CHAPTER XIII.
Cambyses passed a sleepless night. The feeling of jealousy, so totallynew to him, increased his desire to possess Nitetis, but he dared nottake her as his wife yet, as the Persian law forbade the king to marry aforeign wife, until she had become familiar with the customs of Iran andconfessed herself a disciple of Zoroaster.
[Zoroaster, really Zarathustra or Zerethoschtro, was one of the `greatest among founders of new religions and lawgivers. His name signified "golden star" according to Anquetil du Perron. But this interpretation is as doubtful, as the many others which have been attempted. An appropriate one is given in the essay by Kern quoted below, from zara golden, and thwistra glittering; thus "the gold glittering one." It is uncertain whether he was born in Bactria, Media or Persia, Anquetil thinks in Urmi, a town in Aderbaijan. His father's name was Porosehasp, his mother's Dogdo, and his family boasted of royal descent. The time of his birth is very,--Spiegel says "hopelessly"--dark. Anquetil, and many other scholars would place it in the reign of Darius, a view which has been proved to be incorrect by Spiegel, Duncker and v. Schack in his introduction.]
According to this law a whole year must pass before Nitetis could becomethe wife of a Persian monarch? but what was the law to Cambyses? In hiseyes the law was embodied in his own person, and in his opinion threemonths would be amply sufficient to initiate Nitetis in the Magianmysteries, after which process she could become his bride.
To-day his other wives seemed hateful, even loathsome, to him. FromCambyses' earliest youth his house had been carefully provided withwomen. Beautiful girls from all parts of Asia, black-eyed Armenians,dazzlingly fair maidens from the Caucasus, delicate girls from theshores of the Ganges, luxurious Babylonian women, golden-haired Persiansand the effeminate daughters of the Median plains; indeed many of thenoblest Achaemenidae had given him their daughters in marriage.
Phaedime, the daughter of Otanes, and niece of his own motherKassandane, had been Cambyses' favorite wife hitherto, or at leastthe only one of whom it could be said that she was more to him than apurchased slave would have been. But even she, in his present sated anddisgusted state of feeling, seemed vulgar and contemptible, especiallywhen he thought of Nitetis.
The Egyptian seemed formed of nobler, better stuff than they all.They were flattering, coaxing girls; Nitetis was a queen. They humbledthemselves in the dust at his feet; but when he thought of Nitetis,he beheld her erect, standing before him, on the same proud level ashimself. He determined that from henceforth she should not only occupyPhaedime's place, but should be to him what Kassandane had been to hisfather Cyrus.
She was the only one of his wives who could assist him by her knowledgeand advice; the others were all like children, ignorant, and caringfor nothing but dress and finery: living only for petty intrigues anduseless trifles. This Egyptian girl would be obliged to love him, for hewould be her protector, her lord, her father and brother in this foreignland.
"She must," he said to himself, and to this despot to wish for a thingand to possess it seemed one and the same. "Bartja had better takecare," he murmured, "or he shall know what fate awaits the man who daresto cross my path."
Nitetis too had passed a restless night.
The common apartment of the women was next to her own, and the noiseand singing there had not ceased until nearly midnight. She could oftendistinguish the shrill voice of Boges joking and laughing with thesewomen, who were under his charge. At last all was quiet in the widepalace halls and then her thoughts turned to her distant home and herpoor sister Tachot, longing for her and for the beautiful Bartja, who,Croesus had told her, was going to-morrow to the war and possibly todeath. At last she fell asleep, overcome by the fatigue of the journeyand dreaming of her future husband. She saw him on his black charger.The foaming animal shied at Bartja who was lying in the road, threw hisrider and dragged him into the Nile, whose waves became blood-red. Inher terror she screamed for help; her cries were echoed back from thePyramids in such loud and fearful tones that she awoke.
But hark! what could that be? That wailing, shrill cry which she hadheard in her dream,--she could hear it still.
Hastily drawing aside the shutters from one of the openings which servedas windows, she looked out. A large and beautiful garden, laid out withfountains and shady avenues, lay before her, glittering with the earlydew.
[The Persian gardens were celebrated throughout the old world, and seem to have been laid out much less stiffly than the Egyptian. Even the kings of Persia did not consider horticulture beneath their notice, and the highest among the Achaemenidae took an especial pleasure in laying out parks, called in Persian Paradises. Their admiration for well-grown trees went so far, that Xerxes, finding on his way to Greece a singularly beautiful tree, hung ornaments of gold upon its branches. Firdusi, the great Persian epic poet, compares human beauty to the growth of the cypress, as the highest praise he can give. Indeed some trees were worshipped by the Persians; and as the tree of life in the Hebrew and Egyptian, so we find sacred trees in their Paradise.]
No sound was to be heard except the one which had alarmed her, and thistoo died away at last on the morning breeze. After a few minutes sheheard cries and noise in the distance, then the great city awaking toits daily work, which soon settled down into a deep, dull murmur likethe roaring of the sea.
Nitetis was by this time so thoroughly awakened from the effect of thefresh morning air, that she did not care to lie down again. She wentonce more to the window and perceived two figures coming out of thehouse. One she recognized as the eunuch Boges; he was talking to abeautiful Persian woman carelessly dressed. They approached her window.Nitetis hid herself behind the half-opened shutter and listened, for shefancied she heard her own name.
"The Egyptian is still asleep." said Boges. "She must be much fatiguedby the journey. I see too that one of her windows is still firmlyclosed."
"Then tell me quickly," said the Persian. "Do you really think that thisstranger's coming can injure me in any way?"
"Certainly, I do, my pretty one."
"But what leads you to suppose this?"
"She is only to obey the king's commands, not mine."
"Is that all?"
"No, my treasure. I know the king. I can read his features as the Magiread the sacred books."
"Then we must ruin her."
"More easily said than done, my little bird."
"Leave me alone! you are insolent."
"Well, but nobody can see us, and you know you can do nothing without myhelp."
"Very well then, I don't care. But tell me quickly what we can do."
"Thanks, my sweet Phaedime. Well, for the present we must be patientand wait our time. That detestable hypocrite Croesus seems to haveestablished himself as protector of the Egyptian; when he is away, wemust set our snares."
The speakers were by this time at such a distance, that Nitetis couldnot understand what they said. In silent indignation she closed theshutter, and called her maidens to dress her. She knew her enemiesnow--she knew that a thousand dangers surrounded her, and yet she feltproud and happy, for was she not chosen to be the real wife of Cambyses?Her own worth seemed clearer to her than ever before, from a comparisonwith these miserable creatures, and a wonderful certainty of ultimatevictory stole into her heart, for Nitetis was a firm believer in themagic power of virtue.
"What was that dreadful sound I heard so early?" she asked of herprincipal waiting-woman, who was arranging her hair.
"Do you mean the sounding brass, lady?"
"Scarcely two hours ago I was awakened by a strange and frightfulsound."
"That was the sounding brass, lady. It is used to awaken the young sonsof the Persian nobles, who are brought up at the gate of the king. Youwill soon become accustomed to it. We have long ceased even to hear it,and indeed on great festivals, when it is not sounded, we awake from theunaccustomed stillness. From the hanging-gardens you will be able to seehow the boys are take
n to bathe every morning, whatever the weather maybe. The poor little ones are taken from their mothers when they are sixyears old, to be brought up with the other boys of their own rank underthe king's eye."
"Are they to begin learning the luxurious manners of the court soearly?"
"Oh no! the poor boys lead a terrible life. They are obliged to sleep onthe hard ground, to rise before the sun. Their food is bread and water,with very little meat, and they are never allowed to taste wine orvegetables. Indeed at times they are deprived of food and drink forsome days, simply to accustom them to privations. When the court is atEcbatana or Pasargadae, and the weather is bitterly cold, they are sureto be taken out to bathe, and here in Susa, the hotter the sun, thelonger and more difficult the marches they are compelled to take."
[The summer residences of the kings cf Persia, where it is sometimes very cold. Ecbatana lies at the foot of the high Elburs (Orontes) range of mountains in the neighborhood of the modern Hamadan; Pasargadae not far from Rachmet in the highlands of Iran]
"And these boys, so simply and severely brought up, become in after lifesuch luxurious men?"
"Yes, that is always the case. A meal that has been waited for isall the more relished when it comes. These boys see splendor andmagnificence around them daily; they know how rich they are in reality,and yet have to suffer from hunger and privation. Who can wonder, if,when at last they gain their liberty, they plunge into the pleasures oflife with a tenfold eagerness? But on the other hand, in time of war, orwhen going to the chase, they never murmur at hunger or thirst, springwith a laugh into the mud regardless of their thin boots and purpletrousers, and sleep as soundly on a rock as on their beds of delicateArabian wool. You must see the feats these boys perform, especially whenthe king is watching them! Cambyses will certainly take you if you askhim."
"I know those exercises already. In Egypt the girls as well as theboys are kept to such gymnastic exercises. My limbs were trained toflexibility by running, postures, and games with hoops and balls.
"How strange! Here, we women grow up just as we please, and are taughtnothing but a little spinning and weaving. Is it true that most of theEgyptian women can read and write?"
"Yes, nearly all."
"By Mithras, you must be a clever people! Scarcely any of the Persians,except the Magi and the scribes, learn these difficult arts. The sonsof the nobles are taught to speak the truth, to be courageous, obedient,and to reverence the gods; to hunt, ride, plant trees and discernbetween herbs; but whoever, like the noble Darius, wishes to learn theart of writing, must apply to the Magi. Women are forbidden to turntheir minds to such studies.--Now your dress is complete. This stringof pearls, which the king sent this morning, looks magnificent in yourraven-black hair, but it is easy to see that you are not accustomed tothe full silk trousers and high-heeled boots. If, however, you walk twoor three times up and down the room you will surpass all the Persianladies even in your walk!"
At this moment a knock was heard and Boges entered. He had come toconduct Nitetis to Kassandane's apartments, where Cambyses was waitingfor her.
The eunuch affected an abject humility, and poured forth a stream offlattering words, in which he likened the princess to the sun, thestarry heavens, a pure fount of happiness, and a garden of roses.Nitetis deigned him not a word in reply, but followed, with a beatingheart, to the queen's apartment.
In order to keep out the noonday sun and produce a salutary half-lightfor the blind queen's eyes, her windows were shaded by curtains of greenIndian silk. The floor was covered with a thick Babylonian carpet, softas moss under the foot. The walls were faced with a mosaic of ivory,tortoise-shell, gold, silver, malachite, lapis-lazuli, ebony and amber.The seats and couches were of gold covered with lions' skins, and atable of silver stood by the side of the blind queen. Kassandanewas seated in a costly arm-chair. She wore a robe of violet-blue,embroidered with silver, and over her snow-white hair lay a long veilof delicate lace, woven in Egypt, the ends of which were wound round herneck and tied in a large bow beneath her chin. She was between sixty andseventy years old; her face, framed, as it were, into a picture by thelace veil, was exquisitely symmetrical in its form, intellectual, kindand benevolent in its expression.
The blind eyes were closed, but those who gazed on her felt that,if open, they would shine with the gentle light of stars. Even whensitting, her attitude and height showed a tall and stately figure.Indeed her entire appearance was worthy the widow of the great and goodCyrus.
On a low seat at her feet, drawing long threads from a golden spindle,sat the queen's youngest child Atossa, born to her late in life.Cambyses was standing before her, and behind, hardly visible in the dimlight, Nebenchari, the Egyptian oculist.
As Nitetis entered, Cambyses came towards her and led her to his mother.The daughter of Amasis fell on her knees before this venerable woman,and kissed her hand with real affection.
"Be welcome here!" exclaimed the blind queen, feeling her way to theyoung girl's head, on which she laid her hand, "I have heard much inyour praise, and hope to gain in you a dear and loving daughter."
Nitetis kissed the gentle, delicate hand again, saying in a low voice:"O how I thank you for these words! Will you, the wife of the greatCyrus, permit me to call you mother? My tongue has been so longaccustomed to this sweet word; and now after long weeks of silence, Itremble with joy at the thought that I may say 'my mother' once more! Iwill indeed try to deserve your love and kindness; and you--you willbe to me all that your loving countenance seems to promise? Advise andteach me; let me find a refuge at your feet, if sometimes the longingfor home becomes too strong, and my poor heart too weak to bear itsgrief or joy alone. Oh, be my mother! that one word includes all else!"
The blind queen felt the warm tears fall on her hand; she pressedher lips kindly on the weeping girl's forehead, and answered: "I canunderstand your feelings. My apartments shall be always open to you, myheart ready to welcome you here. Come when you will, and call me yourmother with the same perfect confidence with which I, from my wholeheart, name you my daughter. In a few months you will be my son's wife,and then the gods may grant you that gift, which, by implanting withinyou the feelings of a mother, will prevent you from feeling the need ofone."
"May Ormuszd hear and give his blessing!" said Cambyses. "I rejoice,mother, that my wife pleases you, and I know that when once she becomesfamiliar with our manners and customs she will be happy here. If Nitetispay due heed, our marriage can be celebrated in four months."
"But the law--" began his mother.
"I command--in four months, and should like to see him who dare raisean objection. Farewell! Nebenchari, use your best skill for the queen'seyes, and if my wife permit, you, as her countryman, may visit herto-morrow. Farewell! Bartja sends his parting greetings. He is on theroad to the Tapuri."
Atossa wiped away a tear in silence, but Kassandane answered: "You wouldhave done well to allow the boy to remain here a few months longer. Yourcommander, Megabyzus, could have subdued that small nation alone."
"Of that I have no doubt," replied the king, "but Bartja desired anopportunity of distinguishing himself in the field; and for that reasonI sent him."
"Would he not gladly have waited until the war with the Massageta; wheremore glory might be gained?" asked the blind woman.
"Yes," said Atossa, "and if he should fall in this war, you willhave deprived him of the power of fulfilling his most sacred duty, ofavenging the soul of our father!"
"Be silent!" cried Cambyses in an overbearing tone, "or I shall have toteach you what is becoming in women and children. Bartja is on far toogood terms with fortune to fall in the war. He will live, I hope, todeserve the love which is now so freely flung into his lap like analms."
"How canst thou speak thus?" cried Kassandane. "In what manly virtue isBartja wanting? Is it his fault, that he has had no such opportunity ofdistinguishing himself in the field as thou hast had? You are theking and I am bound to respect your commands, but I blame my son fordepr
iving his blind mother of the greatest joy left to her in her oldage. Bartja would have gladly remained here until the Massagetan war, ifyour self-will had not determined otherwise."
"And what I will is good!" exclaimed Cambyses interrupting his mother,and pale with anger, "I desire that this subject be not mentionedagain."
So saying, he left the room abruptly and went into the reception-hall,followed by the immense retinue which never quitted him, whithersoeverhe might direct his steps.
An hour passed, and still Nitetis and the lovely Atossa were sittingside by side, at the feet of the queen. The Persian women listenedeagerly to all their new friend could tell them about Egypt and itswonders.
"Oh! how I should like to visit your home!" exclaimed Atossa. "It mustbe quite, quite different from Persia and everything else that I haveseen yet. The fruitful shores of your great river, larger even than theEuphrates, the temples with their painted columns, those huge artificialmountains, the Pyramids, where the ancient kings be buried--it mustall be wonderfully beautiful. But what pleases me best of all is yourdescription of the entertainments, where men and women converse togetheras they like. The only meals we are allowed to take in the societyof men are on New Year's Day and the king's birthday, and then we areforbidden to speak; indeed it is not thought right for us even to raiseour eyes. How different it is with you! By Mithras! mother, I shouldlike to be an Egyptian, for we poor creatures are in reality nothing butmiserable slaves; and yet I feel that the great Cyrus was my father too,and that I am worth quite as much as most men. Do I not speak thetruth? can I not obey as well as command? have I not the same thirst andlonging for glory? could not I learn to ride, to string a bow, to fightand swim, if I were taught and inured to such exercises?"
The girl had sprung from her seat while speaking, her eyes flashed andshe swung her spindle in the air, quite unconscious that in so doing shewas breaking the thread and entangling the flax.
"Remember what is fitting," reminded Kassandane. "A woman must submitwith humility to her quiet destiny, and not aspire to imitate the deedsof men."
"But there are women who lead the same lives as men," cried Atossa."There are the Amazons who live on the shores of the Thermodon inThemiscyra, and at Comana on the Iris; they have waged great wars, andeven to this day wear men's armor."
"Who told you this?"
"My old nurse, Stephanion, whom my father brought a captive from Sinopeto Pasargadae."
"But I can teach you better," said Nitetis. "It is true that inThemiscyra and Comana there are a number of women who wear soldier'sarmor; but they are only priestesses, and clothe themselves like thewarlike goddess they serve, in order to present to the worshippers amanifestation of the divinity in human form. Croesus says that an armyof Amazons has never existed, but that the Greeks, (always readyand able to turn anything into a beautiful myth), having seen thesepriestesses, at once transformed the armed virgins dedicated to thegoddess into a nation of fighting women."
"Then they are liars!" exclaimed the disappointed girl.
"It is true, that the Greeks have not the same reverence for truth asyou have," answered Nitetis, "but they do not call the men who inventthese beautiful stories liars; they are called poets."
"Just as it is with ourselves," said Kassandane. "The poets, who singthe praises of my husband, have altered and adorned his early life ina marvellous manner; yet no one calls them liars. But tell me, mydaughter, is it true that these Greeks are more beautiful than othermen, and understand art better even than the Egyptians?"
"On that subject I should not venture to pronounce a judgment. Thereis such a great difference between the Greek and Egyptian works of art.When I went into our own gigantic temples to pray, I always felt as if Imust prostrate myself in the dust before the greatness of the gods, andentreat them not to crush so insignificant a worm; but in the templeof Hera at Samos, I could only raise my hands to heaven in joyfulthanksgiving, that the gods had made the earth so beautiful. In EgyptI always believed as I had been taught: 'Life is asleep; we shall notawake to our true existence in the kingdom of Osiris till the hour ofdeath;' but in Greece I thought: 'I am born to live and to enjoy thischeerful, bright and blooming world.'"
"Ah! tell us something more about Greece," cried Atossa; "but firstNebenchari must put a fresh bandage on my mother's eyes."
The oculist, a tall, grave man in the white robes of an Egyptian priest,came forward to perform the necessary operation, and after being kindlygreeted by Nitetis, withdrew once more silently into the background.At the same time a eunuch entered to enquire whether Croesus might beallowed to pay his respectful homage to the king's mother.
The aged king soon appeared, and was welcomed as the old and triedfriend of the Persian royal family. Atossa, with her usual impetuosity,fell on the neck of the friend she had so sorely missed during hisabsence; the queen gave him her hand, and Nitetis met him like a lovingdaughter.
"I thank the gods, that I am permitted to see you again," said Croesus."The young can look at life as a possession, as a thing understood andsure, but at my age every year must be accepted as an undeserved giftfrom the gods, for which a man must be thankful."
"I could envy you for this happy view of life," sighed Kassandane."My years are fewer than yours, and yet every new day seems to me apunishment sent by the Immortals."
"Can I be listening to the wife of the great Cyrus?" asked Croesus. "Howlong is it since courage and confidence left that brave heart? I tellyou, you will recover sight, and once more thank the gods for a goodold age. The man who recovers, after a serious illness, values health ahundred-fold more than before; and he who regains sight after blindness,must be an especial favorite of the gods. Imagine to yourself thedelight of that first moment when your eyes behold once more the brightshining of the sun, the faces of your loved ones, the beauty of allcreated things, and tell me, would not that outweigh even a whole lifeof blindness and dark night? In the day of healing, even if that comein old age, a new life will begin and I shall hear you confess that myfriend Solon was right."
"In what respect?" asked Atossa.
"In wishing that Mimnermos, the Colophonian poet, would correct the poemin which he has assigned sixty years as the limit of a happy life, andwould change the sixty into eighty."
"Oh no!" exclaimed Kassandane. "Even were Mithras to restore my sight,such a long life would be dreadful. Without my husband I seem to myselflike a wanderer in the desert, aimless and without a guide."
"Are your children then nothing to you, and this kingdom, of which youhave watched the rise and growth?"
"No indeed! but my children need me no longer, and the ruler of thiskingdom is too proud to listen to a woman's advice."
On hearing these words Atossa and Nitetis seized each one of the queen'shands, and Nitetis cried: "You ought to desire a long life for oursakes. What should we be without your help and protection?"
Kassandane smiled again, murmuring in a scarcely audible voice: "You areright, my children, you will stand in need of your mother."
"Now you are speaking once more like the wife of the great Cyrus," criedCroesus, kissing the robe of the blind woman. "Your presence will indeedbe needed, who can say how soon? Cambyses is like hard steel; sparksfly wherever he strikes. You can hinder these sparks from kindling adestroying fire among your loved ones, and this should be your duty. Youalone can dare to admonish the king in the violence of his passion. Heregards you as his equal, and, while despising the opinion of others,feels wounded by his mother's disapproval. Is it not then your duty toabide patiently as mediator between the king, the kingdom and your lovedones, and so, by your own timely reproofs, to humble the pride of yourson, that he may be spared that deeper humiliation which, if not thusaverted, the gods will surely inflict."
"You are right," answered the blind woman, "but I feel only too wellthat my influence over him is but small. He has been so much accustomedto have his own will, that he will follow no advice, even if it comefrom his mother's lips."
"But
he must at least hear it," answered Croesus, "and that is much,for even if he refuse to obey, your counsels will, like divine voices,continue to make themselves heard within him, and will keep him backfrom many a sinful act. I will remain your ally in this matter; for, asCambyses' dying father appointed me the counsellor of his son in wordand deed, I venture occasionally a bold word to arrest his excesses.Ours is the only blame from which he shrinks: we alone can dare to speakour opinion to him. Let us courageously do our duty in this our office:you, moved by love to Persia and your son, and I by thankfulness to thatgreat man to whom I owe life and freedom, and whose son Cambyses is.I know that you bemoan the manner in which he has been brought up; butsuch late repentance must be avoided like poison. For the errors of thewise the remedy is reparation, not regret; regret consumes the heart,but the effort to repair an error causes it to throb with a noblepride."
"In Egypt," said Nitetis, "regret is numbered among the forty-two deadlysins. One of our principal commandments is, 'Thou shalt not consumethine heart.'"
[In the Ritual of the Dead (indeed in almost every Papyrus of the Dead) we meet with a representation of the soul, whose heart is being weighed and judged. The speech made by the soul is called the negative justification, in which she assures the 42 judges of the dead, that she has not committed the 42 deadly sins which she enumerates. This justification is doubly interesting because it contains nearly the entire moral law of Moses, which last, apart from all national peculiarities and habits of mind, seems to contain the quintessence of human morality--and this we find ready paragraphed in our negative justification. Todtenbuch ed. Lepsius. 125. We cannot discuss this question philosophically here, but the law of Pythagoras, who borrowed so much from Egypt, and the contents of which are the same, speaks for our view. It is similar in form to the Egyptian.]
"There you remind me," said Croesus "that I have undertaken to arrangefor your instruction in the Persian customs, religion and language. Ihad intended to withdraw to Barene, the town which I received as a giftfrom Cyrus, and there, in that most lovely mountain valley, to takemy rest; but for your sake and for the king's, I will remain here andcontinue to give you instruction in the Persian tongue. Kassandaneherself will initiate you in the customs peculiar to women at thePersian court, and Oropastes, the high-priest, has been ordered by theking to make you acquainted with the religion of Iran. He will be yourspiritual, and I your secular guardian."
At these words Nitetis, who had been smiling happily, cast down her eyesand asked in a low voice: "Am I to become unfaithful to the gods of myfathers, who have never failed to hear my prayers? Can I, ought I toforget them?"
"Yes," said Kassandane decidedly, "thou canst, and it is thy boundenduty, for a wife ought to have no friends but those her husband callssuch. The gods are a man's earliest, mightiest and most faithfulfriends, and it therefore becomes thy duty, as a wife, to honor them,and to close thine heart against strange gods and superstitions, as thouwouldst close it against strange lovers."
"And," added Croesus, "we will not rob you of your deities; we will onlygive them to you under other names. As Truth remains eternally thesame, whether called 'maa', as by the Egyptians, or 'Aletheia' as by theGreeks, so the essence of the Deity continues unchanged in all placesand times. Listen, my daughter: I myself, while still king of Lydia,often sacrificed in sincere devotion to the Apollo of the Greeks,without a fear that in so doing I should offend the Lydian sun-godSandon; the Ionians pay their worship to the Asiatic Cybele, and, nowthat I have become a Persian, I raise my hands adoringly to Mithras,Ormuzd and the lovely Anahita. Pythagoras too, whose teaching is not newto you, worships one god only, whom he calls Apollo; because, like theGreek sun-god, he is the source of light and of those harmonies whichPythagoras holds to be higher than all else. And lastly, Xenophanes ofColophon laughs at the many and divers gods of Homer and sets one singledeity on high--the ceaselessly creative might of nature, whose essenceconsists of thought, reason and eternity.
[A celebrated freethinker, who indulged in bold and independent speculations, and suffered much persecution for his ridicule of the Homeric deities. He flourished at the time of our history and lived to a great age, far on into the fifth century. We have quoted some fragments of his writings above. He committed his speculations also to verse.]
"In this power everything has its rise, and it alone remains unchanged,while all created matter must be continually renewed and perfected. Theardent longing for some being above us, on whom we can lean when our ownpowers fail,--the wonderful instinct which desires a faithful friend towhom we can tell every joy and sorrow without fear of disclosure, thethankfulness with which we behold this beautiful world and all therich blessings we have received--these are the feelings which we callpiety--devotion.
"These you must hold fast; remembering, however, at the same time, thatthe world is ruled neither by the Egyptian, the Persian, nor the Greekdivinities apart from each other, but that all these are one; andthat one indivisible Deity, how different soever may be the names andcharacters under which He is represented, guides the fate of men andnations."
The two Persian women listened to the old man in amazement. Theirunpractised powers were unable to follow the course of his thoughts.Nitetis, however, had understood him thoroughly, and answered: "Mymother Ladice was the pupil of Pythagoras, and has told me somethinglike this already; but the Egyptian priests consider such views to besacrilegious, and call their originators despisers of the gods. So Itried to repress such thoughts; but now I will resist them no longer.What the good and wise Croesus believes cannot possibly be evil orimpious! Let Oropastes come! I am ready to listen to his teaching. Thegod of Thebes, our Ammon, shall be transformed into Ormuzd,--Isis orHathor, into Anahita, and those among our gods for whom I can find nolikeness in the Persian religion, I shall designate by the name of 'theDeity.'"
Croesus smiled. He had fancied, knowing how obstinately the Egyptiansclung to all they had received from tradition and education, that itwould have been more difficult for Nitetis to give up the gods of hernative land. He had forgotten that her mother was a Greek, and that thedaughters of Amasis had studied the doctrines of Pythagoras. Neitherwas he aware how ardently Nitetis longed to please her proud lord andmaster. Even Amasis, who so revered the Samian philosopher, who had sooften yielded to Hellenic influence, and who with good reason might becalled a free-thinking Egyptian, would sooner have exchanged life fordeath, than his multiform gods for the one idea "Deity."
"You are a teachable pupil," said Croesus, laying his hand on her head,"and as a reward, you shall be allowed either to visit Kassandane, orto receive Atossa in the hanging-gardens, every morning, and everyafternoon until sunset."
This joyful news was received with loud rejoicings by Atossa, and with agrateful smile by the Egyptian girl.
"And lastly," said Croesus, "I have brought some balls and hoops withme from Sais, that you may be able to amuse yourselves in Egyptianfashion."
"Balls?" asked Atossa in amazement; "what can we do with the heavywooden things?"
"That need not trouble you," answered Croesus, laughing. "The balls Ispeak of are pretty little things made of the skins of fish filled withair, or of leather. A child of two years old can throw these, but youwould find it no easy matter even to lift one of those wooden balls withwhich the Persian boys play. Are you content with me, Nitetis?"
[In Persia games with balls are still reckoned among the amusements of the men. One player drives a wooden hall to the other, as in the English game of cricket. Chardin (Voyage en Perse. III. p. 226.) saw the game played by 300 players.]
"How can I thank you enough, my father?"
"And now listen to my plan for the division of your time. In the morningyou will visit Kassandane, chat with Atossa, and listen to the teachingof your noble mother."
Here the blind woman bent her head in approval. "Towards noon I shallcome to teach you, and we can talk sometimes about Egypt and your lovedones there, but
always in Persian. You would like this, would you not?"
Nitetis smiled.
"Every second day, Oropastes will be in attendance to initiate you inthe Persian religion."
"I will take the greatest pains to comprehend him quickly."
"In the afternoon you can be with Atossa as long as you like. Does thatplease you too?"
"O Croesus!" cried the young girl and kissed the old man's hand.