Innocents in Eden

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Curtis D Cushman…/The Innocents of Eden To the sunrise flowed what we now call the winding Bougariba, and, to the sunset, the precious Longo. Toward the North Star went the great Bafing, or the Volta Noire, which turns to flow to the Great Sea. Finally, in the direction of the Southern Cross flowed the wide and nourishing Comoé. Wêna made it all. The rocks, the plants, even the blessing of sunlight and the faces of the moon, the changing lamp in Wêna’s own night. He made the winds and the rivers. The great garden He made flourished as a home for new life, and Wêna had decided that the blessed would dwell there. So, there came the day when Wêna created His beloved animals and placed those he could within the garden. Those others who live in the deeps, He placed in his great rivers, or further on in the sea, or lakes, where they swam in the blessed waters flowing from the garden. Some of the animals flew, some hid, some strutted, and some crawled. There were animals that swarmed, and others that lived alone: all according to their place in Wêna’s garden. In the center of the garden jutted a great rock some call a kopje. Not very tall, it looked out over the garden plains where gathered the animals. Wêna stood there in front of a vast and leafy tree, its large red fruit aglow in the sunlight. This was the acacia in the center of the garden of creation. Wêna looked out and saw the animals. His goodness was such and His love so deep He had made many more than He had planned to make. They were everywhere in the garden and the fountains of the earth. But, the garden was not to be theirs alone. Wêna thought “I could use some help.” “I have My eyes upon you.” He said to the animals, and His voice reached every one. “And this garden is, only in part, yours. You shall share it now. “Wêna sees all, and I tell you, you must all be named, for you will be part of all the earth.” The animals, unafraid, did not understand. Part of the earth? Were they not so, already? They chattered or chaffed, brayed or barked; each wondered in its own way. Then, there was one like Wêna, but not so grand, alongside Him. “This is Adam; he is man. He shall have dominion over you, here, in this garden. But, as there are so many of you, it is right he give you your names.” 2
Curtis D Cushman…/The Innocents of Eden Adam was ebony with shining eyes. He walked upright, on two legs, with none of the awkwardness of other two-legged animals; it was the graceful movement of the spirit of Wêna flowing through him. The animals awaited his presence, his touch, and they heard his words. “You are great in size and strength, grey one, and I hear the might of your voice. I shall name you Wobogo. “And you, swimming in the stream, a smooth name shall be yours: Ziima.” And so he went to each and all. The chattering ones playing in the trees he named Wamba, and the great cat became Boyêega. The green croaker in the pond was named Louanga, the little wooly one, Pesgo. These he named, there in the fastness of the garden. We would now call them Elephant, Fish, Monkey, Lion, Frog, and Sheep. But, there were so many more. Wêna looked out and saw the work Adam was doing, and knew he could not be alone. So when Adam had finished and returned to the side of Wêna, from him was brought forth his woman, Ève, by the great power of Wêna. Then Wêna told them of all the growing things to be tended in the garden; Ki to make Sagabo and Maana, Suuma and Wé-tiiga. Thus there was millet for dough, okra for gumbos, peas, and baobab whose great pods gave monkey bread. All the other trees were named, as well, including the green lemon, the banana, and the precious mango that Wêna Himself called the “fruit of life.” Now, Wêna spoke to Adam and Ève as well as the animals, and told them that the fruit of the great acacia was not to be eaten; it was from the tree of knowledge, which was the roof of the garden. It was the sacred totem of Wêna whose roots held together the black soil of the garden and from whose branches fell the water that fed the great rivers after the rainy season. Its fruit was blessed and sacred. Wêna then took Adam and Ève into the garden, to view the yam fields. There was at first great silence among the animals, then sounds of wonder and the odd noise of a growing hunger. Now, there was one animal who was néré wusro: great in beauty. He moved like a cobra, but was the color of sand and leaf and black-of-night, with a restless tongue of fire-red and horns above deep wedge eyes. 3
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Innocents in Eden

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