In Exile (Archangel Jarahmael and the War to Conquer Heaven, Book III) (27 page)

When Guline was getting ready to announce the winner, Cain stood up and began to speak. “Before you make your decision, Guline, I want to thank you for coming to my parents’ home for dinner and to judge this contest. And in that spirit, I also want to be gracious to my dear brother Abel. We may be competitive with one another, but I also appreciate what he does for me. He did, after all, agree, despite his feelings against this contest, to compete and provide us all with the meat from his prized ram. I know what a sacrifice that was, as this ram was a genuine pet to you.”

Before Guline could speak again, Gaela and Borea looked at their plates in horror and then at Abel, who was now sitting with his eyes cast downwards, appearing guilty for having sacrificed his prized animal and the girls’ pet as well. Both girls began to cry, and then wail, as neither of them would have even thought of eating that ram.

Cain smiled at their reactions and sat down. He knew that no matter who Guline would choose, he would be the winner, for the tears of the young Simian females would soon turn to hatred of his brother Abel.

Enoch could see that Abel was overwhelmed by what had just happened. Abel had been tricked and all of them had been manipulated by Cain. So he took it upon himself to interrupt before Guline could make his decision.

“I apologize for interrupting everyone, and you especially, Guline and Noriem. But I have to explain, as I can see my brother Abel will be unable to, or even if he did you may not believe him.”

Enoch made sure that he when he spoke he looked at everyone seated at the table carefully and slowly so that they could all hear and understand.

“This contest was Cain’s idea and, as you all remember from last night, Abel did not want to participate. When I spoke to Abel today about this, he was distraught at the terms of the contest. He would have to produce the best of his herd for this dinner and that meant his prized ram that he treated as a pet, as did Gaela and Borea.”

Enoch was briefly interrupted by another set of loud wails by Gaela and Borea.

Enoch took his hands and pushed downward through the air to indicate that the girls should become quiet.

He continued in a softer voice. “I watched how much Abel loved this creature and how much Gaela and Borea loved this creature when they came to play with it at midday. Abel told me that he was in a quandary, as he did not want to lose the chance of becoming Gaela’s mate, but in order to win this contest he would have to break not only his own heart but also that of Gaela and Borea. We struggled all day before Abel came up with a solution. And that is the meat you have before you on the table and that you enjoyed this evening.”

The young females wailed again and didn’t stop for a few minutes before they could be quieted down and Enoch could speak again.

“But this is not the meat of the young ram at all. In fact, it isn’t even meat from Abel’s herd. It is meat from a wild boar he and I slaughtered today in the woods.”

The two young women looked up in disbelief, as they were trying to allow this information to sink into their minds. At the same time Guline was angry that he had been lied to by Abel, if this was true, and he had not been fed the best of Abel’s herd.

Cain was watching carefully, and was not to be undone by what he thought to be Enoch’s lies to protect Abel’s chances with the Simian women.

“Now, now, Enoch, that was a nice try, but I checked on Abel’s herd before dinner, and that ram of his, the special one you are talking about, was gone. I am sure it is the one we had for dinner this evening!”

“It is the truth!” Enoch said. “I can prove it to you. Come follow me!”

The whole group rose from the dinner table and followed Enoch out into the neighboring fields and then into the woods. Set back, out of sight, they came upon a small clearing that opened into an area blocked and fenced in which held Abel’s prize ram and another couple of female sheep for company.

“So you did lie to us, Abel!” Guline said, glaring at the young man. “You tricked us into thinking the meat we ate was the best you had.”

“Yes, he did lie to you, Guline,” Cain interjected. “He does not deserve your daughter!”

But now it was Adam’s turn to speak. He had become wiser the older he grew and knew the feeling of loss and having to make difficult choices, ones that sometimes harmed the person who made a decision that they thought was best.

“Let's pause for a moment, Guline, and consider what has happened here. All three of these young men are my sons and I am proud of them in their own way for the talents they possess. I am proud of Cain, my oldest, for his initiative and desire to try new things. Abel for his steadiness and kindness. Enoch for his ability to see through some of our faults as Humans and for his intelligence.”

Adam looked around and then focused on Cain. “But today I am embarrassed by you, my son. Although I will always love you, what you showed us all today was selfishness and manipulation. You made this contest for your own ends, and knew that it would tear your brother Abel’s heart. At first I thought that it was an accident, and that you didn’t know your brother Abel would have to kill his favorite possession in order to compete. But I realized you did know, when you looked to see if he had in fact killed this poor creature.

“Now for Abel and Enoch. I am disappointed that you felt you had to lie about slaying this sheep. But I can see how you would have thought it to be necessary.” Adam then focused directly on Abel. “Let me ask you this Abel, would you as a matter of ordinary circumstances slay one of your sheep for someone’s dinner?”

“No, Father. I have never killed or allowed someone to kill one of my herd for dinner, there are more than enough other types of food handy for eating.”

“Then one more question, if I asked you to bring us meat home for dinner what would you bring us?”

“Some form of wild meat but not one of my herd,” Abel answered, again looking down at the ground as though he was doing something wrong.

“There is nothing wrong with that, my son. So, in other words, the wild boar you brought home for dinner was the best of yourself that you could provide for dinner with a clear mind and heart?”

“Yes, Father.”

Adam then turned again towards Guline and Noriem. “There you have it then. The meat we ate this evening was the best of what Abel had to offer, while the fruit from Cain was the best he had to offer. It is now up to you to decide which was the better of the two.”

Guline was moved by Adam’s words and considered what he had just witnessed, especially the emotional effect on his daughters when they thought they had been fed something they loved.

“I must say that this has been a difficult situation for us all. And at first, I did believe that Cain’s fruit was the best and he should have won Gaela as a mate. But I have watched and thought about what has been said here tonight, and I cannot approve of Cain having either of my daughters as his mate. He has shown such an utter lack of concern for anyone other than himself that I would not want him alone with either of my daughters. So I declare Abel the winner and that he can have Gaela as a mate.” Guline then looked carefully at Borea’s reaction and then added, “In Simian culture a male can have more than one mate, Abel, so I give you my blessings for you to have both of my daughters.”

As the words left Guline’s lips and went off in the distance, Cain became insanely angry at what he had just heard. He was insulted and he would not stand for any of them anymore, and he stormed away from them, heading back to another cave he had seen, determined that he would seek and obtain revenge.