Adam and Eve in Paradise

by Eça de Queirós, Margaret Jull Costa (translator)

Adam, the father of all mankind, was created on October 28 at two in the afternoon. When these words first appeared in Lisbon in 1897 in the Encyclopedic Almanac, more than a few readers were scandalized. This irreverent, clever tale, among Eça de Queirós’s lesser known works, but no less representative for that, combines popular science with myth and a base naturalism with fantasy, all within a Biblical framework. The author puts his considerable wit to the task of creating a vision of Paradise as vivid as the real world, presenting prehistoric animals with real names but exaggerated appearances for effect, describing metaphorical landscapes with a moving prose, and introducing an Eve capable of interpreting everything Adam sees as mysterious and terrifying as logical and soothing. Fans of the classic Portuguese author as well as the uninitiated will find themselves drawn into the imaginative world presented in this wonderful story.

Genres: Fiction, Classics, Portugal, Fantasy, Short Stories, Literary Fiction, Portuguese Literature

64 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1897

About the author

José Maria Eça de Queirós was a novelist committed to social reform who introduced naturalism and realism to Portugal. He is often considered to be the greatest Portuguese novelist, certainly the leading 19th-century Portuguese novelist whose fame was international. The son of a prominent magistrate, Eça de Queiroz spent his early years with relatives and was sent to boarding school at the age of five. After receiving his degree in law in 1866 from the University of Coimbra, where he read widely French, he settled in Lisbon. There his father, who had since married Eça de Queiroz' mother, made up for past neglect by helping the young man make a start in the legal profession. Eça de Queiroz' real interest lay in literature, however, and soon his short stories - ironic, fantastic, macabre, and often gratuitously shocking - and essays on a wide variety of subjects began to appear in the "Gazeta de Portugal". By 1871 he had become closely associated with a group of rebellious Portuguese intellectuals committed to social and artistic reform and known as the Generation of '70. Eça de Queiroz gave one of a series of lectures sponsored by the group in which he denounced contemporary Portuguese literature as unoriginal and hypocritical. He served as consul, first in Havana (1872-74), then in England, UK - in Newcastle upon Tyne (1874-79) and in Bristol (1879-88). During this time he wrote the novels for which he is best remembered, attempting to bring about social reform in Portugal through literature by exposing what he held to be the evils and the absurdities of the traditional order. His first novel, "O crime do Padre Amaro" (1875; "The Sin of Father Amaro", 1962), describes the destructive effects of celibacy on a priest of weak character and the dangers of fanaticism in a provincial Portuguese town. A biting satire on the romantic ideal of passion and its tragic consequences appears in his next novel, "O Primo Basílio" (1878; "Cousin Bazilio", 1953). Caustic satire characterizes the novel that is generally considered Eça de Queiroz' masterpiece, "Os Maias (1888; "The Maias", 1965), a detailed depiction of upper middle-class and aristocratic Portuguese society. His last novels are sentimental, unlike his earlier work. "A Cidade e as Serras" (1901; "The City and the Mountains", 1955) extols the beauty of the Portuguese countryside and the joys of rural life. Eça de Queiroz was appointed consul in Paris in 1888, where he served until his death. Of his posthumously published works, "Contos" (1902) is a collection of short stories, and "Últimas Páginas" (1912) includes saints' legends. Translations of his works persisted into the second half of the 20th century.

Source: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0211055/bio

Reviews

[Tempo de Ler · Rating 4 out of 5]

«Sofrendo - por arrastar consigo, irresgatavelmente, esse mal incurável que é a sua alma!» - p. 52

Tudo começou (aparentemente) num domingo, dia 23 de Outubro de 4004 a. C. É daqui que partimos com Eça numa narrativa sobre o início da humanidade, acompanhando Adão e Eva nas suas dificuldades do dia-a-dia.

Tudo é novidade e é precisamente a hostilidade destes primeiros dias, com a consequente necessidade de ultrapassar novos desafios, que conduz à evolução. Uma evolução desejada, mas cujo real benefício Eça nos leva a questionar quando compara o nosso quotidiano cheio de problemas e stress com o pacífico dia-a-dia dos animais, sem dúvidas filosóficas ou religiosas.

Deambulando habilmente entre religião e ciência, incorporando na sua narrativa tanto ensinamentos bíblicos como as evidências do evolucionismo, não parece ser intenção do autor que o leitor perca a sua fé quer num quer noutro, o que torna a leitura muito agradável e cómica, sem escarnecer ou criticar.

Acabei por gostar muito deste pequeno livro; adorei a prosa e a imaginação do autor, o humor com que leva a cabo esta sua história e gostei imenso dos parágrafos finais!

[jeremy · Rating 4 out of 5]

and thus it was that, during those tragic early years, adam lived in a permanent state of terror, with his own weakness and isolation as his one certainty, a state so enduring and so persistent that his fear, like a prolonged shudder, was passed on to his progeny, and it is adam's ancient fear that even in the safest forest still fills us with unease whenever we go for a solitary evening stroll.

nearly one century before josé saramago's the gospel according to jesus christ courted controversy in portugal, eça de queirós (whom saramago called his country's greatest novelist) published adam and eve in paradise (adão e eva no paraíso), a slim, satirical novella about the biblical first folks. a profane take on the garden story and the early days thereafter, de queirós sends up the genesic fairy tale, wherein the biblical progenitors discover fire, dine on grilled meat, and hide from terrible lizards. at the end of the nineteenth century, this little gem would've surely been blasphemous, while now it's a drolly funny reimagining of the "immense task of becoming human." maybe shoulda stayed in the trees after all.

*translated from the portuguese by margaret jull costa (saramago, pessoa, marías, atxaga, chirbes, et al.)

[Eliza · Rating 4 out of 5]

well this was a delightfully strange, little tiny book following Adam, then Eve, as they ascend from monkeydom to be the parents of Man. driven by fear, blind luck, and creativity, Adam and Eve discover how to be human. in the process, they separate themselves from their much loved world around them, creating building blocks of society through asserting their supremacy over the rest of the natural world. this was quite charming and whimsical, and paints us, perhaps, as the losers in the great cosmic scheme, due to our pesky souls!

[michal k-c · Rating 4 out of 5]

wow seems like people were really stressed about modernity in the late 19th century. good thing we got that all sorted out now

[Sara Jesus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uma narrativa bem humorada sobre a criação divina. Não é das melhores narrativas de Eça mas demonstra a sua acentuada ironia

[Doctor Moss · Rating 5 out of 5]

First published in Portuguese in 1897 but just recently translated into English, Eça de Queiros’s book does what I think should be done with fables and Bible stories. He reinterprets the story and retells it, using the accepted version as his launchpad.

The story of Adam and Eve in Genesis is a story of the blessings of Paradise for humanity and our fall from grace. God has created a Paradise for humanity and it’s up to us to preserve and keep it.

By contrast, Eça de Queiros tells a story of Adam descending (or “falling”) from a more nature-bound state of grace and having to earn his way to humanity.

Adam begins the tale with his descent from the trees. He’s leaving a life of peace and relative security to strike out on his own, and on an evolutionary journey away from the other animals of the forest and trees. By the latter half of the nineteenth century, Darwinian evolution was well-known and some fossils suggesting human evolution had begun to be discovered. Eça de Queiros entwines an evolutionary story with the Biblical story, so that Adam must earn his way to humanity.

He is not born into Eden, he must find his way there after leaving the trees. Neither the journey to Eden nor his arrival there are blessed with peace and plenty. Surrounded by new predators and needing to find new sources of food and shelter, he is “always trembling, always whimpering, always fleeing!”

With his descent from the trees, he is estranged from the life of other animals, with no obvious place, and separated by his exceptionality, his “intelligence.” Being human is being an “other” to the animals of Eden.

It is Eve, once she arrives in Eden, who takes the steps that begin to establish the place of humanity, even its supremacy over nature. It was Eve who tamed fire, and with it, changed their lives, giving them safety, warmth, a home, and igniting the possibilities of technology. Eça de Queiros writes, “It was Eve who laid the foundation stones on which Humanity is built.”

I won’t go on to tell the whole tale here. But I think, from what I’ve said, you’ll get the idea. Humanity is a struggle, not a gift. And the struggle will not end — our place in the world is never guaranteed, it must be continuously earned. We have in a strong sense left nature, left a state of grace.

You can’t help but wonder, as Adam himself does, about the wisdom of leaving the trees. The Orangutan (in Eça de Queiros’s time, believed to be our closest relative in nature), left behind in the trees, is untroubled by plans and needs, fears and hopes, and the challenge of making its own place in the world. Was the true Eden left behind back in the trees?

This is more than Genesis plus Darwin. Eça de Queiros’s retelling of the story opens up all sorts of questions about how we think about our relationship to nature and to other animals, our estrangement and our “dominion” over nature, how nature (and the voice we give it) sees us and maybe judges us.

[Adam McPhee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh to be a wild chimpish Adam frolicking and brachiating through the trees of Paradise, chased by dinosaurs but protected from hyenas by the invisible angles, settling down to have Eve pick lice from my hair only when we're out of reach of the volcanoes and floods.

[Sebastian Uribe Díaz · Rating 4 out of 5]

«Al encogido temor de Adán se debe la supremacia de su descendencia. Fue el monstruo perseguidor el que lo obligó a subir a las cimas de la humanidad! Y los poetas mesopotámicos del Génesis demostraron su conocimiento de estos orígenes en aquellos sutiles versículos en los que un animal, el más peligroso de todos, la serpiente, conduce a Adán, por amor a Eva, hasta el fruto del Saber.Si no hubiera rugido otrora el león en las cavernas, no trabajaría hoy el hombre en las ciudades, pues la civilización nació del desesperado esfuerzo defensivo contra lo inanimado y lo inconsciente. La sociedad es realmente obra de la fiera. Si el monstruo cavernario y el tigre en el Paraíso hubieran empezado acariciando el hombro peludo de Adán con pata amiga, Adán se habría hecho su hermano y compartido con ellos sus refugios, sus presas, sus ocios y sus gustos salvajes. Y la energía inteligente que lo hiciera bajar del árbol se habría apagado al poco tiempo dentro de su estéril animalidad, como se apaga la chispa incluso entre hojas secas, si el viento fresco proveniente de un agujero oscuro no la estimula a vivir, para así vencer el frío y las tinieblas».


Sublime relato de Eça de Queirós sobre los orígenes del hombre que da cabida al humor como a las alegorías sobre los vicios del mundo moderno. Recomendable como entremés.

[Delfina Velez · Rating 5 out of 5]

O bom humor da narrativa queirosiana no seu melhor. Tão atual !

[Brittany · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really have no clue how to feel after reading this book. It’s very detailed in giving you a visual of the surroundings, the types of animals, plants, weather. But it’s strange also to think about dinosaurs around Adam and Eve. Also his “words” for naming of things being just sounds and not actual words.

[Oscreads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful read.

[Shelby Burrow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not what I expected, really really good and written so prettily

[stori · Rating 4 out of 5]

4★ a very interesting and strange retelling of the book of genesis. eca de queiros tells a more realistic tale of struggle and survival in the early days of humanity but fills it with irony and criticism of the original bible story. this probably hit a lot harder when it originally came out in 1897, but the writing is beautiful, im definitely interested in reading more things translated from portuguese!

[Stephanie Silva · Rating 5 out of 5]

cortito pero sabroso, jocoso y serio y la interpretación del autor de los primeros días del paraíso como terrorífico me encantó

[María Izquierdo · Rating 3 out of 5]

es, efectivamente, un relato sobre la vida de Adán y Eva en el Paraíso. literalmente. una cosita golosa de 100 paginitas que vi en la biblioteca y creí que me iba a ayudar a quitarme el resquemor de no haberme terminado ningún libro en abril. resulta que lo escribió un diplomático portugués del siglo XIX y lo publicaron como un anexo al periodico local de Oporto y dije mmm esto me va a encantar. bueno, pues un poco sin más. no sé cuánto tiene de poético y cuanto tiene de que es una traducción de hace 200 años pero vaya. es un relato curioso! adán y eva siendo enteramente humanos y avanzando porquito a poco en su proceso de hominización y progreso humano evolutivo. guay pero no repetiría. además, la conclusión del autor (viene spoiler) es que gobernamos nosotros por puro chance, pero que en realidad podrían gobernar el mundo los orangutanes si a otro mono se le hubiese ocurrido hacer lascas de sílex PERO q lo más importante es dios que nos creó a todes. pues eso.

[ali · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25/5

a very short book on the retelling of adam and eve. now as an anthropology major, this was interesting in terms of how much is related back to evolution rather than the biblical idea that we simply existed.

doing research, this book was released in 1897 and darwin had released his theory on evolution in 1859. its sort of insane that only 38 years had passed and eça de quierós described adam as more primate-like than an anatomically modern human. from creating fire, domesticating dogs, domesticating and farming grains, to stone tool technology???? this is an insane thing to write in that time given that this is more of a parody and supposed to be a comical take on the biblical tale.

i enjoyed this and thank you to the translator who really shined eça's writing. i am so glad that this novella from 1897 finally has an english translation released in 2025.

[Ana Bugalho · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightful surprise, this story showcases Eça's distinctive style and wit. It humorously balances religion and science, respecting both faith and reason. The prose, imagination, and humor made this short book a truly enjoyable read.

[Aleka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Originalísimo relato sobre los primeros días de vida en el Paraíso. De aquí a leer Los Maia de cabeza.

[An · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.0 /5
𝕿𝖍𝖎𝖘 𝖗𝖊𝖛𝖎𝖊𝖜 𝖈𝖔𝖓𝖙𝖆𝖎𝖓𝖘 𝖘𝖕𝖔𝖎𝖑𝖊𝖗𝖘 ⚠︎ ⚠︎


Eça de Queirós takes the myth of Adam and Eve and strips it of its divine aura, grounding it in a satirical, almost anthropological retelling of survival in the prehistoric age. This is a cheeky, irreverent novella that transforms the biblical tale from a moralistic parable into a semi-realistic struggle for existence.

Rather than Adam being a godlike, Queirós portrays him as a bumbling proto human, whose first words were nothing more than confused grunts

"The Bible, with its innocent, simplistic, oriental tendency to exaggerate, tells how Adam, the moment he entered Eden, immediately gave names to the animals and the plants, with as much certainty and erudition as if he were writing the Lexicon of Creation, half Buffon with his ornate cuffs, and half Linnaeus with his spectacles. Not at all. The names were merely groans, coarse but nonetheless worthy of respect, because they took root in his nascent consciousness like the crude roots of that Word through which he became truly human, and thus simultaneously sublime and absurd."

("Oriental tendency to exaggerate"? Let’s not kid ourselves. hyperbole is the foundation of all storytelling. But since this is satire, I’ll let it slide)

Queirós injects humor into the Garden of Eden’s precarious brutality, where Adam and Eve are as much hunted as they are hunters. The narrative dismantles the romanticized innocence of Eden, replacing it with the harsh realities of an era where survival meant constant fear:

"Eating Eve, so round and plump, was doubtless the dream of many a tiger lurking in the reedbeds of Paradise. Many a bear, even while engaged in stealing honeycombs from a hole in the trunk of an oak tree, would pause and tremble and lick its lips, when, suddenly filled with a longing for something more refined, it spotted through the branches, caught in a ray of sunlight, the muscular body of our venerable Father! And danger did not come only from the starving hordes of carnivores, but from the slow, sated, idle herbivores, the aurochs, the wild oxen, the stags, who would happily gore or trample our Parents out of sheer stupidity, simply because they did not like the look or smell of them. To which were added those who killed in order not to be killed themselves, because life in Paradise was ruled by the laws of Fear, Hunger and Fury."

The author's reinterpretation of Original Sin. Instead of treating the Fall as a catastrophe, Queirós reframes it as humanity’s necessary evolution. The real enemy was not temptation, but stagnation—the Garden was a place of fear, hunger, and savagery, and it was only through intellectual rebellion that Adam and Eve (and by extension civilization) progressed

"If, in Paradise, the Hyena and the Tiger had begun languidly stroking Adam’s hairy back with a friendly paw, Adam would have become the friend of the Tiger and the Hyena, sharing their lairs, their prey, their idleness, and their savage tastes. And the Intelligent Energy that had brought him down from the Tree would soon have dissipated in that inert brutish state, much as a spark, even in a pile of dry twigs, will not survive long enough to overcome the cold and the dark if extinguished by a chill wind whistling in through a dark hole."

In this version, Eve is not the temptress, she is the catalyst for humanity’s ascent, the first thinker. She sees the promise in the Apple of Knowledge, while Adam remains a skeptical brute The biblical curse of pain in childbirth and male dominance is subtly mocked

"I will make most severe your pangs in childbearing; in pain shall you bear children. Yet your urge shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you."
—Genesis 3:16

reframing Eve’s act as an act of creation rather than destruction

"Adam would have preferred to eat that very juicy Serpent. He didn’t believe in fruit that could make you Godlike and Wise. After all, he had eaten plenty of fruit from the trees and had remained as ignorant and beast-like as the bear or the aurochs. Eve, however, with the sublime credulity that always brings about the world’s most sublime transformations, immediately ate the Apple, peel and pips and all. And in persuading Adam to share that Transcendental Apple, she very sweetly and slyly convinced him of the advantages, the happiness, the glory, and the power that Knowledge brings! This allegory written by the poets of Genesis reveals to us with splendid subtlety the great work that Eve carried out in those painful years in Paradise. Through her, God continued his work of Creation, that of building the spiritual Kingdom, which, here on Earth, became home, family, tribe, city. It was Eve who laid the foundation stones on which Humanity is built."

[N · Rating 3 out of 5]

Of discovery and fear.

Notes
Discovery of climbing down from the trees and getting off all fours. Fear of the tree prison.

Discovery of skills from animals. Fear of the beasts and insects.

Fear of open seas. Fear of the threatening waves and dead expanse. Fear of the seal-covered island rocks. Fear of the monstrous Ichthyosaurus. Fear of the Plesiosaurus and their titanic duel.

Discovery of meat through carrion.

All the creatures converge while Man sleeps, hoping to destroy the Intelligent Energy destined to subdue Brute Force - but foiled by protective white-winged creature guarding sleeping Adam, with a sword of light.

Discvoery of awakening from sleep. Discovery of Eve. Fear of Eve.

Fear of volcano, floods, earthquakes, storms, droughts, forest fires,

Discovery of fishing, fowling, scavenging. Fear of hunters’ hunger and herbivore’s stupidity/spite.

Discovery of the lone ally - the Mastodon.

Fear of Pterodactyls, though God was kind enough to drown the Iguanodons before Man arrived. Fear of the Father of all Bears.

Discovery of weapons. Discovery of the hammer. Discovery of fire. Fear of fire. Eve as creator, defender, preserver of flame. Discovery of warm home. Eve’s discovery of the sublime credulity that is responsible for transformation - transcendental apple. Eve’s discovery of the continuation of God’s work of creation - building of a spiritual kingdom.

Discovery of cooking. Discovery of sewing clothing. Discovery of Charity and domestication of animals. Discovery of cultivation.

[Nettles · Rating 4 out of 5]

A reimagining of the Christian creation myth through the lens of evolution, casting Adam as a caveman struggling to survive in a new world

This was really fun! Adam eating bugs and scratching and grunting, and then Dinosaurs?!?! It was pleasantly absurd, funny, and had an interesting perspective on the burden of knowledge.

I like when art plays with the "high and the low" like Caravaggio making fine art of biblical scenes with everyday grungy people off the streets or when fans asked Hozier the meaning behind the lyric "with the same sweet shock as when Adam first came" and he said "I figure the lad had quite a surprise"

I was surprised to find out this was written in 1897! I found it on the "new books" section at the library and the translation is really poetic and easy to parse. I was gearing up to rate it 5 stars but a throwaway line nearing the end where Adam abuses Eve killed a lot of my joy on this already short novella but outside of that it was a delight

[rndgmoat · Rating 4 out of 5]

As proof of my ignorance, I had no idea who this author was when I picked it up. Having found it in the new fiction section of my local library, I guess I assumed it was a new novella. Finding the prose a little curious, I was then surprised to learn it was written in the 1800s! Anyway, this is an odd curiosity...a slightly bizarre, allegorical retelling of the creation myth. Adam and Eve cower from dinosaurs while feasting on rotten meat? Sure!

[joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

anyone can write satire, but it takes a talented author to write good satire. my goal this year was so expand my reading horizons, so when i saw this at my local library i immediately knew it was the branch out i needed. boy am i glad i read it! i felt this book had the perfect balance of call out and respect, if that makes sense, because he ultimately treats humanity as something incredibly special. it’s reverent in its irreverence and i think that’s beautiful.

[Tim Bailen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first part of this [very short] book especially really painted a picture of an earth as of yet untouched by human hands— pure wildness, yet beginning to be observed by human-kind. Pristine. Paradisal in its unspoiledness. I loved that. Very different from the feel of a “small garden” which is how typical depictions of Eden feel to me.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

nice short and entertaining read

[danielle; ▵ · Rating 4 out of 5]

and so we still share paradise, and the october is eternal

[Patrick Sherriff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good stuff. My proper review is here: https://patricksherriff.com/2025/04/1...

[jihyun · Rating 3 out of 5]

we should just rewrite the entire bible like this

[Peter Willoughby · Rating 4 out of 5]

A simple erudite tale of the beginning of intelligent life on earth.
Almost believable.

[Natalie Gomez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charming!