He and It Chapter 165: The Serpent of Pharisee (31)

Chapter 165: The Serpent of Pharisee (31)

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: GaeaTiamat

 

Apollo frowned as he was taken by surprise by the challenge, and his displeasure grew even greater. He was determined to punish the prideful mortal, and to thwart that arrogance once and for all.

“Good!” The Sun God laughed coldly. “What is wrong with accepting thy challenge? But when competing with a god, thou has to place a bet, so that my time is not wasted.” 

Xie Ning stared at him, then coldly said, “What do you want to bet?” 

“If thou wins, then I shall do as thou requests, I will escort thee to Tartarus. If I win…” 

Apollo paused, his cornflower blue eyes held the cold light of a sword.

“If I win, I will turn thee into a dandelion plant, rooted by the Phlegethon in Tartarus.” ¹ Then the Sun God said, “Perhaps thou will see the misery of Echidna’s service from there, perhaps thou will not, but in any case thy will have to suffer the flames there in silence forever, separated from thy lover by a great river, and no one will be able to reach out and save thee.” 

“Alas,” said Hermes to himself. “Cruel Apollo.” 

The Sun God looked down on the human boy. He expected that the cruel wager, along with his enormous authority and extensive beauty would force him to back down. To his dismay, the young man stubbornly stared at him; stared directly into daylight itself, and his eyes burned as if they were on fire.

“Yes!” he said. “Bring it on.” 

The Gods erupted, amazed at the boy’s unbridled bravery and youthful naiveté. Zeus laughed and watched the strife with amusement.

“I am a witness to this contest, for thou a god on one side, and a human on the other, and there is no fairer referee than I.” The Father of the Gods said. “First, I want you to swear an oath on the River Styx. ² Secondly, in accordance with ancient custom, I do not ask that thy fight a long game, but that thou wins two out of three rounds. Whomever wins the second match is the winner of the game.” 

After he said that, he pondered for a while and asked, “The art of painting is not won by speed and power. It is about the beauty from the collision of spiritual light and creation. Fortunately we are all gods and can wait endlessly! How much time shall you need to create your first painting?” 

“Look at the human!” The bet was settled, Apollo, confident of victory, said lazily, “If he paints well, I will paint well. It is only fair and just to give way to him.” 

“Subject matter?” Xie Ning asked.

Zeus pondered for a moment. He looked at the goddess of love in the temple, and seeing her radiant appearance, his heart was moved. He said, “Look at Aphrodite. She is standing there in great displeasure, watching the Gods make things difficult for her beloved boy. It is not right, for when she frowns, the beauty of the world is diminished. When she is downcast, the rainbow in the sky loses its color. Let love and beauty be the theme and let her smile!” 

The topic was decided, the bet was established, and Xie Ning had nowhere to go. It was Aphrodite who took him back to her palace and looked at him worriedly.

“Alas, thou rash one!” she sighed. “Phoebus Apollo is young, impetuous, and not a very generous god. It is a great mistake for you to contend with him. He uses the heat of his light as an arrow against those who offend him. Thou should know that Achilles and his beloved, Patroclus, both died on the battlefield of Troy under the arrows of the Sun God, though at Achilles’ birth, Apollo came to the feast and blessed his future.” 

Xie Ning whispered, “I have no choice. I cannot go to Tartarus, except through this…Unless when Gaia wakes up, maybe she can help me.” 

“During the Scourge caused by Echidna, the Earth Mother, Gaia, opened one eye, and awoke hazily for a moment.” Aphrodite said. When she saw Xie Ning’s expression, she shook her head. “Do not rush to rejoice, and also do not be too easily relieved, Dorus. The Earth Mother has long since severed her ties with Tartarus, and Zeus will not tolerate the birth of a second Typhon. If thou asks Gaia to send thee to the Abyss, Zeus will surely use his thunderbolt first to completely destroy thee without mercy!” 

Xie Ning smiled reluctantly, then bitterly shrugged his shoulders. “Now I have even less choice.” 

When she looked at the miserable young man, Aphrodite was tempted to tell him about the vicious lie, about the deception, and about the oppression of the old gods by the new ones; but she thought twice about it, and kept it quietly hidden in her heart.

No. This was not the time.

Xie Ning looked at Aphrodite and hesitantly asked, “Speaking of which, I appreciate you being kind to me, but…why are you being kind to me?” 

“Because thou and he are the most unique couple that I have ever seen.” The Goddess of Love and Beauty stretched out her little finger and placed it against the side of her cheek. Her expression was charming. Her gestures and appearance were always charming. “Ah…There is no golden arrow of love, under what happenstance did a human fall in love with a demon god, and a demon god fall for a human? Does that not illustrate the irrationality and blindness of love? For people and gods under the sky, individuals with intelligence, always chase meaning in life, but love does not bend to pretense, and does not tolerate any argument!” 

She turned to Xie Ning and said softly, “Therefore, whether thou wins or Apollo wins, I am happy to see the ending, and I will not favor him because he is a deity and once adored my beauty.” ³

After some thought, the goddess suddenly changed her attitude, and a furious light radiated from her beautiful eyes as she exclaimed, “No, thou shall win! I shall never forget how Apollo humiliated me in front of the Gods! He is such the proud one, as if the temples of Cyprus and Kythira had turned to worship him. ⁵ brought him paper and brushes used by the Gods; paper woven from heavenly cloud silk and brushes of condensed starlight. Harmonia, the Goddess of Harmony, ⁶ sent him precious pigments – colors extracted directly from the natural landscape but never from minerals, only from grasses or trees; the same as those extracted by humans.

Since becoming immortal, Xie Ning didn’t eat or drink, he just stood in front of his drawing board day and night. While still inspired and angry, he dipped his hands in the paint and bent his mind to the world of color mixing.

In the past, Xie Ning was not too shy to paint in front of people, because the techniques and theories he mastered were too advanced for this era, just as no one would go to primitive societies and show them their computer skills. It was only in Echidna’s palace that he was able to recall his teacher’s instructions and demonstrate more modern techniques. Now, Xie Ning was no longer pretending. He showed off his skills on paper, his memory strengthened by the wine of immortality, which brought back all the forgotten lessons of the past.

Oil painting was influenced by many factors such as light and shade, color, line, texture, and light, etc. As a new scholar of oil painting, given the blessing of immortality and the commensurate physical strength, Xie Ning boldly adopted Velázquez’s direct painting method, which had inclined to the classical style in his later years, for his portraits. ⁷ He manually adapted his painting tools to better reveal the glaze effect of the picture, and magnified the contrast between color and reality, exaggerating and intensifying the highlights. ⁸

Even a layman would know that complex colors were a better indication of skill, but he didn’t intend to use too many subtle colors on Echidna’s image. Xie Ning intended to recreate the primitive simplicity of the divine, and in order to counterpoint Echidna’s image, he used a lot of transparent and semi-transparent colors in the background, which was even more advanced than Meissonier’s multilayer painting. ⁹  The same was true of Messoneier’s multi-layer technique.

“Ah, that young man is rambling on and on, and I cannot understand a word of it,” exclaimed Eros, the God of Love and Desire ¹⁰ , “And to see him immersed in brush and paint, it is as though the boy is possessed!” 

“Like love, the power of anger and hatred is great,” Aphrodite said. “Sometimes it lurks in the shadows, sometimes it erupts like a volcano. Thou cannot deny that immense hate can also completely reshape a person’s mind and body.” 

During the process of completing the painting, Xie Ning seldom slept and seldom rested. He adjusted the purple and red of the evening sun, turned over the blue and black of the sea, the gold of the sunlight, the silver of the moonlight; they were all too light and shallow. Finally, he turned to lava to get that burning red gold, to the immutable ice, and condensed a more piercing mercury.

The concepts of winning and losing were temporarily far from his mind. Xie Ning’s only thought was to complete that piece of work, his heart’s blood. Even with the distance between the Abyss of Tartarus and the Kingdom of the Gods, he hoped that the mark on his soul would still work, and that Echidna would still feel his love and thoughts as the brush moved.

The day he finished the painting, Xie Ning threw away the brush that had been stuck to his hand. He had lost a great deal of weight and wobbled as he walked, but his eyes still shone like lamps in the night.

“Dorus, rest,” Aphrodite couldn’t help but try to dissuade him. “Thou must not deplete thy body so much. How will thee finish the next two pictures?” 

“I can’t rest,” Xie Ning said. “I’m holding my breath…I have to wait for the results before I can let it out.” 

Unable to dissuade him, the Goddess of Love could only shake her head helplessly. “Alas, thus is the way all those who are crazed with love appear and act.” 

With no other option, she informed Zeus that Xie Ning had finished his first painting. Not long after that, Apollo drove his golden chariot over to the temple of Olympus.

“Since that human has finished his painting, I have finished mine,” The Sun God announced in a loud voice. Soon the interior of the temple was filled with gods and goddesses of all kinds. They had traveled from all over the known world, ready to cast their opinions in this strange contest.

Xie Ning’s painting was placed alongside Apollo’s, and the blindfolded Themis ¹¹  herself stepped forward and lifted the curtains from them in turn.

The first to be unveiled was Xie Ning’s painting.

All of a sudden, the dynamic Wind Gods stopped flying. The steward pouring wine forgot to put away his flagon and the gods were silent. All of them stared at the picture without blinking, astonished and surprised.

–Echidna, half man, half snake.

His long hair flowed into an earthly river, a sinuous serpent’s tail, and his eyes were downcast. He lay across the universe, among the circling planets, with comets orbiting around his intricate golden tattoos. The vacuum was dark, the stars were like sand, and at his fingertips blossomed flowers larger and softer than the celestial bodies.

He appeared to be questioning them, but no one can ask questions of a poem. No one can ask questions of a dream, of a kiss, and naturally no one can ask questions of a flower.

It was a great love and a great beauty, which, because they were too expansive, were at the same time transformed into great sadness and silence.

“Ah,” Aphrodite said softly.

Before now, she had never seen the painting in its complete form.

“I believe…the battle is won,” Dionysus murmured. “This illustrates love and beauty so impeccably that it makes me giddy as a drunk. And thou, Brother? What work has thou prepared against this greatness?” When he asked Apollo that, he saw the Sun God’s eyes freeze with an expression of mingled habitual scorn and unsuspected dismay.

“Perhaps, indeed, this is something to behold.” The Sun God said slowly as he clenched his goblet. “Goddess Themis, please unveil my painting.” 

The Goddess of Justice nodded. She couldn’t see the two paintings, but she could sense the power of the first painting by the reaction of the Gods.

Then she lifted the second covering.

At that moment, Aphrodite’s expression changed, and the temple exploded in a completely different reaction from the previous one. The gods murmured and Zeus, seated on his throne, frowned and leaned forward.

Apollo’s painting was truly beautiful, with his transcendent brushstrokes depicting a sky of gold and blue. Clouds flowed, evening stars loomed behind a translucent canopy, and on the rounded horizon, a bright moon was falling over the shimmering sea along with the fading darkness of the night.

The technique of a god’s painting was unlike any other on earth, so spectacular, vast and grand despite being on paper. However, no matter how grand it was, it was still just the sky, and nothing more.

Athena frowned, and she spoke for many of the Gods when she said in a reproachful tone, “The sky is magnificent, and naturally the home of the sun, moon, and stars. But in this, I see only thy determination to belittle thy opponent, Apollo.” 

“Apollo, is this how thou despise my mother, a deity who shares the same home as thee?” Eros stepped forward in a fiery rage. “Hast thou not sworn an oath upon the river Styx? Does thou not understand the honor of the tournament, and the weight of a promise? What shameful deed you have done in mocking this tournament!” 

Some of the Gods were indignant at his behavior, while others understood him perfectly. “It was my error.” Apollo looked consideringly at Xie Ning. “I believed this young man had made a brash bet in hopes of gaining a reputation, and that he was too angry to truly challenge the Gods. Therefore, I did not take him seriously and show my best skills. Now I understand that he is someone with definite talent.” 

After he said that, he turned to Aphrodite and sincerely apologized, “O thou Goddess of all Beauty, do not resent me or be angry at me for my offense. Thou knowest that I love thee most of all the Gods, and that whenever thou walk upon the earth I light thy way with the bright light of the sun. I pray that thee never forgive me for my rashness, but I will leave thee a place in my temple at Delphi, that thou may knowest that it was not my intent.” 

Aphrodite smiled sweetly at him, then pointedly ignored him and turned to Xie Ning.

“And thee. Art thou angry, Dorus?” 

Xie Ning stared straight at the two paintings, his eyes bloodshot and said bluntly, “I don’t have the energy to be angry. I just want to know, did I win?” 

Upon hearing his words, Zeus stepped into the breach and said, “Though Apollo is my son, I must vote for the human, as I may not be biased in my opinion of what he has accomplished. Even though such a violent demon god cannot win my favor, yet still the young man’s painting is itself an amazing achievement!” 

After the Father of Gods cast his vote, Hera abstained, Artemis gave her vote to her brother, and Poseidon who also voted for Apollo having a strong dislike for Echidna, and the rest of the main Gods all cast their votes in favor of Xie Ning, which gave him a landslide victory.

Apollo was dumbfounded. He drank his goblet of wine and remained silent.

Xie Ning wasn’t very happy about winning the first round. His body and mind were still tense, as he waited for whatever came next.

“Well.” Zeus stroked his chin, and his godly eyes roamed around the room. Suddenly he spoke, “Ah, an idea! The theme of the first game was one of grandiose imagery, so for this game, let us choose a small, insignificant thing. For example…” 

The Chief of the Gods reached out, pinched his index finger and thumb together, and squeezed out a round purple grape.

“Grapes,” Zeus said. “I want you to design your creations on the theme of ‘grapes.'” 

The first contest was over. On the way back, Aphrodite said in surprise, “I am surprised, Dorus, I thought that thee would be angered. After all, Apollo mocked the painting so painstakingly made by thyself with his frivolous painting.” 

“Even if I knew he was going to be perfunctory with me, I couldn’t afford to be equally obtuse,” Xie Ning said wearily. “Because he is the God of Art, the genius of geniuses, and I am not qualified to fool him. So, I’m basically going to lose the next round.” ¹²

Little Eros flew around them, and laughed playfully as he said, “Thy ability has caused all the Gods in the Pantheon to stand there dumbfounded and amazed. Thy cannot be so presumptuous as to belittle thyself, Dorus!” 

Xie Ning shook his head and whispered, “No, I mean it. I’m going to lose the next game, the same way he tricked me in the first game. In the next game, Apollo won’t be able to ignore me any more, so he’s going to play seriously.” 

 

He looked at the two Gods of Love, as he idly propped himself against a doorframe and said, “So, thanks for all the help you guys gave me earlier. I think…I need to get some sleep.”