書畫言心每月小品 Epic of Vision for the Month
Eternal Beauty of Purity 永恆純潔之美
Who
can tell what a peacock will be
if stripped of the emerald color on
its feather and eyes on tail?
Then,
to all people's surprise,
right before us is an exhibit of the
eternal beauty of purity.
If
it was cursed once upon a time
for not recognizing the envy of "Hera"1
at the beauty of "Io",2
now it is blessed for its heart of mercy.
If
it was punished once upon a time
for not offering an immortal host
for the accommodation of the eyes of "Argus"3,
now it is blessed
for not
compromising its compassion on the suppression of the powerful to
the weak.
Without
conscience,
extravagance of color is but the sign of injustice and
eyes of jade the symbols of fanatic loyalty to evil.4
So "blessed are
they which are persecuted for righteousness sake
for theirs is the
kingdom of heaven."5
Note:
- In Greek mythology, Hera was the wife and older sister of Zeus, who was the king of the gods.
- Io was a beautiful priestess of Hera. She was seduced by Zeus.
- Argus Panoptes was a giant with a hundred eyes. He was thus a very effective watchman, as only a few of the eyes would sleep at a time; there were always eyes still awake.
- The bright spots on male peacock are known as "eyes", and inspired the Greek myth that Hera placed the hundred eyes of her slain giant Argus on the tail of her favorite bird. Click <here> and <here> to see the wikipedia illustration about the legend of the eyes of peacock in Greek mythology.
- Matthew 5, Bible.