<p>Nebuchadnezzar's second challenge to Ben Sira is deceptively simple. "Count the trees in my garden." The seven-year-old doesn't even need to look.</p>

<p>"Thirty types of trees are in your garden," he answers, and then classifies them into three precise categories of ten. Ten are eaten whole, as-is: apples, figs, sycamores, citrons, grapes, quinces, pears, botnim (pistachios or peanuts), peppers, and limonia (a citrus fruit). Ten are eaten for their insides while the shell is discarded: pomegranates, walnuts, almonds, pistachios, and several varieties whose names survive only in their medieval Arabic forms. And ten are eaten for what's on the outside: dates, olives, carobs, persimmons, crabapples, plums, and more.</p>

<p>But the real surprise comes when the king asks who planted them. Ben Sira's answer reaches all the way back to the beginning of time. Adam -- the first human -- took these thirty types of trees from the Garden of Eden before he was expelled. God gave him permission. Along with the trees, Adam also carried out fragrances and medicines, thirty types of each.</p>

<p>According to the Alphabet of Ben Sira, written between 700 and 1000 CE, every fruit tree in Nebuchadnezzar's royal garden is a living souvenir from Paradise. The Babylonian king tends a garden planted with stolen Eden stock and doesn't even know it. Ben Sira does. That's the whole point. The Jewish child understands the origin of things that the world's most powerful king takes for granted.</p>