EPISODE 7

IN WHICH HERMES LEARNS TO SEE AN INVISIBLE UNIVERSE

Previously: Hermes has become friends with his brother Apollo. Curious about the world he is discovering, he has made up his mind to go to see the old nurses of the babies of the gods in order to learn how to read the future.

Hermes was thirsting to know the world. He left instantly and headed towards Mount Parnassus, taking with him his golden staff with the two intertwined snakes. He walked singing all the way. He crossed the verdant plains, then the flowering orchards. Trees with pink or yellow flowers intermingled on the grassy meadows and this vision of nature filled him with happiness.

Hermes soon arrived at the foot of Mount Parnassus. That mountain was not as high as the mountain of the gods, yet it was dark and cold, despite the springtime warmth. The more Hermes climbed, the more the herbs and flowers became scarce. Soon there were only stones.

A little brook appeared at the turn of the path. There, an old woman squatting on her heels was washing great white sheets, which served to swaddle babies. Her grey hair was done up in a tight bun. She had a beautiful face, still smooth in spite of her advanced age. Yet her eyes were unsmiling.

“What have you come here for?” she asked gruffly.

“I have been sent by the great Apollo, who loves you so very fondly, O nurse,” replied Hermes, “I would like to learn how to foretell the future.”

The nurse gazed hard at him: “Why do you wish to know what will exist? Do you already know how to see what exists around you?”

The young god hesitated and then replied: “No. Teach me.”

The stern-faced old woman beckoned to Hermes to approach. “Look down into this brook and tell me what you see,” she told him.

Hermes looked at the flowing water and replied: “Good nurse, I see nothing but water flowing on the pebbles.”

“When you leave this place, you will see there a thousand hidden treasures,” she said. She took the boy’s bundle and led him to the cave where she slept.

Hermes stayed for seven days and seven nights with the first nurse, whose name was Antalia. And she taught him to open his eyes upon the world. She taught him to observe life under a blade of grass, to smell the scent of the flowers, to recognize the taste of honey and that of salt, to love the caresses of the sun and of the wind, to listen to the voice of the earth, to hear the murmur of the stars.

By the end of the seventh day, Antalia returned to the bank of the brook with Hermes and she asked him: “Look down into these flowing waters and tell me what you see.”

Hermes squatted down on his heels over the brook and this is what he said: “I see the dancing and graceful curve of the running water, I see the golden flecks of sun reflected on its surface, I see the little silver fish huddling under this stone, I see the green seaweed rippling in the current, I see the insect skating on the surface, and I see the tracks of animals who have come to drink. I smell the fresh scent of the moss, and that of bluebells. I hear the music of the droplets as they strike against the rock. I hear the dragonflies skimming the water with their vibrating wings. I hear the song of the little frogs crouching behind the blades of grass.” Hermes stopped for an instant. He dipped his fingers into the current and brought a mouthful to his lips. “And I find again the wholesome taste of the earth and the sun in the purity of this water.” Hermes had found the key to an invisible universe. Only he who knows how to wait and how to see may enter it.

Antalia smiled at last and said: “Hermes, you now know how to see what exists around you. You may continue your way. Go and find my sister, farther up on the mountain, she might be able to help you.” The young god thanked the old nurse warmly for all that she had taught him. He picked up his golden staff once more and left, impatient to discover all the other mysteries of this world.

 

To be continued…