CHAPTER XI.
Three days before the time fixed for the departure of Nitetis, Rhodopishad invited a large number of guests to her house at Naukratis, amongstwhom Croesus and Gyges were included.
The two lovers had agreed to meet in the garden, protected by thedarkness and the old slave, while the guests were occupied at thebanquet. Melitta, therefore, having convinced herself that the guestswere thoroughly absorbed in conversation, opened the garden-gate,admitted the prince, brought Sappho to him, and then retired, promisingto warn them of any intruder by clapping her hands.
"I shall only have you near me three days longer," whispered Sappho. "Doyou know, sometimes it seems to me as if I had only seen you yesterdayfor the first time; but generally I feel as if you had belonged to mefor a whole eternity, and I had loved you all my life."
"To me too it seems as if you had always been mine, for I cannot imaginehow I could ever have existed without you. If only the parting were overand we were together again!"
"Oh, believe me, that will pass more quickly than you fancy. Of courseit will seem long to wait--very long; but when it is over, and we aretogether again, I think it will seem as if we had never been parted. Soit has been with me every day. How I have longed for the morning to comeand bring you with it! but when it came and you were sitting by my side,I felt as if I had had you all the time and your hand had never left myhead."
"And yet a strange feeling of fear comes over me, when I think of ourparting hour."
"I do not fear it so very much. I know my heart will bleed when you sayfarewell, but I am sure you will come back and will not have forgottenme. Melitta wanted to enquire of the Oracle whether you would remainfaithful; and to question an old woman who has just come from Phrygiaand can conjure by night from drawn cords, with incense, styrax,moon-shaped cakes, and wild-briar leaves; but I would have none of this,for my heart knows better than the Pythia, the cords, or the smoke ofsacrifice, that you will be true to me, and love me always."
"And your heart speaks the truth."
"But I have sometimes been afraid; and have blown into a poppy-leaf, andstruck it, as the young girls here do. If it broke with a loud crackI was very happy, and cried, 'Ah! he will not forget!' but if the leaftore without a sound I felt sad. I dare say I did this a hundred times,but generally the leaf gave the wished-for sound, and I had much oftenerreason to be joyful than sad."
"May it be ever thus!"
"It must be! but dearest, do not speak so loudly; I see Knakias goingdown to the Nile for water and he will hear us."
"Well, I will speak low. There, I will stroke back your silky hair andwhisper in your ear 'I love you.' Could you understand?"
"My grandmother says that it is easy to understand what we like to hear;but if you had just whispered, 'I hate you,' your eyes would have toldme with a thousand glad voices that you loved me. Silent eyes are muchmore eloquent than all the tongues in the world."
"If I could only speak the beautiful Greek language as you do, Iwould.."
"Oh, I am so glad you cannot, for if you could tell me all you feel, Ithink you would not look into my eyes so lovingly. Words are nothing.Listen to the nightingale yonder! She never had the gift of speech andyet I think I can understand her."
"Will you confide her secret to me? I should like to know what Gulgul,as we Persians call the nightingale, has to talk about to her mate inthe rose-bush. May you betray her secret?"
"I will whisper it softly. Philomel sings to her mate 'I love thee,' andhe answers, (don't you hear him?), 'Itys, ito, itys.'"
"And what does that mean, 'Ito, ito?'"
"I accept it."
"And Itys?"
"Oh, that must be explained, to be rightly understood. Itys is a circle;and a circle, I was always taught, is the symbol of eternity, havingneither beginning nor end; so the nightingale sings, 'I accept it foreternity.'"
"And if I say to you, 'I love thee?'"
"Then I shall answer gladly, like the sweet nightingale, 'I accept itfor to-day, to-morrow, for all eternity!'"
"What a wonderful night it is! everything so still and silent; I do noteven hear the nightingale now; she is sitting in the acacia-tree amongthe bunches of sweet blossoms. I can see the tops of the palm-treesin the Nile, and the moon's reflection between them, glistening like awhite swan."
"Yes, her rays are over every living thing like silver fetters, and thewhole world lies motionless beneath them like a captive woman. Happy asI feel now, yet I could not even laugh, and still less speak in a loudvoice."
"Then whisper, or sing!"
"Yes, that is the best. Give me a lyre. Thank you. Now I will lean myhead on your breast, and sing you a little, quiet, peaceful song. It waswritten by Alkman, the Lydian, who lived in Sparta, in praise ofnight and her stillness. You must listen though, for this low, sweetslumber-song must only leave the lips like a gentle wind. Do not kiss meany more, please, till I have finished; then I will ask you to thank mewith a kiss:
"Now o'er the drowsy earth still night prevails, Calm sleep the mountain tops and shady vales, The rugged cliffs and hollow glens;
The wild beasts slumber in their dens; The cattle on the bill. Deep in the sea The countless finny race and monster brood Tranquil repose. Even the busy bee Forgets her daily toil. The silent wood No more with noisy hum of insect rings; And all the feathered tribe, by gentle sleep subdued, Roost in the glade and hang their drooping wings." --Translation by Colonel Mure.
"Now, dearest, where is my kiss?"
"I had forgotten it in listening, just as before I forgot to listen inkissing."
"You are too bad. But tell me, is not my song lovely?"
"Yes, beautiful, like everything else you sing."
"And the Greek poets write?"
"Yes, there you are right too, I admit."
"Are there no poets in Persia?"
"How can you ask such a question? How could a nation, who despised song,pretend to any nobility of feeling?"
"But you have some very bad customs."
"Well?"
"You take so many wives."
"My Sappho..."
"Do not misunderstand me. I love you so much, that I have no otherwish than to see you happy and be allowed to be always with you. If,by taking me for your only wife, you would outrage the laws of yourcountry, if you would thereby expose yourself to contempt, or evenblame, (for who could dare to despise my Bartja!) then take other wives;but let me have you, for myself alone, at least two, or perhaps eventhree years. Will you promise this, Bartja?"
"I will."
"And then, when my time has passed, and you must yield to the customsof your country (for it will not be love that leads you to bring homea second wife), then let me be the first among your slaves. Oh! I havepictured that so delightfully to myself. When you go to war I shall setthe tiara on your head, gird on the sword, and place the lance in yourhand; and when you return a conqueror, I shall be the first to crown youwith the wreath of victory. When you ride out to the chase, mine will bethe duty of buckling on your spurs, and when you go to the banquet, ofadorning and anointing you, winding the garlands of poplar and roses andtwining them around your forehead and shoulders. If wounded, I will beyour nurse; will never stir from your side if you are ill, and when Isee you happy will retire, and feast my eyes from afar on your glory andhappiness. Then perchance you will call me to your side, and your kisswill say, 'I am content with my Sappho, I love her still.'"
"O Sappho, wert thou only my wife now!--to-day! The man who possessessuch a treasure as I have in thee, will guard it carefully, butnever care to seek for others which, by its side, can only show theirmiserable poverty. He who has once loved thee, can never love another: Iknow it is the custom in my country to have many wives, but this isonly allowed; there is no law to enjoin it. My father had, it is true,a hundred female slaves, but only one real, true wife, our motherKassandane."
"And I will be your Kassandane."
"No, my Sappho, for what you will be to me, no woman ever yet was to herhusband."
"When shall you come to fetch me?"
"As soon as I can, and am permitted to do so."
"Then I ought to be able to wait patiently."
"And shall I ever hear from you?"
"Oh, I shall write long, long letters, and charge every wind with lovingmessages for you."
"Yes, do so, my darling; and as to the letters, give them to themessenger who will bring Nitetis tidings from Egypt from time to time."
"Where shall I find him?"
"I will see that a man is stationed at Naukratis, to take charge ofeverything you send to him. All this I will settle with Melitta."
"Yes, we can trust her, she is prudent and faithful; but I have anotherfriend, who is dearer to me than any one else excepting you, and wholoves me too better than any one else does, but you--"
"You mean your grandmother Rhodopis."
"Yes, my faithful guardian and teacher."
"Ah, she is a noble woman. Croesus considers her the most excellentamong women, and he has studied mankind as the physicians do plants andherbs. He knows that rank poison lies hidden in some, in others healingcordials, and often says that Rhodopis is like a rose which, whilefading away herself, and dropping leaf after leaf, continues to shedperfume and quickening balsam for the sick and weak, and awaits inpatience the wind which at last shall waft her from us."
"The gods grant that she may be with us for a long time yet! Dearest,will you grant me one great favor?"
"It is granted before I hear it."
"When you take me home, do not leave Rhodopis here. She must come withus. She is so kind and loves me so fervently, that what makes me happywill make her so too, and whatever is dear to me, will seem to herworthy of being loved."
"She shall be the first among our guests."
"Now I am quite happy and satisfied, for I am necessary to mygrandmother; she could not live without her child. I laugh her cares andsorrows away, and when she is singing to me, or teaching me how to guidethe style, or strike the lute, a clearer light beams from her brow,the furrows ploughed by grief disappear, her gentle eyes laugh, and sheseems to forget the evil past in the happy present."
"Before we part, I will ask her whether she will follow us home."
"Oh, how glad that makes me! and do you know, the first days of ourabsence from each other do not seem so very dreadful to me. Now you areto be my husband, I may surely tell you everything that pains or pleasesme, even when I dare not tell any one else, and so you must know, that,when you leave, we expect two little visitors; they are the childrenof the kind Phanes, whom your friend Gyges saved so nobly. I mean to belike a mother to the little creatures, and when they have been good Ishall sing them a story of a prince, a brave hero, who took a simplemaiden to be his wife; and when I describe the prince I shall have youin my mind, and though my little listeners will not guess it, I shallbe describing you from head to foot. My prince shall be tall like you,shall have your golden curls and blue eyes, and your rich, royal dressshall adorn his noble figure. Your generous heart, your love of truth,and your beautiful reverence for the gods, your courage and heroism,in short, every thing that I love and honor in you, I shall give to thehero of my tale. How the children will listen! and when they cry, 'Oh,how we love the prince, how good and beautiful he must be! if we couldonly see him? then I shall press them close to my heart and kiss them asI kiss you now, and so they will have gained their wish, for as you areenthroned in my heart, you must be living within me and therefore nearto them, and when they embrace me they will embrace you too."
"And I shall go to my little sister Atossa and tell her all I haveseen on my journey, and when I speak of the Greeks, their grace, theirglorious works of art, and their beautiful women, I shall describethe golden Aphrodite in your lovely likeness. I shall tell her of yourvirtue, your beauty and modesty, of your singing, which is so sweet thateven the nightingale is silent in order to listen to it, of your loveand tenderness. But all this I shall tell her belongs to the divineCypris, and when she cries, 'O Aphrodite, could I but see thee!' I tooshall kiss my sister."
"Hark, what was that? Melitta surely clapped her hands. Farewell, wemust not stay! but we shall soon see each other again."
"One more kiss!"
"Farewell!"
Melitta had fallen asleep at her post, overcome by age and weariness.Her dreams were suddenly disturbed by a loud noise, and she clapped herhands directly to warn the lovers and call Sappho, as she perceived bythe stars that the dawn was not far off.
As the two approached the house, they discovered that the noisewhich had awakened the old slave, proceeded from the guests, who werepreparing for departure.
Urging her to make the greatest haste, Melitta pushed the frightenedgirl into the house, took her at once to her sleeping-room, and wasbeginning to undress her when Rhodopis entered.
"You are still up, Sappho?" she asked.
"What is this, my child?"
Melitta trembled and had a falsehood ready on her lips, but Sappho,throwing herself into her grandmother's arms, embraced her tenderly andtold the whole story of her love.
Rhodopis turned pale, ordered Melitta to leave the chamber, and, placingherself in front of her grandchild, laid both hands on her shouldersand said earnestly, "Look into my eyes, Sappho. Canst thou look at me ashappily and as innocently, as thou couldst before this Persian came tous?"
The girl raised her eyes at once with a joyful smile; then Rhodopisclasped her to her bosom, kissed her and continued: "Since thou werta little child my constant effort has been to train thee to a noblemaidenhood and guard thee from the approach of love. I had intended, inaccordance with the customs of our country, to choose a fitting husbandfor thee shortly myself, to whose care I should have committed thee; butthe gods willed differently.
[The Spartans married for love, but the Athenians were accustomed to negotiate their marriages with the parents of the bride alone.]
Eros mocks all human efforts to resist or confine him; warm AEolianblood runs in thy veins and demands love; the passionate heart of thyLesbian forefathers beats in thy breast.
[Charaxus, the grandfather of our heroine, and brother of the poetess Sappho, was, as a Lesbian, an AEolian Greek.]
What has happened cannot now be undone. Treasure these happy hours of afirst, pure love; hold them fast in the chambers of memory, for toevery human being there must come, sooner or later, a present so sad anddesolate, that the beautiful past is all he has to live upon. Rememberthis handsome prince in silence, bid him farewell when he departs to hisnative country, but beware of hoping to see him again. The Persians arefickle and inconstant, lovers of everything new and foreign. The princehas been fascinated by thy sweetness and grace. He loves thee ardentlynow, but remember, he is young and handsome, courted by every one, and aPersian. Give him up that he may not abandon thee!"
"But how can I, grandmother? I have sworn to be faithful to him forever."
"Oh, children! Ye play with eternity as if it were but a passing moment!I could blame thee for thus plighting thy troth, but I rejoice that thouregardest the oath as binding. I detest the blasphemous proverb: 'Zeuspays no heed to lovers' oaths.' Why should an oath touching the best andholiest feelings of humanity be regarded by the Deity, as inferior inimportance to asseverations respecting the trifling questions of mineand thine? Keep thy promise then,--hold fast thy love, but prepare torenounce thy lover."
"Never, grandmother! could I ever have loved Bartja, if I had nottrusted him? Just because he is a Persian and holds truth to be thehighest virtue, I may venture to hope that he will remember his oath,and, notwithstanding those evil customs of the Asiatics, will take andkeep me as his only wife."
"But if he should forget, thy youth will be passed in mourning, and withan embittered heart..."
"O, dear kind grandmother, pray do not speak of such dreadful things. Ifyou knew him as well as I do, you would rejoice with me, and would
tellme I was right to believe that the Nile may dry up and the Pyramidscrumble into ruins, before my Bartja can ever deceive me!"
The girl spoke these words with such a joyful, perfect confidence, andher eyes, though filled with tears, were so brilliant with happiness andwarmth of feeling, that Rhodopis' face grew cheerful too.
Sappho threw her arms again round her grandmother, told her every wordthat Bartja had said to her, and ended the long account by exclaiming:"Oh, grandmother, I am so happy, so very happy, and if you willcome with us to Persia, I shall have nothing more to wish from theImmortals."
"That will not last long," said Rhodopis. "The gods cast envious glancesat the happiness of mortals; they measure our portion of evil withlavish hands, and give us but a scanty allowance of good. But now go tobed, my child, and let us pray together that all may end happily. I metthee this morning as a child, I part from thee to-night a woman; and,when thou art a wife, may thy kiss be as joyful as the one thou givestme now. To-morrow I will talk the matter over with Croesus. He mustdecide whether I dare allow thee to await the return of the Persianprince, or whether I must entreat thee to forget him and becomethe domestic wife of a Greek husband. Sleep well, my darling, thygrandmother will wake and watch for thee."
Sappho's happy fancies soon cradled her to sleep; but Rhodopis remainedawake watching the day dawn, and the sun rise, her mind occupied withthoughts which brought smiles and frowns across her countenance in rapidsuccession.
The next morning she sent to Croesus, begging him to grant her an hour'sinterview, acquainted him with every particular she had heard fromSappho, and concluded her tale with these words: "I know not whatdemands may be made on the consort of a Persian king, but I can trulysay that I believe Sappho to be worthy of the first monarch of theworld. Her father was free and of noble birth, and I have heard that,by Persian law, the descent of a child is determined by the rank of thefather only. In Egypt, too, the descendants of a female slave enjoy thesame rights as those of a princess, if they owe their existence to thesame father."
"I have listened to you in silence," answered Croesus, "and mustconfess, that, like yourself, I do not know in this moment whether to beglad or sorry for this attachment. Cambyses and Kassandane (the king'sand Bartja's mother) wished to see the prince married before we leftPersia, for the king has no children, and should he remain childless,the only hope for the family of Cyrus rests on Bartja, as the greatfounder of the Persian empire left but two sons,--Cambyses, and himwho is now the suitor of your granddaughter. The latter is the hope andpride of the entire Persian nation, high and low; the darling of thepeople; generous, and noble, handsome, virtuous, and worthy of theirlove. It is indeed expected that the princes shall marry in theirown family, the Achaemenidae; but the Persians have an unboundedpredilection for everything foreign. Enchanted with the beauty of yourgranddaughter, and rendered indulgent by their partiality for Bartja,they would easily forgive this breach of an ancient custom. Indeed, ifthe king gives his approval, no objection on the part of his subjectscan be entertained. The history of Iran too offers a sufficient numberof examples, in which even slaves became the mothers of kings. The queenmother, whose position, in the eyes of the people, is nearly as high asthat of the monarch himself, will do nothing to thwart the happiness ofher youngest and favorite son. When she sees that he will not give upSappho,--that his smiling face, in which she adores the image of hergreat husband Cyrus, becomes clouded, I verily believe she would beready to sanction his taking even a Scythian woman to wife, if it couldrestore him to cheerfulness. Neither will Cambyses himself refuse hisconsent if his mother press the point at a right moment."
"In that case every difficulty is set aside," cried Rhodopis joyfully.
"It is not the marriage itself, but the time that must follow, whichcauses me uneasiness," answered Croesus.
"Do you think then that Bartja...?"
"From him I fear nothing. He has a pure heart, and has been so longproof against love, that now he has once yielded, he will love long andardently."
"What then do you fear?"
"You must remember that, though the charming wife of their favoritewill be warmly received by all his friends of his own sex, there arethousands of idle women in the harems of the Persian nobles, who willendeavor, by every artifice and intrigue in their power, to injure thenewly-risen star; and whose greatest joy it will be to ruin such aninexperienced child and make her unhappy."
"You have a very bad opinion of the Persian women."
"They are but women, and will naturally envy her, who has gained thehusband they all desired either for themselves or for their daughters.In their monotonous life, devoid of occupation, envy easily becomeshatred, and the gratification of these evil passions is the onlycompensation which the poor creatures can obtain for the total absenceof love and loss of freedom. I repeat, the more beautiful Sappho is, themore malicious they will feel towards her, and, even if Bartja shouldlove her so fervently as not to take a second wife for two or threeyears, she will still have such heavy hours to encounter, that I reallydo not know whether I dare congratulate you on her apparently brilliantfuture."
"That is quite my own feeling. A simple Greek would be more welcome tome than this son of a mighty monarch."
In this moment Knakias brought Bartja into the room. He went to Rhodopisat once, besought her not to refuse him the hand of her granddaughter,spoke of his ardent love, and assured her that his happiness would bedoubled, if she would consent to accompany them to Persia. Then turningto Croesus, he seized his hand and entreated forgiveness for having solong concealed his great happiness from one who had been like a fatherto him, at the same time begging him to second his suit with Rhodopis.
The old man listened to the youth's passionate language with a smile,and said: "Ah, Bartja, how often have I warned thee against love! It isa scorching fire."
"But its flame is bright and beautiful."
"It causes pain."
"But such pain is sweet."
"It leads the mind astray."
"But it strengthens the heart."
"Oh, this love!" cried Rhodopis. "Inspired by Eros, the boy speaks as ifhe had been all his life studying under an Attic orator!"
"And yet," answered Croesus, "these lovers are the most unteachable ofpupils. Convince them as clearly as you will, that their passion isonly another word for poison, fire, folly, death, they still cry, 'Tissweet,' and will not be hindered in their course."
As he was speaking Sappho came in. A white festal robe, with widesleeves, and borders of purple embroidery, fell in graceful folds roundher delicate figure, and was confined at the waist by a golden girdle.Her hair was adorned with fresh roses, and on her bosom lay her lover'sfirst gift, the flashing diamond star.
She came up modestly and gracefully, and made a low obeisance tothe aged Croesus. His eyes rested long on the maidenly and lovelycountenance, and the longer he gazed the kindlier became his gaze. Fora moment he seemed to grow young again in the visions conjured up bymemory, and involuntarily he went up to the young girl, kissed heraffectionately on the forehead, and, taking her by the hand, led her toBartja with the words: "Take her, thy wife she must be, if the entirerace of the Achaemenidae were to conspire against us!"
"Have I no voice in the matter?" said Rhodopis, smiling through hertears.
On hearing these words, Bartja and Sappho each took one of her hands,and gazed entreatingly into her face. She rose to her full stature, andlike a prophetess exclaimed: "Eros, who brought you to each other, Zeusand Apollo defend and protect you. I see you now like two fair roses onone stem, loving and happy in the spring of life. What summer, autumnand winter may have in store for you, lies hidden with the gods. Maythe shades of thy departed parents, Sappho, smile approvingly when thesetidings of their child shall reach them in the nether world."
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Three days later a densely packed crowd was once more surging round theSais landing-place. This time they had assembled to bid a las
t farewellto their king's daughter, and in this hour the people gave clear tokensthat, in spite of all the efforts of the priestly caste, their heartsremained loyal to their monarch and his house. For when Amasis andLadice embraced Nitetis for the last time with tears--when Tachot, inpresence of all the inhabitants of Sais, following her sister down thebroad flight of steps that led to the river, threw her arms round herneck once more and burst into sobs--when at last the wind filled thesails of the royal boat and bore the princess, destined to be the greatking's bride, from their sight, few eyes among that vast crowd remaineddry.
The priests alone looked on at this sad scene with unmoved gravity andcoldness; but when the south wind at last bore away the strangers whohad robbed them of their princess, many a curse and execration followedfrom the Egyptians on the shore; Tachot alone stood weeping there andwaving her veil to them. For whom were these tears? for the play-fellowof her youth, or for the handsome, beloved prince?
Amasis embraced his wife and daughter in the eyes of all his people;and held up his little grandson, Prince Necho, to their gaze, thesight eliciting cries of joy on all sides. But Psamtik, the child's ownfather, stood by the while, tearless and motionless. The king appearednot to observe him, until Neithotep approached, and leading him to hisfather, joined their hands and called down the blessing of the gods uponthe royal house.
At this the Egyptians fell on their knees with uplifted hands. Amasisclasped his son to his heart, and when the high-priest had concluded hisprayer, the following colloquy between the latter and Amasis took placein low tones:
"Let peace be between us for our own and Egypt's sake!"
"Hast thou received Nebenchari's letter?"
"A Samian pirate-vessel is in pursuit of Phanes' trireme."
"Behold the child of thy predecessor Hophra, the rightful heiress of theEgyptian throne, departing unhindered to a distant land!"
"The works of the Greek temple now building in Memphis shall bediscontinued."
"May Isis grant us peace, and may prosperity and happiness increase inour land!"
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The Greek colonists in Naukratis had prepared a feast to celebrate thedeparture of their protector's daughter.
Numerous animals had been slaughtered in sacrifice on the altars of theGreek divinities, and the Nile-boats were greeted with a loud cry of"Ailinos" on their arrival in the harbor.
A bridal wreath, composed of a hoop of gold wound round with scentedviolets, was presented to Nitetis by a troop of young girls in holidaydresses, the act of presentation being performed by Sappho, as the mostbeautiful among the maidens of Naukratis.
On accepting the gift Nitetis kissed her forehead in token of gratitude.The triremes were already waiting; she went on board, the rowers tooktheir oars and began the Keleusma.
[The measure of the Keleusma was generally given by a flute-player, the Trieraules. AEschylus, Persians 403. Laert. Diog. IV. 22. In the Frogs of Aristophanes the inhabitants of the marshes are made to sing the Keleusma, v. 205. The melody, to the measure of which the Greek boatmen usually timed their strokes.]
Ailinos rang across the water from a thousand voices. Bartja stoodon the deck, and waved a last loving farewell to his betrothed; whileSappho prayed in silence to Aphrodite Euploia, the protectress of thosewho go down to the sea in ships. A tear rolled down her cheek, butaround her lips played a smile of love and hope, though her old slaveMelitta, who accompanied her to carry her parasol, was weeping as ifher heart would break. On seeing, however, a few leaves fall fromher darling's wreath, she forgot her tears for a moment and whisperedsoftly: "Yes, dear heart, it is easy to see that you are in love; whenthe leaves fall from a maiden's wreath, 'tis a sure sign that her hearthas been touched by Eros.