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.