and rejoicings over this fact had ceased, Satan told by what
stratagem he had succeeded in inducing man to break friendship with
God. It was not by disguising himself as an angel of light. But,
affirmed Satan, man cared so little for the laws of God that, although
disguised as a serpent, he induced man to sin.

"Then awhile Satan stood, expecting their universal
shout and high applause
To fill his ear, when contrary he hears
On all sides from innumerable tongues
A dismal universal hiss, the sound
Of public scorn. He wondered, but not long
Had leisure. Wondering at himself no more,
His visage drawn, he felt; too sharp and spare
His arms clung to his ribs, his legs entwining
Each the other, till supplanted down he fell,
_A monstrous serpent_ on his belly prone,
_Reluctant, but in vain_. A greater power
Now ruled him, _punished in the shape he sinned_,
According to his doom."

Also when Satan attempted to speak, Milton says, only a hiss went forth
"from forked tongue to forked tongue." When many days had passed by
and their hunger was very sore because these fallen angels had seduced
man by an apple, it came about that when, fierce with hunger, they
seized the fruit ripe upon the branches, the apples were found to be
filled with soot and ashes. By these striking suggestions Milton gives
us his idea how angels and men reap what they sow. Should the literary
critic seek an appropriate heading for the tenth book of "Paradise
Lost," he could hardly find one more appropriate than this: "What Man
Soweth, That Shall He Also Reap."

This law of the spiritual harvest that visits retribution upon
unrighteousness or visits reward upon integrity seems to have cast a
spell of fascination upon all great writers. Even those who have
written upon liberty, law, patriotism, or love have not been content to
end their task until they have, through song or story, illustrated this
law of the soul's seedtime and harvest. The ancient poet who wrote at
a time near to the dawn of history makes a strong man go forth to seize
his neighbor's flocks and herds, but returning the prince found that in
his absence enemies had looted his palace and carried off not only his
treasure, but his wife and children. In ending the tale the writer
adds the reflection that "God is just!"

Later on the Grecian threw this moral principle into a tale for
children, a story that still lives under the