CHAPTER VII
The knife and the tomb
Man's first night outside the secure borders of the primordial garden was a prelude to all the suffering that was to come. For the dominions beyond Eden were of a stony and severe desert. There was no water or food in sight, only scorpions, spiders and snakes sneaking treacherously through the dirt, and a few thorny bushes that stood stubbornly in the middle of nowhere.
Adam and Eve tasted of the bushes, but their thorns wounded their hands and their bitter leaves were impossible to chew. Accustomed to sleeping on carpets of fresh green grass, the pointed stone floor proved to be a torment to them, damaging their ends and backs. In addition, they discovered the fear of night and darkness. For demons seemed to lurk behind every sound, every shadow that insinuated itself under the moonlight. To make matters worse, there was still the intense cold forcing them to share the warmth of their bodies, clinging to each other. Adam and Eve spent their first night of freedom terrified of the world around them.
When the first sunrays finally announced themselves, the couple's hearts became lighter and full of hope. However, they soon found themselves overwhelmed by the rising temperatures. The inclement cold of the night turned into exasperating heat, with no shade under which to take refuge, let alone a sign of mountains or trees in the distance.
Their bare feet cracked on the hostile ground, their blood sprouted from the wounds, mixing with the dust. Hungry and thirsty, they fell asleep exhausted as the night returned bringing them its cold winds and terrifying sounds. The weather had reduced them to a couple of dirty, sore, and fetid figures. The sudden changes in temperature, the lack of water and the inescapable sunlight were too much for Adam. By the dawn of the second day, he collapsed. Eve begged him to stand up, but he was too ill to do so.
Through tears, Eve asked God to help them, fearing that Adam would not come to the end of the day alive. She prayed and waited, but no encouragement was given to them, no angel came to their rescue. Eve then undressed, covering Adam with the fur she was wearing. She went to the largest bush she could find and broke its branches, scorning the pain of the thorns that jammed and lacerated her hands. Her reasoning, the gift of the Tree of Life, worked, because the sap that flowed from the broken branches, though bitter as the leaves, quenched her thirst and restored her strength. She gathered as many branches as she could and returned to Adam.
And Adam drank the sap and his mind cleared. Eve stuck the branches in the hard ground, tilting their upper extremities to each other and firming the lower ones with the use of the boulders that abounded around them. Eve formed two bundles of branches and carefully positioned her garment next to Adam's on the beams, improvising a tent, which, so narrow, only allowed them to lie still. However, it was enough to spare them from the sunrays and night winds. Eve's ingenuity had saved their lives. For the first time, a human being had used the power of reasoning to subdue nature.
That morning, after the night winds cooled, Adam, still weakened, searched for a stone of sharp enough edges, and cut with it a strip of his clothes. He used the strip to tie the stone to the tip of the longest branch he found. The next day, Adam hunted a fat, disgusting lizard that he brought to Eve trespassed on the tip of his improvised spear. Hunger led them to ignore the revolting appearance and obnoxious taste of the prey. They ate its raw meat and drank its blood with pleasure.
Even fearing the night and suffering from its winds, they preferred to travel under the stars than face the scorching sun in their incessant search for stops where they could settle. They carried the tent on their backs. Thus, they did not need to seek branches by the places where they decided to erect their shelter.
Long and painful was their journey, but gradually Adam and Eve began to come across increasingly signs of birds in the sky and a more verdant and plentiful vegetation. Soon they abandoned the tent and walked again during the day under the protection of the leafy treetops. The bitter sap of the thorny branches was replaced by the fresh drinking water from fountains and streams that they discovered along the way.
Eve went on to collect increasingly larger fruits, distinct in size, quantity, and variety. Adam, in turn, hunted what was ahead. Lizards and snakes, but now also rabbits and birds. One morning Adam found himself before an antelope defacing the leaves of a beautiful bush. For a moment, man and animal were surprised by each other's presence. Among Adam's favorite creatures in Eden, there was a couple of antelopes he used to play with and run. But that was not Eden, nor Adam the same man. He had the spear in his hand to prove it.
The antelope instinctively perceived the danger it was running and moved like lightning to safety beyond the nearest tree line. However, Adam went even faster, hitting him on the back with the spear. The poor creature collapsed, its blood spurting from the wound. Its frightened eyes found those of its tormentor, to disappear under the heavy stone with which Adam crushed the skull of the poor animal. Adam and Eve feasted on the flesh of the antelope for the next two days.
A little over a week later, the couple spotted the silhouette of an immense mountain rising towering on the horizon. Its distant peak was white from the melting snow, which formed a waterfall that tore through its southern slope, where it spread in two cascades that flew into a small valley. Adam and Eve walked for many days until they finally reached the impressive mountain. Along the way, joy returned to their hearts. A feeling lost since the day of their expulsion from the idyllic garden.
Adam had become accustomed to collecting the rough-edged stones he found along the way, converting them into knives and axes. At the foot of the mountain, on the banks of a small lagoon formed by the fresh, pure waters from the snowy peak, Adam employed his chipped stone tools to raise a hut with the tree trunks he happily felled.
The valley boasted a forest of dense vegetation, infested with venomous insects. However, the hunting was plentiful and the fruits there extraordinarily rich. It did not compare to Eden, of course, nothing else in the world could, not even in beauty, let alone in comfort, but it was a place that Adam and Eve could finally call home. She then exhibited a six-month pregnant belly. At the end, Eve gave birth to Cain. Great were the bleeding and pains of Eve, just as God had promised. Still, the Lord's mercy was greater. For He sent them His Herald, Gabriel, to assist her in childbirth.
Gabriel, though able to read the most hidden secrets of the human mind, did not capture in Eve the real origin of Cain, Lucifer's bastard son, with a soul tainted by his father's darkness. So sincere was Eve's love for Adam and genuine her desire to give him a baby boy that she blocked the truth, even from the powers of an angel. The human forms of the newborn also served to perpetrate the lie as they masked his half demonic ancestry. And so, Adam took Cain in his arms as his firstborn.
The love of Adam and Eve would bring many fruits to the world. After Cain, came Abel, and seven female daughters followed him. And of the girls, time lost their names because to their parents only the boys mattered. Eve cursed fate by not being able to give her husband as many males as he desired. Therefore, Adam had no affection for his daughters, while Eve clearly despised them.
Eve became lazy and forced her daughters to do all the hard work at their home. She mistreated and beat them often for futile reasons, sometimes because of her own frustrations. In turn, Cain became her favorite son, a farmer on the land where they lived. Abel was more suited to his father, preferring to accompany him in the herding of the sheep through the valley.
Cain and Abel were young men when Gabriel, absent since the birth of the seventh daughter, came to be with Adam's family. In his honor, Cain brought a basket with the most beautiful and delicious fruits of the harvests. Abel, for his part, slaughtered two of the best sheep to feast with the angel. Gabriel was delighted with the tender meats, but he paid little attention to Cain's offering. And Cain was deeply jealousy.
“Why are you angry, Cain?” asked the angel. “Why did your countenance fall? If you do, will there be no acceptance for you? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door, and for you it will be your desire, and over it you will dominate.”
Cain seemed to bow to Gabriel's wisdom. But in his heart, he burned his father's, his real father's dark ambitions.
The Prince of Darkness, the Cursed One, the Lord of the Abyss.
Such a revelation was destined for Cain in the early afternoon of the next day when he plowed alone into the most distant fields. At first, Cain thought it was Gabriel coming in the distance to him. But the Seraph had departed early in the morning, and the angel who landed before him possessed a splendor superior to that of the Herald himself. His brilliance was unmatched, his eyes deep and penetrating, his gestures magnificent.
“I come for you, Cain, firstborn like me,” announced the angel. “You who love this world as much as I do myself. You who are my fruit, conceived of your mother. Embrace your father, my dear son.”
Astonished and unresponsive, Cain was welcomed by Lucifer's arms.
Cain remembered the terrible stories he had heard as a child about the Dark Prince and his evildoings. Tales that still caused him strange, disturbing nightmares. In fact, he could almost hear Gabriel's voice in one of his many sermons to his family, alerting them about the Enemy and his demonic tricks.
Like his parents and siblings, Cain had learned to hate Satan and be prepared to face him if necessary. However, at that moment, enveloped by the angel's light and the comforting warmth of his arms, Cain simply knew that the Lord of Lies was telling the truth. With tears coming down his face, Cain hugged his father.
Cain heard Lucifer's version of the Rebellion. How God had made him His instrument of violence and disowned him when he refused to continue killing in His Name. About the war launched by the loyal angels against those who only longed for freedom. And finally, their unjust expulsion from the Heavens, a destiny shared by Man in Eden. In no moment, however, Lucifer confessed to Cain his hatred for humanity. For he despised even his own son, whom he pretended to enjoy.
“Take my hand and I will take you away from this place, my boy,” said the Devil. “I will build for you a city of immense power and wealth, in which you will reign absolute and be the patriarch of your own house. You will never again have to bow to the orders of Adam or any other mortal.”
Greed shone in Cain's eyes and he found himself tempted by the offering of the Enemy. Still, he hesitated.
“Will I be able to enjoy my mother's company?” asked the young man. “I wish to have her around if I am to start a new life.”
“I´m afraid not. You need to leave the nest altogether. That is the price of freedom. However, you can take the sister of your choice to procreate and give your heirs.”
Cain was sad because he loved Eve very much. But the eagerness for power, inherited from his father, spoke louder. Cain accepted the Dark Lord's offer. And, by doing so, he disgraced his soul for eternity.
Cain ran home as he wanted to say goodbye to Eve and take possession of his younger sister, who, besides being the most beautiful, had wide hips like her mother, well suited to give birth.
Midway through, however, Cain spotted Abel shepherding in the open. Abel was alone, for Adam found himself hunting rabbits at the other end of the valley. Upon seeing him, Cain remembered the undone the night before and, overcame with fury and pride, grated with Abel.
Abel sought to calm him down, but an evil shadow obscured Cain's face. Just as his father had raised his hand against his angelic brothers in the Rebellion, Cain drew the knife he was carrying around his waist and struck Abel. Seven times he pierced his stomach. Even after Abel fell on his back, Cain continued to hit him. Seven times in the chest, and seven times in the face. And Abel's blood touched the ground and the Earth shuddered violently. Gabriel, who rested in Eden, felt the pain of the world, and flew to the site of its agony. He found Cain covered in blood.
“Where's Abel, your brother?” asked Gabriel.
“I don't know,” Cain replied. “Am I my brother's keeper?”
And the light of Gabriel strengthened, and God spoke by the mouth of His Herald. Cain shrank before the powerful voice, frightened.
“What have you done? Your brother's blood cries out to Me!”
A bloody trail led beyond the thick bushes behind Cain, from where Abel's corpse levitated as if held by invisible arms. Abel came floating, until he hovered next to the angel.
“Cursed from the world the one who opened his mouth to receive from his hand the blood of his brother! When he tills the soil, it will no longer give him its strength!”
Cain was penitent for fear, not repentance, for Lucifer's darkness dwelt in his heart. From his mouth, the lament of cowards sprang.
“My wickedness is greater than that which can be forgiven. I will leave this place, I will be a fugitive, but anyone who finds me will kill me.”
And God, rich in love, even aware of Cain's falsehood, whistled at the young man. As with Adam and Eve before him, when he had sent His angels to help them in the birth of their children.
God's voice sounded through the four corners of the world. And everyone knew.
“Cain killed Abel,” said the Lord. “But no blood shall return to the Earth. Therefore, whoever kills Cain seven times will be punished.”
And the Herald took Cain by the neck, drew his knife and with it marked on the murderer's forehead the sign of His protection, that no one would ever hurt him. A half-moon lying with the wedge facing up. The blood flowed from the sign through Cain's face and fouled his eyes. And even after washing the blood, Cain, from that day on, saw the world only through shades of red.
God left Gabriel, who departed carrying Abel's corpse.
Cain went to Adam and revealed to him to be the fruit of Eve's betrayal. Struck down by pain, Adam disappeared into the forest, only being sighted again by human eyes a century later.
Eve's pain was to deny Cain, for her love for him was endless, but greater was the shame of the revealed adultery.
Cain grieved for his mother but found solace in the great destiny the Devil had promised him. He took his younger sister, whose pleas for help were futile in the face of her mother's indifference. Two fallen Seraphim, Matraton and Beelzebub, awaited Cain and his bride outside the valley. In grim silence, they carried the human couple to the plain of Node, east of Eden. A swampy region, bathed by a vast river, with few trees. A variety of fish and birds shared the marshes with menacing crocodiles and deadly snakes.
Lucifer awaited at the entrance of an imposing palace that he had his demons built on the banks of the tortuous river. A set of three contiguous towers, with white, smooth walls and a few windows, mostly distributed through the upper sections of the main tower. The largest window was in the throne room, facing the garden of Eden, far away on the horizon. There were still no ornaments or furniture inside, just a large empty throne of dark wood.
Lucifer handed Cain the building and commanded him to raise a city around it, destined to celebrate Man's covenant with the Devil.
For this, Cain promised to erect a statue to Lucifer in the main square of the future city. His father smiled satisfied and left with the promise of keeping his son and heirs.
Cain then raped his sister and conceived Enoch, his firstborn. Each year, for the next fifty harvests, the woman gave him a son or daughter. With them, Cain built up his city and called it Enoch.
His son Enoch took three of his sisters as wives and with them had seven boys, the oldest called Irade. Enoch and his sons erected a statue of Lucifer on the one hundredth anniversary of Abel's death and built the most beautiful square in human history to display it. On that day, a shadow of despair fell upon Cain. His father had not visited him since he had graced him with the Palace of Covenant, and now an inexplicable anguish had cast deep roots in his heart. Cain gave the crown to Enoch and went out into the night as a fugitive, fulfilling the prophecy of the Lord. However, that would not be the last time Cain would set foot on Enoch.
That same year, Adam finally returned from his exile, finding his daughters dirty and mistreated by Eve, in contrast to the hut and the fields they kept well cared for.
Adam forgave the woman's betrayal and, on the first night back to her bed, conceived Set.
“God gave me another seed in Abel's place,” said Eve. “Because Cain killed him.”
And Set took the sisters and planted his seed in them. His first son came from the older one. He was a handsome boy called Enos.
Enos and his descendants also erected a city, which stretched from the foot hills of the great mountain to the northern end of the valley and became known as the City of Man. Enos was crowned king, for neither Adam nor Set desired to exchange the tranquility of the shepherdess for the chores of the throne. On the banks of the small pond, Enos erected a temple to the Lord, becoming the first human priest to invoke the Holy Name.
The City of Man grew and prospered for centuries to come beyond the confines of the valley, spawning a dozen towns and villages in its surroundings. Adam was then nine hundred and thirty years old, when, after a long and felt absence, Gabriel reappeared in secret in the kingdom of Enos, coming to the First of Men in his chambers. Eve slept peacefully, and Gabriel's powers kept her unconscious as he did not intend to disturb her with his presence.
In his heart, Adam knew the reason for the Seraph's visit. After all, he felt life fade from his body every day and a tiredness that no sleep could remedy. The time had come to settle his debt to God for the violation of the forbidden fruit.
Adam embraced death. Gabriel carried him to the garden of Eden in a flight above the clouds and under a silvery moonlight. There, Azapael lowered his flaming sword as Adam was escorted by the twelve members of the Divine Council to the defunct Tree of Life, of which only its dry and twisted trunk remained. A tombstone made of gold and a grave with seven feet of stone were prepared to receive the First Man. And Adam lay in the grave helped by Gabriel and Camael, for his bones hurt, betraying his movements. He settled with serenity, relieved to be getting rid of the trials of the physical world.
“Rejoice, Adam, son of God,” Gabriel said. “For an abode has been prepared in the Heavens for you and those of your people who will follow you. You will sleep now and wake up at the end of time in the arms of the Creator.”
Adam smiled and died. And on his tombstone read: ‘Here lies Adam, father of humanity and son of the Lord.’
The next morning, when Eve awoke and did not find her husband, she despaired, as Adam had long been too weak even to leave the chambers.
King Enos' personal guard searched every street and house in the valley, but it was all in vain.
At nightfall, Gabriel came to the throne room to pay his respects to the royal family, revealing Adam's final destiny. Eve broke down in tears, held by her male descendants as she blamed herself for her husband's death, since she was the one who convinced him to taste the fruit of the Tree of Life.
Gabriel, however, comforted her, stating that a place had been saved for her in Eden. When she thought the time had come for her eternal rest, it would be enough to call him that Gabriel would take her to Adam. For if in life the First Couple had been exiled, in death they were again welcome to the sacred garden. Gabriel's words still resonated among the bewildered court when he left.
The morning sun found Eve clinging to the pillow of her huge, empty bed. It was impossible for her to continue living without her husband, Eve gathered her huge family and announced her departure. Among men, there was deep commotion. Several of them were tearful. Some came to curse God by the plague of death. But these were promptly and firmly rebuked by Set and Enos. Some women were saddened, but most of them had little appreciation for Eve, from whom they received only chores and mistreatment. It was said that some even celebrated in small groups hidden by the kitchens and palatial gardens the end of that miserable old woman.
Eve asked her beloved male heirs for a day of celebrations in their company. No sadness. Those should be moments of pure joy. And so, Eve was granted her last wish. Set proclaimed a whole day of festivities in the Kingdom of Man. Lots of drinks, songs and dances marked that solemn date. The night came finding all but Eve intoxicated and satisfied. She took the opportunity to sneak away from the palace. She did not mean to spoil the celebrations with long, painful goodbyes.
Eve sought the privacy of an empty alley on the outskirts of the city and called for Gabriel. The angel soon appeared.
Eve was the last human to be allowed into Eden. She took her rightful place in a grave next to her husband's, closed her eyes, and her spirit set out for the Heavens.
On her tombstone, Michael engraved a sorrowful epitaph: ‘Here lies Eve, well-loved and forgiven by God.’
The graves of Adam and Eve were kept under the guard of Azapael from then until the end of days.