air trees in it, and apples upon a tree, and other
fruit on the others. A fountain, too, in Paradise, and fine flowers
painted. Put Adam into Paradise--let flowers appear in Paradise--let
Adam lie down and sleep where Eve is, and she, by the conveyor, must be
taken from Adam's side--let fishes of all sorts, birds and beasts, as
oxen, kyne, sheep, and such like, appear."

Then, we have the preparations for the temptation, ordered thus:--"A
fine serpent to be made with a virgin's face, and yellow hair on her
head. Let the serpent appear, and also geese and hens." Lucifer enters
immediately afterwards, and goes into the serpent, which is then
directed to be "seen singing in a tree" (the actor who personated
Lucifer must have had some gymnastic difficulties to contend with in his
part!)--"Eve looketh strange on the serpent;" then, "talketh familiarly
and cometh near him;" then, "doubteth and looketh angrily;" and then
eats part of the apple, shows it to Adam, and insists on his eating
part of it too, in the following lines:--

"Sir, in a few words,
Taste them part of the apple,
Or my love thou shalt lose!
See, take this fair apple,
Or surely between thee and thy wife
The love shall utterly fail,
If thou wilt not eat of it!"[4]

The stage direction now proceeds:--"Adam receiveth the apple and tasteth
it, and so repenteth and casteth it away. Eve looketh on Adam very
strangely and speaketh not anything." During this pause, the "conveyor"
is told "to get the fig-leaves ready." Then Lucifer is ordered to "come
out of the serpent and creep on his belly to hell;" Adam and Eve receive
the curse, and depart out of Paradise, "showing a spindle and
distaff"--no badly-conceived emblem of the labour to which they are
henceforth doomed. And thus the second act terminates.

The third act treats of Cain and Abel; and is properly opened by an
impersonation of Death. After which Cain and Abel appear to sacrifice.

Cain makes his offering of the first substance that comes to hand--"dry
cow-dung"(!); and tells Abel that he is a "dolthead" and "a frothy fool"
for using anything better. "Abel is stricken with a jawbone and dieth;
Cain casteth him into a ditch." The effect of the first murder on the
minds of our first parents, is delineated in some speeches exhibiting a
certain antique simplicity of thought, which almost rises to the
poetical by its homely adherence to nature, and its perfect innocence of
effort, artifi