Conversations of the Taoist Master Fu Hsiang

Tsia Tung: You mean the Fall?

Fu Hsiang: Remind me of how it goes.

Tsia Tung: Adam and Eve are the first humans and they live in the garden of Eden which is a paradise. However the garden has a snake or tempter. The snake corrupts Eve by persuading her to eat of the apple of the Tree of Knowledge. Once corrupted, she in turn tempts Adam and he eats the apple and is corrupted too. The Christian God is angry and expels them from the garden.

Fu Hsiang: It is a strange story. But we all inhabited such a garden at one time in this very life.

Men Chow: Where is it?

Fu Hsiang: Think, Men Chow. At what part of your life were you blissful, your every need was provided for and you did not have to struggle for sustenance.

Men Chow: When I was small?

Fu Hsiang: Even when you were small, you had to obey your parents. There were duties and obligations. The life of a child is not always blissful. No, this garden in which you lived supplied your every need and you lived in it. But finally, after nine months, you were expelled from it to make your way in the world.