[NOTE: There is a short list of bookmarks, or pointers, at the end of thefile for those who may wish to sample the author's ideas before making anentire meal of them. D. W. ]

ARACHNE

By Georg Ebers

Volume 2. 

In the extreme northern portion of the little city of Tennis a large, perfectly plain whitewashed building stood on an open, grass-grownsquare. 

The side facing the north rested upon a solid substructure of hard blocksof hewn stone washed by the waves. 

This protecting wall extended along both sides of the long, plainedifice, and prevented the water from overflowing the open space whichbelonged to it. 

Archias, the owner of the largest weaving establishment in Tennis, thefather of the Alexandrian aristocrat who had arrived the evening before, was the owner of the house, as well as of the broad plain on which he hadhad it built, with the indestructible sea wall, to serve as a storehouseto receive the supplies of linen, flax, and wool which were manufacturedin his factories. 

It was favourably situated for this purpose, for the raw materials couldbe moved from the ships which brought them to Tennis directly into thebuilding. But as the factories were at a considerable distance, thetransportation required much time and expense, and therefore Archias hadhad a canal dug connecting the workshops with the water, and at its enderected a new storehouse, which rendered a second transportation of theships' cargoes unnecessary. 

The white mansion had not yet been devoted to any other purpose when theowner determined to offer the spacious empty rooms of the ware house tohis nephews, the sculptors Hermon and Myrtilus, for the production of twoworks with whose completion he associated expectations of good fortuneboth for the young artists, who were his nephews and wards, and himself. 

The very extensive building which now contained the studios and spaciousliving apartments for the sculptors and their slaves would also haveafforded ample room for his daughter and her attendants, but Daphne hadlearned from the reports of the artists that rats, mice, and otherdisagreeable vermin shared the former storehouse with them, so she hadpreferred to have tents pitched in the large open space which belongedit. 

True, the broad field was exposed to the burning sun, and its soil wascovered only with sand and pitiably scorched turf, but three palm trees, a few sunt acacias, two carob trees, a small clump of fig trees, and thesuperb, wide-branched sycamore on the extreme outer edge had won for itthe proud name of a "garden. "

Now a great change in its favour had taken place, for Daphne's beautifultent, with walls and top of blue and white striped sail-cloth, and thesmall adjoining tents of the same colours, gave it a brighter aspect. 

The very roomy main tent contained the splendidly furnished sitting anddining rooms. The beds occupied by Daphne and her companion, Chrysilla, had been placed in an adjoining one, which was nearly as large, and thecook, with his assistants, was quartered in a third. 

The head keeper, the master of the hounds, and most of the slavesremained in the transports which had followed the state galley. Some hadslept under the open sky beside the dog kennel hastily erected forDaphne's pack of hounds. 

So, on the morning after the wholly unexpected arrival of the owner'sdaughter, the "garden" in front of the white house, but yesterdaya desolate field, resembled an encampment, whose busy life was variedand noisy enough. 

Slaves and freedmen had been astir before sunrise, for Daphne was upbetimes in order to begin the hunt in the early hour when the birds lefttheir secret nooks on the islands. 

Her cousins, the young sculptors, to please her, had gone out, too, butthe sport did not last long; for when the market place of Tennis, justbetween the morning and noontide hours, was most crowded, the littleboats which the hunters had used again touched the shore. 

With them and Daphne's servants seafaring men also left the boats--Biamite fishermen and boatmen, who knew the breeding places and nests ofthe feathered prey--and before them, barking loudly and shaking theirdripping bodies, the young huntress's brown and white spotted dogs rantoward the tents. 

Dark-skinned slaves carried the game, which had been tied in buncheswhile in the boats, to the white house, where they laid three rows oflarge water fowl, upon the steps leading to the entrance. 

Daphne's arrows were supposed to have killed all these, but the master ofthe hunt had taken care to place among his mistress's booty some of thelargest pelicans and vultures which had been shot by the others. 

Before retiring to her tent, she inspected the result of the shootingexpedition and was satisfied. 

She had been told of the numbers of birds in this archipelago, but thequantity of game which had been killed far exceeded her greatestexpectations, and her pleasant blue eyes sparkled with joy as she beganto examine the birds which had been slaughtered in so short a time. 

Yet, ere she had finished the task, a slight shadow flitted over herwell-formed and attractive though not beautiful features. 

The odour emanating from so many dead fowls, on which the sun, alreadyhigh in the heavens, was shining, became disagreeable to her, and astrong sense of discomfort, whose cause, however, she did not seek, madeher turn from them. 

The movement with which she did so was full of quiet, stately grace, andthe admiring glance with which Hermon, a tall, black-bearded young man, watched it, showed that he knew how to value the exquisite symmetry ofher figure. 

The somewhat full outlines of her form and the self-possession of herbearing would have led every one to think her a young matron rather thana girl; but the two artists who accompanied her on the shooting party hadbeen intimate with her from childhood, and knew how much modesty andgenuine kindness of heart were united with the resolute nature of thismaiden, who numbered two and twenty years. 

Fair-haired Myrtilus seemed to pay little heed to the game which Gras, Archias's Bithynian house steward, was counting, but black-bearded Hermonhad given it more attention, and when Daphne drew back he noddedapprovingly, and pointing to the heap of motionless inhabitants of theair, exclaimed with sincere regret: "Fie upon us human wretches! Wouldthe most bloodthirsty hyena destroy such a number of living creatures ina few hours? Other beasts of prey do not kill even one wretched sparrowmore than they need to appease their hunger. But we and you, tender-hearted priestess of a gracious goddess--leading us friends of the Muse--we pursue a different course! What a mound of corpses! And what willbecome of it? Perhaps a few geese and ducks will go into the kitchen;but the rest--the red flamingoes and the brave pelicans who feed theiryoung with their own blood? They are only fit to throw away, for theBiamites eat no game that is shot, and your black slaves, too, wouldrefuse to taste it. So we destroy hundreds of lives for pastime. Baseword! As if we had so many superfluous hours at our disposal ere wedescend into Hades. A philosopher among brutes would be entitled to cryout, 'Shame upon you, raging monster!'"

"Shame on you, you perpetual grumbler, " interrupted Daphne in an offendedtone. "Who would ever have thought it cruel to test the steady hand andthe keen eye upon senseless animals in the joyous chase? But what shallwe call the fault-finder, who spoils his friend's innocent enjoyment of ahappy morning by his sharp reproaches?"

Hermon shrugged his shoulders, and, in a voice which expressed far morecompassion than resentment, answered: "If this pile of dead birds pleasesyou, go on with the slaughter. You can sometimes save the arrows andcatch the swarming game with your hands. If your lifeless victims yonderwere human beings, after all, they would have cause to thank you; forwhat is existence?"

"To these creatures, everything, " said Myrtilus, the Alexandrian's othercousin, beckoning to Daphne, who had summoned him to her aid by abeseeching glance, to draw nearer. "Gladly as I would always andeverywhere uphold your cause, I can not do so this time. Only look here!Your arrow merely broke the wing of yonder sea eagle, and he is justrecovering from the shock. What a magnificent fellow! How wrathfullyand vengefully his eyes sparkle! How fiercely he stretches his bravehead toward us in helpless fury, and--step back!--how vigorously, spiteof the pain of his poor, wounded, drooping pinion, he flaps the other, and raises his yellow claws to punish his foes! His plumage glistens andshines exquisitely where it lies smooth, and how savagely he puffs outthe feathers on his neck! A wonderful spectacle! The embodiment ofpowerful life! And the others by his side. We transformed the poorcreatures into a motionless, miserable mass, and just now they werecleaving the air with their strong wings, proclaiming by proud, gladcries to their families among the reeds their approach with an abundantstore of prey. Every one was a feast to the eyes before our arrowsstruck it, and now? When Hermon, with his pitying heart, condemns thiskind of hunting, he is right. It deprives free, harmless creatures oftheir best possession--life--and us thereby of a pleasant sight. Ingeneral, a bird's existence seems to me also of little value, but beauty, to me as to you, transcends everything else. What would existence bewithout it? and wherever it appears, to injure it is infamous. "

Here a slight cough interrupted the young artist, and the moist glitterof his blue eyes also betrayed that he was suffering from an attack ofsevere pain in his lungs; but Daphne nodded assent to him, and to Hermonalso, and commanded the steward Gras to take the birds out of her sight. 

"But, " said the Bithynian, "our mistress will doubtless allow us at leastto take the hard lower part of the pelicans' beaks, and the wing feathersof the flamingoes and birds of prey, to show our master on our return astrophies. "

"Trophies?" repeated the girl scornfully. "Hermon, you are betterthan I and the rest of us, and I see that you are right. Where gameflies toward us in such quantities, hunting becomes almost murder. Andsuccesses won by so slight an exertion offer little charm. The secondexpedition before sunset, Gras, shall be given up. The master of thehounds, with his men and the dogs, will return home on the transportsthis very day. I am disgusted with sport here. Birds of prey, and thoseonly when brought down from the air, would probably be the right game inthis place. "

"Those are the very ones to which I would grant life, " said Hermon, smiling, "because they enjoy it most. "

"Then we will at least save the sea eagle, " cried Daphne, and ordered thesteward, who was already having the dead fowl carried off, to care forthe wounded bird of prey; but when the latter struck furiously with hisbeak at the Biamite who attempted to remove it, Hermon again turned tothe girl, saying: "I thank you in the eagle's name for your good will, you best of women; but I fear even the most careful nursing will not helpthis wounded creature, for the higher one seeks to soar, the more surelyhe goes to destruction if his power of flight is broken. Mine, too, wasseriously injured. "

"Here?" asked Daphne anxiously. "At this time, which is of such greatimportance to you and your art?"

Then she interrupted herself to ask Myrtilus's opinion, but as he hadgone away coughing, she continued, in a softer tone: "How anxious youcan make one, Hermon! Has anything really happened which clouds yourpleasure in creating, and your hope of success?"

"Let us wait, " he answered, hastily throwing back his head, with itsthick, waving raven locks. "If, in leaping over the ditch, I should fallinto the marsh, I must endure it, if thereby I can only reach the shorewhere my roses bloom!"

"Then you fear that you have failed in the Demeter?" asked Daphne. 

"Failed?" repeated the other. "That seems too strong. Only the work isnot proving as good as I originally expected. For the head we both useda model--you will see--whose fitness could not be surpassed. But thebody! Myrtilus knows how earnestly I laboured, and, without looking tothe right or the left, devoted all my powers to the task of creation. True, the models did not remain. But even had a magic spell doubled myability, the toil would still have been futile. The error is there; yetI am repairing it. To be sure, many things must aid me in doing so, forwhich I now hope; who knows whether it will not again be in vain? Youare acquainted with my past life. It has never yet granted me any great, complete success, and if I was occasionally permitted to pluck a flower, my hands were pricked by thorns and nettles!"

He pursed up his lips as if to hiss the unfriendly fate, and Daphne feltthat he, whose career she had watched from childhood with the interest ofaffection, and to whom, though she did not confess it even to herself, she had clung for years with far more than sisterly love, needed a kindword. 

Her heart ached, and it was difficult for her to assume the cheerful tonewhich she desired to use; but she succeeded, and her voice sounded gayand careless enough as she exclaimed to the by no means happy artist andMyrtilus, who was just returning: "Give up your foolish opposition, youobstinate men, and let me see what you have accomplished during this longtime. You promised my father that you would show your work to no onebefore him, but believe my words, if he were here he would give you backthe pledge and lead me himself to the last production of your study. Compassion would compel you disobliging fellows to yield, if you couldonly imagine how curiosity tortures us women. We can conquer it wheremore indifferent matters are concerned. But here!--it need not make youvainer than you already are, but except my father, you are dearest in allthe world to me. And then, only listen! In my character as priestess ofDemeter I hereby release you from your vow, and thus from any evilconsequences of your, moreover, very trivial guilt; for a father anddaughter who live together, as I do with your uncle, are just the same asone person. So come! Wearied as I am by the miserable hunting excursionwhich caused me such vexation, in the presence of your works--rely uponit--I shall instantly be gay again, and all my life will thank you foryour noble indulgence. "

While speaking, she walked toward the white house, beckoning to the youngmen with a winning, encouraging smile. 

It seemed to produce the effect intended, for the artists looked ateach other irresolutely, and Hermon was already asking himself whetherDaphne's arguments had convinced Myrtilus also, when the latter, in greatexcitement, called after her: "How gladly we would do it, but we must notfulfil your wish, for it was no light promise--no, your father exacted anoath. He alone can absolve us from the obligation of showing him, beforeany one else, what we finish here. It is not to be submitted to thejudges until after he has seen it. "

"Listen to me!" Daphne interrupted with urgent warmth, and began toassail the artists with fresh entreaties. 

For the second time black-bearded Hermon seemed inclined to give up hisresistance, but Myrtilus cried in zealous refusal: "For Hermon's sake, I insist upon my denial. The judges must not talk about the work untilboth tasks are completed, for then each of us will be as good as certainof a prize. I myself believe that the one for Demeter will fall to me. "

"But Hermon will succeed better with the Arachne?" asked Daphne eagerly. 

Myrtilus warmly assented, but Hermon exclaimed: "If I could only relyupon the good will of the judges!"

"Why not?" the girl interrupted. "My father is just, the king is anincorruptible connoisseur, and certainly yesterday evening you, too, believed the others to be honest men; as for your fellow-candidateMyrtilus, he will no more grudge a prize to you than to himself. "

"Why should he?" asked Hermon, as if he, too, was perfectly sure of hisfriend. "We have shared many a bit of bread together. When wedetermined upon this competition each knew the other's ability. Yourfather commissioned us to create peaceful Demeter, the patroness ofagriculture, peace, marriage, and Arachne, the mortal who was the mostskilful of spinners; for he is both a grain dealer and owner of spinningfactories. The best Demeter is to be placed in the Alexandrian temple ofthe goddess, to whose priestesses you belong; the less successful one inyour own house in the city, but whose Demeter is destined for thesanctuary, I repeat, is now virtually decided. Myrtilus will add thisprize to the others, and grant me with all his heart the one for theArachne. The subject, at any rate, is better adapted to my art than tohis, and so I should be tolerably certain of my cause. Yet my anxietyabout the verdict of the judges remains, for surely you know how much themajority are opposed to my tendency. I, and the few Alexandrians who, following me, sacrifice beauty to truth, swim against the stream whichbears you, Myrtilus, and those who are on your side, smoothly along. Iknow that you do it from thorough conviction, but with other acknowledgedgreat artists and our judges, you, too, demand beauty--always beauty. AmI right, or wrong? Is not any one who refuses to follow in the footstepsleft by the ancients of Athens as certain of condemnation as theconvicted thief or murderer? But I will not follow the lead of theAthenians, inimitably great though they are in their own way, because Iwould fain be more than the ancients of Ilissus: a disciple and anAlexandrian. "

"The never-ending dispute, " Myrtilus answered his fellow-artist, with acordiality in which, nevertheless, there was a slight accent of pity. 

"Surely you know it, Daphne. To me the ideal and its embodiment withinthe limits of the natural, according to the models of Phidias, Polycletus, and Myron is the highest goal, but he and his co-workers seekobjects nearer at hand. "

"Or rather we found them, " cried Hermon, interrupting his companion withangry positiveness. "The city of Alexandria, which is growing withunprecedented vigour, is their home. There, the place to which everyrace on earth sends a representative, the pulse of the whole world isthrobbing. There, whoever does not run with the rest is run over; there, but one thing is important--actual life. Science has undertaken tofathom it, and the results which it gains with measures and numbers is ofa different value and more lasting than that which the idle sport of theintellects of the older philosophers obtained. But art, her noblersister, must pursue the same paths. To copy life as it is, to reproducethe real as it presents itself, not as it might or must be, is the taskwhich I set myself. If you would have me carve gods, whom man can notrepresent to himself except in his own form, allow me also to representthem as reality shows me mortals. I will form them after the models ofthe greatest, highest, and best, and also, when the subject permits, inpowerful action in accordance with my own power, but always as real menfrom head to foot. We must also cling to the old symbols which those whoorder demand, because they serve as signs of recognition, and my Demeter, too, received the bundle of wheat. "

As the excited artist uttered this challenge a defiant glance rested uponhis comrade and Daphne. But Myrtilus, with a soothing gesture of thehand, answered: "What is the cause of this heat? I at least watch yourwork with interest, and do not dispute your art so long as it does notcross the boundaries of the beautiful, which to me are those of art. "

Here the conversation was interrupted; the steward Gras brought a letterwhich a courier from Pelusium had just delivered. 

Thyone, the wife of Philippus, the commander of the strong borderfortress of Pelusium, near Tennis, had written it. She and her husbandhad been intimate friends of Hermon's father, who had served under theold general as hipparch, and through him had become well acquainted withhis wealthy brother Archias and his relatives. 

The Alexandrian merchant had informed Philippus--whom, like all theworld, he held in the highest honour as one of the former companions ofAlexander the Great--of his daughter's journey, and his wife nowannounced her visit to Daphne. She expected to reach Tennis that eveningwith her husband and several friends, and mentioned especially heranticipation of meeting Hermon, the son of her beloved Erigone and herhusband's brave companion in arms. 

Daphne and Myrtilus received the announcement with pleasure; butHermon, who only the day before had spoken of the old couple with greataffection, seemed disturbed by the arrival of the unexpected guests. Toavoid them entirely appeared impossible even to him, but he declared inan embarrassed tone, and without giving any reason, that he shouldscarcely be able to devote the entire evening to Daphne and thePelusinians. 

Then he turned quickly toward the house, to which a signal from his slaveBias summoned him. 

CHAPTER VI. 

As soon as Hermon had disappeared behind the door Daphne begged Myrtilusto accompany her into the tent. 

After taking their seats there, the anxious exclamation escaped her lips:"How excited he became again! The stay in Tennis does not seem to agreewith you--you are coughing, and father expected so much benefit to yourailment from the pure moist air, and to Hermon still more from the lonelylife here in your society. But I have rarely seen him more stronglyenlisted in behalf of the tendency opposed to beauty. "

"Then your father must be satisfied with the good effect which ourresidence here has exerted upon me, " replied Myrtilus. "I know that hewas thinking of my illness when he proposed to us to complete hiscommissions here. Hermon--the good fellow!--could never have beeninduced to leave his Alexandria, had not the hope of thereby doing me akindness induced him to follow me. I will add it to the many for whichI am already indebted to his friendship. As for art, he will go his ownway, and any opposition would be futile. A goddess--he perceives ithimself--was certainly the most unfortunate subject possible for his--"

"Is his Demeter a complete failure?" asked Daphne anxiously. 

"Certainly not, " replied Myrtilus eagerly. 

"The head is even one of his very best. Only the figure awakens gravedoubts. In the effort to be faithful to reality, the fear of makingconcessions to beauty, he lapsed into ungraceful angularity and asturdiness which, in my opinion, would be unpleasing even in a mortalwoman. The excess of unbridled power again makes it self visible in thewonderfully gifted man. Many things reached him too late, and others toosoon. "

Daphne eagerly asked what he meant by these words, and Myrtilus replied:"Surely you know how he became a sculptor. Your father had intended himto be his successor in business, but Hermon felt the vocation to becomean artist--probably first in my studio--awake with intense force. WhileI early placed myself under the instruction of the great Bryaxis, he wasbeing trained for a merchant's life. When he was to guide the reed inthe countinghouse, he sketched; when he was sent to the harbour to directthe loading of the ships, he became absorbed in gazing at the statuesplaced there. In the warehouse he secretly modelled, instead ofattending to the bales of goods. You are certainly aware what a sadbreach occurred then, and how long Hermon was restrained before hesucceeded in turning his back upon trade. "

"My father meant so kindly toward him, " Daphne protested. "He wasappointed guardian to you both. You are rich, and therefore he aided inevery possible way your taste for art; but Hermon did not inherit fromhis parents a single drachm, and so my father saw the most seriousstruggles awaiting him if he devoted himself to sculpture. And, besides, he had destined his nephew to become his successor, the head of one ofthe largest commercial houses in the city. "

"And in doing so, " Myrtilus responded, "he believed he had made the bestprovision for his happiness. But there is something peculiar in art. I know from your father himself how kind his intentions were when hewithdrew his assistance from Hermon, and when he had escaped to theisland of Rhodes, left him to make his own way during the first period ofapprenticeship through which he passed there. Necessity, he thought, would bring him back to where he had a life free from anxiety awaitinghim. But the result was different. Far be it from me to blame theadmirable Archias, yet had he permitted his ward to follow his truevocation earlier, it would have been better for him. "

"Then you think that he began to study too late?" asked Daphne eagerly. 

"Not too late, " was the reply, "but with his passionate struggle toadvance, an earlier commencement would have been more favourable. Whilethe companions of his own age were already doing independent work, he wasstill a student, and so it happened that he began for himself too soon. "

"Yet, " Daphne answered, "can you deny that, directly after Hermonproduced his first work which made his talent undeniable, my father againtreated him like his own son?"

"On the contrary, " replied Myrtilus, "I remember only too well howArchias at that time, probably not entirely without your intercession, fairly showered gold upon his nephew, but unfortunately this abundancewas by no means to his advantage. "

"What do you mean?" asked Daphne. "Were not you, at that very time, in full possession of the great wealth inherited from your father andmother, and yet did you not work far beyond your strength? Bryaxis--Iheard him--was full of your praises, and yet entreated my father to useall his influence, as guardian, to warn you against overwork. "

"My kind master!" cried Myrtilus, deeply moved. "He was as anxiousabout me as a father. "

"Because he perceived that you were destined for great achievements. "

"And because it did not escape his penetration how much I needed care. My lungs, Daphne, my lungs--surely you know how the malicious diseasebecame fatal to my clear mother, and to my brother and sister also. Allthree sank prematurely into the grave, and for years the shades of myparents have been beckoning to me too. When the cough shakes my chest, I see Charon raise his oar and invite me also to enter his sable boat. "

"But you just assured me that you were doing well, " observed the girl. "The cough alone makes me a little anxious. If you could only see foryourself what a beautiful colour the pure air has given your cheeks!"

"This flush, " replied Myrtilus gravely, "is the sunset of life's closingday, not the dawn of approaching convalescence. But let us drop thesubject. I allude to these sorrowful things only to prevent your praisesof me at Hermon's expense. True, even while a student I possessed wealthfar beyond my needs, but the early deaths of my brother and sister hadtaught me even then to be economical of the brief span of life allottedto me. Hermon, on the contrary, was overflowing with manly vigour, andthe strongest among the Ephebi in the wrestling school. After threenights' revel he would not even feel weary, and how difficult the womenmade it for the handsome, black-bearded fellow to commence his workearly! Did you ever ask yourself why young steeds are not broken inflowery meadows, but upon sand? Nothing which attracts their attentionand awakens their desires must surround them; but your father's goldled Hermon, ere the season of apprenticeship was over, into the mostluxuriant clover fields. Honour and respect the handsome, hot-bloodedyouth that, nevertheless, he allowed himself to be diverted from workonly a short time and soon resumed it with ardent zeal, at first insuperabundance, and then amid fresh need and privation. "

"O Myrtilus, " the girl interrupted, "how terribly I suffered in thosedays! For the first time the gods made me experience that there areblack clouds, as well as bright sunshine, in the human soul. For weeksan impassable gulf separated me from my father, with whom I had alwayshad one heart and soul. But I never saw him as he was then. The firstprize had been awarded to you for your Aphrodite, radiant in marvellousbeauty, and your brow had also been already crowned for your statue ofAlexander, when Hermon stepped forward with his works. They were at thesame time the first which were to show what he believed to be the truemission of art--a hideous hawker, hide in hand, praising his wares withopen mouth, and the struggling Maenads. Surely you know the horriblewomen who throw one another on the ground, tearing and rending withbestial fury. The spectacle of these fruits of the industry of one dearto me grieved me also, and I could not understand how you and the otherssaw anything to admire in them. And my father! At the sight of thesethings the colour faded from his cheeks and lips, and, as if by virtueof his guardianship he had a right to direct Hermon in the paths of artalso, he forbade his ward to waste any more time in such horriblescarecrows, and awaken loathing and wrath instead of gratification, exultation, and joy. You know the consequences, but you do not know howmy heart ached when Hermon, frantic with wounded pride and indignation, turned his back upon my father and severed every tie that united him tous. In spite of his deep vexation and the unbridled violence with whichthe nephew had allowed himself to address his uncle, my father did notdream of withholding his assistance from him. But Hermon no longer cameto our house, and when I sent for him to bring him to reason, hepositively declared that he would not accept another obolus from myfather--he would rather starve than permit any one to dictate to him inthe choice of his subjects. Liberty was worth more than his uncle'sgold. Yet my father sent him his annual allowance. "

"But he refused it, " added Myrtilus. "I remember that day well, how Itried to persuade him, and, when he persisted in his intention, besoughthim to accept from my abundance what he needed. But this, too, heresolutely refused, though at that time I was already so deeply in hisdebt that I could not repay him at all with paltry money. "

"You are thinking of the devotion with which he nursed you when you wereso ill?" asked Daphne. 

"Certainly; yet not of that alone, " was the reply. "You do not know howhe stood by me in the worst days. Who was it that after my first greatsuccesses, when base envy clouded many an hour of my life, rejoiced withme as though he himself had won the laurel? It was he, the ambitiousartist, though recognition held even farther aloof from his creationsthan success. And when, just at that time, the insidious diseaseattacked me more cruelly than ever, he devoted himself to me like aloving brother. While formerly, in the overflowing joy of existence, he had revelled all day and caroused all night, how often he paused inthe rush of gaiety to exchange the festal hall for a place beside mycouch, frequently remaining there until Eos dyed the east, that he mighthold my fevered hand and support my shaken frame! Frequently too, whenalready garlanded for some gay banquet, he took the flowers from his headand devoted the night to his friend, that he might not leave him to theattendance of the slaves. It is owing to him, and the care and skill ofthe great leech Erasistratus, that I am still standing before you aliveand can praise what my Hermon was and proved himself to me in those days. Yet I must also accuse him of a wrong; to this hour I bear him a grudgefor having, in those sorrowful hours, refused to share my property withme fraternally. What manly pride would have cheerfully permitted him toaccept was opposed by the defiant desire to show me, your father, you, the whole world, that he would depend upon himself, and needed assistanceneither from human beings nor even the gods. In the same way, whileworking, he obstinately rejected my counsel and my help, though the Musegrants me some things which he unfortunately lacks. Great as his talentis, firmly as I believe that he will yet succeed some day in creatingsomething grand, nay, perhaps something mighty, the unbelieving discipleof Straton lacks the power of comprehending the august dignity, thesuperhuman majesty of the divine nature, and he does not succeed inrepresenting the bewitching charm of woman, because he hates it as thebull hates a red rag. Only once hitherto has he been successful, andthat was with your bust. "

Daphne's cheeks suddenly flamed with a burning flush, and feeling it sheraised her feather fan to her eyes, and with forced indifferencemurmured: "We were good friends from our earliest childhood. And, besides, how small is the charm with which the artist who chooses me fora model has to deal!"

"It is rather an unusually fascinating one, " Myrtilus assertedresolutely. "I have no idea of flattering you, and you are certainlyaware that I do not number you among the beauties of Alexandria. Butinstead of the delicate, symmetrical features which artists need, thegods bestowed upon you a face which wins all hearts, even those of women, because it is a mirror of genuine, helpful, womanly kindness, a sinceredisposition, and a healthy, receptive mind. To reproduce such a face, not exactly beautiful, and yet bewitching, is the hardest possible task, and Hermon, I repeat it, has succeeded. You are the only one of yournoble sex who inspires the motherless man with respect, and for whom hefeels more than a fleeting fancy. What does he not owe you? After thebridge which united him to his uncle and paternal friend had been sosuddenly broken, it was you who rebuilt it. Now, I think, it is strongerthan ever. I could not imagine anything that would induce him to giveyou up; and all honour to your father, who, instead of bearing theinsubordinate fellow a grudge, only drew him more warmly to his heart, and gave us two commissions which will permit each to do his best. If Isee clearly, the daughter of Archias is closely connected with thisadmirable deed. "

"Of course, " replied Daphne, "my father discussed his intention with me, but the thought was entirely his own. True, Hermon's Street-Boy eatingFigs was not exactly according to his taste, but it pleased him betterthan his former works, and I agree with Euphranor, it is remarkably trueto nature. My father perceived this too. Besides, he is a merchant whosets a high value upon what he has earned, and Hermon's refusal of hisgold startled him. Then the good man also saw how nobly, in spite of hiswild life, his obstinacy, and the work so unpleasing to him, his nephewalways showed the noble impulses inherited from his brave father, andthus Hermon gained the day. "

"But what would have become of him last year, after the mortifyingrejection of his model of The Happy Return Home for the harbour ofEunostus, " asked Myrtilus, "if you and your encouragement had notcheered him?"

"That verdict, too, was abominable!" exclaimed Daphne indignantly. "Themother opening her arms to the returning son was unlovely, it is true, and did not please me either; but the youth with the travelling hat andstaff is magnificent in his vigour and natural action. "

"That opinion, as you know, is mine also, " replied Myrtilus. "In themother the expression was intended to take the place of beauty. For thereturning son, as well as for the fig-eater, he found a suitable model. True, the best was at his disposal for his Demeter. "

Here he hesitated; but Daphne so urgently asked to know what he, who hadalready denied her admission to the studios, was now again withholdingfrom her, that, smiling indulgently, he added: "Then I must probablyconsent to tell in advance the secret with which you were to besurprised. Before him, as well as before me, hovered--since you wish toknow it--in Alexandria, when we first began to model the head of thegoddess, a certain charming face which is as dear to one as to theother. "

Daphne, joyously excited, held out her hand to the artist, exclaiming:"Oh, how kind that is! Yet how was it possible, since I posed neither tohim nor to you?"

"Hermon had finished your bust only a short time before, and youpermitted me to use your head for my statue of the goddess of Peace, which went down with the ship on the voyage to Ostia. This was at thedisposal of us both in three or four reproductions, and, besides, ithovered before our mental vision clearly enough. When the time to showyou our work arrives, you will be surprised to discover how differentlytwo persons see and copy the same object. "

"Now that I know so much, and have a certain share in your works, Iinsist upon seeing them!" cried Daphne with far greater impetuosity thanusual. "Tell Hermon so, and remind him that I shall at any rate expecthim to meet the Pelusinian guests at the banquet. Threaten him seriouslywith my grave displeasure if he persists in leaving it speedily. "

"I will not fail to do my part, " replied Myrtilus; "but as to your wishto see the two Demeters--"

"That will come to pass, " interrupted Daphne, "as soon as we three aretogether again like a clover leaf. " She returned the sculptor's farewellgreeting as she spoke, but before he reached the entrance to the tent sheagain detained him with the exclamation: "Only this one thing more: DoesHermon deceive himself when he hopes so confidently for success with theweaver, Arachne?"

"Hardly--if the model whom he desires does not fail him. "

"Is she beautiful, and did he find her here in Tennis?" asked Daphne, trying to assume an indifferent manner; but Myrtilus was not deceived, and answered gaily: "That's the way people question children to find outthings. Farewell until the banquet, fair curiosity!"

CHAPTER VII. 

The slave Bias had not gone to the hunting party with his master. He hadnever been fit for such expeditions, since the Egyptian guard who tookhim to the slave market for sale crippled the arch-traitor's son's leftleg by a blow, but he was all the more useful in the house, and even thekeenest eye could scarcely now perceive the injury which lessened hiscommercial value. 

He had prepared everything his master would need to shoot the birds veryearly in the morning, and after helping the men push the boats into thewater, he, too, remained out of doors. 

The old Nubian doorkeeper's little badger dog ran to meet him, as usual, barking loudly, and startled a flock of sparrows, which flew up directlyin front of Bias and fluttered to and fro in confusion. 

The slave regarded this as an infallible omen, and when Stephanion, Daphne's maid, who had grown gray in the household of Archias, and thougha freed woman still worked in the old way, came out of the tent, hecalled to her the gay Greek greeting, "Rejoice!" pointed to the sparrows, and eagerly continued: "How one flies above another! how they flutter andchirp and twitter! It will be a busy day. "

Stephanion thought this interpretation of the ordinary action of thebirds very consistent with Bias's wisdom, which was highly esteemed inthe household of Archias, and it also just suited her inclination to chatwith him for a while, especially as she had brought a great deal of newsfrom Alexandria. 

By way of introduction she mentioned the marriages and deaths in theircircle of acquaintances, bond and free, and then confided to the slavewhat had induced her mistress to remain so long absent from her father, whom she usually left alone for only a few hours at the utmost. 

Archias himself had sent her here, after young Philotas, who was nowapparently wooing her with better success than other suitors, had spokenof the enormous booty which one of his friends had brought from ashooting expedition at Tennis, and Daphne had expressed a wish to emptyher quiver there too. 

True, Philotas himself had been eager to guide the hunting party, butDaphne declined his escort because--so the maid asserted--she cared farmore about meeting her cousins, the sculptors, than for the chase. Hermistress had frankly told her so, but her father was delighted to hearher express a wish, because for several months she had been so quiet andlistless that she, Stephanion, had become anxious about her. Meanwhile, Daphne had tried honestly to conceal her feelings from the old man, but such games of hide and seek were useless against the master's keenpenetration. He spared no pains in the preparations for the journey, and the girl now seemed already transformed. This was caused solely bymeeting her cousins again; but if any one should ask her whether Daphnepreferred Myrtilus or Hermon, she could not give a positive answer. 

"Cautious inquiry saves recantation, " replied Bias importantly. "Yet youmay believe my experience, it is Myrtilus. Fame inspires love, and whatthe world will not grant my master, in spite of his great talent, itconceded to the other long ago. And, besides, we are not starving; butMyrtilus is as rich as King Croesus of Sardis. Not that Daphne, who isstifling in gold herself, would care about that, but whoever knows lifeknows--where doves are, doves will fly. "

Stephanion, however, was of a different opinion, not only because Daphnetalked far more about the black-bearded cousin than the fair one, butbecause she knew the girl, and was seldom mistaken in such matters. Shewould not deny that Daphne was also fond of Myrtilus. Yet probablyneither of the artists, but Philotas, would lead home the bride, for hewas related to the royal family--a fine, handsome man; and, besides, herfather preferred him to the other suitors who hovered around her as fliesbuzzed about honey. Of course, matters would be more favourable toPhilotas in any other household. Who else in Alexandria would consultthe daughter long, when he was choosing her future husband? But Archiaswas a white raven among fathers, and would never force his only child todo anything. 

Marrying and loving, however, were two different affairs. If Eros hadthe final decision, her choice might perhaps fall on one of the artists. 

Here she was interrupted by the slave's indignant exclamation: "Whatcontradictions! 'Woman's hair is long, but her wit is short, ' says theproverb. 'Waiting is the merchant's wisdom, ' I have heard your mastersay more than once, and to obey the words of shrewd people is the bestplan for those who are not so wise. Meanwhile, I am of the opinion thatcuriosity alone brought Daphne--who, after all, is only a woman--to thisplace. She wants to see the statues of Demeter which her father orderedfrom us. "

"And the Arachne?" asked the maid. This was an opportune question to theslave--how often he had heard the artists utter the word "Arachne!"--andhis pride of education had suffered from the consciousness that he knewnothing about her except the name, which in Greek meant "the spider. "

Some special story must surely be associated with this Arachne, for whichhis master desired to use his young countrywoman, Ledscha, as a model, and whose statues Archias intended to place in his house in Alexandriaand in the great weaving establishment at Tennis beside the statue ofDemeter. 

Stephanion, a Greek woman who grew up in a Macedonian household, mustknow something about her. 

So he cautiously turned the conversation to the spinner Arachne, and whenStephanion entered into it, admitted that he, too, was curious to learnin what way the sculptors would represent her. 

"Yes, " replied the maid, "my mistress has more than once racked herbrains over that, and Archias too. Perhaps they will carve her as a girlat work in the house of her father Idmon, the purple dyer of Colophon. "

"Never, " replied Bias in a tone of dissent. "Just imagine how the loomwould look wrought in gold and ivory!"

"I thought so too, " said Stephanion, in apology for the foolish idea. "Daphne thinks that the two will model her in different ways: Myrtilus, as mistress in the weaving room, showing with proud delight a piece justcompleted to the nymphs from the Pactolus and other rivers, who soughther at Colophon to admire her work; but Hermon, after she aroused thewrath of Athene because she dared to weave into the hangings the loveadventures of the gods with mortal women. "

"Father Zeus as a swan toying with Leda, " replied Bias as confidently asif Arachne's works were before his eyes, "and in the form of a bullbearing away Europa, the chaste Artemis bending over the sleepingEndymion. "

"How that pleases you men!" interrupted the maid, striking him lightly onthe arm with the duster which she had brought from the tent. "But oughtthe virgin Athene to be blamed because she punished the weaver who, withall her skill, was only a mortal woman, for thus exposing her divinekindred?"

"Certainly not, " replied Bias, and Stephanion went on eagerly: "And whenthe great Athene, who invented weaving and protects weavers, condescendedto compete with Arachne, and was excelled by her, surely her gall musthave overflowed. Whoever is just will scarcely blame her for strikingthe audacious conqueror on the brow with the weaver's shuttle. "

"It is that very thing, " replied Bias modestly, "which to a short-sightedfool like myself--may the great goddess not bear me a grudge for it!--never seemed just in her. Even the mortal who succumbs in a fair fightought not to be enraged against the victor. At least, so I was taught. But what, I ask myself, when I think of the stones which were flung atHermon's struggling Maenads, could be less suited for imitation than twowomen, one of whom strikes the other?"

"The woman who in her desperation at that blow desires to hang herself, must produce a still more horrible impression, " replied Stephanion. "Probably she will be represented as Athene releases her from the nooserather than when, as a punishment for her insolence, she transformsArachne into a spider. "

"That she might be permitted, in the form of an insect, to make artisticwebs until the end of her life, " the slave, now sufficiently wellinformed, added importantly. "Since that transformation, as you know, the spider has been called by the Greeks Arachne. Perhaps--I alwaysthought so--Hermon will represent her twisting the rope with which she isto kill herself. You have seen many of our works, and know that we lovethe terrible. "

"Oh, let me go into your studio!" the maid now entreated no less urgentlythan her mistress had done a short time before, but her wish, too, remained ungratified. 

"The sculptors, " Bias truthfully asserted, "always kept theirworkrooms carefully locked. " They were as inaccessible as the strongestfortress, and it was wise, less on account of curious spectators, fromwhom there was nothing to fear, than of the thievish propensities of thepeople. The statues, by Archias's orders, were to be executed inchryselephantine work, and the gold and ivory which this required mightonly too easily awaken the vice of cupidity in the honest and frugalBiamites. So nothing could be done about it, not to mention the factthat he was forbidden, on pain of being sold to work in a stone quarry, to open the studio to any one without his master's consent. 

So the maid, too, was obliged to submit, and the sacrifice was renderedeasier for her because, just at that moment, a young female slave calledher back to the tent where Chrysilla, Daphne's companion, a matron whobelonged to a distinguished Greek family, needed her services. 

Bias, rejoicing that he had at last learned, without exposing his ownignorance, the story of the much-discussed Arachne, returned to thehouse, where he remained until Daphne came back from shooting with hercompanions. While the latter were talking about the birds they hadkilled, Bias went out of doors; but he was forced to give up his desireto listen to a conversation which was exactly suited to arrest hisattention, for after the first few sentences he perceived behind thethorny acacias in the "garden" his countrywoman Ledscha. 

So she was keeping her promise. He recognised her plainly, in spite ofthe veil which covered the back of her head and the lower portion of herface. Her black eyes were visible, and what a sinister light shone inthem as she fixed them sometimes on Daphne, sometimes on Hermon, whostood talking together by the steps!

The evening before Bias had caught a glimpse of this passionatecreature's agitated soul. If anything happened here that incensed orwounded her she would be capable of committing some unprecedented actbefore the very master's honoured guest. 

To prevent this was a duty to the master whom he loved, and against whomhe had only warned Ledscha because he was reluctant to see a free maidenof his own race placed on a level with the venal Alexandrian models, butstill more because any serious love affair between Hermon and the Biamitemight bring disastrous consequences upon both, and therefore also onhimself. He knew that the free men of his little nation would not sufferan insult offered by a Greek to a virgin daughter of their lineage topass unavenged. 

True, in his bondage he had by no means remained free from all the badqualities of slaves, but he was faithfully devoted to his master, who hadimposed upon him a great debt of gratitude; for though, during the tryingperiod of variance with his rich and generous uncle, Hermon had oftenbeen offered so large a sum for him that it would have relieved theartist from want, he could not be induced to yield his "wise and faithfulBias" to another. The slave had sworn to himself that he would neverforget this, and he kept his oath. 

Freedmen and slaves were moving to and fro in the large open squarebefore him, amid the barking of the dogs and the shouts of the male andfemale venders of fruit, vegetables, and fish, who hoped to dispose oftheir wares in the kitchen tent of the wealthy strangers. 

The single veiled woman attracted no attention here, but Bias kept hisgaze fixed steadily upon her, and as she curved her little slender handabove her brow to shade her watchful eyes from the dazzling sunlight, andset her beautifully arched foot on a stone near one of the trees in orderto gain a better view, he thought of the story of the weaver which he hadjust heard. 

Though the stillness of the hot noontide was interrupted by many sounds, it exerted a bewitching influence over him. 

Ledscha seemed like the embodiment of some great danger, and when shelowered one arm and raised the other to protect herself again from theradiance of the noonday sun, he started; for through the brain of theusually fearless man darted the thought that now the nimble spiderlegswere moving to draw him toward her, entwine him, and suck his heart'sblood. 

The illusion lasted only a few brief moments, but when it vanished andthe girl had regained the figure of an unusually slender, veiled Biamitewoman, he shook his head with a sigh of relief, for never had such avision appeared to him in broad noonday and while awake, and it must havebeen sent to warn him and his master against this uncanny maiden. 

It positively announced some approaching misfortune which proceeded fromthis beautiful creature. 

The Biamite now advanced hesitatingly toward Hermon and Daphne, who werestill a considerable distance from her. But Bias had also quitted hispost of observation, and after she had taken a few steps forward, barredher way. 

With a curt "Come, " he took her hand, whispering, "Hermon is joyouslyexpecting your visit. "

Ledscha's veil concealed her mouth, but the expression of her eyes madehim think that it curled scornfully. 

Yet she silently followed him. 

At first he led her by the hand, but on the way he saw at the edge of herupper veil the thick, dark eyebrows which met each other, and her fingersseemed to him so strangely cold and tapering that a shudder ran throughhis frame and he released them. 

Ledscha scarcely seemed to notice it, and, with bowed head, walked besidehim through the side entrance to the door of Hermon's studio. 

It was a disappointment to her to find it locked, but Bias did not heedher angry complaint, and led her into the artist's sitting room, requesting her to wait for his master there. 

Then he hurried to the steps, and by a significant sign informed thesculptor that something important required his attention. 

Hermon understood him, and Bias soon had an opportunity to tell theartist who it was that desired to speak to him and where he had takenLedscha. He also made him aware that he feared some evil from her, andthat, in an alarming vision, she had appeared to him as a hideous spider. 

Hermon laughed softly. "As a spider? The omen is appropriate. We willmake her a woman spider--an Arachne that is worth looking at. But thisstrange beauty is one of the most obstinate of her sex, and if I let hercarry out her bold visit in broad daylight she will get the better of mecompletely. The blood must first be washed from my hands here. Thewounded sea eagle tore the skin with its claw, and I concealed thescratch from Daphne. A strip of linen to bandage it! Meanwhile, let theimpatient intruder learn that her sign is not enough to open every door. "

Then he entered his sitting room, greeted Ledscha curtly, invited her togo into the studio, unlocked it, and left her there alone while he wentto his chamber with the slave and had the slight wound bandagedcomfortably. 

While Bias was helping his master he repeated with sincere anxiety hiswarning against the dangerous beauty whose eyebrows, which had growntogether, proved that she was possessed by the demons of the netherworld. 

"Yet they increase the austere beauty of her face, " assented the artist. "I should not want to omit them in modelling Arachne while the goddess istransforming her into a spider! What a subject! A bolder one wasscarcely ever attempted and, like you, I already see before me the comingspider. "

Then, without the slightest haste, he exchanged the huntsman's chiton forthe white chlamys, which was extremely becoming to his long, wavingbeard, and at last, exclaiming gaily, "If I stay any longer, she willtransform herself into empty air instead of the spider, " he went to her. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

While waiting in the studio Ledscha had used the time to satisfy hercuriosity. 

What was there not to be seen!

On pedestals and upon the boards of the floor, on boxes, racks, and alongthe wall, stood, lay, or hung the greatest variety of articles: plastercasts of human limbs and parts of the bodies of animals, male and female, of clay and wax, withered garlands, all sorts of sculptor's tools, aladder, vases, cups and jars for wine and water, a frame over which linenand soft woollen materials were spread, a lute and a zither, severalseats, an armchair, and in one corner a small table with threedilapidated book rolls, writing tablets, metal styluses, and reed pens. 

All these articles were arranged haphazard, and showed that Biaspossessed more wisdom than care in the use of duster and broom. 

It would have been difficult to count the number of things broughttogether here, but the unusually long, wide room was by no means crowded. 

Ledscha cast a wondering glance sometimes at one object, sometimes atanother, but without understanding its meaning or its use. 

The huge figure on the pedestal in the middle of the studio, upon whichthe full glare of light fell through the open windows, was certainly thestatue of the goddess on which Hermon was working; but a large gray clothconcealed it from her gaze. 

How tall it was!

When she looked at it more closely she felt small and oppressed bycomparison. 

A passionate longing urged her to remove the cloth, but the boldness ofthe act restrained her. After she had taken another survey of thespacious apartment, which she was visiting for the first time bydaylight, the torturing feeling of being neglected gained possession ofher. 

She clinched her white teeth more firmly, and when there was a noise atthe door that died away again without bringing the man she expected, shewent up to the statue which she had already walked past quietly severaltimes and, obeying an impatient impulse, freed it from its covering. 

The goddess, now illumined by the sunlight, shone before her in gleamingyellow gold and snowy ivory. 

She had never seen such a statue, and drew back dazzled. 

What a master was the man who had deceived her trusting heart!

He had created a Demeter; the wheat in her hand showed it. 

How beautiful this work was--and how valuable! It produced a powerfulimpression upon her mind, wholly unaccustomed to the estimate of suchthings. 

The goddess before her was the very one whose statue stood in the templeof Demeter, and to whom she also sacrificed, with the Greeks in Tennis, when danger threatened the harvest. Involuntarily she removed the lowerveil from her face and raised her hand in prayer. 

Meanwhile she gazed into the pallid face, carved from ivory, of theimmortal dispenser of blessings, and suddenly the blood crimsoned hercheeks, the nostrils of her delicate, slightly arched nose rose and fellmore swiftly, for the countenance of the goddess--she was not mistaken--was that of the Alexandrian whom she had just watched so intently, andfor whose sake Hermon had left her in the lurch the evening before. 

Now, too, she remembered for what purpose the sculptor was said to havelured Gula, the sailor's wife, and her own young sister Taus, to hisstudio, and in increasing excitement she drew the cloth also from thebust beside the Demeter. 

Again the Alexandrian's face--the likeness was even more unmistakablethan in the goddess. 

The Greek girl alone occupied his thoughts. Hermon had disdained tomodel the Biamite's head. 

What could the others, or she herself, be to him, since he loved the richforeigner in the tent outside, and her alone? How firmly her image musthave been impressed upon his soul, that he could reproduce the featuresof the absent one with such lifelike fidelity!

Yet with what bold assurance he had protested that his heart belongedsolely to her. But she thought that she now perceived his purpose. Ifthe slave was right, it was done that she might permit him to model whathe admired in her figure, only not the head and face, whose beauty, nevertheless, he praised so extravagantly. 

Had he attracted Gula and her sister with similar sweet flatteries? Hadthe promise to bestow their charms upon a goddess been made to them also?

The swift throbbing of her indignant heart made it impossible for her tothink calmly, but its vehement pulsation reminded her of the object ofher presence here. 

She had come to obtain a clear understanding between him and herself. 

She stood here as a judge. 

She must know whether she had been betrayed or deceived. 

He should confess what his intentions toward her were. The next momentsmust decide the fate of her life, and she added, drawing a long breath, perhaps of his also. 

Suddenly Ledscha started. She had not heard Hermon enter the studio, andwas now startled by his greeting. 

It was not positively unkind, but certainly not a lover's. 

Perhaps the words might have been warmer, but for his annoyance at theinsolent boldness with which she had removed the coverings from hisworks. He restrained himself from openly blaming her, it is true, but heexclaimed, with a tinge of gay sarcasm: "You seem to feel very much athome here already, fairest of the fair. Or was it the goddess herselfwho removed the curtain from her image in order to show herself to hersuccessor upon this pedestal?"

But the question was to remain unanswered, for under the spell of theresentment which filled her heart, and in the effort not to lose sight ofthe object that brought her here, Ledscha had only half understood itsmeaning, and pointing her slender forefinger at the face of his completedwork, she demanded to know whom she recognised in this statue. 

"The goddess Demeter, " he answered quietly; "but if it pleases youbetter, as you seem to be on the right track, also the daughter ofArchias. "

Then, angered by the wrathful glance she cast at him, he added moresternly: "She is kind-hearted, free from disagreeable whims and thedisposition to torture others who are kindly disposed toward her. So I adorned the goddess with her pleasant features. "

"Mine, you mean to say, " Ledscha answered bitterly, "would be lesssuitable for this purpose. Yet they, too, can wear a differentexpression from the present one. You, I think, have learned this. Only I shall never acquire the art of dissimulation, not even in yoursociety. "

"You seem to be angry on account of my absence yesterday evening?"Hermon asked in an altered tone, clasping her hand; but Ledscha snatchedit from him, exclaiming: "The model of the Demeter, the daughter of thewealthy Archias, detained you, you were going to tell me, and you thinkthat ought to satisfy the barbarian maiden. "

"Folly!" he answered angrily. "I owe a debt of gratitude to her father, who was my guardian, and custom commands you also to honour a guest. Butyour obstinacy and jealousy are unbearable. What great thing is it thatI ask of your love? A little patience. Practise it. Then your turnwill come too. "

"Of course, the second and third will follow the first, " she answeredbitterly. "After Gula, the sailor's wife, you lured my innocent youngsister, Taus, to this apartment; or am I mistaken in the order, and wasGula the second?"

"So that's it!" cried Hermon, who was surprised rather than alarmed bythis betrayal of his secret. "If you want confirmation of the fact, verywell--both were here. "

"Because you deluded them with false vows of love. "

"By no means. My heart has nothing what ever to do with these visits. Gula came to thank me because I rendered her a service--you know it--which to every mother seems greater than it is. "

"But you certainly did not underestimate it, " Ledscha impetuouslyinterrupted, "for you demanded her honour in return. "

"Guard your tongue!" the artist burst forth angrily. "The woman visitedme unasked, and I let her leave me as faithful or as unfaithful to herhusband as she came. If I used her as a model--"

"Gula, whom the sculptor transforms into a goddess, " Ledscha interrupted, with a sneering laugh. 

"Into a fish-seller, if you wish to know it, " cried Hermon indignantly. "I saw in the market a young woman selling shad. I took the subject, andfound in Gula a suitable model. Unfortunately, she ventured here far tooseldom. But I can finish it with the help of the sketch--it stands inyonder cupboard. "

"A fish-seller, " Ledscha repeated contemptuously. "And for what did myTaus, poor lovely child, seem desirable?"

"Over opposite, " Hermon answered quickly, as if he wished to get rid ofa troublesome duty, pointing through the window out of doors, "the freemaidens, during the hot days, took off their sandals and waded throughthe water. There I saw your sister's feet. They were the prettiest ofall, and Gula brought the young girl to me. I had commenced inAlexandria a figure of a girl holding her foot in her hand to take out athorn, so I used your sister's for it. "

"And when my turn comes?" Ledscha demanded. 

"Then, " he replied, freshly captivated by the magic of her beauty, in akinder, almost tender tone, "then I will make of you, in gold and ivory, you wonderfully lovely creature, the counterpart of this goddess. "

"And you will need a long time for it?"

"The oftener you come the faster the work will advance. "

"And the more surely the Biamite women will point their fingers at me. "

"Yet you ventured here to-day, unasked, in the broad light of noon. "

"Because I wish to remind you myself that I shall expect you thisevening. Yesterday you did not appear; but to-day-I am right, am I not?--to-day you will come. "

"With the greatest delight, if it is possible, " he answered eagerly. 

A warmer glance from her dark eyes rested upon him. The blood seethed inhis veins, and as he extended both hands to her and ardently uttered hername, she rushed forward, clinging to him with passionate devotion, as ifseeking assistance, but when his lips touched hers she shrank back andloosed her soft arms from his neck. 

"What does this mean?" asked the sculptor in surprise, trying to draw hertoward him again; but Ledscha would not permit it, pleading in a softertone than before: "Not now; but--am I not right, dearest--I may expectyou this evening? Just this once let the daughter of Archias yield tome, who loves you better. We shall have a full moon to-night, and youhave heard what was predicted to me--to-night the highest bliss which thegods can bestow upon a mortal awaits me. "

And me also, " cried Hermon, "if you will permit me to share it with you. "

"Then I will expect you on the Pelican Island--just when the full moon isover the lofty poplars there. You will come? Not to the Owl's Nest: tothe Pelican Island. And though your love is far less, far cooler thanmine, yet you will not defraud me of the best happiness of my life?"

"How could I?" he asked, as if he felt wounded by such distrust. "What detains me must be something absolutely unavoidable. "

Ledscha's eyebrows contracted sharply, and in a choked voice sheexclaimed: "Nothing must detain you--nothing, whatever it may be!Though death should threaten, you will be with me just at midnight. "

"I will, if it is possible, " he protested, painfully touched by thevehemence of her urging. "What can be more welcome to me also than tospend happy hours with you in the silence of a moonlight night? Besides, my stay in Tennis will not be long. "

"You are going?" she asked in a hollow tone. 

"In three or four days, " he answered carelessly; "then Myrtilus andI will be expected in Alexandria. But gently--gently--how pale you are, girl! Yes, the parting! But in six weeks at latest I shall be hereagain; then real life will first begin, and Eros will make the rosesbloom for us. "

Ledscha nodded silently, and gazing into his face with a searching lookasked, "And how long will this season of blossoming last?"

"Several months, girl; three, if not six. "

"And then?"

"Who looks so far into the future?"

She lowered her glance, and, as if yielding to the inevitable, answered:"What a fool I was! Who knows what the morrow may bring? Are we evensure whether, six months hence, we shall not hate, instead of loving, each other?"

She passed her hand across her brow as she spoke, exclaiming: "You saidjust now that only the present belonged to man. Then let us enjoy it asthough every moment might be the last. By the light of the full moonto-night, the happiness which has been predicted to me must begin. Afterit, the orb between the horns of Astarte will become smaller; but when itfulls and wanes again, if you keep your promise and return, then, thoughthey may curse and condemn me, I will come to your studio and grant whatyou ask. But which of the goddesses do you intend to model from me as acompanion statue to the Demeter?"

"This time it can not be one of the immortelles, " he answeredhesitatingly, "but a famous woman, an artist who succeeded ina competition in vanquishing even the august Athene. "

"So it is no goddess?" Ledscha asked in a disappointed tone. 

"No, child, but the most skilful woman who ever plied the weaver'sshuttle. "

"And her name?"

"Arachne. "

The young girl started, exclaiming contemptuously: "Arachne? That is--that is what you Greeks call the most repulsive of creatures--thespider. "

"The most skilful of all creatures, that taught man the noble art ofweaving, " he eagerly retorted. 

Here he was interrupted; his friend Myrtilus put his fair head into theroom, exclaiming: "Pardon me if I interrupt you--but we shall not seeeach other again for some time. I have important business in the city, and may be detained a long while. Yet before I go I must perform thecommission Daphne gave me for you. She sends word that she shall expectyou without fail at the banquet for the Pelusinian guests. Your absence, do you hear?--pardon the interruption, fairest Ledscha--your absencewould seriously anger her. "

"Then I shall be prepared for considerable trouble in appeasing her, "replied Hermon, glancing significantly at the young girl. 

Myrtilus crossed the threshold, turned to the Biamite, and said in hisquiet, cheerful manner: "Where beautiful gifts are to be brought to Eros, it beseems the friend to strew with flowers the path of the one who isoffering the sacrifices; and you, if everything does not deceive me, would fain choose to-night to serve him with the utmost devotion. Therefore, I shall need forgiveness from you and the god, if I beseechyou to defer the offering, were it only until to-morrow. "

Ledscha silently shrugged her shoulders and made no answer to theinquiring glance with which Hermon sought hers, but Myrtilus changed histone and addressed a grave warning to his friend to consider well that itwould be an insult to the manes of his dead parents if he should avoidthe old couple from Pelusium, who had been their best friends and hadtaken the journey hither for his sake. 

Hermon looked after him in painful perplexity, but the Biamite alsoapproached the threshold, and holding her head haughtily erect, saidcoldly: "The choice is difficult for you, as I see. Then recall to yourmemory again what this night of the full moon means--you are well awareof it--to me. If, nevertheless, you still decide in favour of thebanquet with your friends, I can not help it; but I must now know:Shall this night belong to me, or to the daughter of Archias?"

"Is it impossible to talk with you, unlucky girl, as one would with othersensible people?" Hermon burst forth wrathfully. "Everything is carriedto extremes; you condemn a brief necessary delay as breach of faith andbase treachery. This behaviour is unbearable. "

"Then you will not come?" she asked apathetically, laying her hand uponthe door; but Hermon cried out in a tone half beseeching, half imperious:"You must not go so! If you insist upon it, surely I will come. Thereis no room in your obstinate soul for kind indulgence. No one, by thedog, ever accused me of being specially skilled in this smooth art; yetthere may be duties and circumstances--"

Here Ledscha gently opened the door; but, seized with a fear of losingthis rare creature, whose singular beauty attracted him powerfully, evennow, this peerless model for a work on which he placed the highest hopes, he strode swiftly to her side, and drawing her back from the threshold, exclaimed: "Difficult as it is for me on this special day, I will come, only you must not demand what is impossible. The right course often liesmidway. Half the night must belong to the banquet with my old friendsand Daphne; the second half--"

"To the barbarian, you think--the spider, " she gasped hoarsely. "But mywelfare as well as yours depends on the decision. Stay here, or come tothe island--you have your choice. "

Wrenching herself from his hold as she spoke, she slipped through thedoorway and left the room. 

Hermon, with a muttered oath, stood still, shrugging his shouldersangrily. 

He could do nothing but yield to this obstinate creature's will. 

In the atrium Ledscha met the slave Bias, and returned his greeting onlyby a wave of the hand; but before opening the side door which was to leadher into the open air, she paused, and asked bluntly in the language oftheir people: "Was Arachne--I don't mean the spider, but the weaver whomthe Greeks call by that name--a woman like the rest of us? Yet it issaid that she remained victor in a contest with the goddess Athene. "

"That is perfectly true, " answered Bias, "but she had to atone cruellyfor this triumph; the goddess struck her on the forehead with theweaver's shuttle, and when, in her shame and rage, she tried to hangherself, she was transformed into the spider. "

Ledscha stood still, and, while drawing the veil over her pallid face, asked with quivering lips, "And is there no other Arachne?"

"Not among mortals, " was the reply, "but even here in this house thereare more than enough of the disagreeable, creeping creatures which bearthe same name. "

Ledscha now went clown the steps which led to the lawn, and Bias saw thatshe stumbled on the last one and would have fallen had not her lithe bodyregained its balance in time. 

"A bad omen!" thought the slave. "If I had the power to build a wallbetween my master and the spider yonder, it should be higher than thelighthouse of Sostratus. To heed omens guides one safely through life. I know what I know, and will keep my eyes open, for my master too. "

CHAPTER IX. 

Hermon had intended to add a few more touches to his Demeter, but hecould not do it. Ledscha, her demand, and the resentment with which shehad left him, were not to be driven from his mind. 

There was no doubt that he must seek her if he was not to lose her, yet he reproached himself for having acted like a thoughtless fool whenhe proposed to divide the night between her and Daphne. 

There was something offensive in the proposal to so proud a creature. He ought to have promised positively to come, and then left the banquetsomewhat earlier. It would have been easy to apologize for his latearrival, and Ledscha would have had no cause to be angry with him. 

Now she had, and her resentment awakened in him--though he certainly didnot lack manly courage--an uncomfortable feeling closely allied toanxiety. 

Angered by his own conduct, he asked himself whether he loved thebarbarian, and could find no satisfactory answer. 

At their first meeting he had felt that she was far superior to the otherBiamite maidens, not only in beauty but in everything else. The veryacerbity of her nature had seemed charming. To win this wonderful, pliant creature, slender as a cypress, whose independence merged intofierce obstinacy, had appeared to him worth any sacrifice; and havingperceived in her an admirable model for his Arachne, he had alsodetermined to brave the dangers which might easily arise for the Greekfrom a love affair with a Biamite girl, whose family was free anddistinguished. 

It had been easier for him to win her heart than he expected; yet at noneof the meetings which she granted him had he rejoiced in the secret bondbetween them. 

Hitherto her austere reserve had been invincible, and during the greaterpart of their interviews he had been compelled to exert all his influenceto soothe, appease her, and atone for imprudent acts which he hadcommitted. 

True, she, too, had often allowed herself to display passionatetenderness, but always only to torture him with reproaches and demandsinspired by her jealousy, suspicion, and wounded pride. 

Yet her beauty, and the strong power of resistance which she offered tohis wooing, exerted so bewitching a thrall over him that he had been ledinto conceding far too much, and making vows which he could not and didnot desire to fulfil. 

Love had usually been to him a richly flowing well-spring of gay delight, but this bond had plunged him from one vexation into another, one anxietyto another, and now that he had almost reached the goal of his wishes, he could not help fearing that he had transformed Ledscha's love to hate. 

Daphne was dear to him. He esteemed her highly, and owed her a greatdebt of gratitude. Yet in this hour he anathematized her unexpectedjourney to Tennis; for without it he would have obtained from Ledschathat very day what he desired, and could have returned to Alexandria withthe certainty of finding her ready later to pose as the model for hisArachne. 

Never could he find anywhere a more fitting one. 

He had devoted himself with passionate love to his art, and even hisenemies numbered him among its most promising disciples. Yet hither tohe had not succeeded in obtaining a great and undisputed success. On theother hand, he had experienced what were termed failures in abundantmeasure. 

The art to which he had gained entrance by so severe a struggle, and onwhose soil he had laboured diligently enough, proved, so far as outwardrecognition was concerned, cruel to the enthusiastic disciple. Yet evennow he would not have abandoned it at any price; the joy of creationcompensated him richly for suffering and disappointment. Confidence inhis own powers and the final triumph of his conviction had deserted himonly occasionally, and for a few brief hours. 

He was born for conflicts. What ill-success, what antagonism anddifficulties he had encountered! Some day the laurel which had so longadorned the brow of Myrtilus must also grow green for him and the greattalent whose possession he felt. With the Arachne--he was sure of this--he would compel even his opponents to accord him the recognition forwhich hitherto he had striven in vain. 

While pacing restlessly up and down the spacious apartment, stopping fromtime to time before his work to fix his eyes angrily upon it, he thoughtof his friend's Demeter, whose head also had Daphne's features, who alsobore in her hand a bundle of wheat, and even in attitude did not differvery widely from his own. And yet--eternal gods!--how thoroughlydissimilar the two were!

In the figure created by Myrtilus, supernatural dignity blended with theutmost womanly charm; in his, a pleasing head rested upon a body in whoseformation he had used various models without striving to accomplishanything except to depart as far as possible from established custom, with which he was at variance. 

Yet had he not found himself, nevertheless, compelled to follow the oldrules? One arm was raised, the other hung down; the right foot was putforward, the left one back. 

Exactly the same as in Myrtilus's statue, and thousands of other figuresof Demeter!

If he could have used the hammer and chisel, the thing might have becomemore powerful; but how many things he had had to consider in employingthe accursed gold and ivory upon which Archias obstinately insisted!

This hammering, chipping, and filing told unfavourably upon his power andhis aspiration toward grandeur. 

This time the battle seemed to be lost. 

It was fortunate that the conqueror was no other than Myrtilus. Often ashe had gone astray in his young life, many as were the errors he hadcommitted, not even the faintest shadow of an envious feeling concerninghis friend's more successful work had ever stained his soul. 

True, the fact that fate, in addition to such abundant gifts of mind andspirit, had also endowed the latter with great worldly possessions, whilehe, but for the generosity of his uncle Archias, must have starved, hadoften led Hermon to inveigh angrily against the injustice of the gods. Yet he did not grudge Myrtilus the wealth without which he could notimagine him, and which his invalid friend needed to continue successfullythe struggle against the insidious disease inherited with the gold. Andhis sufferings! Hermon could not have endured keener pain had they beenhis own. He must even rejoice over the poor dear fellow's victory; forif he, Hermon, succeeded with his Arachne as he hoped, it would makeMyrtilus--he could swear to it--happier than his own triumph. 

After these reflections, which again reminded him of the secondappointment and of Ledscha, the sculptor turned away from his work andwent to the window to look across at Pelican Island, where she must notawait him in vain. 

The boat which was to convey him over to it lay ready in the littleflotilla, where a magnificently equipped galley had just been moored tothe shore, undoubtedly the one that had brought the guests from Pelusiumhither. The best thing he could do was to greet them at once, share thebanquet with them, and, before the dessert was served, seek the beautifulwoman whom his absence threatened to make his foe. And she was certainlyjustified in resenting it if, with cruel lack of consideration, he paidno heed to what had been prophesied for her on this night of the fullmoon. 

For the first time compassion mingled with his feelings for Ledscha. If to avoid the fleeting censure of aristocratic friends he left in thelurch the simple barbarian maiden who loved him with ardent passion, it was no evidence of resolute strength of soul, but of pitiful, reprehensible weakness. No, no! He must take the nocturnal voyage inorder not to grieve Ledscha. 

Soon after the girl's abrupt departure he dressed himself in festalgarments for the banquet. It would flatter Ledscha also if he went toher in this attire and, with his figure drawn up to its full height, hewalked toward the door to go to the Alexandrian's tent. 

But what did this mean? Myrtilus was standing before his Demeter, scanning it intently with his keen artist eyes. Hermon had not noticedhis entrance, and did not disturb him now, but fixed his gaze upon hismobile features in intense expectation. 

There were few of his fellow-artists whose opinion he valued as highly asthat of this darling of the Muse. 

At a slight shake of the head, which Hermon interpreted as disapproval, he clinched his teeth; but soon his lips relaxed and his breast heavedwith a sigh of relief, for the sunny glance that Myrtilus bent upon theface of the goddess seemed to show Hermon that it aroused his approval, and, as if relieved from an oppressive nightmare, he approached hisfriend. 

The latter turned toward him, exclaiming: Daphne! As in the case ofyonder bust, you have succeeded most perfectly with this dear face--only--"

"Only, " Hermon repeated slowly; "I am familiar with that evil word. Doubts knock at the door with it. Out with them honestly. I gave up mylast hope of the prize yesterday while looking at your Demeter. Besides, careful scrutiny has just destroyed the last gleam of satisfaction withmy own work. But if you like the head, what seem to you the greatestdefects in the figure?"

"It has nothing to do with defects, which, with your rare ability, canscarcely exist, " replied the other, the faint pink flush in his beardlesscheeks deepening to a more vivid hue. "It refers rather to theexpression which you have given the divinity in yonder statue. " HereMyrtilus hesitated, and, turning so that he stood face to face withHermon, asked frankly, "Did you ever seek the goddess and, when you foundher, did you feel any supernatural power and beauty?"

"What a question!" exclaimed Hermon in astonishment. "A pupil of Straton, and go in search of beings and powers whose existence he denies! What mymother instilled into my heart I lost with my childhood, and you addressyour question only to the artist who holds his own ground, not to theboy. The power that calls creation to life, and maintains it, has for melong had nothing in common with those beings like mortals whom themultitude designates by the name of divinities. "

"I think differently, " replied Myrtilus. "While I numbered myselfamong the Epicureans, whose doctrine still possesses the greatest charmfor me, I nevertheless shared the master's opinion that it is insultingthe gods to suppose that they will disturb their blissful repose for thesake of us insignificant mortals. Now my mind and my experience rebelagainst holding to this view, yet I believe with Epicurus, and with you, that the eternal laws of Nature bow to neither divine nor human will. "

"And yet, " said Hermon, "you expect me to trouble myself about those whoare as powerless as myself!"

"I only wished that you might do so, " answered Myrtilus; "for they arenot powerless to those who from the first assumed that they can donothing in opposition to those changeless laws. The state, too, rulesaccording to them, and the wise king who refrains from interfering withthem in the smallest trifle can therefore wield the sceptre with mightypower. So, in my opinion, it is perfectly allowable to expect aid fromthe gods. But we will let that pass. A healthy man, full of exuberantvigour like yourself, rarely learns early what they can bestow insuffering and misfortune; yet where the great majority believe in them, he, too, will be unable to help forming some idea of them; nay, even youand I have experienced it. By a thousand phenomena they force themselvesinto the world which surrounds us and our emotional life. Epicurus, whodenied their power, saw in them at least immortal beings who possess instainless perfection everything which in mortals is disfigured by errors, weaknesses, and afflictions. To him they are the intensified, reflectedimage of our own nature, and I think we can do nothing wiser than tocling to that, because it shows us to what heights of beauty and power, intellect, goodness, and purity we may attain. To completely deny theirexistence would hardly be possible even for you, because their personshave found a place in your imagination. Since this is the case, it canonly benefit you to recognise in them magnificent models, by whose meanswe artists, if we imitate, perfect, and model them, will create works farmore sublime and beautiful than anything visible to our senses which wemeet here beneath the sun. "

"It is this very superiority in sublimity and beauty which I, and thosewho pursue the same path with me, oppose, " replied Hermon. "Nature issufficient for us. To take anything from her, mutilates; to addanything, disfigures her. "

"But not, " replied Myrtilus firmly, "when it is done only in a specialsense, and within the limits of Nature, to which the gods also belong. The final task of art, fiercely as you and your few followers contendagainst it, lies in the disentanglement, enhancing, and ennobling ofNature. You, too, ought not to overlook it when you undertake to modela Demeter; for she is a goddess, no mortal like yourself. The rest orI ought rather to say the alteration which converts the mortal woman intothe immortal one, the goddess--I miss, and with special regret, becauseyou do not even deem it worth consideration. "

"That I shall never do, " retorted Hermon irritably, "so long as it is achanging chimera which presents itself differently to every mind. "

"Yet, should it really be a chimera, it is at any rate a sublime one, "Myrtilus protested, "and whoever among us artists wanders through Naturewith open eyes and heart, and then examines his own soul, will find itworth while to attempt to give his ideal form. "

"Whatever stirs my breast during such walks, unless it is someunusual human being, I leave to the poet, " replied Hermon. "I should besatisfied with the Demeter yonder, and you, too, probably, if--entirelyapart from that--I had only succeeded fully and entirely in making her anindividual--that is, a clearly outlined, distinct personality. This, youhave often told me, is just wherein I am usually most successful. But here, I admit, I am baffled. Demeter hovered before me as a kindly dispenser ofgood gifts, a faithful, loving wife. Daphne's head expresses this; butin modelling the body I lost sight of the whole creation. While, forinstance, in my fig-eater, every toe, every scrap of the tatteredgarments, belongs to the street urchin whom I wished to represent, in the goddess everything came by chance as the model suggested it, and you know that I used several. Had the Demeter from head to footresembled Daphne, who has so much in common with our goddess, the statuewould have been harmonious, complete, and you would perhaps have beenthe first to acknowledge it. "

"By no means, " Myrtilus eagerly interrupted. "What our statues of thegods are we two know best: a wooden block, covered with gold and sheetsof ivory. But to tens of thousands the statue of the divinity must bemuch more. When they raise their hearts, eyes, hands to it in prayer, they must be possessed by the idea of the deity which animated us whilecreating it, and with which we, as it were, permeated it. If it showsthem only a woman endowed with praiseworthy qualities--"

"Then, " interrupted Hermon, "the worshipper should thank the sculptor;for is it not more profitable to him to be encouraged by the statue toemulate the human virtues whose successful embodiment it shows him thanto strive for the aid of the botchwork of human hands, which possessesas much or as little power as the wood, gold, and ivory that compose it?If the worshipper does not appeal to the statue, but to the goddess, I fear it will be no less futile. So I shall consider it no blemish ifyou see in my Demeter a mortal woman, and no goddess; nay, it reconcilesme in some degree to her weaknesses, to which I by no means close myeyes. I, too--I confess it--often feel a great desire to give the powerof imagination greater play, and I know the divinities in whom I havelost faith as well as any one; for I, too, was once a child, and few haveever prayed to them more fervently, but with the increasing impulsetoward liberty came the perception: There are no gods, and whoever bowsto the power of the immortals makes himself a slave. So what I banishedfrom life I will also remove from art, and model nothing which might notmeet me to-day or to-morrow. "

"Then, as an honest man, abstain altogether from making statues of thegods, " interrupted his friend. 

"That was my intention long ago, as you are aware, " the other answered. 

"You could not commit a worse robbery upon yourself, " cried Myrtilus. "I know you; nay, perhaps I see farther into your soul than you yourself. By ingenious fetters you force the mighty winged intellect to contentitself within the narrow world of reality. But the time when you willyourself rend the bonds and find the divinity you have lost, will come, and then, with your mighty power once more free, you will outstrip mostof us, and me also if I live to see it. "

Then he pressed his hand upon his rattling chest and walked slowly to thecouch; but Hermon followed, helped him to lie down, and with affectionatesolicitude arranged his pillows. 

"It is nothing, " Myrtilus said soothingly, after a few minutes' silence. "My undermined strength has been heavily taxed to-day. The Olympiansknow how calmly I await death. It ends all things. Nothing will be leftof me except the ashes, to which you will reduce my body, and what youcall 'possession. ' But even this can no longer belong to me after death, because I shall then be no more, and the idea of possession requires apossessor. My estate, too, is now disposed of. I have just been to thenotary, and sixteen witnesses--neither more nor less--have signed my willaccording to the custom of this ceremonious country. There, now, if youplease, go before me, and let me stay here alone a little while. Remember me to Daphne and the Pelusinians. I will join you in an hour. "

ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS:

Cautious inquiry saves recantationNature is sufficient for usThere are no gods, and whoever bows makes himself a slaveWaiting is the merchant's wisdomWoman's hair is long, but her wit is short