CHAPTER XV.
When the sun was approaching the western horizon the travellers started.
Light mists veiled the radiant right eye of the goddess of heaven. Theblood of the contending spirits of light and darkness, which usuallydyed the west of Egypt crimson at the departure of the great sun god,to-day vanished from sight.
The sultry air was damp and oppressive, and experienced old Philippus,who had commanded a fleet of considerable size under the firstPtolemies, agreed with the captain of the vessel, who pointed to severalsmall dark clouds under the silvery stratus, and expressed the fear thatSelene would hardly illumine the ship's course during the coming night.
But before the departure the travellers had offered sacrifices tothe foam-born Cyprian Aphrodite and the Dioscuri, the protectors ofmariners, and the conversation took the gayest turn.
In the harbour of the neighbouring seaport Tanis they went aboard of thecommandant's state galley, one of the largest and finest in the royalfleet, where a banquet awaited them.
Cushions were arranged on the high poop, and the sea was as smooth asthe silver dishes in which viands were offered to the guests.
True, not a breath stirred the still, sultry air, but the three longdouble ranks of rowers in the hold of the ship provided for her swiftprogress, and if no contrary wind sprang up she would run into theharbour of Pelusium before the last goblet was emptied.
Soon after the departure it seemed as if the captain of the littlevessel had erred in his prediction, for the moon burst victoriouslythrough the black clouds, only its shining orb was surrounded by a dull,glimmering halo.
Doubtless many a guest longed for a cool breeze, but when the mixed winehad moistened the parched tongues the talk gained fresh animation.
Every one did his or her part, for the point in question was to inducePhilippus and his wife to visit Alexandria again and spend some timethere as beloved guests with Daphne in her father's house or in thepalace of Philotas, who jestingly, yet with many reasons, contested thehonour with the absent Archias.
The old warrior had remained away from the capital for several years;he alone knew why. Now the act which had incensed him and the offenceinflicted upon him were forgotten, and, having passed seventy fouryears, he intended to ask the commander in chief once more for theretirement from the army which the monarch had several times refused,in order, as a free man, to seek again the city which in his presentposition he had so long avoided.
Thyone, it is true, thought that her husband's youthful vigour renderedthis step premature, but the visit to Alexandria harmonized with her ownwishes.
Proclus eagerly sided with her. "To him," said the man of manifoldknowledge, who as high priest of Apollo was fond of speaking in aninstructive tone, "experience showed that men like Philippus, who solelyon account of the number of their years withdrew their services fromthe state, felt unhappy, and, like the unused ploughshare, becameprematurely rusty. What they lacked, and what Philippus would alsomiss, was not merely the occupation, which might easily be supplied byanother, but still more the habit of command. One who had had thousandssubject to his will was readily overcome by the feeling that he wasgoing down hill, when only a few dozen of his own slaves and his wifeobeyed him."
This word aroused the mirth of old Philippus, who praised all the goodqualities of Macedonian wives except that of obedience, while Thyoneprotested that during her more than forty years of married life herhusband had become so much accustomed to her complete submission than heno longer noticed it. If Philippus should command her to-morrow to leavetheir comfortable palace in Pelusium to accompany him to Alexandria,where they possessed no home of their own, he would see how willinglyshe obeyed him.
While speaking, her bright, clear eyes, which seemed to float in thedeep hollows sunk by age, sparkled so merrily in her wrinkled face thatPhilippus shook his finger gaily at her and showed plainly how muchpleasure the jest of the old companion of his wanderings gave him.
Yet he insisted upon his purpose of not entering Alexandria again untilhe had resigned his office, and to do this at present was impossible,since he was bound just now, as if with chains, to the importantfrontier fortress. Besides, there had probably been little change in thecapital since the death of his beloved old companion in arms and master,the late King.
This assertion evoked a storm of contradiction, and even the youngerofficers, who usually imposed severe restraint upon themselves in thegeneral's presence, raised their voices to prove that they, too, hadlooked around the flourishing capital with open eyes.
Yet it was not six decades since Philippus, then a lad of seventeen, hadbeen present at its foundation.
His father, who had commanded as hipparch a division of cavalry in thearmy of Alexander the Great, had sent for the sturdy youth just at thattime to come to Egypt, that he might enter the army. The conquerorof the world had himself assigned him, as a young Macedonian of goodfamily, to the corps of the Hetairoi; and how the vigorous old man'seyes sparkled as, with youthful enthusiasm, he spoke of the divinevanquisher of the world who had at that time condescended to addresshim, gazed at him keenly yet encouragingly with his all-discerning butkindly blue eyes, and extended his hand to him!
"That," he cried, "made this rough right hand precious to me. Oftenwhen, in Asia, in scorching India, and later here also, wounded orexhausted, it was ready to refuse its service, a spirit voice withincried, 'Do not forget that he touched it'; and then, as if I had drunkthe noble wine of Byblus, a fiery stream flowed from my heart into theparalyzed hand, and, as though animated with new life, I used it againand kept it worthy of his touch. To have seen a darling of the gods likehim, young men, makes us greater. It teaches us how even we human beingsare permitted to resemble the immortals. Now he is transported among thegods, and the Olympians received him, if any one, gladly. Whoever sharedthe deeds of such a hero takes a small portion of his renown with himthrough life and into the grave, and whom he touched, as befell me,feels himself consecrated, and whatever is petty and base flows awayfrom him like water from the anointed body of the wrestler. ThereforeI consider myself fortunate above thousands of others, and if there isanything which still tempts me to go to Alexandria, it is the desire totouch his dead body once more. To do that before I die is my most ardentdesire."
"Then gratify it!" cried Thyone with urgent impatience; but Proclusturned to the matron, and, after exchanging a hasty glance with Althea,said: "You probably know, my venerable friend, that Queen Arsinoe, whomost deeply honours your illustrious husband, had already arranged tohave him summoned to the capital as priest of Alexander. True, in thisposition he would have had the burden of disposing of all the revenuesfrom the temples throughout Egypt; but, on the other hand, he wouldalways have his master's mortal remains near and be permitted to betheir guardian. What influences baffled the Queen's wish certainly havenot remained hidden from you here."
"You are mistaken," replied Philippus gravely. "Not the least whisper ofthis matter reached my ears, and it is fortunate."
"Impossible!" Althea eagerly interrupted; "nothing else was talked offor weeks in the royal palace. Queen Arsinoe--you might be jealous, LadyThyone--has been fairly in love with your hero ever since her last stayin your house on her way home from Thrace, and she has not yet given upher desire to see him in the capital as priest of Alexander. It seemsto her just and fair that the old companion of the greatest of the greatshould have the highest place, next to her husband's, in the citywhose foundation he witnessed. Arsinoe speaks of you also with all theaffection natural to her feeling heart."
"This is as flattering as it is surprising," replied Thyone. "Theattention we showed her in Pelusium was nothing more than we owed tothe wife of the sovereign. But the court is not the principal attractionthat draws me to the capital. It would make Philippus happy--you havejust heard him say so--to remember his old master beside the tomb ofAlexander."
"And," added Daphne, "how amazed you will be when you see the presentform of the 'Soma', in which rests th
e golden coffin with the bodyof the divine hero whom the fortunate Philippus aided to conquer theworld!"
"You are jesting," interrupted the old warrior. "I aided him only as thedrops in the stream help to turn the wheel of the mill. As to his body,true, I marched at the head of the procession which bore it to Memphisand thence to Alexandria. In the Soma I was permitted to think of himwith devout reverence, and meantime I felt as if I had again seen himwith these eyes--exactly as he looked in the Egyptian fishing village ofRhacotis, which he transformed into your magnificent Alexandria. Whata youth he was! Even what would have been a defect in others became abeauty in him. The powerful neck which supported his divine head was alittle crooked; but what grace it lent him when he turned kindly toany one! One scarcely noticed it, and yet it was like the bend of apetitioner, and gave the wish which he expressed resistless power. Whenhe stood erect, the sharpest eye could not detect it. Would that hecould appear before me thus once more! Besides, the buildings whichsurrounded the golden coffin were nearly completed at the time of ourdeparture."
"But the statues, reliefs, and mosaic work were lacking," said Hermon."They were executed by Lysippus, Euphranor, and others of our greatestartists; the paintings by Apelles himself, Antiphilus, and Nicias. Onlythose who had won renown were permitted to take part in this work, andthe Ares rushing to battle, created by our Myrtilus, can be seen amongthe others. The tomb of Alexander was not entirely completed until threeyears ago."
"At the same time as the Paneum," added Philotas, completing thesentence; and Althea, waving her beaker toward the old hero, remarked:"When you have your quarters in the royal palace with your crownedadmirer, Arsinoe--which, I hope, will be very soon--I will be yourguide."
"That office is already bestowed on me by the Lady Thyone," Daphnequietly replied.
"And you think that, in this case, obedience is the husband's duty?"cried the other, with a sneering laugh.
"It would only be the confirmation of a wise choice," replied Philippus,who disliked the Thracian's fawning manner.
Thyone, too, did not favour her, and had glanced indignantly at her whenAlthea made her rude remark. Now she turned to Daphne, and her plainface regained its pleasant expression as she exclaimed: "We reallypromised your father to let him show us the way, child; but,unfortunately, we are not yet in Alexandria and the Paneum."
"But you would set out to-morrow," Hermon protested, "if we couldsucceed in fitly describing what now awaits you there. There is only oneAlexandria, and no city in the world can offer a more beautiful scenethan is visible from the mountain in the Paneum gardens."
"Certainly not," protested the young hipparch, who had studied inAthens. "I stood on the Acropolis; I was permitted to visit Rhodes andMiletus--"
"And you saw nothing more beautiful there," cried Proclus. "Thearistocratic Roman envoys, who left us a short time ago, admitted thesame thing. They are just men, for the view from the Capitol of theirgrowing city is also to be seen. When the King's command led me to theTiber, many things surprised me; but, as a whole, how shall I comparethe two cities? The older Rome, with her admirable military power:a barbarian who is just beginning to cultivate more refinedmanners--Alexandria: a rich, aristocratic Hellene who, like you, myyoung friend, completed her education in Ilissus, and unites tothe elegant taste and intellect of the Athenian the mysteriousthoughtfulness of the Egyptian, the tireless industry of the Jew, andthe many-sided wisdom and brilliant magnificence of the other Orientalcountries."
"But who disdains to dazzle the eyes with Asiatic splendour,"interrupted Philotas.
"And yet what do we not hear about the unprecedented luxury in the royalpalace!" growled the gray-haired warrior.
"Parsimony--the gods be praised!--no one need expect from our royalpair," Althea broke in; "but King Ptolemy uses his paternal wealth forvery different purposes than glittering gems and golden chambers. If youdisdain my guidance, honoured hero, at least accept that of some genuineAlexandrian. Then you will understand Proclus's apt simile. You ought tobegin with the royal palaces in the Brucheium."
"No, no-with the harbour of Eunostus!" interrupted the grammateus.
"With the Soma!" cried the young hipparch, while Daphne wished to havethe tour begin in the Paneum gardens.
"They were already laid out when we left Alexandria," said Thyone.
"And they have grown marvellously, as if creative Nature had doubled herpowers in their behalf," Hermon added eagerly. "But man has also wroughtamazing miracles here. Industrious hands reared an actual mountain. Awinding path leads to the top, and when you stand upon the summit andlook northward you at first feel like the sailor who steps on shore andhears the people speak a language which is new to him. It seems like ajumble of meaningless sounds until he learns, not only to understandthe words, but also to distinguish the sentences. Temples and palaces,statues and columns appear everywhere in motley confusion. Each one,if you separate it from the whole and give it a careful examination,is worthy of inspection, nay, of admiration. Here are light, gracefulcreations of Hellenic, yonder heavy, sombre ones of Egyptian art, andin the background the exquisite azure of the eternal sea, which themarvellous structure of the heptastadium unites to the land; while onthe island of Pharos the lighthouse of Sostratus towers aloft almost tothe sky, and with a flood of light points out the way to mariners whoapproach the great harbour at night. Countless vessels are also atanchor in the Eunostus. The riches of the whole earth flow into bothhavens. And the life and movement there and in the inland harbour onLake Mareotis, where the Nile boats land! From early until late, whata busy throng, what an abundance of wares--and how many of the mostvaluable goods are made in our own city! for whatever useful, fine, andcostly articles industrial art produces are manufactured here. The roofhas not yet been put on many a factory in which busy workers are alreadymaking beautiful things. Here the weaver's shuttle flies, yonder goldis spun around slender threads of sheep guts, elsewhere costly materialsare embroidered by women's nimble fingers with the prepared gold thread.There glass is blown, or weapons and iron utensils are forged. Finelypolished knives split the pith of the papyrus, and long rows of workmenand workwomen gum the strips together. No hand, no head is permitted torest. In the Museum the brains of the great thinkers and investigatorsare toiling. Here, too, reality asserts its rights. The time forchimeras and wretched polemics is over. Now it is observing, fathoming,turning to account, nothing more!"
"Gently, my young friend," Proclus interrupted the artist. "I know thatyou, too, sat at the feet of some of the philosophers in the Museum,and still uphold the teachings of Straton, which your fellow-pupil, KingPtolemy, outgrew long ago. Yet he, also, recognised in philosophy, firstof all, the bond which unites the widely sundered acquisitions of theintellect, the vital breath which pervades them, the touchstone whichproves each true or false. If the praise of Alexandria is to be sung,we must not forget the library to which the most precious treasures ofknowledge of the East and West are flowing, and which feeds those whothirst for knowledge with the intellectual gains of former ages andother nations. Honour, too, to our King, and, that I may be just, tohis illustrious wife; for wherever in the Grecian world a friend of theMuses appears, whether he is investigator, poet, architect, sculptor,artist, actor, or singer, he is drawn to Alexandria, and, that he maynot be idle, work is provided. Palaces spring from the earth quicklyenough."
"Yet not like mushrooms," Hermon interrupted, "but as the noblest, mostcarefully executed creations of art-sculpture and painting provide fortheir decoration both without and within."
"And," Proclus went on, "abodes are erected for the gods as well as formen, both Egyptian and Hellenic divinities, each in their own style, andso beautiful that it must be a pleasure for them to dwell under the newroof."
"Go to the gardens of the Paneum, friends!" cried young Philotas;and Hermon, nodding to Thyone, added gaily: "Then you must climb themountain and keep your eyes open while you are ascending the windingpath. You will find enough to do to look at all the new sight
s. Youwill stand there with dry feet, but your soul will bathe in eternal,imperishable, divine beauty."
"The foe of beauty!" exclaimed Proclus, pointing to the sculptor with ascornful glance; but Daphne, full of joyous emotion, whispered to Hermonas he approached her: "Eternal, divine beauty! To hear it thus praisedby you makes me happy."
"Yes," cried the artist, "what else should I call what has so oftenfilled me with the deepest rapture? The Greek language has no morefitting expression for the grand and lofty things that hovered beforeme, and which I called by that chameleon of a word. Yet I have adifferent meaning from what appears before you at its sound. Were Ito call it truth, you would scarcely understand me, but when I conjurebefore my soul the image of Alexandria, with all that springs from it,all that is moving, creating, and thriving with such marvellous freedom,naturalness, and variety within it, it is not alone the beauty thatpleases the eye which delights me; I value more the sound naturalgrowth, the genuine, abundant life. To truth, Daphne, as I mean it."
He raised his goblet as he spoke and drank to her.
She willingly pledged him, but, after removing her lips from the cup,she eagerly exclaimed: "Show it to us, with the mind which animatesit, in perfect form, and I should not know wherein it was to bedistinguished from the beauty which hitherto has been our highest goal."
Here the helmsman's loud shout, "The light of Pelusium!" interruptedthe conversation. The bright glare from the lighthouse of this citywas really piercing the misty night air, which for some time had againconcealed the moon.
There was no further connected conversation, for the sea was now risingand falling in broad, leaden, almost imperceptible waves. The comfort ofmost of Philippus's guests was destroyed, and the ladies uttered a sighof relief when they had descended from the lofty galley and the boatsthat conveyed them ashore, and their feet once more pressed the solidland. The party of travellers went to the commandant's magnificentpalace to rest, and Hermon also retired to his room, but sleep fled fromhis couch.
No one on earth was nearer to his heart and mind than Daphne, and itoften seemed as if her kind, loyal, yet firm look was resting upon him;but the memory of Ledscha also constantly forced itself upon his mindand stirred his blood. When he thought of the menacing fire of her darkeyes, she seemed to him as terrible as one of the unlovely creaturesborn of Night, the Erinyes, Apate, and Eris.
Then he could not help recalling their meetings in the grove of Astarte,her self-forgetting, passionate tenderness, and the wonderfully delicatebeauty of her foreign type. True, she had never laughed in his presence;but what a peculiar charm there was in her smile! Had he really losther entirely and forever? Would it not yet be possible to obtain herforgiveness and persuade her to pose as the model of his Arachne?
During the voyage to Pelusium he had caught Althea's eye again andagain, and rejected as an insult her demand to give her his whole love.The success of the Arachne depended upon Ledscha, and on her alone. Hehad nothing good to expect from the Demeter, and during the nocturnalmeditation, which shows everything in the darkest colours, his best planseemed to be to destroy the unsuccessful statue and not exhibit it forthe verdict of the judges.
But if he went to work again in Tennis to model the Arachne, did notlove for Daphne forbid him to sue afresh for Ledscha's favour?
What a terrible conflict of feelings!
But perhaps all this might gain a more satisfactory aspect by daylight.Now he felt as though he had entangled himself in a snare. Besides,other thoughts drove sleep from his couch.
The window spaces were closed by wooden shutters, and whenever theymoved with a low creaking or louder banging Hermon started and forgoteverything else in anxiety about his invalid friend, whose sufferingevery strong wind brought on again, and often seriously increased.
Three times he sprang up from the soft wool, covered with linen sheets,and looked out to convince himself that no storm had risen. But, thoughmasses of black clouds concealed the moon and stars, and the sea beatheavily against the solid walls of the harbour, as yet only a sultrybreeze of no great strength blew on his head as he thrust it into thenight air.
This weather could scarcely be dangerous to Myrtilus, yet when themorning relieved him from the torturing anxiety which he had found underhis host's roof instead of rest and sleep, gray and black clouds weresweeping as swiftly over the port and the ramparts beside him as if theywere already driven by a tempest, and warm raindrops besprinkled hisface.
He went, full of anxiety, to take his bath, and, while committing thecare of the adornment of his outer man to one of the household slaves,he determined that unless--as often happened in this country--the sungained the victory over the clouds, he would return to Tennis and joinMyrtilus.
In the hall of the men he met the rest of the old hero's guests.
They received him pleasantly enough, Althea alone barely noticed hisgreeting; she seemed to suspect in what way he thought of her.
Thyone and Daphne extended their hands to him all the more cordially.
Philippus did not appear until after breakfast. He had been detainedby important despatches from Alexandria, and by questions andcommunications from Proclus. The latter desired to ascertain whetherthe influential warrior who commanded the most important fortress inthe country could be persuaded to join a conspiracy formed by Arsinoeagainst her royal husband, but he seemed to have left Philippus withvery faint hopes.
Subordinate officers and messengers also frequently claimed thecommandant's attention. When the market place was filling, however, thesturdy old soldier kindly fulfilled his duties as host by offering toshow his guests the sights of the fortified seaport.
Hermon also accompanied him at Daphne's side, but he made it easy forPhilotas to engross her attention; for, though the immense thickness ofthe walls and the arrangement of the wooden towers which, crowned withbattlements, rose at long intervals, seemed to him also well worthseeing, he gave them only partial attention.
While Philippus was showing the guests how safely the archers andslingers could be concealed behind the walls and battlements anddischarge their missiles, and explaining the purpose of the greatcatapults on the outermost dike washed by the sea, the artist waslistening to the ever-increasing roar of the waves which poured intothe harbour from the open sea, to their loud dashing against the strongmole, to the shrill scream of the sea gulls, the flapping of the sails,which were being taken in everywhere--in short, to all the soundsoccasioned by the rising violence of the wind.
There were not a few war ships in the port and among them perfect giantsof amazing size and unusual construction, but Hermon had already seenmany similar ones.
When, shortly after noon, the sun for a few brief moments pierced withscorching rays the dark curtain that shrouded it from sight, and thensuddenly dense masses of clouds, driven from the sea by the tempest,covered the day star, his eyes and cars were engrossed entirely by theuproar of the elements.
The air darkened as if night was falling at this noontide hour, and withsavage fury the foaming mountain waves rushed like mad wild beasts infierce assault upon the mole, the walls, and the dikes of the fortifiedport.
"Home!" cried Thyone, and again entered the litter which she had left toinspect the new catapults.
Althea, trembling, drew her peplos together as the storm swept her lightfigure before it, and, shrieking, struggled against the black slaves whotried to lift her upon the war elephant which had borne her here.
Philotas gave his arm to Daphne. Hermon had ceased to notice her; he hadjust gone to his gray-haired host with the entreaty that he would givehim a ship for the voyage to Tennis, where Myrtilus would need hisassistance.
"It is impossible in such weather," was the reply.
"Then I will ride!" cried Hermon resolutely, and Philippus scanned theson of his old friend and companion in arms with an expression ofquiet satisfaction in his eyes, still sparkling brightly, and answeredquickly, "You shall have two horses, my boy, and a guide who knows theroad besides."
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br /> Then, turning swiftly to one of the officers who accompanied him, heordered him to provide what was necessary.
When, soon after, in the impluvium, the tempest tore the velarium thatcovered the open space from its rings, and the ladies endeavoured todetain Hermon, Philippus silenced them with the remark:
"A disagreeable ride is before him, but what urges him on is pleasingto the gods. I have just ventured to send out a carrier dove," he added,turning to the artist, "to inform Myrtilus that he may expect you beforesunset. The storm comes from the cast, otherwise it would hardly reachthe goal. Put even if it should be lost, what does it matter?"
Thyone nodded to her old husband with a look of pleasure, and her eyesshone through tears at Hermon as she clasped his hand and, rememberingher friend, his mother, exclaimed: "Go, then, you true son of yourfather, and tell your friend that we will offer sacrifices for hiswelfare."
"A lean chicken to Aesculapius," whispered the grammateus to Althea."She holds on to the oboli."
"Which, at any rate, would be hard enough to dispose of in this wretchedplace unless one were a dealer in weapons or a thirsty sailor," sighedthe Thracian. "As soon as the sky and sea are blue again, chains couldnot keep me here. And the cooing around this insipid rich beauty intothe bargain!"
This remark referred to Philotas, who was just offering Daphne amagnificent bunch of roses, which a mounted messenger had brought to himfrom Alexandria.
The girl received it with a grateful glance, but she instantly separatedone of the most beautiful blossoms from its companions and handed itto Hermon, saying, "For our suffering friend, with my affectionateremembrances."
The artist pressed her dear hand with a tender look of love, intendedto express how difficult it was for him to leave her, and when, justat that moment, a slave announced that the horses were waiting, Thyonewhispered: "Have no anxiety, my son! Your ride away from her through thetempest will bring you a better reward than his slave's swift horse willbear the giver of the roses."