At that moment, after seeing those innocent, adorable children, almost every goddess felt a deep fondness in her heart.
The gods' divinity was vast, and their emotions all the more abundant.
Thus they did, at times, tend to act on feeling.
Yet when facing beings they loved, they were never stingy with grace.
Many gods who had not cared about humankind before were now interested.
They watched that rigorous, solemn, yet primitively beautiful rite below with both delight and envy.
Quite a few of them secretly resolved: "Later, I'm going to have something like this too!"
"After all, it's only guarding a small group of mortals—no great matter. To gain such a magnificent and entertaining sacrifice in return, that's a bargain!"
The sacrificial dance and hymn lasted a long time.
Only when the leading maidens and warriors were all but collapsing from exhaustion did the sequence of the dance finally end.
Then, with a natural closing movement, all fell prostrate onto the ground together and only then dared to rise and bow their way back in reverence.
Zeus nodded in satisfaction.
Gods have the sacred purity and majesty of gods; humans have the warmth and tenacity of human nature.
Humankind truly possessed high wisdom.
So long as they could grow well, one day even the gods might have much to learn from them.
As soon as the sacrificial dance began, Prometheus had quietly returned to the clouds above.
As one of the gods, he naturally had to stand before the God-King to receive the offering, not remain mingled with mortals.
He had been carefully watching Zeus and the other gods' reactions.
When he saw the gods' expressions soften and obvious fondness appear in their eyes, the heart he had held up at last truly settled.
Yes, every cost had been worth it.
Humankind had already won the affection of many gods.
A new future, full of hope, had already opened its doors to them!
When the dance ended, Prometheus stepped forward and said respectfully, "Great Majesty, this is the dance humankind has offered to You with all their hearts."
"Only, humankind is still so frail; what they have prepared is crude and simple; there must be many shortcomings. I beg Your Majesty's forgiveness."
"In days to come, Prometheus will surely teach them further and order them to continue striving and improving."
Zeus smiled. "Humankind has not been born long. To manage thus already is very good."
"Prometheus, My loyal servant, My dear friend—this is all thanks to your diligent teaching of humankind. You truly put your heart into it. I am very pleased."
Hearing Zeus say He was pleased, Prometheus's face lit with joy; he could not hide the glow upon it.
He quickly bowed again and said, "Honored Majesty, all is done in obedience to Your supreme will! It is You who wished the cosmos more splendid, and the gods no longer lonely—thus humankind came to be."
"It is under Your wise leadership, by Your benevolence and great works, that I had this precious chance to offer a small measure of service to You and the gods. With such trifling deeds, Prometheus would never dare claim merit."
As he spoke, he bent in a deep bow, his divine form slightly curved beneath the golden radiance, playing the part of "humility" to the hilt.
Zeus laughed aloud; His long laughter made the clouds billow and thunder echo. "You are too modest, Prometheus. Who among the gods does not know your wisdom? I shall remember every god's merit, one by one, and never forget."
Then the God-King, in even better humor, said, "I very much liked these children's dance just now. They have all done their utmost; they cannot go unrewarded."
He pondered a moment, then nodded. "To those warriors, I will grant a body that knows no wound or sickness and remains forever strong, so they will only die of old age. And after they die, I will take them under Thanatos's command to help him in ordering all matters of death."
"To those dear maidens, I will grant agelessness and a lifespan of one thousand two hundred Sacred Twelve-Cycles. So long as they do not violate My Sacred Just Order, I permit them, after death, to dwell on Olympus."
The God-King's word was law. As soon as He spoke, the Heavenly Order turned with His voice and sent all blessings down.
Those humans blessed at the sacrificial ground suddenly shone with golden and white light; the changes in them were obvious, drawing cries of surprise and joy and unending hymns and songs of praise.
Naturally the God-King did not forget those dear children.
"As for those precious little ones…"
Here Zeus laughed loudly and looked to the gods. "They are still young and should have different, splendid futures. Let the gods grant them blessings."
Since the God-King had spoken thus, and the gods also loved those children, they each bestowed gifts generously.
With a wave of many great gods' hands, dozens of strange lights drifted down into the mortal world and, in various ways, merged into the children's bodies, souls, or fates.
Those children's destinies would now inevitably be changed—marked for greatness.
Prometheus felt shock and delight, but also a flicker of hesitation.
With His Majesty and the gods so generous, should he still press on with his plan?
He only wavered for an instant before casting that doubt from his mind.
The arrow was on the string and had to be loosed; matters had gone too far to turn back.
And this was not merely for the present moment.
More humble than ever, he called out reverently, "Thanks be to the honored and generous Majesty! Your Majesty's grace is beyond all beings' power ever to repay!"
As he spoke, he also transmitted the content of Zeus's blessings into the souls of the humans at the ceremony, telling them of this great joy.
After a wave of astonishment, humans raised their hands and cheered, then again bowed full-length to the ground, voicing excited praises that would not cease.
Seeing Prometheus still maintain such extreme humility and seemingly devout bearing, Zeus only smiled and waved gently, His tone mild as a spring breeze: "Continue."
He knew well that the quality of Prometheus's "sincerity" was entirely different from that of the humans below.
Prometheus answered "Yes," then turned and, in a voice of utmost gravity, proclaimed to the humans below, "Offer your sacrifices to the great Majesty!"
"These offerings are the tokens of the most sacred covenant between gods and men!"
The mortals below, barely restraining their excitement, answered with immense fervor.
Though their tiny voices could not truly reach the highest heaven,
that rolling surge of sound shook their own hearts.
Then all began to move at once.
They brought the hundred already-slaughtered pure-white bulls up onto the altar and, according to the complex ritual, stacked them in layered offerings.
All around the base of the altar, more than a hundred great bonfires were lit.
They were full of expectation: after presenting the offerings and completing this rite, what further blessings would the gods bestow?
They had divided each bull into two portions.
Each portion seemed roughly the same size to the eye.
One was the carefully selected, layered, snowy-white fat.
Under the shine of the sacred fire it gleamed with a moist, alluring luster, like the finest jade.
Like the newborn dreams of humankind.
Who could guess how much effort it took to strip away all meat and bone so cleanly, leaving only that gleaming fat?
The other portion was covered carelessly with a rough, filthy hide; the once pure-white skin now completely stained with blood.
The bright red blood had congealed, and with time the stains had turned to a sick dark hue, reeking thickly of blood.
Zeus looked upon these two heaps of offerings and sighed inwardly.
What could ever be hidden from Him?
Prometheus had, in the end, chosen this road.
A god so clever as he always liked to cling to a fluke, always loved a bit of cleverness in his own eyes.
In every road he walked, he would try to seek some so-called "shortcut."
Always trying to trade the smallest price for the richest return.
He never did anything purely, never resolutely enough.
So clever as to verge on stubborn, so stubborn as to verge on foolish.
Always trying to find a gap in the rules, to snatch a scrap of advantage from Majesty.
Always thinking that, "so long as one is clever enough," even gods can be fooled.
But in the end, that is only self-deception.
Humankind had already paid an enormous price for this sacrifice—enough to move the gods.
Yet at the very end, just as everything was about to conclude perfectly, he had to stir trouble again.
Only to spare mortals a little more of some trivial cost.
He had forgotten what the most fundamental purpose of this sacrifice was—what mattered most.
He had completely reversed the ends and the means.
Zeus cursed inwardly: moreover, this was an excessive insult to the gods!
That heap of fat was indeed snowy and pleasing to the eye, but beneath that glossy surface lay nothing but a pile of neatly stacked, cleaned white bones, drained of all worth.
That hide was indeed foul and repellent, but beneath its ugly surface lay all the truly rich flesh and entrails.
What looked equal was in truth hollow versus solid, the false hiding the real.
And even without talking of "value," in a whole bull, what proportion do bone and fat make up? At most thirty to forty percent.
Now the two heaps looked the same size only because the bones under the fat had been cleverly stacked up to puff out a false "plumpness."
A fraudulent "equality," supported only by crafty rearrangement!
This was wanting everything—good and more of it—and still hoping to please the gods!
The gods no longer minded sharing offerings equally with lowly mortals, and yet he dared to skim from the gods' portion!
Too much trickery against the gods!
And it was he, first of all, who had chosen this inequality!
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