She received the gift of God [Greek mythology]

Pandora woke up to the sound of birdsong.

This was her third day in Elythion, the land of Paradise.

It was only after dawn that she continued to lie down, listening to the chirping of the birds, and doubtful thoughts flashed in her mind: there are so many singing creatures on the island, and after nightfall, the surroundings are so quiet that only the sea breeze blows. over treetops.

Suddenly music joined the birdsong.

The timbre was very different from that of birdsong, but it was just as pleasant.

Pandora got up curiously and looked around.The voice came from behind Hermes' shrine.She walked out of the hut, walked across the grass, and followed the sound to the altar in the open air.

She saw the figure on the top of the pillar beside the altar at a glance.

The purple cloud of smoke at dawn merged with the pillars, as if emerging from under the stone pillars; at first glance from a distance, Hermes seemed to be sitting on the clouds where the glow of the sun was about to burst out.The cloak fell from his body, swaying in the breeze with the vine flowers that had quietly climbed up the pillar overnight.

He was holding a novel object in his hand, and he was whistling against his lips.

Before Pandora approached, the music suddenly stopped.

"Did I wake you up?"

She didn't see his movements clearly, but in the blink of an eye, the envoy had already fallen from the top of the pillar in front of her, with a slightly apologetic voice.

Pandora shook her head: "I'm already awake." She looked at the object in his hand: "What is this... Is it a musical instrument? It sounds so good."

"The pan flute," said Hermes and played another string of notes, seemingly casually mentioning, "it's a gadget I invented."

Pandora wasn't surprised, and didn't spit out any flattering words, just nodded.But Hermes was inexplicably satisfied with her natural attitude.In her eyes, he probably knows everything and is omnipotent.

The courteous singing of the morning birds is still going on, the weather here is always as warm as spring, and the male birds with beautiful tail feathers are also dancing hard around the treetops day after day.Hermes caught a glimpse and immediately felt a little humiliated.What is he showing off to Pandora?He was the messenger of the gods, the king of thieves who hunted the hundred-eyed giants, and he didn't need to prove anything to anyone.

Hermes immediately put away the pan flute.

Pandora noticed that he didn't want to continue the topic of musical instruments, so she asked, "What are you going to teach me today?"

"same with yesterday."

Hearing this, Pandora's eyes brightened.

——In order to make her more human, he will first teach her how to manipulate words subtly.

Hermes said so.All day yesterday, they sat on the soft green grass behind the shrine.Hermes weaves words and tells Pandora one story after another.He first explained the genealogy of the gods:

Gaia, the goddess of the earth, and Uranus, the king of heaven, gave birth to many children. They are the Titans and the storm giants.Gaia suffered from her husband's endless courtship, so the most shrewd son of God, Cronus, joined forces with his brothers to ambush, cut off the majesty of the king with a sickle, and ended his mother's suffering.

The heaven and the earth were separated, and the world belonged to the Titans.

Cronus, king of the Titans, feared that his own children would one day drag him off the throne of the sky, so he swallowed his children whole.Only the youngest son, Zeus, was hidden by his mother in time and survived.After becoming stronger, Zeus let Cronus take the potion, and spit out the brothers and sisters swallowed by the father god in turn-Poseidon, Hades, Hera, Demeter and Hestia.

After that, there was a ten-year war with the Titans.

The Titans were defeated, and Cronus and most of the Titans fell into the sky and were imprisoned in the abyss called Tartarus.Zeus became the ruler of the sky and king of the gods, the oceans belonged to Poseidon, and the underworld belonged to Hades.

In addition to the orogony, Hermes vividly depicted many things.For example, why Atlas, the Titan protoss, was punished, standing forever at the end of the sky and the ocean, supporting the sky with his arms and standing still.

Hermes plucked the lyre carelessly as he told the story, slowly depicting a vivid scene.No matter how distant the past is, it reappears before Pandora's eyes in the sound of piano and voice.

He didn't stop talking.After speaking a paragraph, he would smile slightly and ask Pandora to repeat it in her own words.

At first Pandora hesitated.But with repeated encouragement from Hermes, she finally spoke.Words and sentences formed and joined together naturally, and she was extremely surprised that she was able to tell these stories so well.

Her surprise was so obvious that Hermes laughed.

He reached over, and the ball of his thumb brushed her lips lightly, just like that moment on the top of Olympus. "This is the lips and tongue that I blessed, how could it not be able to do such a thing." When he said that, she saw her shadow in the god's dark green eyes.

For some unknown reason, Pandora's chest suddenly tugged.

She interpreted the strange throbbing as some sort of warning.

In the future, don't look directly into the eyes of the gods casually.She looked down.Hermes was also silent for a while.

Even so, Pandora still enjoyed yesterday's time with Hermes.She simply thought it would be nice if it was also a day to sit on the grass and listen and retell the rotation.

But Hermes shook his head and denied her unspoken conjecture: "You have learned how to speak beautiful words, and now it's time to apply them in actual combat."

Pandora cast a puzzled gaze, quietly waiting for him to continue explaining.

"You can deal with the residents here."

"But they don't seem to see me, and they can't see you."

Hermes smiled and flicked her head lightly, as if lifting a veil that didn't exist: "Now they can see you."

They walked down the hill where the stone huts and shrines stood, and headed for the nearest village.

In the morning light that gradually became transparent, every plant and tree was shining.There were only green grass and olive trees on that hill. Although it was only a day later, Pandora set foot on the flat land of Leyuan again. Looking around, her pace inevitably slowed down.

She was attracted by the trembling dewdrops supported by the wildflowers on the roadside, and she was a little lost in her eyes.Immediately, she thought that Hermes might have gone far away, so she looked up in a panic.

He stood one step away and looked at her, his expression and tone of voice were gentle: "The teardrops that fall from the Goddess of Dawn become morning dew."

"Why is the Goddess of Dawn crying?"

"Because her lover, though immortal, is not immune to old age."

This is yet another story that Hermes has yet to tell Pandora.She bit her lower lip dumbfounded.Hermes' expression was normal, but she felt that she shouldn't ask about the details of the Goddess of Dawn's tears.

"Tired from walking? I can fly you there." Seeing that she was silent, Hermes asked jokingly.

Pandora shook her head.Perhaps because she was born on the clouds of Olympus, she likes the feeling of measuring the land with her feet.

When they arrived at the village, Riche had already sprinkled the land with light.

Smoke rose from the houses, and the women who went to fetch water from the well chatted with joy and laughter. When they saw Pandora and Hermes approaching, they stopped talking and looked at them curiously.

"What should I do?" Pandora naturally asked Hermes for advice.

He casually picked up a stone by the side of the road and handed it over: "Exchange this for a clay pot full of water. Use words to skillfully reach an unfair deal. This is your first question."

Pandora generally understands that a pitcher is more valuable than an ordinary stone.How should she persuade the residents to help her?

Hermes watched Pandora walk towards the well.

Would this be too harsh a problem for her?She looked overwhelmed.Obviously it was him who asked the question, but Hermes became worried instead.This worry made him feel annoyed, and he greeted Eros again.

Pandora was already talking to the young women at the well.

Le aborigines are always young and beautiful in appearance, but when Pandora walks among them, she only becomes more conspicuous.Only the white-armed Hera and the goddess of beauty Aphrodite will not become the foil of Pandora.

Hermes stared at Pandora while examining his own reaction.His constant vigilance was not in vain.The raging chill that would strike just by gazing at her was gone.Compared with the difficulty in holding himself on the first day, he has gradually become immune to Pandora's beauty.He was quite satisfied with this conclusion.

With just such a distraction, Pandora has already returned.

She put the jug on top of her head in a strange way, walking cautiously.

Hermes stepped forward and unburdened her: "What did you tell them?"

Pandora's eyes flashed guiltily: "I... just said that I wanted to exchange the stone you gave me for a jar of water, and they immediately agreed. I didn't say anything else."

She said and looked at the residents by the well again.They all responded with amazed and friendly smiles.As for Hermes, the residents remained calm.Even mortals recognized by the gods can hardly recognize the gods who deliberately conceal their breath.

It is not difficult to infer that the enchanting light bestowed by the gods on Pandora is too powerful, and there is no chance for clever words to play.

Hermes felt amused, but also inexplicably a little unhappy.He tore off a corner of the cloak, turned it into a veil, and gently covered Pandora's honey-colored hair.

"This way no residents will be influenced by your appearance anymore."

Pandora touched her cheek and remained silent in confusion.She is not conscious of her own beauty.

Hermes led her into the village, stopped in front of a family, and asked the next question: "This family makes wine. Try using a water jug ​​for a jug of fine wine."

Pandora nodded obediently, picked up the jug and walked to the vine trellis, chatting with the owner of the farmer.

The negotiation ended not long after.

Hermes fell into a weird silence as he looked at the large clay pot full of fine wine on the ground in front of him.

"The owner of the farmer originally wanted to give me another can, but I declined." Pandora's tone was a bit timid.She also felt that this was not quite right.

Even though the tampered veil can hide the appearance sculpted by the God of Craftsman, it cannot conceal the demeanor bestowed by Aphrodite and the three Graces.

Hermes quickly cheered up, and he winked slyly at Pandora, his tone was a bit like planning a prank: "Then let me see what you can get in exchange."

Thus, the third day of Pandora's stay in the Bliss Field passed by bartering.

As a result, her possessions multiplied greatly: she traded a stone picked up by Hermes for a sack of barley flour, two baskets of lentils and chickpeas, a large basket of figs and herbs, cheese and olive oil, lots of flowers, and even a snow-white calf.Many of them were not exchange items at all, but gifts that the residents insisted on being accepted by Pandora.

Pandora couldn't decide whether Hermes was satisfied with her performance, and secretly looked at him.

His expression was as usual: "It seems that as long as you ask, no one can refuse you."

"Then, please accept it—" Pandora spoke after considering the words.

Hermes smiled and shook his head, not letting her finish.He waved the golden staff smartly, and Pandora's "luggage" suddenly floated into the air and flew towards the hill in a single file.

"That's a gift for you, it shouldn't be exchanged with me."

Pandora knew that the topic was over and there was no room for discussion.Hermes had always been kind to her, but she knew instinctively that she could not and should not disobey him.

They have come to the border of the village, and the clear stream that flows into the ocean is a natural boundary.

Pandora suddenly stopped.She squatted down and let the stream wet her skirt.After picking in front of the pebble beach reflecting the setting sun for a long time, she stood up straight again, with her hands behind her back.

"Hermes." She pronounced his name solemnly.

Hermes tensed up, and raised his eyebrows lazily: "What?"

She held a pebble from a river beach in her hands.This stone is only as long as the little knuckle, almost pure black, but the surface is extremely smooth, faintly translucent, with thin cloud-like gray lines on the edge.It is a beautiful stone.

Pandora glanced at Hermes quickly, and wiped off the water droplets with the hem of her skirt to make it look cleaner.

She cautiously stretched out her palm in front of Hermes.

"I know that everyone agreed to exchange with me because of what I said. But you are different, you are the god of Olympus. Then... only you can judge whether I have really learned the tricks of speech and lived up to it Your blessing."

"Are you willing to accept this stone?" Pandora asked softly, looking at him from under her eyelashes, "I have carefully selected it for a long time, and this is the most beautiful one."

Her eyelashes, like butterfly wings, fluttered restlessly above the gray eye waves, but they set off a storm.

"what do you want?"

Hermes heard himself say.