She received the gift of God [Greek mythology]

When Meliti was six years old, her grandfather picked up a person on the beach near the village.

According to my grandfather, the sea conditions were extremely strange that day.The surface of the sea sparkling in the morning light suddenly darkened, and a large group of frightening thick black clouds enveloped the entire coastline, and the tide was raging.He rushed to the shore immediately, and then dragged the fishing boat to a safe place and tied it up. When he looked back, the sky was clear again.

The weather was weird, and the old fisherman's grandfather didn't dare to go out to sea again. He was afraid of offending the water god, so he decided to go home.On the way home, he found an unconscious girl on the shallows.Although she was lying on the wet beach where the tide receded, most of her honey-colored hair and the large black robe that wrapped her body were dry, only the part of the cloth under her head was slightly wet.

She didn't look like a shipwreck survivor who washed ashore at all, more like she was thrown here not long ago.Yet there was no sign of any sails nearby.

Grandpa woke her up, and the two couldn't speak at all.After making gestures, the black-robed girl still couldn't express clearly why she was here, and she seemed confused about her own situation.

Leaving the young woman alone on the beach didn't make sense, so the grandfather took her back to the village.The arrival of the stranger naturally caused a lot of commotion in the village - no one had ever seen such a beautiful woman.Even the old man who had been to the other side of the bay when the black water was not so fierce in the early years was amazed, saying that he didn't know the style and pattern of her clothes.

Strange visitors live in Meliti's house.

Meliti's father, who also fished for a living, died in a storm before she was born, and her mother died shortly after giving birth.Meliti has lived with her grandfather since she was a child, and the family situation is quite difficult.But the grandfather seemed to be worried that other people in the village who wanted to take him in would have bad intentions for the black-robed girl, so he was determined to take away the guest he found.As long as my grandfather sat there without saying a word, the rest of the village could only back down.Of course, these things were only heard by her grandfather after Meliti grew up.

Meliti's first impression of Elpis was fear.

If you want to blame, you can only blame the black dye of the robe on her body that is too rich, and the color is deeper than the expensive cloth that has been dyed three times.But the six-year-old Meliti quickly found joy in teaching her strange sister to speak, which made her feel for the first time that she was not a child who could do nothing.

The black-robed girl learned quickly.

"My name is Meliti, what's your name?"

The other party stared blankly at the sky for a while, and replied with some blunt words: "I don't know."

Not only her own name, she even forgot where her hometown was and why it was on the beach.

Finally the grandfather named her.Elpis, that is, hope.

Her arrival has indeed brought hope to the Meliti family.Elpis is a quick learner of everything from lighting a fire to cooking to mending fishing nets.With an extra pair of hands to manage the house, the grandfather doesn't have to worry about his granddaughter being alone at home, going fishing more often, or digging oysters on the beach when the tide is low.After a few months, he exchanged his surplus fishing harvest for a hen from a neighbor's house, and he agreed to borrow a rooster in the future.After that, Meliti had more work to feed the chickens every day, and then she giggled and ran after the chickens. Not long after, the whole family could eat eggs from time to time.

Alpis seemed to have never seen a hen before, and watched curiously for a long time when she saw a chicken hatching an egg for the first time.This made Meliti believe even more that Elpis must be the lost princess of some kingdom.But emotionally, she quickly regarded Alpis as a relative, a sister she had no chance to have.

One time, Meliti and Alpis went to return farm tools borrowed from neighbors. The hostess and daughters were, as usual, spinning bales of dried hemp into thin threads and then weaving them into cloth.After returning home, Alpis suddenly said that she would do the same thing.Meliti casually mentioned to her grandfather that he was very excited.The spindle and weaving frame left by Meliti's mother are still there, but they have been covered with dust for many years.

The old fisherman immediately took out his tools, planning to exchange for some wool or hemp the next day.If Elpis can take on the burden of weaving, then they can be as self-sufficient as other families in the village, instead of using fish and other things to exchange cloth for cloth and asking neighbors to sew them into clothes.

Meliti still remembered that night, after her grandfather had already fallen asleep, Elpis went to the corner of the room and picked up the spindle to look at it, then let it go quickly.

The spindle did not fall to the ground, and a bunch of dark roving was produced out of thin air from the hook at the upper end, and the end was wound around Alpis's arm.The spindle spun heavily, and the thin thread was spun around and around quickly.

Melody's eyes widened in astonishment.

Alpis noticed the gaze, turned her head and smiled.Facing her sister's gray eyes, sleepiness struck her, and she fell asleep.

When Meliti woke up the next day, there was already a complete piece of fabric on the loom.It was the same black as Elpis's body when she was discovered.Meliti was extremely excited, but her grandfather was abnormally silent, talking with Alpis in a low voice for a long time.Alpis spoke fluently, but she was quiet most of the time. After listening to her grandfather, she cut off the black cloth and put it away.Meliti never saw the cloth again.She was perplexed at the time, and she understood why in retrospect when she was sensible.

The news that Elpis can weave quickly spread.She first went to the neighbor's house to help, and then waited for her grandfather to buy fur, and she worked at home.As with other jobs, she spins fast and well.The merchants who passed by the village every month were attracted by the grandfather to see them once, and since then they have come to buy fabrics every time.What Meliti remembers most clearly is that she suddenly has new clothes to wear.

It was also at that time that there were some rumors about the origin of Elpis in the village.

However, there were suddenly more people coveting Elpis and proposing marriage to their grandfather.Especially the family at the head of the village, who owned three fishing boats, seemed determined to make Alpis the bride of their youngest son.After the grandfather refused, the eldest son immediately made a fuss, threatening to dig a hole in the bottom of the boat of Mai Liti's house, and then set fire to their newly repaired house. His furious appearance made Mei Liti cry.Then, he smiled triumphantly at Elpis, pretending to hope that his grandfather would think about it again, and then walked away.

Elpis helped her grandfather to sit down, and looked at the most magnificent big house in the village thoughtfully for a while by the door.

"Sister, you...you won't go to their house, will you?" Meliti asked with sobs.

Alpis replied calmly: "No. They won't come again." Then, she turned to add wood to the stove.

The family did not come to propose marriage again.Within a few days, their whole family collapsed due to a sudden illness. The eldest son who was proud and arrogant did not survive, and the first one was taken away by the vicious illness.Not only that, but not long after that, the owner of the house almost fell into a storm while fishing.One night, without warning, the roof of that grand house collapsed suddenly.

The villagers are a little afraid of Alpis.Some bad old speculations have been turned out again.Meliti knew that the villagers were talking about her sister behind her back, but every time she approached, they exchanged glances and fell silent.Few people dared to visit their family anymore, and the villagers would not refuse when grandfather exchanged the fish he caught, but the cloth woven by Alpis was no longer wanted.

Meliti didn't ask her sister if she had anything to do with the family's bad luck.She didn't want Elpis to marry into someone else's family.

It was also from that time that Elpis often went to the beach to daze in a daze after finishing her housework.Meliti followed her once and asked her sister what she was looking at.

"There is a very tall mountain on the other side of the sea, and the outline can be seen from here. I always think it looks familiar."

"Oh, I know! That's Montenegro."

"Montenegro?"

Elpis really asked, but Meliti couldn't answer.All she knew was the Black Mountain, the pitch-black mountain that could be seen in good weather.She stuck out her tongue and leaned over to play with the sand.

"That day, after that person came to the door, I remembered something." Alpis suddenly said softly.

Meliti looked up in a daze.

"I remembered something about my hometown." After a pause, Elpis whispered out a name, "Elysion." She seemed to think the pronunciation was familiar and familiar, and repeated it to herself several times.

Unfamiliar place names.It sounds very far away.

Meliti opened her mouth, but couldn't make a sound.Restoring memory is obviously a good thing, but her eyes turned sour.

Elpis smiled helplessly, and gently stroked her hair: "I came from the opposite side of the sea, farther than Montenegro. Now there is no boat that can cross this sea, so of course I can't go."

"But—" Meliti bit her lip, sniffed her nose, and then asked, "Elpiss, what was your original home like?"

"The weather has been very good, there is no rain, there are farmlands and fruit trees everywhere, the hills are very flat, and you can easily climb to the top. Everyone is very happy, no need to argue about anything, and sleep peacefully at night There are many cliffs along the coast in the south, which is different from here, where—" Alpis suddenly stopped speaking, frowned her delicate eyebrows, and shook her head slowly, "It's strange, I still can't remember the south clearly."

Meliti's little emotions were quickly overwhelmed by curiosity.She pestered her sister to tell more about what she remembered.

"What about your family? What are your parents and brothers and sisters like?"

Elpis was stunned before answering: "I have no family."

"not a single one?"

"From as long as I can remember, I was alone. But everyone took good care of me and treated me well."

Meliti felt a little sympathetic to Alpis again.Although she no longer remembers her mother's appearance, at least she still has her grandfather, and now she still has her older sister, Alpis.

The sea breeze ruffled their hair.Elpis didn't know what to think of, she folded her hair on her sideburns and lowered her eyes, bending the corners of her eyes.Meliti couldn't help but hold her breath because of the smile.Looking back many years later, she couldn't help but lament that Elpis was incredibly peaceful and indifferent. If she woke up alone in a strange place, she would never be as indifferent and strong as her sister.Alpis was of course very kind to her and her grandfather, but the smile at that moment was different from the usual one.

Meeting Meliti's eyes, Elpis's gray eyes flashed.

"What are you thinking?"

"When I was in Ilythion, there was a gentle stranger. Occasionally, very occasionally...he would pass my house across a field. I never spoke to him, but every time After he passes by, beautiful wild flowers will happen to fall on the path in front of the door, they are all very rare colors, and I don’t know where they came from.”

Fog began to form on the sea in the afternoon, and Elpis was still staring at the direction of the Montenegro, even though the steep peak could no longer be seen clearly.

"I like those flowers very much. Every time I keep them in a vase and put them by the window, I want them to last as long as possible. Maybe my way of growing flowers is wrong, and they wither quickly every time."

She smiled again.

"I don't know if that person passed by again after I disappeared."