" said he; "and where is
Leucippe?
Scriptori Erotici Graeci
"--Æsch.
Choe.
183.
]
[Footnote 17:
"Quum tibi flagrans amor,
. . . . . .
Sæviet circa jecur ulcerosum. "
Hor. I, Od. xxv. 13.
]
[Footnote 18: "αλλὰ καὶ ἀκκίζῃ καὶ σχηματίζῃ πρὸς άπόνοιαν. "]
[Footnote 19:
"ἐπὶ τοῦ τροχοῦ γὰρ δεῖ σ'ἐκἕι στρεβλούμενον
εἰπεῖν ἅ πεπανούργηκας. "
Aristoph. Plut. 875. See also Virg. Æn. vi. 616.
]
[Footnote 20: The allusion is to the fire placed under the revolving
wheel, by which the sufferer was slowly roasted. A reference to this
species of torture will be found in ch. 50 of Tertullian's Apology. ]
[Footnote 21: "Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there, that knoweth not
how that the city of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great goddess
Diana? "--Acts xix. 35. ]
[Footnote 22:
"Harpers have sung and poets told,
That he, in fury uncontrolled,
The shaggy monarch of the wood
Before a virgin fair and good
Hath pacified his savage mood;
But passions in the human frame
Oft put the lion's rage to shame. "--Scott.
]
[Footnote 23:
"Eternal spirit of the chainless mind!
Brightest in dungeons, Liberty! "--Byron.
]
BOOK VII.
The scornful reproaches of Leucippe stirred up a tumult of conflicting
passions in Thersander's mind; he was incensed by her taunts, vexed at
his ill success, and perplexed how to secure the accomplishment of his
desires. Without saying another word he rushed out of the house to give
vent to the storm and tempest of his soul. [1] Shortly after, having
conferred with Sosthenes, he went to the jailor, and endeavoured to
persuade him to administer a dose of poison to me; this, however, the
jailor refused to do, his predecessor having suffered death for taking
off a prisoner in this manner. Failing in this, he obtained his consent
to introduce a man (who was to pass for a criminal) into my cell, under
pretence of wishing to extract some secrets out of me through him. The
man had been previously tutored by Thersander, and was casually to
introduce Leucippe's name, and to say that she had been murdered by
the contrivance of Melitta. Thersander's object in persuading me of
her death was to hinder me (in case I obtained a verdict of acquittal)
from instituting any further search for her recovery, and the name
of Melitta was introduced in order that, after learning Leucippe's
death, I might not entertain any thoughts of marrying her, and so by
settling at Ephesus might interrupt Thersander in the prosecution of
his schemes, but on the contrary, might be induced to quit the city
without delay, from hatred to Melitta for having contrived the death of
my beloved.
As soon as this fellow came near me, he began to play his appointed
part, and with a knavish groan[2] exclaimed, "Alackaday! what a
miserable thing is life! There is no keeping out of trouble! It
stands a man in no stead to be honest! Some cross accident is sure to
overtake him! Would I could have guessed the character of my fellow
traveller, and what work he had been engaged in! " This, and much more
of the same sort, he said speaking to himself, craftily endeavouring
to attract my attention, and to make me inquire what it was that ailed
him. He did not succeed, however, for I was sufficiently taken up with
my own troubles, and he went on with his groans and ejaculations. At
length--for the unfortunate take pleasure in listening to another's
griefs, finding in it a kind of medicine for their sorrows--one of
the prisoners asked, "What trick has the jade Fortune been playing
you? I suspect that, like myself, she has laid you up in limbo without
deserving it. " He then proceeded to tell his own story, giving an
account of what had brought him into prison; and having finished,
requested the other to favour him with the particulars of his own
misfortune. He of course readily complied.
"I left the city yesterday," said he, "to go towards Smyrna, and had
proceeded about half a mile, when I was joined by a young man out
of the country. He saluted me, and after walking with me for a few
minutes, inquired whither I was going. I told him, and he said that
luckily his road lay in the same direction, so that we proceeded in
company, and entered into conversation. Stopping at an inn, we ordered
dinner, and presently four men came in and did the same. Instead of
eating, however, they continued watching us, and making signs to one
another. I plainly enough saw that we were the objects of their notice,
but was wholly at a loss to understand the meaning of their gestures.
My companion gradually turned very pale, left off eating, and at last
began to tremble all over. Instantly they sprang up, seized, and
bound us; one of them also dealt him a violent blow upon the face;
upon which, as if he had been already on the rack, and even without a
question being asked him he cried out, 'I admit having killed the girl!
Melitta, Thersander's wife, hired me to do the deed, and gave me a
hundred gold pieces for my trouble; here they are every one--take them
for yourselves; and for heaven's sake let me off! '"
Upon hearing these names I started as if stung, and turning to him,
"Who is Melitta? " I asked. --"She is a lady of the first rank in this
city," was his reply. "She took a fancy to a young man, said to be a
native of Tyre; he found a favourite wench of his (whom he had given
up for lost), among the number of Melitta's slaves, and she, moved
by jealousy, had the girl seized by the fellow whom ill luck made my
fellow-traveller, and he, in obedience to Melitta's orders, has made
away with her. --But to return to my own story. I, who had never seen
the man before, nor had dealings with him of any kind, was dragged
along with him, bound, as an accomplice in his crime; but what is
harder than all, they had not gone far, before, for the sake of his
hundred pieces, they let him go, but kept me in custody and carried me
before the judge. "
Upon hearing this chapter of accidents, I neither uttered a sound nor
shed a tear, for both voice and tears refused their office, but a
general trembling seized me, my heart sunk within me, and I felt as at
the point of death. After a time, recovering in some degree from the
stupor which his words had caused, "How did the ruffian despatch her? "
I asked, "and what has become of her body? " But having now performed
the business for which he was employed, by stimulating my curiosity,
he became obstinately silent, and I could extract nothing more from
him. In answer to my repeated questions, "Do you think," said he, at
length, "that I had a hand in the murder? The man told me he had killed
her; he said nothing of the place and manner of her death. " Tears now
came to my relief, and I gave full vent to my sorrow. It is with mental
wounds as with bodily hurts; when one has been stricken in body some
time elapses before the livid bruise, the result of the blow is seen;
and so also any one who has been pierced by the sharp tusk of a boar,
looks for the wound, but without immediately discovering it, owing to
its being deeply seated; but presently a white line is perceived, the
precursor of the blood, which speedily begins to flow; in like manner,
no sooner have bitter tidings been announced, than they pierce the
soul, but the suddenness of the stroke prevents the wound from being
visible at once, and the tooth of sorrow must for some space have
gnawed the heart ere a vent is found for tears, which are to the mind
what blood is to the body.
It was thus with me; the arrows of grief inflicted an instant wound,
but their result was imperceptible until the soul had leisure to vent
itself in tears and lamentations. Then, indeed, I exclaimed, "What evil
genius has deluded me with this brief gleam of joy, and has shewn me
my Leucippe only to lay a foundation for fresh calamities? All that
has been allowed me was to see her, and I have not been permitted to
satiate even the sense of sight! My pleasure has, indeed, been like
the baseless fabric of a dream. Ο my Leucippe, how often hast thou
been lost to me? Am I never to cease from tears and lamentations? Is
one death perpetually to succeed another? On former occasions Fortune
has been merely jesting with me, but now she is in earnest! In those
former imaginary deaths of thine, some consolation, at least, was
afforded me, for thy body, wholly or in part, was left at my disposal!
But now thou art snatched away both in soul and body! Twice hast thou
escaped the pirates, but Melitta, more foul than any pirate, has had
thee done to death. And I, impious and unholy that I am, have actually
kissed thy murderess, have been enfolded in her accursed embrace, and
she has anticipated thee in receiving from me the offerings of Love! "
While thus plunged in grief, Clinias came to visit me. I related every
particular to him, and declared my determination of putting an end to
my existence. He did all in his power to console me. "Consider," he
said, "how often she has died and come to life again; who knows but
what she may do the same on this occasion also? Why be in such haste to
kill yourself? You will have abundant leisure when the tidings of her
death have been positively confirmed. "
"This is mere trifling," I replied; "there is small need of
confirmation; my resolve is fixed, and I have decided upon a manner of
death which will not permit even the hated Melitta to escape unscathed.
Listen to my plan:--In case of being summoned into court[3] it was my
intention to plead not guilty. I have now changed my determination, and
shall plead guilty, confessing the intrigue between Melitta and myself,
and saying that we mutually planned Leucippe's death; by this means
she will suffer the punishment which is her due, and I shall quit
this life which I so much detest. "--"Talk not thus," replied he; "can
you endure to die under the base imputation of being a murderer, and,
what is more, the murderer of Leucippe? "--"Nothing is base," replied
I, "by which we can wreak vengeance upon our enemies. "[4] While we
were engaged in argument, the fellow who had communicated the tidings
of the fictitious maiden was removed, upon pretence of being taken
before the magistrate to undergo an examination. Clinias and Satyrus
exerted themselves, but ineffectually, in order to persuade me to
alter my resolution; and on the same day they removed into lodgings,
so as to be no longer under the roof of Melitta's foster-brother.
The following day the case came on; Thersander had a great muster[5]
of friends and partisans, and had engaged ten advocates; and Melitta
had been equally on the alert in preparing for her defence. When the
counsel on either side had finished speaking, I asked leave to address
the court, and said, "All those who have been exerting their eloquence,
either for Thersander or for Melitta, have been giving utterance to
sheer nonsense; I will reveal the whole truth, and nothing but the
truth. I was once passionately in love with a female of Byzantium
named Leucippe; she was carried off by pirates, and I had reason to
believe that she was dead. Meeting with Melitta in Egypt, we formed a
connexion, and after some time we travelled together to this city, and
Leucippe, whom I just now mentioned, was found working as a slave upon
Thersander's estate, under his bailiff, Sosthenes. By what means he
obtained possession of a free-born female, and what were his dealings
with the pirates I leave it to you to guess.
"Melitta, finding that I had recovered my former mistress, became
apprehensive of her regaining her influence over my affections,
and contrived a plan for putting her to death. I entered into her
schemes,--for what avails it to conceal the truth? --having received
a promise that she would settle all her property upon me; a man was
found, who, for the reward of a hundred gold pieces, undertook the
business. When the deed was done, he fled, and is now somewhere in
concealment. As for myself, Love was not long in taking vengeance upon
my cruelty. No sooner did I hear of the murder being perpetrated, than
I bitterly repented of what had taken place, and all my former fondness
revived. For this reason I have determined to turn evidence against
myself, in order that you may send me whither she is gone to whom I am
still so deeply attached. Life is intolerable to one who, in addition
to being a murderer, loves her of whose death he has been the cause. "
Every one in court was utterly astounded at the unexpected tenour of
my speech, especially Melitta. The advocates of Thersander already
claimed a triumph,[6] while those engaged in Melitta's behalf anxiously
questioned her as to the truth of what I had said. She was in great
confusion; denied some points, virtually admitted others, confessed to
having known Leucippe, and indeed confirmed most of what I had said,
with the exception of the murder. This general agreement on her part
with the facts advanced by me, created a suspicion against her, even
in the minds of her own counsel, and they were at a loss what line
of defence to adopt on her behalf. At this critical juncture, while
the court was being a scene of great clamour, Clinias came forward
and requested to be heard, for "Remember," said he, "a man's life is
now in jeopardy. " Obtaining permission to speak, "Men of Ephesus! " he
began, (his eyes filling with tears,) "do not precipitately condemn
to die one who eagerly longs for death, the natural refuge of the
unfortunate. He has been calumniating himself, and has taken upon him
the guilt of others. Let me briefly acquaint you with what has befallen
him. What he has said respecting his mistress, her being carried off
by pirates, about Sosthenes, and other circumstances which happened
before the pretended murder, are strictly true. The young woman has
undoubtedly disappeared; but whether she is still alive, or has been
made away with, it is impossible to say; one thing is certain, that
Sosthenes conceived a passion for her, that he used her cruelly for
not consenting to his desires, and that he was leagued with pirates.
My friend believing her to be murdered, is disgusted with life, and
has, therefore invented this charge against himself; he has already
confessed with his own mouth that he is anxious to die owing to grief
at the loss which he has sustained. Consider, I pray you, whether it
is likely that one who is really a murderer would be so desirous of
dying with his victim, and would feel life so insupportable. When do
we ever find murderers so tender-hearted, and hatred so compassionate?
In the name of the gods, therefore, do not believe his words; do not
condemn to death a man who is much more deserving of commiseration than
of punishment. If, as he says, he really planned this murder, let him
bring forward the hired assassin; let him declare what has become of
the body. If neither the one nor the other can be produced, how can
any belief be attached to such a murder? 'I was in love with Melitta,'
he says, 'and therefore I caused Leucippe to be killed! ' How comes
he to implicate Melitta, the object of his affection, and to be so
desirous of dying for Leucippe, whose death he compassed? Is it usual
for persons to hate the object of their love, and to love the object of
their hatred? Is it not much more probable that in such circumstances
he would have denied the crime (even had it been brought home to him)
in order to save his mistress, instead of throwing away his own life
afterwards, owing to a vain regret for her loss? What can possibly,
therefore, be his motive for charging Melitta with a crime of which she
is not guilty? I will tell you, and in so doing do not suppose that I
have any desire of inculpating this lady,--my sole wish is to make you
acquainted with the real truth.
"Before this sea-faring husband of hers came to life again so suddenly,
Melitta took a violent fancy to this young man, and proposed marriage
to him; he on his part was not at all disposed to comply with her
wishes, and his repugnance became yet greater when he discovered that
his mistress, whom he had imagined dead, was in slavery, under the
power of Sosthenes. Until aware who she was, Melitta, taking pity upon
her, had caused her to be set at liberty, had received her into her own
house, and treated her with the consideration due to a gentlewoman in
distress; but after becoming acquainted with her story, she was sent
back into the country, and she has not been heard from since. The truth
of what I say can be attested by Melitta herself and the two maids
in whose company she was sent away. This was one thing which excited
suspicions in my friend's mind that Leucippe had been foully dealt with
through her rival's jealousy; a circumstance which took place after
he was in prison confirmed these suspicions, and has had the effect
of exasperating him not only against Melitta but against himself.
One of the prisoners, in the course of lamenting his own troubles,
mentioned that he had unwittingly fallen into the company of a man
who had committed murder for the sake of gold; the victim was named
Leucippe, and the crime, he said, had been committed at the instigation
of Melitta. Of course I cannot say whether this be true or not, it is
for you to institute inquiries. You can produce the prisoner who made
mention of the hired assassin; Sosthenes, who can declare from whom he
purchased Leucippe, and the maids, who can explain her disappearance.
Before you have thoroughly investigated each of these particulars, it
is contrary to all law, whether human or divine, to pass sentence upon
this unfortunate young man, on the bare evidence of his frenzied words,
for there can be no doubt that the violence of his grief has affected
his intellect. "
The arguments of Clinias appeared just and reasonable to many of those
present, but Thersander's counsel, together with his friends, called
out that sentence of death ought to be pronounced without delay upon
the murderer who, by the providence of the gods, had been made his own
accuser. Melitta brought forward her maids, and required Thersander to
produce Sosthenes, who might probably turn out to be the murderer. This
was the challenge[7] mainly insisted upon by her counsel. Thersander,
in great alarm, secretly despatched one of his dependants into the
country, with orders to Sostratus to get out of the way at once,
before the arrival of those who were about to be sent after him.
Mounting a horse without delay, the messenger rode full speed to inform
the bailiff of the danger he ran of being put to the torture, if taken.
Sosthenes was at that moment with Leucippe, doing his best to soothe
her irritated feelings. Hearing himself summoned in a loud voice, he
came out of the cottage; and, upon learning the state of matters,
overcome with fear, and thinking the officers were already at his
heels, he got upon the horse, and rode off towards Smyrna; after which
the messenger returned to his master. It is a true saying that fear
drives away the power of recollection, for Sosthenes in his alarm for
his own safety was so forgetful of everything else, that he neglected
to secure the door of Leucippe's cottage. Indeed slaves, generally
speaking, when frightened, run into the very excess of cowardice.
Melitta's advocates having given the above-mentioned challenge,
Thersander came forward and said, "We have now surely had quite enough
of this man's silly stories; and I cannot but feel surprised at your
want of sense, who, after convicting a murderer upon the strongest
possible evidence, his own admission of his guilt, do not at once
pass sentence of death upon him; whereas, instead of doing this, you
suffer yourselves to be imposed upon by his plausible words and tears.
For my part I believe him actuated by personal fears, and to be an
accomplice in the murder; nor can I see what possible need there can
be for having recourse to the rack in a matter so clear already. Nay,
more, I fully believe him to have had a hand in another murder; for
three days have now elapsed since I saw Sosthenes, the man whom they
call upon me to bring forward; it is not at all improbable that this is
owing to their contrivance, since it was he who informed me of the act
of adultery which has taken place, and having put him to death, they
now craftily call upon me to produce the man, knowing it to be out of
my power to do so. But even supposing he were alive and present, what
difference could it make? What questions would he put to him? 'Did he
ever purchase a certain female? '--'Yes. ' 'Was this female in the power
of Melitta? '--'Yes. ' Here would be an end of the examination, and
Sosthenes would be dismissed. Let me now, however, address myself to
Clitopho and Melitta.
"What have you done, I ask, with my slave? --for a slave of mine she
assuredly was, having been purchased by Sosthenes, and were she still
alive, instead of having been murdered by them, my slave she would
still be. " Thersander said this from mingled malice and cunning, in
order that if Leucippe should turn out to be still alive, he might
detain her in a state of servitude. He then continued:--"Clitopho
confessed that he killed her, he has therefore pronounced judgment upon
himself. Melitta, on the other hand, denies the crime--her maids may
be brought forward and tortured in order to refute what she says. If
it should appear that they received the young woman from her, but have
not brought her back again, the question will arise, What has become
of her? Why was she sent away? And to whom was she sent? Is it not
self-evident that some persons had been hired to commit the murder,
and that the maids were kept in ignorance of this, lest a number of
witnesses might render discovery more probable? No doubt they left her
at some spot where a gang of ruffians were lying in concealment, so
that it was out of their power to witness what took place. He has also
trumped up some story about a prisoner who made mention of the murder.
I should like to know who this prisoner is, who has not said a word on
the subject to the chief magistrate, but has communicated, it seems,
every particular to him, except the name of his informer. Again, I ask,
will you not make an end of listening to such foolery, and taking any
interest in such transparent absurdities? Can you imagine that he would
have turned a self-accuser without the intervention of the deity? "
Thersander, after speaking to this effect, concluded by solemnly
swearing that he was ignorant what had become of Sosthenes.
The presiding judge, who was of royal extraction,[8] and who took
cognizance of cases of blood, had, in accordance with the law, a
certain number of assessors,[9] men of mature age, whose province it
was to assist him in judicial investigations. After conferring with
them, he determined to pronounce sentence of death upon me, agreeably
to a law which awarded capital punishment to any one standing convicted
upon his own accusation. Melitta was to have a second trial, and her
maids were to be examined by torture, Thersander was to register his
oath, declaratory of his ignorance as to Sosthenes. I, as already
condemned to death, was to be tortured in order to make me confess
whether Melitta was privy to the murder. Already was I bound, stripped,
and suspended aloft by ropes, while some were bringing scourges, others
the fire and the wheel, and Clinias was lamenting loudly, and calling
upon the gods, when lo! the priest of Diana crowned with laurel, was
beheld approaching: the sign of a sacred embassy coming to offer
sacrifices to the goddess. In such cases there is suspension[10] of
all judicial punishments during the days occupied in the performance
of the sacrifice, and in consequence of this I was released. The chief
of the sacred embassy was no other than Leucippe's father. Diana had
appeared to the Byzantians, and had secured them victory in the war
against the Thracians, in consequence of which they felt bound to send
her a sacrifice in token of their gratitude. In addition to this, the
goddess had appeared to Sostratus himself at night, signifying to him
that he would find his daughter and his nephew at Ephesus. Just about
this time, Leucippe perceived the door of the cottage to be left open;
and as, after a careful examination, Sosthenes was nowhere to be seen,
her usual presence of mind and sanguine hopes returned. She remembered
how often, contrary to all expectation, she had been preserved, and
the thought of this gave her increased boldness. Fortune moreover
favoured her, since the temple of Diana was near the spot. Accordingly,
hurrying thither, she sought refuge within its precincts. The temple
afforded sanctuary to men and virgins,--any other woman incurred death
by entering it, unless she happened to be a slave who had some cause
of complaint against her master; in which case she was permitted to
take refuge there, and the matter was submitted to the decision of
the magistrates; supposing the master was acquitted, he took back his
slave, being bound by oath to bear her no ill will on account of her
having run away; but if, on the contrary, the slave was proved to have
justice on her side, she remained in the temple, and was employed in
the service of the goddess. Leucippe arrived at the temple just at
the time when Sostratus was conducting the priest to the scene of
the trial, in order to suspend the proceedings, and was very near
encountering her father.
When I was set free, the court broke up, and I was surrounded by a
concourse of people, some pitying me, some calling upon the gods in my
behalf, others questioning me. Sostratus, coming by at the time, no
sooner saw than he recognized me; for, as I before mentioned, he had
formerly been at Tyre upon the occasion of a festival of Hercules, and
had passed a considerable time there before the period of our flight.
He at once knew me, and the more readily because his dream had led him
to expect that he should find me and his daughter there. Coming up to
me, therefore, "Do I see Clitopho?
" said he; "and where is Leucippe? "
Instantly recognizing him, I cast my eyes to the ground and remained
silent, while the bystanders related to him every particular relative
to my self-accusation. He no sooner heard what they had to say than
with an ejaculation of bitter grief, and smiting his head he made a
rush at me, and was very near pulling out my eyes, for I remained
altogether passive and offered no resistance to his violence. At length
Clinias coming forward, checked his fury, and endeavoured to pacify
him. "What are you about? " said he: "why are you venting your wrath
against him; he loves Leucippe more dearly than you do, for he has
courted death from belief that she was no longer in existence;" and he
added a great deal more in order to calm his irritation. He, on the
other hand, continued to vent his grief, and to call upon Diana. "Is
it for this that thou hast summoned me hither, Ο goddess? Is this the
fulfilment of my vision? I gave credence to the dreams which thou didst
send, and flattered myself that I should find my daughter! In lieu of
which thou offerest me, forsooth, a welcome present,--my daughter's
murderer! " Hearing of the vision sent by Diana, Clinias was overjoyed.
"Take courage, sir," he said; "the goddess will not belie herself! Rest
assured your daughter is alive; believe me, I am prophesying truth; do
you not remark how wonderfully she has rescued your nephew from the
clutches of his torturers? "
While this was going on, one of the ministers of the goddess came
hurriedly to the priest, and announced that a foreign maiden had taken
refuge in the temple. [11] This intelligence, given in my hearing,
inspired me with new life; my hopes revived, and I summoned courage
to look up. "My prediction is being fulfilled, sir," said Clinias,
addressing Sostratus; and then turning to the messenger he inquired,
"Is the maiden handsome? "--"She is second in beauty only to Diana
herself," was the reply.
At these words I leaped for joy, and exclaimed, "It must be
Leucippe! "--"You are right in your conjecture," said he; "this was the
very name she gave; saying likewise that she was the daughter of one
Sostratus, and a native of Byzantium. " Clinias now clapped his hands
and shouted with delight, while Sostratus, overcome by his emotions,
was ready to sink upon the ground. For my part, in spite of my fetters,
I made a bound into the air, and then shot away towards the temple,
like an arrow from a bow. The keepers pursued me, supposing that I was
trying to escape, and bawled out to every one "Stop him! stop him! "
At that moment, however, I seemed to have wings upon my heels, and
it was with much difficulty that some persons at length caught hold
of me in my mad career. The keepers upon coming up were disposed to
use violence, to which, however, I was no longer inclined to submit;
nevertheless they persisted in dragging me towards the prison. By this
time Clinias and Sostratus had arrived at the spot; and the former
called out, "Whither are you taking this man? --he is not guilty of
the murder for which he has been condemned! " Sostratus spoke to the
same effect, and added that he was father to the maiden supposed to
have been murdered. The bystanders, learning the circumstances which
had taken place, were loud in their praises of Diana, and surrounding
me would not permit me to be taken to prison; on the other hand, the
keepers declared that they had no authority to set a prisoner at
liberty who had been condemned to death. In the end, the priest, at the
urgent entreaty of Sostratus, agreed to become bail, and to produce me
in court whenever it should be required. Then at length freed from my
fetters, I hurried on towards the temple, followed by Sostratus, whose
feelings of joy could hardly, I think, equal my own.
Rumour,[12] who outstrips the swiftest of men, had already reached
Leucippe, and informed her of all particulars respecting me and
Sostratus. Upon catching sight of us she darted out of the temple, and
threw her arms around her father, but at the same time her looks were
turned on me; the presence of Sostratus restrained me from embracing
her, though I gazed intently upon her face; and thus our greetings were
confined to eyes.
[Footnote 1:
"And thoughts on thoughts, a countless throng,
Rushed, chasing countless thoughts along;
Until, the giddy whirl to cure,
He rose. "--Scott.
]
[Footnote 2: ἀνοιμώξας πάνυ κακούργως. ]
[Footnote 3: εἰ κληρωθείη τὸ δικαστήριον. ]
[Footnote 4: χρή δὲ πᾶν ἔρδoντα μανρῶσαι τὸν ἐχθρόν.
"Dolus, an virtus, quis in hoste requirit? "
Æn. ii. 390.
]
[Footnote 5: παρασκιύη; see the opening of the oration of Æschines
against Ctesiphon. ]
[Footnote 6: ἀνεβόησαν ἐπινίκιον. ]
[Footnote 7: πρόκλησιν, a formal challenge proposed by a party to his
opponent that the decision of a disputed point should be determined by
the evidence of a third party. One of the most common was the demand
or offer to examine by torture a slave supposed to be cognizant of the
matter in dispute. --See Dict. of Grk. and Roman Antiq. ]
[Footnote 8: The events of this romance are supposed to take place when
Asia was still subject to the Persian Empire, but Tatius borrows his
judicial forms from those in use among the Greeks. He describes the
πρoέδρος to be of _royal extraction_, probably because cases of blood
were tried before that archon, who was styled βασιλεύς. --Jacobs. ]
[Footnote 9: Each of the three superior archons was at liberty to have
two assessors (πάρεδροι) chosen by himself, to assist him by advice and
otherwise in the performance of his various duties. --Dict. of Grk. and
Rom. Antiq. ]
[Footnote 10: During the absence of the sacred vessel (θεωρίς) on its
mission to Delos, the city of Athens was purified, and no criminal was
allowed to be executed. ]
[Footnote 11: See a very full description of the magnificent temple of
Diana in Anthon's "Lemprière. "]
[Footnote 12: "Nec tamen Fama volucris, pigrâ pennarum tarditate
cessaverat; sed protinus in patriâ, Deæ providentia adorabile
beneficium, meamque ipsius fortunam memorabilem, narraverat
passim. "--Apul. Met. xi. ]
BOOK VIII.
Just as we were sitting down and beginning to converse upon the
various events which had taken place, Thersander, accompanied by
several witnesses, arrived in a great bustle, and addressing himself
to the priest in a loud voice said, "I warn you, in the presence of
these witnesses, that you have acted illegally in setting at liberty
a prisoner condemned to death; besides which, what right have you to
detain my slave, a lewd woman, who is insatiable in her appetite for
men? " Exasperated by this language, and not enduring to hear her called
a slave and accused of lewdness, I interrupted him, "You are trebly a
slave[1] yourself, and the rankest lecher who ever existed, where as
she is free born, and pure and worthy of her guardian goddess! "--"Dare
you vent your insolence on me, convicted felon that you are? " exclaimed
he, accompanying his words with a couple of blows, which, given with
all his might, caused the blood to flow from my nose in streams; in
his haste to deal me a third, he struck me on the mouth, and my teeth
inflicting a severe wound upon his fingers avenged the insult offered
to my nostrils. Uttering a cry of pain, he drew back his hand, and did
not offer any further violence; while, pretending not to notice that
he was hurt, I filled the temple with outcries at the usage which I
had received. "Whither," I exclaimed, "shall we henceforth flee to
escape the hands of violence? Where shall we seek sanctuary, if Diana
is despised? Lo! I have been attacked in the very temple, and struck in
front of the holy curtain! [2] I had supposed that such acts could take
place only in some howling wilderness, with no human witness to behold
them; but you--abandoned wretch that you are! --exercise your brutality
in the very presence of the gods! Temples are wont to afford an asylum,
even to the guilty; but I, who am wholly innocent and a suppliant of
the goddess, have suffered violence before the altar,--nay, before the
eyes of the goddess! The blows inflicted on me have virtually fallen
upon Diana herself! Nor has your drunken fury been content with blows,
you have even dealt wounds, such as one receives in battle, and you
have defiled the sacred pavement with human blood! Who ever poured out
such drink offerings to the Ephesian goddess? Barbarians do so, and so
do the Tauri, and blood is sprinkled upon the altars of the Scythian
Diana;[3] but you have made a savage Scythia of the polished Ionia,
and the gore fit only for Tauris is seen to flow at Ephesus! Why not
proceed yet farther, and draw your sword against me? Though what need
is there of swords, the work of a weapon has already been accomplished
by your naked hand! Yes! your blood-stained and homicidal hand has done
deeds fit only for a scene of murder! "
Attracted by my outcries, a crowd of those who were in the temple
flocked together, who rated him soundly for his conduct, and the priest
himself said, "Are you not ashamed to exhibit such behaviour openly
and in the temple? " Encouraged by their presence, "Men of Ephesus! " I
said, "you see how foully I have been treated. Yes! I, a free man and
a native of no mean city, have had a plot contrived against my life by
this wicked man, and have been preserved only by the intervention of
Diana, who has brought to light the falsehood of the charge against
me. It behoves me now to go forth in order to cleanse my face; I may
not do so within the temple, lest the holy water should be defiled by
the blood of violence. " Thersander was with difficulty forced out, and
muttered to himself as he departed: "Your fate is already sealed, and
ere long the law shall have its due; as for this strumpet who would
fain pass for a virgin, she shall undergo the ordeal of the syrinx. "
When at last we were rid of him, I went out and cleansed my face; it
was now supper-time, and the priest entertained us very hospitably.
I could not summon up courage to look Sostratus in the face, from a
recollection of what had been my conduct towards him, and he perceiving
this, and guessing my feelings, was equally unwilling to look towards
me; Leucippe also sat with downcast eyes, so that the supper was
altogether a very solemn affair. When however the wine circulated, and
reserve began to disappear under the influence of Bacchus, patron
of freedom and ease,[4] the priest, addressing Sostratus, said, "My
worthy guest, will you not favour us with your own history? --it must, I
imagine, contain some interesting passages, and the listening to such
subjects adds zest to the wine. " Sostratus readily availed himself of
the opportunity to speak, and replied, "My own story is a very simple
one; you are already acquainted with my name and country, and when I
have added that I am uncle to this young man and father to the maiden,
you have heard all. --Do you, son Clitopho, (turning to me) lay aside
all bashfulness and relate whatever you have to say worth hearing; the
grief and vexation which I have endured is to be attributed to Fortune
not to you; besides, to tell of past troubles when one has escaped from
them, is a source of pleasure rather than of grief. "[5]
Upon this, I detailed all the events which had occurred since leaving
Tyre--the voyage, the shipwreck, our being cast upon the coast of
Egypt, our falling among the buccaneers, the carrying off of Leucippe,
the adventures of the false stomach contrived by Menelaus, the passion
conceived for her by the commander, the discovery of the love potion
by Chæreas, Leucippe's second rape by corsairs, and the wound received
by me of which I exhibited the scar. When I approached the subject of
Melitta, I related the story in such a manner as to give an exalted
idea of my own continence, yet without being guilty of any falsehood.
I spoke of her violent passion for me, her urgent but unsuccessful
entreaties to obtain its gratification, her munificent promises, her
grief at being disappointed, our subsequent voyage to Ephesus, the
supper, my sharing her bed, and (invoking at the same time Diana's
name) my rising from her side as pure as one female would from another,
my being seized and put in prison, my false accusation of myself; this
and every other matter I detailed down to the appearance of the Sacred
Embassy, suppressing only the disgrace of my connexion with Melitta. [5]
"Leucippe's adventures," said I, in continuation, "are stranger even
than mine. She has been sold to slavery, has been compelled to labour
in the field, has been despoiled of the honours of her head,[6] of
which you can see the tokens;" and then passing on to the conduct of
Sosthenes and Thersander, I entered much more into detail than I had
done, when speaking of myself. My object in doing this, was to gratify
Leucippe, in the hearing of her father. "She has endured every ill in
her person," said I, "excepting one, and to avoid that one, she has
submitted to all the others; and has continued, to this day, father
(addressing Sostratus), pure as when first you sent her from Byzantium.
It is no merit in me to have abstained from consummating the object for
which we fled; the merit is entirely on her side for having preserved
inviolate her chastity in the midst of villains, nay, against that arch
villain, the shameless and violent Thersander. Our flight from home was
caused by mutual love; but I can assure you, father, that during the
voyage we were quite platonic, our intercourse was no other than that
of a brother and a sister; and if there be such a thing as virginity
in men, I am still a virgin as regards Leucippe; she, long since bound
herself by a vow to Diana. [7]
"Queen of love," ejaculated I, "be not wroth nor deem thyself to have
been slighted by us! we were but unwilling to celebrate our nuptials
in the absence of the maiden's father; he has now happily arrived; be
thou present therefore, and smile propitiously upon us. " The priest
had listened open-mouthed to my story, and Sostratus had been shedding
tears during the recital of his daughter's sufferings. "Now that you
have heard the account of our adventures," said I to our host, "I have
a favour to ask of you. What did Thersander's parting words refer to,
when he made mention of the syrinx? "--"You have a right to make the
inquiry," replied he; "and I am both able and willing to comply with
your request. It will be some return for the narrative with which you
have just favoured us. You see the grove in the rear of the temple; in
it is a cave, entrance into which is forbidden to women in general,
but is permitted to maidens who have preserved their purity. A little
within the doors a syrinx is suspended; perhaps you Byzantians are
already acquainted with the nature of this instrument; should it be
otherwise, I will give you a description of it, and will likewise
relate the legend of Pan, with which it is connected.
"The syrinx is composed of a certain number of reed pipes, which
collectively produce the same sounds as a flute; these reeds are placed
in regular order and mutually compacted, presenting the same appearance
on either side; beginning from the shortest, they ascend in gradation
to the longest, and the central one holds a medium proportion between
the two extremities. The principle of this arrangement arises from
the laws of harmony, the two extremes of sound (as well as of length)
are found at either end, and the intervening pipes convey downwards
a gradation of notes so as to combine the first and shrillest with
the last and deepest of all. The same variety of sounds, (as before
observed) are produced by Minerva's flute[8] as by the syrinx of Pan;
but in the former case, the fingers direct the notes, in the latter,
the mouth supplies the place; in the one case, the performer closes
every opening except the one through which the breath is intended to
proceed; in the other case, he leaves open the aperture of every other
reed, and places his mouth upon that one only which he wishes to emit
a sound; his lips leap (as we may say) from reed to reed and dance[9]
along the syrinx; as the laws of harmony require. [10] Now, this syrinx
was originally neither pipe nor reed, but a damsel[11] whose charms
made her most desirable. Smitten by love, Pan pursued her, and she fled
for refuge to a thicket; the god still closely following her, stretched
forth his hand to seize as he supposed her hair, but lo! instead of
hair, he grasped a bunch of reeds, which, so the legend says, sprang
from the earth as she descended into it. Enraged at his disappointment,
Pan cut them down, imagining that they had stolen from him the object
of his love; but when his search after her still proved unavailing, he
supposed the maiden to have been changed into these reeds, and wept
at his hasty act, thinking that in so doing he had caused the death
of his beloved. He then proceeded to collect and place together what
he imagined to be her limbs, and holding them in his hands, continued
to kiss what fancy pictured to be the mangled remains of the maiden's
body. Deeply sighing as he imprinted kisses on the reeds, his sighs
found a passage through these hollow pipes, forming sounds of music,
and thus the syrinx came to have a voice. This instrument Pan suspended
within the cave, and he is said often to resort hither in order to play
upon it. At a period subsequent to the event of which I am speaking,
he conveyed the place as a gift to Diana, upon the condition that
none save a spotless maiden should be allowed to enter it. Whenever
therefore the virginity of any female comes into suspicion, she is
conducted to the entrance of this cavern, and it is left to the syrinx
to pronounce judgment upon her. She enters in her usual dress, and
immediately the doors are closed. If she proves to be a virgin, a
sweetly clear and divinely ravishing sound is heard, caused either by
the air which is there stored up, finding its way into the syrinx,[12]
or by the lips of the god himself. After a short space, the doors open
of their own accord, and the maiden makes her appearance, wearing a
crown of pine leaves. If, on the other hand, the female has falsely
asserted her claim to virginity, the syrinx is silent, and instead of
music, the cave sends forth a doleful sound, upon which those who
attended her to the entrance depart and leave her to her fate. Three
days after, the priestess of the temple enters, and finds the syrinx
fallen to the ground, but the female is no where to be seen. I have
now told you everything, and it is for you maturely to deliberate upon
what course you intend pursuing. If, as I sincerely hope, the maiden
is a virgin, you may fearlessly submit to the ordeal, for the syrinx
has never falsified its character. Should the case be otherwise, it is
needless to suggest what is the safer course; and you well know, what
a female, exposed as she has been to various perils, may have been
compelled to submit to, quite against her will. "
Eagerly interrupting the priest, Leucippe said, "You need be under
no alarm on my account, I am quite ready to enter, and be shut up
within the cave. "--"I rejoice to hear you say so," replied he, "and I
congratulate you on the good fortune which has preserved your virtue. "
As it was near evening we retired to the chambers prepared for us
by the priest; Clinias had not supped with us from fear of being
burdensome to our kind host, but had returned to his former lodgings.
The legend of the syrinx caused Sostratus much uneasiness, as he
evidently feared, that out of regard to him, we had been advancing
undue claims to chastity; perceiving this, I made a sign to Leucippe to
remove as best she could, the suspicions of her father. His anxiety had
not escaped her observation, and even before receiving a hint from me,
she had been devising how to set his mind at rest. Upon embracing him,
therefore, as he retired to rest, "Father," she said, in a low voice,
"you need be under no apprehension; I solemnly swear to you by Diana,
that both of us have spoken nothing but the truth. " The following day,
Sostratus and the priest were occupied in performing the object of the
sacred embassy, by offering the victims; the members of the Senate were
present at the solemnity, and hymns of praise resounded in honour of
the goddess. Thersander also was there, and coming to the president he
desired to have his case postponed to the next day, as the condemned
criminal had been set at liberty by some meddling persons, and
Sosthenes could no where be found. His request was complied with, and
we on our part, made every preparation for meeting the charge which was
to be brought against us. When the morning of trial arrived, Thersander
spoke as follows:--"I am utterly at a loss how to begin, and against
whom first to direct my charges; the offence which has given rise to
this trial involves various others equal in importance, and implicates
several parties, and each of their offences might supply matter for a
separate trial; my words must almost unavoidably fail in doing justice
to each division of the subject, and in my eagerness to hasten to some
point hitherto untouched, I must necessarily deal imperfectly with
that upon which I am engaged. How indeed can it be otherwise in a
case like this, wherein is mixed up adultery, impiety, bloodshed and
lawless excesses of every kind! Where adulterers are found murdering
other people's slaves, murderers corrupting other people's wives,
whoremongers and harlots interrupting and disgracing with their
presence holy solemnities and the most sacred places? Nevertheless I
will proceed. You condemned a criminal to death--on account of what
cause, it matters not--you sent him back in chains to prison, there
to be kept until the execution of the sentence; yet this man who is
virtually your prisoner, now stands before you at liberty and attired
in white; aye, and no doubt will venture to raise his voice in order to
declaim against me--or rather, I should say, against you and against
the justice of your verdict. I demand to have the sentence of the Court
read aloud. --There, you have now heard it. 'The sentence of the Court
is that Clitopho be put to death. '--Where then is the executioner? Let
the prisoner be led away, let the hemlock[13] be administered--he is
already dead in law, and has lived a day too long. And now, what excuse
have you to plead, holy and reverend priest? In which of the sacred
laws do you find it laid down that prisoners, duly condemned by a
sentence of the court, and delivered up to chains and death, are to be
rescued and set at liberty? On what grounds do you arrogate to yourself
a power superior to that of the judges and the Court? President! it is
time for you to quit your chair and to abdicate to him your place and
power! Your authority is gone, your decrees are good for nought! He
takes upon himself to reverse the sentence you have passed. --Why any
longer stand among us, sir Priest, as a mere private individual? By all
means go up higher, take your place upon the bench; issue henceforth
your judgments, or if it please you better, your arbitrary and
tyrannical decrees; spurn law and justice under your feet; believe that
you are more than man; claim for yourself worship next after Diana,
since you have already arrogated her peculiar privilege. Hitherto she
alone has afforded sanctuary to suppliants, but to suppliants, be it
remembered, whom the law has not yet condemned;--not those to whom
chains and death have been decreed, for the altar should be a refuge
not to the wicked but to the unfortunate! You, forsooth, liberate a
prisoner; you acquit a condemned criminal! You therefore arrogate a
power superior to that of Diana's self! Who, until now, ever heard of a
murderer and adulterer inhabiting the chamber of a temple, instead of
the dungeon of a prison? A foul adulterer under the same roof with a
virgin goddess, and having for his partner a shameless woman, a slave
and runaway! You it is who have entertained the worthy pair at bed and
board; nay, probably have shared her bed. You have converted the temple
of the goddess into a common brothel. You have made her sanctuary,
a den of whoremongers and harlots; your doings would hardly find a
parallel in the vilest stew! So far as regards these two I have now
done, one will I trust meet with his just deserts, let the sentence of
the law be put in force against the other.
"My second charge is against Melitta for adultery; and here I need not
speak at any length, as it has already been decided that her maids
shall be submitted to the torture, in order to ascertain the truth. I
demand, therefore, to have them produced; and if, after undergoing the
question, they persist in denying their knowledge that the accused has
for a considerable time cohabited with her in my house, not only in the
character of paramour but of husband, then I am bound freely to acquit
her of all blame. But should the contrary be proved, then I claim that
in accordance with the laws she be deprived of her marriage portion,
and that it be given up to me,[14] in which case the prisoner must
suffer death, the punishment awarded to adulterers. Whether, however,
he shall suffer under this charge or as a murderer, matters little;
he is guilty of both crimes, and though suffering punishment will, in
fact, be evading justice,[15]--for whereas he owes two deaths, he will
have paid but one. One other subject there remains for me to touch
upon: this slave of mine and her respectable pretended father. I shall,
however, reserve what I have to say on this head until you have come to
a decision respecting the other parties. "
Thersander having now ended, it was for the priest to speak. He
was possessed of eloquence, and had in him a large share of the
Aristophanic vein; accordingly he attacked Thersander's debauched
manner of life with great wit and humour. "By the goddess," said he,
"it is the sign of having a foul tongue, thus shamelessly to rail
against honest folks,--but it is nothing new to this worthy gentleman,
for throughout his life the filthiness of his tongue has been
notorious. [16] The season of his youth was passed among the lewdest of
mankind, among whom he gave himself up to the most abandoned practices,
and while affecting gravity, sobriety, and a regard for learning, his
body was made the slave of all impurity. After a time he left his
father's house, and hired a miserable lodging, where he took up his
abode. And how do you suppose he earned his living? Why, partly by
strolling about the town and singing ballads, partly by receiving at
home fellows like himself, for purposes which I shall not now name. All
this time he was supposed to be cultivating his mind, and improving
his education; whereas, accomplished hypocrite! he was but throwing
a veil over his iniquities. Even in the wrestling school his manner
while anointing his body, and his attitudes, and his always choosing
to engage in wrestling with the stoutest and comeliest of the youths,
showed his detestable propensities. Such was his character during
his youthful days. Upon arriving at manhood, he threw off the mask,
and exhibited before the eyes of all the vices which hitherto he had
endeavoured to keep concealed.
"As he could no longer turn any other part of his body to account,
he determined thenceforth to exercise his tongue, and admirably has
he succeeded in sharpening it upon the whetstone of impurity,[17]
making his mouth the vehicle for shameless speech, pouring out its
torrents of abuse on every one, and having his effrontery stamped upon
his very face, he has gone the length (as you have seen) of coarsely
insulting in your presence an individual whom you have honoured with
the priesthood. Were I a stranger to you, and had not my life been
passed among you, I should deem it necessary to dwell upon my own
character, and that of my usual associates; but there is no occasion
for doing this. You well know how opposite has been my way of living
to the slanderous imputations which he has cast upon me. I therefore
pass on at once to his recent charges. I have set at liberty, he says,
a convicted criminal; and upon these grounds he proceeds to inveigh
bitterly against me, and applies to me the epithet of tyrant, and I
know not how many other hard words. Now a tyrant is one who oppresses
the innocent, not one who steps forward to defend the victim of false
accusation. What law, I demand, sanctioned your committing this young
man to prison? Before what tribunal had he been condemned? What judge
had pronounced his sentence? Granting the truth of every charge
advanced against him, he has at all events a right to a fair trial;
he has a right to be heard in his own defence; he has a right to be
legally convicted!
]
[Footnote 17:
"Quum tibi flagrans amor,
. . . . . .
Sæviet circa jecur ulcerosum. "
Hor. I, Od. xxv. 13.
]
[Footnote 18: "αλλὰ καὶ ἀκκίζῃ καὶ σχηματίζῃ πρὸς άπόνοιαν. "]
[Footnote 19:
"ἐπὶ τοῦ τροχοῦ γὰρ δεῖ σ'ἐκἕι στρεβλούμενον
εἰπεῖν ἅ πεπανούργηκας. "
Aristoph. Plut. 875. See also Virg. Æn. vi. 616.
]
[Footnote 20: The allusion is to the fire placed under the revolving
wheel, by which the sufferer was slowly roasted. A reference to this
species of torture will be found in ch. 50 of Tertullian's Apology. ]
[Footnote 21: "Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there, that knoweth not
how that the city of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great goddess
Diana? "--Acts xix. 35. ]
[Footnote 22:
"Harpers have sung and poets told,
That he, in fury uncontrolled,
The shaggy monarch of the wood
Before a virgin fair and good
Hath pacified his savage mood;
But passions in the human frame
Oft put the lion's rage to shame. "--Scott.
]
[Footnote 23:
"Eternal spirit of the chainless mind!
Brightest in dungeons, Liberty! "--Byron.
]
BOOK VII.
The scornful reproaches of Leucippe stirred up a tumult of conflicting
passions in Thersander's mind; he was incensed by her taunts, vexed at
his ill success, and perplexed how to secure the accomplishment of his
desires. Without saying another word he rushed out of the house to give
vent to the storm and tempest of his soul. [1] Shortly after, having
conferred with Sosthenes, he went to the jailor, and endeavoured to
persuade him to administer a dose of poison to me; this, however, the
jailor refused to do, his predecessor having suffered death for taking
off a prisoner in this manner. Failing in this, he obtained his consent
to introduce a man (who was to pass for a criminal) into my cell, under
pretence of wishing to extract some secrets out of me through him. The
man had been previously tutored by Thersander, and was casually to
introduce Leucippe's name, and to say that she had been murdered by
the contrivance of Melitta. Thersander's object in persuading me of
her death was to hinder me (in case I obtained a verdict of acquittal)
from instituting any further search for her recovery, and the name
of Melitta was introduced in order that, after learning Leucippe's
death, I might not entertain any thoughts of marrying her, and so by
settling at Ephesus might interrupt Thersander in the prosecution of
his schemes, but on the contrary, might be induced to quit the city
without delay, from hatred to Melitta for having contrived the death of
my beloved.
As soon as this fellow came near me, he began to play his appointed
part, and with a knavish groan[2] exclaimed, "Alackaday! what a
miserable thing is life! There is no keeping out of trouble! It
stands a man in no stead to be honest! Some cross accident is sure to
overtake him! Would I could have guessed the character of my fellow
traveller, and what work he had been engaged in! " This, and much more
of the same sort, he said speaking to himself, craftily endeavouring
to attract my attention, and to make me inquire what it was that ailed
him. He did not succeed, however, for I was sufficiently taken up with
my own troubles, and he went on with his groans and ejaculations. At
length--for the unfortunate take pleasure in listening to another's
griefs, finding in it a kind of medicine for their sorrows--one of
the prisoners asked, "What trick has the jade Fortune been playing
you? I suspect that, like myself, she has laid you up in limbo without
deserving it. " He then proceeded to tell his own story, giving an
account of what had brought him into prison; and having finished,
requested the other to favour him with the particulars of his own
misfortune. He of course readily complied.
"I left the city yesterday," said he, "to go towards Smyrna, and had
proceeded about half a mile, when I was joined by a young man out
of the country. He saluted me, and after walking with me for a few
minutes, inquired whither I was going. I told him, and he said that
luckily his road lay in the same direction, so that we proceeded in
company, and entered into conversation. Stopping at an inn, we ordered
dinner, and presently four men came in and did the same. Instead of
eating, however, they continued watching us, and making signs to one
another. I plainly enough saw that we were the objects of their notice,
but was wholly at a loss to understand the meaning of their gestures.
My companion gradually turned very pale, left off eating, and at last
began to tremble all over. Instantly they sprang up, seized, and
bound us; one of them also dealt him a violent blow upon the face;
upon which, as if he had been already on the rack, and even without a
question being asked him he cried out, 'I admit having killed the girl!
Melitta, Thersander's wife, hired me to do the deed, and gave me a
hundred gold pieces for my trouble; here they are every one--take them
for yourselves; and for heaven's sake let me off! '"
Upon hearing these names I started as if stung, and turning to him,
"Who is Melitta? " I asked. --"She is a lady of the first rank in this
city," was his reply. "She took a fancy to a young man, said to be a
native of Tyre; he found a favourite wench of his (whom he had given
up for lost), among the number of Melitta's slaves, and she, moved
by jealousy, had the girl seized by the fellow whom ill luck made my
fellow-traveller, and he, in obedience to Melitta's orders, has made
away with her. --But to return to my own story. I, who had never seen
the man before, nor had dealings with him of any kind, was dragged
along with him, bound, as an accomplice in his crime; but what is
harder than all, they had not gone far, before, for the sake of his
hundred pieces, they let him go, but kept me in custody and carried me
before the judge. "
Upon hearing this chapter of accidents, I neither uttered a sound nor
shed a tear, for both voice and tears refused their office, but a
general trembling seized me, my heart sunk within me, and I felt as at
the point of death. After a time, recovering in some degree from the
stupor which his words had caused, "How did the ruffian despatch her? "
I asked, "and what has become of her body? " But having now performed
the business for which he was employed, by stimulating my curiosity,
he became obstinately silent, and I could extract nothing more from
him. In answer to my repeated questions, "Do you think," said he, at
length, "that I had a hand in the murder? The man told me he had killed
her; he said nothing of the place and manner of her death. " Tears now
came to my relief, and I gave full vent to my sorrow. It is with mental
wounds as with bodily hurts; when one has been stricken in body some
time elapses before the livid bruise, the result of the blow is seen;
and so also any one who has been pierced by the sharp tusk of a boar,
looks for the wound, but without immediately discovering it, owing to
its being deeply seated; but presently a white line is perceived, the
precursor of the blood, which speedily begins to flow; in like manner,
no sooner have bitter tidings been announced, than they pierce the
soul, but the suddenness of the stroke prevents the wound from being
visible at once, and the tooth of sorrow must for some space have
gnawed the heart ere a vent is found for tears, which are to the mind
what blood is to the body.
It was thus with me; the arrows of grief inflicted an instant wound,
but their result was imperceptible until the soul had leisure to vent
itself in tears and lamentations. Then, indeed, I exclaimed, "What evil
genius has deluded me with this brief gleam of joy, and has shewn me
my Leucippe only to lay a foundation for fresh calamities? All that
has been allowed me was to see her, and I have not been permitted to
satiate even the sense of sight! My pleasure has, indeed, been like
the baseless fabric of a dream. Ο my Leucippe, how often hast thou
been lost to me? Am I never to cease from tears and lamentations? Is
one death perpetually to succeed another? On former occasions Fortune
has been merely jesting with me, but now she is in earnest! In those
former imaginary deaths of thine, some consolation, at least, was
afforded me, for thy body, wholly or in part, was left at my disposal!
But now thou art snatched away both in soul and body! Twice hast thou
escaped the pirates, but Melitta, more foul than any pirate, has had
thee done to death. And I, impious and unholy that I am, have actually
kissed thy murderess, have been enfolded in her accursed embrace, and
she has anticipated thee in receiving from me the offerings of Love! "
While thus plunged in grief, Clinias came to visit me. I related every
particular to him, and declared my determination of putting an end to
my existence. He did all in his power to console me. "Consider," he
said, "how often she has died and come to life again; who knows but
what she may do the same on this occasion also? Why be in such haste to
kill yourself? You will have abundant leisure when the tidings of her
death have been positively confirmed. "
"This is mere trifling," I replied; "there is small need of
confirmation; my resolve is fixed, and I have decided upon a manner of
death which will not permit even the hated Melitta to escape unscathed.
Listen to my plan:--In case of being summoned into court[3] it was my
intention to plead not guilty. I have now changed my determination, and
shall plead guilty, confessing the intrigue between Melitta and myself,
and saying that we mutually planned Leucippe's death; by this means
she will suffer the punishment which is her due, and I shall quit
this life which I so much detest. "--"Talk not thus," replied he; "can
you endure to die under the base imputation of being a murderer, and,
what is more, the murderer of Leucippe? "--"Nothing is base," replied
I, "by which we can wreak vengeance upon our enemies. "[4] While we
were engaged in argument, the fellow who had communicated the tidings
of the fictitious maiden was removed, upon pretence of being taken
before the magistrate to undergo an examination. Clinias and Satyrus
exerted themselves, but ineffectually, in order to persuade me to
alter my resolution; and on the same day they removed into lodgings,
so as to be no longer under the roof of Melitta's foster-brother.
The following day the case came on; Thersander had a great muster[5]
of friends and partisans, and had engaged ten advocates; and Melitta
had been equally on the alert in preparing for her defence. When the
counsel on either side had finished speaking, I asked leave to address
the court, and said, "All those who have been exerting their eloquence,
either for Thersander or for Melitta, have been giving utterance to
sheer nonsense; I will reveal the whole truth, and nothing but the
truth. I was once passionately in love with a female of Byzantium
named Leucippe; she was carried off by pirates, and I had reason to
believe that she was dead. Meeting with Melitta in Egypt, we formed a
connexion, and after some time we travelled together to this city, and
Leucippe, whom I just now mentioned, was found working as a slave upon
Thersander's estate, under his bailiff, Sosthenes. By what means he
obtained possession of a free-born female, and what were his dealings
with the pirates I leave it to you to guess.
"Melitta, finding that I had recovered my former mistress, became
apprehensive of her regaining her influence over my affections,
and contrived a plan for putting her to death. I entered into her
schemes,--for what avails it to conceal the truth? --having received
a promise that she would settle all her property upon me; a man was
found, who, for the reward of a hundred gold pieces, undertook the
business. When the deed was done, he fled, and is now somewhere in
concealment. As for myself, Love was not long in taking vengeance upon
my cruelty. No sooner did I hear of the murder being perpetrated, than
I bitterly repented of what had taken place, and all my former fondness
revived. For this reason I have determined to turn evidence against
myself, in order that you may send me whither she is gone to whom I am
still so deeply attached. Life is intolerable to one who, in addition
to being a murderer, loves her of whose death he has been the cause. "
Every one in court was utterly astounded at the unexpected tenour of
my speech, especially Melitta. The advocates of Thersander already
claimed a triumph,[6] while those engaged in Melitta's behalf anxiously
questioned her as to the truth of what I had said. She was in great
confusion; denied some points, virtually admitted others, confessed to
having known Leucippe, and indeed confirmed most of what I had said,
with the exception of the murder. This general agreement on her part
with the facts advanced by me, created a suspicion against her, even
in the minds of her own counsel, and they were at a loss what line
of defence to adopt on her behalf. At this critical juncture, while
the court was being a scene of great clamour, Clinias came forward
and requested to be heard, for "Remember," said he, "a man's life is
now in jeopardy. " Obtaining permission to speak, "Men of Ephesus! " he
began, (his eyes filling with tears,) "do not precipitately condemn
to die one who eagerly longs for death, the natural refuge of the
unfortunate. He has been calumniating himself, and has taken upon him
the guilt of others. Let me briefly acquaint you with what has befallen
him. What he has said respecting his mistress, her being carried off
by pirates, about Sosthenes, and other circumstances which happened
before the pretended murder, are strictly true. The young woman has
undoubtedly disappeared; but whether she is still alive, or has been
made away with, it is impossible to say; one thing is certain, that
Sosthenes conceived a passion for her, that he used her cruelly for
not consenting to his desires, and that he was leagued with pirates.
My friend believing her to be murdered, is disgusted with life, and
has, therefore invented this charge against himself; he has already
confessed with his own mouth that he is anxious to die owing to grief
at the loss which he has sustained. Consider, I pray you, whether it
is likely that one who is really a murderer would be so desirous of
dying with his victim, and would feel life so insupportable. When do
we ever find murderers so tender-hearted, and hatred so compassionate?
In the name of the gods, therefore, do not believe his words; do not
condemn to death a man who is much more deserving of commiseration than
of punishment. If, as he says, he really planned this murder, let him
bring forward the hired assassin; let him declare what has become of
the body. If neither the one nor the other can be produced, how can
any belief be attached to such a murder? 'I was in love with Melitta,'
he says, 'and therefore I caused Leucippe to be killed! ' How comes
he to implicate Melitta, the object of his affection, and to be so
desirous of dying for Leucippe, whose death he compassed? Is it usual
for persons to hate the object of their love, and to love the object of
their hatred? Is it not much more probable that in such circumstances
he would have denied the crime (even had it been brought home to him)
in order to save his mistress, instead of throwing away his own life
afterwards, owing to a vain regret for her loss? What can possibly,
therefore, be his motive for charging Melitta with a crime of which she
is not guilty? I will tell you, and in so doing do not suppose that I
have any desire of inculpating this lady,--my sole wish is to make you
acquainted with the real truth.
"Before this sea-faring husband of hers came to life again so suddenly,
Melitta took a violent fancy to this young man, and proposed marriage
to him; he on his part was not at all disposed to comply with her
wishes, and his repugnance became yet greater when he discovered that
his mistress, whom he had imagined dead, was in slavery, under the
power of Sosthenes. Until aware who she was, Melitta, taking pity upon
her, had caused her to be set at liberty, had received her into her own
house, and treated her with the consideration due to a gentlewoman in
distress; but after becoming acquainted with her story, she was sent
back into the country, and she has not been heard from since. The truth
of what I say can be attested by Melitta herself and the two maids
in whose company she was sent away. This was one thing which excited
suspicions in my friend's mind that Leucippe had been foully dealt with
through her rival's jealousy; a circumstance which took place after
he was in prison confirmed these suspicions, and has had the effect
of exasperating him not only against Melitta but against himself.
One of the prisoners, in the course of lamenting his own troubles,
mentioned that he had unwittingly fallen into the company of a man
who had committed murder for the sake of gold; the victim was named
Leucippe, and the crime, he said, had been committed at the instigation
of Melitta. Of course I cannot say whether this be true or not, it is
for you to institute inquiries. You can produce the prisoner who made
mention of the hired assassin; Sosthenes, who can declare from whom he
purchased Leucippe, and the maids, who can explain her disappearance.
Before you have thoroughly investigated each of these particulars, it
is contrary to all law, whether human or divine, to pass sentence upon
this unfortunate young man, on the bare evidence of his frenzied words,
for there can be no doubt that the violence of his grief has affected
his intellect. "
The arguments of Clinias appeared just and reasonable to many of those
present, but Thersander's counsel, together with his friends, called
out that sentence of death ought to be pronounced without delay upon
the murderer who, by the providence of the gods, had been made his own
accuser. Melitta brought forward her maids, and required Thersander to
produce Sosthenes, who might probably turn out to be the murderer. This
was the challenge[7] mainly insisted upon by her counsel. Thersander,
in great alarm, secretly despatched one of his dependants into the
country, with orders to Sostratus to get out of the way at once,
before the arrival of those who were about to be sent after him.
Mounting a horse without delay, the messenger rode full speed to inform
the bailiff of the danger he ran of being put to the torture, if taken.
Sosthenes was at that moment with Leucippe, doing his best to soothe
her irritated feelings. Hearing himself summoned in a loud voice, he
came out of the cottage; and, upon learning the state of matters,
overcome with fear, and thinking the officers were already at his
heels, he got upon the horse, and rode off towards Smyrna; after which
the messenger returned to his master. It is a true saying that fear
drives away the power of recollection, for Sosthenes in his alarm for
his own safety was so forgetful of everything else, that he neglected
to secure the door of Leucippe's cottage. Indeed slaves, generally
speaking, when frightened, run into the very excess of cowardice.
Melitta's advocates having given the above-mentioned challenge,
Thersander came forward and said, "We have now surely had quite enough
of this man's silly stories; and I cannot but feel surprised at your
want of sense, who, after convicting a murderer upon the strongest
possible evidence, his own admission of his guilt, do not at once
pass sentence of death upon him; whereas, instead of doing this, you
suffer yourselves to be imposed upon by his plausible words and tears.
For my part I believe him actuated by personal fears, and to be an
accomplice in the murder; nor can I see what possible need there can
be for having recourse to the rack in a matter so clear already. Nay,
more, I fully believe him to have had a hand in another murder; for
three days have now elapsed since I saw Sosthenes, the man whom they
call upon me to bring forward; it is not at all improbable that this is
owing to their contrivance, since it was he who informed me of the act
of adultery which has taken place, and having put him to death, they
now craftily call upon me to produce the man, knowing it to be out of
my power to do so. But even supposing he were alive and present, what
difference could it make? What questions would he put to him? 'Did he
ever purchase a certain female? '--'Yes. ' 'Was this female in the power
of Melitta? '--'Yes. ' Here would be an end of the examination, and
Sosthenes would be dismissed. Let me now, however, address myself to
Clitopho and Melitta.
"What have you done, I ask, with my slave? --for a slave of mine she
assuredly was, having been purchased by Sosthenes, and were she still
alive, instead of having been murdered by them, my slave she would
still be. " Thersander said this from mingled malice and cunning, in
order that if Leucippe should turn out to be still alive, he might
detain her in a state of servitude. He then continued:--"Clitopho
confessed that he killed her, he has therefore pronounced judgment upon
himself. Melitta, on the other hand, denies the crime--her maids may
be brought forward and tortured in order to refute what she says. If
it should appear that they received the young woman from her, but have
not brought her back again, the question will arise, What has become
of her? Why was she sent away? And to whom was she sent? Is it not
self-evident that some persons had been hired to commit the murder,
and that the maids were kept in ignorance of this, lest a number of
witnesses might render discovery more probable? No doubt they left her
at some spot where a gang of ruffians were lying in concealment, so
that it was out of their power to witness what took place. He has also
trumped up some story about a prisoner who made mention of the murder.
I should like to know who this prisoner is, who has not said a word on
the subject to the chief magistrate, but has communicated, it seems,
every particular to him, except the name of his informer. Again, I ask,
will you not make an end of listening to such foolery, and taking any
interest in such transparent absurdities? Can you imagine that he would
have turned a self-accuser without the intervention of the deity? "
Thersander, after speaking to this effect, concluded by solemnly
swearing that he was ignorant what had become of Sosthenes.
The presiding judge, who was of royal extraction,[8] and who took
cognizance of cases of blood, had, in accordance with the law, a
certain number of assessors,[9] men of mature age, whose province it
was to assist him in judicial investigations. After conferring with
them, he determined to pronounce sentence of death upon me, agreeably
to a law which awarded capital punishment to any one standing convicted
upon his own accusation. Melitta was to have a second trial, and her
maids were to be examined by torture, Thersander was to register his
oath, declaratory of his ignorance as to Sosthenes. I, as already
condemned to death, was to be tortured in order to make me confess
whether Melitta was privy to the murder. Already was I bound, stripped,
and suspended aloft by ropes, while some were bringing scourges, others
the fire and the wheel, and Clinias was lamenting loudly, and calling
upon the gods, when lo! the priest of Diana crowned with laurel, was
beheld approaching: the sign of a sacred embassy coming to offer
sacrifices to the goddess. In such cases there is suspension[10] of
all judicial punishments during the days occupied in the performance
of the sacrifice, and in consequence of this I was released. The chief
of the sacred embassy was no other than Leucippe's father. Diana had
appeared to the Byzantians, and had secured them victory in the war
against the Thracians, in consequence of which they felt bound to send
her a sacrifice in token of their gratitude. In addition to this, the
goddess had appeared to Sostratus himself at night, signifying to him
that he would find his daughter and his nephew at Ephesus. Just about
this time, Leucippe perceived the door of the cottage to be left open;
and as, after a careful examination, Sosthenes was nowhere to be seen,
her usual presence of mind and sanguine hopes returned. She remembered
how often, contrary to all expectation, she had been preserved, and
the thought of this gave her increased boldness. Fortune moreover
favoured her, since the temple of Diana was near the spot. Accordingly,
hurrying thither, she sought refuge within its precincts. The temple
afforded sanctuary to men and virgins,--any other woman incurred death
by entering it, unless she happened to be a slave who had some cause
of complaint against her master; in which case she was permitted to
take refuge there, and the matter was submitted to the decision of
the magistrates; supposing the master was acquitted, he took back his
slave, being bound by oath to bear her no ill will on account of her
having run away; but if, on the contrary, the slave was proved to have
justice on her side, she remained in the temple, and was employed in
the service of the goddess. Leucippe arrived at the temple just at
the time when Sostratus was conducting the priest to the scene of
the trial, in order to suspend the proceedings, and was very near
encountering her father.
When I was set free, the court broke up, and I was surrounded by a
concourse of people, some pitying me, some calling upon the gods in my
behalf, others questioning me. Sostratus, coming by at the time, no
sooner saw than he recognized me; for, as I before mentioned, he had
formerly been at Tyre upon the occasion of a festival of Hercules, and
had passed a considerable time there before the period of our flight.
He at once knew me, and the more readily because his dream had led him
to expect that he should find me and his daughter there. Coming up to
me, therefore, "Do I see Clitopho?
" said he; "and where is Leucippe? "
Instantly recognizing him, I cast my eyes to the ground and remained
silent, while the bystanders related to him every particular relative
to my self-accusation. He no sooner heard what they had to say than
with an ejaculation of bitter grief, and smiting his head he made a
rush at me, and was very near pulling out my eyes, for I remained
altogether passive and offered no resistance to his violence. At length
Clinias coming forward, checked his fury, and endeavoured to pacify
him. "What are you about? " said he: "why are you venting your wrath
against him; he loves Leucippe more dearly than you do, for he has
courted death from belief that she was no longer in existence;" and he
added a great deal more in order to calm his irritation. He, on the
other hand, continued to vent his grief, and to call upon Diana. "Is
it for this that thou hast summoned me hither, Ο goddess? Is this the
fulfilment of my vision? I gave credence to the dreams which thou didst
send, and flattered myself that I should find my daughter! In lieu of
which thou offerest me, forsooth, a welcome present,--my daughter's
murderer! " Hearing of the vision sent by Diana, Clinias was overjoyed.
"Take courage, sir," he said; "the goddess will not belie herself! Rest
assured your daughter is alive; believe me, I am prophesying truth; do
you not remark how wonderfully she has rescued your nephew from the
clutches of his torturers? "
While this was going on, one of the ministers of the goddess came
hurriedly to the priest, and announced that a foreign maiden had taken
refuge in the temple. [11] This intelligence, given in my hearing,
inspired me with new life; my hopes revived, and I summoned courage
to look up. "My prediction is being fulfilled, sir," said Clinias,
addressing Sostratus; and then turning to the messenger he inquired,
"Is the maiden handsome? "--"She is second in beauty only to Diana
herself," was the reply.
At these words I leaped for joy, and exclaimed, "It must be
Leucippe! "--"You are right in your conjecture," said he; "this was the
very name she gave; saying likewise that she was the daughter of one
Sostratus, and a native of Byzantium. " Clinias now clapped his hands
and shouted with delight, while Sostratus, overcome by his emotions,
was ready to sink upon the ground. For my part, in spite of my fetters,
I made a bound into the air, and then shot away towards the temple,
like an arrow from a bow. The keepers pursued me, supposing that I was
trying to escape, and bawled out to every one "Stop him! stop him! "
At that moment, however, I seemed to have wings upon my heels, and
it was with much difficulty that some persons at length caught hold
of me in my mad career. The keepers upon coming up were disposed to
use violence, to which, however, I was no longer inclined to submit;
nevertheless they persisted in dragging me towards the prison. By this
time Clinias and Sostratus had arrived at the spot; and the former
called out, "Whither are you taking this man? --he is not guilty of
the murder for which he has been condemned! " Sostratus spoke to the
same effect, and added that he was father to the maiden supposed to
have been murdered. The bystanders, learning the circumstances which
had taken place, were loud in their praises of Diana, and surrounding
me would not permit me to be taken to prison; on the other hand, the
keepers declared that they had no authority to set a prisoner at
liberty who had been condemned to death. In the end, the priest, at the
urgent entreaty of Sostratus, agreed to become bail, and to produce me
in court whenever it should be required. Then at length freed from my
fetters, I hurried on towards the temple, followed by Sostratus, whose
feelings of joy could hardly, I think, equal my own.
Rumour,[12] who outstrips the swiftest of men, had already reached
Leucippe, and informed her of all particulars respecting me and
Sostratus. Upon catching sight of us she darted out of the temple, and
threw her arms around her father, but at the same time her looks were
turned on me; the presence of Sostratus restrained me from embracing
her, though I gazed intently upon her face; and thus our greetings were
confined to eyes.
[Footnote 1:
"And thoughts on thoughts, a countless throng,
Rushed, chasing countless thoughts along;
Until, the giddy whirl to cure,
He rose. "--Scott.
]
[Footnote 2: ἀνοιμώξας πάνυ κακούργως. ]
[Footnote 3: εἰ κληρωθείη τὸ δικαστήριον. ]
[Footnote 4: χρή δὲ πᾶν ἔρδoντα μανρῶσαι τὸν ἐχθρόν.
"Dolus, an virtus, quis in hoste requirit? "
Æn. ii. 390.
]
[Footnote 5: παρασκιύη; see the opening of the oration of Æschines
against Ctesiphon. ]
[Footnote 6: ἀνεβόησαν ἐπινίκιον. ]
[Footnote 7: πρόκλησιν, a formal challenge proposed by a party to his
opponent that the decision of a disputed point should be determined by
the evidence of a third party. One of the most common was the demand
or offer to examine by torture a slave supposed to be cognizant of the
matter in dispute. --See Dict. of Grk. and Roman Antiq. ]
[Footnote 8: The events of this romance are supposed to take place when
Asia was still subject to the Persian Empire, but Tatius borrows his
judicial forms from those in use among the Greeks. He describes the
πρoέδρος to be of _royal extraction_, probably because cases of blood
were tried before that archon, who was styled βασιλεύς. --Jacobs. ]
[Footnote 9: Each of the three superior archons was at liberty to have
two assessors (πάρεδροι) chosen by himself, to assist him by advice and
otherwise in the performance of his various duties. --Dict. of Grk. and
Rom. Antiq. ]
[Footnote 10: During the absence of the sacred vessel (θεωρίς) on its
mission to Delos, the city of Athens was purified, and no criminal was
allowed to be executed. ]
[Footnote 11: See a very full description of the magnificent temple of
Diana in Anthon's "Lemprière. "]
[Footnote 12: "Nec tamen Fama volucris, pigrâ pennarum tarditate
cessaverat; sed protinus in patriâ, Deæ providentia adorabile
beneficium, meamque ipsius fortunam memorabilem, narraverat
passim. "--Apul. Met. xi. ]
BOOK VIII.
Just as we were sitting down and beginning to converse upon the
various events which had taken place, Thersander, accompanied by
several witnesses, arrived in a great bustle, and addressing himself
to the priest in a loud voice said, "I warn you, in the presence of
these witnesses, that you have acted illegally in setting at liberty
a prisoner condemned to death; besides which, what right have you to
detain my slave, a lewd woman, who is insatiable in her appetite for
men? " Exasperated by this language, and not enduring to hear her called
a slave and accused of lewdness, I interrupted him, "You are trebly a
slave[1] yourself, and the rankest lecher who ever existed, where as
she is free born, and pure and worthy of her guardian goddess! "--"Dare
you vent your insolence on me, convicted felon that you are? " exclaimed
he, accompanying his words with a couple of blows, which, given with
all his might, caused the blood to flow from my nose in streams; in
his haste to deal me a third, he struck me on the mouth, and my teeth
inflicting a severe wound upon his fingers avenged the insult offered
to my nostrils. Uttering a cry of pain, he drew back his hand, and did
not offer any further violence; while, pretending not to notice that
he was hurt, I filled the temple with outcries at the usage which I
had received. "Whither," I exclaimed, "shall we henceforth flee to
escape the hands of violence? Where shall we seek sanctuary, if Diana
is despised? Lo! I have been attacked in the very temple, and struck in
front of the holy curtain! [2] I had supposed that such acts could take
place only in some howling wilderness, with no human witness to behold
them; but you--abandoned wretch that you are! --exercise your brutality
in the very presence of the gods! Temples are wont to afford an asylum,
even to the guilty; but I, who am wholly innocent and a suppliant of
the goddess, have suffered violence before the altar,--nay, before the
eyes of the goddess! The blows inflicted on me have virtually fallen
upon Diana herself! Nor has your drunken fury been content with blows,
you have even dealt wounds, such as one receives in battle, and you
have defiled the sacred pavement with human blood! Who ever poured out
such drink offerings to the Ephesian goddess? Barbarians do so, and so
do the Tauri, and blood is sprinkled upon the altars of the Scythian
Diana;[3] but you have made a savage Scythia of the polished Ionia,
and the gore fit only for Tauris is seen to flow at Ephesus! Why not
proceed yet farther, and draw your sword against me? Though what need
is there of swords, the work of a weapon has already been accomplished
by your naked hand! Yes! your blood-stained and homicidal hand has done
deeds fit only for a scene of murder! "
Attracted by my outcries, a crowd of those who were in the temple
flocked together, who rated him soundly for his conduct, and the priest
himself said, "Are you not ashamed to exhibit such behaviour openly
and in the temple? " Encouraged by their presence, "Men of Ephesus! " I
said, "you see how foully I have been treated. Yes! I, a free man and
a native of no mean city, have had a plot contrived against my life by
this wicked man, and have been preserved only by the intervention of
Diana, who has brought to light the falsehood of the charge against
me. It behoves me now to go forth in order to cleanse my face; I may
not do so within the temple, lest the holy water should be defiled by
the blood of violence. " Thersander was with difficulty forced out, and
muttered to himself as he departed: "Your fate is already sealed, and
ere long the law shall have its due; as for this strumpet who would
fain pass for a virgin, she shall undergo the ordeal of the syrinx. "
When at last we were rid of him, I went out and cleansed my face; it
was now supper-time, and the priest entertained us very hospitably.
I could not summon up courage to look Sostratus in the face, from a
recollection of what had been my conduct towards him, and he perceiving
this, and guessing my feelings, was equally unwilling to look towards
me; Leucippe also sat with downcast eyes, so that the supper was
altogether a very solemn affair. When however the wine circulated, and
reserve began to disappear under the influence of Bacchus, patron
of freedom and ease,[4] the priest, addressing Sostratus, said, "My
worthy guest, will you not favour us with your own history? --it must, I
imagine, contain some interesting passages, and the listening to such
subjects adds zest to the wine. " Sostratus readily availed himself of
the opportunity to speak, and replied, "My own story is a very simple
one; you are already acquainted with my name and country, and when I
have added that I am uncle to this young man and father to the maiden,
you have heard all. --Do you, son Clitopho, (turning to me) lay aside
all bashfulness and relate whatever you have to say worth hearing; the
grief and vexation which I have endured is to be attributed to Fortune
not to you; besides, to tell of past troubles when one has escaped from
them, is a source of pleasure rather than of grief. "[5]
Upon this, I detailed all the events which had occurred since leaving
Tyre--the voyage, the shipwreck, our being cast upon the coast of
Egypt, our falling among the buccaneers, the carrying off of Leucippe,
the adventures of the false stomach contrived by Menelaus, the passion
conceived for her by the commander, the discovery of the love potion
by Chæreas, Leucippe's second rape by corsairs, and the wound received
by me of which I exhibited the scar. When I approached the subject of
Melitta, I related the story in such a manner as to give an exalted
idea of my own continence, yet without being guilty of any falsehood.
I spoke of her violent passion for me, her urgent but unsuccessful
entreaties to obtain its gratification, her munificent promises, her
grief at being disappointed, our subsequent voyage to Ephesus, the
supper, my sharing her bed, and (invoking at the same time Diana's
name) my rising from her side as pure as one female would from another,
my being seized and put in prison, my false accusation of myself; this
and every other matter I detailed down to the appearance of the Sacred
Embassy, suppressing only the disgrace of my connexion with Melitta. [5]
"Leucippe's adventures," said I, in continuation, "are stranger even
than mine. She has been sold to slavery, has been compelled to labour
in the field, has been despoiled of the honours of her head,[6] of
which you can see the tokens;" and then passing on to the conduct of
Sosthenes and Thersander, I entered much more into detail than I had
done, when speaking of myself. My object in doing this, was to gratify
Leucippe, in the hearing of her father. "She has endured every ill in
her person," said I, "excepting one, and to avoid that one, she has
submitted to all the others; and has continued, to this day, father
(addressing Sostratus), pure as when first you sent her from Byzantium.
It is no merit in me to have abstained from consummating the object for
which we fled; the merit is entirely on her side for having preserved
inviolate her chastity in the midst of villains, nay, against that arch
villain, the shameless and violent Thersander. Our flight from home was
caused by mutual love; but I can assure you, father, that during the
voyage we were quite platonic, our intercourse was no other than that
of a brother and a sister; and if there be such a thing as virginity
in men, I am still a virgin as regards Leucippe; she, long since bound
herself by a vow to Diana. [7]
"Queen of love," ejaculated I, "be not wroth nor deem thyself to have
been slighted by us! we were but unwilling to celebrate our nuptials
in the absence of the maiden's father; he has now happily arrived; be
thou present therefore, and smile propitiously upon us. " The priest
had listened open-mouthed to my story, and Sostratus had been shedding
tears during the recital of his daughter's sufferings. "Now that you
have heard the account of our adventures," said I to our host, "I have
a favour to ask of you. What did Thersander's parting words refer to,
when he made mention of the syrinx? "--"You have a right to make the
inquiry," replied he; "and I am both able and willing to comply with
your request. It will be some return for the narrative with which you
have just favoured us. You see the grove in the rear of the temple; in
it is a cave, entrance into which is forbidden to women in general,
but is permitted to maidens who have preserved their purity. A little
within the doors a syrinx is suspended; perhaps you Byzantians are
already acquainted with the nature of this instrument; should it be
otherwise, I will give you a description of it, and will likewise
relate the legend of Pan, with which it is connected.
"The syrinx is composed of a certain number of reed pipes, which
collectively produce the same sounds as a flute; these reeds are placed
in regular order and mutually compacted, presenting the same appearance
on either side; beginning from the shortest, they ascend in gradation
to the longest, and the central one holds a medium proportion between
the two extremities. The principle of this arrangement arises from
the laws of harmony, the two extremes of sound (as well as of length)
are found at either end, and the intervening pipes convey downwards
a gradation of notes so as to combine the first and shrillest with
the last and deepest of all. The same variety of sounds, (as before
observed) are produced by Minerva's flute[8] as by the syrinx of Pan;
but in the former case, the fingers direct the notes, in the latter,
the mouth supplies the place; in the one case, the performer closes
every opening except the one through which the breath is intended to
proceed; in the other case, he leaves open the aperture of every other
reed, and places his mouth upon that one only which he wishes to emit
a sound; his lips leap (as we may say) from reed to reed and dance[9]
along the syrinx; as the laws of harmony require. [10] Now, this syrinx
was originally neither pipe nor reed, but a damsel[11] whose charms
made her most desirable. Smitten by love, Pan pursued her, and she fled
for refuge to a thicket; the god still closely following her, stretched
forth his hand to seize as he supposed her hair, but lo! instead of
hair, he grasped a bunch of reeds, which, so the legend says, sprang
from the earth as she descended into it. Enraged at his disappointment,
Pan cut them down, imagining that they had stolen from him the object
of his love; but when his search after her still proved unavailing, he
supposed the maiden to have been changed into these reeds, and wept
at his hasty act, thinking that in so doing he had caused the death
of his beloved. He then proceeded to collect and place together what
he imagined to be her limbs, and holding them in his hands, continued
to kiss what fancy pictured to be the mangled remains of the maiden's
body. Deeply sighing as he imprinted kisses on the reeds, his sighs
found a passage through these hollow pipes, forming sounds of music,
and thus the syrinx came to have a voice. This instrument Pan suspended
within the cave, and he is said often to resort hither in order to play
upon it. At a period subsequent to the event of which I am speaking,
he conveyed the place as a gift to Diana, upon the condition that
none save a spotless maiden should be allowed to enter it. Whenever
therefore the virginity of any female comes into suspicion, she is
conducted to the entrance of this cavern, and it is left to the syrinx
to pronounce judgment upon her. She enters in her usual dress, and
immediately the doors are closed. If she proves to be a virgin, a
sweetly clear and divinely ravishing sound is heard, caused either by
the air which is there stored up, finding its way into the syrinx,[12]
or by the lips of the god himself. After a short space, the doors open
of their own accord, and the maiden makes her appearance, wearing a
crown of pine leaves. If, on the other hand, the female has falsely
asserted her claim to virginity, the syrinx is silent, and instead of
music, the cave sends forth a doleful sound, upon which those who
attended her to the entrance depart and leave her to her fate. Three
days after, the priestess of the temple enters, and finds the syrinx
fallen to the ground, but the female is no where to be seen. I have
now told you everything, and it is for you maturely to deliberate upon
what course you intend pursuing. If, as I sincerely hope, the maiden
is a virgin, you may fearlessly submit to the ordeal, for the syrinx
has never falsified its character. Should the case be otherwise, it is
needless to suggest what is the safer course; and you well know, what
a female, exposed as she has been to various perils, may have been
compelled to submit to, quite against her will. "
Eagerly interrupting the priest, Leucippe said, "You need be under
no alarm on my account, I am quite ready to enter, and be shut up
within the cave. "--"I rejoice to hear you say so," replied he, "and I
congratulate you on the good fortune which has preserved your virtue. "
As it was near evening we retired to the chambers prepared for us
by the priest; Clinias had not supped with us from fear of being
burdensome to our kind host, but had returned to his former lodgings.
The legend of the syrinx caused Sostratus much uneasiness, as he
evidently feared, that out of regard to him, we had been advancing
undue claims to chastity; perceiving this, I made a sign to Leucippe to
remove as best she could, the suspicions of her father. His anxiety had
not escaped her observation, and even before receiving a hint from me,
she had been devising how to set his mind at rest. Upon embracing him,
therefore, as he retired to rest, "Father," she said, in a low voice,
"you need be under no apprehension; I solemnly swear to you by Diana,
that both of us have spoken nothing but the truth. " The following day,
Sostratus and the priest were occupied in performing the object of the
sacred embassy, by offering the victims; the members of the Senate were
present at the solemnity, and hymns of praise resounded in honour of
the goddess. Thersander also was there, and coming to the president he
desired to have his case postponed to the next day, as the condemned
criminal had been set at liberty by some meddling persons, and
Sosthenes could no where be found. His request was complied with, and
we on our part, made every preparation for meeting the charge which was
to be brought against us. When the morning of trial arrived, Thersander
spoke as follows:--"I am utterly at a loss how to begin, and against
whom first to direct my charges; the offence which has given rise to
this trial involves various others equal in importance, and implicates
several parties, and each of their offences might supply matter for a
separate trial; my words must almost unavoidably fail in doing justice
to each division of the subject, and in my eagerness to hasten to some
point hitherto untouched, I must necessarily deal imperfectly with
that upon which I am engaged. How indeed can it be otherwise in a
case like this, wherein is mixed up adultery, impiety, bloodshed and
lawless excesses of every kind! Where adulterers are found murdering
other people's slaves, murderers corrupting other people's wives,
whoremongers and harlots interrupting and disgracing with their
presence holy solemnities and the most sacred places? Nevertheless I
will proceed. You condemned a criminal to death--on account of what
cause, it matters not--you sent him back in chains to prison, there
to be kept until the execution of the sentence; yet this man who is
virtually your prisoner, now stands before you at liberty and attired
in white; aye, and no doubt will venture to raise his voice in order to
declaim against me--or rather, I should say, against you and against
the justice of your verdict. I demand to have the sentence of the Court
read aloud. --There, you have now heard it. 'The sentence of the Court
is that Clitopho be put to death. '--Where then is the executioner? Let
the prisoner be led away, let the hemlock[13] be administered--he is
already dead in law, and has lived a day too long. And now, what excuse
have you to plead, holy and reverend priest? In which of the sacred
laws do you find it laid down that prisoners, duly condemned by a
sentence of the court, and delivered up to chains and death, are to be
rescued and set at liberty? On what grounds do you arrogate to yourself
a power superior to that of the judges and the Court? President! it is
time for you to quit your chair and to abdicate to him your place and
power! Your authority is gone, your decrees are good for nought! He
takes upon himself to reverse the sentence you have passed. --Why any
longer stand among us, sir Priest, as a mere private individual? By all
means go up higher, take your place upon the bench; issue henceforth
your judgments, or if it please you better, your arbitrary and
tyrannical decrees; spurn law and justice under your feet; believe that
you are more than man; claim for yourself worship next after Diana,
since you have already arrogated her peculiar privilege. Hitherto she
alone has afforded sanctuary to suppliants, but to suppliants, be it
remembered, whom the law has not yet condemned;--not those to whom
chains and death have been decreed, for the altar should be a refuge
not to the wicked but to the unfortunate! You, forsooth, liberate a
prisoner; you acquit a condemned criminal! You therefore arrogate a
power superior to that of Diana's self! Who, until now, ever heard of a
murderer and adulterer inhabiting the chamber of a temple, instead of
the dungeon of a prison? A foul adulterer under the same roof with a
virgin goddess, and having for his partner a shameless woman, a slave
and runaway! You it is who have entertained the worthy pair at bed and
board; nay, probably have shared her bed. You have converted the temple
of the goddess into a common brothel. You have made her sanctuary,
a den of whoremongers and harlots; your doings would hardly find a
parallel in the vilest stew! So far as regards these two I have now
done, one will I trust meet with his just deserts, let the sentence of
the law be put in force against the other.
"My second charge is against Melitta for adultery; and here I need not
speak at any length, as it has already been decided that her maids
shall be submitted to the torture, in order to ascertain the truth. I
demand, therefore, to have them produced; and if, after undergoing the
question, they persist in denying their knowledge that the accused has
for a considerable time cohabited with her in my house, not only in the
character of paramour but of husband, then I am bound freely to acquit
her of all blame. But should the contrary be proved, then I claim that
in accordance with the laws she be deprived of her marriage portion,
and that it be given up to me,[14] in which case the prisoner must
suffer death, the punishment awarded to adulterers. Whether, however,
he shall suffer under this charge or as a murderer, matters little;
he is guilty of both crimes, and though suffering punishment will, in
fact, be evading justice,[15]--for whereas he owes two deaths, he will
have paid but one. One other subject there remains for me to touch
upon: this slave of mine and her respectable pretended father. I shall,
however, reserve what I have to say on this head until you have come to
a decision respecting the other parties. "
Thersander having now ended, it was for the priest to speak. He
was possessed of eloquence, and had in him a large share of the
Aristophanic vein; accordingly he attacked Thersander's debauched
manner of life with great wit and humour. "By the goddess," said he,
"it is the sign of having a foul tongue, thus shamelessly to rail
against honest folks,--but it is nothing new to this worthy gentleman,
for throughout his life the filthiness of his tongue has been
notorious. [16] The season of his youth was passed among the lewdest of
mankind, among whom he gave himself up to the most abandoned practices,
and while affecting gravity, sobriety, and a regard for learning, his
body was made the slave of all impurity. After a time he left his
father's house, and hired a miserable lodging, where he took up his
abode. And how do you suppose he earned his living? Why, partly by
strolling about the town and singing ballads, partly by receiving at
home fellows like himself, for purposes which I shall not now name. All
this time he was supposed to be cultivating his mind, and improving
his education; whereas, accomplished hypocrite! he was but throwing
a veil over his iniquities. Even in the wrestling school his manner
while anointing his body, and his attitudes, and his always choosing
to engage in wrestling with the stoutest and comeliest of the youths,
showed his detestable propensities. Such was his character during
his youthful days. Upon arriving at manhood, he threw off the mask,
and exhibited before the eyes of all the vices which hitherto he had
endeavoured to keep concealed.
"As he could no longer turn any other part of his body to account,
he determined thenceforth to exercise his tongue, and admirably has
he succeeded in sharpening it upon the whetstone of impurity,[17]
making his mouth the vehicle for shameless speech, pouring out its
torrents of abuse on every one, and having his effrontery stamped upon
his very face, he has gone the length (as you have seen) of coarsely
insulting in your presence an individual whom you have honoured with
the priesthood. Were I a stranger to you, and had not my life been
passed among you, I should deem it necessary to dwell upon my own
character, and that of my usual associates; but there is no occasion
for doing this. You well know how opposite has been my way of living
to the slanderous imputations which he has cast upon me. I therefore
pass on at once to his recent charges. I have set at liberty, he says,
a convicted criminal; and upon these grounds he proceeds to inveigh
bitterly against me, and applies to me the epithet of tyrant, and I
know not how many other hard words. Now a tyrant is one who oppresses
the innocent, not one who steps forward to defend the victim of false
accusation. What law, I demand, sanctioned your committing this young
man to prison? Before what tribunal had he been condemned? What judge
had pronounced his sentence? Granting the truth of every charge
advanced against him, he has at all events a right to a fair trial;
he has a right to be heard in his own defence; he has a right to be
legally convicted!
