September 8, 2004:
George and Ursula as Adam and Eve.
They live in a state of harmony with nature; they speak the languages of animals. They don't have to labor: the earth provides all they require.
It would be possible to play this list out. What resonates for me is their innocence. They only ever tell the truth, they only ever want well for people. I read into it a moralism which is not explicitly present in the narrative. It's as if I'm thinking that they live in harmony with nature because they only ever tell the truth, and they only ever want well for people.
It's possible that this is what's affective in myths which are recycled well. It's because the structure of the story is well-known that we're allowed to fill it with our own preoccupations.