After Amon left, Aesop lived a comfortable life in Miduli. He was good friends with the famous sage Thales and often went to the square of the shrine to chat with people. He was old and had nothing else to do but tell stories. He had been to all parts of the continent and experienced too many things. It was quite exciting to tell a few simple stories about his life.
Many young people and children especially liked to listen to Aesop's stories. Gradually, Aesop telling stories in the square of the shrine became a scene in Miduli. Aesop told people about his experiences and legends. The protagonist of the stories was not himself, but he often mentioned Amon when he looked back on his experiences. From Ejypt to the Plains of Duc, including the former countries of the continent, Amon left many legends.
A young man who walked out of the mountains eventually became a legend in the world. Such an experience was very fascinating to the other young people in the world. People could not help but think that Aesop's former coachman was also called Amon. Perhaps it was the name given by the old man, symbolizing the nostalgia of the past. At this time, no one realized that Amun had actually lived in Miduli.
Aesop's story unknowingly influenced many people, and some young people even began to worship Amon. This caused dissatisfaction among others, especially the priests of Miduli. When communicating with people in the square of the shrine, it was inevitable that they would be asked questions about the gods and beliefs. In the cities of Hilton, the atmosphere of conversation was quite open.
Some people noticed that although Aesop was very rich, he never went to the shrine to offer sacrifices to the gods, nor did he participate in the rituals of the cities. Someone asked him: "Aesop, do you believe in the gods?" Aesop replied: "I have my god in my heart." Someone asked again: "Then why don't you go to the shrine to offer sacrifices?" Aesop asked in reply: "After hearing my story, do you still not understand where my god is?"
Of course, the smart ones understood. Aesop did not directly say anything disrespectful to the gods, but the god in his heart was not in the temple on the square. Thus, some people deliberately distanced themselves from him, but there were still people who were willing to listen to his stories. Aesop was very eloquent. The stories he told were interesting and reasonable. His knowledge seemed to be endless.
Finally, one day, a young man walked out of the temple and came before Aesop. Aesop actually knew him. He had seen him in his own shop before. He was the passerby who pointed at the statue and asked for the price. Amon had once reminded Aesop that this person was Hermes who had come to the human world.
Hermes said to Aesop, "Elder, can I make a request of you?"
Aesop nodded with a smile and replied, "Young man, please speak."
Hermes: "This is the temple square of Miduli, and the patron saint of this city is Hermes. When someone asks you if you believe in a god, shouldn't you give Hermes enough respect?"
Aesop replied with a smile, "I did not answer that I did not believe in the existence of Hermes or the Olympian gods. Young man, when I saw you, I believed that they existed. But the 'belief' that people asked about was not belief, but true belief and following in the heart. It was precisely because in the temple square, under the gaze of the gods that I could not deceive myself. I did not deny people's belief in Hermes, nor did I directly answer my belief. This is already a sign of respect for the gods. "
Hermes stared at Aesop and said, "Can't you agree to a request? When people ask you again, you tell them that you believe in the gods. Even if you have a god in your heart, can't you go to the temple like others to offer sacrifices to Hermes? Even if you don't contribute your belongings, just attend the ceremony and salute. In that case, you will be more popular. "
Aesop did not answer Hermes's question directly. Instead, he told him the story of "The Wolf Is Coming."
A child who was herding sheep on the mountain was bored and shouted that there was a wolf. The adults at the foot of the mountain rushed up to the mountain to fight the wolf, but they found that they had been deceived. 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. 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 was very short and finished in a few sentences. Then Aesop looked at Hermes with a smile and asked, "Is the wolf coming?"
Hermes did not say a word and walked back to the temple with a straight face. He could not do anything to Aesop. He actually asked Aesop to pretend to believe in him, but Aesop asked him what was the point of pretending to believe in him and offering sacrifices? If people were like this, sooner or later, they would lose true belief, and the gods on the altar would no longer exist. Aesop's reasoning was very clear, and since Hermes was a god, he could no longer dwell on this issue with him.
After a while, one day, Aesop was telling a group of young people in the square about the founding of the city of Salem in the Plains of Duc, and the high priest of the Mituri Shrine came over. The crowd saluted and dispersed, and Aesop also got up and saluted. "Honorable Lord, what can I do for you?"
The high priest said: "I heard the voice of the emissary of the gods, saying that you are the most eloquent person in the city of Mituri, why don't you use this talent to praise the gods? You have told so many stories, but I have never heard you praise the gods. The patron saint of our city symbolizes the glory of the city, why don't you tell more about his legend? "
Aesop spread his hands. "My Lord, as you know, I left here when I was very young, and only returned to my hometown when I was old. I told what I had seen and heard in various places, but I have not heard much about the legend of Hermes."
The high priest smiled kindly. "It doesn't matter, with your eloquence, you can tell so many wonderful legends, why don't you use the name of Hermes and the gods? It is just a small trick, and it is also the hope of the gods. "
Aesop also smiled. "Then I will tell you a story about the gods."
Zeus, the father of the gods, had a sudden idea one day to choose the most beautiful bird in the world to be the king of all birds. The crow knew that it looked ugly, so while the birds were washing by the water, it secretly picked up the most beautiful feathers they had fallen by the water and inserted them into its body. When Zeus came, the birds lined up to greet him, but found that the crow was the most beautiful. The birds were angry and took back the feathers that belonged to them, but the crow was still a crow.
When Aesop's story was finished, the high priest shook his head after listening and said nothing more. He turned and walked into the shrine. Soon after, the city of Miduli was conquered by Macedonia and came under the rule of the Kingdom of Macedonia, but it still retained the original shrine and the citizens' assembly to deal with the internal affairs of the city.
Then the annual Delphi Oracle Ceremony on the Heaton Peninsula was coming, and the city of Miduli attached great importance to this ceremony. The merchants paid a large amount of tax as a gift to the Delphi shrines, of which Aesop paid the most. It was not that Aesop believed in the Olympian gods, but because this was the decree of the city, the merchants had to pay this tax, and now Aesop was the richest merchant in Miduli.
The tax for the gift had been collected, and messengers had to be sent to Delphi to offer to the shrines. According to tradition, the priests of the shrines would gather the nobles and representatives of the citizens to elect messengers, and then offer sacrifices to the patron saint in the shrine of the city. This year's sacrificial ceremony had an additional content. According to the decree of the Kingdom of Macedonia, the father of the gods, Zeus, had to be offered first, and then the patron saint of the city.
At this time, Hermes sent down an oracle, appointing the most eloquent Aesop of the city of Miduli to go to Delphi, and the clever messenger would decide which god and which shrine the gold of the city of Miduli should be offered to. It had to be a god that he thought was worthy of offering.
Delphi was the holy land of the Olympian gods on earth, with many shrines of various sizes. In addition to the twelve main gods today, the ancient gods also had shrines here. A long time ago, the most important shrine here was the Temple of Themis, and now the main one was the Temple of Apollo, which was also the most magnificent of all the shrines in Delphi.
In the near future, the Kingdom of Macedonia would build an even more magnificent main shrine in Delphi, breaking the historical tradition of no longer worshiping a single god, but worshiping Zeus, the father of the gods, with the Olympian gods as his companions.
This year's oracle of Delphi would still be issued by the Temple of Apollo, and the gold that Aesop brought with him should naturally be offered to the Temple of Apollo. The other shrines, large and small, should be more or less evenly distributed, to show respect to the gods and not to offend anyone. This was because the priests of Delphi were, in a sense, a group of interests, a symbol of the theocracy on the Heaton Peninsula. They could not ignore the other gods just because they valued one god, or they would offend the entire Delphi Priest Group.
However, the status of the gods in the human world was different, so it was inevitable that each city would be a little snobbish. Under normal circumstances, every temple would be sacrificed, but the distribution would be decided according to the interests of the city. A smart emissary would know how to make the most of the limited gifts. This time, the oracle appointed Aesop as the messenger, and gave Aesop the right to decide.
Aesop led the delegation of the city of Meduri to Delphi with a large amount of gold. He stayed in Delphi for more than ten days, every day going to the gates of the shrines to see the people offering sacrifices and the movements of the priests, but he never offered the gold. Just the day before the ceremony, on the road to an ancient shrine halfway up the mountain, a tumbled rock blocked half the mountain road — this place had been in disrepair for years.
The rock was so big that people had to walk around it when they passed it. Aesop sat not far away and watched. After dusk, he finally stood up. At this time, a priestess came up from the foot of the mountain. This woman was strong, and it took her a long time to move the rock away and find gravel to fill the pit in the road. It was already dark by this time, 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 from me to the shrine on behalf of the city of Meduri, it is enough to rebuild the mountain road leading here."
The priestess frowned and said: "Kind and generous man, you should first say to offer it to the gods."
Aesop smiled and said: "It is offered to the shrine where the gods are, but the person who uses it is the priest of the shrine."
The priestess said again: "But that road does not only lead to this shrine."
Aesop put the gold on the altar and saluted the priestess: "But I only see you."
The next day, the Delphic Oracle Ceremony was officially held, and as an emissary appointed by the city, Aesop also attended the ceremony and saluted to the gods. The so-called sacrifice had two meanings: one was to salute according to the ceremony, and the other was to offer a gift to the shrine. Aesop only attended the ceremony and did not deliver the gold.
It was in the Delphic Oracle of this year that Apollo announced that among the emissaries of the cities, someone had blasphemed and offended the gods and would be punished by the gods. The priests of Delphic would send emissaries to find this person and make formal accusations against him. When the priest announced the news, there was an uproar at the ceremony, and people were discussing who the emissary was and would be punished for blasphemy.
After the ceremony, Aesop set off for Meduri. The plate full of gold he gave to the priestess was only a small part of the gift, and most of the gold was brought back untouched, which naturally angered the priests of Delphic. The entourage of the emissary was also very uneasy, but the oracle had given Aesop the right to decide, so they could not interfere.
The gold that was offered to the gods was brought back to the city. This was something that had never happened in the history of Miduli. People were worried when they heard the news. Aesop had offended both the gods and the priests of the Holy Land of Delphi, which might bring disaster to the city. Aesop was questioned by the Council of Nobles and the representatives of the citizens in the shrine of the city, who wanted him to explain his actions.
Aesop explained: "I did not violate the oracle, it was in this shrine that the oracle gave me the right to make a choice and to offer the gold to the gods and shrines that I thought were worthy of offering. I have already answered that I have my god, and I do not want to say his name here. I was also loyal to my duty, and as an emissary of Meduri, I came to Delphic and spent ten days only to find one priest who really needed this offering. As for the rest of the gold, I brought it back to the city. It was collected by the merchants of Meduri, and since there was no offering, it should be returned to the merchants. "
The people's emotions were boiling, and even the merchants who took out the gold felt terrified and angry when they found that the gold they had offered was returned by Aesop. In their view, this was equivalent to losing the opportunity to pray to the gods, or the gods had rejected their prayers. All of this was caused by Aesop, and they all cursed Aesop and jointly filed a complaint with the court of the city, demanding that Aesop be severely punished!
There were also bystanders who thought themselves clever that Aesop brought back the gold because of greed and selfishness, and that he returned the gold to the merchants to buy their hearts, because the one who paid the most among these merchants was Aesop himself.
Aesop argued: "You want to accuse me in the name of faith, but you do not know the price to pay for protecting faith. The oracle here gave me the right to make a choice, and the choice I made was in line with my faith, and your accusations are the price I have to pay. The oracle made this arrangement, but the people who accuse me are you. "
Just then, an emissary sent by the holy land of Delphi came to Meduri, and when he saw this scene, he determined that the blasphemer pointed out in the Delphi oracle was Aesop, and publicly accused him. In this case, it was useless for Aesop to defend himself, and he was sent to the court of the city for trial.
The trial had its own procedures, and the emissary from Delphi was called Antonio. The Delphi oracle did not mention Aesop's name, and Antonio wanted to accuse him, to prove to the world that Aesop was that person.
So Antonio investigated many of Aesop's past in Meduri, and made a formal accusation against him — promoting a new god, poisoning and corrupting the younger generation.
If this accusation was established, combined with Aesop's performance at the Delphi ceremony, then it was certain that Aesop would be the one who blasphemed and offended the gods according to the oracle. The judge presiding over the trial was a friend of Thales, and before making a verdict, he allowed Aesop to defend himself.
Aesop did not explain what he had done, but told another story in court, about a wolf and a sheep. The wolf was upstream, and the sheep was downstream. They drank from the same river, but the wolf accused the sheep of dirtying the water it drank. No matter how the sheep explained, the wolf still ate the sheep. Because its purpose was not to discuss with the sheep who dirtied whose water, but to eat the sheep.
Some people were puzzled, and some were angered by Aesop's attitude, cursing him for contempt of court. The judge, however, understood what Aesop meant, frowned and asked, "Are you no longer defending yourself?"
Aesop nodded. "I have already defended myself, and I did not violate the oracle."
The judge said with some regret, "You did not violate the oracle of the patron. The patron gave you the right to choose, and you made your own choice. But your choice angered the people, and you have to pay the price. Not violating the oracle does not mean that you are not guilty, and I will find you guilty. "
Thales suggested in front of the crowd, "According to the law of the city, Aesop can choose to apologize to the gods and pay a sum of money to the city to atone for his sins. His actions did not violate the real interests of the people here. If there is, please come forward. Otherwise, the court should give Aesop this opportunity. "
The judge asked, "Merchants of Miduli, Aesop brought back the gold you paid, but he did not take it for himself, nor did he deprive you of the right to offer sacrifices to the gods. The messenger of Delphi is here, and you can offer your gold to the messenger and bring it back to the holy land. If anyone thinks that what I said is wrong, you can come forward. "
No one came forward, and the judge said to Aesop, "I will give you a choice. You can offer a sum of money to the temple to atone for your sins."
Aesop smiled. "Alright, I will offer 30 silver coins."
Everyone was stunned. The wealthiest merchant in Meduli City, Aesop, was only willing to fork out thirty silver coins in order to atone for his sins! The judge frowned and asked, "Why so little?"
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