]
[Footnote 32: αὕτη κακῶν ηδονή.
[Footnote 32: αὕτη κακῶν ηδονή.
Scriptori Erotici Graeci
Neither hast thou died by any common death, nor art thou
brought back a corpse comely in thy death; others who die preserve
their well-known lineaments, and though the living beauty of the
countenance be gone, the image is preserved, which by its mimickry of
sleep consoles the mourner. [56] In their case, death has taken away
the soul, but leaves in the body the semblance of the individual: in
thy case, fate has destroyed both, and, to me, thou hast died a double
death, in soul and body, so utterly has even the shadow of thy likeness
perished! Thy soul has fled, and I find thee no more, even in body! Oh,
my son, when shall be now thy bridal day? When, ill-starred horseman
and unwedded bridegroom, when shall be the joyous nuptial festivities?
The tomb will be thy bridal bed, death thy partner, a dirge thy
nuptial song, wailing thy strains of joy! [57] I thought, my son, to
have kindled for thee a very different flame, but cruel fate has
extinguished both it and thee, and in its stead lights up the funeral
torch. Oh, luckless torch bearing, where death presides and takes the
place of marriage! "
Thus bitterly did the father bewail the loss of his son, and Clinias
vied with him in the expression of his grief, breaking forth into
soliloquy. "I have been the death of him who was master of my
affection! Why was I so ill-advised as to present him with such a
gift! Could I not have given him a golden beaker, out of which, when
pouring a libation, he might have drunk, and so have derived pleasure
from the gift? Instead of doing this, wretch that I was, I bestowed
upon this beauteous youth a savage brute, and moreover decked out the
beast with a pectoral and frontlet and silver trappings. [58] Yes,
Charicles, I decked out your murderer with gold! Thou beast, of all
others most evil, ruthless, ungrateful, and insensible to beauty, thou
hast actually been the death of him who fondled thee, who wiped away
thy sweat, promised thee many a feed, and praised the swiftness of thy
pace! Instead of glorying in being the bearer of so fair a youth, thou
hast ungratefully dashed his beauty to the earth! Woe is me, for having
bought this homicide, who has turned out to be thy murderer! "
No sooner were the funeral obsequies over, than I hastened to the
maiden, who was in the pleasance belonging to the house. It consisted
of a grove, which afforded a delightful object to the eyes; around it
ran a wall, each of the four sides of which had a colonnade supported
upon pillars, the central space being planted with trees, whose
branches were so closely interwoven, that the fruits and foliage
intermingled in friendly union. [59] Close to some of the larger
trees grew the ivy and the convolvulus; the latter hanging from the
plane-trees, clustered round it, with its delicate foliage; the former
twining round the pine, lovingly embraced its trunk, so that the tree
became the prop of the ivy, and the ivy furnished a crown for the tree.
On either side were seen luxuriant vines, supported upon reeds; these
were now in blossom, and hanging down from the intervening spaces were
the ringlets of the plant;[60] while the upper leaves, agitated by the
breeze and interpenetrated by the rays of the sun, caused a quivering
gleam to fall upon the ground, which partially lighted up its shade.
Flowers also displayed the beauty of their various hues. The narcissus,
the rose, and violet, mingling together, imparted a purple colour to
the earth; the calyx of both these flowers was alike in its general
shape, and served them for a cup; the expanded rose-leaves were red
and violet above, milky white below, and the narcissus was altogether
of the latter hue; the violet had no calyx, and its colour resembled
that of the sea when under the influence of a calm. In the midst of
the flowers bubbled a fountain, whose waters received into a square
basin, the work of art, served the flowers for their mirror, and gave
a double appearance to the grove, by adding the reflection to the
reality. Neither were there wanting birds: some of a domestic kind,
reared by the care of man, were feeding in the grove; while others,
enjoying their liberty of wing, flew and disported themselves among
the branches. The songsters were grasshoppers[61] and swallows,[62] of
which the one celebrated the rising of Aurora, the other the banquet
of Tereus. Those of a domestic kind were the peacock, the swan, and the
parrot; the swan was feeding near the fountain; a cage suspended from
a tree contained the parrot; the peacock drew after him his splendid
train; nor was it easy to decide which surpassed the other in beauty,
the tints of the flowers themselves, or the hues of his flower-like
feathers.
Leucippe happened at this time to be walking with Clio, and stopped
opposite the peacock who was just then spreading his train, and
displaying the gorgeous semicircle of his feathers. [63] Wishing to
produce amorous sensations in her mind, I addressed myself to the slave
Satyrus,[64] making the peacock the subject of our discourse. "The
bird," I said, "does not do this without design; he is of an amorous
nature, and always bedecks himself in this manner when he wishes to
attract his favourite mate. Do you see," I added, (pointing in the
direction) "the female, near the plane-tree yonder? It is to her that
he is now displaying the 'enamelled meadow' of his plumes, and this
meadow of his is assuredly more beautiful than any mead in nature,
each plume has in it a spot of gold, and the gold is encircled by a
purple ring, and so in every plume there is seen an eye. " Satyrus
readily comprehended the drift of my discourse, and in order to give
me scope for continuing the subject, he asked "whether Love could
possibly possess such power as to transmit his warmth even unto the
winged tribes? " "Yes," I replied, "not only unto them--for there is
no marvel in this, since he himself is winged--but also into reptiles
and wild beasts and plants; nay, in my opinion even unto stones. The
magnet, for instance loves the iron, and upon the first sight and touch
draws that metal towards it, as if containing within itself the fire
of love. Is there not in this, a manifest embrace between the amorous
stone and the iron the object of its affection? Philosophers, moreover,
tell, concerning plants, what I should deem an idle tale were it not
confirmed by the experience of husbandmen. They maintain that one
plant becomes enamoured of another, and that the palm is most sensible
of the tender passion; there are, you must know, male[65] and female
palms; supposing the female is planted at a distance from it, the male
droops and withers; the husbandman upon seeing this, easily understands
the nature of the malady, and ascending an eminence he observes in
what direction the tree inclines--which is always towards the beloved
object; having ascertained this point, he employs the following remedy:
taking a shoot from the female he inserts it into the very heart of
the male; this immediately revives it, and bestows new life upon its
sinking frame, so that it recovers its pristine vigour; and this arises
from delight in embracing its beloved; such are the loves of the
plants. [66]
"The same holds true concerning streams and rivers also; for we
hear of the loves of the river Alpheus and the Sicilian fountain
Arethusa. [67] This river takes its course through the sea as through
a plain, and the sea instead of impregnating it with its saltness,
divides and so affords a passage for the river, performing the part
of bridesman,[68] by conducting it to Arethusa; when, therefore, at
the Olympic Festival, persons cast various gifts into the channel of
this river, it immediately bears them to its beloved, these being its
nuptial gifts. [69] A yet stranger mystery of Love is seen in reptiles,
not merely in those of like race, but of different kind. The viper[70]
conceives a violent passion for the lamprey, which though in form a
serpent, is to all intents and purposes a fish. When these reptiles
wish to copulate, the viper goes down to the shore and hisses in the
direction of the sea, which is a signal to the lamprey; she understands
the sound, and issues from the water, but does not immediately hasten
to her lover, knowing that he carries deadly poison in his teeth,
but gliding up a rock, there waits until he has cleansed his mouth.
After looking at one another for a space, the loving viper vomits
forth the poison so dreaded by his mistress, and she upon perceiving
this, descends and entwines him in her embrace, no longer dreading his
amorous bite. "
During my discourse, I kept observing Leucippe to see how she took
these amatory topics, and she gave indications that they were not
displeasing to her. The dazzling beauty of the peacock which I just
now mentioned seemed to me far inferior to her attractions; indeed the
beauty of her countenance might vie with the flowers of the meadow; the
narcissus was resplendent in her general complexion, the rose blushed
upon her cheek, the dark hue of the violet sparkled in her eyes, her
ringlets curled more closely than do the clusters of the ivy;---her
face, therefore, was a reflex of the meadows. [71] Shortly after this,
she left the pleasance, it being time for her to practise upon the
harp. Though absent she appeared to me still present, for her form and
features remained impressed upon my eyes.
Satyrus and I congratulated each other upon our mutual performances. I
for the subjects I had chosen, he for having given me the opportunity
of discussing them. Supper time soon arrived and we reclined at table
as before.
[Footnote 1: Μήτηρ Φοινίκων ἡ πόλις, θηζαίων ὁ δῆμος πατήρ. The
"mother-city," because of the many colonies which it sent out: on
the foundation of Thebes, Pliny, B. v, c. 19, says: "Sidon, artifex
vitri, Thebarum Bœtiarum parens. " We find in the Scriptures, that
Tyre and Sidon were famous for works in gold, embroidery, &c. , and
whatsoever regarded magnificence and luxury. --See Isaiah xxiii. --Ezek.
xxvii. xxviii. The Phœnicians were, in very early times, celebrated
for merchandise of every description; and their country was justly
considered the emporium of the East. They were the earliest navigators,
and their skill in ship-building may be inferred from I Kings, v.
6. --Trollope's Homer. ]
[Footnote 2: Σῶστρα or σωτήρια. Sacrifices and votive offerings, made
upon escape from shipwreck--
"Me tabulâ sacer
Votivâ paries indicat uvida,
Suspendisse potenti
Vestimenta maris Deo. "--Hor. I. Od. v. 12.
]
[Footnote 3: The Syrian Venus. "Venus--quarta, Syria, Tyroque concepta;
quæ Astarte vocatur, quam Adonidi nupsisse proditum est. "--Cic. de Nat.
Deorum. ]
[Footnote 4: Ovid. Met. ii. 844, and Moschus, Idyl. 2. ]
[Footnote 5: Compare a passage in Longus, B. iv. , Έν μετεώρῳ οἱ κλάδοι
συνἐπιπτον άλλήλοις, καὶ ἐπήλλαττον τος κόμας, ἐδόκει μὲν τοί καὶ ἠ
τούτων φύσις εἰναι τεχνης. ]
[Footnote 6: "Mare purpureum. "--Virg. G. 4, 373. ]
[Footnote 7: In Ode xxviii. , on his mistress, Anacreon says,--
"Στόλισον τολoιτὸν αὐτην
'υπὸ πορφύροισι πέπλοις·
διαφαινέτο δὲ σαρκὼν
'ολίγον, το σῶμ' ἐλεγχον. "
]
[Footnote 8: "Quàm castigate planus sub pectore venter. "--Ovid. Am. i.
5. ]
[Footnote 9:
"Her dainty paps, which like young fruit in May,
Now little, 'gan to swell, and being tied
Through her thin weed, their places only signified. "--Spencer.
]
[Footnote 10: "Tremulæ sinuantur flamine vestes. "--Ovid. Met. ii. 875. ]
[Footnote 11:
"Her robe inflated by the wanton breeze,
Seem'd like a ship's sail hovering o'er the seas. "
Moschus. Chapman's Tr.
]
[Footnote 12:
"From their sea-hollows swift the Nereids rose,
Seated on seals, and did his train compose;
Poseidon went before, and smooth did make
The path of waters for his brother's sake;
Around their king, in close array, did keep
The loud-voiced Tritons, minstrels of the deep.
And with their conchs proclaimed the nuptial song. "
Moschus.
]
[Footnote 13: Δύναται δὲ τοσοῦτον, ὂσον οὐδὲ ὁ Zεὺς, κρατεῖ μὲν
στοιχεῖων, κρατεῖ δὲ ἄστρων, κρατεῖ δὲ τῶν ὀμοίων θεῶν. --Longus. Β. ii. ]
[Footnote 14: Καλῄ ὑπὸ πλατανίστῳ ὃθεν ῥέεν ἀγλaὸv ὓδωρ. --Hom. Il. ii.
307. ]
[Footnote 15: Proximity by blood or consanguinity was not, with some
few exceptions, a bar to marriage in any part of Greece; direct lineal
descent was. Thus brothers were permitted to marry with sisters even,
if not born from the same mother, as Cimon did with Elpenice. See
Nepos, Life of Cimon. --Dict. of Greek and Roman Antiq. ]
[Footnote 16:
Μoΐραν δ' οὔτινα φημι πεφυγμένον ἔμμεναι ἀνδρων,
Οὐ κακὸν οὐδὲ μὲν ἐσθλὸν, ἐπὴν ταπρῶτα γένηται. --Hom. Il. vi. 487.
]
[Footnote 17:
Μέλαν ὄμμα γοργὸν ἔζω
κεκερασμένον γαλήνη. --Anacreon. xxix.
"Flagrabant lumina miti
Adspectu". . . . --Silius Ital. v. 562.
]
[Footnote 18:
"Indum sanguineo veluti violaverat ostro
Si quis ebur. . . .
. . . talis virgo dabat ore colores. "--Virg. xii. 67.
]
[Footnote 19:
. . . . κάλλος
'αντ' ασπίδων ἀπασῶν,
'αντ' ἐγχέων ἁπάντων
νικᾶ δὲ καὶ σίδηρον
καὶ πῦρ, καλή τις οὖσα. --Anacreon, ii.
]
[Footnote 20: Ovid. Met. i. 452.
"At conjux quoniam mea non potes esse,
Arbor eris certè mea, dixit. " 557.
]
[Footnote 21:
. . . . "Quod enim non excitet inguen
Vox blanda et nequam? digitos habet. "--Juv. vi. 196.
]
[Footnote 22:
"Sic nature jabet: velocius et citius nos
Corrumpunt vitiorum exempla domestica, magnis
Quum subeant animos auctoribus. "--Juv. xiv. 31.
]
[Footnote 23: "Egone homuncio id non facerem? "--Ter. Eunuchus. ]
[Footnote 24: "Quæ ad beatam vitam pertinent ventre metiri. "--Cic. de
Nat Deorum, i. 40. ]
[Footnote 25: "Ὁνείρατα ἐώρων ἐρωτικά, τὰ φιλήματα, τὰς περιβολάζ, καὶ
ὅσα δὲ μεθ' ἡμέραν οὐκ ἔπραξαν ταῦτα ὅναρ ἔπραξαν. "--Longus, Β. i. ]
[Footnote 26:
. . . "as one who is awoke
By a distant organ, doubting if he be
Not yet a dreamer, till the spell is broke
By the watchman, or some such reality,
Or by one's early valet's cursed knock. "--Byron.
]
[Footnote 27:
"I have done penance for contemning Love;
Whose high imperious thoughts have punish'd me
With bitter fasts, with penitential groans,
With nightly tears, and daily heart-sore sighs:
For in revenge of my contempt of Love,
Love hath chac'd sleep from my enthralled eyes,
And made them watchers of mine own heart's sorrow. "
Shakspeare.
]
[Footnote 28: "Eque tuo pendat resupini spiritus ore. "--Luc. i. 38. ]
[Footnote 29: There was a proverb among the ancients, "θάλασσα καὶ πῦρ
καὶ γυνὴ κακὰ τρία. "]
[Footnote 30: "Argentum accepi, dote imperium vendidi. "--Plautus. ]
[Footnote 31: Hesiod. Works and Days, 57.
]
[Footnote 32: αὕτη κακῶν ηδονή.
"κἀλλος κακῶν ὕπουλος. "--Soph. Ο. Τ. 1396.
. . . "medio de fonte leporum
Surgit amari aliquid, quod in ipsis floribus angat. "
Luc. iv. 1126.
"Full from the fount of joy's delicious springs,
Some bitter o'er the flowers its bubbling venom flings. "
Childe Harold.
]
[Footnote 33: βόμβος αὐλῶν. ]
[Footnote 34: For the legends connected with these various names, the
reader is referred to Anthon's Lemprière. ]
[Footnote 35: "And like another Helen, fir'd another Troy. "--Dryden. ]
[Footnote 36:
. . . "there's no motion
That tends to vice in man, but, I affirm
It is the woman's part; be't lying, note it,
The woman's; flattering, hers; deceiving, hers;
Lust and rank thoughts, hers, hers; revenges, hers;
Ambitions, covetings, change of prides, disdain,
Nice longings, slanders, mutability;
All faults that may be named, nay, that hell knows.
Why, hers, in part, or all; but rather all. "--Cymbeline.
]
[Footnote 37: Homer. Il. ii. 478. Pope's Tr. ]
[Footnote 38:
"Semper conservam domi
Videbit, colloquetur, aderit unà in unis ædibus
Cibum nonnunquam capiet cum ea. "--Ter. Eun.
]
[Footnote 39:
"The lovely toy so fiercely sought,
Hath lost its charm by being caught. "--Byron.
]
[Footnote 40: ἔχει τινὰ μίξιν ἐν ἀποστάσει. ]
[Footnote 41:
Nequicquam; quoniam nihil indè abradere possunt
Nec penetrare, et abire in corpus corpora toto. "
Luc. iv. 1005.
]
[Footnote 42:
"Conveying as the electric wire,
We know not how, the absorbing fire. "--Byron.
]
[Footnote 43: αὐτοδίδακτος, γάρ ἐστιν ὁ θεὸς σοφιστής. ]
[Footnote 44: The festivals called Mysteries took place at night, or in
secret, within some sanctuary, which the uninitiated were not allowed
to enter. --See Dict. of Greek and Rom. Antiq. ]
[Footnote 45:
"Pugnabit primo fortassis, et Improbe, dicet.
Pugnando vinci sed tamen illa volet. "
Ovid. de Art. Aman. l. 665.
]
[Footnote 46:
"Who listens once will listen twice;
Her heart, be sure, is not of ice,
And one refusal no rebuff. "--Byron.
]
[Footnote 47: χορήγησον τὴν ὑπόκρισιν μὴ άπολέσαι τό δρᾶμα. The
language is figurative and borrowed from customs relating to the drama.
If a poet wished to bring out a piece, he applied to the archon to
grant him a chorus (χορὸν διδόναι); hence the phrases χορὸν αἰτεῖν,
λαμβάνειν, to apply for and to succeed in the application. This will
explain the above expression ἀπολέσαι τὸ δρᾶμα, to fail in obtaining
through want of merit. ]
[Footnote 48: ἐφόδια. ]
[Footnote 49: Viz. , his own mind distracted between the solicitations
of his father and the arguments of love.
"Tot me impediunt curæ, quæ meum animum diversè trahunt. "
Ter. Andr.
]
[Footnote 50:
"And, starting to each accent, sprang
As from a sudden trumpet's clang. "--Byron.
]
[Footnote 51:
"Away, away, my steed and I,
Upon the pinions of the wind,
All human dwellings left behind;
We sped like meteors through the sky. "--Byron.
]
[Footnote 52:
"I felt as on a plank at sea,
When all the waves that dash o'er thee,
At the same time upheave and whelm,
And hurl thee towards a desert realm.
My undulating life was as
The fancied lights that flitting pass
Our shut eyes in deep midnight, when
Fever begins upon the brain. "--Byron.
]
[Footnote 53: It must be remembered that throughout this description
the expressions are borrowed from a storm at sea. An illustration
occurs in Soph. vi. Electra 729 and 733. "ναυαγίων ἱππικῶν. " "κλύδων',
ἔφιππον. "]
[Footnote 54:
"Each motion which I made to free
My swoln limbs from their agony
Increased his fury and affright. "--Byron.
]
[Footnote 55: "Totum est pro corpore vulnus. "--Lucan ix. 814. ]
[Footnote 56:
He who hath bent him o'er the dead
Ere the first day of death is fled,
(Before decay's effacing fingers
Have swept the lines where beauty lingers),
And marked the mild angelic air;
The rapture of repose that's there,
The fix'd yet tender traits that streak
The languor of the placid cheek.
. . . . . .
He still might doubt the tyrant's power;
So fair, so calm, so softly seal'd,
The first, last look by death reveal'd. "--Byron.
]
[Footnote 57: In Heliodorus, B. i. Theagenes and Charicles express
their grief in similar language. ]
[Footnote 58: Mention of these different ornaments occurs in Xen.
Cyrop. B. vi. c. 4, sec. 1. ]
[Footnote 59: See the description of the garden in the 3rd Book of
Longus. ]
[Footnote 60: ἦν βόστρυχος τοῦ φυτοῦ. ]
[Footnote 61:
"The shrill cicalas, people of the pine,
Making their summer lives one ceaseless song. "--Byron.
]
[Footnote 62: The swallow was generally considered the representative
of what was barbaric, chattering, and troublesome. See Aristoph. Frogs,
649, and Æsch. Ag. 1017, nevertheless is introduced by Moschus, in his
lament for Bion:--
. . . . "Nor on their mountain thrones,
The swallows utter such lugubrious tones. "
Chapman's Tr.
The reader will call to mind the line in Gray.
"The swallow twittering from the straw-built shed. "
The chirping noise of the cicada (τέττιξ) is constantly used by the
poets as a simile for sweet sounds. ]
[Footnote 63:
". . . pectâ pandat spectacula caudâ. "--Hor. S. ii. 2. 25.
"Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks? "
Job xxxix. 13.
]
[Footnote 64: Clio and Satyrus, slaves not mentioned before. ]
[Footnote 65: See Herod. i. ch. 194. ]
[Footnote 66:
"Vivunt in Venerem frondes omnisque vicissim
Felix arbor amat; mutant ad mutua palmæ
Fœdera, populeo suspirat populus ictu,
Et platani platanis, alnoque assibilat alnus. "
Claudian.
See also Darwin's poem, the "Botanic Garden. "]
[Footnote 67:
". . . . Alpheum fama est hue Elidis amnem
Occultas egisse vias subter mare; qui nunc
Ore, Arethusa, tuo Siculis confunditur undis. "
Virg. Æn. iii. 694.
]
[Footnote 68: νυμφοστολεῖ. ]
[Footnote 69: ἔδνα. ]
[Footnote 70: An account of the loves of the viper and the lamprey will
be found in Ælian, B. i. 50; and the polite consideration of the former
in getting rid of his disagreeable qualities is related by the same
writer, B. ix. 66, with the addition of his "hissing an amorous air. "]
[Footnote 71: The same comparison occurs in Aristænetus, Β ii. Ep.
I:--"γυνὴ ἔoικε λειμῦνι, καὶ ὅπερ ἐκείνῳ τὰ ἄνθη, τοῦτό γε τaύτῃ τὸ
κάλλος. "]
BOOK II.
Previous to this, however, Satyrus and I, praising our mutual tact,
proceeded to the maiden's chamber, under the pretext of hearing her
performance on the harp, but in reality because I could not bear her
to be out of my sight, for however short a space. The first subject of
her song was, the engagement between the lion and the boar, described
by Homer;[1] afterwards she chose a tenderer theme, the praises of the
rose.
Divested of its poetic ornaments,[2] the purport of the strain was
this: Had Jove wished to impose a monarch upon the flowers, this honor
would have been given to the rose,[3] as being the ornament of the
earth, the boast of shrubs, the eye of flowers, imparting a blush
to the meadows and dazzling with its beauty. The rose breathes of
love, conciliates Venus, glories in its fragrant leaves, exults in
its tender stalks, which are gladdened by the Zephyr. Such was the
matter of the song. For my part, I seemed to behold a rose upon her
lips, as though the calyx of the flower had been converted into the
form of the human mouth. She had scarcely ended when the supper hour
arrived. It was then the time of celebrating the Festival of Bacchus,
"patron of the vintage,"[4] whom the Tyrians esteem to be their god,
quoting a legend of Cadmus which attributes to the feast the following
origin:--Once upon a time, mortals had no such thing as wine, neither
the black and fragrant kind, nor the Biblian, nor the Maronæan,[5] nor
the Chian, nor the Icarian; all these they maintain came originally
from Tyre, their inventor being a Tyrian. A certain hospitable neatherd
(resembling the Athenian Icarius, who is the subject of a very similar
story) gave occasion to the legend which I am about to relate. Bacchus
happened to come to the cottage of this countryman, who set before him
whatsoever the earth and the labours of his oxen had produced. Wine, as
I observed, was then unknown, like the oxen, therefore, their beverage
was water.
Bacchus thanked him for his friendly treatment and presented to him
a "loving cup,"[6] which was filled with wine. Having taken a hearty
draught, and becoming very jovial from its effects, he said:--"Whence,
stranger, did you procure this purple water, this delicious blood? It
is quite different from that which flows along the ground; for that
descends into the vitals, and affords cold comfort at the best; where
as this, even before entering the mouth, rejoices the nostrils, and
though cold to the touch, leaps down into the stomach and begets a
pleasurable warmth. "[7] To this Bacchus replied, "This is the water of
an autumnal fruit, this is the blood of the grape,"[8] and so saying,
he conducted the neatherd to a vine, and squeezing a bunch of grapes
said, "here is the water, and this is the fountain from whence it
flows. " Such is the account which the Tyrians give as to the origin of
wine.
It was, as I before said, the festival of this deity which was being
celebrated. My father anxious to do everything handsomely, had made
grand preparations for the supper, and there was set in honor of
the god, a magnificent goblet of crystal,[9] in the beauty of its
workmanship second only to that of the Chian Glaucus. [10] Vines
seemingly growing from within encircled it, and their clusters hung
down all around; as long as the goblet remained empty each grape
appeared unripe and green; but no sooner was the wine poured in than
each grape began to redden, and assumed the hue of ripeness; and among
them was represented Bacchus himself as dresser of the vineyard. As the
feast went on, and the good wine did its office, I began to cast bold
lawless glances at Leucippe; for Love and Bacchus are two very potent
deities, they take possession of the soul[11] and so inflame it that
it forgets every restraint of modesty; the one kindles in it a flame,
and the other supplies fuel for the fire, for wine may truly be called
the meat and drink of love. The maiden also became gradually emboldened
so as to gaze at me more fixedly. In this manner, ten days passed on
without anything beyond glances being interchanged between us.
At length I imparted the whole affair to Satyrus, requesting his
assistance; he replied, "I knew it all before you told me, but was
unwilling that you should be aware of the fact, supposing it your wish
to remain unobserved; for very often he who loves by stealth hates
the party who has discovered his passion, and considers himself to
have received an insult from him. However," continued he, "fortune has
provided for our contingences,[12] for Clio, Leucippe's chambermaid,
has an understanding with me, and admits me as her lover. I will
gradually buy her over to give us her assistance in this affair; but
you, on your part, must not be content with making trial of the maiden
merely by glances; you must speak to her and say something to the
point, then take a farther step by touching her hand, squeezing her
fingers, and fetching a deep sigh; if she permits this willingly, then
salute her as the mistress of your affections, and imprint a kiss upon
her neck. " "By Pallas, you counsel wisely," was my reply, "but I fear
me, I shall prove but a craven wrestler in the school of love. "
"The god of love," said he, "has no notion of craven-heartedness; do
you not see in what warlike guise he is equipped? He bears a bow, a
quiver, arrows, and a lighted torch, emblems all of them, of manhood
and of daring. Filled, then, as you are with the influence of such a
god, are you a coward and do you tremble? Beware of shewing yourself
merely a counterfeit in love. I will make an opening by calling away
Clio, as soon as an opportunity occurs for your having a private
conversation with Leucippe. " With these words he left the room; excited
by what he had said, I was no sooner alone, then I used every endeavour
to collect my courage for the approaching interview. "Coward," said
I, "how long wilt thou continue silent? Thou, the soldier of such a
warlike 'god, and yet a craven. ' Dost thou intend to wait until the
maiden comes to thee of her own accord? " Afterwards I proceeded, "and
yet fool that thou art, why not come to thy senses? Why not bestow thy
love upon a lawful object? Thou hast another maiden in this house;
one possessed of beauty. Be content with loving _her_, and gazing
upon _her_; her it is permitted thee to take to wife. " My purpose was
almost fixed; when from the bottom of my heart Love spoke in reply and
said; "Rash man, darest thou to set thyself in array and to war with
me--me, who have wings to fly, arrows to wound, and a torch to burn?
How, prythee, wilt thou escape?
brought back a corpse comely in thy death; others who die preserve
their well-known lineaments, and though the living beauty of the
countenance be gone, the image is preserved, which by its mimickry of
sleep consoles the mourner. [56] In their case, death has taken away
the soul, but leaves in the body the semblance of the individual: in
thy case, fate has destroyed both, and, to me, thou hast died a double
death, in soul and body, so utterly has even the shadow of thy likeness
perished! Thy soul has fled, and I find thee no more, even in body! Oh,
my son, when shall be now thy bridal day? When, ill-starred horseman
and unwedded bridegroom, when shall be the joyous nuptial festivities?
The tomb will be thy bridal bed, death thy partner, a dirge thy
nuptial song, wailing thy strains of joy! [57] I thought, my son, to
have kindled for thee a very different flame, but cruel fate has
extinguished both it and thee, and in its stead lights up the funeral
torch. Oh, luckless torch bearing, where death presides and takes the
place of marriage! "
Thus bitterly did the father bewail the loss of his son, and Clinias
vied with him in the expression of his grief, breaking forth into
soliloquy. "I have been the death of him who was master of my
affection! Why was I so ill-advised as to present him with such a
gift! Could I not have given him a golden beaker, out of which, when
pouring a libation, he might have drunk, and so have derived pleasure
from the gift? Instead of doing this, wretch that I was, I bestowed
upon this beauteous youth a savage brute, and moreover decked out the
beast with a pectoral and frontlet and silver trappings. [58] Yes,
Charicles, I decked out your murderer with gold! Thou beast, of all
others most evil, ruthless, ungrateful, and insensible to beauty, thou
hast actually been the death of him who fondled thee, who wiped away
thy sweat, promised thee many a feed, and praised the swiftness of thy
pace! Instead of glorying in being the bearer of so fair a youth, thou
hast ungratefully dashed his beauty to the earth! Woe is me, for having
bought this homicide, who has turned out to be thy murderer! "
No sooner were the funeral obsequies over, than I hastened to the
maiden, who was in the pleasance belonging to the house. It consisted
of a grove, which afforded a delightful object to the eyes; around it
ran a wall, each of the four sides of which had a colonnade supported
upon pillars, the central space being planted with trees, whose
branches were so closely interwoven, that the fruits and foliage
intermingled in friendly union. [59] Close to some of the larger
trees grew the ivy and the convolvulus; the latter hanging from the
plane-trees, clustered round it, with its delicate foliage; the former
twining round the pine, lovingly embraced its trunk, so that the tree
became the prop of the ivy, and the ivy furnished a crown for the tree.
On either side were seen luxuriant vines, supported upon reeds; these
were now in blossom, and hanging down from the intervening spaces were
the ringlets of the plant;[60] while the upper leaves, agitated by the
breeze and interpenetrated by the rays of the sun, caused a quivering
gleam to fall upon the ground, which partially lighted up its shade.
Flowers also displayed the beauty of their various hues. The narcissus,
the rose, and violet, mingling together, imparted a purple colour to
the earth; the calyx of both these flowers was alike in its general
shape, and served them for a cup; the expanded rose-leaves were red
and violet above, milky white below, and the narcissus was altogether
of the latter hue; the violet had no calyx, and its colour resembled
that of the sea when under the influence of a calm. In the midst of
the flowers bubbled a fountain, whose waters received into a square
basin, the work of art, served the flowers for their mirror, and gave
a double appearance to the grove, by adding the reflection to the
reality. Neither were there wanting birds: some of a domestic kind,
reared by the care of man, were feeding in the grove; while others,
enjoying their liberty of wing, flew and disported themselves among
the branches. The songsters were grasshoppers[61] and swallows,[62] of
which the one celebrated the rising of Aurora, the other the banquet
of Tereus. Those of a domestic kind were the peacock, the swan, and the
parrot; the swan was feeding near the fountain; a cage suspended from
a tree contained the parrot; the peacock drew after him his splendid
train; nor was it easy to decide which surpassed the other in beauty,
the tints of the flowers themselves, or the hues of his flower-like
feathers.
Leucippe happened at this time to be walking with Clio, and stopped
opposite the peacock who was just then spreading his train, and
displaying the gorgeous semicircle of his feathers. [63] Wishing to
produce amorous sensations in her mind, I addressed myself to the slave
Satyrus,[64] making the peacock the subject of our discourse. "The
bird," I said, "does not do this without design; he is of an amorous
nature, and always bedecks himself in this manner when he wishes to
attract his favourite mate. Do you see," I added, (pointing in the
direction) "the female, near the plane-tree yonder? It is to her that
he is now displaying the 'enamelled meadow' of his plumes, and this
meadow of his is assuredly more beautiful than any mead in nature,
each plume has in it a spot of gold, and the gold is encircled by a
purple ring, and so in every plume there is seen an eye. " Satyrus
readily comprehended the drift of my discourse, and in order to give
me scope for continuing the subject, he asked "whether Love could
possibly possess such power as to transmit his warmth even unto the
winged tribes? " "Yes," I replied, "not only unto them--for there is
no marvel in this, since he himself is winged--but also into reptiles
and wild beasts and plants; nay, in my opinion even unto stones. The
magnet, for instance loves the iron, and upon the first sight and touch
draws that metal towards it, as if containing within itself the fire
of love. Is there not in this, a manifest embrace between the amorous
stone and the iron the object of its affection? Philosophers, moreover,
tell, concerning plants, what I should deem an idle tale were it not
confirmed by the experience of husbandmen. They maintain that one
plant becomes enamoured of another, and that the palm is most sensible
of the tender passion; there are, you must know, male[65] and female
palms; supposing the female is planted at a distance from it, the male
droops and withers; the husbandman upon seeing this, easily understands
the nature of the malady, and ascending an eminence he observes in
what direction the tree inclines--which is always towards the beloved
object; having ascertained this point, he employs the following remedy:
taking a shoot from the female he inserts it into the very heart of
the male; this immediately revives it, and bestows new life upon its
sinking frame, so that it recovers its pristine vigour; and this arises
from delight in embracing its beloved; such are the loves of the
plants. [66]
"The same holds true concerning streams and rivers also; for we
hear of the loves of the river Alpheus and the Sicilian fountain
Arethusa. [67] This river takes its course through the sea as through
a plain, and the sea instead of impregnating it with its saltness,
divides and so affords a passage for the river, performing the part
of bridesman,[68] by conducting it to Arethusa; when, therefore, at
the Olympic Festival, persons cast various gifts into the channel of
this river, it immediately bears them to its beloved, these being its
nuptial gifts. [69] A yet stranger mystery of Love is seen in reptiles,
not merely in those of like race, but of different kind. The viper[70]
conceives a violent passion for the lamprey, which though in form a
serpent, is to all intents and purposes a fish. When these reptiles
wish to copulate, the viper goes down to the shore and hisses in the
direction of the sea, which is a signal to the lamprey; she understands
the sound, and issues from the water, but does not immediately hasten
to her lover, knowing that he carries deadly poison in his teeth,
but gliding up a rock, there waits until he has cleansed his mouth.
After looking at one another for a space, the loving viper vomits
forth the poison so dreaded by his mistress, and she upon perceiving
this, descends and entwines him in her embrace, no longer dreading his
amorous bite. "
During my discourse, I kept observing Leucippe to see how she took
these amatory topics, and she gave indications that they were not
displeasing to her. The dazzling beauty of the peacock which I just
now mentioned seemed to me far inferior to her attractions; indeed the
beauty of her countenance might vie with the flowers of the meadow; the
narcissus was resplendent in her general complexion, the rose blushed
upon her cheek, the dark hue of the violet sparkled in her eyes, her
ringlets curled more closely than do the clusters of the ivy;---her
face, therefore, was a reflex of the meadows. [71] Shortly after this,
she left the pleasance, it being time for her to practise upon the
harp. Though absent she appeared to me still present, for her form and
features remained impressed upon my eyes.
Satyrus and I congratulated each other upon our mutual performances. I
for the subjects I had chosen, he for having given me the opportunity
of discussing them. Supper time soon arrived and we reclined at table
as before.
[Footnote 1: Μήτηρ Φοινίκων ἡ πόλις, θηζαίων ὁ δῆμος πατήρ. The
"mother-city," because of the many colonies which it sent out: on
the foundation of Thebes, Pliny, B. v, c. 19, says: "Sidon, artifex
vitri, Thebarum Bœtiarum parens. " We find in the Scriptures, that
Tyre and Sidon were famous for works in gold, embroidery, &c. , and
whatsoever regarded magnificence and luxury. --See Isaiah xxiii. --Ezek.
xxvii. xxviii. The Phœnicians were, in very early times, celebrated
for merchandise of every description; and their country was justly
considered the emporium of the East. They were the earliest navigators,
and their skill in ship-building may be inferred from I Kings, v.
6. --Trollope's Homer. ]
[Footnote 2: Σῶστρα or σωτήρια. Sacrifices and votive offerings, made
upon escape from shipwreck--
"Me tabulâ sacer
Votivâ paries indicat uvida,
Suspendisse potenti
Vestimenta maris Deo. "--Hor. I. Od. v. 12.
]
[Footnote 3: The Syrian Venus. "Venus--quarta, Syria, Tyroque concepta;
quæ Astarte vocatur, quam Adonidi nupsisse proditum est. "--Cic. de Nat.
Deorum. ]
[Footnote 4: Ovid. Met. ii. 844, and Moschus, Idyl. 2. ]
[Footnote 5: Compare a passage in Longus, B. iv. , Έν μετεώρῳ οἱ κλάδοι
συνἐπιπτον άλλήλοις, καὶ ἐπήλλαττον τος κόμας, ἐδόκει μὲν τοί καὶ ἠ
τούτων φύσις εἰναι τεχνης. ]
[Footnote 6: "Mare purpureum. "--Virg. G. 4, 373. ]
[Footnote 7: In Ode xxviii. , on his mistress, Anacreon says,--
"Στόλισον τολoιτὸν αὐτην
'υπὸ πορφύροισι πέπλοις·
διαφαινέτο δὲ σαρκὼν
'ολίγον, το σῶμ' ἐλεγχον. "
]
[Footnote 8: "Quàm castigate planus sub pectore venter. "--Ovid. Am. i.
5. ]
[Footnote 9:
"Her dainty paps, which like young fruit in May,
Now little, 'gan to swell, and being tied
Through her thin weed, their places only signified. "--Spencer.
]
[Footnote 10: "Tremulæ sinuantur flamine vestes. "--Ovid. Met. ii. 875. ]
[Footnote 11:
"Her robe inflated by the wanton breeze,
Seem'd like a ship's sail hovering o'er the seas. "
Moschus. Chapman's Tr.
]
[Footnote 12:
"From their sea-hollows swift the Nereids rose,
Seated on seals, and did his train compose;
Poseidon went before, and smooth did make
The path of waters for his brother's sake;
Around their king, in close array, did keep
The loud-voiced Tritons, minstrels of the deep.
And with their conchs proclaimed the nuptial song. "
Moschus.
]
[Footnote 13: Δύναται δὲ τοσοῦτον, ὂσον οὐδὲ ὁ Zεὺς, κρατεῖ μὲν
στοιχεῖων, κρατεῖ δὲ ἄστρων, κρατεῖ δὲ τῶν ὀμοίων θεῶν. --Longus. Β. ii. ]
[Footnote 14: Καλῄ ὑπὸ πλατανίστῳ ὃθεν ῥέεν ἀγλaὸv ὓδωρ. --Hom. Il. ii.
307. ]
[Footnote 15: Proximity by blood or consanguinity was not, with some
few exceptions, a bar to marriage in any part of Greece; direct lineal
descent was. Thus brothers were permitted to marry with sisters even,
if not born from the same mother, as Cimon did with Elpenice. See
Nepos, Life of Cimon. --Dict. of Greek and Roman Antiq. ]
[Footnote 16:
Μoΐραν δ' οὔτινα φημι πεφυγμένον ἔμμεναι ἀνδρων,
Οὐ κακὸν οὐδὲ μὲν ἐσθλὸν, ἐπὴν ταπρῶτα γένηται. --Hom. Il. vi. 487.
]
[Footnote 17:
Μέλαν ὄμμα γοργὸν ἔζω
κεκερασμένον γαλήνη. --Anacreon. xxix.
"Flagrabant lumina miti
Adspectu". . . . --Silius Ital. v. 562.
]
[Footnote 18:
"Indum sanguineo veluti violaverat ostro
Si quis ebur. . . .
. . . talis virgo dabat ore colores. "--Virg. xii. 67.
]
[Footnote 19:
. . . . κάλλος
'αντ' ασπίδων ἀπασῶν,
'αντ' ἐγχέων ἁπάντων
νικᾶ δὲ καὶ σίδηρον
καὶ πῦρ, καλή τις οὖσα. --Anacreon, ii.
]
[Footnote 20: Ovid. Met. i. 452.
"At conjux quoniam mea non potes esse,
Arbor eris certè mea, dixit. " 557.
]
[Footnote 21:
. . . . "Quod enim non excitet inguen
Vox blanda et nequam? digitos habet. "--Juv. vi. 196.
]
[Footnote 22:
"Sic nature jabet: velocius et citius nos
Corrumpunt vitiorum exempla domestica, magnis
Quum subeant animos auctoribus. "--Juv. xiv. 31.
]
[Footnote 23: "Egone homuncio id non facerem? "--Ter. Eunuchus. ]
[Footnote 24: "Quæ ad beatam vitam pertinent ventre metiri. "--Cic. de
Nat Deorum, i. 40. ]
[Footnote 25: "Ὁνείρατα ἐώρων ἐρωτικά, τὰ φιλήματα, τὰς περιβολάζ, καὶ
ὅσα δὲ μεθ' ἡμέραν οὐκ ἔπραξαν ταῦτα ὅναρ ἔπραξαν. "--Longus, Β. i. ]
[Footnote 26:
. . . "as one who is awoke
By a distant organ, doubting if he be
Not yet a dreamer, till the spell is broke
By the watchman, or some such reality,
Or by one's early valet's cursed knock. "--Byron.
]
[Footnote 27:
"I have done penance for contemning Love;
Whose high imperious thoughts have punish'd me
With bitter fasts, with penitential groans,
With nightly tears, and daily heart-sore sighs:
For in revenge of my contempt of Love,
Love hath chac'd sleep from my enthralled eyes,
And made them watchers of mine own heart's sorrow. "
Shakspeare.
]
[Footnote 28: "Eque tuo pendat resupini spiritus ore. "--Luc. i. 38. ]
[Footnote 29: There was a proverb among the ancients, "θάλασσα καὶ πῦρ
καὶ γυνὴ κακὰ τρία. "]
[Footnote 30: "Argentum accepi, dote imperium vendidi. "--Plautus. ]
[Footnote 31: Hesiod. Works and Days, 57.
]
[Footnote 32: αὕτη κακῶν ηδονή.
"κἀλλος κακῶν ὕπουλος. "--Soph. Ο. Τ. 1396.
. . . "medio de fonte leporum
Surgit amari aliquid, quod in ipsis floribus angat. "
Luc. iv. 1126.
"Full from the fount of joy's delicious springs,
Some bitter o'er the flowers its bubbling venom flings. "
Childe Harold.
]
[Footnote 33: βόμβος αὐλῶν. ]
[Footnote 34: For the legends connected with these various names, the
reader is referred to Anthon's Lemprière. ]
[Footnote 35: "And like another Helen, fir'd another Troy. "--Dryden. ]
[Footnote 36:
. . . "there's no motion
That tends to vice in man, but, I affirm
It is the woman's part; be't lying, note it,
The woman's; flattering, hers; deceiving, hers;
Lust and rank thoughts, hers, hers; revenges, hers;
Ambitions, covetings, change of prides, disdain,
Nice longings, slanders, mutability;
All faults that may be named, nay, that hell knows.
Why, hers, in part, or all; but rather all. "--Cymbeline.
]
[Footnote 37: Homer. Il. ii. 478. Pope's Tr. ]
[Footnote 38:
"Semper conservam domi
Videbit, colloquetur, aderit unà in unis ædibus
Cibum nonnunquam capiet cum ea. "--Ter. Eun.
]
[Footnote 39:
"The lovely toy so fiercely sought,
Hath lost its charm by being caught. "--Byron.
]
[Footnote 40: ἔχει τινὰ μίξιν ἐν ἀποστάσει. ]
[Footnote 41:
Nequicquam; quoniam nihil indè abradere possunt
Nec penetrare, et abire in corpus corpora toto. "
Luc. iv. 1005.
]
[Footnote 42:
"Conveying as the electric wire,
We know not how, the absorbing fire. "--Byron.
]
[Footnote 43: αὐτοδίδακτος, γάρ ἐστιν ὁ θεὸς σοφιστής. ]
[Footnote 44: The festivals called Mysteries took place at night, or in
secret, within some sanctuary, which the uninitiated were not allowed
to enter. --See Dict. of Greek and Rom. Antiq. ]
[Footnote 45:
"Pugnabit primo fortassis, et Improbe, dicet.
Pugnando vinci sed tamen illa volet. "
Ovid. de Art. Aman. l. 665.
]
[Footnote 46:
"Who listens once will listen twice;
Her heart, be sure, is not of ice,
And one refusal no rebuff. "--Byron.
]
[Footnote 47: χορήγησον τὴν ὑπόκρισιν μὴ άπολέσαι τό δρᾶμα. The
language is figurative and borrowed from customs relating to the drama.
If a poet wished to bring out a piece, he applied to the archon to
grant him a chorus (χορὸν διδόναι); hence the phrases χορὸν αἰτεῖν,
λαμβάνειν, to apply for and to succeed in the application. This will
explain the above expression ἀπολέσαι τὸ δρᾶμα, to fail in obtaining
through want of merit. ]
[Footnote 48: ἐφόδια. ]
[Footnote 49: Viz. , his own mind distracted between the solicitations
of his father and the arguments of love.
"Tot me impediunt curæ, quæ meum animum diversè trahunt. "
Ter. Andr.
]
[Footnote 50:
"And, starting to each accent, sprang
As from a sudden trumpet's clang. "--Byron.
]
[Footnote 51:
"Away, away, my steed and I,
Upon the pinions of the wind,
All human dwellings left behind;
We sped like meteors through the sky. "--Byron.
]
[Footnote 52:
"I felt as on a plank at sea,
When all the waves that dash o'er thee,
At the same time upheave and whelm,
And hurl thee towards a desert realm.
My undulating life was as
The fancied lights that flitting pass
Our shut eyes in deep midnight, when
Fever begins upon the brain. "--Byron.
]
[Footnote 53: It must be remembered that throughout this description
the expressions are borrowed from a storm at sea. An illustration
occurs in Soph. vi. Electra 729 and 733. "ναυαγίων ἱππικῶν. " "κλύδων',
ἔφιππον. "]
[Footnote 54:
"Each motion which I made to free
My swoln limbs from their agony
Increased his fury and affright. "--Byron.
]
[Footnote 55: "Totum est pro corpore vulnus. "--Lucan ix. 814. ]
[Footnote 56:
He who hath bent him o'er the dead
Ere the first day of death is fled,
(Before decay's effacing fingers
Have swept the lines where beauty lingers),
And marked the mild angelic air;
The rapture of repose that's there,
The fix'd yet tender traits that streak
The languor of the placid cheek.
. . . . . .
He still might doubt the tyrant's power;
So fair, so calm, so softly seal'd,
The first, last look by death reveal'd. "--Byron.
]
[Footnote 57: In Heliodorus, B. i. Theagenes and Charicles express
their grief in similar language. ]
[Footnote 58: Mention of these different ornaments occurs in Xen.
Cyrop. B. vi. c. 4, sec. 1. ]
[Footnote 59: See the description of the garden in the 3rd Book of
Longus. ]
[Footnote 60: ἦν βόστρυχος τοῦ φυτοῦ. ]
[Footnote 61:
"The shrill cicalas, people of the pine,
Making their summer lives one ceaseless song. "--Byron.
]
[Footnote 62: The swallow was generally considered the representative
of what was barbaric, chattering, and troublesome. See Aristoph. Frogs,
649, and Æsch. Ag. 1017, nevertheless is introduced by Moschus, in his
lament for Bion:--
. . . . "Nor on their mountain thrones,
The swallows utter such lugubrious tones. "
Chapman's Tr.
The reader will call to mind the line in Gray.
"The swallow twittering from the straw-built shed. "
The chirping noise of the cicada (τέττιξ) is constantly used by the
poets as a simile for sweet sounds. ]
[Footnote 63:
". . . pectâ pandat spectacula caudâ. "--Hor. S. ii. 2. 25.
"Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks? "
Job xxxix. 13.
]
[Footnote 64: Clio and Satyrus, slaves not mentioned before. ]
[Footnote 65: See Herod. i. ch. 194. ]
[Footnote 66:
"Vivunt in Venerem frondes omnisque vicissim
Felix arbor amat; mutant ad mutua palmæ
Fœdera, populeo suspirat populus ictu,
Et platani platanis, alnoque assibilat alnus. "
Claudian.
See also Darwin's poem, the "Botanic Garden. "]
[Footnote 67:
". . . . Alpheum fama est hue Elidis amnem
Occultas egisse vias subter mare; qui nunc
Ore, Arethusa, tuo Siculis confunditur undis. "
Virg. Æn. iii. 694.
]
[Footnote 68: νυμφοστολεῖ. ]
[Footnote 69: ἔδνα. ]
[Footnote 70: An account of the loves of the viper and the lamprey will
be found in Ælian, B. i. 50; and the polite consideration of the former
in getting rid of his disagreeable qualities is related by the same
writer, B. ix. 66, with the addition of his "hissing an amorous air. "]
[Footnote 71: The same comparison occurs in Aristænetus, Β ii. Ep.
I:--"γυνὴ ἔoικε λειμῦνι, καὶ ὅπερ ἐκείνῳ τὰ ἄνθη, τοῦτό γε τaύτῃ τὸ
κάλλος. "]
BOOK II.
Previous to this, however, Satyrus and I, praising our mutual tact,
proceeded to the maiden's chamber, under the pretext of hearing her
performance on the harp, but in reality because I could not bear her
to be out of my sight, for however short a space. The first subject of
her song was, the engagement between the lion and the boar, described
by Homer;[1] afterwards she chose a tenderer theme, the praises of the
rose.
Divested of its poetic ornaments,[2] the purport of the strain was
this: Had Jove wished to impose a monarch upon the flowers, this honor
would have been given to the rose,[3] as being the ornament of the
earth, the boast of shrubs, the eye of flowers, imparting a blush
to the meadows and dazzling with its beauty. The rose breathes of
love, conciliates Venus, glories in its fragrant leaves, exults in
its tender stalks, which are gladdened by the Zephyr. Such was the
matter of the song. For my part, I seemed to behold a rose upon her
lips, as though the calyx of the flower had been converted into the
form of the human mouth. She had scarcely ended when the supper hour
arrived. It was then the time of celebrating the Festival of Bacchus,
"patron of the vintage,"[4] whom the Tyrians esteem to be their god,
quoting a legend of Cadmus which attributes to the feast the following
origin:--Once upon a time, mortals had no such thing as wine, neither
the black and fragrant kind, nor the Biblian, nor the Maronæan,[5] nor
the Chian, nor the Icarian; all these they maintain came originally
from Tyre, their inventor being a Tyrian. A certain hospitable neatherd
(resembling the Athenian Icarius, who is the subject of a very similar
story) gave occasion to the legend which I am about to relate. Bacchus
happened to come to the cottage of this countryman, who set before him
whatsoever the earth and the labours of his oxen had produced. Wine, as
I observed, was then unknown, like the oxen, therefore, their beverage
was water.
Bacchus thanked him for his friendly treatment and presented to him
a "loving cup,"[6] which was filled with wine. Having taken a hearty
draught, and becoming very jovial from its effects, he said:--"Whence,
stranger, did you procure this purple water, this delicious blood? It
is quite different from that which flows along the ground; for that
descends into the vitals, and affords cold comfort at the best; where
as this, even before entering the mouth, rejoices the nostrils, and
though cold to the touch, leaps down into the stomach and begets a
pleasurable warmth. "[7] To this Bacchus replied, "This is the water of
an autumnal fruit, this is the blood of the grape,"[8] and so saying,
he conducted the neatherd to a vine, and squeezing a bunch of grapes
said, "here is the water, and this is the fountain from whence it
flows. " Such is the account which the Tyrians give as to the origin of
wine.
It was, as I before said, the festival of this deity which was being
celebrated. My father anxious to do everything handsomely, had made
grand preparations for the supper, and there was set in honor of
the god, a magnificent goblet of crystal,[9] in the beauty of its
workmanship second only to that of the Chian Glaucus. [10] Vines
seemingly growing from within encircled it, and their clusters hung
down all around; as long as the goblet remained empty each grape
appeared unripe and green; but no sooner was the wine poured in than
each grape began to redden, and assumed the hue of ripeness; and among
them was represented Bacchus himself as dresser of the vineyard. As the
feast went on, and the good wine did its office, I began to cast bold
lawless glances at Leucippe; for Love and Bacchus are two very potent
deities, they take possession of the soul[11] and so inflame it that
it forgets every restraint of modesty; the one kindles in it a flame,
and the other supplies fuel for the fire, for wine may truly be called
the meat and drink of love. The maiden also became gradually emboldened
so as to gaze at me more fixedly. In this manner, ten days passed on
without anything beyond glances being interchanged between us.
At length I imparted the whole affair to Satyrus, requesting his
assistance; he replied, "I knew it all before you told me, but was
unwilling that you should be aware of the fact, supposing it your wish
to remain unobserved; for very often he who loves by stealth hates
the party who has discovered his passion, and considers himself to
have received an insult from him. However," continued he, "fortune has
provided for our contingences,[12] for Clio, Leucippe's chambermaid,
has an understanding with me, and admits me as her lover. I will
gradually buy her over to give us her assistance in this affair; but
you, on your part, must not be content with making trial of the maiden
merely by glances; you must speak to her and say something to the
point, then take a farther step by touching her hand, squeezing her
fingers, and fetching a deep sigh; if she permits this willingly, then
salute her as the mistress of your affections, and imprint a kiss upon
her neck. " "By Pallas, you counsel wisely," was my reply, "but I fear
me, I shall prove but a craven wrestler in the school of love. "
"The god of love," said he, "has no notion of craven-heartedness; do
you not see in what warlike guise he is equipped? He bears a bow, a
quiver, arrows, and a lighted torch, emblems all of them, of manhood
and of daring. Filled, then, as you are with the influence of such a
god, are you a coward and do you tremble? Beware of shewing yourself
merely a counterfeit in love. I will make an opening by calling away
Clio, as soon as an opportunity occurs for your having a private
conversation with Leucippe. " With these words he left the room; excited
by what he had said, I was no sooner alone, then I used every endeavour
to collect my courage for the approaching interview. "Coward," said
I, "how long wilt thou continue silent? Thou, the soldier of such a
warlike 'god, and yet a craven. ' Dost thou intend to wait until the
maiden comes to thee of her own accord? " Afterwards I proceeded, "and
yet fool that thou art, why not come to thy senses? Why not bestow thy
love upon a lawful object? Thou hast another maiden in this house;
one possessed of beauty. Be content with loving _her_, and gazing
upon _her_; her it is permitted thee to take to wife. " My purpose was
almost fixed; when from the bottom of my heart Love spoke in reply and
said; "Rash man, darest thou to set thyself in array and to war with
me--me, who have wings to fly, arrows to wound, and a torch to burn?
How, prythee, wilt thou escape?
