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Baucis and Philemon
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In a hilly land, called Phrygia,
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there is a steep-sided valley.
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Most of the valley is filled with a dark lake.
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Beside the lake grow two trees, an oak and a linden, their branches entwined.
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Hanging from every bough and branch there are ribbons.
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Long ago, great Zeus, whose temple is the sky,
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and Hermes, the messenger of the gods,
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heard whispers from the House of Rumour
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that there was a town at the bottom of a steepsided valley in the hilly land of Phrygia where the sacred laws of hospitality were flouted,
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where strangers were not welcomed.
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They decided to see if these stories were true.
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They changed their shapes as the gods can,
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so that to all the world they looked like a pair of travellers.
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They flashed down from the sky into the town on the night of a terrible storm.
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From house to house they ran in the rain begging for food, begging for shelter.
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Every request was greeted with kicks and curses and insults.
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A hundred homes they visited.
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At last, tired, foot-sore, hungry, wet through they trudged up the side of the valley leaving the town behind.
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As they did so, they saw they were approaching a little hut.
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Standing in front of it was an old woman.
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This was Baucis.
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She and her husband Philemon had met in this place,
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had married in this place,
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had grown grey and white together.
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Children had never come.
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They were very poor but they had accepted their plight and so they had made light of it.
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They were devoted to one another.
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The only thing in the world they had that they valued was a goose, who guarded their home.
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Now Baucis saw these bedraggled strangers approaching and she hobbled over eagerly.
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'You! Mighty Zeus, whose temple is the sky,
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has decreed anyone who approaches our home in need of food, in need of shelter,
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ought to be welcomed.
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What we have, we'll share with you.
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Come inside now, come inside.'
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Zeus and Hermes, disguised as men, had to stoop to enter the hut.
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They were welcomed warmly by the old man Philemon.
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He shook them each by the hand;
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he gave them each a stool to sit on.
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They sat.
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The old woman, she blew into the ashes at the bottom of the grate so that the grey glowed red again.
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The old man put on his cloak.
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He hobbled out into the storm to pick some vegetable from his garden.
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The old woman cut a hunk from their lump of long-cherished pork.
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She threw it into the pot.
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The old man threw in the vegetables.
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They poured on water,
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sprinkled on herbs,
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threw in garlic,
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and then they talked about whatever they could,
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in the hope they could keep their guests' minds off the long delay before it was time to eat.
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The old man gave them a beech wood bowl,
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full of warm water,
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to wash off the dust and grime of their journey.
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The old woman dragged a table from the shadows into the centre of the room
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so that they could sit around it when the time came to eat.
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One leg was far too short:
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the table wobbled very badly.
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But she kept a shard of tile, just for this purpose,
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and she slid it under the short leg.
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She rubbed the surface of the table with stalks of fresh mint so that it smelled fragrant.
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They sat around it.
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She gave them things to nibble while they waited:
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olives, wild cherries that had been steeped in wine,
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lumps of cheese, radishes, eggs that had been roasted in the embers.
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One jug full of wine was all they had.
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She poured it out carefully between the four of them.
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They sipped it, making it last as long as they could.
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Then came the stew, and, after the stew,
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they had nuts and grapes and figs and dates and a slice of sweet honeycomb.
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All through the meal there was talk, there was laughter,
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and, outside, the rain came down in black sheets.
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The woman Baucis looked at the wine jug.
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She was sure it had been empty and yet it was full.
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She poured it out between the four of them and still it was filled to the brim.
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She turned to her husband and whispered,
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'These are gods,
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two of the great Olympian gods, here in our home.
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What kind of meal was this to give to two of the great Olympian gods?
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We have no choice.
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Husband, go outside and kill the goose!
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We will pluck it and roast it in their honour.'
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The husband stood.
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He smiled at the strangers and shuffled out of the cottage.
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Inside the old woman raised her voice,
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hoping she could drown out the squawking and the honking of the dying goose.
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But the old man was old.
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Age had made him slow,
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and the goose could tell something was wrong.
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He chased the goose back and forth, then back and forth.
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Inside the cottage, by now the old woman was shouting.
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In burst the goose.
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It took shelter behind the strangers.
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The two travellers stood.
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‘There is no need for you to kill this creature whom you love so much.
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We are gods but already you've given us far more than we could have hoped for.
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Old man, old woman, follow us now.'
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Puffing and grunting,
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Baucis and Philemon followed the travellers to the top of the valley.
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When they reached the ridge,
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they turned and they sank to their knees in awe.
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For the town at the bottom of the valley had gone.
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Where it had been, there was a dark lake.
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They turned towards the travellers.
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They shielded their eyes,
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for no strangers standing there now:
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Zeus and Hermes, awful in their bright glory.
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'We have punished this town.
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Only you were spared.
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We were touched by the warmth of your welcome.
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We will give you both a wish.
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Speak now!
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Anything will be granted you.
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Speak now!'
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The old woman spoke first:
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'Mighty Zeus, transform our hut into a golden temple,
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that we might worship there for however many years of life we have left.'
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Zeus bowed his head.
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'Another wish!'
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It was the old man who spoke then,
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but it could have been his wife –
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they were of one mind.
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'Will you make us die together?
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Will you make us die in the same moment,
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so that I will not have to stand beside her grave,
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so that she will not have to bury me?'
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Both of their wishes were granted them.
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For many more years,
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they were priestess and priest of a golden temple.
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Then one morning, early, the old man was digging his garden before the heat of the sun was too fierce.
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His wife called to him.
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He saw her standing outside the temple staring at her feet, and, when he looked,
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her toes had taken root and brown bark was spreading up her legs.
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He hobbled towards her.
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He put his arms around her waist;
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she put her arms around his back.
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As they embraced, they could feel buds emerging from the tips of their fingers.
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He could feel leaves growing from the bald crown of his head.
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As the bark spread across their faces,
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they looked into one another's eyes for the last time and said,
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'Goodbye, dear one.'
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The lake can still be found even now.
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The temple is long gone;
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but beside the lake still grow two trees,
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an oak and a linden,
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their branches entwined as though they are embracing.
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And hanging from every bough and branch there are ribbons,
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offerings,
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gifts left by lovers.