based on The Book of Genesis, chapter 4
In which we learn of the difficult beginnings of communal life. And how jealousy poisons relationships. And that the first crime was to kill a brother and that vengeance is not our own.
And it came to pass that they had to live together and everyone had to work.
Some of them tamed animals and raised them in the fields.
Others grew gardens full of delectable vegetables and delicious fruit.
But the more they worked, the more they grew proud of what they produced,
and so the more they argued. And became jealous of one another.
Among them were two brothers: Cain and Abel.
Cain, the older and stronger, worked the Earth.
Abel, the younger and weaker, watched over chickens, goats, and sheep in small herds.
One evening, they both brought the best that they had to offer to God.
Cain: a magnificent basket of fruit and vegetables.
Abel: baby chicks and lambs.
He had chosen the cutest.
Cain hung out in the shadows.
Away from the fun.
No one paid any attention to him, nor to his vegetables and fruit.
Whereas Abel and his baby animals were a big hit.
Cain fumed.
Deep inside him was a beast ready to pounce upon his prey.
God asked: Why such a face? Why art thou wroth?
Cain wanted to talk to his brother, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to.
He led him out into the fields of rich grain, wheat and rye . . .
They walked for a long time.
Abel said little.
He suddenly felt so small and weak.
And Cain set upon him and killed him.
And then the voice of God, demanding: Where is Abel, your brother?
Cain: Who knows?
All day, I work the fields; I don’t have time to watch over others.
Again, God’s voice: What have you done? Fear struck Cain to the bone.
The Earth turned red, red like the blood of his brother and that of all his sons.
And the fields, the grain, the stones, all started to shout.
Cain panicked and ran from the field.
Everyone stepped back to let him pass.
All there gathered watched him flee.
Watched him run out of the country.
Cain was afraid of them. But they were also afraid of him.
No one dared stop him. No one dared strike him. There Cain went, crushed by the weight of his crime.
But God protected him and prevented anyone from killing him.
Cain walked alone, very far, as far as possible from anyone’s sight.
He stopped one day just east of Eden. And there he sat down to rest.
And there he went back to living and working and there with his wife had many, many children.
And there built the world’s first city. For his numerous children all also had numerous children.
They became shepherds and nomads and forgers and musicians . . . They became the entire world.
