The First Murder


                                                   
Eons ago in the vast wilderness of planet earth lived Cain and Abel. Both brothers worked the whole day. Cain was a farmer and Abel was a shepherd. They lived together and life was like an endless flow of time.

When dusk set in, the two brothers would offer prayers in their own ways, and then settle down to rest. Cain’s farm was as big as the earth. The entire land belonged to him. Abel had a flock of sheep and they multiplied in abundance.

Their father Adam and mother Eve were happy and contented to see their sons go about their lives peacefully. One evening Cain and Abel sat talking around a big bonfire.

‘What are you going to sacrifice for the Lord tomorrow?’ asked Cain.

‘As usual,’ replied Abel.

‘You mean the lamb.’

‘Yes,’ said Abel.

‘But why do you always sacrifice a lamb?’

‘Because that’s what the Lord likes.’

‘You mean the Lord likes blood to be shed,’ said Cain.

‘I think so.’

*

That night Cain couldn’t sleep. For so long, he had been offering the produce of his fields to the Lord but every time, his offering was rejected, while on other hand, his brother’s offering was always accepted by the Lord. This is not fair, thought Cain. Maybe Abel is right. Maybe the Lord likes blood offering. Maybe I should also do the same.

In the morning, he asked his brother to accompany him. A glorious sun was shining and god was in heaven and all was right with the world, and so it seemed.  

‘Where are you taking me?’ asked Abel.

‘To one of my fields,’ Cain answered.

‘Why are we going there?’

‘Just wait and see,’ Cain said.

*

Upon reaching the field, Cain asked his brother to go to the centre of it and wait for him. Abel, the generous soul, went to the middle and stood there. Cain, in the meanwhile, began digging the earth. When he had dug enough, he found what he was looking for. A donkey’s jawbone.

Holding it tightly in his hand, he reached the spot where Abel was standing.

‘What’s that?’ Abel asked, pointing his finger towards the jawbone.

‘It’s the weapon of sacrifice,’ said Cain, a twisted expression on his face.

‘And where’s the offering?’

‘The offering is you. The Lord likes blood, you said, isn’t it! So be it,’ Cain said and swung the jawbone hard and hit Abel’s skull with such ferocity that it cracked like an egg. 
Blood poured from Abel's head like water from a fountain. He was dead before his body hit the ground.    

‘O Lord, hope now you accept this offering from me,’ said Cain, with his hands lifted skywards.

*    

- NZ

7.6.2019




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