CHAPTER XIX: JEWS AGAINST CHRISTIANS
THE little porter, after having carried Arsenius's message to Miriam,had run back in search of Philammon and his foster-father; and notfinding them, had spent the evening in such frantic rushings to and fro,as produced great doubts of his sanity among the people of the quarter.At last hunger sent him home to supper; at which meal he tried to findvent for his excited feelings in his favourite employment of beating hiswife. Whereon Miriam's two Syrian slave-girls, attracted by her screams,came to the rescue, threw a pail of water over him, and turned him outof doors. He, nothing discomfited, likened himself smilingly to Socratesconquered by Xantippe; and, philosophically yielding to circumstances,hopped about like a tame magpie for a couple of hours at the entrance ofthe alley, pouring forth a stream of light raillery on the passers-by,which several times endangered his personal safety; till at lastPhilammon, hurrying breathlessly home, rushed into his arms.
'Hush! Hither with me! Your star still prospers. She calls for you.'
'Who?'
'Miriam herself. Be secret as the grave. You she will see and speakwith. The message of Arsenius she rejected in language which it isunnecessary for philosophic lips to repeat. Come; but give her goodwords-as are fit to an enchantress who can stay the stars in theircourses, and command the spirits of the third heaven.'
Philammon hurried home with Eudaimon. Little cared he now for Hypatia'swarning against Miriam.... Was he not in search of a sister?
'So' you wretch, you are back again!' cried one of the girls, as theyknocked at the outer door of Miriam's apartments. 'What do you mean bybringing young men here at this time of night?'
'Better go down, and beg pardon of that poor wife of yours. She hasbeen weeping and praying for you to her crucifix all the evening, youungrateful little ape!'
'Female superstitions--but I forgive her. Peace, barbarian women!I bring this youthful philosopher hither by your mistress's ownappointment.'
'He must wait, then, in the ante-room. There is a gentleman with mymistress at present.'
So Philammon waited in a dark, dingy ante-room, luxuriously furnishedwith faded tapestry, and divans which lined the walls; and fretted andfidgeted, while the two girls watched him over their embroidery out ofthe corners of their eyes, and agreed that he was a very stupid personfor showing no inclination to return their languishing glances.
In the meanwhile, Miriam, within, was listening, with a smile of grimdelight, to a swarthy and weather-beaten young Jew.
'I knew, mother in Israel, that all depended on my pace; and nightand day I rode from Ostia toward Tarentum: but the messenger of theuncircumcised was better mounted than I; I therefore bribed a certainslave to lame his horse, and passed him by a whole stage on the secondday. Nevertheless, by night the Philistine had caught me up again, theevil angels helping him; and my soul was mad within me.'
'And what then, Jonadab Bar-Zebudah?'
'I bethought me of Ehud, and of Joab also, when he was pursued byAsahel, and considered much of the lawfulness of the deed, not beinga man of blood. Nevertheless, we were together in the darkness, and Ismote him.'
Miriam clapped her hands.
'Then putting on his clothes, and taking his letters and credentials,as was but reasonable, I passed myself off for the messenger of theemperor, and so rode the rest of that journey at the expense of theheathen; and I hereby return you the balance saved.'
'Never mind the balance. Keep it, thou worthy son of Jacob. What next?'
'When I came to Tarentum, I sailed in the galley which I had charteredfrom certain sea-robbers. Valiant men they were, nevertheless, and kepttrue faith with me. For when we had come halfway, rowing with all ourmight, behold another galley coming in our wake and about to pass us by,which I knew for an Alexandrian, as did the captain also, who assured methat she had come from hence to Brundusium with letters from Orestes.'
'Well?'
'It seemed to me both base to be passed, and more base to waste all theexpense wherewith you and our elders had charged themselves; so I tookcounsel with the man of blood, offering him over and above our bargain,two hundred gold pieces of my own, which please to pay to my accountwith Rabbi Ezekiel, who lives by the watergate in Pelusium. Then thepirates, taking counsel, agreed to run down the enemy; for our galleywas a sharp-beaked Liburnian, while theirs was only a messengertrireme.'
'And you did it?'
'Else had I not been here. They were delivered into our hands, so thatwe struck them full in mid-length, and they sank like Pharaoh and hishost.'
'So perish all the enemies of the nation!' cried Miriam. 'And now it isimpossible, you say, for fresh news to arrive for these ten days?'
'Impossible, the captain assured me, owing to the rising of the wind,and the signs of southerly storm.'
'Here, take this letter for the Chief Rabbi, and the blessing of amother in Israel. Thou Last played the man for thy people; and thoushalt go to the grave full of years and honours, with men-servants andmaid-servants, gold and silver, children and children's children, withthy foot on the necks of heathens, and the blessing of Abraham, Isaac,and Jacob, to eat of the goose which is fattening in the desert, andthe Leviathan which lieth in the great sea, to be meat for all trueIsraelites at the last day.'
And the Jew turned and went out, perhaps, in his simple fanaticism, thehappiest man in Egypt at that moment.
He passed out through the ante-chamber, leering at the slave-girls, andscowling at Philammon; and the youth was ushered into the presence ofMiriam.
She sat, coiled up like a snake on a divan writing busily in a tabletupon her knees while on the cushions beside her glittered splendidjewels, which she had been fingering over as a child might its toys.She did not look up for a few minutes; and Philammon could not help, inspite of his impatience, looking round the little room and contrastingits dirty splendour, and heavy odour of wine, and food, and perfumes,with the sunny grace and cleanliness of Greek houses. Against thewall stood presses and chests fretted with fantastic Oriental carving;illuminated rolls of parchment lay in heaps in a corner; a lamp ofstrange form hung from the ceiling, and shed a dim and lurid lightupon an object which chilled the youth's blood for a moment--a bracketagainst the wall, on which, in a plate of gold, engraven with mysticsigns, stood the mummy of an infant's head; one of those teraphim, fromwhich, as Philammon knew, the sorcerers of the East professed to evokeoracular responses.
At last she looked up, and spoke in a shrill, harsh voice. 'Well, myfair boy, and what do you want with the poor old proscribed Jewess? Haveyou coveted yet any of the pretty things which she has had the wit tomake her slave-demons save from the Christian robbers?'
Philammon's tale was soon told. The old woman listened, watching himintently with her burning eye; and then answered slowly--
'Well, and what if you are a slave?'
'Am I one, then? Am I?'
'Of course you are. Arsenius spoke truth. I saw him buy you at Ravenna,just fifteen years ago. I bought your sister at the same time. She istwo-and-twenty now. You were four years younger than her, I should say.'
'Oh heavens! and you know my sister still! Is she Pelagia?'
'You were a pretty boy,' went on the hag, apparently not hearing him.'If I had thought you were going to grow up as beautiful and asclever as you are, I would have bought you myself. The Goths werejust marching, and Arsenius gave only eighteen gold pieces for you--ortwenty--I am growing old, and forget everything, I think. But therewould have been the expense of your education, and your sister cost mein training--oh what sums? Not that she was not worth the money--no, no,the darling!'
'And you know where she is? Oh tell me--in the name of mercy tell me!'
'Why, then?'
'Why, then? Have you not the heart of a human being in you? Is she notmy sister?'
'Well? You have done very well for fifteen years without yoursister--why can you not do as well now? You don't recollect her--youdon't love her.'
'Not love her? I would die for her--d
ie for you if you will but help meto see her!'
'You would, would you? And if I brought you to her, what then! What ifshe were Pelagia herself, what then? She is happy enough now, and richenough. Could you make her happier or richer?'
'Can you ask? I must--I will--reclaim her from the infamy in which I amsure she lives.'
'Ah ha, sir monk! I expected as much. I know, none knows better, whatthose fine words mean. The burnt child dreads the fire; but the burntold woman quenches it, you will find. Now listen. I do not say that youshall not see her--I do not say that Pelagia herself is not the womanwhom you seek--but--you are in my power. Don't frown and pout. I candeliver you as a slave to Arsenius when I choose. One word from me toOrestes, and you are in fetters as a fugitive.'
'I will escape!' cried he fiercely.
'Escape me?'--She laughed, pointing to the teraph--'Me, who, if you fledbeyond Kaf, or dived to the depths of the ocean, could make these deadlips confess where you were, and command demons to bear you back to meupon their wings! Escape me! Better to obey me, and see your sister.'
Philammon shuddered, and submitted. The spell of the woman's eye, theterror of her words, which he half believed, and the agony of longing,conquered him, and he gasped out--
'I will obey you--only--only--'
'Only you are not quite a man yet, but half a monk still, eh? I mustknow that before I help you, my pretty boy. Are you a monk still, or aman?'
'What do you mean?'
'Ah, ha, ha!' laughed she shrilly. 'And these Christian dogs don't knowwhat a man means? Are you a monk, then? leaving the man alone, as aboveyour understanding.'
'I?--I am a student of philosophy.'
'But no man?'
'I am a man, I suppose.'
'I don't; if you had been, you would have been making love like a man tothat heathen woman many a month ago.'
'I--to her?'
'Yes, I-to her!'Said Miriam, coarsely imitating his tone of shockedhumility. 'I, the poor penniless boy-scholar, to her, the great, rich,wise, worshipped she-philosopher, who holds the sacred keys of the innershrine of the east wind--and just because I am a man, and the handsomestman in Alexandria, and she a woman, and the vainest woman in Alexandria;and therefore I am stronger than she, and can twist her round my finger,and bring her to her knees at my feet when I like, as soon I open myeyes, and discover that I am a man. Eh, boy! Did she ever teach you thatamong her mathematics and metaphysics, and gods and goddesses?'
Philammon stood blushing scarlet. The sweet poison had entered, andevery vein glowed with it for the first time in his life. Miriam saw heradvantage.
'There, there--don't be frightened at your new lesson. After all, Iliked you from the first moment I saw you, and asked the teraph aboutyou, and I got an answer--such an answer! You shall know it some day. Atall events, it set the poor old soft-hearted Jewess on throwing away hermoney. Did you ever guess from whom your monthly gold piece came?'
Philammon started, and Miriam burst into loud, shrill laughter.
'From Hypatia, I'll warrant! From the fair Greek woman, of course--vainchild that you are--never thinking of the poor old Jewess.'
'And did you? did you?' gasped Philammon.
'Have I to thank you, then, for that strange generosity?'
'Not to thank me, but to obey me; for mind, I can prove your debt to me,every obol, and claim it if I choose. But don't fear; I won't be hard onyou, just because you are in my power. I hate every one who is not so.As soon as I have a hold on them, I begin to love them. Old folks, likechildren, are fond of their own playthings.'
'And I am yours, then?' said Philammon fiercely.
'You are indeed, my beautiful boy,' answered she, looking up with soinsinuating a smile that he could not be angry. 'After all, I know howto toss my balls gently--and for these forty years I have only livedto make young folks happy; so you need not be afraid of the poorsoft-hearted old woman. Now--you saved Orestes's life yesterday.'
'How did you find out that?'
'I? I know everything. I know what the swallows say when they pass eachother on the wing, and what the fishes think of in the summer sea. You,too, will be able to guess some day, without the teraph's help. Butin the mean time you must enter Orestes's service. Why?-What are youhesitating about? Do you not know that you are high in his favour? Hewill make you secretary--raise you to be chamberlain some day, if youknow how to make good use of your fortune.'
Philammon stood in astonished silence; and at last--
'Servant to that man? What care I for him or his honours? Why do youtantalise me thus? I have no wish on earth but to see my sister!'
'You will be far more likely to see her if you belong to the court ofa great officer--perhaps more than an officer--than if you remain apenniless monk. Not that I believe you. Your only wish on earth, eh? Doyou not care, then, ever to see the fair Hypatia again?'
'I? Why should I not see her? Am I not her pupil?'
'She will not have pupils much longer, my child. If you wish to hearher wisdom--and much good may it do you--you must go for it henceforthsomewhat nearer to Orestes's palace than the lecture-room is. Ah! youstart. Have I found you an argument now? No--ask no questions. I explainnothing to monks. But take these letters; to-morrow morning at thethird hour go to Orestes's palace, and ask for his secretary, Ethan theChaldee. Say boldly that you bring important news of state; and thenfollow your star: it is a fairer one than you fancy. Go! obey me, or yousee no sister.'
Philammon felt himself trapped; but, after all, what might not thisstrange woman do for him? It seemed, if not his only path, still hisnearest path to Pelagia; and in the meanwhile he was in the hag's power,and he must submit to his fate; so he took the letters and went out.
'And so you think that you are going to have her?' chuckled Miriam toherself, when Philammon went out. 'To make a penitent of her, eh?--anun, or a she-hermit; to set her to appease your God by crawling on allfours among the mummies for twenty years, with a chain round her neckand a clog at her ankle, fancying herself all the while the bride of theNazarene? And you think that old Miriam is going to give her up to youfor that? No, no, sir monk! Better she were dead!.... Follow your daintybait!--follow it, as the donkey does the grass which his driver offershim, always an inch from his nose.... You in my power!--and Orestes inmy power!.... I must negotiate that new loan to-morrow, I suppose....I shall never be paid. The dog will ruin me, after all! How much is it,now? Let me see.'.... And she began fumbling in her escritoire, overbonds and notes of hand. 'I shall never be paid: but power!--to havepower! To see those heathen slaves and Christian hounds plotting andvapouring, and fancying themselves the masters of the world, andnever dreaming that we are pulling the strings, and that they are ourpuppets!--we, the children of the promises--we, The Nation--we, the seedof Abraham! Poor fools! I could almost pity them, as I think of theirfaces when Messiah comes, and they find out who were the true lords ofthe world, after all!....He must be the Emperor of the South, though,that Orestes; he must, though I have to lend him Raphael's jewels tomake him so. For he must marry the Greek woman. He shall. She hateshim, of course.... So much the deeper revenge for me. And she loves thatmonk. I saw it in her eyes there in the garden. So much the better forme, too. He will dangle willingly enough at Orestes's heels for thesake of being near her--poor fool! We will make him secretary, orchamberlain. He has wit enough for it, they say, or for anything. SoOrestes and he shall be the two jaws of my pincers, to squeeze what Iwant out of that Greek Jezebel.. And then, then for the black agate!'
Was the end of her speech a bathos? Perhaps not; for as she spoke thelast word, she drew from her bosom, where it hung round her neck by achain, a broken talisman, exactly similar to the one which she covetedso fiercely, and looked at it long and lovingly--kissed it--weptover it--spoke to it--fondled it in her arms as a mother would achild--murmured over it snatches of lullabies; and her grim, witheredfeatures grew softer, purer, grander; and rose ennobled, for a moment,to their long-lost might-have-been, to that pers
onal ideal which everysoul brings with it into the world, which shines, dim and potential,in the face of every sleeping babe, before it has been scarred, anddistorted, and encrusted in the long tragedy of life. Sorceress she was,pander and slave-dealer, steeped to the lips in falsehood, ferocity, andavarice; yet that paltry stone brought home to her some thought, true,spiritual, impalpable, unmarketable, before which all her treasures andall her ambition were as worthless in her own eyes as they were in theeyes of the angels of God.
But little did Miriam think that at the same moment a brawny, clownishmonk was standing in Cyril's private chamber, and, indulged with thespecial honour of a cup of good wine in the patriarch's very presence,was telling to him and Arsenius the following history--
'So I, finding that the Jews had chartered this pirate-ship, went tothe master thereof, and finding favour in his eyes, hired myself to rowtherein, being sure, from what I had overheard from the Jews, that shewas destined to bring the news to Alexandria as quickly as possible.Therefore, fulfilling the work which his Holiness had entrusted to myincapacity, I embarked, and rowed continually among the rest; and beingunskilled in such labour, received many curses and stripes in the causeof the Church--the which I trust are laid to my account hereafter.Moreover, Satan entered into me, desiring to slay me, and almost toreme asunder, so that I vomited much, and loathed all manner of meat.Nevertheless, I rowed on valiantly, being such as I am, vomitingcontinually, till the heathens were moved with wonder, and forbore tobeat me, giving me strong liquors in pity; wherefore I rowed all themore valiantly day and night, trusting that by my unworthiness the causeof the Catholic Church might be in some slight wise assisted.'
'And so it is,' quoth Cyril. 'Why do you not sit down, man?'
'Pardon me,' quoth the monk, with a piteous gesture; 'of sitting, as ofall carnal pleasure, cometh satiety at the last.'
'And now' said Cyril, 'what reward am I to give you for your goodservice?'
'It is reward enough to know that I have done good service. Neverthelessif the holy patriarch be so inclined without reason, there is an ancientChristian, my mother according to the flesh--'
'Come to me to-morrow, and she shall be well seen to. And mind--look toit, if I make you not a deacon of the city when I promote Peter.'
The monk kissed his superior's hand and withdrew. Cyril turned toArsenius, betrayed for once into geniality by his delight, and smitinghis thigh--
'We have beaten the heathen for once, eh?' And then, in the usualartificial tone of an ecclesiastic--'And what would my father recommendin furtherance of the advantage so mercifully thrown into our hand?'
Arsenius was silent.
'I,' went on Cyril, 'should be inclined to announce the news this verynight, in my sermon.'
Arsenius shook his head.
'Why not? why not?' asked Cyril impatiently.
'Better to keep it secret till others tell it. Reserved knowledge isalways reserved strength; and if the man, as I hope he does not, intendsevil to the Church, let him commit himself before you use your knowledgeagainst him. True, you may have a scruple of conscience as to thelawfulness of allowing a sin which you might prevent. To me it seemsthat the sin lies in the will rather than in the deed, and thatsometimes--I only say sometimes--it may be a means of saving the sinnerto allow his root of iniquity to bear fruit, and fill him with his owndevices.'
'Dangerous doctrine, my father.'
'Like all sound doctrine--a savour of life or of death, according as itis received. I have not said it to the multitude, but to a discerningbrother. And even politically speaking--let him commit himself, if he bereally plotting rebellion, and then speak, and smite his Babel tower.'
'You think, then, that he does not know of Heraclian's defeat already?'
'If he does, he will keep it secret from the people; and our chances ofturning them suddenly will be nearly the same.'
'Good. After all, the existence of the Catholic Church in Alexandriadepends on this struggle, and it is well to be wary. Be it so. It iswell for me that I have you for an adviser.'
And thus Cyril, usually the most impatient and intractable of plotters,gave in, as wise men should, to a wiser man than himself, and made uphis mind to keep the secret, and to command the monk to keep it also.
Philammon, after a sleepless night, and a welcome visit to the publicbaths, which the Roman tyranny, wiser in its generation than modernliberty, provided so liberally for its victims, set forth to thePrefect's palace, and gave his message; but Orestes, who had beenof late astonishing the Alexandrian public by an unwonted display ofalacrity, was already in the adjoining Basilica. Thither the youth wasconducted by an apparitor, and led up the centre of the enormous hall,gorgeous with frescoes and coloured marbles, and surrounded by aislesand galleries, in which the inferior magistrates were hearing causes,and doing such justice as the complicated technicalities of Roman lawchose to mete out. Through a crowd of anxious loungers the youth passedto the apse of the upper end, in which the Prefect's throne stood empty,and then turned into aside chamber, where he found himself alone withthe secretary, a portly Chaldee eunuch, with a sleek pale face, smallpig's eyes, and an enormous turban. The man of pen and paper took theletter, opened it with solemn deliberation, and then, springing tohis feet, darted out of the room in most undignified haste, leavingPhilammon to wait and wonder. In half an hour he returned, his littleeyes growing big with some great idea.
'Youth! your star is in the ascendant; you are the fortunate bearer offortunate news! His Excellency himself commands your presence.' And thetwo went out.
In another chamber, the door of which was guarded by armed men, Oresteswas walking up and down in high excitement, looking somewhat the worsefor the events of the past night, and making occasional appeals to agold goblet which stood on the table.
'Ha! No other than my preserver himself! Boy, I will make your fortune.Miriam says that you wish to enter my service.'
Philammon, not knowing what to say, thought the best answer would be tobow as low as he could.
'Ah, ha! Graceful, but not quite according to etiquette. You will soonteach him, eh, Secretary? Now to business. Hand me the notes to sign andseal. To the Prefect of the Stationaries--'
'Here, your Excellency.'
'To the Prefect of the Corn market--how many wheat-ships have youordered to be unladen?'
'Two, your Excellency.'
'Well, that will be largess enough for the time being. To the Defenderof the Plebs--the devil break his neck!'
'He may be trusted, most noble; he is bitterly jealous of Cyril'sinfluence. And moreover, he owes my insignificance much money.'
'Good! Now the notes to the Gaol-masters, about the gladiators.'
'Here, your Excellency.'
'To Hypatia. No. I will honour my bride elect with my own illustriouspresence. As I live, here is a morning's work for a man with a rackingheadache!'
'Your Excellency has the strength of seven. May you live for ever!'
And really, Orestes's power of getting through business, when he chose,was surprising enough. A cold head and a colder heart make many thingseasy.
But Philammon's whole soul was fixed on those words. 'His brideelect!'.... Was it that Miriam's hints of the day before had raised someselfish vision, or was it pity and horror at such a fate for her--forhis idol?--But he passed five minutes in a dream, from which he wasawakened by the sound of another and still dearer name.
'And now, for Pelagia. We can but try.'
'Your Excellency might offend the Goth.'
'Curse the Goth! He shall have his choice of all the beauties inAlexandria, and be count of Pentapolis if he likes. But a spectacle Imust have; and no one but Pelagia can dance Venus Anadyomene.'
Philammon's blood rushed to his heart, and then back again to his brow,as he reeled with horror and shame.
'The people will be mad with joy to see her on the stage once more.Little they thought, the brutes, how I was plotting for their amusement,even when as drunk as Silenus.'
/> 'Your nobility only lives for the good of your slaves.'
'Here, boy! So fair a lady requires a fair messenger. You shall enter onmy service at once, and carry this letter to Pelagia. Why?--why do younot come and take it?'
'To Pelagia?' gasped the youth. 'In the theatre? Publicly? VenusAnadyomene?'
'Yes, fool! Were you, too, drunk last night after all?'
'She is my sister!'
'Well, and what of that? Not that I believe you, you villain! So!' saidOrestes, who comprehended the matter in an instant. 'Apparitors!'
The door opened, and the guard appeared.
'Here is a good boy who is inclined to make a fool of himself. Keep himout of harm's way for a few days. But don't hurt him; for, after all, hesaved my life yesterday, when you scoundrels ran away.'
And, without further ado, the hapless youth was collared, and led downa vaulted passage into the guard-room, amid the jeers of the guard, whoseemed only to owe him a grudge for his yesterday's prowess, and showedgreat alacrity in fitting him with a heavy set of irons; which done, hewas thrust head foremost into a cell of the prison, locked in and leftto his meditations.