Legends of the Patriarchs and Prophets: And Other Old Testament Characters from Various SourcesBaring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
Religion
Legends of the Patriarchs and Prophets: And Other Old Testament Characters from Various Sources
Baring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
Bible. Old Testament -- Legends
The Oriental book Huschenk-Nameh gives a fuller history of the
Pre-Adamites. Before Adam was created, says this book, there were
in the isle Muscham, one of the Maldives, men with flat heads, and
for this reason they were called by the Persians, Nim-ser. They were
governed by a king named Dambac.
When Adam, expelled the earthly Paradise, established himself in the
Isle of Ceylon, the flat-heads submitted to him. After his death they
guarded his tomb by day, and the lions relieved guard by night, to
protect his body against the Divs.
III.
EVE.[37]
That man was created double, _i. e._ both male and female, is and has
been a common opinion. One Rabbinical interpretation of the text, “And
God created man in His own image, male-female created He them,” is
that Adam and Eve were formed back to back, united at the shoulders,
and were hewn asunder with a hatchet; but of this more presently.
The Rabbis say that when Eve had to be drawn out of the side of Adam
she was not extracted by the head, lest she should be vain; nor by
the eyes, lest they should be wanton; nor by the mouth, lest she
should be given to gossiping; nor by the ears, lest she should be an
eavesdropper; nor by the hands, lest she should be meddlesome; nor
by the feet, lest she should be a gadabout; nor by the heart, lest
she should be jealous; but she was drawn forth by the side: yet,
notwithstanding all these precautions, she has every fault specially
guarded against.[38]
They also say that, for the marriage-feast of Adam and Eve, God made a
table of precious stone, and each gem was a hundred ells long and sixty
ells wide, and the table was covered with costly dishes.[39]
The Mussulman tradition is, that Adam having eaten the bunch of grapes
given him as a reward for having preached to the angels, fell asleep;
and whilst he slept, God took from his left side a woman whom He called
Hava, because she was extracted from one living (Hai), and He laid her
beside Adam. She resembled him exactly, except that her features were
more delicate, her hair longer and divided into seven hundred locks,
her form more slender, her eyes softer, and her voice sweeter than
Adam’s. In the mean time Adam had been dreaming that a wife had been
given to him; and when he woke, great was his delight to find his dream
turned into a reality. He put forth his hand to take that of Hava,
but she withdrew hers, answering his words of love with, “God is my
master, and I cannot give my hand to thee without His permission; and,
moreover, it is not proper for a man to take a wife without making her
a wedding present.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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