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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/5450.txt b/5450.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..71eaa16 --- /dev/null +++ b/5450.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2375 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook An Egyptian Princess, by Georg Ebers, v1 +#12 in our series by Georg Ebers + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**EBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These EBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers***** + + +Title: An Egyptian Princess, Volume 1. + +Author: Georg Ebers + +Release Date: April, 2004 [EBook #5450] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on May 7, 2002] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + + + + + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AN EGYPTIAN PRINCESS, BY EBERS, V1 *** + + + +This eBook was produced by David Widger <widger@cecomet.net> + + + +[NOTE: There is a short list of bookmarks, or pointers, at the end of the +file for those who may wish to sample the author's ideas before making an +entire meal of them. D.W.] + + + + + +AN EGYPTIAN PRINCESS, Part 1. + +By Georg Ebers + +Volume 1. + + + +THE HISTORICAL ROMANCES OF GEORG EBERS + + +Translated from the German by Eleanor Grove + + + + + +PREFACE TO THE SECOND GERMAN EDITION + + Aut prodesse volunt ant delectare poetae, + Aut simul et jucunda et idonea dicere vitae. + Horat. De arte poetica v. 333. + +It is now four years since this book first appeared before the public, +and I feel it my duty not to let a second edition go forth into the world +without a few words of accompaniment. It hardly seems necessary to +assure my readers that I have endeavored to earn for the following pages +the title of a "corrected edition." An author is the father of his book, +and what father could see his child preparing to set out on a new and +dangerous road, even if it were not for the first time, without +endeavoring to supply him with every good that it lay in his power to +bestow, and to free him from every fault or infirmity on which the world +could look unfavorably? The assurance therefore that I have repeatedly +bestowed the greatest possible care on the correction of my Egyptian +Princess seems to me superfluous, but at the same time I think it +advisable to mention briefly where and in what manner I have found it +necessary to make these emendations. The notes have been revised, +altered, and enriched with all those results of antiquarian research +(more especially in reference to the language and monuments of ancient +Egypt) which have come to our knowledge since the year 1864, and which +my limited space allowed me to lay before a general public. On the +alteration of the text itself I entered with caution, almost with +timidity; for during four years of constant effort as academical tutor, +investigator and writer in those severe regions of study which exclude +the free exercise of imagination, the poetical side of a man's nature may +forfeit much to the critical; and thus, by attempting to remodel my tale +entirely, I might have incurred the danger of removing it from the more +genial sphere of literary work to which it properly belongs. I have +therefore contented myself with a careful revision of the style, the +omission of lengthy passages which might have diminished the interest of +the story to general readers, the insertion of a few characteristic or +explanatory additions, and the alteration of the proper names. These +last I have written not in their Greek, but in their Latin forms, having +been assured by more than one fair reader that the names Ibykus and Cyrus +would have been greeted by them as old acquaintances, whereas the +"Ibykos" and "Kyros" of the first edition looked so strange and learned, +as to be quite discouraging. Where however the German k has the same +worth as the Roman c I have adopted it in preference. With respect to +the Egyptian names and those with which we have become acquainted through +the cuneiform inscriptions, I have chosen the forms most adapted to our +German modes of speech, and in the present edition have placed those few +explanations which seemed to me indispensable to the right understanding +of the text, at the foot of the page, instead of among the less easily +accessible notes at the end. + +The fact that displeasure has been excited among men of letters by this +attempt to clothe the hardly-earned results of severer studies in an +imaginative form is even clearer to me now than when I first sent this +book before the public. In some points I agree with this judgment, but +that the act is kindly received, when a scholar does not scorn to render +the results of his investigations accessible to the largest number of the +educated class, in the form most generally interesting to them, is proved +by the rapid sale of the first large edition of this work. I know at +least of no better means than those I have chosen, by which to instruct +and suggest thought to an extended circle of readers. Those who read +learned books evince in so doing a taste for such studies; but it may +easily chance that the following pages, though taken up only for +amusement, may excite a desire for more information, and even gain a +disciple for the study of ancient history. + +Considering our scanty knowledge of the domestic life of the Greeks and +Persians before the Persian war--of Egyptian manners we know more--even +the most severe scholar could scarcely dispense with the assistance of +his imagination, when attempting to describe private life among the +civilized nations of the sixth century before Christ. He would however +escape all danger of those anachronisms to which the author of such a +work as I have undertaken must be hopelessly liable. With attention and +industry, errors of an external character may be avoided, but if I had +chosen to hold myself free from all consideration of the times in which I +and my readers have come into the world, and the modes of thought at +present existing among us, and had attempted to depict nothing but the +purely ancient characteristics of the men and their times, I should have +become unintelligible to many of my readers, uninteresting to all, and +have entirely failed in my original object. My characters will therefore +look like Persians, Egyptians, &c., but in their language, even more than +in their actions, the German narrator will be perceptible, not always +superior to the sentimentality of his day, but a native of the world in +the nineteenth century after the appearance of that heavenly Master, +whose teaching left so deep an impression on human thought and feeling. + +The Persians and Greeks, being by descent related to ourselves, present +fewer difficulties in this respect than the Egyptians, whose dwelling- +place on the fruitful islands won by the Nile from the Desert, completely +isolated them from the rest of the world. + +To Professor Lepsius, who suggested to me that a tale confined entirely +to Egypt and the Egyptians might become wearisome, I owe many thanks; and +following his hint, have so arranged the materials supplied by Herodotus +as to introduce my reader first into a Greek circle. Here he will feel +in a measure at home, and indeed will entirely sympathize with them on +one important point, viz.: in their ideas on the Beautiful and on Art. +Through this Hellenic portico he reaches Egypt, from thence passes on to +Persia and returns finally to the Nile. It has been my desire that the +three nations should attract him equally, and I have therefore not +centred the entire interest of the plot in one hero, but have endeavored +to exhibit each nation in its individual character, by means of a fitting +representative. The Egyptian Princess has given her name to the book, +only because the weal and woe of all my other characters were decided by +her fate, and she must therefore be regarded as the central point of the +whole. + +In describing Amasis I have followed the excellent description of +Herodotus, which has been confirmed by a picture discovered on an ancient +monument. Herodotus has been my guide too in the leading features of +Cambyses' character; indeed as he was born only forty or fifty years +after the events related, his history forms the basis of my romance. + +"Father of history" though he be, I have not followed him blindly, but, +especially in the development of my characters, have chosen those paths +which the principles of psychology have enabled me to lay down for +myself, and have never omitted consulting those hieroglyphic and +cuneiform inscriptions which have been already deciphered. In most cases +these confirm the statements of Herodotus. + +I have caused Bartja's murder to take place after the conquest of Egypt, +because I cannot agree with the usually received translation of the +Behistun inscription. This reads as follows: "One named Cambujiya, son +of Curu, of our family, was king here formerly and had a brother named +Bartiya, of the same father and the same mother as Cambujiya. Thereupon +Cambujiya killed that Bartiya." In a book intended for general readers, +it would not be well to enter into a discussion as to niceties of +language, but even the uninitiated will see that the word "thereupon" has +no sense in this connection. In every other point the inscription agrees +with Herodotus' narrative, and I believe it possible to bring it into +agreement with that of Darius on this last as well; but reserve my proofs +for another time and place. + +It has not been ascertained from whence Herodotus has taken the name +Smerdis which he gives to Bartja and Gaumata. The latter occurs again, +though in a mutilated form, in Justin. + +My reasons for making Phanes an Athenian will be found in Note 90. Vol. +I. This coercion of an authenticated fact might have been avoided in the +first edition, but could not now be altered without important changes in +the entire text. The means I have adopted in my endeavor to make Nitetis +as young as possible need a more serious apology; as, notwithstanding +Herodotus' account of the mildness of Amasis' rule, it is improbable that +King Hophra should have been alive twenty years after his fall. Even +this however is not impossible, for it can be proved that his descendants +were not persecuted by Amasis. + +On a Stela in the Leyden Museum I have discovered that a certain Psamtik, +a member of the fallen dynasty, lived till the 17th year of Amasis' +reign, and died at the age of seventy-five. + +Lastly let me be permitted to say a word or two in reference to Rhodopis. +That she must have been a remarkable woman is evident from the passage in +Herodotus quoted in Notes 10, and 14, Vol. I., and from the accounts +given by many other writers. Her name, "the rosy-cheeked one," tells us +that she was beautiful, and her amiability and charm of manner are +expressly praised by Herodotus. How richly she was endowed with gifts +and graces may be gathered too from the manner in which tradition and +fairy lore have endeavored to render her name immortal. By many she is +said to have built the most beautiful of the Pyramids, the Pyramid of +Mycerinus or Menkera. One tale related of her and reported by Strabo and +AElian probably gave rise to our oldest and most beautiful fairy tale, +Cinderella; another is near akin to the Loreley legend. An eagle, +according to AElian--the wind, in Strabo's tale,--bore away Rhodopis' +slippers while she was bathing in the Nile, and laid them at the feet of +the king, when seated on his throne of justice in the open market. The +little slippers so enchanted him that he did not rest until he had +discovered their owner and made her his queen. + +The second legend tells us how a wonderfully beautiful naked woman could +be seen sitting on the summit of one of the pyramids (ut in una ex +pyramidibus); and how she drove the wanderers in the desert mad through +her exceeding loveliness. + +Moore borrowed this legend and introduces it in the following verse: + + "Fair Rhodope, as story tells-- + The bright unearthly nymph, who dwells + 'Mid sunless gold and jewels hid, + The lady of the Pyramid." + +Fabulous as these stories sound, they still prove that Rhodopis must have +been no ordinary woman. Some scholars would place her on a level with +the beautiful and heroic Queen Nitokris, spoken of by Julius Africanus, +Eusebius and others, and whose name, (signifying the victorious Neith) +has been found on the monuments, applied to a queen of the sixth dynasty. +This is a bold conjecture; it adds however to the importance of our +heroine; and without doubt many traditions referring to the one have been +transferred to the other, and vice versa. Herodotus lived so short a +time after Rhodopis, and tells so many exact particulars of her private +life that it is impossible she should have been a mere creation of +fiction. The letter of Darius, given at the end of Vol. II., is intended +to identify the Greek Rhodopis with the mythical builder of the Pyramid. +I would also mention here that she is called Doricha by Sappho. This may +have been her name before she received the title of the "rosy-cheeked +one." + +I must apologize for the torrent of verse that appears in the love-scenes +between Sappho and Bartja; it is also incumbent upon me to say a few +words about the love-scenes themselves, which I have altered very +slightly in the new edition, though they have been more severely +criticised than any other portion of the work. + +First I will confess that the lines describing the happy love of a +handsome young couple to whom I had myself become warmly attached, flowed +from my pen involuntarily, even against my will (I intended to write a +novel in prose) in the quiet night, by the eternal Nile, among the palms +and roses. The first love-scene has a story of its own to me. I wrote +it in half an hour, almost unconsciously. It may be read in my book that +the Persians always reflected in the morning, when sober, upon the +resolutions formed the night before, while drunk. When I examined in the +sunshine what had come into existence by lamplight, I grew doubtful of +its merits, and was on the point of destroying the love-scenes +altogether, when my dear friend Julius Hammer, the author of "Schau in +Dich, und Schau um Dich," too early summoned to the other world by death, +stayed my hand. Their form was also approved by others, and I tell +myself that the 'poetical' expression of love is very similar in all +lands and ages, while lovers' conversations and modes of intercourse vary +according to time and place. Besides, I have to deal with one of those +by no means rare cases, where poetry can approach nearer the truth than +prudent, watchful prose. Many of my honored critics have censured these +scenes; others, among whom are some whose opinion I specially value, have +lavished the kindest praise upon them. Among these gentlemen I will +mention A. Stahr, C. V. Holtei, M. Hartmann, E. Hoefer, W. Wolfsohn, C. +Leemans, Professor Veth of Amsterdam, etc. Yet I will not conceal the +fact that some, whose opinion has great weight, have asked: "Did the +ancients know anything of love, in our sense of the word? Is not +romantic love, as we know it, a result of Christianity?" The following +sentence, which stands at the head of the preface to my first edition, +will prove that I had not ignored this question when I began my task. + + "It has often been remarked that in Cicero's letters and those of + Pliny the younger there are unmistakeable indications of sympathy + with the more sentimental feeling of modern days. I find in them + tones of deep tenderness only, such as have arisen and will arise + from sad and aching hearts in every land and every age." + + A. v. HUMBOLDT. Cosmos II. P. 19. + +This opinion of our great scholar is one with which I cheerfully coincide +and would refer my readers to the fact that love-stories were written +before the Christian era: the Amor and Psyche of Apuleius for instance. +Indeed love in all its forms was familiar to the ancients. Where can we +find a more beautiful expression of ardent passion than glows in Sappho's +songs? or of patient faithful constancy than in Homer's Penelope? Could +there be a more beautiful picture of the union of two loving hearts, even +beyond the grave, than Xenophon has preserved for us in his account of +Panthea and Abradatas? or the story of Sabinus the Gaul and his wife, +told in the history of Vespasian? Is there anywhere a sweeter legend +than that of the Halcyons, the ice-birds, who love one another so +tenderly that when the male becomes enfeebled by age, his mate carries +him on her outspread wings whithersoever he will; and the gods, desiring +to reward such faithful love, cause the sun to shine more kindly, and +still the winds and waves on the "Halcyon days" during which these birds +are building their nest and brooding over their young? There can surely +have been no lack of romantic love in days when a used-up man of the +world, like Antony, could desire in his will that wherever he died his +body might be laid by the side of his beloved Cleopatra: nor of the +chivalry of love when Berenice's beautiful hair was placed as a +constellation in the heavens. Neither can we believe that devotion in +the cause of love could be wanting when a whole nation was ready to wage +a fierce and obstinate war for the sake of one beautiful woman. The +Greeks had an insult to revenge, but the Trojans fought for the +possession of Helen. Even the old men of Ilium were ready "to suffer +long for such a woman." And finally is not the whole question answered +in Theocritus' unparalleled poem, "the Sorceress?" We see the poor love- +lorn girl and her old woman-servant, Thestylis, cowering over the fire +above which the bird supposed to possess the power of bringing back the +faithless Delphis is sitting in his wheel. Simoetha has learnt many +spells and charms from an Assyrian, and she tries them all. The distant +roar of the waves, the stroke rising from the fire, the dogs howling in +the street, the tortured fluttering bird, the old woman, the broken- +hearted girl and her awful spells, all join in forming a night scene the +effect of which is heightened by the calm cold moonshine. The old woman +leaves the girl, who at once ceases to weave her spells, allows her pent- +up tears to have their way, and looking up to Selene the moon, the +lovers' silent confidante, pours out her whole story: how when she first +saw the beautiful Delphis her heart had glowed with love, she had seen +nothing more of the train of youths who followed him, "and," (thus sadly +the poet makes her speak) + + "how I gained my home + I knew not; some strange fever wasted me. + Ten days and nights I lay upon my bed. + O tell me, mistress Moon, whence came my love!" + +"Then" (she continues) when Delphis at last crossed her threshold: + + "I + Became all cold like snow, and from my brow + Brake the damp dewdrops: utterance I had none, + Not e'en such utterance as a babe may make + That babbles to its mother in its dreams; + But all my fair frame stiffened into wax,-- + O tell me mistress Moon, whence came my love!" + +Whence came her love? thence, whence it comes to us now. The love of +the creature to its Creator, of man to God, is the grand and yet gracious +gift of Christianity. Christ's command to love our neighbor called into +existence not only the conception of philanthropy, but of humanity +itself, an idea unknown to the heathen world, where love had been at +widest limited to their native town and country. The love of man and +wife has without doubt been purified and transfigured by Christianity; +still it is possible that a Greek may have loved as tenderly and +longingly as a Christian. The more ardent glow of passion at least +cannot be denied to the ancients. And did not their love find vent in +the same expressions as our own? Who does not know the charming +roundelay: + + "Drink the glad wine with me, + With me spend youth's gay hours; + Or a sighing lover be, + Or crown thy brow with flowers. + When I am merry and mad, + Merry and mad be you; + When I am sober and sad, + Be sad and sober too!" + +--written however by no poet of modern days, but by Praxilla, in the +fifth century before Christ. Who would guess either that Moore's little +song was modelled on one written even earlier than the date of our story? + + "As o'er her loom the Lesbian maid + In love-sick languor hung her head. + Unknowing where her fingers stray'd, + She weeping turned away and said,' + Oh, my sweet mother, 'tis in vain, + + I cannot weave as once I wove; + So wilder'd is my heart and brain + With thinking of that youth I love.'" + +If my space allowed I could add much more on this subject, but will +permit myself only one remark in conclusion. Lovers delighted in nature +then as now; the moon was their chosen confidante, and I know of no +modern poem in which the mysterious charm of a summer night and the magic +beauty which lies on flowers, trees and fountains in those silent hours +when the world is asleep, is more exquisitely described than in the +following verses, also by Sappho, at the reading of which we seem forced +to breathe more slowly, "kuhl bis an's Herz hinan." + + "Planets, that around the beauteous moon + Attendant wait, cast into shade + Their ineffectual lustres, soon + As she, in full-orb'd majesty array'd, + Her silver radiance pours + Upon this world of ours." + +and:-- + + "Thro' orchard plots with fragrance crown'd, + The clear cold fountain murm'ring flows; + And forest leaves, with rustling sound, + Invite to soft repose." + +The foregoing remarks seemed to me due to those who consider a love such +as that of Sappho and Bartja to have been impossible among the ancients. +Unquestionably it was much rarer then than in these days: indeed I +confess to having sketched my pair of lovers in somewhat bright colors. +But may I not be allowed, at least once, to claim the poet's freedom? + +How seldom I have availed myself of this freedom will be evident from the +notes included in each volume. They seemed to me necessary, partly in +order to explain the names and illustrate the circumstances mentioned in +the text, and partly to vindicate the writer in the eyes of the learned. +I trust they may not prove discouraging to any, as the text will be found +easily readable without reference to the explanations. + + Jena, November 23, 1868. + GEORG EBERS, DR. + + + +PREFACE TO THE FOURTH GERMAN EDITION. + +Two years and a half after the appearance of the third edition of "An +Egyptian Princess," a fourth was needed. I returned long since from the +journey to the Nile, for which I was preparing while correcting the +proof-sheets of the third edition, and on which I can look back with +special satisfaction. During my residence in Egypt, in 1872-73, a lucky +accident enabled me to make many new discoveries; among them one treasure +of incomparable value, the great hieratic manuscript, which bears my +name. Its publication has just been completed, and it is now in the +library of the Leipzig University. + +The Papyrus Ebers, the second in size and the best preserved of all the +ancient Egyptian manuscripts which have come into our possession, was +written in the 16th century B. C., and contains on 110 pages the hermetic +book upon the medicines of the ancient Egyptians, known also to the +Alexandrine Greeks. The god Thoth (Hermes) is called "the guide" of +physicians, and the various writings and treatises of which the work is +composed are revelations from him. In this venerable scroll diagnoses +are made and remedies suggested for the internal and external diseases of +most portions of the human body. With the drugs prescribed are numbers, +according to which they are weighed with weights and measured with hollow +measures, and accompanying the prescriptions are noted the pious axioms +to be repeated by the physician, while compounding and giving them to the +patient. On the second line of the first page of our manuscript, it is +stated that it came from Sais. A large portion of this work is devoted +to the visual organs. On the twentieth line of the fifty-fifth page +begins the book on the eyes, which fills eight large pages. We were +formerly compelled to draw from Greek and Roman authors what we knew +about the remedies used for diseases of the eye among the ancient +Egyptians. The portion of the Papyrus Ebers just mentioned is now the +only Egyptian source from whence we can obtain instruction concerning +this important branch of ancient medicine. + +All this scarcely seems to have a place in the preface of a historical +romance, and yet it is worthy of mention here; for there is something +almost "providential" in the fact that it was reserved for the author of +"An Egyptian Princess" to bestow the gift of this manuscript upon the +scientific world. Among the characters in the novel the reader will meet +an oculist from Sais, who wrote a book upon the diseases of the visual +organs. The fate of this valuable work exactly agrees with the course of +the narrative. The papyrus scroll of the Sais oculist, which a short +time ago existed only in the imagination of the author and readers of "An +Egyptian Princess," is now an established fact. When I succeeded in +bringing the manuscript home, I felt like the man who had dreamed of a +treasure, and when he went out to ride found it in his path. + +A reply to Monsieur Jules Soury's criticism of "An Egyptian Princess" in +the Revue des deux Mondes, Vol. VII, January 1875, might appropriately be +introduced into this preface, but would scarcely be possible without +entering more deeply into the ever-disputed question, which will be +answered elsewhere, whether the historical romance is ever justifiable. +Yet I cannot refrain from informing Monsieur Soury here that "An Egyptian +Princess" detained me from no other work. I wrote it in my sick-room, +before entering upon my academic career, and while composing it, found +not only comfort and pleasure, but an opportunity to give dead scientific +material a living interest for myself and others. + +Monsieur Soury says romance is the mortal enemy of history; but this +sentence may have no more justice than the one with which I think myself +justified in replying: Landscape painting is the mortal enemy of botany. +The historical romance must be enjoyed like any other work of art. No +one reads it to study history; but many, the author hopes, may be aroused +by his work to make investigations of their own, for which the notes +point out the way. Already several persons of excellent mental powers +have been attracted to earnest Egyptological researches by "An Egyptian +Princess." In the presence of such experiences, although Monsieur +Soury's clever statements appear to contain much that is true, I need not +apply his remark that "historical romances injure the cause of science" +to the present volume. + + Leipzig, April 19, 1875. + + GEORG EBERS. + + + +PREFACE TO THE FIFTH GERMAN EDITION. + +Again a new edition of "An Egyptian Princess" has been required, and +again I write a special preface because the printing has progressed so +rapidly as unfortunately to render it impossible for me to correct some +errors to which my attention was directed by the kindness of the well- +known botanist, Professor Paul Ascherson of Berlin, who has travelled +through Egypt and the Oases. + +In Vol. I, page 7, I allow mimosas to grow among other plants in +Rhodopis' garden. I have found them in all the descriptions of the Nile +valley, and afterwards often enjoyed the delicious perfume of the golden +yellow flowers in the gardens of Alexandria and Cairo. I now learn that +this very mimosa (Acacia farnesiana) originates in tropical America, and +was undoubtedly unknown in ancient Egypt. The bananas, which I mentioned +in Vol. I, p. 64, among other Egyptian plants, were first introduced into +the Nile valley from India by the Arabs. The botanical errors occurring +in the last volume I was able to correct. Helm's admirable work on +"Cultivated Plants and Domestic Animals" had taught me to notice such +things. Theophrastus, a native of Asia Minor, gives the first +description of a citron, and this proves that he probably saw the so- +called paradise-apple, but not our citron, which I am therefore not +permitted to mention among the plants cultivated in ancient Lydia. Palms +and birches are both found in Asia Minor; but I permitted them to grow +side by side, thereby committing an offense against the geographical +possibility of vegetable existence. The birch, in this locality, +flourishes in the mountainous region, the palm, according to Griesbach +(Vegetation of the Earth, Vol. I, p. 319) only appears on the southern +coast of the peninsula. The latter errors, as I previously mentioned, +will be corrected in the new edition. I shall of course owe special +thanks to any one who may call my attention to similar mistakes. + + Leipzig, March 5, 1877 + + GEORG EBERS + + + +PREFACE TO THE NINTH GERMAN EDITION. + +I have nothing to add to the ninth edition of "An Egyptian Princess" +except that it has been thoroughly revised. My sincere thanks are due to +Dr. August Steitz of Frankfort on the Main, who has travelled through +Egypt and Asia Minor, for a series of admirable notes, which he kindly +placed at my disposal. He will find that they have not remained unused. + + Leipzig, November 13, 1879. + GEORG EBERS + + + + +AN EGYPTIAN PRINCESS. + +By Georg Ebers + +Volume 1. + + + +CHAPTER I. + +The Nile had overflowed its bed. The luxuriant corn-fields and blooming +gardens on its shores were lost beneath a boundless waste of waters; and +only the gigantic temples and palaces of its cities, (protected from the +force of the water by dikes), and the tops of the tall palm-trees and +acacias could be seen above its surface. The branches of the sycamores +and plane-trees drooped and floated on the waves, but the boughs of the +tall silver poplars strained upward, as if anxious to avoid the watery +world beneath. The full-moon had risen; her soft light fell on the +Libyan range of mountains vanishing on the western horizon, and in the +north the shimmer of the Mediterranean could faintly be discerned. Blue +and white lotus-flowers floated on the clear water, bats of all kinds +darted softly through the still air, heavy with the scent of acacia- +blossom and jasmine; the wild pigeons and other birds were at roost in +the tops of the trees, while the pelicans, storks and cranes squatted in +groups on the shore under the shelter of the papyrus-reeds and Nile- +beans. The pelicans and storks remained motionless, their long bills +hidden beneath their wings, but the cranes were startled by the mere beat +of an oar, stretching their necks, and peering anxiously into the +distance, if they heard but the song of the boatmen. The air was +perfectly motionless, and the unbroken reflection of the moon, lying like +a silver shield on the surface of the water, proved that, wildly as the +Nile leaps over the cataracts, and rushes past the gigantic temples of +Upper Egypt, yet on approaching the sea by different arms, he can abandon +his impetuous course, and flow along in sober tranquillity. + +On this moonlight night in the year 528 B. C. a bark was crossing the +almost currentless Canopic mouth of the Nile. On the raised deck at the +stern of this boat an Egyptian was sitting to guide the long pole-rudder, +and the half-naked boatmen within were singing as they rowed. In the +open cabin, which was something like a wooden summer-house, sat two men, +reclining on low cushions. They were evidently not Egyptians; their +Greek descent could be perceived even by the moonlight. The elder was an +unusually tall and powerful man of more than sixty; thick grey curls, +showing very little attempt at arrangement, hung down over his short, +firm throat; he wore a simple, homely cloak, and kept his eyes gloomily +fixed on the water. His companion, on the contrary, a man perhaps twenty +years younger, of a slender and delicate build, was seldom still. +Sometimes he gazed into the heavens, sometimes made a remark to the +steersman, disposed his beautiful purple chlanis in fresh folds, or +busied himself in the arrangement of his scented brown curls, or his +carefully curled beard. + + [The chlanis was a light summer-mantle, worn especially by the more + elegant Athenians, and generally made of expensive materials. The + simpler cloak, the himation, was worn by the Doric Greeks, and + principally by the Spartans.] + +The boat had left Naukratis, at that time the only Hellenic port in +Egypt, about half an hour before. + + [This town, which will form the scene of a part of our tale, lies in + the northwest of the Nile Delta, in the Saitic Nomos or district, on + the left bank of the Canopic mouth of the river. According to + Strabo and Eusebius it was founded by Milesians, and Bunsen reckons + 749 B. C. It seems that in the earliest times Greek ships were only + allowed to enter this mouth of the Nile in case of necessity. The + entire intercourse of the Egyptians with the hated strangers was, at + that time, restricted to the little island of Pharos lying opposite + to the town of Thonis.] + +During their journey, the grey-haired, moody man had not spoken one word, +and the other had left him to his meditations. But now, as the boat +neared the shore, the restless traveller, rising from his couch, called +to his companion: "We are just at our destination, Aristomachus! That +pleasant house to the left yonder, in the garden of palms which you can +see rising above the waters, is the dwelling of my friend Rhodopis. It +was built by her husband Charaxus, and all her friends, not excepting the +king himself, vie with one another in adding new beauties to it year by +year. A useless effort! Let them adorn that house with all the +treasures in the world, the woman who lives within will still remain its +best ornament!" + + [We are writing of the month of October, when the Nile begins to + sink. The inundations can now be accurately accounted for, + especially since the important and laborious synoptical work of H. + Barth and S. Baker. They are occasioned by the tropical rains, and + the melting of the snows on the high mountain-ranges at the Equator. + In the beginning of June a gradual rising of the Nile waters can be + perceived; between the 15th and 20th June, this changes to a rapid + increase; in the beginning of October the waters reach their highest + elevation, a point, which, even after having begun their retreat, + they once more attempt to attain; then, at first gradually, and + afterwards with ever increasing rapidity, they continue to sink. In + January, February and March, the Nile is still drying up; and in May + is at its lowest point, when the volume of its waters is only one- + twentieth of that in October.] + +The old man sat up, threw a passing glance at the building, smoothed the +thick grey beard which clothed his cheeks and chin, but left the lips +free,--[The Spartans were not in the habit of wearing a beard on the +upper lip.]--and asked abruptly: "Why so much enthusiasm, Phanes, for +this Rhodopis? How long have the Athenians been wont to extol old +women?" At this remark the other smiled, and answered in a self- +satisfied tone, "My knowledge of the world, and particularly of women, +is, I flatter myself, an extended one, and yet I repeat, that in all +Egypt I know of no nobler creature than this grey-haired woman. When you +have seen her and her lovely grandchild, and heard your favorite melodies +sung by her well-practised choir of slave-girls, I think you will thank +me for having brought you hither."--"Yet," answered the Spartan gravely, +"I should not have accompanied you, if I had not hoped to meet Phryxus, +the Delphian, here." + +"You will find him here; and besides, I cannot but hope that the songs +will cheer you, and dispel your gloomy thoughts." Aristomachus shook his +head in denial, and answered: "To you, sanguine Athenians, the melodies +of your country may be cheering: but not so to me; as in many a sleepless +night of dreams, my longings will be doubled, not stilled by the songs of +Alkman." + + [Alkman (Attic, Alkmaeon) flourished in Sparta about 650 B. C. His + mother was a Lydian slave in Sardes, and he came into the possession + of Agesides, who gave him his freedom. His beautiful songs soon + procured him the rights of a Lacedaemonian citizen. He was + appointed to the head-directorship in the entire department of music + in Lacedaemon and succeeded in naturalizing the soft Lydian music. + His language was the Doric-Laconian. After a life devoted to song, + the pleasures of the table and of love, he is said to have died of + a fearful disease. From the frequent chorusses of virgins + (Parthenien) said to have been originally introduced by him, his + frequent songs in praise of women, and the friendly relations in + which he stood to the Spartan women (more especially to the fair + Megalostrata), he gained the name of the woman's poet.] + +"Do you think then," replied Phanes, "that I have no longing for my +beloved Athens, for the scenes of our youthful games, for the busy life +of the market? Truly, the bread of exile is not less distasteful to my +palate than to yours, but, in the society afforded by this house, it +loses some of its bitterness, and when the dear melodies of Hellas, so +perfectly sung, fall on my ear, my native land rises before me as in a +vision, I see its pine and olive groves, its cold, emerald green rivers, +its blue sea, the shimmer of its towns, its snowy mountain-tops and +marble temples, and a half-sweet, half-bitter tear steals down my cheek +as the music ceases, and I awake to remember that I am in Egypt, in this +monotonous, hot, eccentric country, which, the gods be praised, I am soon +about to quit. But, Aristomachus, would you then avoid the few Oases in +the desert, because you must afterwards return to its sands and drought? +Would you fly from one happy hour, because days of sadness await you +later? But stop, here we are! Show a cheerful countenance, my friend, +for it becomes us not to enter the temple of the Charites with sad +hearts."--[The goddesses of grace and beauty, better known by their Roman +name of "Graces."] + +As Phanes uttered these words, they landed at the garden wall, washed by +the Nile. The Athenian bounded lightly from the boat, the Spartan +following with a heavier, firmer tread. Aristomachus had a wooden leg, +but his step was so firm, even when compared with that of the light- +footed Phanes, that it might have been thought to be his own limb. + +The garden of Rhodopis was as full of sound, and scent and blossom as a +night in fairy-land. It was one labyrinth of acanthus shrubs, yellow +mimosa, the snowy gelder-rose, jasmine and lilac, red roses and +laburnums, overshadowed by tall palm-trees, acacias and balsam trees. +Large bats hovered softly on their delicate wings over the whole, and +sounds of mirth and song echoed from the river. + +This garden had been laid out by an Egyptian, and the builders of the +Pyramids had already been celebrated for ages for their skill in +horticulture. They well understood how to mark out neat flower-beds, +plant groups of trees and shrubs in regular order, water the whole by +aqueducts and fountains, arrange arbors and summerhouses, and even +inclose the walks with artistically clipped hedges, and breed goldfish in +stone basins. + +At the garden gate Phanes stopped, looked around him carefully and +listened; then shaking his head, "I do not understand what this can +mean," he said. "I hear no voices, there is not a single light to be +seen, the boats are all gone, and yet the flag is still flying at its gay +flag-staff, there, by the obelisks on each side of the gate." + + [Obelisks bearing the name of the owner were sometimes to be seen + near the gates of the Egyptian country-houses. Flags too were not + uncommon, but these were almost exclusively to be found at the gates + of the temples, where to this day the iron sockets for the flagstaff + can still be seen. Neither were flags unknown to the Greeks. It + appears from some inscriptions on the staffs of the Pylons, that if + the former were not actually erected for lightning-rods, it had been + noticed that they attracted the electricity.] + +"Rhodopis must surely be from home; can they have forgotten?"--Here a +deep voice suddenly interrupted him with the exclamation, "Ha! the +commander of the body-guard!" + +"A pleasant evening to you, Knakais," exclaimed Phanes, kindly greeting +the old man, who now came up. "But how is it that this garden is as +still as an Egyptian tomb, and yet the flag of welcome is fluttering at +the gate? How long has that white ensign waved for guests in vain?" + +"How long indeed?" echoed the old slave of Rhodopis with a smile. "So +long as the Fates graciously spare the life of my mistress, the old flag +is sure to waft as many guests hither as the house is able to contain. +Rhodopis is not at home now, but she must return shortly. The evening +being so fine, she determined on taking a pleasure-trip on the Nile with +her guests. They started at sunset, two hours ago, and the evening meal +is already prepared; they cannot remain away much longer. I pray you, +Phanes, to have patience and follow me into the house. Rhodopis would +not easily forgive me, if I allowed such valued guests to depart. You +stranger," he added, turning to the Spartan, "I entreat most heartily to +remain; as friend of your friend you will be doubly welcome to my +mistress." + +The two Greeks, following the servant, seated themselves in an arbor, and +Aristomachus, after gazing on the scene around him now brilliantly +lighted by the moon, said, "Explain to me, Phanes, by what good fortune +this Rhodopis, formerly only a slave and courtesan can now live as a +queen, and receive her guests in this princely manner?" + + [The mistresses (Hetaere) of the Greeks must not be compared with + modern women of bad reputation. The better members of this class + represented the intelligence and culture of their sex in Greece, and + more especially in the Ionian provinces. As an instance we need + only recall Aspasia and her well-attested relation to Pericles and + Socrates. Our heroine Rhodopis was a celebrated woman. The + Hetaera, Thargalia of Miletus, became the wife of a Thessalian king. + Ptolemy Lagi married Thais; her daughter was called Irene, and her + sons Leontiskus and Lagus. Finally, statues were erected to many.] + +"I have long expected this question," answered the Athenian. "I shall be +delighted to make you acquainted with the past history of this woman +before you enter her house. So long as we were on the Nile, I would not +intrude my tale upon you; that ancient river has a wonderful power of +compelling to silence and quiet contemplation. Even my usually quick +tongue was paralyzed like yours, when I took my first night-journey on +the Nile." + +"I thank you for this," replied the Spartan. "When I first saw the aged +priest Epimenides," at Knossus in Crete, he was one hundred and fifty +years old, and I remember that his age and sanctity filled me with a +strange dread; but how far older, how far more sacred, is this hoary +river, the ancient stream 'Aigyptos'!" Who would wish to avoid the power +of his spells? Now, however, I beg you to give me the history of +Rhodopis." + +Phanes began: "When Rhodopis was a little child playing with her +companions on the Thracian sea-shore, she was stolen by some Phoenician +mariners, carried to Samos, and bought by Iadmon, one of the geomori, or +landed aristocracy of the island. The little girl grew day by day more +beautiful, graceful and clever, and was soon an object of love and +admiration to all who knew her. AEsop, the fable-writer, who was at that +time also in bondage to Iadmon, took an especial pleasure in the growing +amiability and talent of the child, taught her and cared for her in the +same way as the tutors whom we keep to educate our Athenian boys. + +The kind teacher found his pupil tractable and quick of comprehension, +and the little slave soon practised the arts of music, singing and +eloquence, in a more charming and agreeable manner than the sons of her +master Iadmon, on whose education the greatest care had been lavished. +By the time she had reached her fourteenth year, Rhodopis was so +beautiful and accomplished, that the jealous wife of Iadmon would not +suffer her to remain any longer in the house, and the Samian was forced, +with a heavy heart, to sell her to a certain Xanthus. The government of +Samos at that time was still in the hands of the less opulent nobles; had +Polykrates then been at the head of affairs, Xanthus need not have +despaired of a purchaser. These tyrants fill their treasuries as the +magpies their nests! As it was, however, he went off with his precious +jewel to Naukratis, and there gained a fortune by means of her wondrous +charms. These were three years of the deepest humiliation to Rhodopis, +which she still remembers with horror. + +Now it happened, just at the time when her fame was spreading through all +Greece, and strangers were coming from far to Naukratis for her sake +alone, that the people of Lesbos rose up against their nobles, drove them +forth, and chose the wise Pittakus as their ruler. + + [According to Herodotus the beauty of Rhodopis was so great that + every Greek knew her by name.] + +The highest families of Lesbos were forced to leave the country, and +fled, some to Sicily, some to the Greek provinces of Italy, and others to +Egypt. Alcaeus, the greatest poet of his day, and Charaxus, the brother +of that Sappho whose odes it was our Solon's last wish to learn by heart, +came here to Naukratis, which had already long been the flourishing +centre of commercial communication between Egypt and the rest of the +world. Charaxus saw Rhodopis, and soon loved her so passionately, that +he gave an immense sum to secure her from the mercenary Xanthus, who was +on the point of returning with her to his own country; Sappho wrote some +biting verses, derisive of her brother and his purchase, but Alcaeus on +the other hand, approved, and gave expression to this feeling in glowing +songs on the charms of Rhodopis. And now Sappho's brother, who had till +then remained undistinguished among the many strangers at Naukratis, +became a noted man through Rhodopis. His house was soon the centre of +attraction to all foreigners, by whom she was overwhelmed with gifts. +The King Hophra, hearing of her beauty and talent, sent for her to +Memphis, and offered to buy her of Charaxus, but the latter had already +long, though secretly, given Rhodopis her freedom, and loved her far too +well to allow of a separation. She too, loved the handsome Lesbian and +refused to leave him despite the brilliant offers made to her on all +sides. At length Charaxus made this wonderful woman his lawful wife, and +continued to live with her and her little daughter Kleis in Naukratis, +until the Lesbian exiles were recalled to their native land by Pittakus. +He then started homeward with his wife, but fell ill on the journey, and +died soon after his arrival at Mitylene. Sappho, who had derided her +brother for marrying one beneath him, soon became an enthusiastic admirer +of the beautiful widow and rivalled Alcaeus in passionate songs to her +praise. + +After the death of the poetess, Rhodopis returned, with her little +daughter, to Naukratis, where she was welcomed as a goddess. During this +interval Amasis, the present king of Egypt, had usurped the throne of the +Pharaohs, and was maintaining himself in its possession by help of the +army, to which caste he belonged. + + [Amasis, of whom much will be said in our text, reigned 570-526 B. + C. His name, in the hieroglyphic signs, was Aahmes or young moon + but the name by which he was commonly called was Sa-Nit "Son of + Neith." His name, and pictures of him are to be found on stones in + the fortress of Cairo, on a relief in Florence, a statue in the + Vatican, on sarcophagi in Stockholm and London, a statue in the + Villa Albani and on a little temple of red granite at Leyden. A + beautiful bust of gray-wacke in our possession probably represents + the same king.] + +As his predecessor Hophra had accelerated his fall, and brought the army +and priesthood to open rebellion by his predilection for the Greek +nation, and for intercourse with foreigners generally, (always an +abomination in the eyes of the Egyptians), men felt confident that Amasis +would return to the old ways, would rigorously exclude foreigners from +the country, dismiss the Greek mercenaries, and instead of taking counsel +from the Greeks, would hearken only to the commands of the priesthood. +But in this, as you must see yourself, the prudent Egyptians had guessed +wide of the mark in their choice of a ruler; they fell from Scylla into +Charybdis. If Hophra was called the Greeks' friend, Amasis must be named +our lover. The Egyptians, especially the priests and the army, breathe +fire and flame, and would fain strangle us one and all, off hand, This +feeling on the part of the soldiery does not disturb Amasis, for he knows +too well the comparative value of their and our services; but with the +priests it is another and more serious matter, for two reasons: first, +they possess an unbounded influence over the people; and secondly. +Amasis himself retains more affection than he likes to acknowledge to us, +for this absurd and insipid religion--a religion which appears doubly +sacred to its adherents simply because it has existed in this eccentric +land--unchanged for thousands of years. These priests make the king's +life burdensome to him; they persecute and injure us in every possible +way; and indeed, if it had not been for the king's protection, I should +long ago have been a dead man. But I am wandering from my tale! As I +said before, Rhodopis was received at Naukratis with open arms by all, +and loaded with marks of favor by Amasis, who formed her acquaintance. +Her daughter Kleis, as is the case with the little Sappho now--was never +allowed to appear in the society which assembled every evening at her +mother's house, and indeed was even more strictly brought up than the +other young girls in Naukratis. She married Glaucus, a rich Phocaean +merchant of noble family, who had defended his native town with great +bravery against the Persians, and with him departed to the newly-founded +Massalia, on the Celtic coast. There, however, the young couple both +fell victims to the climate, and died, leaving a little daughter, Sappho. +Rhodopis at once undertook the long journey westward, brought the orphan +child back to live with her, spent the utmost care on her education, and +now that she is grown up, forbids her the society of men, still feeling +the stains of her own youth so keenly that she would fain keep her +granddaughter (and this in Sappho's case is not difficult), at a greater +distance from contact with our sex than is rendered necessary, by the +customs of Egypt. To my friend herself society is as indispensable as +water to the fish or air to the bird. Her house is frequented by all the +strangers here, and whoever has once experienced her hospitality and has +the time at command will never after be found absent when the flag +announces an evening of reception. Every Greek of mark is to be found +here, as it is in this house that we consult on the wisest measures for +encountering the hatred of the priests and bringing the king round to our +own views. Here you can obtain not only the latest news from home, but +from the rest of the world, and this house is an inviolable sanctuary for +the persecuted, Rhodopis possessing a royal warrant which secures her +from every molestation on the part of the police. + + [A very active and strict police-force existed in Egypt, the + organization of which is said to have owed much to Amasis' care. We + also read in inscriptions and papyrus rolls, that a body of mounted + police existed, the ranks of which were generally filled by + foreigners in preference to natives.] + +Our own songs and our own language are to be heard here, and here we take +counsel on the best means for delivering Greece from the ever fresh +encroachments of her tyrants. + +In a word, this house is the centre of attraction for all Hellenic +interests in Egypt, and of more importance to us politically, than our +temple, the Hellenion itself, and our hall of commerce. + +In a few minutes you will see this remarkable grandmother, and, if we +should be here alone, perhaps the grandchild too; you will then at once +perceive that they owe everything to their own rare qualities and not to +the chances of good fortune. Ah! there they come! they are going +towards the house. Cannot you hear the slave-girls singing? Now they +are going in. First let them quietly be seated, then follow me, and when +the evening is over you shall say whether you repent of having come +hither, and whether Rhodopis resembles more nearly a queen or a freed +bond-woman." + +The houses was built in the Grecian style. It was a rather long, one- +storied building, the outside of which would be called extremely plain in +the present day; within, it united the Egyptian brilliancy of coloring +with the Greek beauty of form. The principal door opened into the +entrance-hall. To the left of this lay a large dining-room, overlooking +the Nile, and, opposite to this last was the kitchen, an apartment only +to be found in the houses of the wealthier Greeks, the poorer families +being accustomed to prepare their food at the hearth in the front +apartment. The hall of reception lay at the other end of the entrance- +hall, and was in the form of a square, surrounded within by a colonnade, +into which various chambers opened. This was the apartment devoted to +the men, in the centre of which was the household fire, burning on an +altar-shaped hearth of rich AEginetan metal-work. + +It was lighted by an opening in the roof, which formed at the same time, +an outlet for the smoke. From this room (at the opposite end to that on +which it opened into the entrance-hall), a passage, closed by a well- +fastened door, led into the chamber of the women. This was also +surrounded by a colonnade within, but only on three sides, and here the +female inhabitants were accustomed to pass their time, when not employed, +spinning or weaving, in the rooms lying near the back or garden-door as +it was termed. Between these latter and the domestic offices, which lay +on the right and left of the women's apartment, were the sleeping-rooms; +these served also as places of security for the valuables of the house. +The walls of the men's apartment were painted of a reddish-brown color, +against which the outlines of some white marble carvings, the gift of a +Chian sculptor, stood out in sharp relief. The floor was covered with +rich carpets from Sardis; low cushions of panthers' skins lay ranged +along the colonnade; around the artistically wrought hearth stood quaint +Egyptian settees, and small, delicately-carved tables of Thya wood, on +which lay all kinds of musical instruments, the flute, cithara and lyre. +Numerous lamps of various and singular shapes, filled with Kiki oil, hung +against the walls. Some represented fire-spouting dolphins; others, +strange winged monsters from whose jaws the flames issued; and these, +blending their light with that from the hearth, illumined the apartment. + +In this room a group of men were assembled, whose appearance and dress +differed one from the other. A Syrian from Tyre, in a long crimson robe, +was talking animatedly to a man whose decided features and crisp, curly, +black hair proclaimed him an Israelite. The latter had come to Egypt to +buy chariots and horses for Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah--the +Egyptian equipages being the most sought after at that time. Close to +him stood three Greeks from Asia Minor, the rich folds of whose garments +(for they wore the costly dress of their native city Miletus), contrasted +strongly with the plain and unadorned robe of Phryxus, the deputy +commissioned to collect money for the temple of Apollo at Delphi, with +whom they were in earnest conversation. Ten years before, the ancient +temple had been consumed by fire; and at this time efforts were being +made to build another, and a more beautiful one. + +Two of the Milesians, disciples of Anaximander and Anaximenes, were +staying then in Egypt, to study astronomy and the peculiar wisdom of the +Egyptians at Heliopolis, and the third was a wealthy merchant and ship- +owner, named Theopompus, who had settled at Naukratis. + + [Anaximander of Miletus, born 611-546, was a celebrated + geometrician, astronomer, philosopher and geographer. He was the + author of a book on natural phenomena, drew the first map of the + world on metal, and introduced into Greece a kind of clock which he + seems to have borrowed from the Babylonians. He supposes a primary + and not easily definable Being, by which the whole world is + governed, and in which, though in himself infinite and without + limits, everything material and circumscribed has its foundation. + "Chaotic matter" represents in his theory the germ of all created + things, from which water, earth, animals, nereids or fish-men, human + beings &c. have had their origin.] + +Rhodopis herself was engaged in a lively conversation with two Samian +Greeks: the celebrated worker in metals, sculptor and goldsmith +Theodorus, and the Iambic poet Ibykus of Rhegium, who had left the court +of Polykrates for a time in order to become acquainted with Egypt, and +were bearers of presents to Amasis from their ruler. Close to the fire +lay Philoinus of Sybaris, a corpulent man with strongly-marked features +and a sensual expression of face; he was stretched at full-length on a +couch covered with spotted furs, and amused himself by playing with his +scented curls wreathed with gold, and with the golden chains which fell +from his neck on to the long saffron-colored robe that clothed him down +to his feet. + + [Sybaris was a town in Lower Italy notorious throughout the ancient + world for its luxury. According to Strabo it was founded by + Achaeans 262. About 510 it was conquered and destroyed by the + Crotoniates and then rebuilt under the name of Thurii.] + +Rhodopis had a kind word for each of her guests, but at present she +occupied herself exclusively with the two celebrated Sarnians; their talk +was of art and poetry. The fire of youth still glowed in the eyes of the +Thracian woman, her tall figure was still full and unbent; her hair, +though grey, was wound round her beautifully formed head in luxuriant +waves, and laid together at the back in a golden net, and a sparkling +diadem shone above her lofty forehead. + +Her noble Greek features were pale, but still beautiful and without a +wrinkle, notwithstanding her great age; indeed her small mouth with its +full lips, her white teeth, her eyes so bright and yet so soft, and her +nobly-formed nose and forehead would have been beauty enough for a young +maiden. + +Rhodopis looked younger than she really was, though she made no attempt +to disavow her age. Matronly dignity was visible in every movement, and +the charm of her manner lay, not in a youthful endeavor to be pleasing, +but in the effort of age to please others, considering their wishes, and +at the same time demanding consideration in return. + +Our two friends now presenting themselves in the hall, every eye turned +upon them, and as Phanes entered leading his friend by the hand, the +heartiest welcome met him from all sides; one of the Milesians indeed +exclaimed: "Now I see what it is that was wanting to our assembly. There +can be no merriment without Phanes." + +And Philoinus, the Sybarite, raising his deep voice, but not allowing +himself for a moment to be disturbed in his repose, remarked: "Mirth is a +good thing, and if you bring that with you, be welcome to me also, +Athenian." + +"To me," said Rhodopis, turning to her new guests, "you are heartily +welcome, but not more in your joy than if borne down by sadness. I know +no greater pleasure than to remove the lines of care from a friend's +brow. Spartan, I venture to address you as a friend too, for the friends +of my friends are my own." Aristomachus bowed in silence, but Phanes, +addressing himself both to Rhodopis and to the Sybarite, answered: "Well +then, my friends, I can content you both. To you, Rhodopis, I must come +for comfort, for soon, too soon I must leave you and your pleasant house; +Philoinus however can still enjoy my mirth, as I cannot but rejoice in +the prospect of seeing my beloved Hellas once more, and of quitting, even +though involuntarily, this golden mouse-trap of a country." + +"You are going away! you have been dismissed? Whither are you going?" +echoed on all sides. + +"Patience, patience, my friends," cried Phanes. "I have a long story to +tell, but I will rather reserve it for the evening meal. And indeed, +dear friend, my hunger is nearly as great as my distress at being obliged +to leave you." + +"Hunger is a good thing," philosophized the Sybarite once more, "when a +man has a good meal in prospect." + +"On that point you may be at ease, Philoinus," answered Rhodopis. +"I told the cook to do his utmost, for the most celebrated epicure from +the most luxurious city in the world, no less a person than Philoinus of +Sybaris, would pass a stern judgment on his delicate dishes. Go, +Knakias, tell them to serve the supper. Are you content now, my +impatient guests? As for me, since I heard Phanes' mournful news, the +pleasure of the meal is gone." The Athenian bowed, and the Sybarite +returned to his philosophy. "Contentment is a good thing when every wish +can be satisfied. I owe you thanks, Rhodopis, for your appreciation of +my incomparable native city. What says Anakreon? + + "To-day is ours--what do we fear? + To-day is ours--we have it here. + Let's treat it kindly, that it may + Wish at least with us to stay. + Let's banish business, banish sorrow; + To the gods belongs to-morrow." + +"Eh! Ibykus, have I quoted your friend the poet correctly, who feasts +with you at Polykrates' banquets? Well, I think I may venture to say of +my own poor self that if Anakreon can make better verses, I understand +the art of living quite as well as he, though he writes so many poems +upon it. Why, in all his songs there is not one word about the pleasures +of the table! Surely they are as important as love and play! I confess +that the two last are clear to me also; still, I could exist without +them, though in a miserable fashion, but without food, where should we +be?" + +The Sybarite broke into a loud laugh at his own joke; but the Spartan +turned away from this conversation, drew Phryxus into a corner, and quite +abandoning his usually quiet and deliberate manner, asked eagerly whether +he had at last brought him the long wished for answer from the Oracle. +The serious features of the Delphian relaxed, and thrusting his hand into +the folds of his chiton,--[An undergarment resembling a shirt.]--he drew +out a little roll of parchment-like sheepskin, on which a few lines were +written. + +The hands of the brave, strong Spartan trembled as he seized the roll, +and his fixed gaze on its characters was as if it would pierce the skin +on which they were inscribed. + +Then, recollecting himself, he shook his head sadly and said: "We +Spartans have to learn other arts than reading and writing; if thou +canst, read the what Pythia says." + +The Delphian glanced over the writing and replied: "Rejoice! Loxias +(Apollo) promises thee a happy return home; hearken to the prediction of +the priestess." + + "If once the warrior hosts from the snow-topped mountains descending + Come to the fields of the stream watering richly the plain, + Then shall the lingering boat to the beckoning meadows convey thee + Which to the wandering foot peace and a home will afford. + When those warriors come, from the snow-topped mountains descending, + Then will the powerful Five grant thee what long they refused." + +To these words the Spartan listened with intense eagerness; he had them +read over to him twice, then repeated them from memory, thanked Phryxus, +and placed the roll within the folds of his garment. + +The Delphian then took part in the general conversation, but Aristomachus +repeated the words of the Oracle unceasingly to himself in a low voice, +endeavoring to impress them on his memory, and to interpret their obscure +import. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +The doors of the supper-room now flew open. Two lovely, fair-haired +boys, holding myrtle-wreaths, stood on each side of the entrance, and in +the middle of the room was a large, low, brilliantly polished table, +surrounded by inviting purple cushions. + + [It was most probably usual for each guest to have his own little + table; but we read even in Homer of large tables on which the meals + were served up. In the time of Homer people sat at table, but the + recumbent position became universal in later times.] + +Rich nosegays adorned this table, and on it were placed large joints of +roast meat, glasses and dishes of various shapes filled with dates, figs, +pomegranates, melons and grapes, little silver beehives containing honey, +and plates of embossed copper, on which lay delicate cheese from the +island of Trinakria. In the midst was a silver table-ornament, something +similar to an altar, from which arose fragrant clouds of incense. + +At the extreme end of the table stood the glittering silver cup in which +the wine was to be mixed. + + [The Greeks were not accustomed to drink unmingled wine. Zaleukus + forbade to all citizens the pure juice of the grape under penalty of + death, and Solon under very severe penalties, unless required as + medicine. The usual mixture was composed of three-fifths water to + two-fifths wine.] + +This was of beautiful AEginetan workmanship, its crooked handles +representing two giants, who appeared ready to sink under the weight of +the bowl which they sustained. + +Like the altar, it was enwreathed with flowers, and a garland of roses or +myrtle had been twined around the goblet of each guest. + +The entire floor was strewed with rose-leaves, and the room lighted by +many lamps which were hung against the smooth, white, stucco walls. + +No sooner were the guests reclining on their cushions, than the fair- +haired boys reappeared, wound garlands of ivy and myrtle around the heads +and shoulders of the revellers, and washed their feet in silver basins. +The Sybarite, though already scented with all the perfumes of Arabia, +would not rest until he was completely enveloped in roses and myrtle, and +continued to occupy the two boys even after the carver had removed the +first joints from the table in order to cut them up; but as soon as the +first course, tunny-fish with mustard-sauce, had been served, he forgot +all subordinate matters, and became absorbed in the enjoyment of the +delicious viands. + +Rhodopis, seated on a chair at the head of the table, near the wine-bowl, +not only led the conversation, but gave directions to the slaves in +waiting. + + [The women took their meals sitting. The Greeks, like the + Egyptians, had chairs with backs and arms. The form of the solia or + throne has become familiar to us from the discoveries at Pompeii and + the representations of many gods and distinguished persons. It had + a high, almost straight back, and supports for the arms.] + +She gazed on her cheerful guests with a kind of pride, and seemed to be +devoting her attention to each exclusively, now asking the Delphian how +he had succeeded in his mission, then the Sybarite whether he was content +with the performances of her cook, and then listening eagerly to Ibykus, +as he told how the Athenian, Phrynichus, had introduced the religious +dramas of Thespis of Ikaria into common life, and was now representing +entire histories from the past by means of choruses, recitative and +answer. + +Then she turned to the Spartan, remarking, that to him alone of all her +guests, instead of an apology for the simplicity of the meal, she felt +she owed one for its luxury. The next time he came, her slave Knakias, +who, as an escaped Helot, boasted that he could cook a delicious blood- +soup (here the Sybarite shuddered), should prepare him a true +Lacedaemonian repast. + +When the guests had eaten sufficiently they again washed their hands; the +plates and dishes were removed, the floor cleansed, and wine and water +poured into the bowl. + + [The Symposium began after the real meal. Not till that was over + did the guests usually adorn themselves with wreaths, wash their + hands with Smegma or Smema (a kind of soap) and begin to drink.] + +At last, when Rhodopis had convinced herself that the right moment was +come, she turned to Phanes, who was engaged in a discussion with the +Milesians, and thus addressed him: + +"Noble friend, we have restrained our impatience so long that it must +surely now be your duty to tell us what evil chance is threatening to +snatch you from Egypt and from our circle. You may be able to leave us +and this country with a light heart, for the gods are wont to bless you +Ionians with that precious gift from your very birth, but we shall +remember you long and sadly. I know of no worse loss than that of a +friend tried through years, indeed some of us have lived too long on the +Nile not to have imbibed a little of the constant, unchanging Egyptian +temperament. You smile, and yet I feel sure that long as you have +desired to revisit your dear Hellas, you will not be able to leave us +quite without regret. Ah, you admit this? Well, I knew I had not been +deceived. But now tell us why you are obliged to leave Egypt, that we +may consider whether it may not be possible to get the king's decree +reversed, and so keep you with us." + +Phanes smiled bitterly, and replied: "Many thanks, Rhodopis, for these +flattering words, and for the kind intention either to grieve over my +departure, or if possible, to prevent it. A hundred new faces will soon +help you to forget mine, for long as you have lived on the Nile, you are +still a Greek from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot, and may +thank the gods that you have remained so. I am a great friend of +constancy too, but quite as great an enemy of folly, and is there one +among you who would not call it folly to fret over what cannot be undone? +I cannot call the Egyptian constancy a virtue, it is a delusion. The men +who treasure their dead for thousands of years, and would rather lose +their last loaf than allow a single bone belonging to one of their +ancestors to be taken from them, are not constant, they are foolish. Can +it possibly make me happy to see my friends sad? Certainly not! You +must not imitate the Egyptians, who, when they lose a friend, spend +months in daily-repeated lamentations over him. On the contrary, if you +will sometimes think of the distant, I ought to say, of the departed, +friend, (for as long as I live I shall never be permitted to tread +Egyptian ground again), let it be with smiling faces; do not cry, 'Ah! +why was Phanes forced to leave us?' but rather, 'Let us be merry, as +Phanes used to be when he made one of our circle!' In this way you must +celebrate my departure, as Simonides enjoined when he sang: + + "If we would only be more truly wise, + We should not waste on death our tears and sighs, + Nor stand and mourn o'er cold and lifeless clay + More than one day. + + For Death, alas! we have no lack of time; + But Life is gone, when scarcely at its prime, + And is e'en, when not overfill'd with care + But short and bare!" + +"If we are not to weep for the dead, how much less ought we to grieve for +absent friends! the former have left us for ever, but to the latter we +say at parting, 'Farewell, until we meet again'" + +Here the Sybarite, who had been gradually becoming more and more +impatient, could not keep silent any longer, and called out in the most +woe begone tone: Will you never begin your story, you malicious fellow? +I cannot drink a single drop till you leave off talking about death. I +feel cold already, and I am always ill, if I only think of, nay, if I +only hear the subject mentioned, that this life cannot last forever." +The whole company burst into a laugh, and Phanes began to tell his story: + +"You know that at Sais I always live in the new palace; but at Memphis, +as commander of the Greek body-guard which must accompany the king +everywhere, a lodging was assigned me in the left wing of the old palace. + +"Since Psamtik the First, Sais has always been the royal residence, and +the other palaces have in consequence become somewhat neglected. My +dwelling was really splendidly situated, and beautifully furnished; it +would have been first-rate, if, from the first moment of my entrance, a +fearful annoyance had not made its appearance. + +"In the day-time, when I was seldom at home, my rooms were all that could +be wished, but at night it was impossible to sleep for the tremendous +noise made by thousands of rats and mice under the old floors, and +couches, and behind the hangings. + +"Even in the first night an impudent mouse ran over my face. + +"I was quite at a loss what to do, till an Egyptian soldier sold me two +large cats, and these, in the course of many weeks, procured me some rest +from my tormentors. + +"Now, you are probably all aware that one of the charming laws of this +most eccentric nation, (whose culture and wisdom, you, my Milesian +friends, cannot sufficiently praise), declares the cat to be a sacred +animal. Divine honors are paid to these fortunate quadrupeds as well as +to many other animals, and he who kills a cat is punished with the same +severity as the murderer of a human being." + +Till now Rhodopis had been smiling, but when she perceived that Phanes' +banishment had to do with his contempt for the sacred animals, her face +became more serious. She knew how many victims, how many human lives, +had already been sacrificed to this Egyptian superstition, and how, only +a short time before, the king Amasis himself had endeavored in vain to +rescue an unfortunate Samian, who had killed a cat, from the vengeance of +the enraged populace. + + [The cat was probably the most sacred of all the animals worshipped + by the Egyptians. Herod tells that when a house was on fire the + Egyptians never thought of extinguishing the fire until their cats + were all saved, and that when a cat died, they shaved their heads in + sign of mourning. Whoever killed one of these animals, whether + intentionally or by accident, suffered the penalty, of death, + without any chance of mercy. Diod. (I. 81.) himself witnessed the + murder of a Roman citizen who had killed a cat, by the Egyptian + people; and this in spite of the authorities, who in fear of the + powerful Romans, endeavored to prevent the deed. The bodies of the + cats were carefully embalmed and buried, and their mummies are to be + found in every museum. The embalmed cat, carefully wrapped in linen + bandages, is oftener to be met with than any other of the many + animals thus preserved by the Egyptians. In spite of the great care + bestowed on cats, there can have been no lack of mice in Egypt. In + one nomos or province the shrew-mouse was sacred, and a satirical, + obscene papyrus in Turin shows us a war between the cats and mice; + the Papyrus Ebers contains poisons for mice. We ourselves possess a + shrew-mouse exquisitely wrought in bronze.] + +"Everything was going well," continued the officer, "when we left Memphis +two years ago. + +"I confided my pair of cats to the care of one of the Egyptian servants +at the palace, feeling sure that these enemies of the rats would keep my +dwelling clear for the future; indeed I began to feel a certain +veneration for my deliverers from the plague of mice. + +"Last year Amasis fell ill before the court could adjourn to Memphis, and +we remained at Sais. + +"At last, about six week ago, we set out for the city of the Pyramids. +I betook me to my old quarters; not the shadow of a mouse's tail was to +be seen there, but instead, they swarmed with another race of animals not +one whit dearer to me than their predecessors. The pair of cats had, +during my two years' absence, increased twelve-fold. I tried all in my +power to dislodge this burdensome brood of all ages and colors, but in +vain; every night my sleep was disturbed by horrible choruses of four- +footed animals, and feline war-cries and songs. + +"Every year, at the period of the Bubastis festival, all superfluous cats +may be brought to the temple of the cat-headed goddess Pacht, where they +are fed and cared for, or, as I believe, when they multiply too fast, +quietly put out of the way. These priests are knaves! + +"Unfortunately the journey to the said temple" did not occur during the +time of our stay in Memphis; however, as I really could not tolerate this +army of tormentors any longer, I determined at least to get rid of two +families of healthy kittens with which their mothers had just presented +me. My old slave Mus, from his very name a natural enemy of cats, was +told to kill the little creatures, put them into a sack, and throw them +into the Nile. + +"This murder was necessary, as the mewing of the kittens would otherwise +have betrayed the contents of the sack to the palace-warders. In the +twilight poor Muss betook himself to the Nile through the grove of +Hathor, with his perilous burden. But alas! the Egyptian attendant who +was in the habit of feeding my cats, had noticed that two families of +kittens were missing, and had seen through our whole plan. + +"My slave took his way composedly through the great avenue of Sphinxes, +and by the temple of Ptah, holding the little bag concealed under his +mantle. Already in the sacred grove he noticed that he was being +followed, but on seeing that the men behind him stopped before the temple +of Ptah and entered into conversation with the priests, he felt perfectly +reassured and went on. + +"He had already reached the bank of the Nile, when he heard voices +calling him and a number of people running towards him in haste; at the +same moment a stone whistled close by his head. + +"Mus at once perceived the danger which was threatening him. Summoning +all his strength he rushed down to the Nile, flung the bag in, and then +with a beating heart, but as he imagined without the slightest evidence +of guilt, remained standing on the shore. A few moments later he was +surrounded by at least a hundred priests. + +"Even the high-priest of Ptah, my old enemy Ptahotep, had not disdained +to follow the pursuers in person. + +"Many of the latter, and amongst them the perfidious palace-servant, +rushed at once into the Nile, and there, to our confusion, found the +bag with its twelve little corpses, hanging entirely uninjured among the +Papyrus-reeds and bean-tendrils. The cotton coffin was opened before +the eyes of the high-priest, a troop of lower priests, and at least a +thousand of the inhabitants of Memphis, who had hurried to the spot, +and when the miserable contents were disclosed, there arose such fearful +howls of anguish, and such horrible cries of mingled lamentation and +revenge, that I heard them even in the palace. + +"The furious multitude, in their wild rage, fell on my poor servant, +threw him down, trampled on him and would have killed him, had not the +all-powerful high-priest-designing to involve me, as author of the crime, +in the same ruin--commanded them to cease and take the wretched +malefactor to prison. + +"Half an hour later I was in prison too. + +"My old Mus took all the guilt of the crime on himself, until at last, +by means of the bastinado, the high-priest forced him to confess that I +had ordered the killing of the kittens, and that he, as a faithful +servant, had not dared to disobey. + +"The supreme court of justice, whose decisions the king himself has no +power to reverse, is composed of priests from Memphis, Heliopolis and +Thebes: you can therefore easily believe that they had no scruple in +pronouncing sentence of death on poor Mus and my own unworthy Greek self. +The slave was pronounced guilty of two capital offences: first, of the +murder of the sacred animals, and secondly, of a twelve-fold pollution of +the Nile through dead bodies. I was condemned as originator of this, (as +they termed it) four-and-twenty-fold crime. + + [According to the Egyptian law, the man who was cognizant of a crime + was held equally culpable with the perpetrator.] + +"Mus was executed on the same day. May the earth rest lightly on him! I +shall never think of him again as my slave, but as a friend and +benefactor! My sentence of death was read aloud in the presence of his +dead body, and I was already preparing for a long journey into the nether +world, when the king sent and commanded a reprieve. + + [This court of justice, which may be compared with the Areopagus at + Athens, and the Gerusia at Sparta, (Diod. I, 75.), was composed of + 30 judges taken from the priestly caste, (10 from Heliopolis, 10 + from Memphis, 10 from Thebes). The most eminent from among their + number was chosen by them as president. All complaints and defences + had to be presented in writing, that the judges might in no way be + influenced by word or gesture. This tribunal was independent, even + of the king's authority. Much information concerning the + administration of justice has been obtained from the Papyrus Abbott, + known by the name of the 'Papyrus judiciaire'. Particulars and an + account of their literature may be found in Ebers "Durch Gosen zum + Sinai," p. 534 and following.] + +"I was taken back to prison. One of my guards, an Arcadian Taxiarch, +told me that all the officers of the guard and many of the soldiers, +(altogether four thousand men) had threatened to send in their +resignation, unless I, their commander, were pardoned. + +"As it was beginning to grow dusk I was taken to the king. + +"He received me graciously, confirmed the Taxiarch's statement with his +own mouth, and said how grieved he should be to lose a commander so +generally beloved. I must confess that I owe Amasis no grudge for his +conduct to me, on the contrary I pity him. You should have heard how he, +the powerful king, complained that he could never act according to his +own wishes, that even in his most private affairs he was crossed and +compromised by the priests and their influence. + + [See the parallel in the history of 2000 years later in the reigns + of Henry III. and IV. confronting the Jesuit influence, finally + culminating in assassination. D.W.] + +"Had it only depended on himself, he could easily have pardoned the +transgression of a law, which I, as a foreigner, could not be expected to +understand, and might (though unjustly) esteem as a foolish superstition. +But for the sake of the priests he dare not leave me unpunished. The +lightest penalty he could inflict must be banishment from Egypt. + +"He concluded his complaint with these words: 'You little know what +concessions I must make to the priests in order to obtain your pardon. +Why, our supreme court of justice is independent even of me, its king!' + +"And thus I received my dismissal, after having taken a solemn oath to +leave Memphis that very day, and Egypt, at latest, in three weeks. + +"At the palace-gate I met Psamtik, the crown-prince. He has long been my +enemy, on account of some vexatious matters which I cannot divulge, (you +know them, Rhodopis). I was going to offer him my parting salutation, +but he turned his back upon me, saying: Once more you have escaped +punishment, Athenian; but you cannot elude my vengeance. Whithersoever +you may go, I shall be able to find you!'--'That remains to be proved,' I +answered, and putting myself and my possessions on board a boat, came to +Naukratis. Here, by good fortune, I met my old friend Aristomachus of +Sparta, who, as he was formerly in command of the Cyprian troops, will +most likely be nominated my successor. I should rejoice to know that +such a first-rate man was going to take my place, if I did not at the +same time fear that his eminent services will make my own poor efforts +seem even more insignificant than they really were." + +But here he was interrupted by Aristomachus, who called out: "Praise +enough, friend Phanes! Spartan tongues are stiff; but if you should ever +stand in need of my help, I will give you an answer in deeds, which shall +strike the right nail on the head." + +Rhodopis smiled her approval, and giving her hand to each, said: +"Unfortunately, the only conclusion to be drawn from your story, my poor +Phanes, is that you cannot possibly remain any longer in this country. +I will not blame you for your thoughtlessness, though you might have +known that you were exposing yourself to great danger for a mere trifle. +The really wise and brave man never undertakes a hazardous enterprise, +unless the possible advantage and disadvantage that may accrue to him +from it can be reckoned at least as equal. Recklessness is quite as +foolish, but not so blamable as cowardice, for though both do the man an +injury, the latter alone can dishonor him. + +"Your thoughtlessness, this time, has very nearly cost your life, a life +dear to many, and which you ought to save for a nobler end. We cannot +attempt to keep you here; we should thereby only injure ourselves without +benefitting you. This noble Spartan must now take your place as head and +representative of the Greek nation at the Egyptian court, must endeavor +to protect us against the encroachment of the priests, and to retain for +us the royal favor. I take your hand, Aristomachus, and will not let it +go till you have promised that you will protect, to the utmost of your +power, every Greek, however humble, (as Phanes did before you), from the +insolence of the Egyptians, and will sooner resign your office than allow +the smallest wrong done to a Hellene to go unpunished. We are but a few +thousands among millions of enemies, but through courage we are great, +and unity must keep us strong. Hitherto the Greeks in Egypt have lived +like brothers; each has been ready to offer himself for the good of all, +and all for each, and it is just this unity that has made us, and must +keep us, powerful. + +"Oh! could we but bestow this precious gift on our mother-country and +her colonies! would the tribes of our native land but forget their +Dorian, Ionian or AEolian descent, and, contenting themselves with the +one name of Hellenes, live as the children of one family, as the sheep of +one flock,--then indeed we should be strong against the whole world, and +Hellas would be recognized by all nations as the Queen of the Earth!" + + [This longing desire for unity was by no means foreign to the + Greeks, though we seldom hear it expressed. Aristotle, for example, + says VII. 7.: "Were the Hellenes united into one state, they could + command all the barbarous nations."] + +A fire glowed in the eyes of the grey-haired woman as she uttered these +words; and the Spartan, grasping her hand impetuously and stamping on the +floor with his wooden leg, cried: "By Zeus, I will not let a hair of +their heads be hurt; but thou, Rhodopis, thou art worthy to have been +born a Spartan woman." + +"Or an Athenian," cried Phanes. + +"An Ionian," said the Milesians, and the sculptor: "A daughter of the +Samian Geomori--" + +"But I am more, far more, than all these," cried the enthusiastic woman. +"I am a Hellene!" + +The whole company, even to the Jew and the Syrian, were carried away by +the intense feeling of the moment; the Sybarite alone remained unmoved, +and, with his mouth so full as to render the words almost unintelligible, +said: + +"You deserve to be a Sybarite too, Rhodopis, for your roast beef is the +best I have tasted since I left Italy, and your Anthylla wine' relishes +almost as well as Vesuvian or Chian!" + +Every one laughed, except the Spartan, who darted a look of indignation +and contempt at the epicure. + +In this moment a deep voice, hitherto unknown to us, shouted suddenly +through the window, "A glad greeting to you, my friends!" + +"A glad greeting," echoed the chorus of revellers, questioning and +guessing who this late arrival might prove to be. + +They had not long to wait, for even before the Sybarite had had time +carefully to test and swallow another mouthful of wine, the speaker, +Kallias, the son of Phaenippus of Athens, was already standing by the +side of Rhodopis. He was a tall thin man of over sixty, with a head of +that oval form which gives the impression of refinement and intellect. +One of the richest among the Athenian exiles, he had twice bought the +possessions of Pisistratus from the state, and twice been obliged to +surrender them, on the tyrant's return to power. Looking round with his +clear keen eyes on this circle of acquaintances, he exchanged friendly +greetings with all, and exclaimed: + +"If you do not set a high value on my appearance among you this evening, +I shall think that gratitude has entirely disappeared from the earth." + +"We have been expecting you a long time," interrupted one of the +Milesians. "You are the first man to bring us news of the Olympic +games!" + +"And we could wish no better bearer of such news than the victor of +former days?" added Rhodopis. "Take your seat," cried Phanes +impatiently, "and come to the point with your news at once, friend +Kallias." + +"Immediately, fellow-countryman," answered the other. "It is some time +ago now since I left Olympia. I embarked at Cenchreae in a fifty-oared +Samian vessel, the best ship that ever was built. + +"It does not surprise me that I am the first Greek to arrive in +Naukratis. We encountered terrific storms at sea, and could not have +escaped with our lives, if the big-bellied Samian galley, with her Ibis +beak and fish's tail had not been so splendidly timbered and manned. + +"How far the other homeward-bound passengers may have been driven out of +their course, I cannot tell; we found shelter in the harbor of Samos, and +were able to put to sea again after ten days. + +"We ran into the mouth of the Nile this morning. I went on board my own +bark at once, and was so favored by Boreas, who at least at the end of my +voyage, seemed willing to prove that he still felt kindly towards his old +Kallias, that I caught sight of this most friendly of all houses a few +moments since. I saw the waving flag, the brightly lighted windows, +and debated within myself whether to enter or not; but Rhodopis, your +fascination proved irresistible, and besides, I was bursting with all +my untold news, longing to share your feast, and to tell you, over the +viands and the wine, things that you have not even allowed yourselves to +dream of." + +Kallias settled himself comfortably on one of the cushions, and before +beginning to tell his news, produced and presented to Rhodopis a +magnificent gold bracelet in the form of a serpent's, which he had bought +for a large sum at Samos, in the goldsmith's workshop of the very +Theodorus who was now sitting with him at table. + +"This I have brought for you,"' he said, turning to the delighted +Rhodopis, "but for you, friend Phanes, I have something still better. +Guess, who won the four-horse chariot-race?" + +"An Athenian?" asked Phanes, and his face glowed with excitement; for +the victory gained by one citizen at the Olympic games belonged to his +whole people, and the Olympic olive-branch was the greatest honor and +happiness that could fall to the lot, either of a single Hellene, or an +entire Greek tribe. + +"Rightly guessed, Phanes!" cried the bringer of this joyful news, "The +first prize has been carried off by an Athenian; and not only so, your +own cousin Cimon, the son of Kypselos, the brother of that Miltiades, +who, nine Olympiads ago, earned us the same honor, is the man who has +conquered this year; and with the same steeds that gained him the prize +at the last games. + + [The second triumph won by the steeds of Cimon must have taken + place, as Duneker correctly remarks, about the year 528. The same + horses won the race for the third time at the next Olympic games, + consequently four years later. As token of his gratitude Cimon + caused a monument to be erected in their honor in "the hollow way" + near Athens. We may here remind our readers that the Greeks made + use of the Olympic games to determine the date of each year. They + took place every four years. The first was fixed 776 B. C. Each + separate year was named the 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th of such or such an + Olympiad.] + +"The fame of the Alkmaeonidae is, verily, darkening more and more before +the Philaidae. Are not you proud, Phanes? do not you feel joy at the +glory of your family?" + +In his delight Phanes had risen from his seat, and seemed suddenly to +have increased in stature by a whole head. + +With a look of ineffable pride and consciousness of his own position, he +gave his hand to the messenger of victory. The latter, embracing his +countryman, continued: + +"Yes, we have a right to feel proud and happy, Phanes; you especially, +for no sooner had the judges unanimously awarded the prize to Cimon, than +he ordered the heralds to proclaim the tyrant Pisistratus as the owner of +the splendid team, and therefore victor in the race. Pisistratus at once +caused it to be announced that your family was free to return to Athens, +and so now, Phanes, the long-wished for hour of your return home is +awaiting you." + +But at these words Phanes turned pale, his look of conscious pride +changed into one of indignation, and he exclaimed: + +"At this I am to rejoice, foolish Kallias? rather bid me weep that a +descendant of Ajax should be capable of laying his well-won fame thus +ignominiously at a tyrant's feet! No! I swear by Athene, by Father +Zeus, and by Apollo, that I will sooner starve in foreign lands than take +one step homeward, so long as the Pisistratidae hold my country in +bondage. When I leave the service of Amasis, I shall be free, free as a +bird in the air; but I would rather be the slave of a peasant in foreign +lands, than hold the highest office under Pisistratus. The sovereign +power in Athens belongs to us, its nobles; but Cimon by laying his +chaplet at the feet of Pisistratus has acknowledged the tyrants, and +branded himself as their servant. He shall hear that Phanes cares little +for the tyrant's clemency. I choose to remain an exile till my country +is free, till her nobles and people govern themselves, and dictate their +own laws. Phanes will never do homage to the oppressor, though all the +Philaidae, the Alkmaeonidae, and even the men of your own house, Kallias, +the rich Daduchi, should fall down at his feet!" + +With flashing eyes he looked round on the assembly; Kallias too +scrutinized the faces of the guests with conscious pride, as if he would +say: + +"See, friends, the kind of men produced by my glorious country!" + +Taking the hand of Phanes again, he said to him: "The tyrants are as +hateful to me as to you, my friend; but I have seen, that, so long as +Pisistratus lives, the tyranny cannot be overthrown. His allies, +Lygdamis of Naxos and Polykrates of Samos, are powerful; but the greatest +danger for our freedom lies in his own moderation and prudence. During +my recent stay in Greece I saw with alarm that the mass of the people in +Athens love their oppressor like a father. Notwithstanding his great +power, he leaves the commonwealth in the enjoyment of Solon's +constitution. He adorns the city with the most magnificent buildings. +They say that the new temple of Zeus, now being built of glorious marble +by Kallaeschrus, Antistates and Porinus (who must be known to you, +Theodorus), will surpass every building that has yet been erected by the +Hellenes. He understands how to attract poets and artists of all kinds +to Athens, he has had the poems of Homer put into writing, and the +prophecies of Musaeus collected by Onomakritus. He lays out new streets +and arranges fresh festivals; trade flourishes under his rule, and the +people find themselves well off, in spite of the many taxes laid upon +them. But what are the people? a vulgar multitude who, like the gnats, +fly towards every thing brilliant, and, so long as the taper burns, will +continue to flutter round it, even though they burn their wings in doing +so. Let Pisistratus' torch burn out, Phanes, and I'll swear that the +fickle crowd will flock around the returning nobles, the new light, just +as they now do around the tyrant. + +"Give me your hand once more, you true son of Ajax; for you, my friends, +I have still many an interesting piece of news untold. + +"The chariot-race, as I have just related, was won by Cimon who gave the +olive-branch to Pisistratus. Four finer horses than his I never saw. +Arkesilaus of Cyrene, Kleosthenes of Epidamnus, Aster of Sybaris, +Hekataeus of Miletus and many more had also sent splendid teams. Indeed +the games this time were more than brilliant. All Hellas had sent +deputies. Rhoda of the Ardeates, in distant Iberia, the wealthy +Tartessus, Sinope in the far East on the shores of Pontus, in short, +every tribe that could boast of Hellenic descent was well represented. +The Sybarite deputies were of a dazzling beauty; the Spartans, homely and +simple, but handsome as Achilles, tall and strong as Hercules; the +Athenians remarkable for their supple limbs and graceful movements, and +the men of Crotona were led by Milo, strongest of mortal birth. The +Samian and Milesian deputies vied in splendor and gorgeousness of attire +with those from Corinth and Mitylene: the flower of the Greek youth was +assembled there, and, in the space allotted to spectators, were seated, +not only men of every age, class and nation, but many virgins, fair and +lovely maidens, who had come to Olympia, more especially from Sparta, in +order to encourage the men during the games by their acclamations and +applause. The market was set up beyond the Alphaeus, and there traders +from all parts of the world were to be seen; Greeks, Carthaginians, +Lydians, Phrygians and shrewd Phoenicians from Palestine settled weighty +business transactions, or offered their goods to the public from tents +and booths. But how can I possibly describe to you the surging throngs +of the populace, the echoing choruses, the smoking festal hecatombs, +the bright and variegated costumes, the sumptuousness of the equipages, +the clang of the different dialects and the joyful cries of friends +meeting again after years of separation; or the splendid appearance of +the envoys, the crowds of lookers-on and venders of small wares, the +brilliant effect produced by the masses of spectators, who filled to +overflowing the space allotted to them, the eager suspense during the +progress of the games, and the never ending shouts of joy when the +victory was decided; the solemn investiture with the olive-branch, cut +with a golden knife by the Elean boy, (whose parents must both be +living), from the sacred tree in the Altis planted so many centuries ago +by Hercules himself; or lastly, the prolonged acclamations which, like +peals of thunder, resounded in the Stadium, when Milo of Crotona +appeared, bearing on his shoulders the bronze statue of himself cast by +Dameas, and carried it through the Stadium into the Altis without once +tottering. The weight of the metal would have crushed a bull to the +earth: but borne by Milo it seemed like a child in the arms of its +Lacedaemonian nurse. + +"The highest honors (after Cimon's) were adjudged to a pair of Spartan +brothers, Lysander and Maro, the sons of Aristomachus. Maro was victor +in the foot race, but Lysander presented himself, amidst the shouts of +the spectators, as the opponent of Milo! Milo the invincible, victor at +Pisa, and in the Pythian and Isthmian combats. Milo was taller and +stouter than the Spartan, who was formed like Apollo, and seemed from his +great youth scarcely to have passed from under the hands of the +schoolmaster. + +"In their naked beauty, glistening with the golden oil, the youth and the +man stood opposite to one another, like a panther and a lion preparing +for the combat. Before the onset, the young Lysander raised his hands +imploringly to the gods, crying: 'For my father, my honor, and the glory +of Sparta!' The Crotonian looked down on the youth with a smile of +superiority; just as an epicure looks at the shell of the languste he is +preparing to open. + +"And now the wrestling began. For some time neither could succeed in +grasping the other. The Crotonian threw almost irresistible weight into +his attempts to lay hold of his opponent, but the latter slipped through +the iron grip like a snake. This struggle to gain a hold lasted long, +and the immense multitude watched silently, breathless from excitement. +Not a sound was to be heard but the groans of the wrestlers and the +singing of the nightingales in the grove of the Altis. At last, the +youth succeeded, by means of the cleverest trick I ever saw, in clasping +his opponent firmly. For a long time, Milo exerted all his strength to +shake him oft, but in vain, and the sand of the Stadium was freely +moistened by the great drops of sweat, the result of this Herculean +struggle. + +"More and more intense waxed the excitement of the spectators, deeper and +deeper the silence, rarer the cries of encouragement, and louder the +groans of the wrestlers. At last Lysander's strength gave way. +Immediately a thousand voices burst forth to cheer him on. He roused +himself and made one last superhuman effort to throw his adversary: but +it was too late. Milo had perceived the momentary weakness. Taking +advantage of it, he clasped the youth in a deadly embrace; a full black +stream of blood welled from Lysander's beautiful lips, and he sank +lifeless to the earth from the wearied arms of the giant. Democedes, +the most celebrated physician of our day, whom you Samians will have +known at the court of Polycrates, hastened to the spot, but no skill +could now avail the happy Lysander,--he was dead. + +"Milo was obliged to forego the victor's wreath"; and the fame of this +youth will long continue to sound through the whole of Greece. + + [By the laws of the games the wrestler, whose adversary died, had no + right to the prize of victory.] + +I myself would rather be the dead Lysander, son of Aristomachus, than the +living Kallias growing old in inaction away from his country. Greece, +represented by her best and bravest, carried the youth to his grave, and +his statue is to be placed in the Altis by those of Milo of Crotona and +Praxidamas of AEgina". At length the heralds proclaimed the sentence of +the judges: 'To Sparta be awarded a victor's wreath for the dead, for the +noble Lysander hath been vanquished, not by Milo, but by Death, and he +who could go forth unconquered from a two hours' struggle with the +strongest of all Greeks, hath well deserved the olive-branch.'" + +Here Kallias stopped a moment in his narrative. During his animated +description of these events, so precious to every Greek heart, he had +forgotten his listeners, and, gazing into vacancy, had seen only the +figures of the wrestlers as they rose before his remembrance. Now, on +looking round, he perceived, to his astonishment, that the grey-haired +man with the wooden leg, whom he had already noticed, though without +recognizing him, had hidden his face in his hands and was weeping. +Rhodopis was standing at his right hand. Phanes at his left, and the +other guests were gazing at the Spartan, as if he had been the hero of +Kallias's tale. In a moment the quick Athenian perceived that the aged +man must stand in some very near relation to one or other of the victors +at Olympia; but when he heard that he was Aristomachus-the father of that +glorious pair of brothers, whose wondrous forms were constantly hovering +before his eyes like visions sent down from the abodes of the gods, then +he too gazed on the sobbing old man with mingled envy and admiration, and +made no effort to restrain the tears which rushed into his own eyes, +usually so clear and keen. In those days men wept, as well as women, +hoping to gain relief from the balm of their own tears. In wrath, in +ecstasy of delight, in every deep inward anguish, we find the mighty +heroes weeping, while, on the other hand, the Spartan boys would submit +to be scourged at the altar of Artemis Orthia, and would bleed and even +die under the lash without uttering a moan, in order to obtain the praise +of the men. + +For a time every one remained silent, out of respect to the old man's +emotion. But at last the stillness was broken by Joshua the Jew, who +began thus, in broken Greek: + +"Weep thy fill, O man of Sparta! I also have known what it is to lose a +son. Eleven years have passed since I buried him in the land of +strangers, by the waters of Babylon, where my people pined in captivity. +Had yet one year been added unto the life of the beautiful child, he had +died in his own land, and had been buried in the sepulchres of his +fathers. But Cyrus the Persian (Jehovah bless his posterity!) released +us from bondage one year too late, and therefore do I weep doubly for +this my son, in that he is buried among the enemies of my people Israel. +Can there be an evil greater than to behold our children, who are unto us +as most precious treasure, go down into the grave before us? And, may +the Lord be gracious unto me, to lose so noble a son, in the dawn of his +early manhood, just at the moment he had won such brilliant renown, must +indeed be a bitter grief, a grief beyond all others!" + +Then the Spartan took away his hands from before his face; he was looking +stern, but smiled through his tears, and answered: + +"Phoenician, you err! I weep not for anguish, but for joy, and would +have gladly lost my other son, if he could have died like my Lysander." + +The Jew, horrified at these, to him, sinful and unnatural words, shook +his head disapprovingly; but the Greeks overwhelmed the old man with +congratulations, deeming him much to be envied. His great happiness made +Aristomachus look younger by many years, and he cried to Rhodopis: +"Truly, my friend, your house is for me a house of blessing; for this is +the second gift that the gods have allowed to fall to my lot, since I +entered it."--"What was the first?" asked Rhodopis. "A propitious +oracle."--"But," cried Phanes, "you have forgotten the third; on this day +the gods have blessed you with the acquaintance of Rhodopis. But, tell +me, what is this about the oracle?"--"May I repeat it to our friends?" +asked the Delphian. + +Aristomachus nodded assent, and Phryxus read aloud a second time the +answer of the Pythia: + + "If once the warrior hosts from the snow-topped mountains descending + Come to the fields of the stream watering richly the plain, + Then shall the lingering boat to the beckoning meadows convey thee + Which to the wandering foot peace and a home will afford. + When those warriors come from the snow-topped mountains descending + Then will the powerful Five grant thee what they long refused." + +Scarcely was the last word out of his mouth, when Kallias the Athenian, +springing up, cried: "In this house, too, you shall receive from me the +fourth gift of the gods. Know that I have kept my rarest news till last: +the Persians are coming to Egypt!" + +At this every one, except the Sybarite, rushed to his feet, and Kallias +found it almost impossible to answer their numerous questions. "Gently, +gently, friends," he cried at last; "let me tell my story in order, or I +shall never finish it at all. It is not an army, as Phanes supposes, +that is on its way hither, but a great embassy from Cambyses, the present +ruler of the most powerful kingdom of Persia. At Samos I heard that they +had already reached Miletus, and in a few days they will be here. Some +of the king's own relations, are among the number, the aged Croesus, king +of Lydia, too; we shall behold a marvellous splendor and magnificence! +Nobody knows the object of their coming, but it is supposed that King +Cambyses wishes to conclude an alliance with Amasis; indeed some say the +king solicits the hand of Pharaoh's daughter." + +"An alliance?" asked Phanes, with an incredulous shrug of the shoulders. +"Why the Persians are rulers over half the world already. All the great +Asiatic powers have submitted to their sceptre; Egypt and our own mother- +country, Hellas, are the only two that have been shared by the +conqueror." + +"You forget India with its wealth of gold, and the great migratory +nations of Asia," answered Kallias. "And you forget moreover, that an +empire, composed like Persia of some seventy nations or tribes of +different languages and customs, bears the seeds of discord ever within +itself, and must therefore guard against the chance of foreign attack; +lest, while the bulk of the army be absent, single provinces should seize +the opportunity and revolt from their allegiance. Ask the Milesians how +long they would remain quiet if they heard that their oppressors had been +defeated in any battle?" + +Theopompus, the Milesian merchant, called out, laughing at the same time: +"If the Persians were to be worsted in one war, they would at once be +involved in a hundred others, and we should not be the last to rise up +against our tyrants in the hour of their weakness!" + +"Whatever the intentions of the envoys may be," continued Kallias, "my +information remains unaltered; they will be here at the latest in three +days." + +"And so your oracle will be fulfilled, fortunate Aristomachus!" +exclaimed Rhodopis, "for see, the warrior hosts can only be the Persians. +When they descend to the shores of the Nile, then the powerful Five,' +your Ephori, will change their decision, and you, the father of two +Olympian victors, will be recalled to your native land. + + [The five Ephori of Sparta were appointed to represent the absent + kings during the Messenian war. In later days the nobles made use + of the Ephori as a power, which, springing immediately from their + own body, they could oppose to the kingly authority. Being the + highest magistrates in all judicial and educational matters, and in + everything relating to the moral police of the country, the Ephori + soon found means to assert their superiority, and on most occasions + over that of the kings themselves. Every patrician who was past the + age of thirty, had the right to become a candidate yearly for the + office. Aristot. Potit, II. and IV. Laert. Diog. I. 68.] + +"Fill the goblets again, Knakias. Let us devote this last cup to the +manes of the glorious Lysander; and then I advise you to depart, for it +is long past midnight, and our pleasure has reached its highest point. +The true host puts an end to the banquet when his guests are feeling at +their best. Serene and agreeable recollections will soon bring you +hither again; whereas there would be little joy in returning to a house +where the remembrance of hours of weakness, the result of pleasure, would +mingle with your future enjoyment." In this her guests agreed, and +Ibykus named her a thorough disciple of Pythagoras, in praise of the +joyous, festive evening. + +Every one prepared for departure. The Sybarite, who had been drinking +deeply in order to counteract the very inconvenient amount of feeling +excited by the conversation, rose also, assisted by his slaves, who had +to be called in for this purpose. + +While he was being moved from his former comfortable position, he +stammered something about a "breach of hospitality;" but, when Rhodopis +was about to give him her hand at parting, the wine gained the ascendancy +and he exclaimed, "By Hercules, Rhodopis, you get rid of us as if we were +troublesome creditors. It is not my custom to leave a supper so long as +I can stand, still less to be turned out of doors like a miserable +parasite!" + +"Hear reason, you immoderate Sybarite," began Rhodopis, endeavoring with +a smile to excuse her proceeding. But these words, in Philoinus' half- +intoxicated mood, only increased his irritation; he burst into a mocking +laugh, and staggering towards the door, shouted: "Immoderate Sybarite, +you call me? good! here you have your answer: Shameless slave! one can +still perceive the traces of what you were in your youth. Farewell then, +slave of Iadmon and Xanthus, freedwoman of Charaxus!" He had not however +finished his sentence, when Aristomachus rushed upon him, stunned him +with a blow of his fist, and carried him off like a child down to the +boat in which his slaves were waiting at the garden-gate. + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +Did the ancients know anything of love +Folly to fret over what cannot be undone +Go down into the grave before us (Our children) +He who kills a cat is punished (for murder) +In those days men wept, as well as women +Lovers delighted in nature then as now +Multitude who, like the gnats, fly towards every thing brilliant +Olympics--The first was fixed 776 B.C. +Papyrus Ebers +Pious axioms to be repeated by the physician, while compounding +Romantic love, as we know it, a result of Christianity +True host puts an end to the banquet +Whether the historical romance is ever justifiable + + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AN EGYPTIAN PRINCESS, BY EBERS, V1 *** + +************This file should be named 5450.txt or 5450.zip ************ + +This eBook was produced by David Widger + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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