THE SCENE: If nothing else, this passage indicates that to medieval minds, a nice garden could easily be mistaken for paradise.
THE TEXT: There was a celebrated magician, who had a very beautiful garden, in which grew flowers of the most fragrant smell, and fruits of the most delicious flavour. In short, nothing on earth could exceed it. But he invariably refused admittance to all except to fools, or such as were his enemies. When suffered to pass in, however, their wonder was extreme; and they straightway implored to be allowed to remain. But the magician would grant this boon to no one who did not give up his inheritance to him. The fools, of course, believing it to be Paradise, while they themselves were the chosen and happy possessors of the land, gave not another thought to the future. The consequence was that, one night, finding them asleep, the magician cut them off; and thus, through the instrumentality of a factitious Eden, perpetrated the foulest enormities.
– Gesta Romanorum, 13th Century AD
[Image Credit: The Mysterious Garden by Guillaume De Machaut]
