He and It Chapter 166: The Serpent of Pharisee (32)

Chapter 166: The Serpent of Pharisee (32)

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: GaeaTiamat

 

Grapes.

Xie Ning chewed on the end of his pen, as he racked his brain.

Until now, he had never known that the taste of starlight was cold and hard, like a piece of ice that would not melt, or a piece of jade that was slightly soft.

Grapes. How could he paint that? 

A myriad of images flashed through his mind, from Xu Wei’s “I will dip the grapes in ink” to Van Gogh’s red vineyards in Arles; Qi Baishi’s grapes are infested with lively and noisy bees and dragonflies, while Chardin’s grapes are so quiet and transcendent that they seem to be dripping with frost and light on the raised canvases. ¹

Colors, lines, shades, light and dark…. Xie Ning has painted a lot of grapes, as the most common fruit for still-life practice besides apples, was grapes. But how could he compete with a god? 

He remembered Apollo’s painting again. Although the picture was empty and barren, the divine technique was so instinctive that he had never seen it before. Even if he wanted to imitate it, he had no idea how to reproduce it.

He gently drew a stroke, the tip of the brush dipped in rich purple, circled half a solidified circle.

Compared to the long-established painters, Xie Ning’s advantage lay in the fact that he had not yet developed his own style, and no matter which famous artist he studied, he could always rely on it, but the disadvantage also lay in this – after this year’s birthday, he would only be a student of twenty-two years old, and he had not even climbed up to the peak of human beings, so there was no way to talk about competing with the best among the deities. How could he compete with the best of the Gods?

Relax, he said to himself, you can’t hope to win this round, so why don’t you draw something a little less desperate? 

Xie Ning’s hand involuntarily trembled, and the tip of the wetted brush left the paper slightly, hovering at an indistinct height.

… No, he said to himself at the same time, he couldn’t bow his head, how could a man walk into that dark night at the behest of a God? To create casually in a duel is indirectly to recognize the power of the opponent and to be at his disposal.

I was so young, so full of vigor… Even though I knew I was inferior in so many ways, I never recognized the strength of others. This is my screwed-upness, my never-lose, never-die hubris, and without it, what else can hold my back? 

Xie Ning trembled and curled his lips tightly, heavily emphasized a stroke, chiseled a large and heavy fork in the paper, and then threw away the scrap of paper.

He rambled on with his drafts, for grapes are too concrete and too abstract a subject, and Xie Ning tried his best to choose an expression that enriches the plot. He had already drawn a lot of imaginative things in the first game, so in the second game he was determined to draw something down-to-earth, something “kitschy.”

Xie Ning painted a wine estate, and with a memory that has been strengthened a hundred times, he clearly reproduced the framed vines, the brownish-red soil, and the hard laborers pushing up their sleeves to pick the grapes, and borrows the mellow style of Chardin to make the clusters of grapes, which turn from green to red, full to the point of bursting, hanging on the branches, as if they were a string of unbearable dreams.

Compared to the urgency of the first painting, in which he did not eat, drink, or sleep, the second painting has many portraits, and its mannerisms and poses are completely different. Xie Ning painted and stopped, and took longer, polishing it for four months, realizing that nothing could be improved on it, before he took the painting and went to the pantheon once again.

The gods had heard about it, and since the news of Apollo’s loss to Echidna’s lover in the first round of the competition had already spread throughout the heavens and the earth, they soon gathered at the temple, discussing the second round of the competition with great interest.

“Apollo will surely not lose again,” they said, “but the youth’s skill after ten thousand years is marvelous!” 

Zeus sat on his throne, surrounded by the tall and majestic Queen Hera, and Themis, the Goddess of Justice, soaring above them, descended to the center of the temple.

Apollo was still leaning on his original position, smiling smugly, as if he had foreseen his victory.

He spoke, “Since the human won the last round, he will go first. Lift, thou Goddess of Justice, its cover, and let us see what a grand statement he has made with his brush about grapes.” 

Themis nodded, and with both hands she softly lifted the covering over the horizontal canvas.

There was a low buzzing from the crowd of gods, like a swarm of bees seeing a lush, fragrant flower bush.

Xie Ning’s painting depicted a frenzied harvest, with sturdy farmers in exotic costumes, their exposed skin a healthy and beautiful brownish-red color, brighter than the soil beneath their feet. They walk through the dark foliage of the vines, the heavy clusters of ripe grapes, some wrinkling their brows, some wandering, some smiling, others talking with their companions in earshot… A pair of bright blue dragonflies chase each other, rustling among the full-bodied grapes.

The light of the sky is pale red, a dozen people are intertwined in front and behind, the perspective of the picture is clear and concise, never superfluous, and the colors of the figures and scenery are gradually changing. As a painting presented to the gods, it especially depicts the life of ordinary laborers, with a strong realist style that is ahead of its time, and at the same time, it contains an immense vitality that is rooted in reality.

“Ah, it reminds me of my native Thebes.” The God of Wine marveled, “People always work so hard and tie the hair of the vine on their foreheads, but the world is used to glorifying heroes and never sings the psalms and music of the common man – the ecstasy of this painting is something that can make me happy!” 

Beside him, Demeter, the Goddess of Agriculture, agreed, she saw the painting and thought of the countless people who went to work in the fields, she said, “I could hang it in my temple, so that people would know that I have a great love in my heart for the industrious.” 

Apollo laughed, but he nodded, and whispered something into his sister’s ear, and no one could hear what the twins whispered, but Artemis could not help but laugh quietly beside her elder brother.

“Then,” the Sun God cleared his throat, “please draw back my curtain, honored goddess.” 

Themis nodded, and she stepped forward, exposing Apollo’s painting, too, to the light of day.

–A glass of wine.

It was the top view of a cup of wine.

It was like a full red moon, in the center of a clean white canvas, set off with an incomparable brightness, shaking with sparkling light.

Xie Ning was confused for a moment, but before he could publicize the confusion, Dionysus’ eyes widened and he exclaimed, “Oh my!” 

As if it were a signal, after him the gods in the palace echoed, “Alas!” 

Apollo caught the teenager’s confusion, though it was stubborn and unusual, and flickered only for a blink of an eye. The deity proudly lifted his glass, crooked a finger at his opposite, and said, “That one, just lean over and look, it’s always clear to see.” 

So Xie Ning walked over to him slowly and warily-he didn’t think Apollo was going to keep fooling around in the crucial second inning, and he was only worried that he wouldn’t be able to see what the gods around him were exclaiming something about.

He drew nearer, and stared at the glass of wine, served in a golden goblet, the contents of which seemed to have been wrinkled by the wind, and roiled in many irregular, bright ripples. Beyond this, he saw nothing to be surprised at…

… Wait a minute.

Xie Ning’s eyelashes fluttered.

Wait, he saw it! Between the watermarks of the wine, he saw it!

His eyes were caught in the ripples of light, like a fish caught in a whirlpool with no place to escape. There, the shadows of many people appeared, the sunrise with the green of green grapes, as if it were a new branch in spring, the sunset with the purple of red grapes, as if it were a blazing mountain fire, Xie Ning’s eyes followed one person after another out of the sunlight, as if he had become a macroscopic god, watching all beings give birth to babies, and all beings die at the same time.

Finally, his attention was unconsciously focused on one of the women.

As he stared at her, he saw that the girl was born as tender as a new lamb, and the midwife held her young body as if she were a fruit grower cherishing the first grapes of the late summer harvest; the girl grew up in the fall, her red hair danced and burned in the fragrant winds, and she wore a garnet-red dress, a color slightly acidic and especially flattering to her powdery cheeks.

In winter, when the sky is streaked with duck-pebble-green snow, the girl lifts her skirt and crosses the dirt paths of the countryside to the capital city with its sunset-colored roofs, where she meets her first husband, who is a warrior. The warrior’s armor was cast in brilliant bronze, their wedding was witnessed by the gods and their friends and family, the mahogany wood was covered with jade flowers, and the girl waved her arms to the crowd, happy as a powerful queen.

Spring came, like a plague, like a rampaging train. Spring also brought war, blood soaked the earth, like a sour wine, filled with rusted swords and spears. On such a spring day, the girl lost her husband, but she had no time to grieve, for he had inherited two young children, whose rosy cheeks could not be turned pale by hunger. The little mouths of the children were moving, turning them into little aphids on the vine, and the girl had to weave day and night in order to nurture their healthy bodies.

The summer sun was so hot that it burned everyone, so that a rosy-pink epidemic struck like lightning. The girl’s son died, and life left her with only a thin daughter, who married another merchant, who was a horse breeder and whose satin furs always rolled out in shimmering, watery waves when she ran.

Seasons turn, the girl into a woman, the woman and then into the old man, she ups and downs of life, have been along the wine wave traces to escape. she was born in late summer, died in late summer, died holding a small cup of gold wine buried, she’s grave was built in the seaside, where at the same time stood countless tombstones, buried or young, or old bones.

Some years later, the graveyard is deserted, the land and sea change, tombstones are turned into gravel, a fisherman fishing in the sea, he cast a fishing net, in the sea caught a big fish, the fisherman’s wife cut open the belly of the fish, and suddenly found an old deformation of the gold wine cup inside.

She wiped the blood off her apron in surprise, and, holding the cup aloft, exclaimed to her young daughter, “Look at this, this is the dowry that God has sent for you!

–This is the epitome of one man’s life, and of countless others. It encompasses so many things, life and death, love and hate, the harshness and tolerance of fate… But in the end, it’s just a glass of wine.

If Xie Ning still had the strength, he could have chased another person’s life path in this glass of wine, but he knew in his heart, there was no need, he lost completely, with no room to fight back.

No one can judge a closed case, his heart has seen the end in this glass of wine, and therefore burns like fire, and there is no escape.

“This is a complete miracle!” In a long silence Zeus jumped up and said with great joy, “Behold, my friends, whatever you may say, this is the perfect answer of my heart, a gift from Phoebus Apollo, the god of light and literature!” 

Hera smiled back and said, “He was meant to be your son, and he is no lesser than any god but you.” 

Xie Ning gazed at the picture, and his heart shook with fear and trembled with pain. His lips opened slightly, but he could not make a weak sound.

The audience began to vote, and Zeus was the first to throw a thunderbolt of fire into the three-legged golden censer that symbolized Apollo, and behind him the gods followed his example; Aphrodite walked gracefully over to Xie Ning, threw a rose at him, and forced Ares to look at him with such a flirtatious look that the god of war was so dizzy that he was forced to throw his sword next to the rose without uttering a word.

When Hephaestus saw this scene, he shut his mouth and went straight to Apollo’s golden censer, and threw down a great shower of hot iron sand.

Of all the gods, Dionysus was the most extraordinary voter, who declared that, because of the peculiarity of the subject, he had the right to vote for both parties, and Zeus indulged his drunken youngest son in a cheerful mood. So the god of wine stood up, cut a bunch of vines in half, and divided them between the two competing rivals.

Xie Ning lost, holding the only three votes in his hand, with no chance of victory, and Apollo laughed out loud at the sight of the pale, trembling human boy. He was satisfied, finally in this crazy person out of a breath, he said, half contempt, half pity, “know that the power of man, can not be compared with the power of God! Only the heroes of the oracles of destiny, the half-human descendants of the gods, who are strong and hardy, and whose might far exceeds that of the common man, and only such fearless beings, can compete with the gods, and gain our respect. What are the others?” 

Zeus waited for his son to finish before announcing with a pleasant look on his face, “One winner and one loser in the contest, and now comes the crucial third round, for which I have pondered for a long time, and have finally found an appropriate title. I’ve decided that for the final painting, I want you to paint ‘Victory’, no matter what kind of victory, the one who is better, is the winner of this game! As a prize, I shall reward the winner with two divine horses, Xanthos and Barrios, the former mounts of the great hero Achilles.” 

The gods applauded, and promised many splendid prizes to honor the winners. After ordering all this, Zeus was satisfied and dismissed the gods in the temple, asking them to wait for the results in a few days.

Xie Ning was led back to the palace by Aphrodite, sitting in the garden, the image of Apollo still lingered in front of his eyes, making him unable to see, hear and speak.

Suddenly he remembered what Echidna had said to him, when the god of magic held him close to him, “Do not fall into the hands of fate!” And the god said lovingly, “Dorus, my little, dear Dorus, all the struggles with destiny are in vain, just as Oedipus was unfortunate, not because he did not believe in destiny, but because he believed that he could change his fate.” 

But, I have already fallen into the hands of fate, thinking of Echidna, Xie Ning involuntarily shed tears, things have come to this, I have also done the same as Oedipus the same fool, thinking that I can change fate, can see you again, and so go to fight with a god.

What skill does a man need when he drinks, what skill does he need when he eats? As long as you don’t choke on a fish or a fishbone, you’re practicing good survival instincts. To the gods, performing miracles is the same as eating and drinking, and human labor and desperation are nothing.

The devil is hidden in the details, and Xie Ning’s devil is also hidden in the wavering and flickering ripples. As a human being, the limit of what he can present with his human power is all here, but the gods are drinking wine, drawing wine, and telling him in the wine: you are good, because your limit seems to be barely enough to reach my lower limit.

The evening wind blew alone, sitting in the garden, Xie Ning hugged his arms tightly, tears flowed endlessly on his face, he shivered, hoarse, intermittently cried, a thousand words of pain and suffering, just blocked in the throat, composed of two words that could not breathe.

“Mom…” Xie Ning choked hoarsely, “I miss you so much, mom… I’m so, so homesick… I can’t take it anymore, I really can’t take it anymore, I miss home so much…” 

He was on the verge of suffocating, breathing hard, burying his face in his soaked palm, crying uncontrollably, only calling out for his mom – as if these two words, connected by blood, with a bond of affection, could cross the distance of time and space, and bring him a little warmth.

“Mom, it’s so hard to do something, so hard…” 

Standing behind the garden porch, the Goddess of Love silently looked at the boy’s paper-thin back, she did not speak, nor did she ever leave.

After that day, Xie Ning sat in front of the canvas, he was even more silent, widowed like a pale and emaciated stone statue, he pinched the brush, his eyes seeping blood. Little Eros said privately to his mother, “How strange this is! Ordinary mortals who drink the wine of immortality are radiant and beautiful, as if they were born gods. But look at Dorus, who, in the holy mountain of Olympus, is as if he had fallen into the underworld of the Hades, with so much desolation and sorrow in his eyes, that he makes my heart heavy.” 

Aphrodite did not speak, and after a few moments, she said, “Then, unless he speaks of his own accord, and wishes to speak to you, do not disturb him, and let him finish his work in peace.” 

Out of the expectation of all the gods, Xie Ning’s time to complete his third piece of artwork was much faster than they expected. In less than three months, he came to the Hall of Gods again, to have his final duel with Apollo.

“Dorus, do you really want to do this?” Aphrodite asked worriedly, “You’re not prepared at all, and you’ve painted in haste. How can you beat the brilliant brushwork of Phoebus Apollo?” 

Xie Ning did not answer for a long time, but after a long time, he said quietly, “I can’t win. I have finally realized… No matter how hard I try, even if it takes me ten, twenty, a hundred, a thousand years, I can’t win against him. God and man are two different species.” 

Hearing what he said, Aphrodite just sighed for a long time, she herself couldn’t refute this statement.

Coming to the temple, all the gods were looking at this final competition with the eyes of those who had already expected it. Even Zeus, who was the referee, was not interested in the outcome of this human-god duel.

Apollo stared at his opponent with a smile on his lips, making his handsome face shine more and more. He knew in his heart that he had completely broken this human, making his heart collapse and crumble, even more than a tsunami ravaging a lonely island. But he didn’t say anything, just exuberantly, “Since I was the winner of the last game, I should have shown my entry first, Goddess Themis, with your permission?” 

The goddess nodded, she walked over to Apollo’s canvas and removed the covering.

The gods’ admiration, praise, all in Xie Ning’s ears far away, his eyes can not see the golden picture, the powerless anger is like a weary sea, back and forth washing his body, he can no longer see this long ago doomed game, the blood at first rushed to his brain, make him dizzy, impulsive turn and leave.

Aphrodite was startled, “Dorus!” 

She drew up her veil, and hurried after the boy, and behind them the temple was silent for a moment at the sudden change, and then the gods laughed, they laughed at the cowardice of the human, and at his useless flight.

“Dorus!” The god of love caught up with the human in the lush flora outside the temple, “Where are you going?” 

“I have already lost,” Xie Ning whispered, his face ashen, “I lost… long ago. I’ve already lost.” 

Aphrodite looked at him sadly, and she finally made up her mind that it was time to tell him.

“Dorus, listen to me,” Aphrodite said softly, “according to the oath that the Father of the Gods made with Echidna, He actually had a chance to come out of Tartarus.” 

Xie Ning looked up suddenly, trying to find a trace of lying in the goddess’s expression, “… Really? ! How can he still come out? You’re not lying to me, he really can still come out, right?” 

Aphrodite’s voice was lighter than a breeze, lighter than a ray of moonlight in the cloudy night sky, so soft in tone, but the words that came out of her mouth were no less than a hundred thousand thunderbolts, blasting Xie Ning hard and heavy.

“Because of their original vow, the gods will heal you of your poisonous sickness, and when your mortal life is over, Echidna’s hard labor will end, and Zeus will send you to the most blessed land in the underworld, so that you can be reunited there.” 

For a moment, Xie Ning’s mind went completely blank.

“When my lifespan as a mortal ends…” He repeated Eros’ words blankly, looking at SHE with wide eyes, “But… But I drank the wine of Olympus, I lived forever! So, when will my life end? Is it possible to live forever and die?” 

Aphrodite opened her lips, she turned her head, unable to look into his eyes.

Xie Ning understood everything in an instant, from the way she inclined her cheek, he understood everything.

“God,” Xie Ning slowly crouched down, his knees couldn’t support his weak body, and then he fell heavily to the ground, “God… Oh God!” 

Echidna, his love interest, the clumsy snake god.

“Why did you bully him…” Xie Ning was speechless, wanting to bawl her eyes out, “He’s so stupid, so stupid, he’ll believe anything you say… He’ll believe anything you say. He’ll believe you when you say you love him, when you say you’re leaving, when you say you’re not going…”. You have the sky, the sea, the earth, you have so many things, why do you still bully him and lie to him…” 

“Dorus, I’m…” At his words, Aphrodite couldn’t help but feel a sourness in her heart, “I didn’t know. Because I do not want to separate you, the gods are always against my opinion. If you want me to help you, to intercede with the Farseer, I can do that for you…” 

Falling to the ground, Xie Ning shrank with pain, he could no longer hold back his tears, and cried hoarsely. When he thought of the situation in which Echidna made the vow, he hated to deliver everything, in exchange for that fool’s realization, so that he would not be so stupid, so casually rash, gullible and trusting of other people’s promises.

After a long period of pain and suffering, is hate, strong hate.

Xie Ning jumped up violently from the ground, his face was full of tears, his eyes were still red, but those eyes – Aphrodite couldn’t help but cry out in a low voice, she had never seen such eyes on the face of any human being, as if they were burning with a living fire, hidden with destructive lightning.

Thus Xie Ning ran resolutely to the temple of the gods. When he came out, he was like a rabbit being hunted by a predator; when he returned, he polished his snow-sharp blade and carried the intention of killing with 11 million knives.

He rushed into the smiling gods, rushed to the painting he used for the competition, tore off the paint-soaked paper with his hands, and tore it to shreds in a few strokes, sending colorful crumbs all over the ground.

The gods were in an uproar, Xie Ning turned to Zeus, his voice trembling, “I want to redraw.” 

After saying it once, he was afraid that the gods listening to him would not understand his determination well, and said loudly again, “I want to redraw it!” 

Zeus leaned forward in wonder, and asked, “Do you mean to back out, you bold boy?” 

“As he did in the first round,” Xie Ning pointed to Apollo, he tried to smile, but the fake smile he used to lighten the mood was mingled with hatred and mania, “I took this round lightly too, so I want to put my best foot forward and paint another picture.” 

Apollo frowned, not waiting for him to say anything, Xie Ning grabbed his hand and said, “I know! Human power cannot be compared to divine power. Just now, I had a brand new and better inspiration, so of course I can’t fool a god with my original crude painting, right?” 

Although he didn’t know why he suddenly changed his attitude, Apollo smiled slightly, and had already taken Xie Ning’s behavior as a sign that he had been completely shocked by the god’s talent, and thus had become so perverse.

“Well,” the sun god said slowly, strumming his lute, “what’s wrong with letting you paint again? I just hope that after you realize the difference between gods and men, you can put away your arrogant and haughty heart.” 

“–But, I’m still missing a bit of material for painting.” Looking straight at Zeus, Xie Ning said, “Because I’m going to compete with a god, the content I want to paint must be a subject that no one has ever seen before and no one will come after me, it’s too grand, the existing paints and brushes can’t assist me in realizing my conception at all.” 

Apollo let out a loud laugh, now, he believed that Xie Ning was trying to hide the fact that he was not as skilled as others, so he found such a poor excuse to whitewash himself.

“Ha, man!” The sun god put down his lyre, and also turned to Zeus, “Father of all gods, look at his reason, so grand, can’t the power of the gods realize this small request for him?” 

Zeus resumed his seat, and he smiled broadly.

“In that case, I can give you a bull’s horn,” the God-King held out his hand, in which lay a hollow golden bull’s horn, “It is well known that my foster-mother, who nurtured me, had a bountiful ram’s horn, from which flowers, delicacies, and fruits flowed unceasingly, as a gift from me to her. Now, I can give you such a horn, from which flow all the colors you need, and which will never run out. And I will give you a pen and a canvas, the nib of which is made of wool of pure gold, which will never fail, and a canvas as light as a dove’s feather, which, when closed, is only the size of a stone tablet, but when unfolded, extends as far as it will go, until it reaches the size you need.” 

Receiving the precious painting materials from Zeus, Xie Ning still stood in the same place, making a stumbling appearance.

“What else do you need? But whatever you need, remember, don’t be greedy, human.” Hermes warned.

Xie Ning looked up, he inhaled deeply, and said uneasily, “And then, when I paint, I will go to the earth to get material. What if a god, or a human or a monster or something, interferes with my painting and doesn’t want me to win?” 

Upon hearing his question, the gods all laughed and laughed, mocking Xie Ning’s whimsy.

“What do you want the gods to do?” Dionysus asked drunkenly, “Protect you all the long day?” 

Xie Ning smiled back, and said with an innocent expression, “I just want you to swear that you will not interfere with, or stop me from completing this painting. I have also heard that you have sworn by the Styx River. If you promise, I will feel relieved.” 

The god’s laughter gradually ceased, for swearing an oath was a very serious matter, and it was not any casual trifle that could cause a god to utter his oath to Styx.

Xie Ning’s eyes were fixed on Zeus, and he complimented, “You are the ruler of all the world, and the referee of this contest, and in my time, there are still rumors circulating about your deeds as a god-king. You see, I am just a single person, but my opponent, he is both the sun god and your son, the two sides are not balanced to the extreme, I am cautious, what is wrong? As a party to the contest, I have the right to ask for a level playing field, isn’t that what the spirit of Olympus emphasizes?” 

Zeus pondered for a long time, he nodded his head, and said in a deep voice, “Well, you’re right, and your request for fairness and impartiality is also a very appropriate one. Then, as a judge, I swear by the river Styx, that until this young man goes to walk on the earth, and completes the painting for the competition, no living being – not even me – shall disturb him, or prevent his brush from falling on the canvas, and whoever breaks this oath, shall be as guilty as Echidna. Whoever breaks this vow will suffer like Echidna, in Tartarus, for eternity!” 

With that, he turned to Xie Ning and warned, “The gods fulfill all your requests, so do not ask for anything else, human! Otherwise, not only will I withdraw all my favor, but I will punish your greed a million times over.” 

Xie Ning looked around, his eyes sweeping confidently and meticulously over a number of deities, a fierce light shining in his eyes.

“There is nothing else I want,” he says at last, his eyes returning to the throne, smiling happily at the king of the gods there, “My wishes, all of them, have been fulfilled.”