قابیل

by Lord Byron, حسین قدسی (-Transalator)

Discover the esoteric significance of this ancient drama. "Cain can be conceived as the action of compressive force, and Abel as that of expansive force. These two action, issues of the same source, are hostile from the moment of their birth, according to the manner by which everything exists in nature. They act incessantly the one upon the other, and seek reciprocally to dominate and to be reduced to their own nature.

Genres: Plays, Classics, Poetry, Fiction, Drama, 19th Century, Theatre

141 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1821

About the author

George Gordon Byron (invariably known as Lord Byron), later Noel, 6th Baron Byron of Rochdale FRS was a British poet and a leading figure in Romanticism. Amongst Byron's best-known works are the brief poems She Walks in Beauty, When We Two Parted, and So, we'll go no more a roving, in addition to the narrative poems Childe Harold's Pilgrimage and Don Juan. He is regarded as one of the greatest British poets and remains widely read and influential, both in the English-speaking world and beyond.

Byron's notabilty rests not only on his writings but also on his life, which featured upper-class living, numerous love affairs, debts, and separation. He was notably described by Lady Caroline Lamb as "mad, bad, and dangerous to know". Byron served as a regional leader of Italy's revolutionary organization, the Carbonari, in its struggle against Austria. He later travelled to fight against the Ottoman Empire in the Greek War of Independence, for which Greeks revere him as a national hero. He died from a fever contracted while in Messolonghi in Greece.

Reviews

[°•.Melina°•. · Rating 4 out of 5]

واقعا لرد بایرون یه نابغه‌س. اینکه عصر رومانتیک کلا مدیون ایشونه یه طرف و این نمایشنامه یک‌طرف- که از خوانشهای ترم پیش قرار بود باشه اما فرصتش نشد متاسفانه- من رو یاد کمدی الهی و فاوست گوته انداخت و بنظرم این ۳ تا از شاهکارهایی‌ان که همه‌ی علاقه‌مندای ادبیات و اسطوره باید تو اولویت بذارن🗝

🔖تیر ۱۴۰۴

[Šarūnas Liulevičius · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the story that makes you question everything you have been taught about Christian morality, dogmas and religion in general.

I like how Byron uses the well-known biblical story of Cain and Abel and reinterprets it. In the Bible, Cain is a bloodthirsty killer, a criminal who killed Abel of jealousy. But in this mystery Cain is a rebel, a philosophical thinker who is struggling to find answers about the meaning of life and death and also sees the suffering of mankind just because his parents Adam and Eve sinned by eating from the forbidden fruit. The important questions are raised: Why should Adam and Eve's descendants (the whole mankind) suffer for the sin even if they were never born at that time? Is the God always right, just and noble? Or this the God a tyrant who is against freedom of thought and reason and who wants complete obedience from his creations, so they can suffer and maybe even be destroyed along with the world if the God wished it?

[TAB · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love fleshing out what scripture leaves out. And after listening to Springsteen's "Adam Raised a Cain" and reading Steinbeck's East of Eden, I was perfectly pumped to tackle the story of the origin of murder.

This story feels a lot like Paradise Lost, you know the hundred plus year wait was nothing for Satan and couldn't be happier that he made it back into the pop culture lexicon, but what I really loved about this play was how much you get to see inside of Cain and really discover who Cain is. The guy has been blacklisted since the beginning of time, but there is no way that he is solely responsible for what he did to his brother. Byron obviously puts the temptation element on Satan, but like Springsteen insinuated, it is the sin of the father that is truly responsible.

The other thing I enjoyed about this play is (hubris though it may be) how Satan imbues Cain to not fear the wrathful God. You read a lot in the Bible, old and new testaments, about how fear is synonymous with belief, but personally as a Christian I've never felt that. I'm more of a follower of the whole Love element of Jesus Christ and base my faith around that transcendent ideal, but obviously the old testament is all about fearing this supernatural spirit who put you on the earth. Satan makes a good point though about why should he necessarily be considered the evil one, when it is God that has judged man and run him out of paradise. It is thus that Cain stands up to God in the final act most beautifully:

"Spirit! whate'er or whoso'er thou art,
Omnipotent, it may be --and, if good,
Shown in the exemption of thy deeds from evil"

Now as in Genesis so here, God does not smile upon Cain the way he smiles upon Abel because Cain is a farmer and only has his crop to offer in sacrifice whereas Abel is a shepherd and offers his choicest lamb; but in Genesis it simply goes that Cain is angered by this and kills Abel for it whereas here Byron has Cain proudly challenge the Lord:

"If a shrine without victim,
And altar without gore, may win thy favour,
Look on it! and for him who dresseth it,
He is -- such as thou mad'st him; and seeks nothing
Which must be won by kneeling; if he's evil,
Strike him! thou art omnipotent and may'st--
For what can he oppose? If he be good,
Strike him, or spare him, as thou wilt! since all
Rests upon thee; and good and evil seem
To have no power themselves, save in thy will"

I won't give away the ending, but will say the final part of this retelling that I really enjoyed was the inclusion of Cain & Abel's sister-wives. They added an often missing from scripture female point of view to the story and really help you feel for Cain in the end.

[Kiana · Rating 4 out of 5]

و اما ناآگاهى از بدى ، به معناى ايمن بودن از آن نيست. بدى همواره هست ، و در واقع بخشی از هر چيز است ، حتی اگر شما ندانيد.

[Shams Alizada · Rating 5 out of 5]

English/ Turkish review


I wish I never read it.
"Cain" made me question myself and eternity and this fact scares me. Scares me to the death. What if I find out the reality and it's different than the whole story told us?



Keşke okumasaydım.
Kendimi ve ebediyeti sorgulamağın ağırlığı altında eziliyorum ve ölesiye korkuyorum. Gerçekleri öğrenmekten korkuyorum. Ya her şey bize söylenenlerden çok daha farklıysa?

[Nathalie Raffray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paradise Lost but with dinosaurs and snow? Yeah I’ll read that.

[Hanieh Sadat Shobeiri · Rating 4 out of 5]

"مگر موجودی جز آدمی هم با درد و اندوه آشناست؟"

[Cali · Rating 5 out of 5]

LUCIFER: I pity thee who lovest what must perish.
CAIN: And I thee who lov'st nothing.

This is a profound work of religious criticism masquerading as a drama. Lord Byron's poetry (and daddy issues) shines, along with a surprising amount of relevant, damning arguments against the absolute perfection of God. I expected him to draw from Milton, but Cuvier? Mind-blowing that Byron was trying to reconcile Christianity and paleontology in the 1820s.

5 stars! Nothing hits like Romanticism 😌

[Dev · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really interesting play that retells the story of Cain and Abel in the style of Paradise Regained with Lucifer tempting Cain complete with a trip around the universe in Act 2 and a lot to think about in Act 3 regarding murder and religious sacrifices. Overall a pretty quick read and also fairly easy to understand if you have basic knowledge of the bible.

As a more comedic aside, I couldn't stop laughing every time he would bring up how Cain and Abel were sleeping with their sisters and how 'even that will be a sin for your children' because I just kept thinking of the Drunk History episode where it talks about how Byron has to leave town because people found out he slept with his half-sister. Like we get it dude, let it go. XD

[Una · Rating 4 out of 5]

Īsa, apburoša ludziņa par Kainu kā pirmo romantisko dumpinieku Ādama ciltī. Skarba kritika Dieva attiecību veidošanas stratēģijām. Bonuspunkti par veģetāro diskursu divu altāru salīdzinājumā.
Ļoti simpātiskas vērtības. Protams, es būšu Sātana un pirmā slepkavas pusē, ja viņi aizstāv cilvēka tiesības patstāvīgi domāt un saglabāt pašcieņu.

[Noah Calcagno · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent poetic imagining of life immediately after the fall, as the first generation of humanity wrestles with death and original sin.

[Tom The Great · Rating 5 out of 5]

God was the real villain

[Alina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok, this was better, I liked it more than Manfred. It was something else, obviously different from what we know, but it was something, it was an experience =))

[dora · Rating 4 out of 5]

*me through visible tears* wow this lord byron guy really could write huh

[sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Are ye happy?//
We are mighty.//
Are ye happy?//
No. Art thou?//

[Kisiel · Rating 4 out of 5]

he might be onto something

[Wiktor Seweryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

[8,5/10] – (2025) – "w tym cała ludzka wiedza się zamyka: znać nicość własną!"

[herbatk a · Rating 4 out of 5]

mild spoilers (nothing specific)



Cain 🤝 me at 11 years old or so
(questioning if God's good due to the existence of unfair evil)

i like it a lot. it's interesting that antinatalist ideas are there.
Byron has shown the characters in a way that makes perfect sense. (also it means that there's incest, but the bible sort of makes it impossible not to be. with only two people at first yk)

i really recommend it and i'll definitely read more of Byron's works (and because of Bernard from Virginia Woolf's "The Waves". he was a crazy Byron fan)

4.5/5
czytałam po polsku

[youzicha]

Aww yess, this has everything: transhumanism, space, a convincing Quirrellmort-style devil, theodicy, great blank verse. It's like a rat-fic of the bible.

👌👀👌👀👌👀👌👀👌👀 good shit go౦ԁ sHit👌 thats ✔ some good👌👌shit right👌👌there👌👌👌 right✔there ✔✔💯💯

[werken · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wydaje mi się, że tłumaczenie zatraciło sens i dramatyczność tej historii… Lepiej chyba przeczytać to misterium w oryginale, nic na pewno wtedy nie ucieknie. Tłumaczenie było jakieś wonky, niby zrozumiałam wszystko, ale ciężko było przez nie przebrnąć. Gdyby nie ono to pewnie dałabym więcej.

[Becca · Rating 2 out of 5]

Byron continues to amaze the reader with his self-insertion abilities, managing to present himself as both Cain and Satan whilst repeatedly drawing attention to his incestuous tendencies.

[smiechuwarte · Rating 3 out of 5]

sweet home alabama

[Hadrian · Rating 5 out of 5]

9,5/10
Po lepszym przemyśleniu "Kaina" Byrona doszedłem do wniosku, że jest to naprawdę wybitny dramat. Angielski poeta wziął w nim na warsztat oklepaną i wręcz prostacką biblijną historię pierwszego zabójcy, czyli tytułowego Kaina. To co jednak z niej wycisnął przechodzi ludzkie pojęcie!

Początek jest dość zwyczajny - "pierwsza rodzina", czyli Adam i Ewa oraz ich dzieci (co ciekawe, także Ady i Selli, sióstr i małżonek Kaina i Abla), wspólnie zanosi modły do Boga. Kain jednak od razu daje się poznać jako romantyczny buntownik odmawiając modlitwy poprzez stwierdzenie, że po prostu nie ma za co dziękować Bogu, bo od Niego nic jeszcze nie otrzymał.

Ta buńczuczna postawa zostaje zauważona przez anioła Lucyfera, który zaczyna kusić Kaina i podsycać jego zwątpienie względem dobroci Boga. Ten iście faustowski motyw jest jednak znacznie lepiej wykorzystany niż w dramacie Goethego, u którego diabeł niesie głównie pewną jarmarczność. Byronowski szatan jest istotą niezwykle inteligentną i przebiegłą, bardzo subtelnie podburza on Kaina, czyniąc to niemal niezauważalnie. W czasie ich rozmowy wychodzi na jaw, że Kain cierpi na romantyczny weltschmerz, obsesyjnie myśli o śmierci, której jeszcze nie było na świecie (ta pojawi się dopiero z zamordowaniem Abla), nie potrafi pojąć dlaczego został obarczony pierworodnym grzechem rodziców, a w ułożonym przez Boga widzi tylko proces nieustannego niszczenia i tworzenia. Zaś Lucyfer, pokazując Kainowi rzekome dawne światy i szczątki preadamitów, czyli niedoskonałe prototypy ludzi, uświadamia go, że Bóg w istocie tworzy, ale aby niszczyć. W rozmowę miesza się ukochana Kaina, czyli jego siostra Ada, która prezentuje postawę zgoła odmienną - Ada bezgranicznie ufa Bogu i wierzy, że istnieje jakiś nieodgadniony dla ludzi sens Boskiego stworzenia. Lucyfer jednak nawet pomiędzy Kaina i bezgranicznie kochającą go Adę potrafił zasiać ziarno niezgody, stwierdzając, że ich miłość w rzeczywistości ma tylko cel prokreacyjny.

W swoich czasach ten dramat Byrona był uznany oczywiście za bluźnierczy i gorszący, z powodu samego faktu, w jaki sposób przerobiono biblijną historię z tradycyjną narracją zapowiadającą przykazanie "nie zabijaj". Kain w dramacie Anglika ostatecznie również zabija Abla, ale "niechcący", jakby zupełnym przypadkiem, w totalnym szale i niepoczytalności. Jego zbrodnia jest niejako koniecznością w boskim planie, a sama postać Kaina została przedstawiona z dużym współczuciem. Z jego myśleniem wręcz można się z łatwością utożsamić, choć Byron i tak pozostaje jednak w sferze myślenia chrześcijańskiego, a rozsądek pozostawia w rękach Ady. To jej sposób myślenia pozwala człowiekowi nie zwariować, to jej Byron przyznaje rację.

"Kain" to dzieło ponadczasowe, w przekładzie Paszkowskiego bardzo przyjazne współczesnemu czytelnikowi, a także całościowo o wiele bardziej przemyślane niż bardzo podobny tematycznie, ale gigantomański i boleśnie cierpiący na przerost formy nad treścią, choć wciąż bardzo dobry, "Faust" Goethego.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Upea pienoisnäytelmä! Lord Byron kuvittanut kielellä Vanhan testamentin tarinan veljeksistä Kain ja Abel laajempiin sfääreihin. Kain on Jumalalle niskuroiva isoveli ja Abel Luojaansa palvova pikkuveli. Eeva, Aatami, Abel ja veljesten vaimot Adah (Kainin vaimo) ja Zillah (Abelin vaimo) rukoilevat ja uhraavat Jumalalle muistellen menetettyä Paratiisia. Kain ei lähde mukaan tähän kuvioon vaan lähtee Luciferin matkaan eetteriin, avaruuteen ja Haadekseen saadakseen lisää tietoa esimerkiksi kuolemasta. Matkallaan Kain tulee siihen tulokseen, että hän ihmisenä ei ole mitään ja Jumala on ihmiset tällaiseksi luonut. Lucifer saa Kainin myös uskomaan, että hyvän ja pahan tiedon puu oli Jumalan juoni ja Jumala ei ole hyvä. Lisäksi Lucifer kertoo, että Jumala suosii hänen veljeään Kainia enemmän. Kain palaa matkaltaan entistä ahdistuneempana ja masentuneena. Hän uhkaa jopa tappaa poikavauvansa, sillä elämällä ei ole merkitystä. Kuolema on Kainille edelleen vieras asia. Abel tulee veljensä luokse, jotta he voisivat uhrata yhdessä. Kain kieltäytyy ja toivoo veljensä uhraavan hänen puolestaan. Jumala hyväksyy rukouksen päätteeksi vain Abelin uhrilahjat. Veljien välille syntyy riitaa, jonka päätteeksi Kain surmaa veljensä ja ymmärtää mitä kuolema merkitsee. Hänen vanhempansa ajavat Kainin pois kotoa. Eevan kirous on kuin helvetin kuvaus maan päällä, joka ei ole niin vieras ja outo näky minkä Lucifer näytti kolkkona Haadeksena heidän matkalla aikaisemmin. Kainin mukaan lähtee myös vaimonsa Adah ja heidän pienet lapset. Jumalan enkeli tulee paikalle tuomaan jonkinlaisen siunauksen ja häätösanat Kainille. Ja niin alkaa Kainin karu matka Eedenistä itään. - - kun usko ei riitä vaan tarvitsee tietoa ja ymmärryksen. Ahdistunut mieli, kun on utelias, älykäs, nopeamielinen ja ajatteleva. Näin ihminen masentuu kun pettyy, ei tule ymmärretyksi ja kokee olevansa ulkopuolinen. Ahdistuneen mielen kuvaus.

[Ravi · Rating 5 out of 5]

فکر می‌کنم حتی قبل از خوندن این نمایشنامه هم سوالات زیادی داشتم، سوالاتی که من به آن‌ها فکر می‌کردم و قابیل آن‌ها را به زبان آورد.
که گناه ما چه بود؟ سیبی که خورده شد، آگاهی که به دست آمد و نسلی که نفرین شد حتی پیش از آنکه بر این زمین خاکی پا نهد...
این داستان، داستان پیدایش، داستان سرپیچی و آگاهی و طرد شدگی همیشه از داستان‌های مورد علاقه من بوده، حتی در عالم بچگی هم من رو به وجد می‌آورد و نقش اول این داستان همیشه برای من نه آدم، که حوا بود. حوایی که بهشت را به بهای آگاهی رها کرد و نه گناه که سرپیچی و آزادی را خرید و حالا این نمایشنامه، از زبان قابیل، مخلوق نامحبوب خدا و فرزند طغیان‌گر آدم بازهم من رو به وجد آورد. قابیل، فرزندی که بار گذشته‌ای ناخواسته‌ رو به دوش می‌کشه، گناهانی موروثی که اون رو به سوال و تمرد وا می‌داره...
«هابیل ناجی بدون فرزند مرد، همه ما از نسل قابیل قاتل هستیم!»

[Lorena · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,5 porque me gustó más el Caín de Saramago, aunque la vuelta de tuerca que le mete Byron también es bastante chula. Caín es sin duda uno de los personajes de los que más chicha y más interpretaciones se pueden hacer así que más tarde que pronto estaremos leyendo Abel Sánchez de Unamuno, espero!!

[Emilka ;) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lucyfer: spytaj się o to Niszczyciela
Kain: kogo?
Lucyfer: Więc Stwórcę.. zwij go jakiem chcesz. On tylko po to aby niszczyć, stwarza
…

1) wspaniałe jest to, jak w tak krótkiej powieści jest zawartych tyle tematów egzystencjalnych
2) chyba czas na nowo pokochać romantyzm:)

[Emma Kay Krebs · Rating 5 out of 5]

I currently do not have the words to capture how absolutely insane this play made me.

[valen ۶ৎ · Rating 5 out of 5]

un grande byron escribiendo un poema inspirado en una canción de boygenius. i'm gnashing my teeth like a child of cain, if this is a prison i'm willing to buy my own chain !!!!

[Lara Nataliya · Rating 4 out of 5]

cain’s based