CHAPTER V.
The procession was over.
At the great service which had been performed before him in the GreekSerapeum, Ptolemy Philometor had endowed the priests not with the wholebut with a considerable portion of the land concerning which theyhad approached him with many petitions. After the court had once morequitted Memphis and the procession was broken up, the sisters returnedto their room, Irene with crimson cheeks and a smile on her lips, Kleawith a gloomy and almost threatening light in her eyes.
As the two were going to their room in silence a temple-servant calledto Klea, desiring her to go with him to the high-priest, who wished tospeak to her. Klea, without speaking, gave her water-jar to Irene andwas conducted into a chamber of the temple, which was used for keepingthe sacred vessels in. There she sat down on a bench to wait. The twomen who in the morning had visited the Pastophorium had also followedin the procession with the royal family. At the close of the solemnitiesPublius had parted from his companion without taking leave, and withoutlooking to the right or to the left, he had hastened back to thePastophorium and to the cell of Serapion, the recluse.
The old man heard from afar the younger man's footstep, which fellon the earth with a firmer and more decided tread than that of thesoftly-stepping priests of Serapis, and he greeted him warmly with signsand words.
Publius thanked him coolly and gravely, and said, dryly enough and withincisive brevity:
"My time is limited. I propose shortly to quit Memphis, but I promisedyou to hear your request, and in order to keep my word I have come tosee you; still--as I have said--only to keep my word. The water-bearersof whom you desired to speak to me do not interest me--I care no moreabout them than about the swallows flying over the house yonder."
"And yet this morning you took a long walk for Klea's sake," returnedSerapion.
"I have often taken a much longer one to shoot a hare," answered theRoman. "We men do not pursue our game because the possession of it isany temptation, but because we love the sport, and there are sportingnatures even among women. Instead of spears or arrows they shoot withflashing glances, and when they think they have hit their game theyturn their back upon it. Your Klea is one of this sort, while the prettylittle one I saw this morning looks as if she were very ready to behunted, I however, no more wish to be the hunter of a young girl thanto be her game. I have still three days to spend in Memphis, and then Ishall turn my back forever on this stupid country."
"This morning," said Serapion, who began to suspect what the grievancemight be which had excited the discontent implied in the Roman's speech,"This morning you appeared to be in less hurry to set out than now, soto me you seem to be in the plight of game trying to escape; however, Iknow Klea better than you do. Shooting is no sport of hers, nor will shelet herself be hunted, for she has a characteristic which you, my friendPublius Scipio, ought to recognize and value above all others--she isproud, very proud; aye, and so she may be, scornful as you look--as ifyou would like to say 'how came a water-carrier of Serapis by her pride,a poor creature who is ill-fed and always engaged in service, pridewhich is the prescriptive right only of those, whom privilege raisesabove the common herd around them?--But this girl, you may take my wordfor it, has ample reason to hold her head high, not only because sheis the daughter of free and noble parents and is distinguished by rarebeauty, not because while she was still a child she undertook, withthe devotion and constancy of the best of mothers, the care of anotherchild--her own sister, but for a reason which, if I judge you rightly,you will understand better than many another young man; because shemust uphold her pride in order that among the lower servants with whomunfortunately she is forced to work, she may never forget that she isa free and noble lady. You can set your pride aside and yet remain whatyou are, but if she were to do so and to learn to feel as a servant,she would presently become in fact what by nature she is not and bycircumstances is compelled to be. A fine horse made to carry burdensbecomes a mere cart-horse as soon as it ceases to hold up its head andlift its feet freely. Klea is proud because she must be proud; andif you are just you will not contemn the girl, who perhaps has cast akindly glance at you--since the gods have so made you that you cannotfail to please any woman--and yet who must repel your approaches becauseshe feels herself above being trifled with, even by one of the Corneliagens, and yet too lowly to dare to hope that a man like you should everstoop from your height to desire her for a wife. She has vexed you, ofthat there can be no doubt; how, I can only guess. If, however, it hasbeen through her repellent pride, that ought not to hurt you, fora woman is like a soldier, who only puts on his armor when he isthreatened by an opponent whose weapons he fears."
The recluse had rather whispered than spoken these words, rememberingthat he had neighbors; and as he ceased the drops stood on his brow, forwhenever any thing disturbed him he was accustomed to allow his powerfulvoice to be heard pretty loudly, and it cost him no small effort tomoderate it for so long.
Publius had at first looked him in the face, and then had gazed at theground, and he had heard Serapion to the end without interrupting him;but the color had flamed in his cheeks as in those of a schoolboy, andyet he was an independent and resolute youth who knew how to conducthimself in difficult straits as well as a man in the prime of life.In all his proceedings he was wont to know very well, exactly what hewanted, and to do without any fuss or comment whatever he thought rightand fitting.
During the anchorite's speech the question had occurred to him, whatdid he in fact expect or wish of the water-bearer; but the answer waswanting, he felt somewhat uncertain of himself, and his uncertainty anddissatisfaction with himself increased as all that he heard struck himmore and more. He became less and less inclined to let himself be thrownover by the young girl who for some days had, much against his will,been constantly in his thoughts, whose image he would gladly havedismissed from his mind, but who, after the recluse's speech, seemedmore desirable than ever. "Perhaps you are right," he replied aftera short silence, and he too lowered his voice, for a subdued tonegenerally provokes an equally subdued answer. "You know the maidenbetter than I, and if you describe her correctly it would be as wellthat I should abide by my decision and fly from Egypt, or, at any rate,from your protegees, since nothing lies before me but a defeat or avictory, which could bring me nothing but repentance. Klea avoided myeye to-day as if it shed poison like a viper's tooth, and I can havenothing more to do with her: still, might I be informed how she cameinto this temple? and if I can be of any service to her, I will-for yoursake. Tell me now what you know of her and what you wish me to do."
The recluse nodded assent and beckoned Publius to come closer to him,and bowing down to speak into the Roman's ear, he said softly: "Are youin favor with the queen?" Publius, having said that he was, Serapion,with an exclamation of satisfaction, began his story.
"You learned this morning how I myself came into this cage, and thatmy father was overseer of the temple granaries. While I was wanderingabroad he was deposed from his office, and would probably have died inprison, if a worthy man had not assisted him to save his honor and hisliberty. All this does not concern you, and I may therefore keep it tomyself; but this man was the father of Klea and Irene, and the enemyby whose instrumentality my father suffered innocently was the villainEulaeus. You know--or perhaps indeed you may not know--that the priestshave to pay a certain tribute for the king's maintenance; you know? Tobe sure, you Romans trouble yourselves more about matters of lawand administration than the culture of the arts or the subtleties ofthought. Well, it was my father's duty to pay these customs over toEulaeus, who received them; but the beardless effeminate vermin,the glutton--may every peach he ever ate or ever is to eat turn topoison!--kept back half of what was delivered to him, and when theaccountants found nothing but empty air in the king's stores wherethey hoped to find corn and woven goods, they raised an alarm, which ofcourse came to the ears of the powerful thief at court before it reachedthose of my poor father. You called Egypt a marvellous
country, orsomething like it; and so in truth it is, not merely on account of thegreat piles there that you call Pyramids and such like, but becausethings happen here which in Rome would be as impossible as moonshineat mid-day, or a horse with his tail at the end of his nose! Before acomplaint could be laid against Eulaeus he had accused my father of thepeculation, and before the Epistates and the assessor of the districthad even looked at the indictment, their judgment on the falsely accusedman was already recorded, for Eulaeus had simply bought their verdictjust as a man buys a fish or a cabbage in the market. In olden times thegoddess of justice was represented in this country with her eyes shut,but now she looks round on the world like a squinting woman who winksat the king with one eye, and glances with the other at the money inthe hand of the accuser or the accused. My poor father was of coursecondemned and thrown into prison, where he was beginning to doubt thejustice of the gods, when for his sake the greatest wonder happened,ever seen in this land of wonders since first the Greeks ruled inAlexandria. An honorable man undertook without fear of persons thelost cause of the poor condemned wretch, and never rested till hehad restored him to honor and liberty. But imprisonment, disgrace andindignation had consumed the strength of the ill-used man as a worm eatsinto cedar wood, and he fell into a decline and died. His preserver,Klea's father, as the reward of his courageous action fared even worse;for here by the Nile virtues are punished in this world, as crimes arewith you. Where injustice holds sway frightful things occur, for thegods seem to take the side of the wicked. Those who do not hope fora reward in the next world, if they are neither fools norphilosophers--which often comes to the same thing--try to guardthemselves against any change in this.
"Philotas, the father of the two girls, whose parents were natives ofSyracuse, was an adherent of the doctrines of Zeno--which have manysupporters among you at Rome too--and he was highly placed as anofficial, for he was president of the Chrematistoi, a college of judgeswhich probably has no parallel out of Egypt, and which has been keptup better than any other. It travels about from province to provincestopping in the chief towns to administer justice. When an appeal isbrought against the judgment of the court of justice belonging to anyplace--over which the Epistates of the district presides--the case isbrought before the Chrematistoi, who are generally strangers alike tothe accuser and accused; by them it is tried over again, and thusthe inhabitants of the provinces are spared the journey to Alexandriaor--since the country has been divided--to Memphis, where, besides, thesupreme court is overburdened with cases.
"No former president of the Chrematistoi had ever enjoyed a higherreputation than Philotas. Corruption no more dared approach him than asparrow dare go near a falcon, and he was as wise as he was just, forhe was no less deeply versed in the ancient Egyptian law than in that ofthe Greeks, and many a corrupt judge reconsidered matters as soon as itbecame known that he was travelling with the Chrematistoi, and passed ajust instead of an unjust sentence.
"Cleopatra, the widow of Epiphanes, while she was living and acting asguardian of her sons Philometor and Euergetes--who now reign in Memphisand Alexandria--held Philotas in the highest esteem and conferred onhim the rank of 'relation to the king'; but she was just dead when thisworthy man took my father's cause in hand, and procured his release fromprison.
"The scoundrel Eulaeus and his accomplice Lenaeus then stood at theheight of power, for the young king, who was not yet of age, let himselfbe led by them like a child by his nurse.
"Now as my father was an honest man, no one but Eulaeus could be therascal, and as the Chrematistoi threatened to call him before theirtribunal the miserable creature stirred up the war in Caelo-Syriaagainst Antiochus Epiphanes, the king's uncle.
"You know how disgraceful for us was the course of that enterprise,how Philometor was defeated near Pelusium, and by the advice of Eulaeusescaped with his treasure to Samothrace, how Philometor's brotherEuergetes was set up as king in Alexandria, how Antiochus took Memphis,and then allowed his elder nephew to continue to reign here as though hewere his vassal and ward.
"It was during this period of humiliation, that Eulaeus was able toevade Philotas, whom he may very well have feared, as though his ownconscience walked the earth on two legs in the person of the judge, withthe sword of justice in his hand, and telling all men what a scoundrelhe was.
"Memphis had opened her gates to Antiochus without offering muchresistance, and the Syrian king, who was a strange man and was fond ofmixing among the people as if he himself were a common man, applied toPhilotas, who was as familiar with Egyptian manners and customs as withthose of Greece, in order that he might conduct him into the halls ofjustice and into the market-places; and he made him presents as was hisway, sometimes of mere rubbish and sometimes of princely gifts.
"Then when Philometor was freed by the Romans from the protection of theSyrian king, and could govern in Memphis as an independent sovereign,Eulaeus accused the father of these two girls of having betrayed Memphisinto the hands of Antiochus, and never rested till the innocent man wasdeprived of his wealth, which was considerable, and sent with his wifeto forced labor in the gold mines of Ethiopia.
"When all this occurred I had already returned to my cage here; butI heard from my brother Glaucus--who was captain of the watch in thepalace, and who learned a good many things before other people did--whatwas going on out there, and I succeeded in having the daughters ofPhilotas secretly brought to this temple, and preserved from sharingtheir parents' fate. That is now five years ago, and now you know how ithappens, that the daughters of a man of rank carry water for the altarof Serapis, and that I would rather an injury should be done to me thanto them, and that I would rather see Eulaeus eating some poisonous rootthan fragrant peaches."
"And is Philotas still working in the mines?" asked the Roman, clenchinghis teeth with rage.
"Yes, Publius," replied the anchorite. "A 'yes' that it is easy to say,and it is just as easy too to clench one's fists in indignation--butit is hard to imagine the torments that must be endured by a man likePhilotas; and a noble and innocent woman--as beautiful as Hera andAphrodite in one--when they are driven to hard and unaccustomed laborunder a burning sun by the lash of the overseer. Perhaps by this timethey have been happy enough to die under their sufferings and theirdaughters are already orphans, poor children! No one here but thehigh-priest knows precisely who they are, for if Eulaeus were to learnthe truth he would send them after their parents as surely as my name isSerapion."
"Let him try it!" cried Publius, raising his right fist threateningly.
"Softly, softly, my friend," said the recluse, "and not now only, butabout everything which you under take in behalf of the sisters, fora man like Eulaeus hears not only with his own ears but with those ofthousand others, and almost everything that occurs at court has to gothrough his hands as epistolographer. You say the queen is well-disposedtowards you. That is worth a great deal, for her husband is said to beguided by her will, and such a thing as Eulaeus cannot seem particularlyestimable in Cleopatra's eyes if princesses are like other women--and Iknow them well."
"And even if he were," interrupted Publius with glowing cheeks, "I wouldbring him to ruin all the same, for a man like Philotas must not perish,and his cause henceforth is my own. Here is my hand upon it; and if I amhappy in having descended from a noble race it is above all because theword of a son of the Cornelii is as good as the accomplished deed of anyother man."
The recluse grasped the right hand the young man gave him and noddedto him affectionately, his eyes radiant, though moistened with joyfulemotion. Then he hastily turned his back on the young man, and soonreappeared with a large papyrus-roll in his hand. "Take this," he said,handing it to the Roman, "I have here set forth all that I have toldyou, fully and truly with my own hand in the form of a petition. Suchmatters, as I very well know, are never regularly conducted to anissue at court unless they are set forth in writing. If the queen seemsdisposed to grant you a wish give her this roll, and entreat her for aletter of pardon. If y
ou can effect this, all is won."
Publius took the roll, and once more gave his hand to the anchorite,who, forgetting himself for a moment, shouted out in his loud voice:
"May the gods bless thee, and by thy means work the release of thenoblest of men from his sufferings! I had quite ceased to hope, but ifyou come to our aid all is not yet wholly lost."