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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/5473.txt b/5473.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..69d1884 --- /dev/null +++ b/5473.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2186 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook Cleopatra, by Georg Ebers, Volume 1. +#35 in our series by Georg Ebers + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**EBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These EBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers***** + + +Title: Cleopatra, Volume 1. + +Author: Georg Ebers + +Release Date: April, 2004 [EBook #5473] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on May 21, 2002] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + + + + + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CLEOPATRA, BY GEORG EBERS, V1 *** + + + +This eBook was produced by David Widger <widger@cecomet.net> + + + +[NOTE: There is a short list of bookmarks, or pointers, at the end of the +file for those who may wish to sample the author's ideas before making an +entire meal of them. D.W.] + + + + + +CLEOPATRA + +By Georg Ebers + +Volume 1. + + + +Translated from the German by Mary J. Safford + + + +PREFACE. + +If the author should be told that the sentimental love of our day was +unknown to the pagan world, he would not cite last the two lovers, Antony +and Cleopatra, and the will of the powerful Roman general, in which he +expressed the desire, wherever he might die, to be buried beside the +woman whom he loved to his latest hour. His wish was fulfilled, and the +love-life of these two distinguished mortals, which belongs to history, +has more than once afforded to art and poesy a welcome subject. + +In regard to Cleopatra, especially, life was surrounded with an +atmosphere of romance bordering on the fabulous. Even her bitterest foes +admire her beauty and rare gifts of intellect. Her character, on the +contrary, presents one of the most difficult problems of psychology. The +servility of Roman poets and authors, who were unwilling frankly to +acknowledge the light emanating so brilliantly from the foe of the state +and the Imperator, solved it to her disadvantage. Everything that bore +the name of Egyptian was hateful or suspicious to the Roman, and it was +hard to forgive this woman, born on the banks of the Nile, for having +seen Julius Caesar at her feet and compelled Mark Antony to do her +bidding. Other historians, Plutarch at their head, explained the enigma +more justly, and in many respects in her favour. + +It was a delightful task to the author to scan more closely the +personality of the hapless Queen, and from the wealth of existing +information shape for himself a creature in whom he could believe. Years +elapsed ere he succeeded; but now that he views the completed picture, he +thinks that many persons might be disposed to object to the brightness of +his colours. Yet it would not be difficult for the writer to justify +every shade which he has used. If, during his creative work, he learned +to love his heroine, it was because, the more distinctly he conjured +before his mind the image of this wonderful woman, the more keenly he +felt and the more distinctly he perceived how fully she merited not only +sympathy and admiration, but, in spite of all her sins and weaknesses, +the self-sacrificing affection which she inspired in so many hearts. + +It was an author of no less importance than Horace who called Cleopatra +"non humilis mulier"--a woman capable of no baseness. But the phrase +gains its greatest importance from the fact that it adorns the hymn which +the poet dedicated to Octavianus and his victory over Antony and +Cleopatra. It was a bold act, in such an ode, to praise the victor's +foe. Yet he did it, and his words, which are equivalent to a deed, are +among this greatly misjudged woman's fairest claims to renown. + +Unfortunately it proved less potent than the opinion of Dio, who often +distorted what Plutarch related, but probably followed most closely the +farce or the popular tales which, in Rome, did not venture to show the +Egyptian in a favourable light. + +The Greek Plutarch, who lived much nearer the period of our heroine than +Dio, estimated her more justly than most of the Roman historians. His +grandfather had heard many tales of both Cleopatra and Antony from his +countryman Philotas, who, during the brilliant days when they revelled in +Alexandria, had lived there as a student. Of all the writers who +describe the Queen, Plutarch is the most trustworthy, but even his +narrative must be used with caution. We have closely followed the clear +and comprehensive description given by Plutarch of the last days of our +heroine. It bears the impress of truth, and to deviate widely from it +would be arbitrary. + +Unluckily, Egyptian records contain nothing which could have much weight +in estimating the character of Cleopatra, though we have likenesses +representing the Queen alone, or with her son Caesarion. Very recently +(in 1892) the fragment of a colossal double statue was found in +Alexandria, which can scarcely be intended for any persons except +Cleopatra and Antony hand in hand. The upper part of the female figure +is in a state of tolerable preservation, and shows a young and attractive +face. The male figure was doubtless sacrificed to Octavianus's command +to destroy Antony's statues. We are indebted to Herr Dr. Walther, in +Alexandria, for an excellent photograph of this remarkable piece of +sculpture. Comparatively few other works of plastic art, in which we +here include coins, that could render us familiar with our heroine's +appearance, have been preserved. + +Though the author must especially desire to render his creation a work of +art, it is also requisite to strive for fidelity. As the heroine's +portrait must reveal her true character, so the life represented here +must correspond in every line with the civilization of the period +described. For this purpose we placed Cleopatra in the centre of a +larger group of people, whom she influences, and who enable her +personality to be displayed in the various relations of life. + +Should the author succeed in making the picture of the remarkable woman, +who was so differently judged, as "lifelike" and vivid as it stamped +itself upon his own imagination, he might remember with pleasure the +hours which he devoted to this book. + + GEORG EBERS + +TUTZING ON THE STARNBERGER SEE, October 5, 1893. + + + + +CLEOPATRA. + +Gorgias, the architect, had learned to bear the scorching sunbeams of the +Egyptian noonday. Though not yet thirty, he had directed--first as his +late father's assistant and afterwards as his successor--the construction +of the huge buildings erected by Cleopatra in Alexandria. + +Now he was overwhelmed with commissions; yet he had come hither ere the +hours of work were over, merely to oblige a youth who had barely passed +the confines of boyhood. + +True, the person for whom he made this sacrifice was Caesarion, the son +whom Cleopatra had given to Julius Caesar. Antony had honoured him with +the proud title of "King of kings"; yet he was permitted neither to rule +nor even to issue orders, for his mother kept him aloof from affairs of +state, and he himself had no desire to hold the sceptre. + +Gorgias had granted his wish the more readily, because it was apparent +that he wanted to speak to him in private, though he had not the least +idea what Caesarion desired to confide, and, under any circumstances, he +could give him only a brief interview. The fleet, at whose head the +Queen had set sail, with Mark Antony, for Greece, must have already met +Octavianus's galleys, and doubtless a battle wherein the destiny of the +world was decided had also been fought upon the land, Gorgias believed +that the victory would fall to Antony and the Queen, and wished the noble +pair success with his whole heart. He was even obliged to act as if the +battle had been already determined in their favour, for the architectural +preparations for the reception of the conquerors were entrusted to his +charge, and that very day must witness the decision of the location of +the colossal statues which represented Antony hand in hand with his royal +love. + +The epitrop Mardion, a eunuch, who as Regent, represented Cleopatra; and +Zeno, the Keeper of the Seal, who rarely opposed him, wished to have the +piece of sculpture erected in a different place from the one he favoured. +The principal objection to the choice made by the powerful head of the +government was that it had fallen on land owned by a private individual. +This might lead to difficulties, and Gorgias opposed it. As an artist, +too, he did not approve Mardion's plan; for though, on Didymus's land, +the statues would have faced the sea, which the Regent and the Keeper of +the Seal regarded as very important, no fitting background could have +been obtained. + +At any rate, the architect could now avail himself of Caesarion's +invitation to overlook from the appointed place of meeting--the lofty +steps of the Temple of Isis--the Bruchium, and seek the best site for the +twin statues. He was anxious to select the most suitable one; the master +who had created this work of art had been his friend, and had closed his +eyes in death shortly after its completion. + +The sanctuary whence Gorgias commenced his survey was in one of the +fairest portions of the Bruchium, the Alexandrian quarter, where stood +the royal palace with its extensive annexes, the finest temples--except +the Serapeum, situated in another part of the city-and the largest +theatres; the Forum invited the council of Macedonian citizens to its +assemblies, and the Museum afforded a resort for the scholars. + +The little square closed in the east by the Temple of Isis was called the +"Corner of the Muses," on account of the two marble statues of women +before the entrance of the house, which, with its large garden facing the +square northward and extending along the sea, belonged to Didymus, an old +and highly respected scholar and member of the Museum. + +The day had been hot, and the shade of the Temple of Isis was very +welcome to the architect. + +This sanctuary rested upon a lofty foundation, and a long flight of steps +led to the cella. The spot afforded Gorgias a wide prospect. + +Most of the buildings within his vision belonged to the time of Alexander +and his successors in the house of the Ptolemies, but some, and by no +means the least stately, were the work of Gorgias himself or of his +father. The artist's heart swelled with enthusiastic delight at the +sight of this portion of his native city. + +He had been in Rome, and visited many other places numbered among the +world's fairest and most populous cities; but not one contained so many +superb works of art crowded together in so small a space. + +"If one of the immortals themselves," he murmured, "should strive to +erect for the inhabitants of Olympus a quarter meet for their grandeur +and beauty, it could scarcely be much more superb or better fitted to +satisfy the artistic needs which we possess as their gift, and it would +surely be placed on the shore of such a sea." + +While speaking, he shaded his keen eyes with his hand. The architect, +who usually devoted his whole attention to the single object that claimed +his notice, now permitted himself the pleasure of enjoying the entire +picture in whose finishing touches he had himself borne a part; and, as +his practised eye perceived in every temple and colonnade the studied and +finished harmony of form, and the admirable grouping of the various +buildings and statues, he said to himself, with a sigh of satisfaction, +that his own art was the noblest and building the highest of royal +pleasures. No doubt this belief was shared by the princes who, three +centuries before, had endeavoured to obtain an environment for their +palaces which should correspond with their vast power and overflowing +wealth, and at the same time give tangible expression to their reverence +for the gods and their delight in art and beauty. No royal race in the +universe could boast of a more magnificent abode. These thoughts passed +through Gorgias's mind as the deep azure hue of sea and sky blended with +the sunlight to bring into the strongest relief all that the skill and +brains of man, aided by exhaustless resources, had here created. + +Waiting, usually a hard task for the busy architect, became a pleasure in +this spot; for the rays streaming lavishly in all directions from the +diadem of the sovereign sun flooded with dazzling radiance the thousands +of white marble statues on the temples and colonnades, and were reflected +from the surfaces of the polished granite of the obelisks and the equally +smooth walls of the white, yellow, and green marble, the syenite, and the +brown, speckled porphyry of sanctuaries and palaces. They seemed to be +striving to melt the bright mosaic pictures which covered every foot Of +the ground, where no highway intersected and no tree shaded it, and +flashed back again from the glimmering metal or the smooth glaze in the +gay tiles on the roofs of the temples and houses. Here they glittered on +the metal ornaments, yonder they seemed to be trying to rival the +brilliancy of the gilded domes, to lend to the superb green of the +tarnished bronze surfaces the sparkling lustre of the emerald, or to +transform the blue and red lines of the white marble temples into lapis- +lazuli and coral and their gilded decorations into topaz. The pictures +in the mosaic pavement of the squares, and on the inner walls of the +colonnades, were doubly effective against the light masses of marble +surrounding them, which in their turn were indebted to the pictures for +affording the eye an attractive variety instead of dazzling monotony. + +Here the light of the weltering sun enhanced the brilliancy of colour in +the flags and streamers which fluttered beside the obelisks and Egyptian +pylons, over the triumphal arches and the gates of the temples and +palaces. Yet even the exquisite purplish blue of the banner waving above +the palace on the peninsula of Lochias, now occupied by Cleopatra's +children, was surpassed by the hue of the sea, whose deep azure near the +shore merged far away into bands of lighter and darker blue, blending +with dull or whitish green. + +Gorgias was accustomed to grasp fully whatever he permitted to influence +him, and though still loyal to his custom of associating with his art +every remarkable work of the gods or man, he had not forgotten in his +enjoyment of the familiar scene the purpose of his presence in this spot. + +No, the garden of Didymus was not the proper place for his friend's last +work. + +While gazing at the lofty plane, sycamore, and mimosa trees which +surrounded the old scholar's home, the quiet square below him suddenly +became astir with noisy life, for all classes of the populace were +gathering in front of the sequestered house, as if some unusual spectacle +attracted them. + +What could they want of the secluded philosopher? + +Gorgias gazed earnestly at them, but soon turned away again; a gay voice +from below called his name. + +A singular procession had approached the temple--a small body of armed +men, led by a short, stout fellow, whose big head, covered with bushy +curls, was crowned with a laurel wreath. He was talking eagerly to a +younger man, but had paused with the others in front of the sanctuary to +greet the architect. The latter shouted a few pleasant words in reply. +The laurel-crowned figure made a movement as if he intended to join him, +but his companion checked him, and, after a short parley, the older man +gave the younger one his hand, flung his heavy head back, and strutted +onward like a peacock, followed by his whole train. + +The other looked after him, shrugging his shoulders; then called to +Gorgias, asking what boon he desired from the goddess. + +"Your presence," replied the architect blithely. + +"Then Isis will show herself gracious to you," was the answer, and the +next instant the two young men cordially grasped each other's hands. + +Both were equally tall and well formed; the features bore witness to +their Greek origin; nay, they might have been taken for brothers, had not +the architect's whole appearance seemed sturdie and plainer than that of +his companion, whom he called "Dion" and friend. As the latter heaped +merry sarcasms upon the figure wearing the laurel wreath who had just +left him, Anaxenor, the famous zither-player, on whom Antony had bestowed +the revenues of four cities and permission to keep body-guard, and +Gorgias's deeper voice sometime assented, sometimes opposed with sensible +objections, the difference between these two men of the same age and race +became clearly apparent. + +Both showed a degree of self-reliance unusual, at their age; but the +architect's was the assurance which a man gains by toil and his own +merit, Dion's that which is bestowed by large possession and a high +position in society. Those who were ignorant that the weight of Dion's +carefully prepared speech had more than once turned the scale in the city +councils would probably have been disposed to take him for one of the +careless worldlings who had no lack of representatives among the gilded +youth of Alexandria; while the architect's whole exterior, from his keen +eye to the stouter leather of his sandals, revealed earnest purpose and +unassuming ability. + +Their friendship had commenced when Gorgias built a new palace for Dion. +During long business association people become well acquainted, even +though their conversations relate solely to direction and execution. +But in this case, he who gave the orders had been only the inspirer and +adviser, the architect the warm-hearted friend, eager to do his utmost to +realize what hovered before the other's mind as the highest attainable +excellence. So the two young men became first dear, and finally almost +indispensable to each other. As the architect discovered in the wealthy +man of the world many qualities whose existence he had not suspected, the +latter was agreeably surprised to find in the artist, associated with his +solidity of character, a jovial companion, who--this first made him +really beloved by his friend--had no lack of weaknesses. + +When the palace was completed to Dion's satisfaction and became one of +the most lauded ornaments of the city, the young men's friendship assumed +a new form, and it would have been difficult to say which received the +most benefit. + +Dion had just been stopped by the zither-player to ask for confirmation +of the tidings that the united forces of Antony and Cleopatra had gained +a great victory on sea and land. + +In the eating-house at Kanopus, where he had breakfasted, everyone was +full of the joyful news, and rivers of wine had been drunk to the health +of the victors and the destruction of the malicious foe. "In these +days," cried Dion, "not only weak-brained fellows, like the zither- +player, believe me omniscient, but many sensible men also. And why? +Because, forsooth, I am the nephew of Zeno, the Keeper of the Seal, who +is on the brink of despair because he himself knows nothing, not even the +veriest trifle." + +"Yet he stands nearest to the Regent," observed Gorgias, "and must learn, +if any one does, how the fleet fares." + +"You too!" sighed his friend. "Had I been standing so far above the +ground as you, the architect--by the dog, I should not have failed to +note the quarter whence the wind blew! It has been southerly a whole +fortnight, and keeps back the galleys coming from the north. The Regent +knows nothing, absolutely nothing, and my uncle, of course, no more. But +if they do learn anything they will be shrewd enough not to enrich me +with it." + +"True, there are other rumours afloat," said the architect thoughtfully. +"If I were in Mardion's place--" + +"Thank the Olympians that you are not," laughed his companion. "He has +as many cares as a fish has scales. And one, the greatest. That pert +young Antyllus was over-ready with his tongue yesterday at Barine's. +Poor fellow! He'll have to answer for it to his tutor at home." + +"You mean the remark about the Queen's accompanying the fleet?" + +"St!" said Dion, putting his finger on his lips, for many men and women +were now ascending the temple steps. Several carried flowers and cakes, +and the features of most expressed joyful emotion. The news of the +victory had reached their ears, and they wanted to offer sacrifices to +the goddess whom Cleopatra, "the new Isis," preferred to all others. + +The first court-yard of the sanctuary was astir with life. They could +hear the ringing of the sistrum bells and the murmuring chant of the +priests. The quiet fore-court of the little temple of the goddess, which +here, in the Greek quarter of palaces, had as few visitors as the great +Temple of Isis in the Rhakotis was overcrowded, had now become the worst +possible rendezvous for men who stood so near the rulers of the +government. The remark made about the Queen the evening before by +Antyllus, Antony's nineteen-year-old son, at the house of Barine, a +beautiful young woman who attracted all the prominent men in Alexandria, +was the more imprudent because it coincided with the opinion of all the +wisest heads. The reckless youth enthusiastically reverenced his father, +but Cleopatra, the object of Antony's love, and--in the Egyptians' eyes-- +his wife, was not Antyllus's mother. He was the son of Fulvia, his +father's first wife, and feeling himself a Roman, would have preferred a +thousand times to live on the banks of the Tiber. Besides, it was +certain--Antony's stanchest friends made no attempt to conceal the fact-- +that the Queen's presence with the army exerted a disturbing influence, +and could not fail to curb the daring courage of the brave general. +Antyllus, with the reckless frankness inherited from his father, had +expressed this view in the presence of all Barine's guests, and in a form +which would be only too quickly spread throughout Alexandria, whose +inhabitants relished such speeches. + +These remarks would be slow in reaching the plain people who were +attracted to the temple by the news of the victory, yet many doubtless +knew Caesarion, whom the architect was awaiting here. It would be wiser +to meet the prince at the foot of the steps. Both men, therefore, went +down to the square, though the crowds seeking the temple and thronging +the space before Didymus's house made it more and more difficult to pace +to and fro. + +They were anxious to learn whether the rumour that Didymus's garden was +to be taken for the twin statues had already spread abroad, and their +first questions revealed that this was the case. It was even stated that +the old sage's house was to be torn down, and within a few hours. This +was vehemently contradicted; but a tall, scrawny man seemed to have +undertaken to defend the ruler's violence. + +The friends knew him well. It was the Syrian Philostratus, a clever +extempore speaker and agitator of the people, who placed his clever +tongue at the disposal of the highest bidder. + +"The rascal is probably now in my uncle's employ," said Dion. "The idea +of putting the piece of sculpture there originated with him, and it is +difficult to turn him from such plans. There is some secret object to be +gained here. That is why they have brought Philostratus. I wonder if +the conspiracy is connected in any way with Barine, whose husband-- +unfortunately for her--he was before he cast her off." + +"Cast her off!" exclaimed Gorgias wrathfully. "How that sounds! True, +he did it, but to persuade him the poor woman sacrificed half the fortune +her father had earned by his brush. You know as well as I that life with +that scoundrel would be unbearable." + +"Very true," replied Dion quietly. "But as all Alexandria melted into +admiration after her singing of the 'yalemos' at the Adonis festival, she +no longer needed her contemptible consort." + +"How can you take pleasure, whenever it is possible, in casting such +slurs upon a woman, whom but yesterday you called blameless, charming, +peerless?" + +"That the light she sheds may not dazzle your eyes. I know how sensitive +they are." + +"Then spare, instead of irritating them. Besides, your suggestion gives +food for thought Barine is the granddaughter of the man whose garden they +want, and the advocate would probably be glad to injure both. But I'll +spoil his game. It is my business to choose the site for the statues." + +"Yours?" replied Dion. "Unless some on who is more powerful opposes you. +I would try to win my uncle, but there are others superior to him. The +Queen has gone, it is true; but Iras, whose commands do not die away in +empty air, told me this morning that she had her own ideas about the +errection of the statue." + +"Then you bring Philostratus here!" cried the architect. + +"I?" asked the other in amazement. + +"Ay, you," asserted Gorgias. "Did not you say that Iras, with whom you +played when a boy is now becoming troublesome by watching your every +step? And then--you visit Barine constantly and she so evidently prefers +you, that the fact might easily reach the ears of Iras." + +"As Argus has a hundred, jealousy has a thousand eyes," interrupted Dion, +"yet I seek nothing from Barine, save two pleasant hours when the day is +drawing towards its close. No matter; Iras, I suppose, heard that I was +favoured by this much-admired woman. Iras herself has some little regard +for me, so she bought Philostratus. She is willing to pay something for +the sake of injuring the woman who stands between us, or the old man who +has the good or evil fortune of being her rival's grandfather. No, no; +that would be too base! And believe me, if Iras desired to ruin Barine, +she need not make so long a circuit. Besides, she is not really a wicked +woman. Or is she? All I know is that where any advantage is to be +gained for the Queen, she does not shrink even from doubtful means, and +also that the hours speed swiftly for any one in her society. Yes, Iras, +Iras--I like to utter the name. Yet I do not love her, and she--loves +only herself, and--a thing few can say--another still more. What is the +world, what am I to her, compared with the Queen, the idol of her heart? +Since Cleopatra's departure, Iras seems like the forsaken Ariadne, or a +young roe which has strayed from its mother. But stop; she may have a +hand in the game: the Queen trusted her as if she were her sister, her +daughter. No one knows what she and Charmian are to her. They are +called waiting-women, but are their sovereign's dearest friends. When, +on the departure of the fleet, Cleopatra was compelled to leave Iras +here--she was ill with a fever--she gave her the charge of her children, +even those whose beards were beginning to grow, the 'King of kings' +Caesarion, whose tutor punishes him for every act of disobedience; and +the unruly lad Antyllus, who has forced his way the last few evenings +into our friend's house." + +"Antony, his own father, introduced him to her." + +"Very true, and Antyllus took Caesarion there. This vexed Iras, like +everything which may disturb the Queen. Barine is troublesome on account +of Cleopatra, whom she wishes to spare every, annoyance, and perhaps she +dislikes her a little for my sake. Now she wants to inflict on the old +man, Barine's grandfather, whom she loves, some injury which the spoiled, +imprudent woman will scarcely accept quietly, and which will rouse her to +commit some folly that can be used against her. Iras will hardly seek +her life, but she may have in mind exile or something of that kind. She +knows people as well as I know her, my neighbour and playmate, whom many +a time I was obliged to lift down from some tree into which the child had +climbed as nimbly as a kitten." + +"I myself suggested this conjecture, yet I cannot credit her with such +unworthy intrigues," cried Gorgias. + +"Credit her?" repeated Dion, shrugging his shoulders. "I only transport +myself in imagination to the court and to the soul of the woman who helps +make rain and sunshine there. You have columns rounded and beams hewed +that they may afterwards support the roof to which in due time you wish +to direct attention. She and all who have a voice in the management of +court affairs look first at the roof and then seek anything to raise and +support it, though it should be corpses, ruined lives, and broken hearts. +The point is that the roof shall stand until the architect, the Queen, +sees and approves it. As to the rest--But there is the carriage--It +doubtless brings--You were--" + +He paused, laid his hand on his friend's arm, and whispered hastily: +"Iras is undoubtedly at the bottom of this, and it is not Antyllus, but +yonder dreaming lad, for whom she is moving. When she spoke of the +statues just now, she asked in the same breath where I had seen him on +the evening of the day before yesterday, and that was the very time he +called on Barine. The plot was made by her, and Iras is doing all the +work. The mouse is not caught while the trap is closed, and she is just +raising her little hand to open it." + +"If only she does not use some man's hand," replied the architect +wrathfully, and then turned towards the carriage and the elderly man who +had just left it, and was now approaching the two friends. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +When Caesarion's companion reached Dion and Gorgias, the former modestly +made a movement to retire. But Archibius was acquainted with both, and +begged him to remain. There was an air of precision and clearness in the +voice and quiet movements of this big, broad-shouldered man, with his +robust frame and well-developed limbs. Though only a few years beyond +forty, not merely his grey hair but the calm, impressive dignity of his +whole manner indicated a more advanced age. + +"The young King yonder," he began in a deep, musical voice, motioning +towards the equipage, "wished to speak to you here in person, Gorgias, +but by my advice he refrained from mingling with the crowd. I have +brought him hither in a closed carriage. If the plan suits you, enter it +and talk with him while I keep watch here. Strange things seem to be +occurring, and yonder--or am I mistaken? Has the monster dragged along +there any connection with the twin statues of the Queen and her friend? +Was it you who selected that place for them?" + +"No," replied the architect. "The order was issued over my head and +against my will." + +"I thought so," replied the other. "This is the very matter of which +Caesarion wishes to speak. If you can prevent the erection of the +statues on Didymus's land, so much the better. I will do everything in +my power to aid you, but in the Queen's absence that is little." + +"Then what can be said of my influence?" asked the architect. "Who, in +these days, knows whether the sky will be blue or grey to-morrow? I can +guarantee one thing only: I will do my best to prevent this injury of an +estimable citizen, interference with the laws of our city, and violation +of good taste." + +"Say so to the young King, but express yourself cautiously," replied +Archibius as the architect turned towards the carriage. + +As soon as Dion and the older man were alone, the latter inquired the +cause of the increasing uproar, and as, like every well-disposed +Alexandrian, he esteemed Archibius, and knew that he was intimately +acquainted with the owner of the imperilled garden, and therefore with +his granddaughter Barine, he confided his anxiety to him without reserve. + +"Iras is your niece, it is true," he said in his open-hearted manner, +"but I know that you understand her character. It suits her now to fling +a golden apple into the path of a person whom she dislikes and believes +incautious, that she may pick it up and thus afford her an opportunity to +bring a charge of theft." + +Noting the inquiring glance Archibius fixed upon him as he made this +comparison, he changed his tone and continued more earnestly: "Zeus is +great, but destiny is superior even to him. Zeus can accomplish much, +but when Iras and your sister Charmian, who unfortunately is now with the +Queen, wish to effect anything, he, like the Regent Mardion, must give +way. The more lovable Cleopatra is, the more surely every one prizes a +position near her person above aught else, especially such trifles as law +and justice." + +"These are harsh words," responded Archibius, and seem the more bitter in +proportion to the germ of truth which they contain. Our court shares the +fate of every other in the East, and those to whom Rome formerly set the +example of holding law and justice sacred--" + +"Can now go there," interrupted Dion, "to learn how rudely both are +trampled under foot. The sovereigns here and there may smile at one +another like the augurs. They are like brothers--" + +"But with the difference," Archibius broke in, "that the head of our +public affairs is the very embodiment of affability and grace; while in +Rome, on the contrary, harsh severity and bloody arrogance, or even +repulsive servility, guide the reins." + +Here Archibius interrupted himself to point to the shouting throng +advancing towards them. "You are right," Dion answered. "Let us defer +this discussion till we can pursue it in the house of the charming +Barine. But I rarely meet you there, though by blood you are so nearly +allied to her father. I am her friend--at my age that might easily mean +her lover. But in our case the comparison would not suit. Yet perhaps +you will believe me, for you have the right to call yourself the friend +of the most bewitching of women." + +A sorrowful smile flitted over the grave, set features of the older man, +who, raising his hand as if in protest, answered carelessly: "I grew up +with Cleopatra, but a private citizen loves a queen only as a divinity. +I believe in your friendship for Barine, though I deem it dangerous." + +"If you mean that it might injure the lovely woman," replied Dion, +raising his head more proudly as if to intimate that he required no +warning, even from him, "perhaps you are right. Only I beg you not to +misunderstand me. I am not vain enough to suppose that I could win her +heart, but unfortunately there are many who cannot forgive the power of +attraction which she exerts over me as well as upon all. So many men +gladly visit Barine's house that there are an equal number of women who +would rejoice to close it. Among them, of course, is Iras. She dislikes +my friend; nay, I fear that what you witness yonder is the apple she +flung in order, if not to ruin, at least to drive her from the city, ere +the Queen--may the gods grant her victory!--ere Cleopatra returns. You +know your niece Iras. Like your sister Charmian, she will shrink from +nothing to remove an annoyance from her mistress's pathway, and it will +hardly please Cleopatra when she learns that the two youths whose welfare +lies nearest her heart--Antyllus and Caesarion--seek Barine's house, no +matter how stainless the latter's reputation may be." + +"I have just heard of it," replied Archibius, "and I, too, am anxious. +Antony's son has inherited much of his father's insatiable love of +pleasure. But Caesarion! He has not yet ventured out of the dreamland +which surrounds him into actual life. What others scarcely perceive +deals him a serious blow. I fear Eros is sharpening arrows for him which +will pierce deep into his heart. While talking with me he seemed +strangely changed. His dreamy eyes glittered like a drunkard's when he +spoke of Barine. I fear, I fear--" + +"Impossible!" cried Dion, in surprise, nay, almost terror. "If that is +the case, Iras is not wholly wrong, and we must deal with the matter +differently. But it is of the first importance to conceal the fact that +Caesarion has any interest in the affairs of the old house-owner. To +seek to maintain the old man's right to his own property is a matter of +course, and I will undertake to do this and try to get yonder orator home +Just see how the braggart is swinging his arms in Iras's service! As for +Barine, it will be well to induce her to leave of her own free will a +city where it will be made unpleasant for her. Try to persuade her to +pursue this course. If I went to her with such a suggestion, I, who +yesterday--No, no! Besides, she might hear that Iras and I--She would +imagine all sorts of absurdities. You know what jealousy means. To you, +whom she esteems, she would surely listen, and she need not go far from +the city. If the heart of this enthusiastic boy--who might some day +desire to be 'King of kings' not only in name--should really be fired +with love for Barine, what serious misfortune might follow! We must +secure her from him. She could not go to my country house among the +papyrus plantations at Sebennys. It would afford too much license for +evil tongues. But you--your villa at Kanopus is too near--but, if I am +not mistaken, you have--" + +"My estate in the lake region is remote enough, and will be at her +disposal," interrupted the other. "The house is always kept ready for +my reception. I will do my best to persuade her, for your advice is +prudent. She must be withdrawn from the boy's eyes." + +"I shall learn the result of your mission tomorrow," cried Dion eagerly-- +"nay, this evening. If she consents, I will tell Iras, as if by +accident, that Barine has gone to Upper Egypt to drink new milk, or +something of that kind. Iras is a shrewd woman, and will be glad if she +can keep aloof from such trifles during the time which will decide the +fate of Cleopatra and of the world." + +"My thoughts, too, are always with the army," said Archibius. "How +trivial everything else seems compared with the result which will be +determined in the next few days! But life is made up of trifles. They +are food, drink, maintenance. Should the Queen return triumphant, and +find Caesarion in wrong paths--" + +"We must close them against him," exclaimed Dion. + +"That the boy may not follow Barine?" asked Archibius, shaking his head. +"I think we need feel no anxiety on that score. He will doubtless +eagerly desire to do so, but with him there is a wide gulf between the +wish and its fulfilment. Antyllus is differently constituted. He would +be quite capable of ordering a horse to be saddled, or the sails of a +boat to be spread in order to pursue her--beyond the Cataract if +necessary. So we must maintain the utmost secrecy concerning the place +to which Barine voluntarily exiles herself." + +"But she is not yet on her way," replied Dion with a faint sigh. "She is +bound to this city by many ties." + +"I know it," answered Archibius, confirming his companion's fear. The +latter, pointing to the equipage, said in a rapid, earnest tone: "Gorgias +is beckoning. But, before we part, let me beseech you to do everything +to persuade Barine to leave here. She is in serious danger. Conceal +nothing from her, and say that her friends will not leave her too long in +solitude." + +Archibius, with a significant glance, shook his finger at the young man +in playful menace, and then went up to the carriage. + +Caesarion's clear-cut but pallid face, whose every feature resembled that +of his father, the great Caesar, bent towards them from the opening above +the door, as he greeted both with a formal bend of the head and a +patronizing glance. His eyes had sparkled with boyish glee when he first +caught sight of the friend from whom he had been separated several weeks, +but to the stranger he wished to assume the bearing which beseemed a +king. He desired to make him feel his superior position, for he was ill- +disposed towards him. He had seen him favoured by the woman whom he +imagined he loved, and whose possession he had been promised by the +secret science of the Egyptians, whose power to unveil the mysteries of +the future he firmly believed. Antyllus, Antony's son, had taken him to +Barine, and she had received him with the consideration due his rank. +Spite of her bright graciousness, boyish timidity had hitherto prevented +any word of love to the young beauty whom he saw surrounded by so many +distinguished men of mature years. Yet his beaming, expressive eyes must +have revealed his feelings to her. Doubtless his glances had not been +unobserved, for only a few hours before an Egyptian woman had stopped him +at the temple of his father, Caesar, to which, according to the fixed +rules governing the routine of his life, he went daily at a certain hour +to pray, to offer sacrifices, to anoint the stone of the altar, or to +crown the statue of the departed emperor. + +Caesarion had instantly recognized her as the female slave whom he had +seen in Barine's atrium, and ordered his train to fall back. + +Fortunately his tutor, Rhodon, had not fulfilled his duty of accompanying +him. So the youth had ventured to follow the slave woman, and in the +shadow of the mimosas, in the little grove beside the temple, he found +Barine's litter. His heart throbbed violently as, full of anxious +expectation, he obeyed her signal to draw nearer. Still, she had granted +him nothing save the favour of gratifying one of her wishes. But his +heart had swelled almost to bursting when, resting her beautiful white +arm on the door of her litter, she had told him that unjust men were +striving to rob her grandfather Didymus of his garden, and she expected +him, who bore the title of the "King of kings" to do his best to prevent +such a crime. + +It had been difficult for him to grasp her meaning while she was +speaking. There was a roaring sound in his ears as if, instead of being +in the silent temple grove, he was standing on a stormy day upon the +surf-beaten promontory of Lochias. He had not ventured to raise his eyes +and look into her face. Not until she closed with the question whether +she might hope for his assistance did her gaze constrain him to glance +up. Ah, what had he not fancied he read in her imploring blue eyes! +how unspeakably beautiful she had appeared! + +He had stood before her as if bereft of his senses. His sole knowledge +was that he had promised, with his hand on his heart, to do everything in +his power to prevent what threatened to cause her pain. Then her little +hand, with its sparkling rings, was again stretched towards him, and he +had resolved to kiss it; but while he glanced around at his train, she +had already waved him a farewell, and the litter was borne away. + +He stood motionless, like the figure of a man on one of his mother's +ancient vases, staring in bewilderment after the flying figure of +Happiness, whom he might easily have caught by her floating locks. How +he raged over the miserable indecision which had defrauded him of so much +joy! Yet nothing was really lost. If he succeeded in fulfilling her +wishes, she could not fail to be grateful; and then-- + +He pondered over the person to whom he should apply--Mardion, the Regent, +or the Keeper of the Seal? No, they had planned the erection of the +group of sculpture in the philosopher's garden. To Iras, his mother's +confidante? Nay, last of all to her. The cunning woman would have +perceived his purpose and betrayed it to the Regent. Ah, if Charmian, +his mother's other attendant, had been present! but she was with the +fleet, which perhaps was even now engaged in battle with the enemy. + +At this recollection his eyes again sought the ground--he had not been +permitted to take the place in the army to which his birth entitled him, +while his mother and Charmian--But he did not pursue this painful current +of thought; for a serious reproach had forced itself upon him and sent +the blood to his cheeks. He wished to be considered a man, and yet, in +these fateful days, which would determine the destiny of his mother, his +native city, Egypt, and that Rome which he, the only son of Caesar, was +taught to consider his heritage, he was visiting a beautiful woman, +thinking of her, and of her alone. His days and half the nights were +passed in forming plans for securing her love, forgetful of what should +have occupied his whole heart. + +Only yesterday Iras had sharply admonished him that, in times like these, +it was the duty of every friend of Cleopatra, and every foe of her foes, +to be with the army at least in mind. + +He had remembered this, but, instead of heeding the warning, the thought +of her had merely recalled her uncle, Archibius, who possessed great +influence, not merely on account of his wealth but because every one also +knew his high standing in the regard of the Queen. Besides, the clever, +kindly man had always been friendly to him from childhood, and like a +revelation came the idea of applying to him, and to the architect +Gorgias, who had a voice in the matter, and by whom he had been strongly +attracted during the period while he was rebuilding the wing assigned to +the prince in the palace at Lochias. + +So one of the attendants was instantly despatched with the little tablet +which invited Gorgias to the interview at the Temple of Isis. + +Then, in the afternoon, Caesarion went secretly in a boat to the little +palace of Archibius, situated on the seashore at Kanopus, and now as the +latter, with his friend, stood beside the carriage door, he explained to +them that he was going with the architect to old Didymus to assure him of +his assistance. + +This was unadvisable in every respect, but it required all the weight of +the older man's reasons to induce the prince to yield. The consequences +which might ensue, should the populace discover that he was taking sides +against the Regent, would be incalculable. But submission and withdrawal +were especially difficult to the young "King of kings." He longed to +pose as a man in Dion's presence, and as this could not be, he strove +to maintain the semblance of independence by yielding his resolve +only on the plea of not desiring to injure the aged scholar and his +granddaughter. Finally, he again entreated the architect to secure +Didymus in the possession of his property. When at last he drove away +with Archibius, twilight was already gathering, torches were lighted in +front of the temple and the little mausoleum adjoining the cella, and +pitch-pans were blazing in the square. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +"The lad is in an evil plight," said Gorgias, shaking his head +thoughtfully as the equipage rolled over the stone pavement of the +Street of the King. + +"And over yonder, added Dion," "the prospect is equally unpleasing. +Philostratus is setting the people crazy. But the hired mischief-maker +will soon wish he had been less ready to seize Iras's gold coins." + +"And to think," cried the architect, "that Barine was this scoundrel's +wife! How could it--" + +"She was but a child when they married her," interrupted Dion. "Who +consults a girl of fifteen in the choice of a husband? And Philostratus +--he was my classmate at Rhodus--at that time had the fairest prospects. +His brother Alexas, Antony's favourite, could easily advance him. +Barine's father was dead, her mother was accustomed to follow Didymus's +counsel, and the clever fellow had managed to strew dust in the old man's +eyes. Long and lank as he is, he is not bad-looking even now. + +"When he appeared as an orator he pleased his hearers. This turned his +head, and a spendthrift's blood runs in his veins. To bring his fair +young bride to a stately mansion, he undertook the bad cause of the +thievish tax-collector Pyrrhus, and cleared him." + +"He bought a dozen false witnesses." + +"There were sixteen. Afterwards they became as numerous as the open +mouths you see shouting yonder. It is time to silence them. Go to the +old man's house and soothe him--Barine also, if she is there. If you +find messengers from the Regent, raise objections to the unprecedented +decree. You know the portions of the law which can be turned to +Didymus's advantage." + +"Since the reign of Euergetes II, registered landed property has been +unassailable, and his was recorded." + +"So much the better. Tell the officials also, confidentially, that you +know of objections just discovered which may perhaps change the Regent's +views." + +"And, above all, I shall insist upon my right to choose the place for the +twin statues. The Queen herself directed the others to heed my opinion." + +"That will cast the heaviest weight into the scale. We shall meet later. +You will prefer to keep away from Barine to-night. If you see her, tell +her that Archibius said he would visit her later--for an object I will +explain afterwards. I shall probably go to Iras to bring her to reason. +It will be better not to mention Caesarion's wish." + +"Certainly--and you will give nothing to yonder brawler." + +"On the contrary. I feel very generous. If Peitho will aid me, the +insatiate fellow will get more than may be agreeable to him." + +Then grasping the architect's hand, Dion forced his way through the +throng surrounding the high platform on wheels, upon which the closely +covered piece of sculpture had been rolled up. The gate of the scholar's +house stood open, for an officer in the Regent's service had really +entered a short time before, but the Scythian guards sent by the exegetus +Demetrius, one of Barine's friends, were keeping back the throng of +curious spectators. + +Their commander knew Gorgias, and he was soon standing in the impluvium +of the scholar's house, an oblong, rootless space, with a fountain in the +centre, whose spray moistened the circular bed of flowers around it. The +old slave had just lighted some three-branched lamps which burned on tall +stands. The officers sent by the Regent to inform Didymus that his +garden would be converted into a public square had just arrived. + +When Gorgias entered, these magistrates, their clerks, and the witnesses +accompanying them--a group of twenty men, at whose head was Apollonius, +a distinguished officer of the royal treasury--were in the house. The +slave who admitted the architect informed him of it. + +In the atrium a young girl, doubtless a member of the household, stopped +him. He was not mistaken in supposing that she was Helena, Didymus's +younger granddaughter, of whom Barine had spoken. True, she resembled +her sister neither in face nor figure, for while the young matron's hair +was fair and waving, the young girl's thick black tresses were wound +around her head in a smooth braid. Very unlike Barine's voice, too, were +the deep, earnest tones trembling with emotion, in which she confronted +him with the brief question, concealing a faint reproach, "Another +demand?" + +After first ascertaining that he was really speaking to Helena, his +friend's sister, he hastily told her his name, adding that, on the +contrary, he had come to protect her grandfather from a serious +misfortune. + +When his glance first rested upon her in the dimly lighted room, the +impression she made upon him was by no means favourable. The pure brow, +which seemed to him too high for a woman's face, wore an indignant frown; +and though her mouth was beautiful in form, its outlines were often +marred by a passionate tremor that lent the exquisitely chiselled +features a harsh, nay, bitter expression. But she had scarcely heard the +motive of his presence ere, pressing her hand upon her bosom with a sigh +of relief, she eagerly exclaimed: + +"Oh, do what you can to avert this terrible deed! No one knows how the +old man loves this house. And my grandmother! They will die if it is +taken from them." + +Her large eyes rested upon him with a warm, imploring light; and the +stern, almost repellent voice thrilled with love for her relatives. He +must lend his aid here, and how gladly he would do so! He assured her of +this; and Helena, who had heard him mentioned as a man of ability, saw in +him a helper in need, and begged him, with touching fervour, to show her +grandfather, when he came before the officers, that all was not lost. + +The astonished architect asked if Didymus did not know what was +impending, and Helena hastily replied: + +"He is working in the summer-house by the sea. Apollonius is a kind- +hearted man, and will wait until I have prepared my grandfather. I must +go to him. He has already sent Philotas--his pupil, who finds and +unrolls his books--a dozen times to inquire the cause of the tumult +outside; but I replied that the crowds were flocking to the harbour on +account of the Queen. There is often a mob shouting madly; but nothing +disturbs my grandfather when he is absorbed in his work; and his pupil +--a young student from Amphissa--loves him and does what I bid him. My +grandmother, too, knows nothing yet. She is deaf, and the female slaves +dare not tell her. After her recent attack of giddiness, the doctor said +that any sudden shock might injure her. If only I can find the right +words, that my grandfather may not be too sorely hurt!" + +"Shall I accompany you?" asked Gorgias kindly. + +"No," she answered hurriedly. "He needs time ere he will trust +strangers. Only, if Apollonius discloses the terrible truth, and his +grief threatens to overpower him, comfort him, and show him that we still +have friends who are ready to protect us from such disaster." + +She waved her hand in token of gratitude, and hurried through the little +side gate into the garden. Gorgias looked after her with sparkling eyes, +and drew a long breath. How good this girl must be, how wisely she cared +for her relatives! How energetically the young creature behaved! He had +seen his new acquaintance only in the dim light, but she must be +beautiful. Her eyes, lips, and hair certainly were. How his heart +throbbed as he asked himself the question whether this young girl, +who was endowed with every gift which constituted the true worth of +womanhood, was not preferable to her more attractive sister Barine!-- +when the thought darted through his mind that he had cause to be grateful +to the beard which covered his chin and cheeks, for he felt that he, a +sedate, mature man, must have blushed. And he knew why. Only half an +hour before he had felt and admitted to Dion that he considered Barine +the most desirable of women, and now another's image cast a deep shadow +over hers and filled his heart with new, perhaps stronger emotions. + +He had had similar experiences only too often, and his friends, Dion at +their head, had perceived his weakness and spoiled many an hour for him +by their biting jests. The series of tall and short, fair and dark +beauties who had fired his fancy was indeed of considerable length, and +every one on whom he had bestowed his quickly kindled affections had +seemed to him the one woman he must make his own, if he would be a happy +man. But ere he had reached the point of offering his hand, the question +had arisen in his mind whether he might not love another still more +ardently. So he had begun to persuade himself that his heart yearned for +no individual, but the whole sex--at least the portion which was young +and could feel love--and therefore he would scarcely be wise to bind +himself to any one. True, he knew that he was capable of fidelity, for +he clung to his friends with changeless loyalty, and was ready to make +any sacrifice in their behalf. With women, however, he dealt +differently. Was Helena's image, which now floated before him so +bewitchingly, destined to fade as swiftly? The contrary would have been +remarkable. Yet he firmly believed that this time Eros meant honestly by +him. The laughing loves who twined their rose garlands around him and +Helena's predecessors had nothing to do with this grave maiden. + +These reflections darted through his brain with the speed of lightning, +and still stirred his heart when he was ushered into the impluvium, where +the magistrates were impatiently awaiting the owner of the house. With +the lucidity peculiar to him, he explained his reasons for hoping that +their errand would be vain, and Apollonius replied that no one would +rejoice more than he himself if the Regent should authorize him, on the +morrow, to countermand his mission. He would gladly wait there longer to +afford the old man's granddaughter an opportunity to soften the tidings +of the impending misfortune. + +The kind-hearted man's patience, however, was not tested too long; for +when Helena entered the summer-house Didymus had already been informed +of the disaster which threatened him and his family. The philosopher +Euphranor, an elderly member of the Museum, had reached him through the +garden gate, and, spite of Philotas's warning sign, told him what was +occurring. But Didymus knew the old philosopher, who, a recluse from the +world like himself, was devoting the remainder of his life and strength +to the pursuit of science. So he only shook his head incredulously, +pushed back the thin locks of grey hair which hung down on his cheeks +over the barest part of his skull, and exclaimed reproachfully, though as +if the matter under discussion was of the most trivial importance: "What +have you been hearing? We'll see about it!" + +He had risen as he spoke, and too abruptly surprised by the news to +remember the sandals on the mat and the upper robe which lay on a chest +of drawers at the end of the room, he was in the act of quitting it, when +his friend, who had silently watched his movements, stopped him, and +Helena entered. + +The grey-haired sage turned to her, and, vexed by his friend's doubts, +begged her to convince her grandfather that even matters which do not +please us may nevertheless be of some importance. She did so as +considerately as possible, thinking meanwhile of the architect and his +hopes. + +Didymus, with his eyes bent on the ground, shook his grey head again and +again. Then, suddenly raising it, he rushed to the door, and without +heeding the upper garment which Helena still held in her hand, tore it +open, shouting, "But things must and shall be changed!" + +Euphranor and his granddaughter followed. Though his head was bowed, he +crossed the little garden with a swift, firm tread, and, without noticing +the questions and warnings of his companions, walked at once to the +impluvium. The bright light dazzled his weakened eyes, and his habit of +gazing into vacancy or on the ground compelled him to glance from side to +side for some time, ere he could accustom himself to it. Apollonius +approached, greeted him respectfully, and assured him that he deeply +regretted having interrupted him in the work for which the whole world +was waiting, but he had come on important business. + +"I know, I know," the old scholar answered with a smile of superiority. +"What is all this ado about?" + +As he spoke he looked around the group of spectators, among whom he knew +no one except Apollonius, who had charge of the museum accounts, and the +architect, for whom he had composed the inscription on the Odeum, which +he had recently built. But when his eyes met only unfamiliar faces, the +confidence which hitherto had sustained him began to waver, though still +convinced that a demand such as the philosopher suggested could not +possibly be made upon him, he continued: "It is stated that there is a +plan for turning my garden into a public square. And for what purpose? +To erect a piece of sculpture. But there can be nothing serious in the +rumour, for my property is recorded in the land register, and the law--" + +"Pardon me," Apollonius broke in, "if I interrupt you. We know the +ordinance to which you refer, but this case is an exceptional one. +The Regent desires to take nothing from you. On the contrary, he offers, +in the name of the Queen, any compensation you yourself may fix for the +piece of land which is to be honoured by the statues of the highest +personages in the country--Cleopatra and Antony, hand in hand. The piece +of sculpture has already been brought here. A work by the admirable +artist Lysander, who passed too early to the nether world, certainly will +not disfigure your house. The little summer-house by the sea must be +removed to-morrow, it is true; you know that our gracious Queen may +return any day-victorious if the immortals are just. This piece of +sculpture, which is created in her honour, to afford her pleasure, must +greet her on her arrival, so the Regent send me to-day to communicate his +wish, which, as he represents the Queen--" + +"Yet," interrupted the architect, who had again warmly assured the old +man's granddaughter of his aid" yet your friends will endeavour to +persuade the Regent to find another place for the statues." + +"They are at liberty to do so," said the officer. "What will happen +later the future will show. My office merely requires me to induce the +worthy owner of this house and garden to submit to-day to the Queen's +command, which the Regent and my own heart bid me clothe in the form of a +request." + +During this conversation the old man had at first listened silently to +the magistrate's words, gazing intently into his face. So it was true. +The demand to yield up his garden, and even the little house, for fifty +years the scene of his study and creative work, for the sake of a statue, +would be made. Since this had become a certainty, he had stood with his +eyes fixed upon the ground. Grief had paralyzed his tongue, and Helena, +who felt this, for the aged head seemed as if it were bending under a +heavy burden, had drawn close to his side. + +The shouts and howls of the throng outside echoed through the open roof +of the impluvium, but the old man did not seem to hear them, and did not +even notice his granddaughter. Yet, no sooner did he feel her touch than +he hurriedly shrank away, flung back his drooping head, and gazed around +the circle of intruders. + +The dull, questioning eyes of the old commentator and writer of many +books now blazed with the hot fire of youthful passion and, like a +wrestler who seeks the right grip, he measured Apollonius and his +companions with wrathful glances. The fragile recluse seemed transformed +into a warrior ready for battle. His lips and the nostrils of his +delicate nose quivered, and when Apollonius began to say that it would be +wise to remove the contents of the summer-house that day, as it would be +torn down early the next morning, Didymus raised his arms, exclaiming: + +"That will not be done. Not a single roll shall be removed! They will +find me at work as usual early to-morrow morning, and if it is still your +wish to rob me of my property you must use violence to attain your +purpose." + +Calm yourself," replied Apollonius. "Every one beneath the moon must +submit to a higher power; the gods bow to destiny, we mortals to the +sovereign. You are a sage; I, merely mindful of the behests of duty, +administer my office. But I know life, and if I may offer my counsel, +you will accept what cannot be averted, and I will wager ten to one that +you will have the best of it; that the Queen will place in your hands +means--" + +"Sufficient to build a palace on the site of the little house of which I +was robbed," Didymus interrupted bitterly. Then rage burst forth afresh +"What do I care for your money? I want my rights, my good, guaranteed +rights. I insist upon them, and whoever assails the ground which my +grandfather and father bequeathed to me--" + +He hesitated, for the throng outside had burst into a loud shout of joy; +and when it died away, and the old man began once more defiantly to claim +his rights, he was interrupted by a woman's clear tones, addressing him +with the Greek greeting, "Rejoice!"--a voice so gay and musical that it +seemed to dispel the depression which rested like a grey fog on the whole +company. + +While Didymus was listening to the excited populace, and the new-comer +was gazing at the old man whose rigid obstinacy could scarcely be +conquered by kindness, the younger men were looking at the beautiful +woman who joined them. Her haste had flushed her cheeks, and from +beneath the turquoise-blue kerchief that covered her fair locks a +bewitching face smiled at her sister, the architect, and her grandfather. + +Apollonius and many of his companions felt as if happiness in person had +entered this imperilled house, and many an eye brightened when the +infuriated old man exclaimed in an altered tone, "You here, Barine?" and +she, without heeding the presence of the others, kissed his cheek with +tender affection. + +Helena, Gorgias, and the old philosopher Euphranor, had approached her, +and when the latter asked with loving reproach, "Why, Barine, how did +you get through the howling mob?" she answered gaily: "That a learned +member of the Museum may receive me with the query whether I am here, +though from childhood a kind or--what do you think, grandfather?--a +malign fate has preserved me from being overlooked, and some one else +reprovingly asks how I passed through the shouting mob, as if it were a +crime to wade into the water to hold out a helping hand to those we love +best when it is up to their chins! But, oh! dear, this howling is too +hideous!" + +While speaking, she pressed her little hands on the part of the kerchief +which concealed her ears, and said no more until the noise subsided, +although she declared that she was in a hurry, and had only come to learn +how matters were. Meanwhile it seemed as if she was so full of quick, +pulsing life, that it was impossible to leave even a moment unused, +if it were merely to bestow or answer a friendly glance. + +The architect and her sister were obliged to return hurried answers to +hasty questions; and as soon as she ascertained what had brought the +strangers there she thanked Apollonius, and said that old friends would +do their best to spare her grandfather such a sorrow. + +In reply to repeated inquiries from the two old men in regard to her +arrival there, she answered: "Nobody will believe it, because in this +hurry I could not keep my mouth shut; but I acted like a mute fish and +reached the water." Then, drawing her grandfather aside, she whispered +to him that, when she left her boat at the harbour, Archibius had seen +her from his carriage, and instantly stopped it to inform her of his +intended visit that evening. He was coming to discuss an important +matter. Therefore she must receive the worthy man, whom she sincerely +liked, so she could not stay. Then turning to the others still with her +kerchief on her head ready for departure--she asked what the people +meant by their outcries. The architect replied that Philostratus had +endeavoured to make the crowd believe that the only appropriate site for +the statues of which she had heard was her grandfather's garden, and he +thought he knew in whose behalf the fellow was acting. + +"Certainly not in the Regent's," said Apollonius, in a tone of sincere +conviction; but Barine, over whose sunny brow a shadow had flitted when +Gorgias uttered the orator's name, assented with a slight bend of the +head, and then whispered hurriedly, yet earnestly, that she would answer +for the old man's allowing himself to be persuaded, if he had only time +to collect his thoughts. + +The next morning, when the market was crowded, the officer might commence +his negotiations afresh, if the Regent insisted on his plan. Meanwhile +she would do her best to persuade her grandfather to yield, though he was +not exactly one of the class who are easily guided. Apollonius might +remind the Regent that it would be advisable at this time to avoid a +public scandal, to remember Didymus's age, and the validity of his claim. + +While Apollonius was talking with his companions, Barine beckoned to the +architect, and hastily took leave of the others, protesting that she was +in no danger, since she would slip away again like a fish, only this time +she would use her tongue, and hoped by its means to win to the support of +Didymus's just cause a man who would already have ended all the trouble +had the Queen only been in Alexandria. + +Until now the eyes and ears of the whole company had been fixed upon +Barine. No one had desired anything better than to gaze at and listen to +her. + +Not until she had quitted the room with Gorgias did the officials +discuss the matter together, and soon after Apollonius went away with +his companions, to hold another conference with the Regent about this +unpleasant business. This time the architect had followed the young +beauty with very mingled feelings. Only an hour before he would have +rejoiced to be permitted to accompany and protect Barine; now he would +have gladly remained with her sister, who had returned his farewell +greeting so gratefully and yet with such maidenly modesty. But even the +most vacillating man cannot change one fancy for another as he would +replace a black piece on the draughtboard with a white one, and he still +found it delightful to be so near Barine. Only the thought that Helena +might believe that he stood on very intimate terms with her sister had +darted with a disquieting influence through his brain when the latter +invited him to accompany her. + +In the garden Barine begged him, before they went to the landing-place +where the boat was moored, to help her ascend the narrow flight of steps +leading to the flat roof of the gatekeeper's little house. + +Here they could watch unseen the tumult in the square below, for it was +surrounded by dense laurel bushes. Bright flames were blazing in the +pitch-pans before the two temples at the side of the Corner of the Muses, +and their light was increased by the torches held in the hands of +Scythians. Yet no individuals could be distinguished in the throng. The +marble walls of the temples shimmered, the statues at Didymus's gate, and +the hermae along the street of the King which passed the threatened house +and connected the north of the Corner of the Muses with the sea-shore, +loomed from the darkness in the brilliancy of the reflected light, but +the smoke of the torches darkened the sky and dimmed the starlight. + +The only persons distinctly visible were Dion, who had stationed himself +on the lofty framework of the platform on which the muffled statues had +been drawn hither, and the attorney Philostratus, who stood on the +pedestal of one of the dolphins which surrounded the fountain between the +Temple of Isis and the street. The space, a dozen paces wide, which +divided them, permitted the antagonists to understand each other, and the +attention of the whole throng was fixed upon the wranglers. + +These verbal battles were one of the greatest pleasures of the +Alexandrians, and they greeted every clever turn of speech with shouts +of applause, every word which displeased them with groans, hisses, and +cat-calls. + +Barine could see and hear what was passing below. She had pushed aside +the foliage of the laurel bushes which concealed her, and, with her hand +raised to her ear, stood listening to the two disputants. When the +scoundrel whom she had called husband, and for whom her contempt had +become too deep for hate, sneeringly assailed her family as having been +fed from generation to generation from the corn-bin of the Museum, she +bit her lips. But they soon curled, as if what she heard aroused her +disgust, for the speaker now turned to Dion and accused him of preventing +the kindly disposed Regent from increasing the renown of the great Queen +and affording her noble heart a pleasure. + +"My tongue," he cried, "is the tool which supports me. Why am I using it +here till it is weary and almost paralyzed? In honour of Cleopatra, our +illustrious Queen, and her generous friend, to whom we all owe a debt of +gratitude. Let all who love her and the divine Antony, the new Herakles +and Dionysus--both will soon make their entry among us crowned with the +laurels of victory--join the Regent and every well-disposed person in +seizing yonder bit of land so meanly withheld by base avarice and a +sentiment--a sentiment, do you hear?--which I do not name more plainly, +simply because wickedness is repulsive to me, and I do not stand here as +an accuser. Whoever upholds the word-monger who spouts forth books as +the dolphin at my side does water, may do so. I shall not envy him. But +first look at Didymus's ally and panegyrist. There he stands opposite to +me. It would have been better for him had the dolphin at his feet taught +him silence. Then he might have remained in the obscurity which befits +him. + +"But whether willing or not, I must drag him forth, and I will show you +Dion, fellow-citizens, though I would far rather have you see things +which arouse less ire. The dim light prevents your distinguishing the +colour of his robe, but I know it, for I saw it in the glare of day. It +is hyacinthine purple. You know what that costs. It would support the +wives and children of many among you for ten long years. 'How heavy must +be the purse which can expose such a treasure to sun and rain!' is the +thought of every one who sees him strutting about as proudly as a +peacock. And his purse is loaded with many talents. Only it is a pity +that, day after day, most of you must give your children a little less +bread and deprive yourselves of many a draught of wine to deck him out so +bravely. His father, Eumenes, was a tax-collector, and what the leech +extorted from you and your children, the son now uses to drive, clad in +hyacinthine purple, a four-horse chariot, which splashes the mire from +the street into your faces as it rolls onward. By the dog! the gentleman +does not weigh so very much, yet he needs four horses to drag him. +And, fellow-citizens, do you know why? I'll tell you. He's afraid of +sticking fast everywhere, even in his speech." + +Here Philostratus lowered his voice, for the phrase "sticking fast" had +drawn a laugh from some of his hearers; but Dion, whose father had really +amassed, in the high position of a receiver of taxes, the handsome +fortune which his son possessed, did not delay his reply. + +"Yes, yes," he retorted scornfully, "yonder Syrian babbler hit the mark +this time. He stands before me, and who does not easily stick fast when +marsh and mire are so near? As for the hyacinthine purple cloak, I wear +it because I like it. His crocus-yellow one is less to my taste, though +he certainly looks fine enough in it in the sunlight. It shines like a +buttercup in the grass. You know the plant. When it fades--and I ask +whether you think Philostratus looks like a bud--when it fades, it leaves +a hollow spiral ball which a child's breath could blow away. Suppose in +future we should call the round buttercup seed-vessels 'Philostratus +heads'? You like the suggestion? I am glad, fellow-citizens, and I +thank you. It proves your good taste. Then we will stick to the +comparison. Every head contains a tongue, and Philostratus says that his +is the tool which supports him." + +"Hear the money-bag, the despiser of the people!" interrupted +Philostratus furiously. "The honest toil by which a citizen earns a +livelihood is a disgrace in his eyes." + +"Honest toil, my good friend," replied Dion, "is scarcely in question +here. I spoke only of your tongue.--You understand me, fellow-citizens. +Or, if any of you are not yet acquainted with this worthy man, I will +show him to you, for I know him well. He is my foe, yet I can sincerely +recommend him to many of you. If any one has a very bad, shamefully +corrupt cause to bring before the courts, I most earnestly counsel him +to apply to the buttercup man perched on yonder fountain. He will thank +me for it. Believe me, Didymus's cause is just, precisely because this +advocate so eagerly assails it. I told you just now the matter under +discussion. Which of you who owns a garden can say in future, 'It is +mine,' if, during the absence of the Queen, it is allowable to take it +away to be used for any other purpose? But this is what threatens +Didymus. If this is to be the custom here, let every one beware of +sowing a radish or planting a bush or a tree, for should the wife of +some great noble desire to dry her linen there, he may be deprived +of it ere the former can ripen or the latter give shade." + +Loud applause followed this sentence, but Philostratus shouted in a voice +that echoed far and wide: "Hear me, fellow-citizens; do not allow your +selves to be deceived! No one is to be robbed here. The project is to +purchase, at a high price, the spot which the city needs for her +adornment, and to honour and please the Queen. Are the Regent and the +citizens to lose this opportunity of expressing the gratitude of years, +and the rejoicing over the greatest of victories, of which we shall soon +hear, because an evil-disposed person--the word must be uttered--a foe +to his country, opposes it?" + +"Now the mire is coming too near me," Dion angrily responded, "and I +might really stick fast, as I was warned; for I do not envy the ready +presence of mind of any person whose tongue would not falter when the +basest slander scattered its venom over him. You all know, fellow- +citizens, through how many generations the Didymus family has lived to +the honour of this city, doing praiseworthy work in yonder house. You +know that the good old man who dwells there was one of the teachers of +the royal children." + +"And yet," cried Philostratus, "only the day before yesterday he walked +arm in arm in the Paneum garden with Arius, the tutor of Octavianus, our +own and our Queen's most hated foe. In my presence, and before I know +not how many others, Didymus distinguished this Arius as his most beloved +pupil." + +"To give you that title," retorted Dion, "would certainly fill any +teacher with shame and anger, no matter how far you had surpassed him in +wisdom and knowledge. Nay, had you been committed to the care of the +herring dealers, instead of the rhetoricians, every honest man among them +would disown you, for they sell only good wares for good money, while you +give the poorest in exchange for glittering gold. This time you trample +under foot the fair name of an honourable man. But I will not suffer it; +and you hear, fellow-citizens, I now challenge this Syrian to prove that +Didymus ever betrayed his native land, or I will brand him in your +presence a base slanderer, an infamous, venal destroyer of character!" + +"An insult from such lips is easily borne," replied Philostratus in a +tone of scornful superiority; but there was a pause ere he again turned +to the listening throng, and with all the warmth he could throw into his +voice continued: "What do I desire, then, fellow-citizens? What is the +sole object of my words? I stand here with clean hands, impelled solely +by the impulse of my heart, to plead for the Queen. In order to secure +the only suitable site for the statues to be erected to Cleopatra's +honour and fame, I enter into judgment with her foes, expose myself to +the insult with which boastful insolence is permitted to vent its wrath +upon me. But I am not dismayed, though, in pursuing this course, I am +acting against the law of Nature; for the infamous man against whom I +raise my voice was my teacher, too, and ere he turned from the path of +right and virtue--under influences which I will not mention here--he +numbered me also, in the presence of many witnesses, among his best +pupils. I was certainly one of the most grateful--I chose his +granddaughter--the truth must be spoken--for my wife. The possession--" + +"Possession!" interrupted Dion in a loud, excited tone. "The corpse cast +ashore by the waves might as well boast possession of the sea!" + +The dim torchlight was sufficient to reveal Philostratus's pallor to the +bystanders. For a moment the orator seemed to lose his self-control, but +he quickly recovered himself, and shouted: "Fellow-citizens, dear +friends! I was about to make you witnesses of the misery which a woman, +whose wickedness is even greater than her beauty, brought upon an +inexperienced--" + +But he went no further; for his hearers--many of whom knew the brilliant, +generous Dion, and Barine, the fair singer at the last Adonis festival-- +gave the orator tokens of their indignation, which were all the more +pitiless because of the pleasure they felt in seeing an expert vanquished +by an untrained foe. The wordy war would not have ended so quickly, +however, had not restlessness and alarm taken possession of the crowd. +The shout, "Back! disperse!" ran through the multitude, and directly +after the trampling of hoofs and the commands of the leader of a troop of +Libyan cavalry were heard. The matter at stake was not sufficiently +important to induce the populace to offer an armed force resistance which +might have entailed serious danger. Besides, the blustering war of +tongues had reached a merry close, and loud laughter blended with the +shouts of fear and warning; for the surging throng had swept with +unexpected speed towards the fountain and plunged Philostratus into the +basin. Whether this was due to the wrath of some enemy, or to mere +accident, could not be learned; the vain efforts of the luckless man to +crawl out of the water up the smooth marble were so comical, and his +gestures, after helping hands had dragged him dripping upon the pavement +of the square, were so irresistibly funny, that more laughing than angry +voices were heard, especially when some one cried, "His hands were soiled +by blackening Didymus, so the washing will do him good." "Some wise +physicians flung him into the water," retorted an other; "he needed the +cold application after the blows Dion dealt him." + +The Regent, who had sent the troop of horsemen to drive the crowd away +from Didymus's house, might well be pleased that the violent measure +encountered so little resistance. + +The throng quickly scattered, and was speedily attracted by something new +at the Theatre of Dionysus--the zither-player Anaxenor had just announced +from its steps that Cleopatra and Antony had won the most brilliant +victory, and had sung to the accompaniment of his lute a hymn which had +deeply stirred all hearts. He had composed it long before, and seized +the first opportunity--the report had reached his ears while breakfasting +in Kanopus--to try its effect. + +As soon as the square began to empty, Barine left her post of +observation. It was long since her heart had throbbed so violently. +Not one of the many suitors for her favour had been so dear to her as +Dion; but she now felt that she loved him. + +What he had just done for her and her grandfather was worthy of the +deepest gratitude; it proved that he did not come to her house, like most +of her guests, merely to while away the evening hours. + +It had been no small matter for the young aristocrat, in the presence of +the whole multitude, to enter into a debate with the infamous +Philostratus, and how well he had succeeded in silencing the dreaded +orator! Besides, Dion had even taken her part against his own powerful +uncle, and perhaps by his deed drawn upon himself the hostility of his +enemy's brother, Alexas, Antony's powerful favourite. Barine might +assure herself that he, who was the peer of any Macedonian noble in the +city, would have done this for no one else. + +She felt as if the act had ransomed her. + +When, after an unhappy marriage and many desolate days, she had regained +her former bright cheerfulness and saw her house become the centre of the +intellectual life of the city, she had striven until now to extend the +same welcome to all her guests. She had perceived that she ought not to +give any one the power over her which is possessed by the man who knows +that he is beloved, and even to Dion she had granted little more than to +the others. But now she saw plainly that she would resign the pleasure +of being a universally admired woman, whose modest home attracted the +most distinguished men in the city, for the far greater happiness which +would be hers as Dion's beloved wife. + +With him, cherished by his love, she believed that she could find far +greater joy in solitude than in the gay course of her present life. + +She knew now what she must do if Dion sought her, and the architect, +for the first time, found her a silent companion. He had willingly +accompanied her back to her grandfather's house, where he had again met +her sister Helena, while she had quitted it disappointed, because her +brave defender had not returned there. + +After the interruption of the debate Dion had been in a very cheerful +mood. The pleasant sensation of having championed a good cause, and the +delightful consciousness of success were not new to him, but he had +rarely felt so uplifted as now. He most ardently longed for his next +meeting with Barine, and imagined how he would describe what had happened +and claim her gratitude for his friendly service. The scene had risen +clearly before his mind, but scarcely had the radiant vision of the +future faded when the unusually bright expression of his manly face was +clouded by a grave and troubled one. + +The darkness of the night, illumined only by the flare of the pitch-pans, +had surrounded him, yet it had seemed as if he were standing with Barine +in the full light of noon in the blossoming garden of his own palace, +and, after asking a reward for his sturdy championship, she had clung +to him with deep emotion, and he had passionately kissed her tearful +face. + +The face had quickly vanished, yet it had been as distinct as the most +vivid picture in a dream. Was Barine more to him than he supposed? Had +he not been drawn to her, during the past few months, by the mere charm +of her pliant intellect and her bright beauty? Had a new, strong passion +awakened within him? Was he in danger of seeing the will which urged him +to preserve his freedom conquered? Had he cause to fear that some day, +constrained by a mysterious, invincible power, in defiance of the +opposition of calm reason, he might perhaps bind himself for life to this +Barine, the woman who had once been the wife of a Philostratus, and who +bestowed her smiles on all who found admittance to her house seeking a +feast for the eye, a banquet for the ear, a pleasant entertainment? + +Though her honor was as stainless as the breast of a swan--and he had no +reason to doubt it--she would still be classed with Aspasia and other +women whose guests sought more than songs and agreeable conversations. +The gifts with which the gods had so lavishly endowed her had already +been shared with too many to permit him, the last scion of a noble +Macedonian house, to think of leading her, as mistress, to the palace +whose erection he had so carefully and successfully planned with Gorgias. + +Surely it lacked nothing save the gracious rule of a mistress. + +But if she should consent to become his without the blessing of Hymen? +No. + +He could not thus dishonor the granddaughter of Didymus, the man who had +been his father's revered teacher, a woman whom he had always rejoiced +that, spite of the gay freedom with which she received so many admirers, +he could still esteem. He would not do so, though his friends would have +greeted such scruples with a smile of superiority. Who revered the +sacredness of marriage in a city whose queen was openly living for the +second time with the husband of another? Dion himself had formed many a +brief connection, but for that very reason he could not place a woman +like Barine on the same footing with those whose love he had perhaps owed +solely to his wealth. He had never lacked courage and resolution, but he +felt that this time he would have to resist a power with which he had +never coped. + +That accursed face! Again and again it rose before his mental vision, +smiling and beckoning so sweetly that the day must come when the yearning +to realize the dream would conquer all opposition. If he remained near +her he would inevitably do what he might afterwards regret, and therefore +he would fain have offered a sacrifice to Peitho to induce her to enhance +Archibius's powers of persuasion and induce Barine to leave Alexandria. +It would be hard for him to part from her, yet much would be gained if +she went into the country. Between the present and the distant period of +a second meeting lay respite from peril, and perhaps the possibility of +victory. Dion did not recognize himself. He seemed as unstable as a +swaying reed, because he had conquered his wish to re-enter old Didymus's +house and encourage him, and passed on to his own home. But he would +probably have found Barine still with her grandfather, and he would not +meet her, though every fibre of his being longed for her face, her voice, +and a word of gratitude from her beloved lips. Instead of joy, he was +filled with the sense of dissatisfaction which overpowers a man standing +at a crossing in the roads, who sees before him three goals, yet can be +fully content with neither. + +The Street of the King, along which he suffered himself to be carried by +the excited throng, ran between the sea and the Theatre of Dionysus. The +thought darted through his mind that his friend the architect desired to +erect the luckless statues of the royal lovers in front of this stately +building. He would divert his thoughts by examining the site which +Gorgias had chosen. + +The zither-player finished his hymn just as Dion approached the theatre, +and the crowd began to disperse. Every one was full of the joyful +tidings of victory, and one shouted to another what Anaxenor, the +favourite of the great Antony, who must surely know, had just recited in +thrilling verse. Many a joyous Io and loud Evoe to Cleopatra, the new +Isis, and Antony, the new Dionysus, resounded through the air, while +bearded and smooth, delicate Greek and thick Egyptian lips joined in the +shout, "To the Sebasteum!" This was the royal palace, which faced the +government building containing the Regent's residence. The populace +desired to have the delightful news confirmed, and to express, by a +public demonstration, the grateful joy which filled every heart. + +Dion, too, was eager to obtain certainty, and, though usually averse to +mingling with the populace during such noisy outbursts of feeling, he was +preparing to follow the crowd thronging towards the Sebasteum, when the +shouts of runners clearing a passage for a closed litter fell upon his +ear. + +It was occupied by Iras, the Queen's trusted attendant. If any one could +give accurate information, it was she; yet it would hardly be possible to +gain an opportunity of conversing with her in this throng. But Iras must +have had a different opinion; she had seen Dion, and now called him to +her side. There were hoarse tones in her voice, usually so clear and +musical, which betrayed the emotion raging in her breast as she assailed +the young Macedonian noble with a flood of questions. Without giving him +the usual greeting, she hastily desired to know what was exciting the +people, who had brought the tidings of victory, and whither the multitude +was flocking? + +Dion had found it difficult not to be forced from the litter while +answering. Iris perceived this, and as they were just passing the +Maeander, the labyrinth, which was closed after sunset, she ordered her +bearers to carry the litter to the entrance, made herself known to the +watchman, ordered the outer court to be opened, the litter to be placed +there, and the bearers and runners to wait outside for her summons, which +would soon be given. + +This unusual haste and excitement filled Dion with just solicitude. She +refused his invitation to alight and walk up and down, declaring that +life offered so many labyrinths that one need not seek them. He, too, +seemed to be following paths which were scarcely straight ones. "Why," +she concluded, thrusting her head far out of the opening in the litter, +"are you rendering it so difficult for the Regent and your own uncle to +execute their plans, making common cause with the populace, like a paid +agitator?" + +"Like Philostratus, you mean, on whom I bestowed a few blows in addition +to the golden guerdon received from your hand?" + +"Ay, like him, for aught I care. Probably it was you, too, who had him +flung into the water, after you had vented your wrath on him? You +managed your cause well. What we do for love's sake is usually +successful. No matter, if only his brother Alexas does not rouse Antony +against you. For my part, I merely desire to know why and for whom all +this was done." + +"For whom save the good old man who was my father's preceptor, and his +just claim?" replied Dion frankly. "Moreover--for no site more +unsuitable could be found than his garden-in behalf of good taste." + +Iras laughed a shrill, short laugh, and her narrow, regularly formed +face, which might have been called beautiful, had not the bridge of the +straight delicate nose been too long and the chin too small, darkened +slightly, as she exclaimed, "That is frank at least." + +"You ought to be accustomed to that from me," replied Dion calmly. +"In this case, however, the expert, Gorgias, fully shares my opinion." + +"I heard that too. You are both the most constant visitors of--what is +the woman's name?--the bewitching Barine." + +"Barine?" repeated Dion, as if the mention of the name surprised him. +"You take care, my friend, that our conversation does honour to its +scene, the labyrinth. I speak of works of the sculptor's art, and you +pretend that I am referring to what is most certainly a very successful +living work from the creative hands of the gods. I was very far from +thinking of the granddaughter of the old scholar for whom I interceded." + +"Ay," she scornfully retorted, "young gentlemen in your position, and +with your habits of life, always think of their fathers estimable +teachers rather than of the women who, ever since Pandora opened her box, +have brought all sorts of misfortunes into the world. But," she added, +pushing back her dark locks from her high forehead, "I don't understand +myself, how, with the mountain of care that now burdens my soul, I can +waste even a single word upon such trifles. I care as little for the +aged scholar as I do for his legion of commentaries and books, though +they are not wholly unfamiliar to me. For any concern of mine he might +have as many grandchildren as there are evil tongues in Alexandria, were +it not that just at this time it is of the utmost importance to remove +everything which might cast a shadow on the Queen's pathway. I have just +come from the palace of the royal children at Lochias, and what I learned +there. But that--I will not, I cannot believe it. It fairly stifles me!" + +"Have you received bad news from the fleet?" questioned Dion, with +sincere anxiety; but she only bent her head in assent, laying her fan of +ostrich-plumes on her lips to enjoin silence, at the same time shivering +so violently that he perceived it, even in the dusk. It was evident that +speech was difficult, as she added in a muffled tone: "It must be kept +secret--Rhodian sailors--thank the gods, it is still very doubtful--it +cannot, must not be true--and yet-the prattle of that zither-player, +which has filled the multitude with joyous anticipation, is abominable-- +the great ones of the earth are often most sorely injured by those who +owe them the most gratitude. I know you can be silent, Dion. You could +as a boy, if anything was to be hidden from our parents. Would you still +be ready to plunge into the water for me, as in those days? Scarcely. +Yet you may be trusted, and, even in this labyrinth, I will do so. My +heart is heavy. But not one word to any person. I need no confidant and +could maintain silence even towards you, but I am anxious that you should +understand me, you who have just taken such a stand. Before I entered my +litter at Lochias, the boy returned, and I talked with him." + +"Young Caesarion loves Barine," replied Dion with grave earnestness. + +"Then this horrible folly is known?" asked Iras excitedly. "A passion +far deeper than I should ever have expected this dreamer to feel has +taken possession of him. And if the Queen should now return--perhaps +less successful than we desire--if she looks to those from whom she still +expects pleasure, satisfaction, lofty deeds, and learns what has befallen +the boy--for what does not that sun-bright intellect learn and perceive? +He is dear to her, dearer than any of you imagine. How it will increase +her anxiety, perhaps her suffering! With what good reason she will be +angered against those whom duty and love should have commanded to guard +the boy!" + +"And therefore," added Dion, "the stone of offence must be removed. +Your first step to secure this object was the attack on Didymus." + +He had judged correctly and perceived that, in her assault upon the old +scholar, she had at first intended to play into the hands of the rulers, +work against the old philosopher and his relatives, among whose number +was Barine; for the Egyptian law permitted the relatives of those who +were convicted of any crime against the sovereign or the government to be +banished with the criminal. This attack upon an innocent person was +disgraceful, yet every word Iras uttered made Dion feel, every feature of +her face betrayed, that it was not merely base jealousy, but a nobler +emotion, that caused her to assail the guiltless sage--love for her +mistress, the desire which dominated her whole being to guard Cleopatra +from grief and trouble in these trying times. He knew Iras's iron will +and the want of consideration with which she had learned to pursue her +purpose at the court. His first object was to protect Barine from the +danger which threatened her; but he also wished to relieve the anxiety of +Iras, the daughter of Krates, his father's neighbour, with whom he had +played in boyhood and for whom he had never ceased to feel a tender +interest. + +His remark surprised her. She saw that her plot was detected by the man +whose esteem she most valued, and a loving woman is glad to recognize the +superiority of her lover. Besides, from her earliest childhood--and she +was only two years younger than Dion--she had belonged to circles where +no quality was more highly prized than mental pliancy and keenness. Her +dark eyes, which at first had glittered distrustfully and questioningly +and afterwards glowed with a gloomy light, now gained a new expression. +Her gaze sought her friend's with a tender, pleading look as, admitting +his charge, she began: "Yes! Dion, the philosopher's granddaughter must +not stay here. Or do you see any other way to protect the unhappy boy +from incalculable misfortune? You know me well enough to be aware that, +like you, I am reluctant to infringe another's rights, that except in +case of necessity I am not cruel. I value your esteem. No one is more +truthful, and yesterday you averred that Eros had no part in your visits +to the much-admired young woman, that you joined her guests merely +because the society you found at her house afforded a pleasant stimulus +to the mind. I have ceased to believe in many things, but not in you and +your words, and if hearing that you had taken sides with the grandfather, +I fancied that you were secretly seeking the thanks and gratitude of the +granddaughter, why--surely the atrocious maxim that Zeus does not hear +the vows of lovers comes from you men--why, suspicion again reared its +head. Now you seem to share my opinion--" + +"Like you," Dion interrupted, "I believe that Barine ought to be +withdrawn from the boy's pursuit, which cannot be more unpleasant to you +than to her. As Caesarion neither can nor ought to leave Alexandria +while affairs are so threatening, nothing is left except to remove the +young woman--but, of course, in all kindness." + +"In a golden chariot, garlanded with roses, if you so desire," cried Iras +eagerly. + +"That might attract attention," answered Dion, smiling and raising his +hand as if to enjoin moderation. "Your mode of action does not please +me, even now that I know its purpose, but I will gladly aid you to attain +your object. Your crooked paths also lead to the goal, and perhaps one +is less likely to stumble in them; but straight ways suit me better, and +I think I have already found the right one. A friend will invite Barine +to an estate far away from here, perhaps in the lake regions." + +"You?" cried Iras, her narrow eyebrows suddenly contracting. + +"Do you imagine that she would go with me?" he asked, in a faintly +reproachful tone. "No. Fortunately, we have older friends, and at their +head is one who happens to be your uncle and at the same time is wax in +the hands of the Queen." + +"Archibius?" exclaimed Iras. "Ah! if he could persuade her to do so!" + +"He will try. He, too, is anxious about the lad. While we are talking +here, he is inviting Barine to his estate. The country air will benefit +her." + +"May she bloom there like a young shepherdess!" + +"You are right to wish her the best fortune; for if the Queen does not +return victorious, the irritability of our Alexandrians will be doubled. +When you laid hands on Didymus's garden, you were so busily engaged in +building the triumphal arch that you forgot--" + +"Who would have doubted the successful issue of this war?" cried Iras. +"And they will, they will conquer. The Rhodian said that the fleet was +scattered. The disaster happened on the Acharnanian coast. How positive +it sounded! But he had it only at second and third hand. And what are +mere rumours? The source of the false tidings is discovered later. +Besides, even if the naval battle were really lost, the powerful army, +which is far superior to Octavianus's forces, still remains. Which of +the enemy's generals could cope with Antony on the land? How he will +fight when all is at stake-fame, honour, sovereignty, hate, and love! +Away with this fear, based on mere rumour! After Dyrrachium Caesar's +cause was deemed lost, and how soon Pharsalus made him master of the +world! Is it worthy of a sensible person to suffer courage to be +depressed by a sailor's gossip? And yet--yet! It began while I was ill. +And then the swallows on the Antonias, the admiral's ship. We have +already spoken of it. Mardiou and your uncle Zeno saw with their own +eyes the strange swallows drive away those which had built their nest on +the helm of the Antonias, and kill the young ones with their cruel beaks. +An evil omen! + +"I cannot forget it. And my dream, while I lay ill with fever far away +from my mistress! But I have already lingered here too long. No, Dion, +no. I am grateful for the rest here--I can now feel at ease about +Caesarion. Place the monument where you choose. The people shall see +and hear that we respect their opposition, that we are just and friendly. +Help me to turn this matter to the advantage of the Queen, and if +Archibius succeeds in getting Barine away and keeping her in the country, +then--if I had aught that seemed to you desirable it should be yours. +But what does the petted Dion care for his fading playfellow?" + +"Fading?" he repeated in a tone of indignant reproach. "Say rather the +fully developed flower has learned from her royal friend the secret of +eternal youth." + +With a swift impulse of gratitude Iras bent her face towards him in the +dusk, extending the slender white hand--next to Cleopatra's famed as the +most beautiful at court--for him to kiss, but when he merely pressed his +lips lightly on it with no shadow of tenderness, she hastily withdrew it, +exclaiming as if overwhelmed by sudden repentance: "This idle, hollow +dalliance at such a time, with such a burden of anxiety oppressing the +heart! It is un worthy, shameful! If Barine goes with Archibius, her +time will scarcely hang heavy on his estates. I think I know some one +who will speedily follow to bear her company.--Here, Sasis! the bearers! +To the Tower of Nilus, before the Gate of the Sun!" + +Dion gazed after her litter a short time, then passed his hand through +his waving brown hair, walked swiftly to the shore and, without pausing +long to choose, sprang into one of the boats which were rented for +pleasure voyages. Ordering the sailors who were preparing to accompany +him to remain on shore, he stretched the sail with a practised hand, and +ran out towards the mouth of the harbour. He needed some strong +excitement, and wished to go himself in search of news. + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +Contempt had become too deep for hate +Jealousy has a thousand eyes +Zeus does not hear the vows of lovers + + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CLEOPATRA, BY GEORG EBERS, V1 *** + +*********This file should be named 5473.txt or 5473.zip ********** + +This eBook was produced by David Widger + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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