When Adam and Eve were driven from paradise, they were forced to build a house on barren ground and eat their bread by the sweat of their brow. Adam hoed the field, and Eve spun wool. Every year Eve bore a child, but the children were unlike each other—some handsome, some ugly.
After a long time, God sent an angel to announce His visit. Delighted, Eve cleaned her house diligently, decorated it with flowers, and spread rushes on the floor. She then presented only her handsome children. She washed and combed them, dressed them in fresh shirts, and instructed them to be polite, bow courteously, offer handshakes, and answer questions modestly.
The ugly children were hidden away—under hay, in the attic, straw, stove, cellar, under a tub, a wine barrel, an old pelt, beneath cloth and leather.
A knock came at the door. Adam peered through a crack and saw it was the Lord. He opened the door reverently, and the Heavenly Father entered. The handsome children stood in a row, bowed, offered handshakes, and knelt.
The Lord began to bless them. Placing His hands on each, He said: "You shall be a powerful king," "You a prince," "You a count," "You a knight," "You a nobleman," "You a burgher," "You a merchant," "You a scholar." Thus, He bestowed His richest blessings upon them all.
Seeing the Lord's mildness, Eve thought, "I will bring forth my ugly children too. Perhaps He will bless them as well." She fetched them from their hiding places. In they came—a coarse, dirty, scabby, sooty lot.
The Lord smiled, looked at them, and said, "I will bless these as well." He laid His hands on the first: "You shall be a peasant," to the second, "You a fisherman," then "a smith," "a tanner," "a weaver," "a shoemaker," "a tailor," "a potter," "a teamster," "a sailor," "a messenger," and to the twelfth, "You a household servant, all the days of your life."
Eve then said, "Lord, how unequally You divide Your blessings. All are my children. You should favor them equally."
God replied, "Eve, you do not understand. It is right and necessary that the entire world be served by your children. If all were princes and lords, who would plant grain, thresh, grind, and bake it? Who would forge iron, weave cloth, build houses, plant crops, dig ditches, and make clothing? Each shall stay in his place, so one supports the other, and all are fed like parts of a body."
Eve answered, "Oh, Lord, forgive me. I spoke too quickly. Let Your divine will be done with my children."