Page 2 of Hermes
Now that I had what I needed, there was still a gory mess that had to be cleaned up. But I couldn’t just carry the dead cow on my back, nor could I just make it vanish into thin air. So, I laid the cow on its stomach in the field, and did my best to clear up the traces of blood and spewed guts around it. Maybe whoever found it would assume it was in a deep slumber, which was partially true. It was, in fact, in a deep slumber, a deep permanent one.
Once I made quick work of the deceased animal, I continued to herd the others into the high thickets, so that they could be concealed, while I sprinted to a nearby pond to wash myself of the cow’s blood that was still all over me. Time was of the essence and I couldn’t completely clean myself fully. I allowed some dried specs of blood to still linger on my body. With the minimal time I had left, I attached the entrails to the turtle shell I had. As I plucked on it, a beautiful melodic noise erupted from the instrument.
Splendid!
When I made my way back to the remaining cattle, my eyes widened, shocked that I was no longer the only one present with them. Apollo stood among the crowd, his face distraught, holding an angry expression.
He began to shout, while I hid from him nearby. “You can come out now, whoever you are! The jig is up! Show yourself, or else I will inform my father, Zeus, of this crime and he will condemn you to a fate worse than me!”
Just who did Apollo think he was, trying to scare me?
He would be in for a rude awakening to learn that the very same man he spoke of was my father, too. However, knowing I was in the wrong and caught red-handed, literally with slight traces of dried blood on me, I decided to step out and reveal myself to him.
I held a coy smirk on my face as I approached Apollo. Despite the fact that I wasn’t as careful with my deceit and was apprehended nevertheless, I was impressed with Apollo. He wasn’t nearly as dumb as I had anticipated. Clever, that one was.
His eyes bulged the second he saw me. “Hermes!?” he blurted out loud.
“The one and only!” I confidently replied.
“Did you do this!?” he aggressively stated, sounding extremely accusatory. “Did you steal my cattle and even… kill one of them!?”
His feet stomped in my direction as I held my hand up to block him. “Now, now, Apollo. Let’s be reasonable about this. I couldn’t resist! Those cattle were so sacred to you. I’ve watched you raise them,” I explained.
“And you thought that gave you the right to take them from me!?” He lunged forward at me, in an attempt to wrap his fists around my throat.
I side-stepped, avoiding his contact with me, creating more of a distance between us. Apollo clearly wasn’t in the mood to follow logic and reasoning.
Everything I was saying was going in one of his ears and right out of the other. If words would not get to him, then perhaps a soothing sound would. So, I pulled out the turtle shell with the attached entrails.
“So, is that why you killed my cow? To make this… thing!?” he shouted when he saw the instrument I was holding.
“It’s not just anything, Apollo. Here… listen.” I plucked the thinly carved intestines of the cow with my delicate fingers. A beautiful sound was elicited by the object. Apollo paused in his tracks as I continued to strum the instrument.
Upon hearing the sound, I could sense Apollo was calming down. His entire demeanor suddenly changed, and he instantly relaxed.
“What is it?” he asked, with more sincerity rather than annoyance.
“Let’s call it a lyre for now,” I recommended, continuing to swipe my fingers across the various different entrails wrapped along the inside of the turtle shell, creating a variety of distinct sounds that worked together to create a harmonic hymn.
Apollo was instantly entranced, his oceanic eyes glowing with intrigue.
“Would you happen to have another lyre you could give me? It’s the least you could do.”
I could see right where Apollo was going with this. He assumed I owed him a favor for what I did to his cattle. And I thought I was the devious one here.
I placed my hand over my forehead and shook it while chuckling. “Of course not! That’s the reason I had to come here to get my hands on one of your sacred cows, in order to make it to begin with.”
“Well, since my cows are so valuable to you in order to make these lyres, why don’t we have a trade-off?”
I rubbed my chin, deep in thought. “What kind of trade-off?”
“What if I handed you over all of my cattle in exchange for the current lyre that you have?” he explained. I was surprised he was so willing to just hand over his cattle to me. I thought they were so sacred to him. Evidently not. He must have seen more value in the lyre I created.
“Hmmm. I’ll have to take some time to think about it more. Weigh out my options,” I replied.
“Well, there’s nothing to think about,” he asserted. “I am doing you a favor with this trade. For if you don’t accept these terms, I will go to our father and inform him of your treachery and deceit towards me. I wonder what he would say about it? I’m certain he wouldn’t be pleased.”
Was he threatening me!? The very nerve of my brother!
