Season 3 Podcast 106 Hans Christian Anderson The Garden of Paradise
The Garden of Paradise by Hans Christian Anderson
Hans Christian Anderson (1805-1875), a prolific writer, is best known for his fairy tales. The Garden of Paradise, a fascinating allegory, raises the question, “What would you do if you were in the Garden of Eden rather than Adam and Eve? Would you have eaten the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil or would you have remained in the garden of Eden forever? The Garden of Paradise is a story about the subtlety of temptation.
There was once a king's son; nobody had so many or such beautiful books as he had. He could read about everything which had ever happened in this world, and see it all represented in the most beautiful pictures. He could get information about every nation and every country; but as to where the Garden of Paradise was to be found, not a word could he discover, and this was the very thing he thought most about. … 'Oh, why did Eve take of the tree of knowledge? Why did Adam eat the forbidden fruit? If it had only been I it would not have happened! never would sin have entered the world!'
In Hans Christian Anderson’s story, The Garden of Paradise, he addresses the nature of sin in a brilliant allegory. In his search for the Garden of Paradise the Prince came upon a strange cave. In it lived a very old woman of great strength. Her four sons were the “four winds of the world.” One of the sons was the Eastwind. He announced that he was going to the Garden of Paradise and agreed to take the young prince with him.
'I say,' said the Prince, 'just tell me who is this Princess, and where is the Garden of Paradise?'
'Oh ho!' said the Eastwind, 'if that is where you want to go you must fly with me to-morrow. But I may as well tell you that no human being has been there since Adam and Eve's time. You know all about them I suppose from your Bible stories?'
'Of course,' said the Prince. The queen of the fairies lives there. The Island of Bliss, where death never enters, and where living is a delight, is there. Get on my back to-morrow and I will take you with me;
When the Prince woke up, he was sitting on the back of the Eastwind, being flown to the Garden of Paradise.
A river ran there as clear as the air itself, and the fish in it were like gold and silver. Purple eels, which gave out blue sparks with every curve, gambolled about in the water; and the broad leaves of the water-lilies were tinged with the hues of the rainbow, while the flower itself was like a fiery orange flame, nourished by the water, just as oil keeps a lamp constantly burning.
In the Garden of Paradise all the animals were friendly to each other just as they once again will be during the Millennium.
Lions and tigers sprang like agile cats among the green hedges, which were scented with the blossom of the olive, and the lion and the tiger were tame. The wild dove, glistening like a pearl, beat the lion's mane with his wings; and the antelope, otherwise so shy, stood by nodding, just as if he wanted to join the game.
They met the Fairy Queen, and the prince was shown the tree of knowledge of good and evil. It was formidable and a little scary.
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