CHAPTER X.
An hour had slipped by with the royal party, since Lysias had quittedthe company; the wine-cups had been filled and emptied many times;Eulaeus had rejoined the feasters, and the conversation had takenquite another turn, since the whole of the company were not now equallyinterested in the same subject; on the contrary, the two kings werediscussing with Aristarchus the manuscripts of former poets and of theworks of the sages, scattered throughout Greece, and the ways and meansof obtaining them or of acquiring exact transcripts of them for thelibrary of the Museum. Hierax was telling Eulaeus of the last Dionysiacfestival, and of the representation of the newest comedy in Alexandria,and Eulaeus assumed the appearance--not unsuccessfully--of listeningwith both ears, interrupting him several times with intelligentquestions, bearing directly on what he had said, while in fact hisattention was exclusively directed to the queen, who had taken entirepossession of the Roman Publius, telling him in a low tone of herlife--which was consuming her strength--of her unsatisfied affections,and her enthusiasm for Rome and for manly vigor. As she spoke her cheeksglowed and her eyes sparkled, for the more exclusively she kept theconversation in her own hands the better she thought she was beingentertained; and Publius, who was nothing less than talkative, seldominterrupted her, only insinuating a flattering word now and then whenit seemed appropriate; for he remembered the advice given him by theanchorite, and was desirous of winning the good graces of Cleopatra.
In spite of his sharp ears Eulaeus could understand but little of theirwhispered discourse, for King Euergetes' powerful voice sounded loudabove the rest of the conversation; but Eulaeus was able swiftly tosupply the links between the disjointed sentences, and to grasp thegeneral sense, at any rate, of what she was saying. The queen avoidedwine, but she had the power of intoxicating herself, so to speak, withher own words, and now just as her brothers and Aristarchus were at theheight of their excited and eager question and answer--she raised hercup, touched it with her lips and handed it to Publius, while at thesame time she took hold of his.
The young Roman knew well enough all the significance of this hastyaction; it was thus that in his own country a woman when in love waswont to exchange her cup with her lover, or an apple already bitten byher white teeth.
Publius was seized with a cold shudder--like a wanderer who carelesslypursues his way gazing up at the moon and stars, and suddenly perceivesan abyss yawning; at his feet. Recollections of his mother and ofher warnings against the seductive wiles of the Egyptian women,and particularly of this very woman, flashed through his mind likelightning; she was looking at him--not royally by any means, but withanxious and languishing gaze, and he would gladly have kept his eyesfixed on the ground, and have left the cup untouched; but her eye heldhis fast as though fettering it with ties and bonds; and to put asidethe cup seemed to the most fearless son of an unconquered nation a deedtoo bold to be attempted. Besides, how could he possibly repay thishighest favor with an affront that no woman could ever forgive--least ofall a Cleopatra?
Aye, many a life's happiness is tossed away and many a sin committed,because the favor of women is a grace that does honor to every man, andthat flatters him even when it is bestowed by the unloved and unworthy.For flattery is a key to the heart, and when the heart stands half openthe voice of the tempter is never wanting to whisper: "You will hurt herfeelings if you refuse."
These were the deliberations which passed rapidly and confusedly throughthe young Roman's agitated brain, as he took the queen's cup and set hislips to the same spot that hers had touched. Then, while he emptied thecup in long draughts, he felt suddenly seized by a deep aversion to theover-talkative, overdressed and capricious woman before him, who thusforced upon him favors for which he had not sued; and suddenly thererose before his soul the image, almost tangibly distinct, of the humblewater-bearer; he saw Klea standing before him and looking far morequeenly as, proud and repellent, she avoided his gaze, than thesovereign by his side could ever have done, though crowned with adiadem.
Cleopatra rejoiced to mark his long slow draught, for she thought theRoman meant to imply by it that he could not cease to esteem himselfhappy in the favor she had shown him. She did not take her eyes off him,and observed with pleasure that his color changed to red and white; nordid she notice that Eulaeus was watching, with a twinkle in his eyes,all that was going on between her and Publius. At last the Roman setdown the cup, and tried with some confusion to reply to her question asto how he had liked the flavor of the wine.
"Very fine--excellent--" at last he stammered out, but he was no longerlooking at Cleopatra but at Euergetes, who just then cried out loudly:
"I have thought over that passage for hours, I have given you all myreasons and have let you speak, Aristarchus, but I maintain my opinion,and whoever denies it does Homer an injustice; in this place 'siu' mustbe read instead of 'iu'."
Euergetes spoke so vehemently that his voice outshouted all the otherguests; Publius however snatched at his words, to escape the necessityfor feigning sentiments he could not feel; so he said, addressinghimself half to the speaker and half to Cleopatra:
"Of what use can it be to decide whether it is one or the other--'iu' or'siu'. I find many things justifiable in other men that are foreignto my own nature, but I never could understand how an energetic andvigorous man, a prudent sovereign and stalwart drinker--like you,Euergetes--can sit for hours over flimsy papyrus-rolls, and rack hisbrains to decide whether this or that in Homer should be read in one wayor another."
"You exercise yourself in other things," replied Euergetes. "I considerthat part of me which lies within this golden fillet as the best that Ihave, and I exercise my wits on the minutest and subtlest questions justas I would try the strength of my arms against the sturdiest athletes. Iflung five into the sand the last time I did so, and they quake now whenthey see me enter the gymnasium of Timagetes. There would be no strengthin the world if there were no obstacles, and no man would know that hewas strong if he could meet with no resistance to overcome. I for mypart seek such exercises as suit my idiosyncrasy, and if they are notto your taste I cannot help it. If you were to set these excellentlydressed crayfish before a fine horse he would disdain them, and couldnot understand how foolish men could find anything palatable that tastedso salt. Salt, in fact, is not suited to all creatures! Men born farfrom the sea do not relish oysters, while I, being a gourmand, evenprefer to open them myself so that they may be perfectly fresh, and mixtheir liquor with my wine."
"I do not like any very salt dish, and am glad to leave the opening ofall marine produce to my servants," answered Publius. "Thereby I saveboth time and unnecessary trouble."
"Oh! I know!" cried Euergetes. "You keep Greek slaves, who must evenread and write for you. Pray is there a market where I may purchase men,who, after a night of carousing, will bear our headache for us? By theshores of the Tiber you love many things better than learning."
"And thereby," added Aristarchus, "deprive yourselves of the noblest andsubtlest of pleasures, for the purest enjoyment is ever that which weearn at the cost of some pains and effort."
"But all that you earn by this kind of labor," returned Publius, "ispetty and unimportant. It puts me in mind of a man who removes a blockof stone in the sweat of his brow only to lay it on a sparrow's featherin order that it may not be carried away by the wind."
"And what is great--and what is small?" asked Aristarchus. "Veryopposite opinions on that subject may be equally true, since it dependssolely on us and our feelings how things appear to us--whether cold orwarm; lovely or repulsive--and when Protagoras says that 'man is themeasure of all things,' that is the most acceptable of all the maximsof the Sophists; moreover the smallest matter--as you will fullyappreciate--acquires an importance all the greater in proportion as thething is perfect, of which it forms a part. If you slit the ear of acart-horse, what does it signify? but suppose the same thing were tohappen to a thoroughbred horse, a charger that you ride on to battle!
"A wrinkle or a tooth
more or less in the face of a peasant womanmatters little, or not at all, but it is quite different in a celebratedbeauty. If you scrawl all over the face with which the coarse finger ofthe potter has decorated a water-jar, the injury to the wretched pot isbut small, but if you scratch, only with a needle's point, that gemwith the portraits of Ptolemy and Arsinoe, which clasps Cleopatra's roberound her fair throat, the richest queen will grieve as though she hadsuffered some serious loss.
"Now, what is there more perfect or more worthy to be treasured than thenoblest works of great thinkers and great poets.
"To preserve them from injury, to purge them from the errors which, inthe course of time, may have spotted their immaculate purity, this isour task; and if we do indeed raise blocks of stone it is not to weighta sparrow's feather that it may not be blown away, but to seal the doorwhich guards a precious possession, and to preserve a gem from injury.
"The chatter of girls at a fountain is worth nothing but to be waftedaway on the winds, and to be remembered by none; but can a son everdeem that one single word is unimportant which his dying father hasbequeathed to him as a clue to his path in life? If you yourself weresuch a son, and your ear had not perfectly caught the parting counselsof the dying-how many talents of silver would you not pay to be able tosupply the missing words? And what are immortal works of the great poetsand thinkers but such sacred words of warning addressed, not to a singleindividual, but to all that are not barbarians, however many they maybe.They will elevate, instruct, and delight our descendants a thousandyears hence as they do us at this day, and they, if they are notdegenerate and ungrateful will be thankful to those who have devotedthe best powers of their life to completing and restoring all that ourmighty forefathers have said, as it must have originally stood before itwas mutilated, and spoiled by carelessness and folly.
"He who, like King Euergetes, puts one syllable in Homer right, inplace of a wrong one, in my opinion has done a service to succeedinggenerations--aye and a great service."
"What you say," replied Publius, "sounds convincing, but it is stillnot perfectly clear to me; no doubt because I learned at an early age toprefer deeds to words. I find it more easy to reconcile my mind to yourpainful and minute labors when I reflect that to you is entrusted therestoration of the literal tenor of laws, whose full meaning might belost by a verbal error; or that wrong information might be laidbefore me as to one single transaction in the life of a friend or of ablood-relation, and it might lie with me to clear him of mistakes andmisinterpretation."
"And what are the works of the great singers of the deeds of theheroes-of the writers of past history, but the lives of our fathersrelated either with veracious exactness or with poetic adornments?"cried Aristarchus. "It is to these that my king and companion in studydevotes himself with particular zeal."
"When he is neither drinking, nor raving, nor governing, nor wasting histime in sacrificing and processions," interpolated Euergetes. "If I hadnot been a king perhaps I might have been an Aristarchus; as it is Iam but half a king--since half of my kingdom belongs to you,Philometor--and but half a student; for when am I to find perfect quietfor thinking and writing? Everything, everything in me is by halves, forI, if the scale were to turn in my favor"--and here he struck his chestand his forehead, "I should be twice the man I am. I am my whole realself nowhere but at high festivals, when the wine sparkles in the cup,and bright eyes flash from beneath the brows of the flute-players ofAlexandria or Cyrene--sometimes too perhaps in council when the risk isgreat, or when there is something vast and portentous to be done fromwhich my brother and you others, all of you, would shrink--nay perhapseven the Roman. Aye! so it is--and you will learn to know it."
Euergetes had roared rather than spoken the last words; his cheeks wereflushed, his eyes rolled, while he took from his head both the garlandof flowers and the golden fillet, and once more pushed his fingersthrough his hair.
His sister covered her ears with her hands, and said: "You positivelyhurt me! As no one is contradicting you, and you, as a man of culture,are not accustomed to add force to your assertions, like the Scythians,by speaking in a loud tone, you would do well to save your metallicvoice for the further speech with which it is to be hoped you willpresently favor us. We have had to bow more than once already to thestrength of which you boast--but now, at a merry feast, we will notthink of that, but rather continue the conversation which entertainedus, and which had begun so well. This eager defence of the interestswhich most delight the best of the Hellenes in Alexandria may perhapsresult in infusing into the mind of our friend Publius Scipio--andthrough him into that of many young Romans--a proper esteem for a lineof intellectual effort which he could not have condemned had he notfailed to understand it perfectly.
"Very often some striking poetical turn given to a subject makes it,all at once, clear to our comprehension, even when long and learneddisquisitions have failed; and I am acquainted with such an one,written by an anonymous author, and which may please you--and you too,Aristarchus. It epitomizes very happily the subject of our discussion.The lines run as follows:
"Behold, the puny Child of Man Sits by Time's boundless sea, And gathers in his feeble hand Drops of Eternity.
"He overhears some broken words Of whispered mystery He writes them in a tiny book And calls it 'History!'
"We owe these verses to an accomplished friend; another has amplifiedthe idea by adding the two that follow:
"If indeed the puny Child of Man Had not gathered drops from that wide sea, Those small deeds that fill his little span Had been lost in dumb Eternity.
"Feeble is his hand, and yet it dare Seize some drops of that perennial stream; As they fall they catch a transient gleam-- Lo! Eternity is mirrored there!
"What are we all but puny children? And those of us who gather up thedrops surely deserve our esteem no less than those who spend their liveson the shore of that great ocean in mere play and strife--"
"And love," threw in Eulaeus in a low voice, as he glanced towardsPublius.
"Your poet's verses are pretty and appropriate," Aristarchus now said,"and I am very happy to find myself compared to the children who catchthe falling drops. There was a time--which came to an end, alas! withthe great Aristotle--when there were men among the Greeks, who fed theocean of which you speak with new tributaries; for the gods had bestowedon them the power of opening new sources, like the magician Moses, ofwhom Onias, the Jew, was lately telling us, and whose history I haveread in the sacred books of the Hebrews. He, it is true--Moses Imean--only struck water from the rock for the use of the body, while toour philosophers and poets we owe inexhaustible springs to refresh themind and soul. The time is now past which gave birth to such divine andcreative spirits; as your majesties' forefathers recognized full wellwhen they founded the Museum of Alexandria and the Library, of which Iam one of the guardians, and which I may boast of having completed withyour gracious assistance. When Ptolemy Soter first created the Museum inAlexandria the works of the greatest period could receive no additionsin the form of modern writings of the highest class; but he setus--children of man, gathering the drops--the task of collecting and ofsifting them, of eliminating errors in them--and I think we have provedourselves equal to this task.
"It has been said that it is no less difficult to keep a fortune than todeserve it; and so perhaps we, who are merely 'keepers' may neverthelessmake some credit--all the more because we have been able to arrange thewealth we found under hand, to work it profitably, to apply it well, toelucidate it, and to make it available. When anything new is createdby one of our circle we always link it on to the old; and in manydepartments we have indeed even succeeded in soaring above theancients, particularly in that of the experimental sciences. The sublimeintelligence of our forefathers commanded a broad horizon--our narrowervision sees more clearly the objects that lie close to us. We havediscovered the sure
path for all intellectual labor, the true scientificmethod; and an observant study of things as they are, succeeds betterwith us than it did with our predecessors. Hence it follows that in theprovinces of the natural sciences, in mathematics, astronomy,mechanics and geography the sages of our college have produced works ofunsurpassed merit. Indeed the industry of my associates--"
"Is very great," cried Euergetes. "But they stir up such a dust that allfree-thought is choked, and because they value quantity above all thingsin the results they obtain, they neglect to sift what is great from whatis small; and so Publius Scipio and others like him, who shrug theirshoulders over the labors of the learned, find cause enough to laugh intheir faces. Out of every four of you I should dearly like to set threeto some handicraft, and I shall do it too, one of these days--I shalldo it, and turn them and all their miserable paraphernalia out ofthe Museum, and out of my capital. They may take refuge with you,Philometor, you who marvel at everything you cannot do yourself, whoare always delighted to possess what I reject, and to make much of thosewhom I condemn--and Cleopatra I dare say will play the harp, in honor oftheir entering Memphis."
"I dare say!" answered the queen, laughing bitterly. "Still, it is to beexpected that your wrath may fall even on worthy men. Until then I willpractise my music, and study the treatise on harmony that you have begunwriting. You are giving us proof to-day of how far you have succeeded inattaining unison in your own soul."
"I like you in this mood!" cried Euergetes. "I love you, sister, whenyou are like this! It ill becomes the eagle's brood to coo like thedove, and you have sharp talons though you hide them never so well underyour soft feathers. It is true that I am writing a treatise on harmony,and I am doing it with delight; still it is one of those phenomenawhich, though accessible to our perception, are imperishable, for nogod even could discover it entire and unmixed in the world of realities.Where is harmony to be found in the struggles and rapacious strife ofthe life of the Cosmos? And our human existence is but the diminishedreflection of that process of birth and decease, of evolution andannihilation, which is going on in all that is perceptible to oursenses; now gradually and invisibly, now violently and convulsively, butnever harmonyously.
"Harmony is at home only in the ideal world--harmony which is unknowneven among the gods harmony, whom I may know, and yet may nevercomprehend--whom I love, and may never possess--whom I long for, and whoflies from me.
"I am as one that thirsteth, and harmony as the remote, unattainablewell--I am as one swimming in a wide sea, and she is the land whichrecedes as I deem myself near to it.
"Who will tell me the name of the country where she rules as queen,undisturbed and untroubled? And which is most in earnest in his pursuitof the fair one: He who lies sleeping in her arms, or he who is consumedby his passion for her?
"I am seeking what you deem that you possess.--Possess--!
"Look round you on the world and on life--look round, as I do, on thishall of which you are so proud! It was built by a Greek; but, becausethe simple melody of beautiful forms in perfect concord no longersatisfies you, and your taste requires the eastern magnificence in whichyou were born, because this flatters your vanity and reminds you, eachtime you gaze upon it, that you are wealthy and powerful--you commandedyour architect to set aside simple grandeur, and to build this gaudymonstrosity, which is no more like the banqueting-hall of a Periclesthan I or you, Cleopatra, in all our finery, are like the simply cladgods and goddesses of Phidias. I mean not to offend you, Cleopatra, butI must say this; I am writing now on the subject of harmony, and perhapsI shall afterwards treat of justice, truth, virtue; although I know fullwell that they are pure abstractions which occur neither in nature norin human life, and which in my dealings I wholly set aside; neverthelessthey seem to me worthy of investigation, like any other delusion, if byresolving it we may arrive at conditional truth. It is because one manis afraid of another that these restraints--justice, truth, and whatelse you will--have received these high-sounding names, have beenstamped as characteristics of the gods, and placed under the protectionof the immortals; nay, our anxious care has gone so far that it has beentaught as a doctrine that it is beautiful and good to cloud our freeenjoyment of existence for the sake of these illusions. Think ofAntisthenes and his disciples, the dog-like Cynics--think of the foolsshut up in the temple of Serapis! Nothing is beautiful but what isfree, and he only is not free who is forever striving to check hisinclinations--for the most part in vain--in order to live, as feeblecowards deem virtuously, justly and truthfully.
"One animal eats another when he has succeeded in capturing it, eitherin open fight or by cunning and treachery; the climbing plant stranglesthe tree, the desert-sand chokes the meadows, stars fall from heaven,and earthquakes swallow up cities. You believe in the gods--and so doI after my own fashion--and if they have so ordered the course of thislife in every class of existence that the strong triumph over theweak, why should not I use my strength, why let it be fettered by thosemuch-belauded soporifics which our prudent ancestors concocted to coolthe hot blood of such men as I, and to paralyze our sinewy fists.
"Euergetes--the well-doer--I was named at my birth; but if men choose tocall me Kakergetes--the evil-doer--I do not mind it, since what you callgood I call narrow and petty, and what you call evil is the free andunbridled exercise of power. I would be anything rather than lazyand idle, for everything in nature is active and busy; and as, withAristippus, I hold pleasure to be the highest good, I would fain earnthe name of having enjoyed more than all other men; in the first placein my mind, but no less in my body which I admire and cherish."
During this speech many signs of disagreement had found expression,and Publius, who for the first time in his life heard such vicioussentiments spoken, followed the words of the headstrong youthwith consternation and surprise. He felt himself no match for thisoverbearing spirit, trained too in all the arts of argument andeloquence; but he could not leave all he had heard uncontroverted, andso, as Euergetes paused in order to empty his refilled cup, he began:
"If we were all to act on your principles, in a few centuries, it seemsto me, there would be no one left to subscribe to them; for the earthwould be depopulated; and the manuscripts, in which you are so carefulto substitute 'siu' for 'iu', would be used by strong-handed mothers,if any were left, to boil the pot for their children--in this country ofyours where there is no wood to burn. Just now you were boasting of yourresemblance to Alcibiades, but that very gift which distinguishedhim, and made him dear to the Athenians--I mean his beauty--is hardlypossible in connection with your doctrines, which would turn men intoravening beasts. He who would be beautiful must before all things beable to control himself and to be moderate--as I learnt in Rome beforeI ever saw Athens, and have remembered well. A Titan may perhaps havethought and talked as you do, but an Alcibiades--hardly!"
At these words the blood flew to Euergetes' face; but he suppressed thekeen and insulting reply that rose to his lips, and this little victoryover his wrathful impulse was made the more easy as Lysias, at thismoment, rejoined the feasters; he excused himself for his long absence,and then laid before Cleopatra and her husband the gems belonging toPublius.
They were warmly admired; even Euergetes was not grudging of his praise,and each of the company admitted that he had rarely seen anything morebeautiful and graceful than the bashful Hebe with downcast eyes, and thegoddess of persuasion with her hand resting on the bride's arm.
"Yes, I will take the part of Peitho," said Cleopatra with decision.
"And I that of Heracles," cried Euergetes.
"But who is the fair one," asked King Philometor of Lysias, "whom youhave in your eye, as fulfilling this incomparably lovely conception ofHebe? While you were away I recalled to memory the aspect of every womanand girl who frequents our festivals, but only to reject them all, oneafter the other."
"The fair girl whom I mean," replied Lysias, "has never entered thisor any other palace; indeed I am almost afraid of being too bold insuggesting t
o our illustrious queen so humble a child as fit to standbeside her, though only in sport."
"I shall even have to touch her arm with my hand!" said the queenanxiously, and she drew up her fingers as if she had to touch someunclean thing. "If you mean a flower-seller or a flute-player orsomething of that kind--"
"How could I dare to suggest anything so improper?" Lysias hastilyinterposed. "The girl of whom I speak may be sixteen years old; sheis innocence itself incarnate, and she looks like a bud ready to openperhaps in the morning dew that may succeed this very night, but whichas yet is still enfolded in its cup. She is of Greek race, about as tallas you are, Cleopatra; she has wonderful gazelle-like eyes, her littlehead is covered by a mass of abundant brown hair, when she smiles shehas delicious dimples in her cheeks--and she will be sure to smile whensuch a Peitho speaks to her!"
"You are rousing our curiosity," cried Philometor. "In what garden,pray, does this blossom grow?"
"And how is it," added Cleopatra, "that my husband has not discovered itlong since, and transplanted it to our palace."
"Probably," answered Lysias, "because he who possesses Cleopatra,the fairest rose of Egypt, regards the violets by the roadside as tooinsignificant to be worth glancing at. Besides, the hedge that fencesround my bud grows in a gloomy spot; it is difficult of access andsuspiciously watched. To be brief: our Hebe is a water-bearer in thetemple of Serapis, and her name is Irene."