After Amon left, Aesop had been living a comfortable old age in Midori. He was good friends with the famous sage Thales, and he often went to the temple square to chat with people. He is old and has nothing else to do but likes to tell stories. He has been to various parts of the Tianshu Continent and has experienced too many things. It is quite exciting to briefly talk about what he has seen and heard in his life.
Many young people and children especially like to listen to Aesop telling stories. Gradually, Aesop telling stories on the temple square has become a scenic spot in Midori. Aesop told people about what he saw and heard in various places and various legends. The protagonist of the story is not himself. Of course, Amon is often mentioned when reviewing his experience. From Eju to the Duke Plain, including the countries of the former Tianshu Continent, Amon has left many legends.
A young man who walked out of the deep mountains eventually became a legend in the world. This kind of experience fascinates other young people in the world. People can't help but think that Aesop's former coachman was also named Amon. Maybe it was the name given by the old man, symbolizing nostalgia for the past years. At this time, no one realized that the god Amon used to live in Mi Dolly.
Aesop's story unknowingly affected many people, and even some young people began to worship Amon, which aroused the dissatisfaction of others, especially the priests of Midori. When communicating with people in the temple square, it is inevitable to be asked questions about gods and beliefs. In the city-states of Heaton, the atmosphere of conversation is quite open.
Someone noticed that although Aesop was very rich, he never went to the temple to offer sacrifices to the gods, nor did he participate in the city-state's ritual activities. Someone then asked him: "Aesop, do you believe in gods or not?" Aesop replied: "I have my god in my heart." Someone asked again: "Then why don't you offer sacrifices in the temple?" Aesop asked back: "After listening to my story, don't you understand where my god is?"
Of course the wise man understood that Aesop did not directly say anything disrespectful to the gods, but the god in his heart was not in the temple on the square. So some people deliberately alienated him, but some people were still willing to listen to his stories. Aesop's eloquence is excellent, the stories he tells are both interesting and reasonable, and his knowledge seems to be endless.
Finally one day, a young man came out of the temple and came to Aesop. Aesop actually knew him. He had seen him in his shop before, and he was a passer-by who pointed at the statue and asked the price. Amon had reminded Aesop that this person was Hermes who came to the world.
Hermes said to Aesop: "This old man, can I make a request to you?"
Aesop nodded with a smile and replied, "Young man, please tell me."
Hermes: "This is the temple square of Midori. The patron saint of this city-state is Hermes. When someone asks you whether you believe in gods, should you give Hermes enough respect? "
Aesop smiled and replied: "I didn't answer that I don't believe in Hermes or the gods of Olympus, young man, when I saw you, I believed they did. But what people ask "Faith" does not mean believing, but the true belief and following in my heart. It is precisely because I cannot deceive myself in the temple square and under the eyes of the gods. I did not deny people's belief in Hermes, nor did I directly answer My belief is already respect for the gods."
Hermes stared at Aesop and said: "Can't you agree to a request? When people ask you again, you answer them that you believe in gods. Although you have your gods in your heart, you can't reach them like everyone else." Do you offer sacrifices to Hermes in the temple? Even if you don’t contribute your belongings, you just participate in the ceremony and salute. In that case, you will be more popular.”
Aesop didn't answer Hermes' question directly, but told him a "wolf is coming" story.
There was a child herding sheep on the mountain, who was bored and yelled that there were wolves. The adults at the bottom of the mountain went to the mountain to fight the wolves, but found that they had been cheated. A few days later, the child yelled that there were wolves again, and people caught up with the mountain and found that they had been cheated. A few days later, the wolf really came. The child shouted that there was a wolf, but no one came up to the mountain to save him.
The story is very short, just a few words, and then Aesop looked at Hermes with a smile and asked, "Has the wolf come?"
Hermes walked back to the temple with a straight face without saying a word, and there was nothing he could do about Aesop. He actually asked Aesop to pretend to believe in him, but Aesop asked him what is the meaning of this false belief and sacrifice? If everyone in the world is like this, sooner or later they will lose their true faith, and the gods on the altar will no longer exist. Aesop's reasoning is very clear. Since Hermes is a god, he can no longer entangle this issue with him.
After a while, one day Aesop told a group of young people in the square about the past of the city of Salem founded in the Duk Plain, and the high priest of the Midori Temple came over. Everyone saluted and dispersed, and Aesop also got up and saluted: "My lord, what do you want?"
The high priest said: "I heard the voice of the messenger of the gods, saying that you are the most eloquent person in the city of Midori. Why don't you use this talent to praise the gods? You have told so many stories, but I have not. I have heard you praise the gods. The patron saint of our city-state symbolizes the glory of the city-state, why don't you tell more about his legend?"
Aesop spread his hands: "My lord, you know that I left here when I was very young and returned to my hometown when I was old. I am talking about what I have seen and heard in various places, but I haven't heard much about Hull. The legend of Mess."
The high priest smiled and said: "It doesn't matter, you can tell so many wonderful legends with your mouth, why not use the name of Hermes and the gods? This is just a small trick, and it is also the expectation of the gods."
Aesop also smiled and said, "Then I will tell you a story about the gods."
Zeus, the father of the gods, had a whim one day and wanted to choose the most beautiful bird in the world to be the king of all birds. The crow knew that he looked ugly, so while the other birds were washing up by the water, he secretly picked up the most beautiful feathers that fell by the water and stuck them on his body. When Zeus came, all the birds lined up to meet him, but they found that the crow was the most beautiful. The birds got angry and took back their feathers one after another, but the crow was still a crow.
After Aesop's story was finished, the high priest shook his head after hearing it, turned around and walked into the temple without saying anything. Not long after, the city-state of Midori was conquered by Macedonia and was under the rule of the Kingdom of Macedonia, but it still retained the original city-state temple and citizen assembly to deal with the internal affairs of the city-state.
Immediately after the annual Delphi Oracle Ceremony on the Heaton Peninsula is coming, the city-state of Midori attaches great importance to this ceremony, and the merchants paid a large amount of taxes as a gift to the Delphi Temple. Asked for the most money. It is not that Aesop believes in the gods of Olympus, but because it is a decree of the city-state, merchants must pay this tax. Today, Aesop is the richest businessman in Midori City.
When all the taxes for offering gifts have been collected, envoys need to be sent to Delphi to be offered to the temples. According to the usual practice, the priests of the temple will gather the nobles and representatives of the citizens to select the envoys, and first offer sacrifices to the patron saint in the temple of the city-state. This year's sacrificial ceremony has one more content. According to the decree of the Kingdom of Macedonia, Zeus, the father of the gods, must be sacrificed first, and then the patron saint of the city-state.
At this time, Hermes issued an oracle, and assigned Aesop, the most eloquent of the Midori city-state, to Delphi, and the wise messenger decided to whom the gold of the Midori city-state would be dedicated. The gods, which temple, must be the gods he thinks are worthy of dedication.
Delphi is the sacred place of the Olympian gods in the world. It has many temples, large and small. In addition to the twelve main gods today, those ancient gods also have temples here. Long ago, the most important temple here was the Temple of Themis, but today it is the Temple of Apollo, which is also the most magnificent of the Delphic pantheons.
In the near future, the Kingdom of Macedonia will build a more magnificent main temple in Delphi, breaking the historical practice, no longer enshrining a certain god alone, but focusing on Zeus, the father of the gods, and the gods of Olympus. To accompany the sacrifice.
This year's Delphi oracle will still be promulgated by the Temple of Apollo. The gold that Aesop brought should naturally be dedicated to the Temple of Apollo. Respect the gods, don't offend anyone. Because the priests of Delphi are in a sense a whole of interests, symbolizing the theocratic status on the Heaton Peninsula. You cannot ignore other gods because you value one god, otherwise you will offend the entire Delphic priesthood.
However, the status of the gods in the world is different, and each city-state will inevitably be somewhat snobbish. Under normal circumstances, sacrifices will be made to each temple, but the distribution will be determined according to the interests and needs of the city-state. A smart messenger knows how to use limited gifts. Make the most of it. This time, an oracle appointed Aesop as a messenger and gave Aesop the power to make his own decisions.
Aesop led the Midori city-state mission and came to Delphi with a large amount of gold. He stayed in Delphi for more than ten days, and went to the gates of the temples every day to see the sacrifice crowd and the priests. But the gold has never been donated. Just the day before the grand ceremony, on the way to an ancient temple in the middle of the mountain, there was a rolling rock blocking half of the mountain road—this place has been in disrepair for a long time.
The stone is so big that people need to walk around it when they pass by. Aesop is sitting not far away and watching. After dusk, he finally stood up, when a priestess came down the mountain. The woman had a lot of strength and took a long time to move the stone away, and then found gravel to fill the hole on the road. It was already dark, and Aesop watched her walk into the Temple of Themis.
The next day, Aesop came to the Temple of Themis with a plate full of gold, found the priestess and said, "This is a gift I presented to the Temple on behalf of the city-state of Midori, and it is enough to rebuild the mountain road leading here. .”
The priestess frowned and said, "A kind and generous person, you should first talk about it and dedicate it to the gods."
Aesop said with a smile: "It is dedicated to the temple where the gods are, but the people who use it are the priests in the temple."
The priestess said again: "But that road does not only lead to this temple."
Aesop put the gold on the altar and bowed to the priestess, "But I only saw you."
The next day, the Delphic oracle ceremony was officially held. As the envoy appointed by the city-state, Aesop also participated in the ceremony and offered sacrifices to the gods. The so-called sacrifice has double meanings, one is to salute according to the ceremony, and the other is to offer gifts to the temple, but Aesop just participated in the ceremony and did not send the gold.
It was the Delphi oracle of this year. Apollo issued an oracle declaring that among the envoys of the city-states, someone who blasphemed and offended the gods would be punished by the gods. The priests of Delphi will send messengers to find out this man and bring formal charges against him. When the priest announced the news, there was an uproar at the ceremony, and people were talking about who is the messenger who will be punished for blasphemy
After the ceremony, Aesop set off to return to Midori. The plate full of gold he offered to the priestess was only a small part of the gift, and most of the other gold was brought back intact. This move naturally angered Priests of Delphi. The entourage in the mission was also very disturbed, but the oracle gave Aesop the power to make decisions, and they were not easy to interfere.
The gold dedicated to the gods was brought back to the city-state. This is something that has never happened in the history of Midori. People were worried after hearing the news. Aesop offended the gods and the priests of the holy land of Delphi at the same time. If not done well, it will bring disaster to the city-state. Aesop accepted the questioning of the noble council and citizen representatives in the city-state temple, asking him to explain his actions.
Aesop explained: "I did not violate the oracle. In this temple, the oracle gave me the power to make a choice and donate gold to the gods and temples that I think are worthy of dedication. I have already answered However, I have my god, and I don’t want to mention his name here. I am also loyal to my duty, as an envoy of Midori, I arrived at Delphi, and within ten days, I only found one who really needed The priest who offered this sacrifice, as for the remaining gold, I brought it back to the city-state. It was collected by the merchants in Midori, and since it was not offered, it should be returned to the merchants.”
People were overwhelmed, and even the merchants who took out the gold felt panic and anger when they found that the gold they donated was returned by Aesop. In their view, this is equivalent to losing the opportunity to pray to the gods, or the gods have rejected their prayers. All this was caused by Aesop. They cursed Aesop one after another, and jointly filed a complaint with the city-state court, demanding severe punishment for Aesop!
Some onlookers think that Aesop brought back the gold because of greed and selfishness, and returned the gold to the merchants to buy people's hearts, because Aesop himself paid the most money among these merchants.
Aesop argued: "You want to sue me in the name of your beliefs, but you don't know the price you need to pay to protect your beliefs. The oracle here gives me the power to make choices, and the choices I make are in line with my beliefs, you guys The accusation is the price I pay. The oracle made this arrangement, but you are the ones who accuse me."
Just at this time, the envoy sent by the holy land of Delphi came to Midori. He saw this scene and decided that the blasphemer pointed out in the oracle of Delphi was Aesop, and filed a complaint against him in public. In this case, it was useless for Aesop to justify, and he was sent to the city-state court for trial.
The trial has its own trial procedure, and the messenger from Delphi was named Antonio. The Oracle of Delphi did not name Aesop, and Antonio wanted to accuse him, to prove to the world that Aesop was that person.
So Antonio investigated many of Aesop's past events in Midori, and filed a formal accusation against him—promoting new gods, poisoning and corrupting the younger generation.
If this charge is convicted, combined with the performance in Aesop's Delphi Ceremony, it is certain that Aesop will become the one who blasphemed and offended the gods in the oracle. The judge presiding over the trial, a friend of Thales', allowed Aesop to represent himself before delivering his sentence.
Instead of explaining what he had done, Aesop told another story in court, about a wolf and a sheep. The wolf is upstream and the sheep are downstream. They drink from the same river, but the wolf blames the sheep for polluting the water it drinks. No matter what the sheep explained, the wolf still ate the sheep. Because its purpose is not to discuss with the sheep who has polluted whose water, but to eat the sheep.
Some were puzzled, and some, irritated by Aesop's attitude, cursed him for contempt of court. But the judge understood Aesop's meaning, frowned and asked, "Are you no longer defending yourself?"
Aesop nodded and said, "I have made a defense, and I did not violate the oracle."
The judge said with some regret: "You did not violate the oracle of the patron saint. The patron saint gave you the power to let you choose, and you made your own choice. But your choice angered people and you need to pay a price. There is no violation. That oracle does not mean you are innocent, I will judge you guilty."
Thales suggested in public: "According to the city-state law, Aesop can choose to apologize to the gods and pay a sum of money to the city-state to atone for his sins. His behavior did not violate the real interests of the people here. If so, please stand up. Come out, otherwise, the court should give Aesop this choice."
The judge asked: "Merchants of Midori, Aesop brought back the gold you paid, but he did not take it for himself, nor deprived you of the right to sacrifice to the gods. The messenger of Delphi is here, You can dedicate your gold to the messenger and bring it back to the Holy Land. If someone thinks what I said is wrong, you can stand up."
No one stood up, and the judge said to Aesop: "I will give you a choice, you can contribute a sum of money to the temple for atonement."
Aesop smiled: "Okay then, I will offer thirty silver coins."
Everyone was stunned. Aesop, the richest businessman in Midori City, paid only thirty silver coins in order to atone for his sins! The judge frowned and asked, "Why is there only so little money?"
Aesop laughed: "Because it's only worth so much!"