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30 Again she gave birth, to his brother Abel. And Abel became a shepherd of flocks and Cain a tiller of the land. Thus, in just two verses, does the Bible introduce the reader to the entirely new phase of human experience and sets the stage for the next Divine Encounter. In spite of the seeming break between God and Man, Yahweh is still watch- ing over Humankind. Somehow—the Bible does not elaborate how—grains and cattle have been domesticated, with Cain becoming a farmer and Abel a shepherd. The brothers' first act is to offer the first fruits and yearlings to Yahweh in gratitude. The act implies a recognition that it was thanks to the deity that the two ways of obtaining food became feasible. The privilege of a Divine Encounter was expected; but— Yahweh paid heed unto Abel and his offering; unto Cain and his offering He paid no heed. So Cain was very resentful and his countenance was sullen. Perhaps alarmed by this development, the deity speaks, directly, to Cain, trying to dissipate his anger and disappoint- ment. But to no avail; when the two brothers were alone in the field, "Cain came upon his brother Abel and killed him." Yahweh was soon demanding an accounting from Cain. "What hast thou done?" the Lord cried out in anger and despair; "the voice of thy brother's blood cries unto me from the ground!" Cain is punished to become a wanderer upon the Earth; but the Earth too is accursed, to cease its fertility. Recog- nizing the magnitude of his crime, Cain is afraid of being killed by unnamed avengers. "So Yahweh put a mark on Cain, so that whoever shall find him should not smite him." What was this "mark of Cain"? The Bible does not say, and countless guesses are just that—guesses. Our own guess (in The Lost Realms) was that the mark might have been a genetic change, such as depriving the line of Cain of facial hair—a mark that would be immediately obvious to whoever shall find them. Since this is a mark of recognition of Amer- indians, we have suggested that since Cain "went away from DIVINE ENCOUNTERS