Soon after his birth Paulos was exposed upon the mountainside as are all the babies in our land. After two days lying naked and unfed in the cold of the mountain he was still alive, and therefore fit to be brought back to the village to live among us.
When he was one moon old the elders of the village came to appraise Paulos. They felt his limbs, looked into his eyes and scrutinised his little penis.
“Yes,” said the senior elder, when they had finished their examination, “He is the Chosen One.”
At these words his father seemed to swell with pride and his mother burst into tears of joy. There would be no more struggling to scrape a living from the poor soil of our country, no more fear of hunger in the dark time, and instead of the harsh red wine of the common people, they would now drink nothing but the finest vintages and eat the most delicious fruits and tender meats.
Paulos’ mother was told she must keep the boy at the breast until he was two, “So he may be nourished as the Chosen One should be,” commanded the senior elder. This was burdensome for her, but since she now no longer needed to toil in the field or tend the animals, her own well-being was sustained.
Until the child was weaned Paulos’ father Darius could no longer come upon his wife,”For,” said the senior elder, “she must remain inviolable during her nourishing of the Chosen One.” Instead Darius was given one of the younger widows of our village for his comfort. We have many widows in our village most of their men having been slain in the wars against those who seek to invade our Polis and its surrounding villages.
As the light of understanding grew upon Paulos he came to see that he was different from the other boys in the village.
Great men from the Polis came to visit him and bent the knee before him. As the seasons came and went the village elders grew ever more respectful of his person. Two among them had special care of him, one to inculcate in him the ancient ways of our people and our gods, and most especially the Sun god Helios. The other elder gave him exercise instruction.
All the boys and young men in our Polis and the villages engaged in exercises, but some of these exercises were forbidden to Paulos. He was not permitted to engage in any game or sport that might mar or injure him. He might not box or wrestle, or play in team sports that might cause him to be damaged. Running, jumping, throwing the javelin or discus and similar exercises were permitted so his body might grow and flourish in all the aspects of male beauty.
Paulos along with his parents and older brothers and sisters ate and drank finer victuals than any others in the village; they even enjoyed better fare than the village elders, and in the dark time of the year they never went hungry as the others did.
If Paulos asked of his parents or instructors why he was treated so differently, they would say only, “You are the Chosen One.” For what he was chosen they would not say, and became silent and guarded.
When he approached manhood he was daily given a drink to consume. It tasted bitter and he did not like it, but he was told, “It is the juice of the herb sent to you by the Daughters of Helios who alone know the secret of its place of flourishing and its power to enlarge the phallus and make potent the male seed.”
Indeed, Paulos developed a might phallus, and it being the custom of our young men to exercise naked, the village maidens came to watch Paulos, to see his beautiful body and mighty organ and all desired him, but they were forbidden his penetration and even the touch of his phallus.
Nor was Paulos allowed to relieve himself of his seed, and he was watched night and day to ensure that he yielded not to the temptation to emit his seed, except by nature. “Only by the will of Helios can you emit your seed,” he was told, “for to do otherwise is to weaken its power.”
Thus, if the other young men of the village were angry and jealous of his mighty phallus and superb body, so was Paulos envious of their coupling with the village maidens and their self relieving. He suffered agonies of desire for the maidens but he was constantly reminded, “You are the Chosen One of Helios and must remain pure until the time of your fulfilment.”
“When will be the time of my fulfilment?” he would ask in the torment of his carnal hunger, but none would answer him.
Once, when his instructor lapsed briefly in his oversight, Paulos, finding himself alone and with a maiden nearby, indulged his desire to touch her breasts. She caressed his phallus telling him, “I desire you to enter me.” But one of the elders came upon them and the instructor and the maiden were put to death.
Paulos wept for the instructor and the maiden and he was admonished by the senior elder; “Had you entered the maiden or emitted your seed at her hand, you too would have joined them in the abyss of despair.”
After that, an even sterner watch was kept upon Paulos.
When he was full grown and the dark of the year was upon the land and Helios did not show his face to our people, the elders came to him. “Now is the time of the Chosen One,” the senior elder said.
Against the cold of the dark of the year they clothed Paulos in rare furs and they began a journey of one day into the mountains. Reaching a wide plateau they were met by a group of women clad like Paulos, in furs.
One tall and exquisitely beautiful woman stepped forward to meet them.
“I am the High Priestess of The Daughters of Helios and am come to claim the Chosen One,” she said.
The senior elder bowed low to her and responded, “We give unto you the Chosen One,” and then turning to Paulos he went on, “Now is the time of your fulfilment. You must go with the Daughters of Helios, and begin your service to the god. Farewell Chosen One, and may the sacred signs of Helios be upon you.”
The elders turned away and began their descent of the mountain. A bewildered Paulos watched them as their figures diminished until he could see them no more.
A hand touched his arm. “Come, Chosen One and have the joy of the Daughters of Helios.” It was the beautiful woman who had greeted them. She took his hand and drew him away in the opposite direction from the elders.
They began to descend from the plateau and within a short space of time they entered a valley, the entrance of which was hardly visible to the uninitiated eye. A short distance further on and they came upon a large building clad in white marble and gracefully made. Paulos had never seen such a fine building even among the beautiful structures he had seen on his only visit to the Polis.
“What is this place? “he asked in an awestruck voice.
“It is the temple of Helios,” the lady replied. “It is where you will now live among us to serve the god Helios.”
Entering the temple Paulos found it to be warm after the bitter cold of the mountains, yet he could not see any fires like those in the village huts. He asked about this and the lady replied, “The fire is beneath the building and is tended by the slaves of Helios throughout the dark time of the year. The fire warms air that flows through stone channels to reach all the rooms of the temple.
The lady clapped her hands, and two lovely naked young girls hastened forward. “Conduct the Chosen One to his apartments,” she said, the turning to Paulos she went on, “I shall come to you later to instruct you in how you shall serve Helios.”
The girls led Paulos along passages soft with wool carpets beneath his feet. Everywhere naked women of all ages and great beauty came and went. Shortly they came upon bronze doors that swung open at the touch of one of the girl’s hands.