 | The collected works of Ambrose Bierce |  |
GENESIS
God said: “Let there be Man,” and from the clayAdam came forth and, thoughtful, walked away.
The matrix whence his body was obtained,
An empty, man-shaped cavity, remained
All unregarded from that early time
Till in a recent storm it filled with slime.
Now Satan, envying the Master's power
To make the meat himself could but devour,
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Exerted all his will to make a fool.
A miracle!—from out that ancient hole
Rose Doxey, lacking nothing but a soul.
“To give him that I've not the power divine,”
Said Satan, sadly, “but I'll lend him mine.”
He breathed it into him, a vapor black,
And to this day has never got it back.
| The collected works of Ambrose Bierce | |