Adam and the Cherub of Paradise

As Abel weltered in his blood, and Adam stood and wept over the slain, the cherub of paradise approached, and stood near him in silence. Adam lifted up his eyes and said, "Is this an image of the race that has descended from me? And will a brother's blood, shed by a brother's hand, again pollute the earth?"

The cherub answered, "Thou sayest it!"

"Ah! by what name will men call the evil deed?" inquired Adam.

With a tear in his eye, the celestial being answered, "War!"

Then the father of mankind shuddered, and sighing, exclaimed, "Alas! why must the noble and the just fall by the hand of the unrighteous?"

The cherub was speechless.

But Adam continued his complaint, and said, "What remains for me now in my lamentation, on the blood-stained earth?"

The cherub answered, "Confidence in heaven!" and he vanished.

But Adam stood till the setting of the sun, and when the stars had arisen, he extended his arms upward, and cried, "0, thou shining guardians at the throne of heaven, why do you wander so silently? 0, speak of the land that is far distant, and of Abel, the beloved!"

And he heard in his heart a gentle whisper: "Behold, Abel thy son livcth!"

The mourner departed in faith, and his soul was calm, but full of sadness.—German Parables.