"C. L. Moore - Fruit Of Knowledge" - читать интересную книгу автора (Moore C. L)

Fruit of Knowledge

It was the first Sabbath. Down the open glades of Eden a breeze stirred
softly. Nothing else in sight moved except a small winged head that fluttered,
yawning, across the glade and vanished among leaves that drew back to receive
it. The air quivered behind it like a wake left in water of incomparable
clarity. From far away and far above a faint drift of singing echoed,
"Hosannah . . - hosannah . . - hosannah-" The seraphim were singing about the
Throne.
A pool at the edge of the glade gave back light and color like a great, dim
jewel. It gave back reflections, too. The woman who bent over it had just
discovered that. She was leaning above the water until her cloudy dark hair
almost dipped into the surface. There was a curious shadow all about her, like
a thin garment which did not quite conceal how lovely she was, and though no
breeze stirred just now, that shadow garment moved uneasily upon her and her
hair lifted a little as if upon a breeze that did not blow.
She was so quiet that a passing cherub-head paused above the water to look,
too, hanging like a hummingbird motionless over its own reflection in the
pool.
"Pretty!" approved the cherub in a small, piping voice. "New here, aren't
you?"
The woman looked up with a slow smile, putting back the veil of her hair.
"Yes, I am," she answered softly. Her voice did not sound quite sure of
itself. She had never spoken aloud before until this moment.
"You'll like the Garden," said the cherub in a slightly patronizing tone,
giving his rainbow wings a shake. "Anything I can do for you? I'm not busy
just now. Be glad to show you around."
"Thank you," smiled the woman, her voice sounding a little more confident.
"I'll find my way."
The cherub shrugged his colored wings. "Just as you say. By the way, I suppose
they warned you about the Tree?"
The woman glanced up at him rather quickly, her shadowy eyes narrowing.
"The Tree? Is there danger?"
"Oh, no. You mustn't touch it, that's all. It's the one in the middle of the
Garden, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil-you can't miss it. I saw
the Man looking at it yesterday for quite a while. That reminds me, have you
met the Man?"
The woman bent her head so that the hair swung forward to veil her face. From
behind it, in a voice that sounded as if she might be smiling, she said:
"He's waiting for me now."
"Oh?" said the cherub, impressed. "Well, you'll find him over by the orange
grove east of the Tree. He's resting. It's the Day of Rest, you know." The
cherub tilted an intimate eyebrow heavenward and added: "He's resting, too.
Hear the singing? He made the Man only yesterday, right out of this very earth
you're standing on. We were all watching. It was wonderful- Afterward, He
called the man Adam, and then Adam named the animals- By the way, what's your
name?"
The woman smiled down at her own veiled reflection in the water. After a
moment- "Lilith," she said.
The cherub stared, his eyes widening into two blue circles of surprise. He was