CHAPTER XXV.
King Euergetes was pacing restlessly up and down the lofty room whichhis brother had furnished with particular magnificence to be hisreception-room. Hardly had the sun risen on the morning of his birthdaywhen he had betaken himself to the temple of Ptah with a numeroussuite--before his brother Philometor could set out--in order tosacrifice there, to win the good graces of the high-priest of thesanctuary, and to question of the oracle of Apis. All had fallen outwell, for the sacred bull had eaten out of his hand; and yet he wouldhave been more glad--though it should have disdained the cake he offeredit, if only Eulaeus had brought him the news that the plot against theRoman's life had been successful.
Gift after gift, addresses of congratulation from every district of thecountry, priestly decrees drawn up in his honor and engraved on tabletsof hard stone, lay on every table or leaned against the walls of thevast ball which the guests had just quitted. Only Hierax, the king'sfriend, remained with him, supporting himself, while he waited for somesign from his sovereign, on a high throne made of gold and ivory andrichly decorated with gems, which had been sent to the king by theJewish community of Alexandria.
The great commander knew his master well and knew too that it was notprudent to address him when he looked as he did now. But Euergeteshimself was aware of the need for speech, and he began, without pausingin his walk or looking at his dignified friend:
"Even the Philobasilistes have proved corrupt; my soldiers in thecitadel are more numerous and are better men too than those that haveremained faithful to Philometor, and there ought to be nothing more forme to do but to stir up a brief clatter of swords on shields, to springupon the throne, and to have myself proclaimed king; but I will never gointo the field with the strongest division of the enemy in my rear.My brother's head is on my sister's shoulders, and so long as I am notcertain of her--"
A chamberlain rushed into the room as the king spoke, and interruptedhim by shouting out:
"Queen Cleopatra."
A smile of triumph flashed across the features of the young giant; heflung himself with an air of indifference on to a purple divan, anddesired that a magnificent lyre made of ivory, and presented to him byhis sister, should be brought to him; on it was carved with wonderfulskill and delicacy a representation of the first marriage, that ofCadmus with Harmonia, at which all the gods had attended as guests.
Euergetes grasped the chords with wonderful vigor and mastery, and beganto play a wedding march, in which eager triumph alternated with tenderwhisperings of love and longing.
The chamberlain, whose duty it was to introduce the queen to herbrother's presence, wished to interrupt this performance of hissovereign's; but Cleopatra held him back, and stood listening at thedoor with her children till Euergetes had brought the air to a rapidconclusion with a petulant sweep of the strings, and a loud andear-piercing discord; then he flung his lute on the couch and rose withwell-feigned surprise, going forward to meet the queen as if, absorbedin playing, he had not heard her approach.
He greeted his sister affectionately, holding out both his hands to her,and spoke to the children--who were not afraid of him, for he knew howto play madcap games with them like a great frolicsome boy--welcomingthem as tenderly as if he were their own father.
He could not weary of thanking Cleopatra for her thoughtful present--soappropriate to him, who like Cadmus longed to boast of having masteredHarmonia, and finally--she not having found a word to say--he took herby the hand to exhibit to her the presents sent him by her husband andfrom the provinces. But Cleopatra seemed to take little pleasure in allthese things, and said:
"Yes, everything is admirable, just as it has always been every year forthe last twenty years; but I did not come here to see but to listen."
Her brother was radiant with satisfaction; she on the contrary waspale and grave, and, could only now and then compel herself to a forcedsmile.
"I fancied," said Euergetes, "that your desire to wish me joy wasthe principal thing that had brought you here, and, indeed, my vanityrequires me to believe it. Philometor was with me quite early, andfulfilled that duty with touching affection. When will he go into thebanqueting-hall?"
"In half an hour; and till then tell me, I entreat you, what yesterdayyou--"
"The best events are those that are long in preparing," interruptedher brother. "May I ask you to let the children, with their attendants,retire for a few minutes into the inner rooms?"
"At once!" cried Cleopatra eagerly, and she pushed her eldest boy, whoclamorously insisted on remaining with his uncle, violently out of thedoor without giving his attendant time to quiet him or take him in herarms.
While she was endeavoring, with angry scolding and cross words, tohasten the children's departure, Eulaeus came into the room. Euergetes,as soon as he saw him, set every limb with rigid resolve, and drewbreath so deeply that his broad chest heaved high, and a strongrespiration parted his lips as he went forward to meet the eunuch,slowly but with an enquiring look.
Eulaeus cast a significant glance at Hierax and Cleopatra, went quiteclose up to the king, whispered a few words into his ear, and answeredhis brief questions in a low voice.
"It is well," said Euergetes at last, and with a decisive gesture of hishand he dismissed Eulaeus and his friend from the room.
Then he stood, as pale as death, his teeth set in his under-lip, andgazing blankly at the ground.
He had his will, Publius Cornelius Scipio lived no more; his ambitionmight reach without hindrance the utmost limits of his desires, and yethe could not rejoice; he could not escape from a deep horror of himself,and he struck his broad forehead with his clenched fists. He was face toface with his first dastardly murder.
"And what news does Eulaeus bring?" asked Cleopatra in anxiousexcitement, for she had never before seen her brother like this; but hedid not hear these words, and it was not till she had repeated them withmore insistence that he collected himself, stared at her from head tofoot with a fixed, gloomy expression, and then, letting his hand fallon her shoulder so heavily that her knees bent under her and she gave alittle cry, asked her in a low but meaning tone:
"Are you strong enough to bear to hear great news?"
"Speak," she said in a low voice, and her eyes were fixed on his lipswhile she pressed her hand on her heart. Her anxiety to hear fetteredher to him, as with a tangible tie, and he, as if he must burst it bythe force of his utterance, said with awful solemnity, in his deepesttones and emphasizing every syllable:
"Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica is dead."
At these words Cleopatra's pale cheeks were suddenly dyed with a crimsonglow, and clenching her little hands she struck them together, andexclaimed with flashing eyes:
"I hoped so!"
Euergetes withdrew a step from his sister, and said: "You were right.It is not only among the race of gods that the most fearful of all arewomen!"
"What have you to say?" retorted Cleopatra. "And am I to believe that atoothache has kept the Roman away from the banquet yesterday, and againfrom coming to see me to-day? Am I to repeat, after you, that he died ofit? Now, speak out, for it rejoices my heart to hear it; where and howdid the insolent hypocrite meet his end?"
"A serpent stung him," replied Euergetes, turning from his sister. "Itwas in the desert, not far from the Apis-tombs."
"He had an assignation in the Necropolis at midnight--it would seem tohave begun more pleasantly than it ended?"
Euergetes nodded assent to the question, and added gravely:
"His fate overtook him--but I cannot see anything very pleasing in thematter."
"No?" asked the queen. "And do you think that I do not know the asp thatended that life in its prime? Do you think that I do not know, who setthe poisoned serpent on the Roman? You are the assassin, and Eulaeus andhis accomplices have helped you! Only yesterday I would have given myheart's blood for Publius, and would rather have carried you to thegrave than him; but to-day, now that I know the game that the wretch hasbeen playing with m
e, I would even have taken on myself the bloody deedwhich, as it is, stains your hands. Not even a god should treat yoursister with such contempt--should insult her as he has done--andgo unpunished! Another has already met the same fate, as youknow--Eustorgos, Hipparchon of Bithynia, who, while he seemed to bedying of love for me, was courting Kallistrata my lady in waiting;and the wild beasts and serpents exercised their dark arts on him too.Eulaeus' intelligence has fallen on you, who are powerful, like acold hand on your heart; in me, the weak woman, it rouses unspeakabledelight. I gave him the best of all a woman has to bestow, and he daredto trample it in the dust; and had I no right to require of him that heshould pour out the best that he had, which was his life, in the sameway as he had dared to serve mine, which is my love? I have a right torejoice at his death. Aye! the heavy lids now close those bright eyeswhich could be falser than the stern lips that were so apt to praisetruth. The faithless heart is forever still which could scorn the loveof a queen--and for what? For whom? Oh, ye pitiful gods!"
With these words the queen sobbed aloud, hastily lifting her handsto cover her eyes, and ran to the door by which she had entered herbrother's rooms.
But Euergetes stood in her way, and said sternly and positively:
"You are to stay here till I return. Collect yourself, for at the nextevent which this momentous day will bring forth it will be my turn tolaugh while your blood shall run cold." And with a few swift steps heleft the hall.
Cleopatra buried her face in the soft cushions of the couch, and weptwithout ceasing, till she was presently startled by loud cries and theclatter of arms. Her quick wit told her what was happening. In frantichaste she flew to the door but it was locked; no shaking, no screaming,no thumping seemed to reach the ears of the guard whom she heardmonotonously walking up and down outside her prison.
And now the tumult and clang of arms grew louder and louder, and therattle of drums and blare of trumpets began to mingle with the sound.She rushed to the window in mortal fear, and looked down into thepalace-yard; at that same instant the door of the great banqueting-hallwas flung open, and a flying crowd streamed out in distractedconfusion--then another, and a third--all troops in King Philometor'suniform. She ran to the door of the room into which she had thrust herchildren; that too was locked. In her desperation she once more sprangto the window, shouted to the flying Macedonians to halt and make astand--threatening and entreating; but no one heard her, and theirnumber constantly increased, till at length she saw her husband standingon the threshold of the great hall with a gaping wound on his forehead,and defending himself bravely and stoutly with buckler and sword againstthe body-guard of his own brother, who were pressing him sorely. Inagonized excitement she shouted encouraging words to him, and he seemedto hear her, for with a strong sweep of his shield he struck his nearestantagonist to the earth, sprang with a mighty leap into the midst of hisflying adherents, and vanished with them through the passage which ledto the palace-stables.
The queen sank fainting on her knees by the window, and, through thegathering shades of her swoon her dulled senses still were consciousof the trampling of horses, of a shrill trumpet-blast, and at last of aswelling and echoing shout of triumph with cries of, "Hail: hail to theson of the Sun--Hail to the uniter of the two kingdoms; Hail to the Kingof Upper and Lower Egypt, to Euergetes the god."
But at the last words she recovered consciousness entirely and startedup. She looked down into the court again, and there saw her brotherborne along on her husband's throne-litter by dignitaries and nobles.Side by side with the traitor's body-guard marched her own andPhilometor's Philobasilistes and Diadoches.
The magnificent train went out of the great court of the palace, andthen--as she heard the chanting of priests--she realized that she hadlost her crown, and knew whither her faithless brother was proceeding.
She ground her teeth as her fancy painted all that was now about tohappen. Euergetes was being borne to the temple of Ptah, and proclaimedby its astonished chief-priests, as King of Upper and Lower Egypt, andsuccessor to Philometor. Four pigeons would be let fly in his presenceto announce to the four quarters of the heavens that a new sovereignhad mounted the throne of his fathers, and amid prayer and sacrifice agolden sickle would be presented to him with which, according to ancientcustom, he would cut an ear of corn.
Betrayed by her brother, abandoned by her husband, parted from herchildren, scorned by the man she had loved, dethroned and powerless,too weak and too utterly crushed to dream of revenge--she spent twointerminably long hours in the keenest anguish of mind, shut up in herprison which was overloaded with splendor and with gifts. If poison hadbeen within her reach, in that hour she would unhesitatingly have putan end to her ruined life. Now she walked restlessly up and down, askingherself what her fate would be, and now she flung herself on the couchand gave herself up to dull despair.
There lay the lyre she had given to her brother; her eye fell on therelievo of the marriage of Cadmus and Harmonia, and on the figure of awoman who was offering a jewel to the bride. The bearer of the giftwas the goddess of love, and the ornament she gave--so ran thelegend--brought misfortune on those who inherited it. All the darkesthours of her life revived in her memory, and the blackest of them allhad come upon her as the outcome of Aphrodite's gifts. She thought witha shudder of the murdered Roman, and remembered the moment when Eulaeushad told her that her Bithynian lover had been killed by wild beasts.She rushed from one door to another--the victim of the avengingEumenides--shrieked from the window for rescue and help, and in that onehour lived through a whole year of agonies and terrors.
At last--at last, the door of the room was opened, and Euergetes cametowards her, clad in the purple, with the crown of the two countries onhis grand head, radiant with triumph and delight.
"All hail to you, sister!" he exclaimed in a cheerful tone, and liftingthe heavy crown from his curling hair. "You ought to be proud to-day,for your own brother has risen to high estate, and is now King of Upperand Lower Egypt."
Cleopatra turned from him, but he followed her and tried to take herhand. She however snatched it away, exclaiming:
"Fill up the measure of your deeds, and insult the woman whom you haverobbed and made a widow. It was with a prophecy on your lips that youwent forth just now to perpetrate your greatest crime; but it falls onyour own head, for you laugh over our misfortune--and it cannot regardme, for my blood does not run cold; I am not overwhelmed nor hopeless,and I shall--"
"You," interrupted Euergetes, at first with a loud voice, whichpresently became as gentle as though he were revealing to her theprospect of a future replete with enjoyment, "You shall retire to yourroof-tent with your children, and there you shall be read to as much asyou like, eat as many dainties as you can, wear as many splendid dressesas you can desire, receive my visits and gossip with me as often asmy society may seem agreeable to you--as yours is to me now and at alltimes. Besides all this you may display your sparkling wit before asmany Greek and Jewish men of letters or learning as you can command,till each and all are dazzled to blindness. Perhaps even before that youmay win back your freedom, and with it a full treasury, a stable fullof noble horses, and a magnificent residence in the royal palace onthe Bruchion in gay Alexandria. It depends only on how soon our brotherPhilometor--who fought like a lion this morning--perceives that he ismore fit to be a commander of horse, a lute-player, an attentive hostof word-splitting guests--than the ruler of a kingdom. Now, is itnot worthy of note to those who, like you and me, sister, love toinvestigate the phenomena of our spiritual life, that this man--who inpeace is as yielding as wax, as week as a reed--is as tough and as keenin battle as a finely tempered sword? We hacked bravely at each other'sshields, and I owe this slash here on my shoulder to him. If Hierax--whois in pursuit of him with his horsemen--is lucky and catches him intime, he will no doubt give up the crown of his own free will."
"Then he is not yet in your power, and he had time to mount a horse!"cried Cleopatra, her eyes sparkling with satisfaction; "then all
isnot yet lost for us. If Philometor can but reach Rome, and lay our casebefore the Senate--"
"Then he might certainly have some prospect of help from the Republic,for Rome does not love to see a strong king on the throne of Egypt,"said Euergetes. "But you have lost your mainstay by the Tiber, and Iam about to make all the Scipios and the whole gens Cornelia my stanchallies, for I mean to have the deceased Roman burnt with the finestcedar-wood and Arabian spices; sacrifices shall be slaughtered at thesame time as if he had been a reigning king, and his ashes shall be sentto Ostia and Rome in the costliest specimen of Vasa murrina that gracesmy treasure-house, and on a ship specially fitted, and escorted by thenoblest of my friends. The road to the rampart of a hostile city liesover corpses, and I, as general and king--"
Euergetes suddenly broke off in his sentence, for a loud noise andvehement talking were heard outside the door. Cleopatra too had notfailed to observe it, and listened with alert attention; for on such aday and in these apartments every dialogue, every noise in the king'santechamber might be of grave purport.
Euergetes did not deceive himself in this matter any more than hissister, and he went towards the door holding the sacrificial sickle,which formed part of his regalia, in his right hand. But he had notcrossed the room when Eulaeus rushed in, as pale as death, and callingout to his sovereign:
"The murderers have betrayed us; Publius Scipio is alive, and insists onbeing admitted to speak with you."
The king's armed hand fell by his side, and for a moment he gazedblankly into vacancy, but the next instant he had recovered himself, androared in a voice which filled the room like rolling thunder:
"Who dares to hinder the entrance of my friend Publius Cornelius Scipio?And are you still here, Eulaeus--you scoundrel and you villain! Thefirst case that I, as King of Upper and Lower Egypt, shall openfor trial will be that which this man--who is your foe and myfriend--proposes to bring against you. Welcome! most welcome on mybirthday, my noble friend!"
The last words were addressed to Publius, who now entered the room withstately dignity, and clad in the ample folds of the white toga worn byRomans of high birth. He held a sealed roll or despatch in his righthand, and, while he bowed respectfully to Cleopatra, he seemed entirelyto overlook the hands King Euergetes held out in welcome. After hisfirst greeting had been disdained by the Roman, Euergetes would not haveoffered him a second if his life had depended on it. He crossed his armswith royal dignity, and said:
"I am grieved to receive your good wishes the last of all that have beenoffered me on this happy day."
"Then you must have changed your mind," replied Publius, drawing up hisslight figure, which was taller than the king's, "You have no lack ofdocile instruments, and last night you were fully determined to receivemy first congratulations in the realm of shades."
"My sister," answered Euergetes, shrugging his shoulders, "was onlyyesterday singing the praises of your uncultured plainness of speech;but to-day it is your pleasure to speak in riddles like an Egyptianoracle."
"They cannot, however, be difficult to solve by you and your minions,"replied Publius coldly, as he pointed to Eulaeus. "The serpents whichyou command have powerful poisons and sharp fangs at their disposal;this time, however, they mistook their victim, and have sent a poorrecluse of Serapis to Hades instead of one of their king's guests."
"Your enigma is harder than ever," cried the king. "My intelligence atleast is unequal to solve it, and I must request you to speak in lessdark language or else to explain your meaning."
"Later, I will," said Publius emphatically, "but these things concernmyself alone, and I stand here now commissioned by the State of Romewhich I serve. To-day Juventius Thalna will arrive here as ambassadorfrom the Republic, and this document from the Senate accredits me as itsrepresentative until his arrival."
Euergetes took the sealed roll which Publius offered to him. While hetore it open, and hastily looked through its contents, the door wasagain thrown open and Hierax, the king's trusted friend, appeared on thethreshold with a flushed face and hair in disorder.
"We have him!" he cried before he came in. "He fell from his horse nearHeliopolis."
"Philometor?" screamed Cleopatra, flinging herself upon Hierax. "He fellfrom his horse--you have murdered him?"
The tone in which the words were said, so full of grief and horror thatthe general said compassionately:
"Calm yourself, noble lady; your husband's wound in the forehead is notdangerous. The physicians in the great hall of the temple of the Sunbound it up, and allowed me to bring him hither on a litter."
Without hearing Hierax to the end Cleopatra flew towards the door, butEuergetes barred her way and gave his orders with that decision whichcharacterized him, and which forbade all contradiction:
"You will remain here till I myself conduct you to him. I wish to haveyou both near me."
"So that you may force us by every torment to resign the throne!" criedCleopatra. "You are in luck to-day, and we are your prisoners."
"You are free, noble queen," said the Roman to the poor woman, who wastrembling in every limb. "And on the strength of my plenipotentiarypowers I here demand the liberty of King Philometor, in the name of theSenate of Rome."
At these words the blood mounted to King Euergetes' face and eyes, and,hardly master of himself, he stammered out rather than said:
"Popilius Laenas drew a circle round my uncle Antiochus, and threatenedhim with the enmity of Rome if he dared to overstep it. You might excelthe example set you by your bold countryman--whose family indeed was farless illustrious than yours--but I--I--"
"You are at liberty to oppose the will of Rome," interrupted Publiuswith dry formality, "but, if you venture on it, Rome, by me, willwithdraw her friendship. I stand here in the name of the Senate, whosepurpose it is to uphold the treaty which snatched this country from theSyrians, and by which you and your brother pledged yourselves to dividethe realm of Egypt between you. It is not in my power to alter what hashappened here; but it is incumbent on me so to act as to enable Rometo distribute to each of you that which is your due, according to thetreaty ratified by the Republic.
"In all questions which bear upon that compact Rome alone must decide,and it is my duty to take care that the plaintiff is not prevented fromappearing alive and free before his protectors. So, in the name of theSenate, King Euergetes, I require you to permit King Philometoryour brother, and Queen Cleopatra your sister, to proceed hence,whithersoever they will." Euergetes, breathing hard in impotent fury,alternately doubling his fists, and extending his quivering fingers,stood opposite the Roman who looked enquiringly in his face with coolcomposure; for a short space both were silent. Then Euergetes, pushinghis hands through his hair, shook his head violently from side to side,and exclaimed:
"Thank the Senate from me, and say that I know what we owe to it, andadmire the wisdom which prefers to see Egypt divided rather than unitedin one strong hand--Philometor is free, and you also Cleopatra."
For a moment he was again silent, then he laughed loudly, and cried tothe queen:
"As for you sister--your tender heart will of course bear you on thewings of love to the side of your wounded husband."
Cleopatra's pale cheeks had flushed scarlet at the Roman's speech; shevouchsafed no answer to her brother's ironical address, but advancedproudly to the door. As she passed Publius she said with a farewell waveof her pretty hand.
"We are much indebted to the Senate."
Publius bowed low, and she, turning away from him, quitted the room.
"You have forgotten your fan, and your children!" the king calledafter her; but Cleopatra did not hear his words, for, once outside herbrother's apartment, all her forced and assumed composure flew to thewinds; she clasped her hands on her temples, and rushed down the broadstairs of the palace as if she were pursued by fiends.
When the sound of her steps had died away, Euergetes turned to the Romanand said:
"Now, as you have fulfilled what you deem to be your duty, I be
g of youto explain the meaning of your dark speeches just now, for they wereaddressed to Euergetes the man, and not the king. If I understood yourightly you meant to imply that your life had been attempted, and thatone of those extraordinary old men devoted to Serapis had been murderedinstead of you."
"By your orders and those of your accomplice Eulaeus," answered Publiuscoolly.
"Eulaeus, come here!" thundered the king to the trembling courtier, witha fearful and threatening glare in his eyes. "Have you hired murderersto kill my friend--this noble guest of our royal house--because hethreatened to bring your crimes to light?"
"Mercy!" whimpered Eulaeus sinking on his knees before the king.
"He confesses his crime!" cried Euergetes; he laid his hand on thegirdle of his weeping subordinate, and commanded Hierax to hand him overwithout delay to the watch, and to have him hanged before all beholdersby the great gate of the citadel. Eulaeus tried to pray for mercy andto speak, but the powerful officer, who hated the contemptible wretch,dragged him up, and out of the room.
"You were quite right to lay your complaint before me," said Euergeteswhile Eulaeus cries and howls were still audible on the stairs. "And yousee that I know how to punish those who dare to offend a guest."
"He has only met with the portion he has deserved for years," repliedPublius. "But now that we stand face to face, man to man, I must closemy account with you too. In your service and by your orders Eulaeus settwo assassins to lie in wait for me--"
"Publius Cornelius Scipio!" cried the king, interrupting his enemy in anominous tone; but the Roman went on, calmly and quietly:
"I am saying nothing that I cannot support by witnesses; and I havetruly set forth, in two letters, that king Euergetes during the pastnight has attempted the life of an ambassador from Rome. One of thesedespatches is addressed to my father, the other to Popilius Lamas, andboth are already on their way to Rome. I have given instructions thatthey are to be opened if, in the course of three months reckoned fromthe present date, I have not demanded them back. You see you must needsmake it convenient to protect my life, and to carry out whatever I mayrequire of you. If you obey my will in everything I may demand, all thathas happened this night shall remain a secret between you and me anda third person, for whose silence I will be answerable; this I promiseyou, and I never broke my word."
"Speak," said the king flinging himself on the couch, and plucking thefeathers from the fan Cleopatra had forgotten, while Publius went onspeaking.
"First I demand a free pardon for Philotas of Syracuse, 'relative ofthe king,' and president of the body of the Chrematistes, his immediaterelease, with his wife, from their forced labor, and their return fromthe mines."
"They both are dead," said Euergetes, "my brother can vouch for it."
"Then I require you to have it declared by special decree that Philotaswas condemned unjustly, and that he is reinstated in all the dignitieshe was deprived of. I farther demand that you permit me and my friendLysias of Corinth, as well as Apollodorus the sculptor, to quit Egyptwithout let or hindrance, and with us Klea and Irene, the daughters ofPhilotas, who serve as water-bearers in the temple of Serapis.--Do youhesitate as to your reply?"
"No," answered the king, and he tossed up his hand. "For this once Ihave lost the game."
"The daughters of Philotas, Klea and Irene," continued Publius withimperturbable coolness, "are to have the confiscated estates of theirparents restored to them."
"Then your sweetheart's beauty does not satisfy you!" interposedEuergetes satirically.
"It amply satisfies me. My last demand is that half of this wealth shallbe assigned to the temple of Serapis, so that the god may give up hisserving-maidens willingly, and without raising any objections. The otherhalf shall be handed over to Dicearchus, my agent in Alexandria, becauseit is my will that Klea and Irene shall not enter my own house or thatof Lysias in Corinth as wives, without the dowry that beseems theirrank. Now, within one hour, I must have both the decree and the actof restitution in my hands, for as soon as Juventius Thalna arriveshere--and I expect him, as I told you this very day--we propose to leaveMemphis, and to take ship at Alexandria."
"A strange conjuncture!" cried Euergetes. "You deprive me alike ofmy revenge and my love, and yet I see myself compelled to wish you apleasant journey. I must offer a sacrifice to Poseidon, to the Cypriangoddess, and to the Dioscurides that they may vouchsafe your ship afavorable voyage, although it will carry the man who in the future, cando us more injury at Rome by his bitter hostility, than any other."
"I shall always take the part of which ever of you has justice on hisside."
Publius quitted the room with a proud wave of his hand, and Euergetes,as soon as the door had closed behind the Roman, sprang from his couch,shook his clenched fist in angry threat, and cried:
You, you obstinate fellow and your haughty patrician clan may do memischief enough by the Tiber; and yet perhaps I may win the game inspite of you!
"You cross my path in the name of the Roman Senate. If Philometor waitsin the antechambers of consuls and senators we certainly may chanceto meet there, but I shall also try my luck with the people and thetribunes.
"It is very strange! This head of mine hits upon more good ideas in anhour than a cool fellow like that has in a year, and yet I am beaten byhim--and if I am honest I can not but confess that it was not his luckalone, but his shrewdness that gained the victory. He may be off assoon as he likes with his proud Hera--I can find a dozen Aphrodites inAlexandria in her place!
"I resemble Hellas and he Rome, such as they are at present. We flutterin the sunshine, and seize on all that satisfies our intellect orgratifies our senses: they gaze at the earth, but walk on with a firmstep to seek power and profit. And thus they get ahead of us, and yet--Iwould not change with them."
ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS:
A subdued tone generally provokes an equally subdued answer A mere nothing in one man's life, to another may be great A debtor, says the proverb, is half a prisoner Air of a professional guide And what is great--and what is small Before you serve me up so bitter a meal (the truth) Behold, the puny Child of Man Blind tenderness which knows no reason By nature she is not and by circumstances is compelled to be Deceit is deceit Desire to seek and find a power outside us Evolution and annihilation Flattery is a key to the heart Hold pleasure to be the highest good If you want to catch mice you must waste bacon Inquisitive eyes are intrusive company Man is the measure of all things Man works with all his might for no one but himself Many a one would rather be feared than remain unheeded Museum of Alexandria and the Library Not yet fairly come to the end of yesterday Nothing permanent but change Nothing so certain as that nothing is certain Old women grow like men, and old men grow like women One hand washes the other Prefer deeds to words Priests that they should instruct the people to be obedient The altar where truth is mocked at They get ahead of us, and yet--I would not change with them Virtues are punished in this world What are we all but puny children? Who can be freer than he who needs nothing Who only puts on his armor when he is threatened
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