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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/5477.txt b/5477.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c0abbca --- /dev/null +++ b/5477.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1393 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook Cleopatra, by Georg Ebers, Volume 5. +#39 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 5. + +Author: Georg Ebers + +Release Date: April, 2004 [EBook #5477] +[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, V5 *** + + + +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 5. + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +Barine had been an hour in the palace. The magnificently furnished room +to which she was conducted was directly above the council chamber, and +sometimes, in the silence of the night, the voice of the Queen or the +loud cheers of men were distinctly heard. + +Barine listened without making the slightest effort to catch the meaning +of the words which reached her ears. She longed only for something to +divert her thoughts from the deep and bitter emotion which filled her +soul. Ay, she was roused to fury, and yet she felt how completely this +passionate resentment contradicted her whole nature. + +True, the shameless conduct of Philostratus during their married life had +often stirred the inmost depths of her placid, kindly spirit, and after +wards his brother Alexas had come to drive her, by his disgraceful +proposals, to the verge of despair; rage was added to the passionate +agitation of her soul, and for this she had cause to rejoice--but for +this mighty resentment during the time of struggle she might have, +perhaps, succumbed from sheer weariness and the yearning desire to rest. + +At last, at last, she and her friends, by means of great sacrifices, had +succeeded in releasing her from these tortures. Philostratus's consent +to liberate her was purchased. Alexas's persecution had ceased long +before; he had first been sent away as envoy by his patron Antony, and +afterwards been compelled to accompany him to the war. + +How she had enjoyed the peaceful days in her mother's house! How quickly +the bright cheerfulness which she had supposed lost had returned to her +soul!--and to-day Fate had blessed her with the greatest happiness life +had ever offered. True, she had had only a few brief hours in which to +enjoy it, for the attack of the unbridled boys and the wound inflicted +upon her lover had cast a heavy shadow on her bliss. + +Her mother had again proved to be in the right when she so confidently +predicted a second misfortune which would follow the first only too soon. + +Barine had been torn at midnight from her peaceful home and her wounded +lover's bedside. This was done by the Queen's command, and, full of +angry excitement, she said to herself that the men were right who cursed +tyranny because it transformed free human beings into characterless +chattels. + +There could be nothing good awaiting her; that was proved by the +messengers whom Cleopatra had sent to summon her at this unprecedented +hour. They were her worst enemies: Iras, who desired to wed her lover-- +Dion had told her so after the assault--and Alexas, whose suit she had +rejected in a way which a man never forgives. + +She had already learned Iras's feelings. The slender figure with the +narrow head, long, delicate nose, small chin, and pointed fingers, seemed +to her like a long, sharp thorn. This strange comparison had entered her +head as Iras stood rigidly erect, reading aloud in a shrill, high voice +the Queen's command. Everything about this hard, cold face appeared as +sharp as a sting, and ready to destroy her. + +Her removal from her mother's house to the royal palace had been swift +and simple. + +After the attack--of which she saw little, because, overpowered by fear +and horror, she closed her eyes--she had driven home with her lover, +where the leech had bandaged his injuries, and Berenike had quickly and +carefully transformed her own sleeping chamber into a sick-room. + +Barine, after changing her dress, did not leave Dion's side. She had +attired herself carefully, for she knew his delight in outward adornment. +When she returned from her grandparents, before sunset, she was alone +with him, and he, kissing her arm, had murmured that wherever the Greek +tongue was spoken there was not one more beautiful. The gem was worthy +of its loveliness. So she had opened her baggage to take out the circlet +which Antony had given, and it again enclasped her arm when she entered +the sick-room. + +Because Dion had told her that he deemed her fairest in the simple white +robe she had worn a few days before, when there were no guests save +himself and Gorgias, and she had sung until after midnight his favourite +songs as though all were intended for him alone, her choice had fallen +upon this garment. And she rejoiced that she had worn it--the wounded +man's eyes rested upon her so joyously when she sat down opposite to him. + +The physician had forbidden him to talk, and urged him to sleep if +possible. So Barine only held his hand in silence, whispering, whenever +he opened his eyes, a tender word of love and encouragement. + +She had remained with him for hours, leaving her place at his side merely +to give him his medicine, or, with her mother's aid, place poultices on +his wounds. + +When his manly face was distorted by suffering, she shared his pain; but +during most of the time a calm, pleasant sense of happiness pervaded her +mind. She felt safe and sheltered in the possession of the man whom she +loved, though fully aware of the perils which threatened him, and, +perhaps, her also. But the assurance of his love completely filled her +heart and cast every care entirely into the shade. Many men had seemed +estimable and agreeable, a few even desirable husbands, but Dion was the +first to awaken love in her ardent but by no means passionate soul. She +regarded the experiences of the past few days as a beautiful miracle. +How she had yearned and pined until the most fervent desire of her heart +was fulfilled! Now Dion had offered her his love, and nothing could rob +her of it. + +Gorgias and the sons of her uncle Arius had disturbed her a short time. +After they had gone with a good report, Berenike had entreated her +daughter to lie down and let her take her place. But Barine would not +leave her lover's couch, and had just loosed her hair to brush it again +and fasten the thick, fair braids around her head, when, two hours after +midnight, some one knocked loudly on the window shutters. Berenike was +in the act of removing the poultice, so Barine herself went into the +atrium to wake the doorkeeper. + +But the old man was not asleep, and had anticipated her. She recognized, +with a low cry of terror, the first person who entered the lighted +vestibule--Alexas. Iras followed, her head closely muffled, for the +storm was still howling through the streets. Last of all a lantern- +bearer crossed the threshold. + +The Syrian saluted the startled young beauty with a formal bow, but Iras, +without a greeting or even a single word of preparation, delivered the +Queen's command, and then read aloud, by the light of the lantern, what +Cleopatra had scrawled upon the wax tablet. + +When Barine, pallid and scarcely able to control her emotion, requested +the messengers who had arrived at so late an hour to enter, in order to +give her time to prepare for the night drive and take leave of her +mother, Iras vouchsafed no reply, but, as if she had the right to rule +the house, merely ordered the doorkeeper to bring his mistress's cloak +without delay. + +While the old man, with trembling knees, moved away, Iras asked if the +wounded Dion was in the dwelling; and Barine, her self-control restored +by the question, answered, with repellent pride, that the Queen's orders +did not command her to submit to an examination in her own house. + +Iras shrugged her shoulders and said, sneeringly, to Alexas: + +"In truth, I asked too much. One who attracts so many men of all ages +can scarcely be expected to know the abode of each individual." + +"The heart has a faithful memory," replied the Syrian in a tone of +correction, but Iras echoed, contemptuously, "The heart!" + +Then all were silent until, instead of the doorkeeper, Berenike herself +came hurrying in, bringing the cloak. With pallid face and bloodless +lips she wrapped it around her daughter's shoulders, whispering, amid +floods of tears, almost inaudible words of love and encouragement, which +Iras interrupted by requesting Barine to follow her to the carriage. + +The mother and daughter embraced and kissed each other, then the closed +equipage bore the persecuted woman through the storm and darkness to +Lochias. + +Not a word was exchanged between Barine and the Queen's messengers until +they reached the room where the former was to await Cleopatra; but here +Iras again endeavoured to induce her to speak. At the first question, +however, Barine answered that she had no information to give. + +The room was as bright as if it were noonday, though the lights flickered +constantly, for the wind found its way through the thin shutters closing +the windows on both sides of the corner room, and a strong, cold draught +swept in. Barine wrapped her cloak more closely around her; the storm +which howled about the sea-washed palace harmonized with the vehement +agitation of her soul. Whether she had looked within or without, there +was nothing which could have soothed her save the assurance of being +loved--an assurance that held fear at bay. Now, indignation prevented +dread from overpowering her, yet calm consideration could not fail to +show her that danger threatened on every hand. The very manner in which +Iras and Alexas whispered together, without heeding her presence, boded +peril, for courtiers show such contempt only to those whom they know are +threatened with the indifference or resentment of the sovereign. Barine, +during her married life with a man devoid of all delicacy of feeling, and +with a disposition as evil as his tongue was ready, had learned to endure +many things which were hard to bear; yet when, after a remark from Iras +evidently concerning her, she heard Alexas laugh, she was compelled to +exert the utmost self-restraint to avoid telling her enemy how utterly +she despised the cowardly cruelty of her conduct. But she succeeded in +keeping silent. Still, the painful constraint she imposed on herself +must find vent in some way, and, as the tortured anguish of her soul +reached its height, large tears rolled down her cheeks. + +These, too, were noticed by her enemy and made the target of her wit; but +this time the sarcasm failed to produce its effect upon the Syrian, for, +instead of laughing, he grew grave, and whispered something which seemed +to Barine a reproof or a warning. Iras's reply was merely a contemptuous +shrug of the shoulders. + +Barine had noticed long before that her mother, in her fear and +bewilderment, had brought her own cloak instead of her daughter's, and +this circumstance also did not seem to her foe too trivial for a sneer. + +But the childish insolence that seemed to have taken possession of one +who usually by no means lacked dignity, was merely the mask beneath which +she concealed her own suffering. A grave motive was the source of the +mirth by which she affected to be moved at the sight of her enemy's +cloak. The grey, ill-fitting garment disfigured Barine, and she desired +that the Queen should feel confident of surpassing her rival even in +outward charms. No one, not even Cleopatra, could dispense with a +protecting wrap in this cold draught, and nothing suited her better than +the purple mantle in whose delicate woollen fabric black and gold dragons +and griffins were embroidered. Iras had taken care that it lay ready. +Barine could not fail to appear like a beggar in comparison, though +Alexas said that her blue kerchief was marvellously becoming. + +He was a base-minded voluptuary, who, aided by rich gifts of mind and +wide knowledge, had shunned no means of ingratiating himself with Antony, +the most lavish of patrons. The repulse which this man, accustomed to +success, had received from Barine had been hard to forget, yet he did not +resign the hope of winning her. Never had she seemed more desirable than +in her touching weakness. Even base natures are averse to witnessing the +torture of the defenceless, and when Iras had aimed another poisoned +shaft at her, he ventured, at the risk of vexing his ally, to say, under +his breath: + +"Condemned criminals are usually granted, before their end, a favourite +dish. I have no cause to wish Barine anything good; but I would not +grudge that. You, on the contrary, seem to delight in pouring wormwood +on her last mouthful." + +"Certainly," she answered, her eyes sparkling brightly. "Malice is the +purest of pleasures; at least to me, when exercised on this woman." + +The Syrian, with a strange smile, held out his hand, saying: "Keep your +good-will towards me, Iras." + +"Because," she retorted with a sneer, "evil may follow my enmity. I +think so, too. I am not especially sensitive concerning myself, but +whoever dares"--here she raised her voice--"to harm one whom I--Just +listen to the cheers! How she carries all hearts with her! Though Fate +had made her a beggar, she would still be peerless among women. She is +like the sun. The clouds which intrude upon her pathway of radiance are +consumed and disappear." + +While uttering the last sentence she had turned towards Barine, whose ear +the sharp voice again pierced like a thorn, as she commanded her to +prepare for the examination. + +Almost at the same moment the door, caught by the wind, closed with a +loud bang. The "introducer"--[Marshal of the court.]--had opened it, +and, after a hasty glance, exclaimed: + +"The audience will not be given in this meeting place for all the winds +of heaven! Her Majesty desires to receive her late visitor in the Hall +of Shells." + +With these words he bowed courteously to Barine, and ushered her and her +two companions through several corridors and apartments into a well- +heated anteroom. + +Here even the windows were thoroughly protected from the storm. Several +body-guards and pages belonging to the corps of the "royal boys" stood +waiting to receive them. + +"This is comfortable." said Alexas, turning to Iras. "Was the winter we +have just experienced intended to fill us with twofold gratitude for the +delights of the mild spring in this blessed room?" + +"Perhaps so," she answered sullenly, and then added in a low tone: "Here +at Lochias the seasons do not follow their usual course. They change +according to the pleasure of the supreme will. Instead of four, the +Egyptians, as you know, have but three; in the palaces on the Nile they +are countless. What is the meaning of this sudden entry of summer? +Winter would have pleased me better." + +The Queen--Iras knew not why--had changed her arrangements for Barine's +reception. This vexed her, and her features assumed a gloomy, +threatening expression as the young beauty, casting aside her cloak and +kerchief, stood awaiting Cleopatra in a white robe of fine material and +perfect fit. The thick, fair braids, wound simply around her shapely +head, gave her an appearance of almost childish youth, and the sight made +Iras feel as if she, and Cleopatra also, were outwitted. + +In the dimly lighted atrium of the house near the Paneum garden, she had +noticed only that Barine wore something white. Had it been merely a +night robe, so much the better. But she might have appeared in her +present garb at the festival of Isis. The most careful deliberation +could have selected nothing more suitable or becoming. And did this vain +woman go to rest with costly gold ornaments? Else how did the circlet +chance to be on her arm? Each of Cleopatra's charms seemed to Iras, who +knew them all, like a valuable possession of her own. To see even the +least of them surpassed by another vexed her; and to behold in yonder +woman a form which she could not deny was no less beautiful, enraged, +nay, pierced her to the heart. + +Since she had known that because of Barine she could hope for nothing +more from the man to whose love she believed she possessed a claim dating +from their childhood, she had hated the young beauty. And now to the +many things which contributed to increase her hostile mood, was added the +disagreeable consciousness that during the last few hours she had treated +her contemptibly. Had she only seen earlier what her foe's cloak +concealed, she would have found means to give her a different appearance. +But she must remain as she was; for Chairman had already entered. Other +hours, however, would follow, and if the next did not decide the fate of +the woman whom she hated, future ones should. + +For this purpose she did not need the aid of Charmian, her uncle +Archibius's sister, who had hitherto been a beloved associate and +maternal friend. But what had happened? Iras fancied that her pleasant +features wore a repellent expression which she had never seen before. +Was this also the singer's fault? And what was the cause? + +The older woman's manner decided the question whether she should still +bestow upon her returned relative the love of a grateful niece. No, she +would no longer put any restraint upon herself. Charmian should feel +that she (Iras) considered any favour shown to her foe an insult. To +work against her secretly was not in her nature. She had courage to show +an enemy her aversion, and she did not fear Charmian enough to pursue a +different course. She knew that the artist Leonax, Barine's father, had +been Charmian's lover; but this did not justify her favouring the woman +who had robbed her niece of the heart of the man whom she--as Charmian +knew--had loved from childhood. + +Charmian had just had a long conversation with her brother, and had +also learned in the palace that Barine had been summoned to the Queen's +presence in the middle of the night; so, firmly persuaded that evil was +intended to the young woman who had already passed through so many +agitating scenes of joy and sorrow, she entered the waiting-room, and her +pleasant though no longer youthful face, framed in smooth, grey hair, was +greeted by Barine as the shipwrecked mariner hails the sight of land. + +All the emotions which had darkened and embittered her soul were soothed. +She hastened towards her friend's sister, as a frightened child seeks its +mother, and Charmian perceived what was stirring in her heart. + +It would not do, under existing circumstances, to kiss her in the palace, +but she drew Leonax's daughter towards her to show Iras that she was +ready to extend a protecting hand over the persecuted woman. But Barine +gazed at her with pleading glances, beseeching aid, whispering amid her +tears: "Help me, Charmian. She has tortured, insulted, humiliated me +with looks and words--so cruelly, so spitefully! Help me; I can bear no +more." + +Charmian shook her kind head and urged her in a whisper to calm herself. +She had robbed Iras of her lover; she should remember that. Cost what it +might, she must not shed another tear. The Queen was gracious. She, +Charmian, would aid her. Everything would depend on showing herself to +Cleopatra as she was, not as slander represented her. She must answer +her as she would Archibius or herself. + +The kindly woman, as she spoke, stroked her brow and eyes with maternal +tenderness, and Barine felt as if goodness itself had quelled the tempest +in her soul. She gazed around her as though roused from a troubled +dream, and now for the first time perceived the richly adorned room in +which she stood, the admiring glances of the boys in the Macedonian corps +of pages, and the bright fire blazing cheerily on the hearth. The +howling of the storm increased the pleasant sense of being under a firm +roof, and Iras, who had whispered to the "introducer" at the door, no +longer seemed like a sharp thorn or a spiteful demon, but a woman by no +means destitute of charm, who repulsed her, but on whom she had inflicted +the keenest pang a woman's heart can suffer. Then she again thought of +her wounded lover at home, and remembered that, whatever might happen, +his heart did not belong to Iras, but to her alone. Lastly, she recalled +Archibius's description of Cleopatra's childhood, and this remembrance +was followed by the conviction that the omnipotent sovereign would be +neither cruel nor unjust, and that it would depend upon herself to win +her favour. Charmian, too, was the Queen's confidante; and if the manner +of Iras and Alexas had alarmed her, Charmian's might well inspire +confidence. + +All these thoughts darted through her brain with the speed of lightning. +Only a brief time for consideration remained; for, even as she bowed her +head on the bosom of her friend, the "introducer" entered the room, +crying, "Her illustrious Majesty will expect those whom she summoned in a +few minutes!" + +Soon after a chamberlain appeared, waving a fan of ostrich feathers and, +preceded by the court official, they passed through several brilliantly +lighted, richly furnished rooms. + +Barine again breathed freely and moved with head erect; and when the +wide, lofty folding doors of ebony, against whose deep black surface the +inlaid figures of Tritons, mermaids, shells, fish, and sea monsters were +sharply relieved, she beheld a glittering, magnificent scene, for the +hall which Cleopatra had chosen for her reception was completely covered +with various marine forms, from the shells to coral and starfish. + +A wide, lofty structure, composed of masses of stalactites and unhewn +blocks of stone, formed a deep grotto at the end of the hall, whence +peered the gigantic head of a monster whose open jaws formed the +fireplace of the chimney. Logs of fragrant Arabian wood were blazing +brightly on the hearth, and the dragon's ruby glass eyes diffused a red +light through the apartment which, blended with the rays of the white and +pink lamps in the shape of lotus flowers fastened among gold and silver +tendrils and groups of sedges on the walls and ceiling, filling the +spacious apartment with the soft light whose roseate hue was specially +becoming to Cleopatra's waxen complexion. + +Several stewards and cup-bearers, the master of the hunt, chamberlains, +female attendants, eunuchs, and other court officials were awaiting the +Queen, and pages who belonged to the Macedonian cadet corps of royal boys +stood sleepily, with drooping heads, around the small throne of gold, +coral, and amber which, placed opposite to the chimney, awaited the +sovereign. + +Barine had already seen this magnificent hall, and others still more +beautiful in the Sebasteum, and the splendour therefore neither excited +nor abashed her; only she would fain have avoided the numerous train of +courtiers. Could it be Cleopatra's intention to question her before the +eyes of all these men, women, and boys? + +She no longer felt afraid, but her heart still throbbed quickly. It had +beat in the same way in her girlhood, when she was asked to sing in the +presence of strangers. + +At last she heard doors open, and an invisible hand parted the heavy +curtains at her right. She expected to see the Regent, the Keeper of the +Seal, and the whole brilliantly adorned train of attendants who always +surrounded the Queen on formal occasions, enter the magnificent hall. +Else why had it been selected as the scene of this nocturnal trial? + +But what was this? + +While she was still recalling the display at the Adonis festival, the +curtains began to close again. The courtiers around the throne +straightened their bowed figures, the pages forgot their fatigue, and all +joined in the Greek salutation of welcome, and the "Life! happiness! +health!" with which the Egyptians greeted their sovereign. + +The woman of middle height who now appeared before the curtain, and who, +as she crossed the wide hall alone and unattended, seemed to Barine even +smaller than when surrounded by the gay throng at the Adonis festival, +must be the Queen. Ay, it was she! + +Iras was already standing by her side, and Charmian was approaching with +the "introducer." The women rendered her various little services thus +Iras took from her shoulders the purple mantle, with its embroidery of +black and gold dragons. What an exquisite masterpiece of the loom it +must be! + +All the dangers against which she must defend herself flashed swiftly +through Barine's mind; yet, for an instant, she felt the foolish feminine +desire to see and handle the costly mantle. + +But Iras had already laid it on the arm of one of the waiting maids, and +Cleopatra now glanced around her, and with a youthful, elastic step +approached the throne. + +Once more the feeling of timidity which she had had in her girlhood +overpowered Barine, but with it came the memory of the garden of +Epicurus, and Archibius's assurance that she, too, would have left the +Queen with her heart overflowing with warm enthusiasm had not a +disturbing influence interposed between them. + +Yet, had this disturbing influence really existed? No. It was created +solely by Cleopatra's jealous imagination. If she would only permit her +to speak freely now, she should hear that Antony cared as little for her +as she, Barine, for the boy Caesarion. What prevented her from +confessing that her heart was another's? Iras had no one to blame save +herself if she spoke the truth pitilessly in her presence. + +Cleopatra now turned to the "introducer," waving her hand towards the +throne and those who surrounded it. + +Ay, she was indeed beautiful. How bright and clear was the light of her +large eyes, in spite of the harassing days through which she had passed +and the present night of watching! + +Cleopatra's heart was still elated by the reception of her bold idea of +escape, and she approached Barine with gentler feelings and intentions. +She had chosen a pleasanter room for the interview than the one Iras had +selected. She desired a special environment to suit each mood, and as +soon as she saw the group of courtiers who surrounded the throne she +ordered their dismissal. + +The "introducer," to carry out the usual ceremonial, had commanded their +presence in the audience chamber, but their attendance had given the +meeting a form which was now distasteful to the Queen. She wished to +question, not to condemn. + +At so happy an hour it was a necessity of her nature to be gracious. +Perhaps she had been unduly anxious concerning this singer. It even +seemed probable; for a man who loved her like Antony could scarcely yearn +for the favour of another woman. This view had been freshly confirmed by +a brief conversation with the chief Inspector of Sacrifices, an estimable +old man, who, after hearing how Antony had hurried in pursuit of her at +Actium, raised his eyes and hands as if transported with rapture, +exclaiming: "Unhappy Queen! Yet happiest of women! No one was ever so +ardently beloved; and when the tale is told of the noble Trojan who +endured such sore sufferings for a woman's sake, future generations will +laud the woman whose resistless spell constrained the greatest man of his +day, the hero of heroes, to cast aside victory, fame, and the hope of the +world's sovereignty, as mere worthless rubbish." + +Posterity, whose verdict she dreaded--this wise old reader of the future +was right--must extol her as the most fervently beloved, the most +desirable of women. + +And Mark Antony? Even had the magic power of Nektanebus's goblet forced +him to follow her and to leave the battle, there still remained his will, +a copy of which--received from Rome--Zeno, the Keeper of the Seal, had +showed to her at the close of the council. "Wherever he might die," so +ran the words, "he desired to be buried by the side of Cleopatra." +Octavianus had wrested it from the Vestal Virgins, to whose care it had +been entrusted, in order to fill the hearts of Roman citizens and matrons +with indignation against his foe. The plot had succeeded, but the +document had reminded Cleopatra that her heart had given this man the +first of its flowers, that love for him had been the sunshine of her +life. So, with head erect, she had crossed the threshold where she was +to meet the woman who had ventured to sow tares in her garden. She +intended to devote only a short time to the interview, which she +anticipated with the satisfaction of the strong who are confident of +victory. + +As she approached the throne, her train left the hall; the only persons +who remained were Charmian, Iras, Zeno, the Keeper of the Seal, and the +"introducer." + +Cleopatra cast a rapid glance at the throne, to which an obsequious +gesture of the courtier's hand invited her; but she remained standing, +gazing keenly at Barine. + +Was it the coloured rays from the ruby eyes of the dragon in the +fireplace which shed the roseate glow on Cleopatra's cheeks? It +certainly enhanced the beauty of a face now only too frequently pallid +and colourless, when rouge did not lend its aid; but Barine understood +Archibius's ardent admiration for this rare woman, when Cleopatra, with a +faint smile, requested her to approach. + +Nothing more winning could be imagined than the frank kindness, wholly +untinged by condescending pride, of this powerful sovereign. + +The less Barine had expected such a reception the more deeply it moved +her; nay, her eyes grew dim with grateful emotion, which lent them so +beautiful a lustre, she looked so lovely in her glad surprise, that +Cleopatra thought the months which had elapsed since her first meeting +with the singer had enhanced her charms. And how young she was! The +Queen swiftly computed the years which Barine must have lived as the +wife of Philostratus, and afterwards as the attractive mistress of a +hospitable house, and found it difficult to reconcile the appearance of +this blooming young creature with the result of the calculation. + +She was surprised, too, to note the aristocratic bearing whose possession +no one could deny the artist's daughter. This was apparent even in her +dress, yet Iras had roused her in the middle of the night, and certainly +had given her no time for personal adornment. + +She had expected lack of refinement and boldness, in the woman who was +said to have attracted so many men, but even the most bitter prejudice +could have detected no trace of it. On the contrary, the embarrassment +which she could not yet wholly subdue lent her an air of girlish +timidity. All in all, Barine was a charming creature, who bewitched men +by her vivacity, her grace, and her exquisite voice, not by coquetry and +pertness. That she possessed unusual mental endowments Cleopatra did not +believe. Barine had only one advantage over her--youth. + +Time had not yet robbed the former of a single charm, while from the +Queen he had wrested many; their number was known only to herself and her +confidantes, but at this hour she did not miss them. + +Barine, with a low, modest bow, advanced towards the Queen, who commenced +the conversation by graciously apologizing for the late hour at which she +had summoned her. "But," she added, "you belong to the ranks of the +nightingales, who during the night most readily and exquisitely reveal to +us what stirs their hearts--" + +Barine gazed silently at the floor a moment, and when she raised her eyes +her voice was faint and timid. "I sing, it is true, your Majesty, but I +have nothing else in common with the birds. The wings which, when a +child, bore me wherever I desired, have lost their strength. They do not +wholly refuse their service, but they now require favourable hours to +move." + +"I should not have expected that in the time of your youth, your most +beautiful possession," replied the Queen. "Yet it is well. I too--how +long ago it seems!--was a child, and my imagination outstripped even the +flight of the eagle. It could dare the risk unpunished. Now----Whoever +has reached mature life is wise to let these wings remain idle. The +mortal who ventures to use them may easily approach too near the sun, +and, like Icarus, the wax will melt from his pinions. Let me tell you +this: To the child the gift of imagination is nourishing bread. In later +years we need it only as salt, as spice, as stimulating wine. Doubtless +it points out many paths, and shows us their end; but, of a hundred +rambles to which it summons him, scarcely one pleases the mature man. No +troublesome parasite is more persistently and sharply rebuffed. Who can +blame the ill-treated friend if it is less ready to serve us as the years +go on? The wise man will keep his ears ever open, but rarely lend it his +active hand. To banish it from life is to deprive the plant of blossoms, +the rose of its fragrance, the sky of its stars." + +"I have often said the same things to myself, though in a less clear and +beautiful form, when life has been darkened," replied Barine, with a +faint blush; for she felt that these words were doubtless intended to +warn her against cherishing too aspiring wishes. "But, your Majesty, +here also the gods place you, the great Queen, far above us. We should +often find existence bare indeed but for the fancy which endows us with +imaginary possessions. You have the power to secure a thousand things +which to us common mortals only the gift of imagination pictures as +attainable." + +"You believe that happiness is like wealth, and that the happiest person +is the one who receives the largest number of the gifts of fortune," +answered the Queen. "The contrary, I think, can be easily proved. The +maxim that the more we have the less we need desire, is also false, +though in this world there are only a certain number of desirable things. +He who already possesses one of ten solidi which are to be divided, ought +really to desire only nine, and therefore would be poorer by a wish than +another who has none. True, it cannot be denied that the gods have +burdened or endowed me with a greater number of perishable gifts than you +and many others. You seem to set a high value upon them. Doubtless +there may be one or another which you could appropriate only by the aid +of the imagination. May I ask which seems to you the most desirable?" + +"Spare me the choice, I beseech you," replied Barine in an embarrassed +tone. "I need nothing from your treasures, and, as for the other +possessions I lack many things; but it is uncertain how the noblest and +highest gifts in the possession of the marvellously endowed favourite of +the gods would suit the small, commonplace ones I call mine, and I know +not--" + +"A sensible doubt!" interrupted the Queen. "The lame man, who desired a +horse, obtained one, and on his first ride broke his neck. The only +blessing--the highest of all--which surely bestows happiness can neither +be given away nor transferred from one to another. He who has gained it +may be robbed of it the next moment." + +The last sentence had fallen from the Queen's lips slowly and +thoughtfully, but Barine, remembering Archibius's tale, said modestly, +"You are thinking of the chief good mentioned by Epicurus--perfect peace +of mind." + +Cleopatra's eyes sparkled with a brighter light as she asked eagerly, +"Do you, the granddaughter of a philosopher, know the system of the +master?" + +"Very superficially, your Majesty. My intellect is far inferior to +yours. It is difficult for me thoroughly to comprehend all the details +of any system of philosophy." + +"Yet you have attempted it?" + +"Others endeavoured to introduce me into the doctrines of the Stoics. +I have forgotten most of what I learned; only one thing lingered in my +memory, and I know why--because it pleased me." + +"And that?" + +"Was the wise law of living according to the dictates of our own natures. +The command to shun everything contradictory to the simple fundamental +traits of our own characters pleased me, and wherever I saw affectation, +artificiality, and mannerism I was repelled, while from my grandfather's +teaching I drew the principle that I could do nothing better than to +remain, so far as life would permit, what I had been as a child ere I had +heard the first word of philosophy, or felt the constraint which society +and its forms impose." + +"So the system of the Stoics leads to this end also!" cried the Queen +gaily, and, turning to the companion of her own studies, she added: +"Did you hear, Charmian? If we had only succeeded in perceiving the +wisdom and calm, purposeful order of existence which the Stoics, amid so +much that is perverse, unhealthy, and provocative of contradiction, +nevertheless set above everything else! How can I, in order to live +wisely, imitate Nature, when in her being and action I encounter so much +that is contradictory to my human reason, which is a part of the divine?" + +Here she hesitated, and the expression of her face suddenly changed. + +She had advanced close to Barine and, while standing directly in front of +her, her eyes had rested on the gem which adorned her arm above the +elbow. + +Was it this which agitated Cleopatra so violently that her voice lost its +bewitching melody, as she went on in a harsh, angry tone?--"So that is +the source of all this misfortune. Even as a child I detested that sort +of arbitrary judgment which passes under the mask of stern morality. +There is an example! Do you hear the howling of the storm? In human +nature, as well as in the material world, there are tempests and +volcanoes which bring destruction, and, if the original character of any +individual is full of such devastating forces, like the neighbourhood of +Vesuvius or Etna, the goal to which his impulses would lead him is +clearly visible. Ay, the Stoic is not allowed to destroy the harmony and +order of things in existence, any more than to disturb those which are +established by the state. But to follow our natural impulses wherever +they lead us is so perilous a venture, that whoever has the power to fix +a limit to it betimes is in duty bound to do so. This power is mine, and +I will use it!" + +Then, with iron severity, she asked: "As it seems to be one of the +demands of your nature, woman, to allure and kindle the hearts of all who +bear the name of man, even though they have not yet donned the garb of +the Ephebi, so, too, you seem to appear to delight in idle ornaments. +Or," and as she spoke she touched Barine's shoulder"--or why should you +wear, during the hours of slumber, that circlet on your arm?" + +Barine had watched with increasing anxiety the marked change in the +manner and language of the Queen. She now beheld a repetition of what +she had experienced at the Adonis festival, but this time she knew what +had roused Cleopatra's jealousy. She, Barine, wore on her arm a gift +from Antony. With pallid face she strove to find a fitting answer, but +ere she could do so Iras advanced to the side of the incensed Queen, +saying: "That circlet is the counterpart of the one your august husband +bestowed upon you. The singer's must also be a gift from Mark Antony. +Like every one else in the world, she deems the noble Imperator the +greatest man of his day. Who can blame her for prizing it so highly that +she does not remove it even while she sleeps?" + +Again Barine felt as if a thorn had pierced her; but though the +resentment which she had previously experienced once more surged hotly +within her heart, she forced herself to maintain seemly external +composure, and struggled for some word in answer; but she found none +suitable, and remained silent. + +She had told the truth. From early youth she had followed the impulses +of her own nature without heeding the opinion of mortals, as the +teachings of the Stoics directed, and she had been allowed to do so +because this nature was pure, truthful, alive to the beautiful, and, +moreover, free from those unbridled, volcanic impulses to which the Queen +alluded. The cheerful patience of her soul had found ample satisfaction +in the cultivation of her art, and in social intercourse with men who +permitted her to share their own intellectual life. Today she had +learned that the first great passion of her heart had met with a +response. Now she was bound to her lover, and knew herself to be pure +and guiltless, far better entitled to demand respect from sterner judges +of morality than the woman who condemned her, or the spiteful Iras, who +had not ceased to offer her love to Dion. + +The sorrowful feeling of being misunderstood and unjustly condemned, +mingled with fear of the terrible fate to which she might be sentenced by +the omnipotent sovereign, whose clear intellect was clouded by jealousy +and the resentment of a mother's wounded heart, paralyzed her tongue. +Besides, she was confused by the angry emotion which the sight of Iras +awakened. Twice, thrice she strove to utter a few words of explanation, +defence, but her voice refused to obey her will. + +When Charmian at last approached to encourage her, it was too late; the +indignant Queen had turned away, exclaiming to Iras: "let her be taken +back to Lochias. Her guilt is proved; but it does not become the injured +person, the accuser, to award the punishment. This must be left to the +judges before whom we will bring her." + +Then Barine once more recovered the power of speech. How dared Cleopatra +assert that she was convicted of a crime, without hearing her defence? + +As surely as she felt her own innocence she must succeed in proving it, +and with this consciousness she cried out to the Queen in a tone of +touching entreaty: "O your Majesty, do not leave me without hearing me! +As truly as I believe in your justice, I can ask you to listen to me once +more. Do not give me up to the woman who hates me because the man whom +she--" + +Here Cleopatra interrupted her. Royal dignity forbade her to hear one +woman's jealous accusation of another, but, with the subtle discernment +with which women penetrate one another's moods, she heard in Barine's +piteous appeal a sincere conviction that she was too severely condemned. +Doubtless she also had reason to believe in Iras's hate, and Cleopatra +knew how mercilessly she pursued those who had incurred her displeasure. +She had rejected and still shuddered at her advice to remove the singer +from her path; for an inner voice warned her not to burden her soul now +with a fresh crime, which would disturb its peace. Besides, she had at +first been much attracted by this charming, winning creature; but the +irritating thought that Antony had bestowed the same gift upon the +sovereign and the artist's daughter still so incensed her, that it taxed +to the utmost her graciousness and self-control as, without addressing +any special person, she exclaimed, glancing back into the hall: "This +examination will be followed by another. When the time comes, the +accused must appear before the judges; therefore she must remain at +Lochias and in custody. It is my will that no harm befalls her. You are +her friend, Charmian. I will place her in your charge. Only"--here she +raised her voice--"on pain of my anger, do not allow her by any +possibility to leave the palace, even for a moment, or to hold +intercourse with any person save yourself." + +With these words she passed out of the hall and went into her own +apartments. She had turned the night into day, not only to despatch +speedily matters which seemed to her to permit of no delay, but even more +because, since the battle of Actium, she dreaded the restless hours upon +her lonely couch. They seemed endless; and though before she had +remembered with pleasure the unprecedented display and magnificence with +which she had surrounded her love-life with Antony, she now in these +hours reproached herself for having foolishly squandered the wealth of +her people. The present appeared unbearable, and from the future a host +of black cares pressed upon her. + +The following days were overcrowded with business details. + +Half of her nights were spent in the observatory. She had not asked +again for Barine. On the fifth night she permitted Alexas to conduct her +once more to the little observatory which had been erected for her father +at Lochias, and Antony's favourite knew how to prove that a star which +had long threatened her planet was that of the woman whom she seemed to +have forgotten as completely as she had ignored his former warning +against this very foe. + +The Queen denied this, but Alexas eagerly continued: "The night after +your return home your kindness was again displayed in its inexhaustible +and--to us less noble souls--incomprehensible wealth. Deeply agitated, +we watched during the memorable examination the touching spectacle of the +greatest heart making itself the standard by which to measure what is +petty and ignoble. But ere the second trial takes place the wanderers +above, who know the future, bid me warn you once more; for that woman's +every look was calculated, every word had its fixed purpose, every tone +of her voice was intended to produce a certain effect. Whatever she said +or may yet say had no other design than to deceive my royal mistress. As +yet there have been no definite questions and answers. But you will have +her examined, and then----What may she not make of the story of Mark +Antony, Barine, and the two armlets? Perhaps it will be a masterpiece." + +"Do you know its real history?" asked Cleopatra, clasping her fingers +more closely around the pencil in her hand. + +"If I did," replied Alexas, smiling significantly, "the receiver of +stolen goods should not betray the thief." + +"Not even if the person who has been robbed--the Queen--commands you to +give up the dishonestly acquired possession?" + +"Unfortunately, even then I should be forced to withhold obedience; for +consider, my royal mistress, there are but two great luminaries around +which my dark life revolves. Shall I betray the moon, when I am sure of +gaining nothing thereby save to dim the warm light of the sun?" + +"That means that your revelations would wound me, the sun?" + +"Unless your lofty soul is too great to be reached by shadows which +surround less noble women with an atmosphere of indescribable torture." + +"Do you intend to render your words more attractive by the veil with +which you shroud them? It is transparent, and dims the vision very +little. My soul, you think, should be free from jealousy and the other +weaknesses of my sex. There you are mistaken. I am a woman, and wish to +remain one. As Terence's Chremes says he is a human being, and nothing +human is unknown to him, I do not hesitate to confess all feminine +frailties. Anubis told me of a queen in ancient times who would not +permit the inscriptions to record 'she,' but 'he came,' or 'he, the +ruler, conquered.' Fool! Whatever concerns me, my womanhood is not less +lofty than the crown. I was a woman ere I became Queen. The people +prostrate themselves before my empty litters; but when, in my youth, I +wandered in disguise with Antony through the city streets and visited +some scene of merrymaking, while the men gazed admiringly at me, and we +heard voices behind us murmur, 'A handsome couple!' I returned home +full of joy and pride. But there was something greater still for the +woman to learn, when the heart in the breast of the Queen forgot throne +and sceptre and, in the hours consecrated to Eros, tasted joys known to +womanhood alone. How can you men, who only command and desire, +understand the happiness of sacrifice? I am a woman; my birth does not +exalt me above any feeling of my sex; and what I now ask is not as Queen +but as woman." + +"If that is the case," Alexas answered with his hand upon his heart, "you +impose silence upon me; for were I to confess to the woman Cleopatra what +agitates my soul, I should be guilty of a double crime--I would violate a +promise and betray the friend who confided his noble wife to my +protection." + +"Now the darkness is becoming too dense for me," replied Cleopatra, +raising her head with repellent pride. "Or, if I choose to raise the +veil, I must point out to you the barriers-- + +"Which surround the Queen," replied the Syrian with an obsequious bow. +"There you behold the fact. It is an impossibility to separate the woman +from the princess. So far as I am concerned, I do not wish to anger the +former against the presumptuous adorer, and I desire to yield to the +latter the obedience which is her due. Therefore I entreat you to +forget the armlet and its many painful associations, and pass to the +consideration of other matters. Perhaps the fair Barine will voluntarily +confess everything, and even add how she managed to ensnare the amiable +son of the greatest of men, and the most admirable of mothers, the young +King Caesarion." + +Cleopatra's eyes flashed more brightly, and she angrily exclaimed: +"I found the boy just now as though he were possessed by demons. He was +ready to tear the bandage from his wound, if he were refused the woman +whom he loved. A magic potion was the first thought, and his tutor of +course attributes everything to magic arts. Charmian, on the contrary, +declares that his visits annoyed and even alarmed Barine. Nothing except +a rigid investigation can throw light upon this subject. We will await +the Imperator's return. Do you think that he will again seek the singer? +You are his most trusted confidant. If you desire his best good, and +care for my favour, drop your hesitation and answer this question." + +The Syrian assumed the manner of a man who had reached a decision, and +answered firmly: "Certainly he will, unless you prevent him. The +simplest way would be--" + +"Well?" + +"To inform him, as soon as he lands, that she is no longer to be found. +I should be especially happy to receive this commission from my royal +sun." + +"And do you think it would dim the light of your moon a little, were he +to seek her here in vain?" + +"As surely as that the contrary would be the case if he were always as +gratefully aware of the peerless brilliancy of his sun as it deserves. +Helios suffers no other orb to appear so long as he adorns the heavens. +His lustre quenches all the rest. Let my sun so decree, and Barine's +little star will vanish." + +"Enough! I know your aim now. But a human life is no small thing, and +this woman, too, is the child of a mother. We must consider, earnestly +consider, whether our purpose cannot be gained without proceeding to +extremes. This must be done with zeal and a kindly intention--But I-- +Now, when the fate of this country, my own, and the children's is hanging +in the balance, when I have not fifteen minutes at my command, and there +is no end of writing and consulting, I can waste no time on such +matters." + +"The reflective mind must be permitted to use its mighty wings +unimpeded," cried the Syrian eagerly. "Leave the settlement of minor +matters to trustworthy friends." + +Here they were interrupted by the "introducer," who announced the +eunuch Mardion. He had come on business which, spite of the late hour, +permitted no delay. + +Alexas accompanied the Queen to the tablinum, where they found the +eunuch. A slave attended him, carrying a pouch filled with letters which +had just been brought by two messengers from Syria. Among them were some +which must be answered without delay. The Keeper of the Seal and the +Exegetus were also waiting. Their late visit was due to the necessity of +holding a conference in relation to the measures to be adopted to calm +the excited citizens. All the galleys which had escaped from the battle +had entered the harbour the day before, wreathed with garlands as if a +great victory had been won. Loud acclamations greeted them, yet tidings +of the defeat at Actium spread with the swiftness of the wind. Crowds +were now gathering, threatening demonstrations had been made in front of +the Sebasteum, and on the square of the Serapeum the troops had been +compelled to interfere, and blood had flowed. + +There lay the letters. Zeno remarked that more papers conferring +authority were required for the work on the canal, and the Exegetus +earnestly besought definite instruction. + +"It is much--much," murmured Cleopatra. Then, drawing herself up to +her full height, she exclaimed, "Well, then, to work!" + +But Alexas did not permit her to do this at once. Humbly advancing as +she took her seat at the large writing-table, he whispered: "And with all +this, must my royal mistress devote time and thought to the destroyer of +her peace. To disturb your Majesty with this trifle is a crime; yet it +must be committed, for should the affair remain unheeded longer, the +trickling rivulet may become a mountain torrent--" + +Here Cleopatra, whose glance had just rested upon a fateful letter from +King Herod, turned her face half towards her husband's favourite, +exclaiming curtly, with glowing cheeks, "Presently." + +"Then she glanced rapidly over the letter, pushed it excitedly aside, and +dismissed the waiting Syrian with the impatient words: "Attend to the +trial and the rest. No injustice, but no untimely mildness. I will look +into this unpleasant matter myself before the Imperator returns." + +"And the authority?" asked the Syrian, with another low bow. + +"You have it. If you need a written one, apply to Zeno. We will discuss +the affair further at some less busy hour." + +The Syrian retired; but Cleopatra turned to the eunuch and, flushed with +emotion, cried, pointing to the King of Judea's letter: "Did you ever +witness baser ingratitude? The rats think the ship is sinking, and it is +time to leave it. If we succeed in keeping above water, they will return +in swarms; and this must, must, must be done, for the sake of this +beloved country and her independence. Then the children, the children! +All our powers must now be taxed, every expedient must be remembered and +used. We will hammer each feeble hope until it becomes the strong steel +of certainty. We will transform night into day. The canal will save the +fleet. Mark Antony will find in Africa Pinarius Scarpus with untouched +loyal legions. The gladiators are faithful to us. We can easily make +them ours, and my brain is seething with other plans. But first we will +attend to the Alexandrians. No violence!" + +This exclamation was followed by order after order, and the promise that, +if necessary, she would show herself to the people. + +The Exegetus was filled with admiration as he received the clear, +sagacious directions. After he had retired with his companions, the +Queen again turned to the Regent, saying: "We did wisely to make the +people happy at first with tidings of victory. The unexpected news of +terrible disaster might have led them to some unprecedented deed of +madness. Disappointment is a more common pain, for which less powerful +remedies will suffice. Besides, many things could be arranged ere they +knew that I was here. How much we have accomplished already, Mardion! +But I have not even granted myself the joy of seeing my children. I was +forced to defer the pleasure of the companionship of my oldest friends, +even Archibius. When he comes again he will be admitted. I have given +the order. He knows Rome thoroughly. I must hear his opinion of pending +negotiations." + +She shivered as she spoke, and pressing her hand upon her brow, +exclaimed: "Octavianus victor, Cleopatra vanquished! I, who was +everything to Caesar, beseeching mercy from his heir. I, a petitioner to +Octavia's brother! Yet, no, no! There are still a hundred chances of +avoiding the horrible doom. But whoever wishes to compel the field to +bear fruits must dig sturdily, draw the buckets from the well, plough, +and sow the seed. To work, then, to work! When Antony returns he must +find all things ready. The first success will restore his lost energy. +I glanced through yonder letter while talking with the Exegetus; now I +will dictate the answer." + +So she sat reading, writing, and dictating, listening, answering, and +giving orders, until the east brightened with the approach of dawn, the +morning star grew pale, and the Regent, utterly exhausted, entreated her +to consider her own health and his years, and permit him a few hours' +rest. + +Then she, too, allowed herself to be led into her darkened chamber, and +this time a friendly, dreamless slumber closed her weary eyes and held +her captive until roused by the loud shouts of the multitude, who had +heard of the Queen's return and flocked to Lochias. + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +Without heeding the opinion of mortals + + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CLEOPATRA, BY GEORG EBERS, V5 *** + +*********This file should be named 5477.txt or 5477.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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