José Saramago - Cain

Do you, asked lilith, I'm cain, remember, the one who killed his brother and was punished for his crime, Fairly leniently, it must be said, remarked lilith, Yes, you're right, I would be the first to admit that, but god, the one we call lord, was still the main person responsible, You wouldn't be here if you hadn't killed abel, in fact, from a selfish point of view, you could say that one thing led to the other, No, I just did what I had to do, killing my brother and sleeping with you in this bed are all effects of the same cause, Which cause, Being in god's hands, or in the hands of fate, to give him his other name, And what do you intend to do now, asked lilith, That depends, On what, Well, if I ever become master of my own life again, if this skipping from one present to another, completely independently of my will, ever stops, I will lead what is usually called a normal life, like everyone else, Not like everyone else, you will marry me, we already have a son, this is our city, and I will cling to you as faithfully as the bark to its trunk, But if that doesn't happen, if my fate continues, then, wherever I am, I will be subject to being shunted from one present to another, and we will never be certain, you and I, what tomorrow might bring, besides, Besides what, asked lilith, It seems to me that what is happening must have some meaning, some significance, and I feel that I shouldn't stop halfway without trying to understand what it's about, So that means you won't be staying, that you'll leave again one day, said lilith, Yes, I think so, if I was born for something different, then I need to know what it is and why, Let's enjoy what time we have, then, come here, said lilith. They embraced and kissed, rolling from one side of the bed to the other, and when cain found himself on top of lilith and was about to penetrate her, she said, The mark on your forehead has grown bigger, Much bigger, asked cain, No, not very much, Sometimes I think it will grow and grow and spread all over my body and turn me into a negro, That's all I need, said lilith, laughing, a laugh that immediately became a groan of pleasure when, with one thrust, he drove his penis home.

Only two weeks later, cain disappeared. He had got into the habit of taking long walks on the outskirts of the city, not as before, because he was in need of sun and fresh air, natural benefits that had not been lacking in the last ten years, but to escape the oppressive atmosphere in the palace, where, apart from the hours spent in bed with lilith, he had nothing else to do, unless you count a few rather fruitless exchanges with the stranger that was enoch, his son.

Suddenly, he found himself going in through the gate of a city he had never visited before. His first thought was that he didn't have a penny on him and, as a stranger there, he could see no immediate way of earning one. If he had taken the donkey with him when he set out for his walk, this economic problem would have been easily resolved, because, as any buyer would have agreed, such a beast was worth his weight in gold. He asked two passers-by for the name of the city, and one of the men replied, This is the land of uz. The natural tone in which he said this, without a hint of impatience, encouraged cain to ask another question, And where might I find work, he asked, adding, as if to justify himself, I've only just arrived, you see, and I don't know anyone. The men looked him up and down and could see that he was neither a beggar nor a vagabond, although their eyes did linger a little longer on the mark on his forehead, and the second man said, The richest landowner in these parts and the greatest of all the men in the east is called job, you could try asking him for work, you might be lucky, And where would I find him, asked cain, Come with us, we'll take you there, he has so many servants that one more or less won't make any difference, Is he that rich, Immensely so, imagine being the owner of seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred she-asses, The poor have a lot of imagination, said cain, indeed, you might say that's all they have, but I must confess I find such wealth unimaginable. There was a silence, and then one of the men remarked quite casually, We've met before, Yes, I have a vague recollection, said cain nervously, We angels have excellent memories, your name is cain and you were in sodom when the city was destroyed, Yes, that's true, I remember now, As you know, my colleague and I are angels of the lord, And what have I done to merit two angels of the lord helping me in my time of need, You were kind to abraham, you helped to ensure that no harm befell us in lot's house, and that deserves a reward, How can I thank you, We are angels, if we don't do good, who will, asked one. Cain took three deep breaths before summoning up the courage to ask, Given that your mission in sodom was to destroy the city, what mission brings you here, We cannot reveal that to anyone, said one, Well, it's not a secret exactly, said the other, and it won't be a secret once things start to happen, besides, this man has shown he can be trusted, Well, it's up to you, but what if he runs and tells job, Job probably wouldn't believe him, Fine, do as you please, I wash my hands of it. Cain stopped and said, Please don't fall out because of me, tell me if you want, but if you don't, don't, it really doesn't matter either way. In the face of such selflessness, the more reticent of the angels gave in, Go on, he said, tell him, then fixing cain with a stern eye, he said,

But you must swear that you will reveal to no one else what you are about to hear, I swear, declared cain, raising his right hand. The other angel said, A few days ago, as happens now and then, all the celestial beings were gathered before god, including satan, and god asked him, Where have you been, and satan answered, I have been walking to and fro about the earth, Did you notice my servant job, there is none like him on the earth, he is a perfect and upright man, who fears god and eschews evil. Satan, who listened to these words with a scornful sneer on his face, asked the lord, Do you really think his religious feelings are entirely disinterested, isn't it true that, like a hedge, you protect him on all sides, him and his family and everything that belongs to him. He paused, then went on, But if you were to put forth your hand and touch what is his, you would see how he would curse you. Then the lord said to satan, Everything he has is at your disposal, but him you cannot touch. When satan heard this, he left, which is why we are here, To do what, asked cain, To make sure that satan doesn't go too far, that he doesn't overstep the mark the lord has set him. Then cain said, If I've understood you rightly, the lord and satan made a wager, but this man job isn't to know that he is the object of that gamblers' agreement between god and the devil, Exactly, exclaimed the angels as one, That doesn't seem very fair of the lord, said cain, if it's true, as I've heard, that job, for all his wealth, is also a good and upright man, and very religious too, he has committed no crime, and yet, for no reason, he is about to be punished with the loss of all his money and possessions, now it may be, as many people say, that the lord is just, but I don't think so, it reminds me of what happened to abraham, whom god, in order to put him to the test, commanded to kill his son isaac, it seems to me that if the lord doesn't trust the people who believe in him, I really don't see why those people should trust in the lord, The ways of the lord are inscrutable, not even we angels can fathom the workings of his mind, Oh, I've had enough of all this nonsense about the lord's ways being inscrutable, answered cain, god should be as clear and transparent as a pane of glass and not go wasting his energies on creating an atmosphere of constant terror and fear, god, in short, does not love us, He it was who gave you life, My father and mother gave me life, they joined flesh to flesh and I was born, there's no evidence that god was present at the act, God is everywhere, Especially when it comes to ordering people to be killed, why, the death of just one of the children burned to death in sodom would be enough to condemn him outright, but for god, justice is an empty word, and now he's going to make job suffer because of a bet and no one will hold him to account, Be careful, cain, you're talking too much, the lord is listening and, sooner or later, he will punish you, The lord isn't listening, he's deaf, everywhere the poor, unfortunate and wretched cry out to him for help, they plead with him for some remedy that the world denies them, and the lord turns his back on them, he started out by making a pact with the hebrews and now here he is making a pact with the devil, what's the point of having a god. The angels protested indignantly and threatened to leave him there with no work, but at that point, the theological debate ended, and the three men more or less made their peace. One of the angels even said, I think the lord would enjoy discussing these matters with you, One day perhaps, said cain. They were standing at the door of job's mansion, and one of the angels asked to speak to the steward, who did not come in person, but sent a representative to find out what they wanted, Work, said the angel, not for us, because we are not from around here, but for our friend who has just arrived and wants to start a new life in the land of uz, What can you do, asked the under- steward, Well, I know a little about donkeys, I was assistant to the farrier in joshua's army, Very good, that's an excellent recommendation, I will send a slave with you and you can start work at once, I just need to know your name, Cain, And where are you from, From the land of nod, Hm, I've never heard of the place, You're not the first, saying the land of nod is tantamount to saying the land of nowhere. Then one of the angels said to cain, There you are, now you have work, For as long as it lasts, replied cain, with a glum smile, Don't be so pessimistic, said the under-steward, anyone fortunate enough to enter this house will have work for life, there's no better man than job. The angels said goodbye and embraced cain before returning to their task of ensuring that the lord's orders were carried out, besides, who knows, it may all turn out better than we think.