Woman was man's first
punishment. Disguised as a gift! Well, well, perhaps your Athena
will be more the gift, less the punishment!" She tousled his
hair, hummed to herself, glanced in amusement over her shoulder
at him, and laughed.
Demo smiled. Such pleasant punishment.
Yet, truly, how much pain. The wanting, the loneliness, the
feeling of emptiness when she was not near - before he met her
they did not exist. Now they were his constant companions.
A coin has two sides.
Gift and punishment indeed!
The more he thought, the more reasonable it seemed. The
punishment for Atlas, the ultimate punishment, would be to find
him a mate.
Of course, it was difficult. For one such as Atlas, who might
qualify?
There were children's' stories, tales, even legends, of women
such as these. But reality knew none such.
I have a task of great difficulty, he thought to himself. I'll
get busy on it after lunch. "Mother, haven't we anything to eat?"
"Mother, tell me of women."
"Women! Why . . . , eh, what in the world do you want to know?
She blushed slightly, frowned.
"Well, you spoke of Pandora. I am sure there are other women in
history. Tell me of them."
She blinked, then smiled. "Oh, of course. History is replete
with stories of great women. Let me think."
"What is greatness? Hera, wife of Zeus, of course. Venus,
Goddess of Love, certainly. The Amazons, who dominated men,
perhaps. There are so many, and they vary in their greatness.
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