ROMANTIC CONTENT WARNING.
Long ago, Jupiter/Zeus and Mercury/Hermes visited the land of Phrygia. Disguised as poor and weary travellers, they called at house after house, begging for food and lodging. All but one house turned them away.
Baucis and Philemon were a poor old couple happy to live within their means. They welcomed the gods into their small cottage, told them to put their feet up and rest; they served bacon, cabbage, fruits, pickles, relishes, eggs and milk. The conversation was cheerful. They all rested and drank wine before having the next course: nuts, figs, dates, plums, apples, honeycomb, and grapes. The couple noticed that the wine cups kept refilling themselves at their guests' commands; they were dining with gods.
"The wicked people of this region will receive the punishment they deserve but no harm shall come to this humble home. Come and follow us as we climb to the summit of this mountain," said Zeus.
B&P did as they were told; they struggled to the top of the mountain, leaning on their walking sticks. At the top, they looked back down. Only their humble home had not engulfed by water; everything else had been destroyed. They wept over the deaths of their friends. As they watched, their little cottage was transformed into a magnificent temple to the gods.
Zeus, speaking gently, asked: "Tell me, my good couple, what do you desire?"
The couple talked among themselves for a bit before Philemon answered: "We pray that you will allow us to look after your new temple and that, since we have lived so long together in harmony, we might leave this life together. Let us both die at the same hour. I do not wish to see the tomb of my dear wife and neither do I wish her to bury me."
Zeus assented, and for the rest of their lives they were the keepers of the temple. The years passed; Phrygia was repopulated. One day, standing outside their temple and speaking to a crowd, their skin started to harden and sprout leaves. They embraced, speaking to each other as long as they could, saying farewell until they were covered with leaves and branches. They became two trees, whose trunks and branches were entwined - two forms made into one.
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