No More Learning

like cackling hens over their mad leaps, and who so effectually riveted the attention of the spectators, who were beating time for them by clapping their hands, that Klea, accelerating her step, was able to slip unobserved past the wild crew. All these scenes, nay, everything she met with on the high-road, scared the girl, who was accustomed to the silence and the solemn life of the temple of Serapis, and she therefore struck into a side path that probably also led to the city, which she could already see lying before her with its pylons, its citadel, and its houses veiled in evening mist. In a quarter of an hour at most she would have crossed the desert, and reach the fertile meadow land, whose emerald hue grew darker and darker every moment. The sun was already sinking to rest behind the Libyan range, and soon after, for twilight is short in Egypt, she was wrapped in the darkness of night. The west wind, which had begun to blow even at noon, now rose higher, and seemed to pursue her with its hot breath and the clouds of sand it carried with it from the desert.
She must certainly be approaching water, for she heard the deep boom of the bittern in the reeds, and fancied she breathed a moister air. A few steps more, and her foot sank in mud ; and she now saw that she was standing on the edge of a wide ditch in which tall papyrus plants were growing. The side path she had struck into ended at this plantation, and there was nothing to be done but to turn about and continue her walk against the wind and with the sand blowing in her face.
The light from the drinking-booth showed her the direction she must follow, for though the moon was up, it is true, black clouds swept across it, covering it and the smaller lights of heaven for many minutes at a time. Still she felt no fatigue, but the shouts of the men and the loud cries of the women that rang out from the tavern filled her with alarm and disgust. She made a wide circuit round the hostelry, wading through the sand hillocks and tearing her dress on the thorns and this tles that had boldly struck deep root in the desert, and had grown up there like the squalid brats in the hovel of a beggar. But still, as she hurried on by the high-road, the hideous laughter and the crowing mirth of the dancing-girls still rang in her mind's ear.
Her blood coursed more swiftly through her veins, her head was on fire, she saw Irene close before her, tangibly distinct —
TO SAVE A SISTER. 123
with flowing hair and fluttering garments, whirling in a wild dance like a Maenad at a Dionysiac festival, flying from one embrace to another, and shouting and shrieking in unbridled folly like the wretched girls she had seen on her way. She was seized with terror for her sister — an unbounded dread such as she had never felt before, and as the wind was now once more behind her, she let herself be driven on by it, lifting her feet in a swift run and flying, as if pursued by the Erinnyes, with out once looking round her, and wholly forgetful of the smith's commission, on toward the city along the road planted with trees, which, as she knew, led to the gate of the citadel.
In front of the gate of the king's palace sat a crowd of petitioners, who were accustomed to stay here from early dawn till late at night, until they were called into the palace to receive the answer to the petition they had drawn up. When Klea reached the end of her journey, she was so exhausted and bewildered that she felt the imperative necessity of seeking rest and quiet reflection, so she seated herself among these people, next to a woman from Upper Egypt. But hardly had she taken her place by her with a silent greeting, when her talkative neighbor began to relate with particular minuteness why she had come to Memphis, and how certain unjust judges had conspired with her bad husband to trick her — for men were always ready to join against a woman — and to deprive her of everything which had been secured to her and her chil dren by her marriage contract. For two months now, she said, she had been waiting early and late before the sublime gate, and was consuming her last ready cash in the city where living was so dear; but it was all one to her, and at a pinch
she would sell even her gold ornaments, for sooner or later her cause must come before the king, and then the wicked villain and his accomplices would be taught what was just.
Klea heard but little of this harangue ; a feeling had come over her like that of a person who is having water poured again and again on the top of his head. Presently her neigh bor observed that the newcomer was not listening at all to her complainings ; she slapped her shoulder with her hand, and said : —
" You seem to think of nothing but your own concerns ; and I dare say they are not of such a nature as that you should
124 TO SAVE A SISTER.
relate them to any one else ; so far as mine are concerned, the more they are discussed the better. "
The tone in which these remarks were made was so dry, and at the same time so sharp, that it hurt Klea, and she rose hastily to go closer to the gate. Her neighbor threw a cross word after her ; but she did not heed it, and drawing her veil closer over her face, she went through the gate of the palace into a vast courtyard, brightly lighted up by cressets and torches, and crowded with footrsoldiers and mounted guards.
The sentry at the gate perhaps had not observed her, or per haps had let her pass unchallenged from her dignified and erect gait, and the numerous armed men through whom she now made her way seemed to be so much occupied with their own affairs, that no one bestowed any notice on her. In a narrow alley, which led to a second court and was lighted by lanterns, one of the
known as Philobasilistes, a haughty young fellow in yellow riding-boots and a shirt of mail over his red tunic, came riding toward her on his tall horse, and noticing her, he tried to squeeze her between his charger and the wall, and put out his hand to raise her veil ; but Klea slipped aside, and put up her hands to protect herself from the horse's head, which was almost touching her. —
The cavalier, enjoying her alarm, called out :
"Only stand still — he is not vicious. "
" Which, you or your horse ? " asked Klea, with such a
body-guard
solemn tone in her deep voice that for an instant the young guardsman lost his self-possession, and this gave her time to go farther from the horse. But the girl's sharp retort had an noyed the conceited young fellow, and not having time to follow her himself, he called out in a tone of encouragement to a party of mercenaries from Cyprus, whom the frightened girl was trying to pass : —
" Look under this girl's veil, comrades, and if she is as pretty as she is well-grown, I wish you joy of your prize. "
He laughed as he pressed his knees against the flanks of his bay and trotted slowly away, while the Cypriotes gave Klea ample time to reach the second court, which was more brightly lighted even than the first, that they might there surround her with insolent importunity.
The helpless and persecuted girl felt the blood run cold in her veins, and for a few minutes she could see nothing but a bewildering confusion of flashing eyes and weapons, of beards
TO SAVE A SISTER. 125
and hands, could hear nothing but words and sounds, of which she understood and felt only that they were revolting and hor rible, and threatened her with death and ruin. She had crossed her arms over her bosom, but now she raised her hands to hide her face, for she felt a strong hand snatch away the veil that covered her head. This insolent proceeding turned her numb horror to indignant rage, and, fixing her sparkling eyes on her bearded opponents, she exclaimed : —
"Shame upon you, who in the king's own house fall like wolves on a defenseless woman, and in a peaceful spot snatch the veil from a young girl's head. Your mothers would blush for you, and your sisters cry shame on you—as Ido now ! "
Astonished at Klea's distinguished beauty, startled at the angry glare in her eyes, and the deep chest-tones of her voice, which trembled with excitement, the Cypriotes drew back, while the same audacious rascal that had pulled away her veil came closer to her, and cried : —
" Who would make such a noise about a rubbishy veil I If you will be my sweetheart, I will buy you a new one, and many things besides. "
At the same time he tried to throw his arm round her ; but at his touch Klea felt the blood leave her cheeks and mount to her bloodshot eyes, and at that instant her hand, guided by some uncontrollable inward impulse, grasped the handle of the knife which Krates had lent her ; she raised it high in the air, though with an unsteady arm, exclaiming: —
" Let me go or, by Serapis whom I serve, I will strike you to the heart ! "
The soldier to whom this threat was addressed was not the man to be intimidated by a blade of cold iron in a woman's hand: with a quick movement he seized her wrist in order to disarm her ; but although Klea was forced to drop the knife, she struggled with him to free herself from his clutch, and this con test between a man and a woman, who seemed to be of superior rank to that indicated by her very simple dress, seemed to most of the Cypriotes so undignified, so much out of place within the walls of a palace, that they pulled their comrade back from Klea, while others on the contrary came to the assistance of the bully, who defended himself stoutly. And in the midst of the fray, which was conducted with no small noise, stood Klea with flying breath. Her antagonist, though flung to the ground, still held her wrist with his left hand, while he defended him
126 TO SAVE A SISTER.
self against his comrades with the right, and she tried with all her force and cunning to withdraw it ; for at the very height of her excitement and danger she felt as if a sudden gust of wind had swept her spirit clear of all confusion, and she was again able to contemplate her position calmly and resolutely.
If only her hand were free, she might perhaps be able to take
of the struggle between her foes, and to force her way out between their ranks.
advantage
Twice, thrice, four times, she tried to wrench her hand with a sudden jerk through the fingers that grasped it; but each time in vain. Suddenly, from the man at her feet there broke a loud, long-drawn cry of pain which reechoed from the high walls of the court, and at the same time she felt the fingers of her antagonist gradually and slowly slip from her arm like the straps of a sandal carefully lifted by the surgeon from a broken ankle. "
" It is all over with him !
Cypriotes. "A man never calls out like that but once in his life ! True enough — the dagger is sticking here just under the ninth rib ! This is mad work I That is your doing again, Lykos, you savage wolf ! "
" He bit deep into my finger in the struggle — "
" And you are for ever tearing each other to pieces for the sake of the women," interrupted the elder, not listening to the other's excuses. " Well, I was no better than you in my time, and nothing can alter it! You had better be off now, for if the Epistrategist learns we have fallen to stabbing each other again — "
The Cypriote had not ceased speaking, and his countrymen were in the very act of raising the body of their comrade, when a division of the civic watch rushed into the court in close order and through the passage near which the fight for the girl had arisen, thus stopping the way against those who were about to escape, since all who wished to get out of the court into the open street must pass through the doorway into which Klea had been forced by the horseman. Every other exit from this second court of the citadel led into the strictly guarded gardens and buildings of the palace itself.
The noisy strife round Klea, and the cry of the wounded man, had attracted the watch ; the Cypriotes and the maiden soon found themselves surrounded, and they were conducted through a narrow side passage into the courtyard of the prison.
exclaimed the eldest of the
TO SAVE A SISTER. 127
After a short inquiry, the men who had been taken were allowed to return under an escort to their own phalanx, and Klea gladly followed the commander of the watch to a less brilliantly illu minated part of the prison yard, for in him she had recognized at once Serapion's brother, Glaucus, and he in her the daughter of the man who had done and suffered so much for his father's sake ; besides, they had often exchanged greetings and a few words in the temple of Serapis.
" All that is in my power," said Glaucus, — a man somewhat taller but not so broadly built as his brother, — when he had read the recluse's note and when Klea had answered a number of questions, " all that is in my power I will gladly do for you and your sister, for I do not forget all that I owe to your father; still I cannot but regret that you have incurred such risk, for it is always hazardous for a pretty young girl to venture into this palace at a late hour, and particularly just now, for the courts are swarming not only with Philometor's righting men, but with those of his brother, who have come here for their sovereign's birthday festival. The people have been liberally entertained, and the soldier who has been sacrific ing to Dionysus seizes the gifts of Eros and Aphrodite wherever he may find them. I will at once take charge of my brother's letter to the Roman, Publius Cornelius Scipio, but when you have received his answer you will do well to let yourself be escorted to my wife or my sister, who both live in the city, and to remain till to-morrow morning with one or the other. Here you cannot remain a minute unmolested while I am away — Where now — Aye ! The only safe shelter I can offer you is the prison down there ; the room where they lock up the sub altern officers when they have committed any offense is quite unoccupied, and I will conduct you thither. It is always kept clean, and there is a bench in it too. "
Klea followed her friend, who, as his hasty demeanor plainly showed, had been interrupted in important business. In a few steps they reached the prison ; she begged Glaucus to bring her the Roman's answer as quickly as possible, declared herself quite ready to remain in the dark, — since she perceived that the light of a lamp might betray her, and she was not afraid of the dark, — and suffered herself to be locked in.
As she heard the iron bolt creak in its brass socket a shiver ran through her, and although the room in which she found her self was neither worse nor smaller than that in which she and
128 TO SAVE A SISTER.
her sister lived in the temple, still it oppressed her, and she even felt as if an indescribable something hindered her breath ing, as she said to herself that she was locked in and no longer free to come and go. A dim light penetrated into her prison through the single barred window that opened on to the court, and she could see a little bench of palm-branches, on which she sat down to seek the repose she so sorely needed. All sense of discomfort gradually vanished before the new feeling of rest and refreshment, and pleasant hopes and anticipations were just be ginning to mingle themselves with the remembrance of the hor rors she had just experienced, when suddenly there was a stir and a bustle just in front of the prison — and she could hear, outside, the clatter of harness and words of command. She rose from her seat and saw that about twenty horsemen, whose golden
helmets and armor reflected the light of the lanterns, cleared the wide court by driving the men before them, as the flames drive the game from a fired hedge, and by forcing them into a second court from which again they proceeded to expel them. At least Klea could hear them shouting " In the king's name " there as they had before done close to her. Presently the horse men returned and placed themselves, ten and ten, as guards at each of the passages leading into the court. It was not without interest that Klea looked on at this scene, which was perfectly new to her ; and when one of the fine horses, dazzled by the light of the lanterns, turned restive and shied, leaping and rear ing and threatening his rider with a fall, — when the horseman checked and soothed it, and brought it to a standstill, — the Macedonian warrior was transfigured in her eyes to Publius, who no doubt could manage a horse no less well than this man.
No sooner was the court completely cleared of men by the mounted guard than a new incident claimed Klea's attention. First she heard footsteps in the room adjoining her prison, then bright streaks of light fell through the cracks of the slight par tition which divided her place of retreat from the other room, then the two window-openings close to hers were closed with heavy shutters, then seats or benches were dragged about and various objects were laid upon a table, and finally the door of the adjoining room was thrown open and slammed to again so violently that the door which closed hers and the bench near which she was standing trembled and jarred.
At the same moment a deep, sonorous voice called out with a loud and hearty shout of laughter : —
TO SAVE A SISTER. 129
"A mirror — give me a mirror, Eulaeus. By heaven! I do not look much like prison fare — more like a man in whose strong brain there is no lack of deep schemes, who can throttle his antagonist with a grip of his fist, and who is prompt to avail himself of all the spoil that comes in his way, so that he may compress the pleasures of a whole day into every hour, and enjoy them to the utmost ! As surely as my name is Euergetes my uncle Antiochus was right in liking to mix among the populace. The splendid puppets who surround us kings, and cover every portion of their own bodies in wrappings and swaddling bands, also stifle the expression of every genuine sentiment ; and it is enough to turn our brain to reflect that, if we would not be deceived, every word that we hear — and, oh dear ! how many words we must needs hear — must be pon dered in our minds. Now, the mob, on the contrary — who think themselves beautifully dressed in a threadbare cloth hanging round their brown loins — are far better off. If one of them says to another of his own class — a naked wretch who wears about him everything he happens to possess — that he is a dog, he answers with a blow of his fist in the other's face, and what can be plainer than that ! If on the other hand he tells him he is a splendid fellow, he believes it without reservation, and has a perfect right to believe it.
" Did you see how that stunted little fellow with a snub nose and bandy legs, who is as broad as he is long, showed all his teeth in a delighted grin when I praised his steady hand ? He laughs like a hyena, and every respectable father of a family looks on the fellow as a god-forsaken monster ; but the immortals must think him worth something to have given him such mag nificent grinders in his ugly mouth, and to have preserved him mercifully for fifty years — for that is about the rascal's age. If that fellow's dagger breaks, he can kill his victim with those teeth, as a"fox does a duck, or smash his bones with his fist. "
But, my lord," replied Eulaeus, dryly and with a certain matter-of-fact gravity, to King Euergetes — for he it was who had come with him into the room adjoining Klea's retreat, '* the dry little Egyptian with the thin straight hair is even more trust worthy and tougher and nimbler than his companion, and, so far, more estimable. One flings himself on his prey with a rush like a block of stone hurled from a roof, but the other, without being seen, strikes his poisoned fang into his flesh like an adder hidden in the sand. The third, on whom I had set great hopes,
vol. v. — 0
130 TO SAVE A SISTER.
was beheaded the day before yesterday without my knowledge ; but the pair whom you have condescended to inspect with your own eyes are sufficient. They must use neither dagger nor lance, but they will easily achieve their end with slings and hooks and poisoned needles, which leave wounds that resemble the sting of an adder. We may safely depend on these fellows. " Once more Euergetes laughed loudly, and exclaimed: —
" What an elaborate criticism ! Exactly as if these blood hounds were tragic actors, of which one could best produce his effects by fire and pathos, and the other by the subtlety of con ception. I call that an unprejudiced judgment. And why should not a man be great even as a murderer? From what hangman's noose did you drag out the neck of one, and from what heads man's block did you rescue the other, when you found them ?
" It is a lucky hour in which we first see something new to
I never before in the whole course of my life saw such villains as these. I do not regret having gone to see them and talked to them as if I were their equal. Now, take this torn coat off me, and help me to undress. Before I go to the feast I will take a hasty plunge in my bath, for I twitch in
toils. "
Klea could hear every word of this frightful conversation,
and clasped her hand over her brow with a shudder, for she found it difficult to believe in the reality of the hideous images that it brought before her mind. Was she awake or was she a prey to some horrid dream?
She hardly knew, and, indeed, she scarcely understood half of all she heard till the Roman's name was mentioned. She felt as if the point of a thin, keen knife was being driven obliquely through her brain from right to left, as it now flashed through her mind that it was against him, against Publius, that the wild beasts, disguised in human form, were directed by Eulaeus, and face to face with this — the most hideous, the most incredible of horrors — she suddenly recovered the full use of her senses. She softly slipped close to that rift in the partition through which the broadest beam of light fell into the room, put her ear close to and drank in, with fearful atten tion, word for word the report made by the eunuch to his iniqui tous superior, who frequently interrupted him with remarks,
us, and, by Heracles !
every limb, I feel as if I had got dirty in their company.
" There lie my clothes and my sandals ; strap them on for me, and tell me as you do it how you lured the Roman into the
it,
TO SAVE A SISTER. 131
words of approval, or a short laugh — drank them in, as a man
perishing in the desert drinks the loathsome waters of a salt
pool.
And what she heard was indeed well fitted to deprive her
of her senses, but the more definite the facts to which the words referred that she could overhear, the more keenly she listened, and the more resolutely she collected her thoughts. Eulaeus had used her own name to induce the Roman to keep an assig nation at midnight in the desert close to the Apis tombs. He repeated the words that he had written to this effect on a tile, and which requested Publius to come quite alone to the spot indicated, since she dare not speak with him in the temple. Finally, he was invited to write his answer on the other side of the square of clay. As Klea heard these words, put into her own mouth by a villain, she could have sobbed aloud heartily with anguish, shame, and rage ; but the point now was to keep her ears wide open, for Euergetes asked his odious tool, " And what was the Roman's answer ? "
Eulaeus must have handed the tile to the king, for he laughed loudly again, and cried out : —
" So he will walk into the trap — will arrive by half an hour after midnight at the latest, and greets Klea from her sister Irene. He carries on love-making and abduction wholesale, and buys water-bearers by the pair, like doves in the market or sandals in a shoemaker's stall. Only see how the simpleton writes Greek ; in these few words there are two mistakes, two regular schoolboy's blunders.
" The fellow must have had a very pleasant day of since he must have been reckoning on not unsuccessful evening — but the gods have an ugly habit of clenching the hand with which they have long caressed their favorites, and striking him with their fist.
"Amalthea's horn has been poured out on him to-day; first he snapped up, under my very nose, my little Hebe, the Irene of Irenes, whom hope to-morrow to inherit from him then he got the gift of my best Cyrenaean horses, and at the same time the flattering assurance of my valuable friendship then he had audience of my fair sister — and goes more to the heart of republican than you would believe when crowned heads are graciously disposed toward him finally the sister of his pretty sweetheart invites him to an assignation, and she, you and Zoe speak the truth, beauty in the grand style. Now
is a
;
; if
;
I
it a
a
it,
132 TO SAVE A SISTER.
these are really too many good things for one inhabitant of this most stingily provided world ; and in one single day, too, which, once begun, is so soon ended ; and justice requires that we should lend a helping hand to destiny, and cut off the head of this poppy that aspires to rise above its brethren ; the thou sands who have less good fortune than he would otherwise have great cause to complain of neglect. "
"I am happy to see you in such good humor," said Eu- lffiUS.
" My humor is as may be," interrupted the king. " I believe I am only whistling a merry tune to keep up my spirits in the dark. If I were on more familiar terms with what other men call fear, I should have ample reason to be afraid ; for in the quail-fight we have gone in for I have wagered a crown — aye, and more than that even. To-morrow only will decide whether the game is lost or won, but I know already to-day that I would rather see my enterprise against Philometor fail, with all my hopes of the double crown, than our plot against the life of the Roman; for Iwas a man before Iwas a king, and a man I should remain, if my throne, which now indeed stands on only two legs, were to crash under my weight.
" My sovereign dignity is but a robe, though the costliest, to be sure, of all garments. If forgiveness were any part of my nature, I might easily forgive the man who should soil or injure that — but he who comes too near to Euergetes the man, who dares to touch this body and the spirit it contains, or to cross it in its desires and purposes — him I will crush unhesitatingly to the earth, I will see him torn in pieces. Sentence is passed on the Roman, and if your ruffians do their duty, and if the gods accept the holocaust that I had slain before them at sun set for the success of my project, in a couple of hours Publius Cornelius Scipio will have bled to death. — — I,
"He is in a position to laugh at me as a man but therefore, — as a man — have the right, and — as a king — have the power, to make sure that that laugh shall be his last. If I could murder Rome as I can him how glad should I be ! for Rome alone hinders me from being the greatest of all the great kings of our time ; and yet I shall rejoice to-morrow when they tell me 'Publius Cornelius Scipio has been torn by wild beasts, and his body is so mutilated that his own mother could not recognize it ' more than if a messenger were to bring me the news that Carthage had broken the power of Rome. "
TO SAVE A SISTER. 133
Euergetes had spoken the last words in a voice that sounded like the roll of thunder as it growls in a rapidly approaching storm, louder, deeper, and more furious each instant. When at last he was silent, Eulaeus said : —
" The immortals, my lord, will not deny you this happiness. The brave fellows whom you condescended to see and to talk to strike as certainly as the bolt of our father Zeus, and as we have learned from the Roman's horse-keeper where he has hidden Irene, she will no more elude your grasp than the crowns of Upper and Lower Egypt. Now, allow me to put on your mantle, and then to call the bodyguard, that they may escort you as you return to your residence. "
"One thing more," cried the king, detaining Eulaeus. " There are always troops by the Tombs of Apis, placed there to guard the sacred places; may not they prove a hindrance to your friends ? "
"I have withdrawn all the soldiers and armed" guards to Memphis, down to the last man," replied Eulaeus, and quar tered them within the White Wall. Early to-morrow, before you proceed to business, they will be replaced by a stronger division, so that they may not prove a reenforcement to your brother's troops here, if things come to fighting. "
"I shall know how to reward your foresight," said Euer getes as Eulaeus quitted the room.
Again Klea heard a door open, and the sound of many hoofs on the pavement of the courtyard, and when she went, all trembling, up to the window, she saw Euergetes himself, and the powerfully knit horse that was led in for him. The tyrant twisted his hand in the mane of the restless and pawing steed, and Klea thought that the monstrous mass could never mount on to the horse's back without the aid of many men ; but she was mistaken, for with a mighty spring the giant flung himself high in the air and on to the horse, and then, guiding his pant ing steed by the pressure of his knees alone, he bounded out of the prison yard surrounded by his splendid train.
For some minutes the courtyard remained empty, then a man hurriedly crossed unlocked the door of the room where Klea was, and informed her that he was subaltern under Glaucus, and had brought her message from him.
" My lord," said the veteran soldier to the girl, " bid me greet you, and say that he found neither the Roman, Publius Scipio, nor his friend the Corinthian at home. He prevented from
is
a
it, a
134 TO SAVE A SISTER.
coming to you himself; he has his hands full of business, for soldiers in the service of both the kings are quartered within the White Wall, and all sorts of squabbles break out between them. Still, you cannot remain in this room, for it will shortly be occupied by a party of young officers who began the fray. Glaucus proposes for your choice that you should either allow me to conduct you to his wife or return to the temple to which you are attached. In the latter case a chariot shall convey you as far as the second tavern in Khakem on the borders of the desert — for the city is full of drunken soldiery. There you may probably find an escort, if you explain to the host who you are. But the chariot must be back again in less than an hour, for it is one of the king's, and when the banquet is over there may be a scarcity of chariots. "
" Yes — I will go back to the place I came from," said Klea
eagerly, interrupting the messenger. " Take me at once to the chariot. "
" Follow me, then," said the old man.
" But I have no veil," observed Klea, " and have only this thin robe on. Rough soldiers snatched my wrapper from my face, and my cloak from off my shoulders. "
" I will bring you the captain's cloak which is lying here in the orderly's room, and his traveling hat too; tbat will hide your face with its broad flap. You are so tall that you might be taken for a man, and that is well, for a woman leaving the palace at this hour would hardly pass unmolested. A slave shall fetch the things from your temple to-morrow. I may inform you that my master ordered me to take as much care of you as if you were his own daughter. And he told me too — and I had almost forgotten it — to tell you that your sister was carried off by the Roman, and not by that other dangerous man —you would know whom he meant. Now please wait till I
I shall not be
return ;
In a few minutes the guard returned with a large cloak, in
which he wrapped Klea, and a broad-brimmed traveling hat which she pressed on her head ; then led her to the quarter of the palace where the king's stables were. She kept close to the officer, and was soon seated on a chariot, and then conducted by the driver — who took her for a young Macedonian noble tempted out at night by an assignation — as far as the second tavern on the road back to the Serapeum.
gone long. "
BRAGGART AND PARASITE. 135
BRAGGART AND PARASITE. By TERENCE.
(From " The Eunuch. ")
[P. Tehentius Afer was a Carthaginian, born probably b. c. 185 ; brought to Rome early, it is said, as a slave ; was emancipated, became a protege' of the younger Scipio, exhibited his first play at nineteen, wrote five others in the next six years, and died b. c. 159 at twenty-six, one of the world's great classics from the purity and delicacy of his art, the universality of his types of character, the charm of his grace and humane irony. His work was largely a close imitation of the Greek Menander, and he combined scenes from other Greek originals ; but his own contribution, like Virgil's to the epic, was still greater than his borrowing. The names of his"plays are: "Andria" "(The Maid of Andros), "Eunuchus" (The Eunuch), Heautontimorumenos (The Self -Tormentor), "Adelphi" (The Brothers), "Hecyra" (The Mother- in-Law), "Phormio. "]
Chief Dramatis Persons : Gnatho, a parasite ; Thraso, a military officer, braggart, and coxcomb ; Laches, an old Athenian gentleman, with two sons, Phsdria and Chxrea, the former having a servant Parmeno; Chbbmes, an Athenian youth ; Thais, a courtesan admired by Thraso, and one of the two heroines of the piece, the other being Pamphila, sister of Chremes, who is second only to Mrs. Grundy as a curious stage heroine, for the latter never appears at all, while Pamphila appears but once, and never opens her mouth. She is a slave girl, originally of good family, who has been kidnapped when a baby and brought up by Thais' courtesan mother with her own daughter in Rhodes ; Thais goes to Athens, her mother dies, and Pamphila is bought by Thraso, who intends giving her to Thais at Athens as a present, not knowing their old relations. He finds Thais in liaison with Phaedria, and will not give her the girl till she has discarded her new lover ; she, finding who the girl is and having discovered from Chremes' talk that she must be his sister, is determined to get her back, but not to give up Phaedria, whom she likes much better than Thraso. Finally she induces Phaedria to leave Thraso a clear field for two days, promising to throw him over as soon as
she has the girl in her possession ; he agrees, and sends her a eunuch and a negro girl by Parmeno, while Thraso sends Pamphila by his lickspittle Gnatho. Chaerea sees and admires Pamphila ; his brother's servant, Par meno, dresses him in the eunuch's clothes and lets him into the house as her guardian, where he takes full advantage of the situation. Thraso quarrels with Thais, and comes with a train to demand Pamphila back, but cannot get her. Finally Pamphila is recognized by Chremes, and Chaerea makes amends by marrying her — the standpoint of Clarissa Harlowe not being intelligible then or usual at any time.
Act II. — Scene III.
Enter Gnatho at a distance, leading Pamphila.
Gnatho [to himself] — Immortal Gods I how much does one man excel another I What a difference there is between a
136 BRAGGART AND PARASITE.
wise person and a fool ! This strongly came into my mind from the following circumstance. As I was coming along to-day, I met a certain person of this place, of my own rank and station, no mean fellow, one who, like myself, had guttled
I saw him, shabby, dirty, sickly, beset away his paternal estate ;" "
with rags and years ; — What's the meaning of this garb ?
"
; he answered, Because, wretch that I am, I've lost
said I
what I possessed : see to what I am reduced, — all my acquaint ances and friends forsake me. " On this I felt contempt for him in comparison with myself. " What I " said I, " you piti ful sluggard, have you so managed matters as to have no hope left?
Have you lost your wits together with your estate? Don't you see me, who have risen from the same condition ? What a complexion I have, how spruce and well dressed, what portliness of person? I have everything, yet have nothing; and although I possess nothing, still, of nothing am I in want. " " But I," said he, " unhappily, can neither be a butt nor submit to blows. " "What ! " said I, "do you suppose it is managed by those means ? You are quite mistaken. Once upon a time, in the early ages, there was a calling for that class : this is a new mode of coney-catching ; I, in fact, have been the first to strike into this path. There is a class of men who strive to be the first in everything, but are not ; to these I make my court ; I do not present myself to them to be laughed at ; but I am the
first to laugh with them, and at the same time to admire their parts ; whatever they say, I commend ; if they contradict that selfsame thing, I commend again. Does any one deny? I
I affirm : in fine, I have so trained myself as to humor them in everything. This calling is now by far
deny : does he affirm ?
the most productive. "
Parmeno [apart] — A clever fellow, upon my faith ! From
being fools he makes men mad outright.
Gnatho [to himself, continuing] — While we were thus
talking, in the meantime we arrived at the market place ; over joyed, all the confectioners ran at once to meet me; fish mongers, butchers, cooks, sausage makers, and fishermen, whom, both when my fortunes were flourishing and when they were ruined, I had served, and often serve still : they complimented me, asked me to dinner, and gave me a hearty welcome. When this poor hungry wretch saw that I was in such great esteem, and that I obtained a living so easily, then the fellow began to entreat me that I would allow him to learn this method of me ;
BRAGGART AND PARASITE. 137
I bade him become my follower if he could ; as the disciples of the Philosophers take their names from the Philosophers them selves, so, too, the Parasites ought to be called Gnathonics.
Parmeno [apart to the Audience] — Do you see the effects of ease and feeding at another's cost?
Gnatho [to himself, continuing] — But why do I delay to take this girl to Thais, and to ask her to come to dinner? [Aside, on seeing Parmeno. ] But I see Parmeno, our rival's
servant, waiting before the door of Thais with a sorrowful air ; all's safe ; no doubt these people are finding a cold welcome. I'm resolved to have some sport with this knave.
Parmeno [aside] — They fancy that, through this present,
Thais is quite their own. —
With his very best wishes Gnatho greets Parmeno, his very good friend. — What are you
Gnatho [accosting Parmeno]
doing? — Parmeno
I'm standing.
Gnatho — So I perceive. Pray, do you see anything here
that don't please you ? Parmeno — Yourself.
Gnatho — I believe you — but anything else, pray ? Parmeno — Why so ?
Gnatho — Because you are out of spirits. Parmeno — Not in the least.
Gnatho — Well, don't be so; but what think you of this slave ? [Pointing to her.
Parmeno — Really, not amiss.
Gnatho [aside] — I've galled the fellow.
Parmeno [aside, on overhearing him] — How mistaken you are in your notion !
Gnatho — How far do you suppose this gift will prove ac
ceptable to Thais ?
Parmeno — It's this you mean to say now, that we are dis
carded there. Hark you, there are vicissitudes in all things. Gnatho — For the next six months, Parmeno, I'll set you at ease ; you shan't have to be running to and fro, or sitting up
till daylight. — Don't I make you happy ? Parmeno Me ? O prodigiously !
Gnatho — That's my way with my friends. Parmeno — I commend you.
Gnatho — I'm detaining you ; perhaps you were about to go somewhere else.
138 BRAGGART AND PARASITE.
Parmeno — Nowhere.
Gnatho — In that case, then, lend me your services a little ;
let me be introduced to her.
Parmeno — Very well [Gnatho knocks at the door, which
immediately opens] ; now the door is open for you [aside] because you are bringing her.
Gnatho [going into the house of Thais, ironically] — Should you like any one to be called out from here ?
[ Goes in with Pamphila, and shuts the door.
Act III. — Scene I.
Enter Thraso and Gnatho.
Thraso — Did Thais really return me many thanks ?
Ghnatho — Exceeding thanks.
Thraso — Was she delighted, say you ?
Gnatho — Not so much, indeed, at the present itself, as be
cause it was given by you ; really, in right earnest, she does exult at that.
Enter Parmeno unseen, from Laches' house.
Parmeno [apart] —I've come here to be on the lookout, that when there is an opportunity I may take the presents. But see, here's the Captain.
Thraso — Undoubtedly it is the case with me, that every thing I do is a cause for thankfulness.
Ghnatho — Upon my faith, I've observed it.
Thraso — The most mighty King, even, always used to give me especial thanks for whatever I did; but not so to others.
Ghnatho — He who has the wit that you have, often by his words appropriates to himself the glory that has been achieved by the labor of others.
Thraso — You've just hit it.
Gnatho — The king, then, kept you in his eye. Thraso —Just so.
Gnatho — To enjoy your society.
Thraso — True; he intrusted to me all his army, all his state secrets.
Gnatho — Astonishing !
taste. — Thraso
BRAGGART AND PARASITE. 139
Thraso — Then, if on any occasion a surfeit of society, or a dislike of business, came upon him, when he was desirous to take some recreation ; just as though — you understand ?
Gnatho — I know ; just as though on occasion he would rid his mind of those anxieties.
Thraso — You have it. Then he used to take me aside as his only boon companion.
Gnatho — Whew I You are telling of a king of refined
Aye, he is a person of that sort ; a man of but very few acquaintanceships.
Gnatho [aside] — Indeed, of none, I fancy, if he's on inti mate terms with you.
Thraso — All the people envied me, and attacked me pri vately. I didn't care one straw. They envied me dreadfully ; but one in particular, whom the King had appointed over the Indian elephants. Once, when he became particularly trouble some, " Prithee, Strato," said I, " are you so fierce because you hold command over the wild beasts ? "
Gnatho — Cleverly said, upon my faith, and shrewdly. As tounding ! You did give the fellow a home thrust. What said he ?
Thraso — Dumf ounded, instantaneously. Gnatho — How could he be otherwise ?
Parmeno [apart] — Ye Gods, by our trust in you I a lost and miserable fellow the one, and the other a scoundrel.
Thraso — Well then, about that matter, Gnatho, the way in which I touched up the Rhodian at a banquet — did I never
tell you ? — Never; Gnatho
but pray, do tell me. [Aside. ] I've heard it more than a thousand times already.
Thraso — There was in my company at a banquet, this young man of Rhodes, whom I'm speaking of. By chance I had a mistress there ; he began to toy with her, and to annoy me. " What are you doing, sir impudence ? " said I to the fellow ; " a hare yourself, and looking out for game ? "
Gnatho [pretending to laugh very heartily] — Ha, ha, ha ! Thraso — What's the matter ?
Gnatho — How apt, how smart, how clever ; nothing could
be more excellent. Prithee, was this a saying of yours ? I fancied it was an old one.
Thraso — Did you ever hear it before ?
140 BRAGGART AND PARASITE.
Ghnatho — Many a time ; and it is mentioned among the first-rate ones.
Thraso — It's my own.
Ghnatho — I'm sorry though that it was said to a thought less young man, and one of respectability.
Parmeno [apart] — May the Gods confound you !
Gnaiho — Pray, what did he do ?
Thraso — Quite disconcerted. All who were present were
dying with laughter ; in short, they were all quite afraid of me.
Thraso — But hark you, had I best clear myself of this to Thais, as to her suspicion that I'm fond of this girl ?
Gnatho — By no means : on the contrary, rather increase her jealousy. —
Thraso Why so?
Gnatho — Do you ask me ? Don't you see, if on any occa sion she makes mention of Phaedria or commends him, to pro voke you
Gnatho — Not without reason.
Thraso —Iunderstand.
Ghnatho — That such may not be the case, this method is the only remedy. When she speaks of Phaedria, do you instantly mention Pamphila. If at any time she says, " Let's invite Phaedria to make one," do you say, " Let's ask Pamphila to sing. " If she praises his good looks, do you, on the other hand, praise hers. In short, do you return like for like, which will mortify her.
Thraso — If, indeed, she loved me, this might be of some use, Gnatho.
Gnatho — Since she is impatient for and loves that which you give her, she already loves you ; as it is, then, it is an easy matter for her to feel vexed. She will be always afraid lest the presents which she herself is now getting, you may on some occasion be taking elsewhere.
Thraso — Well said ; that never came into my mind.
Gnatho — Nonsense. You never thought about it ; else how much more readily would you yourself have hit upon Thraso
I
it,
BRAGGART AND PARASITE. 141
Scene II.
Enter Thais from her house, attended by Pythias.
TJiais [as she comes out] — I thought I just now heard the Captain's voice. And look, here he is. Welcome, my dear
Thraso. — Thraso
O my Thais, my sweet one, how are you ? How much do you love me in return for that music girl ?
Parmeno [apart] — How polite ! What a beginning he has made on meeting her I
Thais — Very much, as you deserve.
Ghnatho — Let's go to dinner then. [To Thraso. ] What do you stand here for ?
Parmeno [apart] — Then there's the other one ; you would declare that he was born for his belly's sake.
I shan't delay.
Thraso — When you please ;
Parmeno [apart] — I'll accost them, and pretend as though
I had just come out. [He comes forward. ] Are you going anywhere, Thais?
Thais — Ha ! Parmeno ; well done ; just going out for the
day. Parmeno — Where ! —
Thais [aside, pointing at Thraso] him ?
Why I don't you see
Parmeno [aside] — I see him, and I'm sorry for it. [Aloud. ] Phaedria's presents are ready for you when you please.
Thraso [impatiently] — Why are we to stand here ? Why
don't we be off ? —
Troth now, pray, do let us, with your leave, present to her the things we intend, and accost and
speak to her.
Thraso [ironically] — Very fine presents, I suppose, or at
least equal to mine.
Parmeno — The fact will prove itself. [Goes to the door
of Laches' house and calls. ] Ho there ! bid those people come out of doors at once, as I ordered.
Enter from the house a Black Girl.
Parmeno [to Thraso]
Parmeno — Do you step forward this way. She comes all the way from Ethiopia.
[To Thais. ]
142 BRAGGART AND PARASITE.
Thraso [contemptuously] —Here are some three minae in value.
Chuatho — Hardly so much.
Parmeno — Where are you, Dorus ? Step this way.
Enter Chorea from the house dressed like the Eunuch.
Parmeno — There's a eunuch for you — of what a genteel appearance ! of what a prime age !
Thais — God bless me, he's handsome.
Parmeno — What say you, Gnatho ? Do you see anything
to find fault with? And what say you, Thraso?
They hold their tongues ; they praise him sufficiently thereby. [ To Thais. ] Make trial of him in literature, try him in ex ercises and in music ; I'll warrant him well skilled in what it becomes a gentleman to know.
request that you will live for him alone, and that for his own sake others may be excluded ; he neither tells of battles nor shows his scars, nor does he restrict you as [looking at Thraso] a certain person does; but when it is not incon venient, whenever you think fit, whenever you have the time, he is satisfied to be admitted. —
Thraso — If there were no women present, I
Parmeno — And he who has sent these things makes no
[Aside. ]
It appears that this is the servant of some beggarly, wretched master.
Thraso [to Gnatho, contemptuously]
Ghmtho — Why, faith, no person, I'm quite sure of that, could possibly put up with him, who had the means to get another.
Parmeno — You hold your tongue — a fellow whom I con sider beneath all men of the very lowest grade : for when you can bring yourself to flatter that fellow [pointing at Thraso], I do believe you could pick your victuals off the funeral pyre.
Thraso — Are we to go now ?
Thais — I'll take these indoors first [pointing to Chorea and the ^Ethiopian], and at the same time I'll order what I wish ; after that I'll return immediately.
[Goes into the house with Pythias, Chorea, and the Slave.
Thraso [to Gnatho] — I shall be off. Do you wait for her.
at home. — Chnatho
Very well.
Act IV. — Scene VIII.
[Exit.
BRAGGART AND PARASITE.