There was once a certain king who, having lost his way while hunting, was trying to find the path out of the forest when he heard voices nearby. Following them, he found that they belonged to a poor woodcutter and his wife, who were working hard amidst the trees. The two peasants were talking with each other about Adam and Eve, grumbling at the suffering which the first sin in the Garden of Eden was causing them.

 “Without a doubt,” the woman began, “our mother Eve was very greedy to eat the apple. If she had only done as God told her, we would not need to work and slave as we do now.”

“Well, if Eve was greedy,” replied the man, “Adam was a fool to do what she told him. If I had been in his place, and you had come to me with the apple, I would have punished you for even suggesting that we disobey God!”

The wise king had been listening thoughtfully to the unhappy couple's complaining. He knew that their misery was not due to their poverty, but to their pride. To be poor is not, in itself, evil - God Himself chose to be poor when He lived on earth. But these people would never find happiness while their proud hearts were bitter. A clever plan then entered the king's mind and, at the woodsman's words, he came out from behind the trees.

“My good people,” he said casually, “You seem to work very hard.”

“Yes we do, sir,” they grumbled, not knowing that he was the king. “We work like slaves from morning ‘til night, and yet we can hardly earn a living.”

“Well,” the king replied, “Come and live with me. I will support you both, and you will not need to work.”

The man and woman would have asked him who he was, but at that moment the king's servants caught up with him and joined him. The woodcutters were shocked and delighted to see that their host was the king himself. The king, as he promised, took the couple to his palace. He gave them splendid rooms, rich clothing, a carriage, horses, finely dressed servants – everything their hearts desired!

During the first month, everything went wonderfully and the now rich peasants were very happy. Every day the woodcutter and his wife we served twelve different delicacies at their table. And on the last day of the month there were twenty! In the very center of the table sat a large, covered plate. The woman, being very curious, put out her hand to uncover it. But before she could reach it one of the king’s servants abruptly stopped her.

“The king has given strict orders,” he informed her, “that this dish is not to be uncovered under any circumstance.”

So saying, the servants left the room… and everything was silent. As time passed, the woodcutter noticed that his wife merely sat there sullenly, eating nothing. Wondering what the matter could possibly be, he asked, “Is something wrong my dear? Is there nothing among all this fine food that you’re hungry for?”

“I’m not hungry for any of this,” she sighed.

“Well, I’ll call one of the servants to fetch something else”, he declared cheerfully. “Is there some other dish you crave?”

“All I crave…” she said slowly, looking up at him “is a morsel from that covered dish in the center!”

“Foolish woman! Didn't you hear that the king has forbidden us to touch it?”

“The king is very unreasonable,” snapped the woman, “If he did not want us to see what was in the dish, he shouldn’t have ordered it to be put on the table.”

It was not hunger that distressed the poor woman – it was the restriction of her will. It was mortifying her curiosity. She simply had to know what was in that dish! Ungratefully ignoring an entire table of delicious food, the woodcutter’s wife was driven nearly crazy with desire.

Bursting into tears, she exclaimed “You don’t love me! If you did, you’d want to make me happy!”

The woodcutter was greatly upset when he saw his wife sobbing unrestrainedly. He tried to comfort her and make her stop, but she only continued weeping in self-pitying distress. She declared she would kill herself if he would not uncover that dish! Realizing that he was getting nowhere and her frenzy was only increasing, he hastily told her “My dear, I would do anything to please you, if only you will stop making yourself so unhappy.” Leaning over the table, he lifted up the cover from the dish.

Quick as lightning, out jumped a little white mouse. It scampered away in an instant. The bewildered pair scrambled after it, but before they could catch it… in stepped the king. Eyeing the table, and then the couple, he gravely asked “Where is the mouse?”

“Please, your majesty,” the man stammered, looking very foolish, “My wife pestered me for so long... she, she wante-wa- uh, needed to see what was in the dish, and I, I-I could not help uncovering it and... and now the mouse has gotten away.”

“Oh, oh!” exclaimed the king, “But you declared just some time ago that, if you had been Adam, you would have ignored the foolish pleas of your wife, and have punished Eve for being curious and greedy. Did you so quickly forget your resolution?”

“And you!” he said, turning to the disobedient wife, “You silly woman! You had everything here you could wish for, but that was not enough. No - you were not content with the many gifts that were given to you but ran after the one thing that you were refused. Like Eve, you had to taste the forbidden fruit. Go, you foolish people! Return to your hard work, and never again blame Adam and Eve for the hardships you endure, since you have been guilty of the same foolishness.”

How often do we blame others, even Adam and Eve, for our pains and troubles? Do we complain that if only they had just done what they were told, we would not have to suffer? We have the benefit of history – we know all the terrible things that have come from the sin of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Paradise. And we like to think that if we were in their place, we certainly would not have eaten the forbidden fruit. But – as the unfortunate woodcutter and his wife have shown us – we might think that we’ll be strong... but when we’re tempted, we forget all our firm resolutions – and fall. But why do we fall? Because we, too, are weak and imperfect human beings – and without grace, we love ourselves more than God. And while Adam and Eve may have been the first of us to sin... who among us can say that we have not been guilty of “the same foolishness”?

But let us remember that the story of Adam and Eve did not end with their terrible sin. After they were sent out of the Garden, they sincerely repented of their crime and obtained the forgiveness of God. In fact, their repentance and resolve to love God was so complete, that they lived to become the great Saints that the Church has recognized them to be. Let us, then, not criticize our first parents for their fault. Learn from their mistake – and our own. And, having imitated their fault, let us follow their humble example, and beg God to forgive us our sins, and to give us the grace we need to join our first parents in their sanctity.