person
Abel
also: Abelknabe
In Genesis, the second son of Adam and Eve, murdered by his brother Cain; in Das Stunden-Buch the 'pale Abel-boy' is given a voice---the victim who 'is not' and yet persists, watching the brother who survives.
Reading notes
- The Book of Hours §10 Abel-boy
Abel, the second son of Adam and Eve, murdered by his brother (Genesis 4); Rilke lets the dead victim speak---he 'is not,' and yet keeps watch over the brother who lives on.