cain, There are stories going around, What stories, People say she's a witch and that she can drive a man crazy with her spells, What spells, asked cain, Don't ask, but I've seen a few men after they've had carnal commerce with her, And, They looked terrible, the poor wretches, like spectres, like ghosts of the men they were, You must be mad imagining a treader of mud ending up in bed with the queen of the city, You mean owner, Queen or owner, it's all the same, You obviously don't know much about women, they're capable of anything, of the best and the worst, they're as likely to scorn a crown and go down to the river to wash their lover's tunic as they are to trample on everything and everyone in order to get to sit on a throne, Are you speaking from experience, asked cain, From observation, that's all, that's why I'm the overseer, But you must have some experience, Yes, some, but I'm a bird with a very short wingspan, the sort that flies low, Well, I've never even flown once, You've never known a woman, asked the overseer, No, You've plenty of time, you're still young. Ahead of them lay the treading pit. The men were more or less lined up from the centre to the edge and now and then changed places, those on the inside moving to the outside and those on the outside moving to the inside. The overseer and cain waited for them to turn round and draw alongside them. Then the overseer tapped cain on the shoulder and said, Enter.
Like everything else, words have their whys and wherefores. Some call to us solemnly, arrogantly, giving themselves airs, as if they were destined for great things, and then it turns out that they were nothing more than a breeze too light even to set the sail of a windmill moving, whereas other ordinary, habitual words, the sort you use every day, end up having consequences no one would have dared predict, they weren't born for that and yet they shook the world. The overseer said, Enter, and it was as if he were saying, In you go and tread that mud and earn your daily bread, but weeks later, lilith will pronounce that very same word, letter for letter, when she summons the man whose name she has been told is abel, Enter. In a woman with a reputation for being very prompt when it came to satisfying her desires, it might seem strange that it had taken her weeks to open the door to her bedroom, but even this has an explanation, as will become clear. During that time, cain could not have imagined the ideas fermenting in the mind of that woman when she began visiting the treading pit, accompanied by an entourage of guards, slaves and other servants. She was like one of those jolly landowners who goes to the harvest to see for himself how hard his people are working, hoping to encourage them with his visit and offering a cheery word and even a comradely joke which, whether intentionally or not, will make everyone laugh. Lilith, however, didn't speak, or, rather, only to the overseer, whom she questioned about how work was progressing and asked repeatedly, seemingly just to make conversation, where the various workmen came from, those not originally from the city, that one over there, for example, I don't know, madam, when I asked him, because if you don't ask you don't know who you're dealing with, he just pointed over towards the west and said three words, no more, What three words, He said, from over there, madam, Did he mention why he left his homeland, No, madam, And what is his name, Abel, madam, he told me his name was abel, Is he a good worker, Yes, madam, he's the sort who talks little and works hard, And what's that mark on his forehead, Oh, I asked him that too and he says it's a birthmark, So we know nothing about this man called abel who came from the west, He's not the only one, madam, apart from those men who come from around here and whom we more or less know, the others are all untold stories, wanderers, fugitives, and men of few words, they might open up to each other a bit, but I can't even be sure of that, And the man with the mark, how does he behave, In my opinion, he acts as if he wanted to go unnoticed, Well, I've noticed him, murmured lilith to herself. A few days later, a palace envoy came to the treading pit and asked cain if he had a skill. Cain replied that he had once been a farmer, but had had to leave his lands because of the bad harvests. The envoy took that information away with him and three days later returned with an order for the treader abel to present himself immediately at the palace. Cain followed the envoy just as he was, in his filthy old tunic now little more than a rag, and having cleaned off as much mud from his legs as he could. They entered the palace via a small side door that gave on to a hallway where two women were waiting. The envoy withdrew to report that abel, the treader of mud, had arrived and was in the care of the slave-women. Cain was led by them into a separate room, his clothes were removed and he was then washed with warm water from head to toe.
The insistent, probing touch of the women's hands provoked in him an erection he could do nothing to repress, always supposing such a thing is possible. They laughed and, in response, redoubled their efforts on his erect organ, which, amidst much laughter, they referred to as a silent flute, and which suddenly leapt from their hands, as supple as a snake. The result, given the circumstances, was all too predictable, the man suddenly ejaculated, in several spurts, which the slaves, kneeling down as they were, received on their faces and in their mouths. Cain experienced a sudden flash of insight, this was why they had come to fetch him from the treading pit, but not to give pleasure to mere slave-women, who must enjoy satisfactions more appropriate to their station. The overseer's prudent warning had gone unheeded, cain had walked straight into the trap towards which the owner of the palace had been gently, unhurriedly propelling him, as if unintentionally, as if distracted by a passing cloud and with her mind on other things. She had deliberately delayed delivering the final blow in order to allow time for the seed cast apparently at random on the ground to germinate and flower. As for the fruit, it was clear that he would not have to wait long to be picked. The slave-women appeared to be in no hurry and were concentrating now on extracting the last drops from cain's penis, which they took turns to raise greedily to their lips with the tip of one finger. Everything has an end, however, everything has its conclusion, a freshly washed tunic now covered the man's nakedness, and the hour, a most anachronistic word in this biblical story, has come for him to be led into the presence of the owner of the palace, who will tell him what is to be done with him. The envoy was waiting in the hallway, and one look was enough for him to guess what had gone on in that bathroom, not that he was shocked, well, in the course of their work, envoys see so many things that nothing can surprise them. Besides, people knew then as they do now that the flesh is supinely weak, which is not entirely its fault, for the spirit, whose duty, in principle, should be to raise a barrier against all temptations, is always the first to give in and wave the white flag of surrender. The envoy knew where he was taking the mud treader abel, where and why, but he didn't envy him, although he did envy him that lubricious episode with the slave-women, which had stirred his blood. This time, they entered the palace by the main door, because here nothing is done in secret, if lilith has found herself a new lover, then it's best that people should know about it right away, to avoid all the whispering and the rumours, all the giggles and the gossip, as would, of course, happen in other cultures and civilisations. The envoy said to a slave-woman waiting outside the antechamber, Go and tell your mistress that we're here. The slave duly went and returned with a message, Come with me, she said to cain, and then, to the envoy, You can go, you're not needed now. That's the way things are, never feel flattered at being entrusted with a delicate mission, for once the work is done, you will inevitably be told, You can go, you're not needed now, as envoys know all too well. Lilith was sitting on a carved wooden stool, she was wearing a robe that must have cost a fortune, a dress with a decolletage that revealed, with a minimum of modesty, the initial curve of her breasts, leaving the rest to the viewer's imagination. The slave-woman had withdrawn, they were alone. Lilith gave the man an appreciative look, appeared to like what she saw and said, You will be here in this antechamber, day and night, there is your bed and a bench to sit on, you will, until I decide otherwise, be my guard and allow no one, whoever they may be, to enter my room, apart from the slave-women who come to clean and tidy. Whoever they may be, madam, asked cain with apparent innocence, You have a quick mind, I see, if you're thinking of my husband, no, he is not authorised to enter either, but he knows that already, so there's no need for you to tell him, And what if he were to try to force his way in, You're a strong man, you'll be able to stop him, But I can't restrain with force someone who, being the lord of the city, is also lord of my life, You can if I order you to, Sooner or later I will have to pay for the consequences, Well, that, my young friend, is something no one in this world can avoid, but if you're a coward, if you feel unsure or afraid, the remedy is easy, you can go straight back to the mud, Well, I never considered treading mud to be my destiny, And I can't promise that you will always be a guard at lilith's bedroom door, It's enough that I am your guard for the moment, madam, Well said, you deserve a kiss for those words. Cain did not respond, he was listening to the voice of the overseer, Be careful, they say she's a witch, that she can drive a man mad with her spells. What are you thinking, asked lilith, Oh, nothing, madam, in your presence I am incapable of thought, I look at you and am amazed, Perhaps you deserve a second kiss, I am here, madam, But I am not, guard. She got up and smoothed her dress, slowly running her hands over her body, as if caressing, first, her breasts, then her belly, and finally her thighs, where her hands lingered, and while she did this she stared hard at the man, her face as expressionless as a statue's. The slave-women, free of moral constraints, had laughed in pure contentment, almost innocence, while they were amusing themselves manipulating the man's body, they had taken part in an erotic game of which they knew all the rules and regulations, whereas here, in this antechamber where no sound from outside can penetrate, lilith and cain are like two swordsmen sharpening their blades for a duel to the death. Lilith was no longer there, she had gone into her bedroom and closed the door, cain
