Girl's Summer

In the 1200 BC, Paris, the prince of Troy visited Greek and abducted the Greek beauty Helen, wife of King Menelaus of Sparta. This violation of all rules of hospitality caused great anger to all the Greek people who summoned all its aid to sail for Troy.

The war between the Trojan and the Greek dragged on for ten years and Troy still stood impregnable. Odysseus, the resourceful hero of Greek, came up with a way to end the war.

He ordered to build a giant wooden horse and filled it with enough Achaean warriors. The rest of the Achean pretended to sail away from Troy. Before they left, they burned their barracks so that the Trojan didn't watch out with them. In a short time the horse was done and the warriors to be hidden inside had been decided. Sinon volunteered to be in charge of abiding by the horse.

The Trojans were blind by fate and believed they were victorious. They found the Achaean ships sailed away. So they came to the side of the river and found the horse. They were amazed by the construction of the horse. Opinions varied among them on how to deal with it. Some suggested putting it within walls, some putting on their castle as a souvenir of victory, and others not believing the Achaean would leave a gift for no reason, suggested pushing it into the sea or burning it.

Suddenly they saw Sinon under the horse and took him handcuffed to the King's presense. Sinon had deliverately put himself in the path of his captors. He began his speech with tears, "God, where can I go? The Achaean abandoned me, and the Trojan would surely kill me." The Trojans around him were touched by his words. Then he continued to tell the story about how he had become the sacrifice of the Achaean and how he had escaped at the last minute. He at last said, "Now I can not return to where I am from. Now I am at your hand. Whether you will kindly save my life or kill me like my fellow contrymen, is up to you!"

Sinon succeeded in touching the heart of the Trojan who comforted him and allowed him to stay only under the condition that he revealed the truth about the horse. Sinon raised both of his hands to pray, "All the gods and goddesses knew I have been offered as a sacrificial victim by the Achaean. It is no my guilt to reveal their secret. They built this giant horse to placate Athena to win her support to the Achaean. They built it so huge that you could not get it through your gate, and thus become your guardian. On the contrary, if you destroy it, you will meet with disaster as the Achaeans have wished."

Sure were the lies that Sinon had told the Trojan. They dragged the horse into their city and kept it. Boys and girls in the city followed the horse merrily singing songs of festivals. The horse got through  the gate of the city after being stuck for several times. Every time it bumped there came the sound of the clash of metals from inside. But the Trojan seemed to be deaf to it.

That very night the Trojan feasted and drunk hard. Soon sleep came upon the city.

Sinon pretended to fall asleep with the rest of them. But late at night, he held high a blazing torch to tell his army to return, and unlocked the horse. All his fellows inside the horse came forth. They torched the city and killed the drunken and sound-sleeping Trojans.

The Achaean forces who pretended to slip away returned to Troy at Sinon's signal. They killed every Trojan they saw. No one was spared. The whole city of Troy soon became a city of ashes. Thihs is the way the 10-year war was ended.