Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-07-15
FRUIT OF KNOWLEDGE
EYES APPLE AN ORANGE THAI
GREW IN GARDEN OF EDEN.
Basque Vicar Philologically Demon
stTates That 1t Could Have
Been Nothing Else.
From Notes of a French Vicar.

! ASK any one with what fruit Eve tempted
Adam and the reply will be With
: apple
They wrong, however. 1t was an
orange,
| 1t Is not at once clear why the provail-
ing fancy should be that Eve tempted tho
first man with an apple Genesis does not
say ihat the forbidden tree was apple
tree. Those who consider the account in
Genesis an allegory give themselves 40 con-
Germ about whether the forbidden fruit was
an apple or gourd However. some years
ago Basque preacher attempted to provo
| that the forbidden fruit was an orange. He
/ proceeds in way of his own. and some OF
the processes by which he arrives at the
conclusion that the forbidden fruit WIS an
orange are herewith translated.
AS preliminary II may be well to state
tnat Inc BasquSi speak very ancient
Lang uase, one peculiarly their own. Tho
! origin OF the Basques is doubtful. They
Inha"t a triangular district the tase OF
which is the Bay of Biscay on the north.
and the apex the town OF LOgrono in the
south The boundary Ines OF Navarro on
the cast and San.anGer and BurgoS on tho
west forming the two sides. Humboldt
thought them descendants of the ancient
lbefl, who once occupied the whole OF tho
peninsula, and spoke h language row con-
ined solely 10 the Basque provinces. while
an opinion Is held Ev others that the Lam
guage Is OF Tartar org,n. The VicaIre do
Champagne holds that the Basque is a
PhoenIc.an tongue. Noltaire SAYS In his
philosophical dictionary They say the
Basque understand one another, but | do
not believe iti'' The claim has also been
| made that one, excepting the born
Basque can ever acquire this difficult
tongue.
The Basque Language.
Presupposing one original and universal
language the vicar says the first language
of the world received an irremediable
check at Babel: but this does not go TO say
that it was totally annhilated. and nothing
proves that 1t was. Moses does not say
that ii was. The character of the primitive
languages proves that some beautiful REM
nanis escaped the general catastrophe and
came out whole and alive. The Basque IS
one OF these remnants.
In the language that prevailed before the
confusion of tongues on the plain of Sem
naar, the vicar claims, may be found
natural and replete history OF the world,
from its creation up to the time OF the
building of the Tower of Babel. \ French
journal had once asserted that the Basque
language was devoid of metaphysical
terms This the unknown vicar iefutes by
giving the etymology of the Basque terms.
Gorphutz for the body and arima for the
soul; and claims that the Basque is d liv-
Ing proof of the veracity of Genesis.
From the name Cainan (of the race of
CAIN understand that Enos had taken
a daughter OF Cain unto himself a wife,
and il is natural and just to think that this
was the grandest glory of the Creator-to
lead the holy patriarch into a marriage
that at first would naturally be regarded as
dangerous, remembering how manners and
morals suffered before the union of chill
dren of God with children of men. Adam
still living. The name of his grand
son, Maleleel, with whom Enos lived sew
eral hundred years, leads US to believe that
he considered it his duty to make OF
conciliatory eXpedients to attach the chill
dren of Cain to the service of the Lord 1t
fc 10. q
this primitive man were the offerings OF
the fruit of the land. The denomination
Maleleel means to US that the patriarch who
bore this name offered often and many
fruits to the Lord.
The term Maleleel IS composed OF three
words. The first syllable, Ma" conveys
the ideas of multitude. center. abyss,
source, plentitude intimate affection etc
1t is only in this sense that Ma" is en-
ployed in Basque. Eel" and Hell" convey
the ideas of invocation. appeal. approach,
etc. 1t is impossible to attribute any other
meaning to these words.
Cain and Abel
Cain and Abel were the first children of
Adam. The first name offers the idea OF a
man who committed a bad deed and the
second that OF man who invokes by sac
rifcng animals. Ca" means anything
odious or detestable to nature; lin" or
'Eguin" means that which has been done,
Thus the name Abel conveys to the mind
the idea of a man who invokes. appeals to
another. who is approached of another,
who arrives unto another. by means of AMI
mails Are not these the notions that Moses
gives us of these two men? Now "Lala"
is the only term that pure Basque possesses
for fruits The vicar makes observations
on the word "Malalael'' Urcnch for Male-
leeD and claims that this word proves tho
originality of the Basque language. An
orange is called by the Basques ''lalanja"
better word
according to It's etymology, conveys to the
mind tBasque) the idea Of the fruit Of all
the fruits that was first eaten. And from
this he holds II to be a verify that the
orange was the fruit forbidden first
parents
Every would agree with this inter.
probation If proved that ia" IN laranja,
has anything in common with the idea OK
eaten or eating. And 1t is, too, a remark
able fact that the verb to eat in every dia-
lect of the Basque is expressed by ia tea"
ia is the natural expression of the sound
produced by the lips, the tongue and the
palate in the operation of masticatng food,
and 1t should be pronounced in a manner as
near as possible resembling this sound
which, being not uniform to all people has
likewise divers RECOMMENDATIONS IN the Basque
dialects. The Wears etymology of the word
Eve OEva) is also interesting. We are in
formed by philosophers that judgment con-
sists in simple operation of the spirit. by
which anything is affirmed or denied The
basque name Eva pronounced Eba) is tho
A
when God. having created his companion,
presented her to him. e. in BASQUE sig.
nifies no, negation, etc. The Basque has
no other words for expressing admiration
than "Ba' and Bay" The etymology OF
Eva is then no and yes, negation and ad.
miration, being and not being. To others
the word Eva means life. and when one
takes into consideration that life is oscilla-
ton between being and not being the wears
point is well taken
Al bout Remain harinor Na,,,aa