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produced Apples of gold ; and in the early days of Christendom the
poets of the West dreamt of a land in the East (the true Paradise
of Adam and Eve, as they believed) in which dwelt in a Palm-tree
the golden-breasted Phoenix,—the bird of the sun, which was
thought to abide a hundred years in this Elysium of the Arabian
deserts, and then to appear in the Temple of the Sun at Heliopolis,
fall upon the blazing altar, and, pouring forth a melodious song from
or through the orifices of its feathers (which thus formed a thousand
organ-pipes), cremate itself, only to rise again from its smoking
ashes, and fly back to its home in the Palm-tree of the earthly
Paradise. The Russians tell of a terrestrial Paradise to be sought
for on the island of Bujan, where grows the vast Oak tree, amidst
whose majestic branches the sun nestles to sleep every evening,
and from whose summit he rises every morning.
The Hindu religion shadows forth an Elysium on Mount
Meru, on the confines of Cashmere and Thibet. The garden of
the great Indian god Indra is a spot of unparalleled beauty. Here
are to be found an umbrageous grove or wood, where the gods
delight to take their ease; cooling fountains and rivulets; an enchanting
flower-garden, luminous flowers, immortalising fruits,
and brilliantly-plumed birds, whose melody charms the gods themselves.
In this Paradise are fine trees, which were the first things
that appeared above the surface of the troubled waters at the
beginning of the creation; from these trees drop the immortalising
ambrosia. The principal tree is the Pdrijdta, the flower of which
preserves its perfume all the year round, combines in its petals
every odour and every flavour, presents to each his favorite colour
and most-esteemed perfume, and procures happiness for those who
ask it. But beyond this, it is a token of virtue, losing its freshness
m the hands of the wicked, but preserving it with the just and
honourable. This wondrous flower will also serve as a torch by
night, and will emit the most enchanting sounds, producing the
sweetest and most varied melody; it assuages hunger and thirst,
cures diseases, and remedies the ravages of old age.
The Paradise of Mahomet is situated in the seventh heaven. In
the centre of it stands the marvellous tree called which is so
large that a man mounted on the fleetest horse could not ride
round its branches in one hundred years. This tree not only
affords the most grateful shade over the whole extent of the
Mussulman Paradise ; but its boughs are laden with delicious
fruits of a size and taste unknown to mortals, and moreover bend
themselves at the wish of the inhabitants of this abode of bliss,
to enable them to partake of these delicacies without any trouble.
The Koran often speaks of the rivers of Paradise as adding greatly
* The name of “ ToobaP applied to this tree, originated in a misunderstanding of
the words Tooba lahum, “ it is well with them,” or “ blessedness awaits them,” in
Koran xiii., 28. Some commentators took Tooba for the name of a tree. ’
to its delights. All these rivers take their rise from the tree
Tooha ; some flow with water, some with milk, some with honey,
and others even with wine, the juice of the grape not being forbidden
to the blessed.
We have seen how the most ancient races conceived and
cherished the notion of a Paradise of surpassing beauty, situate in
remote and unknown regions, both celestial and terrestrial. It is
not, therefore, surprising that the Paradise of the Hebrew race—
the Mosaic Eden—should have been pictured as a luxuriant garden,
stocked with lovely flowers and odorous herbs, and shaded by
majestic trees of every description.
We are told, in the second chapter of Genesis, that at the
beginning of the world “ the Lord God planted a garden eastward
in Eden,” and that out of this country of Eden a river went out
“ to water the garden ; and from thence it was parted, and
became into four heads.” These “ heads” or rivers are further on,
in the Biblical narrative, named respectively Pison, Gihon, Hiddekel,
and Euphrates. Many have been the speculations as to the
exact site, geographical features, &c., of Eden, and the Divinely-
planted Paradise in its midst, and the subject has been one which
has ever been fruitful of controversy and conjecture. Sir John
Maundevile has recorded that the Garden of Eden, or Paradise,
was enclosed by a wall. This old Eastern traveller tells us that
although, in the course of his wanderings, he had never actually
seen the land of Eden, yet wise men had discoursed to him concerning
it. He says : “ Paradise Terrestre, as wise men say, is the
highest place of earth—that is, in all the world ; and it is so high,
that it toucheth nigh to the circle of the moon. For it is so high
that the flood of Noah might never come to it, albeit it did cover
all the earth of the world, all about, and aboven and beneathen,
save Paradise alone. And this Paradise is enclosed all about with
a wall, and men wist not whereof it is ; for the walls be covered all
over with moss, as it seemeth. And it seemeth not that the wall is
stone of nature. And that wall stretcheth from the South to the
North, and it hath not but one entry, that is closed with fire
burning, so that no man that is mortal ne dare not enter. And in
the highest place of Paradise, exactly in the middle, is a well that
casts out the four streams which run by divers lands, of which the
first is called Pison, or Ganges, that runs throughout India. And
the other is called Nile, or Gyson, which goes through Ethiopia,
and after through Egypt. And the other is called Tigris, which
runs by Assyria, and by Armenia the Great. And the other is
called Euphrates, which runs through Media, Armenia, and Persia.
And men there beyond say that all the sweet waters of the world,
above and beneath, take their beginning from the well of Paradise,
and out of the well all waters come and go.”
Eden (a Hebrew word, signifying “ Pleasure ” ), it is generally
conceded, was the most beauteous and luxuriant portion of the