|
Genesis
Chapter
3 (Verse 9 & following) -
9 -
And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
10 -
And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, and I
hid myself among the trees of the garden, because I was naked; I was
in fear lest thou should ask of me whether I had eaten of the Tree of
Knowledge.
11 -
And the Lord God spake unto him, saying; Never mind eating of the Tree
of Knowledge, thou hast walked on the Grass of Knowledge for a start.
12 -
And the man said, I thought it was alright to walk upon the Grass of
Knowledge - I did not know that it was any big deal.
13 -
Whereat the Lord God waxed exceeding wrath, crying; There are signs up
everywhere. As to thy being naked, thou art not naked at all -
the Lord thy God hath eyes in his head. Thou and the woman that
I made for thee have picked leaves to be a covering - what does thou
think thou art playing at, picking at things? It'll be the daffs
next.
14 -
And the man replied in thus wise, saying, The woman whom they gavest
to be with me, she hast done this. I was happy in my nakedness,
it was not draughty, but the woman insisted, and I plucked of the tree
two leaves, contrary to sub-section eight of the by-laws, paragraph
fourteen.
15 -
And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this thou has done? And
the woman said, the serpent beguiled me, saying it would be
fashionable, a smart leaf.
16 -
And the Lord God grew great in his anger, crying, It will be riding
bloody bicycles on the pavement next, it will be failing to put sweet
wrappers in the receptacles provided. And he turned then to the
man, saying, hast thou got a license for this snake?
17 -
And the man fell upon his knees in that place, shouting, It hath no
legs, it doth not bark, it is not a dog, wherefore is it that I should
have a license?
18 -
But the Lord God would not be assuaged, saying, I know it is not a dog
- I the Lord God hath made it. It is not an elephant or a plaice
either, and do not get clever with me. The fact is that it is a
dangerous animal within the meaning of the Act - they can kill you,
snakes, I speak as one that knoweth, and as such they require a
license, obtainable at any Post Office that I have made.
19 -
And the man hung his head, saying, I did not realise.
20 -
But the Lord God exculpated him not, saying, Ignorance of the law is
no excuse. It is not even on a lead - it could foul the
pavement, and they are no joke, snake droppings, this is the Garden of
Eden, not an adventure playground.
21 -
Therefore the Lord God sent them forth from the Garden of Eden, and he
placed at the east of the Garden some cherubim's, in caps and
armbands, and a flaming signboard with all the by-laws writ large upon
it, to keep the way of the Tree of Life.
Chapter
4 -
1
- And Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived, and bore Cain,
and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord.
2 -
Whereat the Lord God spake unto them, saying, I trust that thou hast
registered this child, and that thou hast registered him once only - I
do not want any Maternity Grant fiddles, I do not want him coming back
when he is unemployed claiming two lots of Social Security. I
give thee fair warning - that could well be a matter for thunderbolts.
3 -
And she again conceived, and bore his brother Abel. And Abel was
a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And it
came to pass that in the course of time Cain brought of the fruit of
the ground an offering unto the Lord.
4 -
But the Lord God was greatly displeased in that place where He was,
saying, Call that a tomato? It is more like a red pea - hast
thou no thought for the Weights and Measures Act that I have given
thee, dost thou turn thy back on my Office of Fair Trading? What
is it thou art trying to put over on the unfortunate public?
5 -
And Cain replied in thus wise, saying, Public - what public? There is
only thou and I in this place where we are, unfortunate or otherwise.
6 -
And the Lord God gathered up the clouds and spake unto him in thunder,
crying, Do not take that tone with me, I am the Lord thy legally
constituted Local Authority, and a thing is not a tomato unless I say
it is a tomato.
7 -
And Cain went away in anger from that place, saying, It tasted alright
- what difference doth it make if it was a bit undersized? How
can you make a living if you don't bend the rules a bit? And lo,
he came upon his brother Abel in a field, and Abel had with him where
he was a sheep that had found favour with the Lord in that it complied
with all the regulations concerning weight, quality, vaccination,
smell, and all the rest. And Abel said to Cain, How didst thou
get on with that titchy little tomato?
8 -
And Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and slew him.
9 -
And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel, thy brother? And
Cain replied, I know not - am I my brother's keeper?
10 -
And the Lord replied in thus wise, saying, Thou art his next-of-kin,
and it is therefore thy legal obligation to report his demise to the
Authorities, especially in view of the fact that it is thou that hast
demised him.
11 -
And Cain said, He got up my nose.
12 -
And the Lord God replied, saying, That is no excuse for failing to
report his death. Coming on top of thy dreadful infringement of
the Tomato Regulations, this is too much. And the Lord set a
mark upon Cain, reminding him of the serious penalties involved should
he receive two further marks in a period of three years, under the
totting-up procedure.
13 -
And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the Land
of Nod, on the east of Eden.
14 -
And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived, and bore Enoch. And
Cain builded a city and named it after the name of his son, Enoch.
15 -
And the Lord God waxed furious, crying, Didst thou get planning
permission for a city? Look at it - it hath no proper drains, it
hath high-rise blocks stuck up all over the place, it hath not a
proper road from one end to the other, it is an eyesore and an
affront.
16 -
And Cain answered the Lord in some heat, crying, This is not Green
Belt, this is bloody Nod - it is thou that has stuckest me in this
place where I am to be developer, of account of not being able to
follow my chosen profession, to whit tiller of ground. How am I
to make an honest bob - all right, fairly honest?
17 -
But the Lord would not countenance his appeal, and knocked the city
down, that it be a lesson and a guide to all men.
18 -
And Enoch - the son, not the city - begat Irad, and Irad begat
Mehujael, and Mehujael begat Methusael, and Methusael begat
Lamech.
19 -
And Lamech took unto him two wives - the name of one was Adah, the
name of the second was Zillah.
20 -
And the Lord God waxed really spare this time, what with the
multiplicity of spouses and the serious begatting explosion, for the
infringements were beyond number, and the Lord was up to here with
paperwork. And of the myriad thousands that now teemed the
Earth, the majority did not make full and complete tax returns, nor
did they return home from work without paperclips and rubbers that
they had taken, saying, Who is it that will notice? Also they
loved together in council accommodation when they were not legally
married, and they did not observe the yellow lines that the Lord their
God had made for them, nay, not even the double yellow lines.
And they smoked in those places where there were signs clearly
exhorting them not to do so, and built on room-extensions in
cedar-wood and sandal-wood without informing the Ratings Authority ...
and they sang in those places that did not have a license for singing.
Chapter
5 -
1 -
And God saw that the wickedness of men was great in the Earth, and
that every imagination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil,
continually.
2 -
And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the
face of the Earth, for it repenteth me that I have made them.
They cannot be left alone for a minute - I am losing a thousand gas
meters a day, never mind forged Cup Final tickets.
3 -
But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.
4 -
And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me, and
behold, I will destroy them from the face of the Earth. Make
thee an ark of gopher-wood. And this is the fashion that thou
shalt make it of - the length of the ark shall be three hundred
cubits, and the height of it shall be thirty cubits.
5 -
Thus Noah and his sons fashioned them an ark, and it was done.
6 -
But when the Lord God looked upon where it was, he waxed practically
out of his mind, crying, Is that the gopher-wood I commanded thee?
7 -
And Noah replied in thus wise, saying, Not exactly, it's more your
actual chipboard. I was very lucky - it fell off the back of a
cart, also no VAT, nudge nudge, catch my drift?
8 -
And God caught his drift, saying, Nor is it the three hundred cubits
in length that I bespoke unto thee.
9 -
And Noah replied unto him, saying, Right, right, there are no flies on
thee, O Lord. It is about, what, two hundred cubits, give or
take, it was a pretty small cart if thou knowest what I mean - it
looks like pretty bad news for the dinosaurs and the unicorns, one way
and another.
10 -
And the Lord God retreated into the cloud, and wept. And the
tears became rain ...
|