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wonderful news than that. Adam: we need not live forever. Adam Dropping the snake’s head in his excitement. What! Eve: do not play with me about this. If only there may be an end some day, and yet no end! If only I can be relieved of the horror of having to endure myself forever! If only the care of this terrible garden may pass on to some other gardener! If only the sentinel set by the Voice can be relieved! If only the rest and sleep that enable me to bear it from day to day could grow after many days into an eternal rest, an eternal sleep, then I could face my days, however long they may last. Only, there must be some end, some end: I am not strong enough to bear eternity. The Serpent You need not live to see another summer; and yet there shall be no end. Adam That cannot be. The Serpent It can be. Eve It shall be. The Serpent It is. Kill me; and you will find another snake in the garden tomorrow. You will find more snakes than there are fingers on your hands. Eve I will make other Adams, other Eves. Adam I tell you you must not make up stories about this. It cannot happen. The Serpent I can remember when you were yourself a thing that could not happen. Yet you are. Adam Struck. That must be true. He sits down on the stone. The Serpent I will tell Eve the secret; and she will tell it to you. Adam The secret! He turns quickly towards the serpent, and in doing so puts his foot on something sharp. Oh! Eve What is it? Adam Rubbing his foot. A thistle. And there, next to it, a briar. And nettles, too! I am tired of pulling these things up to keep the garden pleasant for us forever. The Serpent They do not grow very fast. They will not overrun the whole garden for a long time: not until you have laid down your burden and gone to sleep forever. Why should you trouble yourself? Let the new Adams clear a place for themselves. Adam That is very true. You must tell us your secret. You see, Eve, what a splendid thing it is not to have to live forever. Eve Throwing herself down discontentedly and plucking at the grass. That is so like a man. The moment you find we need not last forever, you talk as if we were going to end today. You must clear away some of those horrid things, or we shall be scratched and stung whenever we forget to look where we are stepping. Adam Oh yes, some of them, of course. But only some. I will clear them away tomorrow. The Serpent Laughs. !!! Adam That is a funny noise to make. I like it. Eve I do not. Why do you make it again? The Serpent Adam has invented something new. He has invented tomorrow. You will invent things every day now that the burden of immortality is lifted from you. Eve Immortality? What is that? The Serpent My new word for having to live forever. Eve The serpent has made a beautiful word for being. Living. Adam Make me a beautiful word for doing things tomorrow; for that surely is a great and blessed invention. The Serpent Procrastination. Eve That is a sweet word. I wish I had a serpent’s tongue. The Serpent That may come too. Everything is possible. Adam Springing up in sudden terror. Oh! Eve What is the matter now? Adam My rest! My escape from life! The Serpent Death. That is the word. Adam There is a terrible danger in this procrastination. Eve What danger? Adam If I put off death until tomorrow, I shall never die. There is no such day as tomorrow, and never can be. The Serpent I am very subtle; but Man is deeper in his thought than I am. The woman knows that there is no such thing as nothing: the man knows that there is no such day as tomorrow. I do well to worship them. Adam If I am to overtake death, I must appoint a real day, not a tomorrow. When shall I die? Eve You may die when I have made another Adam. Not before. But then, as soon as you like. She rises, and passing behind him, strolls off carelessly to the tree and leans against it, stroking a ring of the snake. Adam There need be no hurry even then. Eve I see you will put it off until tomorrow. Adam And you? Will you die the moment you have made a new Eve? Eve Why should I? Are you eager to be rid of me? Only just now you wanted me to sit still and never move lest I should stumble and die like the fawn. Now you no longer care. Adam It does not matter so much now. Eve Angrily to the snake. This death that you have brought into the garden is an evil thing. He wants me to die. The Serpent To Adam. Do you want her to die? Adam No. It is I who am to die. Eve must not die before me. I should be lonely. Eve You could get one of the new Eves. Adam That is true. But they might not be quite the same. They could not: I feel sure of that. They would not have the same memories. They would be⁠—I want a word for them. The Serpent Strangers. Adam Yes: that is a good hard word. Strangers. Eve When there are new Adams and new Eves we shall live in a garden of strangers. We shall need each other. She comes quickly behind him and turns up his face to her. Do not forget that, Adam. Never forget it. Adam Why should I forget it? It is I who have thought of it. Eve I, too, have thought of something. The fawn stumbled and fell and died. But you could come softly up behind me and She suddenly pounces on his shoulders and throws him forward on his face. throw me