A snake, you blame a snake for your expulsion from that paradise
In which we humans used to live? The snake, you say, brought
Women knowledge. They, in turn, led men to disobey Almighty
God. Then all of us were lost to sin, condemned to be
Impoverished and unhappy all our lives... Unless we groveled
To our God. In that case, He would make things better for us
Once we die. Such a stupid story, but it symbolizes certain
Truths. We did once live in paradise, sustained by what we
Gathered from the forests, oceans, rivers, plains. Leaderless,
We lived as equals. At some point, our lives were changed
By knowledge, and that knowledge probably developed first
In women: plants need not be found and gathered. One can
Take their seeds and have them grow abundantly nearby.
At this point, we can see the path from paradise come into
View. The plants, the crops, become the focus of both sexes'
Wretched lives. Their diets narrow down to nothing. Someone
Has to rule over labor, harvests, distribution, irrigation,
Everything, and he is made into a king. He justifies his rule
By declaring that the cosmos also has a monarch: God, and God
Approves of him, and says that those who don't obey the rules
Of His earthly kin are sinners. Now, our story's done. The paradise
Which was has vanished. Knowledge brought its occupants
Captivity and degradation. Worse, it saddled them with guilty
Fealty to a vengeful God. We suffer through our lives, and why?
We find it comforting to blame a misbehaving snake.