sunbeam, to warn him that one of the banished crew has escaped, and
was seen at noon near these gates. In return Gabriel assures Uriel no
creature of any kind passed through them, and that if an evil spirit
overleapt the earthly bounds he will be discovered before morning, no
matter what shape he has assumed. While Uriel returns to his post in
the sun, gray twilight steals over the earth, and Michael, having
appointed bands of angels to circle Paradise in opposite directions,
despatches two of his lieutenants to search for the hidden foe.

Our first parents, after uniting in prayer, are about to retire, when
Eve, who derives all her information from Adam, asks why the stars
shine at night, when they are asleep and cannot enjoy them? In reply
Adam states that the stars gem the sky to prevent darkness from
resuming its sway, and assures his wife that while they sleep angels
mount guard, for he has often heard their voices at midnight. Then the
pair enter the bower selected for their abode by the sovereign
planter, where the loveliest flowers bloom in profusion, and where no
bird, beast, insect, or worm dares venture.

In the course of their search, the angels Ithuriel and Zephon reach
this place in time to behold a toad crouching by the ear of Eve,
trying by devilish arts to reach the organs of her fancy. Touched by
Ithuriel's spear,--which has the power of compelling all substances to
assume their real form,--this vile creature instantly assumes a demon
shape. On recognizing a fiend, Ithuriel demands how he escaped and why
he is here. Whereupon Satan haughtily rejoins that the time was when
none would have dared treat him so unceremoniously, nor have needed to
ask his name, seeing all would instantly have known him. It is only
then that Zephon recognizes their former superior, Lucifer, and
contemptuously informs him his glory is so dimmed by sin, it is no
wonder they could not place him. Both angels now escort their captive
to Gabriel, who, recognizing the prisoner from afar, also comments on
his faded splendor. Then, addressing Satan, Gabriel demands why he
broke his prescribed bonds? Satan defiantly retorts that prisoners
invariably try to escape, that no one courts torture, and that, if God
meant to keep the fiends forever in durance vile, he should have
barred the gates more securely. But, even by escaping from Tartarus,
Satan cannot evade his punishment, and Gabriel warns him he has
probably increased his penalty