Vol 2 Chapter 318: Here comes the wolf

. After Amené left, Aesop lived an easy life in Midoli. He was a good friend of 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, so he likes to tell stories. He has been to all parts of the Tianshu continent and has experienced too many things. It would be quite wonderful to briefly explain his life's experience.
Many young people and children especially like to listen to Aesop's storytelling. Gradually, Aesop's storytelling on the Temple Square has become a landscape of Midori. Aesop told people about the experiences and legends in various places. The protagonist of the story is not himself. Of course, when reviewing his experience, he often mentioned Améng. From Eju to the Duke Plain, including the original Tianshu continent countries, Améng has left many legends.
A teenager walking out of the mountains eventually became a legend on earth. Such an experience is very fascinating to other young people in the world. People can't help but remember that Aesop's former driver was also called Améng, perhaps the name given by the old man, which symbolizes the nostalgia for the past years. At this time, no one has realized that the Améng once lived in Mi Dory.
Aesop's story unknowingly affected many people, and even some young people began to worship Améng, which caused dissatisfaction among others, especially the priests of Midoli. To communicate with people on the Temple Square, it is inevitable to be asked questions about gods and beliefs. In the cities of Heaton, the atmosphere of conversation is quite open.
Some people noticed that although Aesop was rich, he never went to the temple to offer sacrifice to the gods, and he did not participate in the city's sacrifice ceremony. Someone asked him, "Aesop, do you believe in God?" Aesop replied, "I have my God in my heart." Someone asked again, "Why have you never sacrificed in a temple?" Aesop asked, "Hear my story, don't you know where my God is?"
The wise man certainly understood that Aesop did not directly say words of disrespect to the gods, but the in his heart was not in the temple on the square. So someone deliberately alienated him, but still someone was willing to listen to his story. Aesop's eloquence is excellent. The story he tells is both interesting and reasonable, and his experience seems to be endless.
Finally one day, a young man stepped out of the temple and came to Aesop's presence. Aesop even knew him. He had seen it in his own shop, and he was a passer-by who asked for a price by pointing at an idol. Améng reminded Aesop that this man was Hermes who came to earth.
Hermes said to Aesop, "This old man, can I make a request to you?"
Aesop nodded with a smile: "Young man, please say it."
Hermes: "Here is the Temple Square of Midoli. The patron saint of this city-state is Hermes. Should others give you enough respect when you ask if you believe in gods? "
Aesop replied with a smile: "I didn't answer that I don't believe in the existence of the gods of Hermes or Olympus, young people, when I see you, I believe they exist. But what people ask "Faith" is not belief, but true devotion and following in my heart. It is precisely because in the temple square and under the eyes of the gods, I cannot deceive myself. I have not denied people's worship of Hermes, and I have not directly answered My worship is already a respect for the gods. "
Hermes stared at Aesop: "Can't you agree to a request? When people ask you again, you answer to them that you believe in the gods. Although you have your in your heart, you can't be like everyone else. Is there a sacrifice to Hermes in the temple? Even if you don't contribute your belongings, you just attend the ceremony. In that case, you will be more welcome. "
Aesop did not answer Hermes's question directly, but told him a story of "the wolf is here".
There was a kid who ran sheep on the mountain, and bored and shouted that there was a wolf. The adults under the mountain caught the wolf and found they were cheated. A few days later, the child shouted that there were wolves, and people caught up and found themselves 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 rescue him.
The story was short, and after a few words, Aesop looked at Hermes with a smile and asked, "Is the wolf here?"
Hermes didn't say a word, and walked back to the temple with a shameless face. He actually asked Aesop to pretend to believe in him, but Aesop asked him what was the significance of this disguised faith and sacrifice? If all people in the world do this, sooner or later they will lose true worship 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 another period of time, Aesop told a group of young people in the square about the past when the city of Salem was created in the plains of Duke, and the high priest of the Midurian temple came over. Everyone dispersed, and Aesop stood up and saluted, "Honor, what do you do?"
The high priest said: "I heard the voice of the angels of the gods, saying that you are the most eloquent person in Midoli. Why not use this talent to praise the gods? You have told so many stories, but I have not I ’ve heard your praises to the gods. Our patron saint symbolizes the glory of the city, why do n’t you talk more about his legend?

Aesop spread his hands: "Master, you know, I left here at a very young age, and only returned to my hometown when I was old. I'm talking about my experience in various places, but I haven't heard much about Hull The legend of Moses. "
The high priest and Yan Yuesè laughed: "It doesn't matter. You can tell so many wonderful legends with your mouth, why not use Hermes and the names of the gods? This is just a little trick, and it is also a god. Expect. "
Aesop also laughed: "Then I will tell you a story about the gods."
Zeus, the father of the gods, came up with a whimsy one day and wanted to choose the most beautiful bird in the world as the king of hundreds of birds. The crow knew that he looked ugly, so while the birds were grooming by the water, they secretly picked up the most beautiful feathers that fell on the water and inserted them on their bodies. When Zeus arrived, the birds lined up, but found that the crow was the most beautiful. The birds were angry and took back their own feathers, but the crow was still a crow.
After Aesop's story was finished, the high priest shook his head after hearing it, and said nothing and turned into the temple. Soon after, the Midurian city-state was conquered by Macedonia and under the rule of the Kingdom of Macedonia, but the original city-state temple and civic assembly were retained to deal with the internal affairs of the city-state.
Immediately after the annual Delphi Shrine Ceremony on the Heaton Peninsula is about to come, Midoli City State attaches great importance to this ceremony. Merchants paid a large amount of taxes as a gift to the Delphi Temples. The most money was charged. It is not that Aesop believed in the gods of Olympus, but because this is a city-state decree, merchants must pay this tax. Aesop is now the richest businessman in Midoli.
The taxes for the gifts were collected and the messenger was sent to Delphi to be dedicated to the temples. According to custom, the priests of the temple will recruit the nobles and the representatives of the citizens to select the messenger, and first sacrifice to the patron saint in the city-state temple. This year's sacrifice ceremony has an additional content. According to the laws of the Kingdom of Macedonia, the father of the gods, Zeus, must be sacrificed first, and then the city-state patron saint.
At this moment, Hermes lowered the oracle and assigned the most eloquent Aesop of the Midurian city state to Delphi, and the intelligent messenger decided which one of the Midurian city state's gold was dedicated to. The deities, which temple, must be the deities he thinks are worth devotion.
Delphi is a holy place in the world of Olympus. It has many temples, large and small. In addition to the twelve main gods today, those ancient gods also have temples here. A long time ago, the most important temple here was the Temple of Themis, but now the main one is the Temple of Aboro, which is also the most magnificent among the temples of Delphi.
In the near future, the Kingdom of Macedonia will build a more magnificent main shrine in Delphi, breaking the conventions of history, no longer dedicated to a single god, but mainly Zeus, the father of the gods, and the gods of Olympus Acolyte.
This year's Delphi shrine will still be promulgated by the Aboro Temple. The gold brought by Aesop should naturally be the most dedicated to the Aboro Temple. The rest of the large and small temples must be rained more or less. To show respect for the gods, let no one offend. Because the priests of Delphi are a whole of interests in a sense, symbolizing the divine status on the Heaton Peninsula. Do not ignore other gods because you value one god, or you will offend the entire Delphi priest group.
But the status of the gods in the world is different, and the city-states will inevitably have some snobbery. Generally, each temple will sacrifice, but it will determine how much distribution according to the city-state's interests. A smart messenger knows how to give limited gifts Make the most of it. This time a deity appointed Aesop as a messenger, and gave Aesop the power to make his own decisions.
Aesop led the Midurian city ambassador to Delphi with a large amount of gold. He stayed in Delphi for more than ten days. Every day he went to the gates of the temples to see the sacrifice crowd and the priests. But he never offered gold. The day before the ceremony, on the road leading to an ancient temple in Mid-Levels, a rolling stone blocked the half-road-it has been in disrepair for many years.
The stone was so large that people had to walk around as it passed, and Aesop sat watching not far away. He finally stood up after dusk. At this moment, a priestess came down from the mountain. The woman's strength was not small, it took a long time to move the stone away, and she found gravel to fill the pit 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 and found the priestess saying: "This is a gift I gave to the temple on behalf of the Midurian city-state, and it is enough to rebuild the mountain road leading here. . "
The priestess frowned. "Good and generous people, you should talk about giving to the gods first."
Aesop laughed: "It is dedicated to the temple where the gods are located, but the people who use it are the priests in the temple."
The priestess added, "But that road does not only lead to this temple."
Aesop put the gold on the altar and saluted the priestess: "But I only saw you."
The next day, the Delphi oracle was officially held. As a messenger appointed by the city-state, Aesop also participated in the ceremony and sacrificed to the gods. The so-called sacrifice has double meanings. One is to perform ceremonies and the other is to present gifts to the temple. Aesop only participated in the ceremony and did not send gold.
It was the Delphi oracle this year. Abo Luo lowered the oracle and declared that among the messengers of the city-states, someone would desecrate and offend the gods and be punished by the gods. The Delphi priests will send a messenger to find this person and make a formal charge against him. When the priest announced the news, there was an uproar in the ceremony, and people were talking about who was the messenger who would be punished for blasphemy?
After the ceremony, Aesop set out to return to Midori. The full plate of gold he offered to the priestess was only a small part of the gift. Most of the other gold was brought back intact. The Delphi priests. The entourage in the mission was also very disturbed, but the oracle gave Aesop the right to decide, and they were not easy to interfere.
The gold dedicated to the gods was brought back to the city-state. This is something that Midoli has never experienced in history. People were worried when they heard the news. Aesop did so at the same time offended the gods and the priests of the Holy Land Delphi. If not, it will bring disaster to the city-state. Aesop was questioned by the aristocratic parliament and citizen representatives in the city-state shrine, asking him to explain his actions.
Aesop explained: "I did not disobey the shrine. It is in this shrine that the shrine gave me the right to choose and dedicate gold to the deities and shrines that I think are worth devotion. I have long answered Yes, I have my deity, and I do n’t want to say his name here. I am also loyal to my responsibilities. As the messenger of Midoli, I arrived in Delphi. After ten days, I found only one who really needed As for the sacrificed priest, as for the remaining gold, I brought it back to the city. It was raised by the merchants of Midoli, and since it was not offered, it should be returned to the merchants. "
People's emotions are boiling. Even the merchants who took out the gold and found that the gold they donated was returned by Aesop, and they felt panic and anger. In their view, this is equivalent to losing the opportunity to pray to the gods, or the gods have refused their prayers. All of this was caused by Aesop. They cursed Aesop and filed a complaint with the city-state court, demanding that Aesop be severely punished!
There are also bystanders who think that Aesop brought back gold because of greed and self, and returned gold to merchants to buy people's hearts, because Aesop himself was the one who paid the most money.
Aesop argued: "You have to sue me because of the name of your faith, but you do n’t know the price to pay for guarding the faith. The deities here have given me the right to make choices, and the choices I make are in line with my beliefs. My accusation is the price I paid. The oracle made this arrangement, but you are accused of me. "
At this time, the messenger sent by the Holy Land Delphi came to Midori. He saw the scene and determined that the desecrating person pointed out in Delphi's shrine was Aesop, and publicly charged him. In this case, Aesop was useless to justify, and he was sent to the city court for trial.
The trial has its own trial. The messenger from Delphi is Antonio. The Delphi shrine didn't 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 pasts in Midori, and made formal charges against him-preaching new gods, poisoning and corrupting the younger generation.
If this conviction is combined with the performance of the Aesop Delphi ceremony, then it is certain that Aesop will become a profane and offensive person in the oracle. The judge who presided over the trial was Thales's friend, who allowed Aesop to defend himself before making his verdict.
Aesop did not explain what he did, but told another story in court about a wolf and a sheep. The wolf is upstream and the sheep are downstream. They drink water in the same river, but the wolf accuses the sheep of soiling the water it drinks. No matter what the sheep explained, the wolf ate the sheep. Because its purpose is not to discuss with the sheep who has stained their water, but to eat the sheep.
Some people suspected that Huo was puzzled, and some were angry with Aesop's attitude, cursing him for contempt of court. The judge understood what Aesop meant, and frowned, asking, "Are you no longer defending yourself?"
Aesop nodded. "I have defended and have not violated the oracle."
The judge said with regret: "You have not violated the deity of the patron saint, the patron saint has given you the power to let you choose, and you have made your own choice. But your choice has angered people and has to pay the price. No Violating that oracle does not mean you are not guilty, I will convict you. "
Thales suggested in public: "According to the city-state decree, Aesop can choose to apologize to the gods and pay a sum of money to the city-state to atone for his sins. His actions did not violate the substantial interests of the people here, if so, please stand Come out, otherwise the court should give Aesop this opportunity to choose. "
The judge asked, "The merchants of Midoli, Aesop brought back the gold you paid, but it was not greedy or deprived of your right to sacrifice to the gods. The angel of Delphi is here. You can dedicate your gold to this messenger and bring it back to the Holy Land. If anyone thinks what I said is wrong, stand up. "
No one stood up, and the judge said to Aesop, "I give you a choice. You can give a sum of money to the Temple to make atonement."
Aesop smiled. "Well then, I will give out thirty silver coins."
Everyone froze. Aesop, the richest businessman in Midoli, had only given out thirty silver coins in order to make atonement for himself! The judge frowned and asked, "Why is there only so much money?"
Aesop laughed: "Because it's only worth so much!" Ro! .