief and tears and lamentation."
(ll. 925-938) And on Adam the Eternal God, Author of life, pronounced an evil doom: "Thou shalt seek another home, a joyless dwelling. Naked and needy shalt thou suffer exile, shorn of thy glory. Thy soul and body shall be cleft asunder. Lo! thou hast sinned a grievous sin. Therefore shalt thou labour, winning thy portion on the earth by toil, eating thy bread in the sweat of thy brow while thou dwellest here, until that grim disease, which first thou tasted in the apple, shall grip hard at thy heart. So shalt thou die."
(ll. 939-951) Lo! now we know how our afflictions came upon us, and mortal misery! Then the Lord of glory, our Creator, clothed them with garments, and bade them cover their shame with their first raiment. He drove them forth from Paradise into a narrower life. By God's command a holy angel, with a sword of fire, closed fast that pleasant home of peace and joy behind them. No wicked, sinful man may walk therein, but the warden has strength and power, dear unto God in virtue, who guards that life of glory.