The man then told me that the small idol on his shoulder was of Cleon and if it was placed in a prominent place in my pumpkin patch I would have great success. I asked why Cleon appeared to be so hideous and the man told me it was because at first Cleon did not accept his role as god of pumpkins as an honor, and was cursed by Zeus. It was only since the 1980's that Cleon began asserting his influence in the pumpkin patches of earth. I knew that this time corresponded with the development of the Atlantic Giant strain of pumpkin so this man must be telling the truth. We began the bartering at 1,000,000 drachmas but finally settled on a couple of seeds I had with me and an autographed picture of Dave Stelts. Before he left, the man informed me that whenever that was a great event in giant pumpkin history that Cleon was probably there. We parted ways and a few days later I was back in South Hill reminiscing over my experiences in Athens.
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