Chapter 6 Chapter 6 Europa

Thales and Sidon, capitals of the Phoenician kingdom, were rich places.Europa, the daughter of King Agenor, has always lived in her father's palace.One day, in the middle of the night, she had a strange dream.She dreamed that the two major parts of the world, Asia and the opposite continent, had turned into two women, fighting fiercely to possess her.One of the women was very strange, and the other, who was Asia, looked exactly like the locals.Asia was very excited, and she asked for her tenderly and passionately, saying that she was the mother who raised her; but the strange woman grabbed her by the arm like a robber, and pulled her away. "Come with me, dear," said the strange woman to her, "and I will take you to Zeus! For Fate has appointed you to be his lover."

Europa woke up, her heart beating wildly.She sat up from the bed, the dream just now clearly appeared in front of her eyes, as clear as the real events during the day.She sat there for a long time without moving. "What god in the sky," she wondered, "give me such a dream? Who is that strange woman in the dream? How I long to meet her! How loving she is to me, even if I touch her When he snatched me, he still smiled at me tenderly! May God only let me return to the dreamland!" In the early morning, the bright sunlight wiped away the girl's dream at night.After a while, many girls of her age gathered and played games with her.Apparently they were both daughters of prominent families.They walked her with her, and led her to the meadow by the sea, where the girls liked to meet.The seaside is full of flowers and beautiful.The girls wear bright clothes embroidered with beautiful flowers.Europa wore a long-breasted skirt, which was radiant.Gold and silver threads are used to weave scenes of the life of many gods on the clothes. This invaluable dress is still the masterpiece of Hephaestus, the god of fire.Poseidon, the sea god who is good at calling wind and rain and often causing earthquakes, once gave this dress to Libia when they were in love.Later, this dress became a family heirloom and was passed on to his son Agenor.Europa put on beautiful clothes, so charming.She ran ahead of her companions to the meadow by the sea.The flowers on the grass are in full bloom, and they are very fragrant.The girls laughed and scattered, picking their favorite flowers, some picking daffodils, some picking hyacinths, some looking for violets, some looking for thyme, and some like yellow saffron.Europa also soon found the flower she was looking for.Standing among the girls, holding a bouquet of flaming red roses high in her hands, she looked like a goddess of love.

The girls collected all kinds of flowers, then gathered together, sat on the grass, and weaved wreaths by hand.To thank the Meadow Fairy, they presented her with garlands of garlands hung from green branches. Zeus was deeply moved by the beauty of the young Europa.However, he was afraid of the wrath of his jealous wife Hera, and at the same time he was afraid that it would be difficult to seduce the pure girl in his own image, so he came up with a trick and turned into a bull.What a bull that was!It is not an ordinary bull carrying a yoke and pulling a heavy cart, but a fat, strong, noble and gorgeous bull.The horns are small and exquisite, like finely carved handicrafts, shining like precious diamonds.A crescent-shaped silver birthmark flashed on his forehead.Its fur is golden yellow, and a pair of bright blue eyes are burning with lust, revealing deep affection.Of course, before Zeus transformed, he had already called Hermes to him and told him to do one thing. "Come quickly, my boy, faithful executor of my orders," he said, "do you see the kingdom of Phoenicia?

Go down quickly, and drive all the king's cattle that graze on the hillside to the sea. Immediately Hermes flapped his wings and flew to the pastures of Sidon. He drove the king's cattle from the mountains to the meadows, to the place where Agenor's daughter Europa was happily gathering flowers and weaving garlands. But Hermes Unbeknownst to Mess, his father Zeus had turned into a bull and mixed with the king's herd. The herd of cattle slowly spread out on the grass, only the big bull in the form of a god came to the grass on the hillside, where Europa and a group of girls were sitting and playing.The bull walked proudly across the rich grass, but he was not aggressive or scary, he seemed docile and lovely.Both Europa and the girls praised the bull's noble spirit and quiet posture. They approached the bull with great interest, looked at it, and stretched out their hands to stroke its shiny back.The bull seemed to be very human, he got closer and closer to the girl, and finally, he snuggled up beside Europa.Europa was startled, and couldn't help but take a few steps back.When she saw that the bull was just standing there docilely, she bravely stepped forward again.Bring the bouquet in your hand to the bull's mouth.The bull coquettishly licked the flowers and the girl's hand.The girl wiped off the white foam from the bull's mouth with her hands, and gently stroked the bull's body. She liked this beautiful bull more and more, and finally bravely kissed the bull's forehead lightly.The bull let out a cry of joy, which was not like an ordinary cow's cry, but sounded like the sound of a Lydian reed pipe, echoing in the valley.The bull lay docilely at the girl's feet, looked at her with infinite love, shook his head, beckoned to her, and climbed up his broad back.

Europa was really happy, and called to her companions. "Come here so we can sit on the back of this beautiful bull. I think there is room for four people on the back of the bull.This bull is docile and friendly, not like other bulls at all.I think it probably has spirituality, like a human being, but it can't speak! As she said, she took the garlands from her female companions, hung them on the horns of the bull, and then bravely rode on the back of the bull, but her female companions still hesitated to ride. When the bull had achieved his goal, he sprang from the ground, and walked slowly and easily, but Europa's female companions could not catch up.When it stepped out of the grass and a bare sandy beach appeared in front of it, the bull picked up his speed and moved forward like a galloping horse.Before Europa knew what had happened, the bull had jumped into the sea and happily swam away with his prey on his back.The girl is holding the bull's horn tightly with her right hand, and holding the bull's back with her left hand. The sea breeze blows her clothes like an open sail.She was very frightened, turned her head and looked at her hometown in the distance, and called out to her companions, but the wind sent her voice back.The sea water flowed slowly beside the bull, and the girl tried her best to raise her feet for fear of getting her clothes wet.But the bull is like a sea boat, swimming steadily to the distance of the sea.Soon the shore disappeared and the sun sank into the water.In the dim night, the terrified Europa couldn't see anything except the waves and the stars, and she felt very lonely.

The bull carried the girl onwards, greeted the dawn while swimming, and swam in the water for a whole day.There is always endless sea water around, but the bull parted the waves so deftly that not a drop of water got on his lovely prey.In the evening, they finally came to the distant coast. The bull climbed onto the land, came to a big tree, let the girl slide off his back, but suddenly disappeared.The girl was surprised, but she saw a man who was as handsome as a god standing in front of her.He told her that he was the master of Crete and that he could protect the girl if she would marry him.In desperation, Europa stretched out a hand to him, saying that he agreed to his request.Zeus realized his wish, and later, he disappeared just like when he came.

A red sun was rising gradually, and Europa gradually woke up from the coma.She looked around in panic and called her father's name.At this time, she remembered what had happened, so she complained very sadly: "I am a despicable daughter, how can I call my father's name? I accidentally lost my body, and I must forget everything!" She looked around carefully, repeating in her heart She asked anxiously: "Where did I come from, where am I going? Am I really awake, is this scandal real? No, I must be innocent, she may just be a dream haunting me." The girl said, rubbing her eyes with her hands, as if she wanted to get rid of the ugly nightmare.But those strange scenes are still there, unknown mountains and forests surround her, the waves of the sea are surging, crashing against the cliffs, making earth-shattering rumbles.In desperation, the girl was full of resentment, and she cried out loudly. "God, if the damned bull appears in front of me again, I will break its horns, but this can only be a wish! Home is far away in the sky, what else can I do but die? The gods in the sky Give me a lion or tiger!" But the beast did not appear, and all she saw was a strange scene.The sun beamed brightly from the blue sky.As if driven by the Furies, Europa suddenly jumped to his feet. "Poor Europa!" she cried, "if you don't want to end this dishonorable life, don't you feel that your father will curse you? Would you be willing to be a concubine to a king of beasts, toil Are you struggling to be his maid? How can you forget that you are the princess of a noble king?"

The girl who was tragically abandoned by fate hated her deeply. She thought of dying, but she couldn't find the courage to die.Suddenly, she heard a low laughing sound from behind.The girl turned her head in surprise, and she saw the goddess Aphrodite standing in front of her, shining with the brilliance of the gods.Next to the goddess is her youngest son, the angel of love, who is eager to try with his bow and arrow.The goddess smiled and said: "beautiful girl, calm down quickly! The bull you cursed will come soon, and it will bring you the horn to break. I am the woman who gave you the dream. Europa, You can console yourself! It was Zeus himself who took you away. Now you have become a goddess on the ground, and your name will live forever. From now on, the continent that houses you will be called Europa after your name! "

Europa suddenly realized that she acquiesced to her own destiny and gave birth to three powerful and wise sons with Zeus. They were Minos, Rhadamantis and Sarpedon.Minos and Rhadamantis later became the judges of the underworld.Sarpedon was a great hero who became king of the Lykian kingdom in Asia Minor.