CHAPTER XV.
During these events Nitetis had been sitting alone in her house on thehanging-gardens, absorbed in the saddest thoughts. To-day, for the firsttime, she had taken part in the general sacrifice made by the king'swives, and had tried to pray to her new gods in the open air, before thefire-altars and amidst the sound of religious songs strange to her ears.
Most of the inhabitants of the harem saw her to-day for the first time,and instead of raising their eyes to heaven, had fixed them on herduring the ceremony. The inquisitive, malevolent gaze of her rivals, andthe loud music resounding from the city, disquieted and distracted hermind. Her thoughts reverted painfully to the solemn, sultry stillnessof the gigantic temples in her native land where she had worshipped thegods of her childhood so earnestly at the side of her mother and sister;and much as she longed, just on this day, to pray for blessings onher beloved king, all her efforts were in vain; she could arouse nodevotional feeling. Kassandane and Atossa knelt at her side, joiningheartily in the very hymns which to Nitetis were an empty sound.
It cannot be denied, that many parts of these hymns contain true poetry;but they become wearisome through the constant repetition and invocationof the names of good and bad spirits. The Persian women had been taughtfrom childhood, to look upon these religious songs as higher and holierthan any other poetry. Their earliest prayers had been accompanied bysuch hymns, and, like everything else which has come down to us fromour fathers, and which we have been told in the impressionable time ofchildhood is divine and worthy of our reverence, they were still sacredand dear to them and stirred their most devotional feelings.
But for Nitetis, who had been spoilt for such things by an intimateacquaintance with the best Greek poets, they could have but littlecharm. What she had lately been learning in Persia with difficulty hadnot yet become a part of herself, and so, while Kassandane and Atossawent through all the outward rites as things of course and perfectlynatural to them, Nitetis could only prevent herself from forgetting theprescribed ceremonials by a great mental effort, and dreaded lest sheshould expose her ignorance to the jealous, watchful gaze of her rivals.
And then, too, only a few minutes before the sacrifice, she had receivedher first letter from Egypt. It lay unread on her dressing-table, andcame into her mind whenever she attempted to pray. She could not helpwondering what news it might bring her. How were her parents? and howhad Tachot borne the parting from herself, and from the prince she lovedso well?
The ceremony over, Nitetis embraced Kassandane and Atossa, and drew along, deep breath, as if delivered from some threatening danger. Thenordering her litter, she was carried back to her dwelling, and hastenedeagerly to the table where her letter lay. Her principal attendant,the young girl who on the journey had dressed her in her first Persianrobes, received her with a smile full of meaning and promise, whichchanged however, into a look of astonishment, on seeing her mistressseize the letter, without even glancing at the articles of dress andjewelery which lay on the table.
Nitetis broke the seal quickly and was sitting down, in order to beginthe difficult work of reading her letter, when the girl came up, andwith clasped hands, exclaimed: "By Mithras, my mistress, I cannotunderstand you. Either you are ill, or that ugly bit of grey stuff mustcontain some magic which makes you blind to everything else. Putthat roll away and look at the splendid presents that the great king(Auramazda grant him victory!) has sent while you were at the sacrifice.Look at this wonderful purple robe with the white stripe and the richsilver embroidery; and then the tiara with the royal diamonds! Do notyou know the high meaning of these gifts? Cambyses begs, (the messengersaid 'begs,' not 'commands') you to wear these splendid ornaments atthe banquet to-day. How angry Phaedime will be! and how the otherswill look, for they have never received such presents. Till now onlyKassandane has had a right to wear the purple and diamonds; so bysending you these gifts, Cambyses places you on a level with his mother,and chooses you to be his favorite wife before the whole world.' O prayallow me to dress you in these new and beautiful things. How lovely youwill look! How angry and envious the others will feel! If I could onlybe there when you enter the hall! Come, my mistress, let me take offyour simple dress, and array you, (only as a trial you know,) in therobes that as the new queen you ought to wear."
Nitetis listened in silence to the chattering girl, and admired thegifts with a quiet smile. She was woman enough to rejoice at the sight,for he, whom she loved better than life itself, had sent them; andthey were a proof that she was more to the king than all his otherwives;--that Cambyses really loved her. The long wished-for letter fellunread to the ground, the girl's wish to dress her was granted without aword, and in a short time the splendid toilette was completed. The royalpurple added to her beauty, the high flashing tiara made her slender,perfect figure seem taller than it really was, and when, in the metalmirror which lay on her dressing table, she beheld herself for the firsttime in the glorious likeness of a queen, a new expression dawned on herfeatures. It seemed as if a portion of her lord's pride were reflectedthere. The frivolous waiting-woman sank involuntarily on her knees,as her eyes, full of smiling admiration, met the radiant glance ofNitetis,--of the woman who was beloved by the most powerful of men.
For a few moments Nitetis gazed on the girl, lying in the dust at herfeet; but soon shook her beautiful head, and blushing for shame, raisedher kindly, kissed her forehead, gave her a gold bracelet, and then,perceiving her letter on the ground, told her she wished to be alone.Mandane ran, rather than walked, out of the room in her eagernessto show the splendid present she had just received to the inferiorattendants and slaves; and Nitetis, her eyes glistening and her heartbeating with excess of happiness, threw herself on to the ivory chairwhich stood before her dressing-table, uttered a short prayer ofthanksgiving to her favorite Egyptian goddess, the beautiful Hathor,kissed the gold chain which Cambyses had given her after plunging intothe water for her ball, then her letter from home, and rendered almostover-confident by her great happiness, began to unroll it, slowlysinking back into the purple cushions as she did so and murmuring: "Howvery, very happy I am! Poor letter, I am sure your writer never thoughtNitetis would leave you a quarter of an hour on the ground unread."
In this happy mood she began to read, but her face soon grew serious andwhen she had finished, the letter fell once more to the ground.
Her eyes, whose proud glance had brought the waiting-maid to her feet,were dimmed by tears; her head, carried so proudly but a few minutesbefore, now lay on the jewels which covered the table. Tears rolled downamong the pearls and diamonds, as strange a contrast as the proud tiaraand its unhappy, fainting wearer.
The letter read as follows:
"Ladice the wife of Amasis and Queen of Upper and Lower Egypt, to herdaughter Nitetis, consort of the great King of Persia.
"It has not been our fault, my beloved daughter, that you have remainedso long without news from home. The trireme by which we sent our lettersfor you to AEgae was detained by Samian ships of war, or rather piratevessels, and towed into the harbor of Astypalaea.
"Polykrates' presumption increases with the continual success of hisundertakings, and since his victory over the Lesbians and Milesians, whoendeavored to put a stop to his depredations, not a ship is safe fromthe attacks of his pirate vessels.
"Pisistratus is dead," but his sons are friendly to Polykrates. Lygdamisis under obligations to him, and cannot hold his own in Naxos withoutSamian help. He has won over the Amphiktyonic council to his side bypresenting the Apollo of Delos with the neighboring island of Rhenea.His fifty-oared vessels, requiring to be manned by twenty-thousand men,do immense damage to all the seafaring nations; yet not one dares toattack him, as the fortifications of his citadel and his splendidharbor are almost impregnable, and he himself always surrounded by awell-drilled body-guard.
"Through the traders, who followed the fortunate Kolxus to the far west,and these pirate ships, Samos will become the richest of islands andPolykrates the most powerful of men
, unless, as your father says, thegods become envious of such unchanging good fortune and prepare him asudden and speedy downfall.
"In this fear Amasis advised Polykrates as his old friend, to put awayfrom him the thing he held dearest, and in such a manner that he mightbe sure of never receiving it again. Polykrates adopted this advice andthrew into the sea, from the top of the round tower on his citadel,his most valuable signet-ring, an unusually large sardonyx held by twodolphins. This ring was the work of Theodorus, and a lyre, the symbol ofthe ruler, was exquisitely engraved on the stone."
"Six days later, however, the ring was found by Polykrates' cooks in thebody of a fish. He sent us news at once of this strange occurrence, butinstead of rejoicing your father shook his grey head sadly, saying: 'hesaw now it was impossible for any one to avoid his destiny!' On the sameday he renounced the friendship of Polykrates and wrote him word, thathe should endeavor to forget him in order to avoid the grief of seeinghis friend in misfortune.
"Polykrates laughed at this message and returned the letters his pirateshad taken from our trireme, with a derisive greeting. For the future allyour letters will be sent by Syria.
"You will ask me perhaps, why I have told you this long story, whichhas so much less interest for you than any other home news. I answer:to prepare you for your father's state. Would you have recognized thecheerful, happy, careless Amasis in that gloomy answer to his Samianfriend?
"Alas, my husband has good reason to be sad, and since you left us, myown eyes have seldom been free from tears. My time is passed either atthe sick-bed of your sister or in comforting your father and guidinghis steps; and though much in need of sleep I am now taking advantage ofnight to write these lines.
"Here I was interrupted by the nurses, calling me to your sister Tachot,your own true friend.
"How often the dear child has called you in her feverish delirium;and how carefully she treasures your likeness in wax, that wonderfulportrait which bears evidence not only of the height to which Greek arthas risen, but of the master hand of the great Theodorus. To-morrow itwill be sent to AEgina, to be copied in gold, as the soft wax becomesinjured from frequent contact with your sister's burning hands and lips.
"And now, my daughter, you must summon all your courage to hear what Ineed all my strength of mind to tell-the sad story of the fate which thegods have decreed for our house.
"For three days after you left us Tachot wept incessantly. Neither ourcomforting words nor your father's good advice--neither offerings norprayers--could avail to lessen her grief or divert her mind. At last onthe fourth day she ceased to weep and would answer our questions ina low voice, as if resigned; but spent the greater part of every daysitting silently at her wheel. Her fingers, however, which used to be soskilful, either broke the threads they tried to spin, or lay for hoursidle in her lap, while she was lost in dreams. Your father's jokes, atwhich she used to laugh so heartily, made no impression on her, and whenI endeavored to reason with her she listened in anxious suspense.
"If I kissed her forehead and begged her to control herself, she wouldspring up, blushing deeply, and throw herself into my arms, then sitdown again to her wheel and begin to pull at the threads with almostfrantic eagerness; but in half an hour her hands would be lying idle inher lap again and her eyes dreamily fixed, either on the ground, oron some spot in the air. If we forced her to take part in anyentertainment, she would wander among the guests totally uninterested ineverything that was passing.
"We took her with us on the great pilgrimage to Bubastis, during whichthe Egyptians forget their usual gravity, and the shores of the Nilelook like a great stage where the wild games of the satyrs are beingperformed by choruses, hurried on in the unrestrained wantonness ofintoxication. When she saw thus for the first time an entire peoplegiven up to the wildest and most unfettered mirth and enjoyment, shewoke up from her silent brooding thoughts and began to weep again, as inthe first days after you went away.
"Sad and perplexed, we brought our poor child back to Sais.
"Her looks were not those of a common mortal. She grew thinner, and weall fancied, taller; her complexion was white, and almost transparent,with a tender bloom on her cheek, which I can only liken to a youngrose-leaf or the first faint blush of sunrise. Her eyes are stillwonderfully clear and bright. It always seems to me as if they lookedbeyond the heaven and earth which we see.
"As she continued to suffer more and more from heat in the head andhands, while her tender limbs often shivered with a slight chill, wesent to Thebes for Thutmes, the most celebrated physician for inwardcomplaints.
"The experienced priest shook his head on seeing your sister andforetold a serious illness. He forbade her to spin or to speak much.Potions of all kinds were given her to drink, her illness was discussedand exorcised, the stars and oracles consulted, rich presents andsacrifices made to the gods. The priest of Hathor from the island ofPhilae sent us a consecrated amulet, the priest of Osiris in Abydosa lock of hair from the god himself set in gold, and Neithotep, thehigh-priest of our own guardian goddess, set on foot a great sacrifice,which was to restore your sister to health.
"But neither physicians nor charms were of any avail, and at lastNeithotep confessed that Tachot's stars gave but little ground for hope.Just then, too, the sacred bull at Memphis died and the priestscould discover no heart in his entrails, which they interpreted asprognosticating evil to our country. They have not yet succeeded infinding a new Apis, and believe that the gods are wroth with yourfather's kingdom. Indeed the oracle of Buto has declared that theImmortals will show no favor to Egypt, until all the temples that havebeen built in the black land for the worship of false gods are destroyedand their worshippers banished.
[Egypt was called by its ancient inhabitants Cham, the black, or black-earthed.]
"These evil omens have proved, alas, only too true. Tachot fell ill ofa dreadful fever and lay for nine days hovering between life and death;she is still so weak that she must be carried, and can move neither handnor foot.
"During the journey to Bubastis, Amasis' eyes, as so often happens here,became inflamed. Instead of sparing them, he continued to work as usualfrom sunrise until mid-day, and while your sister was so ill he neverleft her bed, notwithstanding all our entreaties. But I will not enterinto particulars, my child. His eyes grew worse, and on the very daywhich brought us the news of your safe arrival in Babylon, Amasis becametotally blind.
"The cheerful, active man has become old, gloomy and decrepit since thatday. The death of Apis, and the unfavorable constellations and oraclesweigh on his mind; his happy temper is clouded by the unbroken night inwhich he lives; and the consciousness that he cannot stir a step alonecauses indecision and uncertainty. The daring and independent ruler willsoon become a mere tool, by means of which the priests can work theirwill.
"He spends hours in the temple of Neith, praying and offeringsacrifices; a number of workmen are employed there in building a tombfor his mummy, and the same number at Memphis in levelling the templewhich the Greeks have begun building to Apollo. He speaks of his own andTachot's misfortunes as a just punishment from the Immortals.
"His visits to Tachot's sick-bed are not the least comfort to her, forinstead of encouraging her kindly, he endeavors to convince her thatshe too deserves punishment from the gods. He spends all his remarkableeloquence in trying to persuade her, that she must forget this worldentirely and only try to gain the favor of Osiris and the judges of thenether world by ceaseless prayers and sacrifices. In this manner he onlytortures our poor sick child, for she has not lost her love of life.Perhaps I have still too much of the Greek left in me for a queen ofEgypt; but really, death is so long and life so short, that I cannothelp calling even wise men foolish, when they devote the half of eventhis short term to a perpetual meditation on the gloomy Hades.
"I have just been interrupted again. Our great physician, Thutmes,came to enquire after his patient. He gives very little hope, and seemssurprised that her delicate frame has been able to res
ist death so long.He said yesterday: 'She would have sunk long ago if not kept up by herdetermined will, and a longing which gives her no rest. If she ceasedto care for life, she could allow death to take her, just as we dreamourselves asleep. If, on the other hand, her wish could be gratified,she might, (though this is hardly probable) live some years yet, but ifit remain but a short time longer unfulfilled, it will certainly wearher to death.
"Have you any idea for whom she longs so eagerly? Our Tachot has allowedherself to be fascinated by the beautiful Bartja, the brother of yourfuture husband. I do not mean to say by this that he has employed magic,as the priest Ameneman believes, to gain her love; for a youth might befar less handsome and agreeable than Bartja, and yet take the heart ofan innocent girl, still half a child. But her passionate feeling is sostrong, and the change in her whole being so great, that sometimes I tooam tempted to believe in the use of supernatural influence. A short timebefore you left I noticed that Tachot was fond of Bartja. Her distressat first we thought could only be for you, but when she sank into thatdreamy state, Ibykus, who was still at our court, said she must havebeen seized by some strong passion.
"Once when she was sitting dreaming at her wheel, I heard him singingsoftly Sappho's little love-song to her:
"I cannot, my sweet mother, Throw shuttle any more; My heart is full of longing, My spirit troubled sore, All for a love of yesterday A boy not seen before."
[Sappho ed. Neue XXXII. Translation from Edwin Arnold's Poets of Greece.]
"She turned pale and asked him: 'Is that your own song?'
"'No,' said he, 'Sappho wrote it fifty years ago.'
"'Fifty years ago,' echoed Tachot musingly.
"'Love is always the same,' interrupted the poet; 'women loved centuriesago, and will love thousands of years to come, just as Sappho lovedfifty years back.'
"The sick girl smiled in assent, and from that time I often heardher humming the little song as she sat at her wheel. But we carefullyavoided every question, that could remind her of him she loved. In thedelirium of fever, however, Bartja's name was always on her burninglips. When she recovered consciousness we told her what she had said inher delirium; then she opened her heart to me, and raising her eyes toheaven like a prophetess, exclaimed solemnly: 'I know, that I shall notdie till I have seen him again.'
"A short time ago we had her carried into the temple, as she longed toworship there again. When the service was over and we were crossingthe temple-court, we passed some children at play, and Tachot noticed alittle girl telling something very eagerly to her companions. She toldthe bearers to put down the litter and call the child to her.
"'What were you saying?' she asked the little one.
"I was telling the others something about my eldest sister.'
"'May I hear it too?'" said Tachot so kindly, that the little girl beganat once without fear: "Batau, who is betrothed to my sister, came backfrom Thebes quite unexpectedly yesterday evening. Just as the Isis-starwas rising, he came suddenly on to our roof where Kerimama was playingat draughts with my father; and he brought her such a beautiful goldenbridal wreath."
[Among the Egyptians the planet Venus bore the name of the goddess Isis. Pliny II. 6. Arist De mundo II. 7. Early monuments prove that they were acquainted with the identity of the morning and evening star. Lepsius, Chronologie p. 94.]
"Tachot kissed the child and gave her her own costly fan. When we wereat home again she smiled archly at me and said: 'You know, mother dear,that the words children say in the temple-courts are believed to beoracles.' So, if the little one spoke the truth, he must come; and didnot you hear that he is to bring the bridal-wreath? O mother, I am sure,quite sure, that I shall see him again.'
"I asked her yesterday if she had any message for you, and she begged meto say that she sent you thousands of kisses, and messages of love, andthat when she was stronger she meant to write, as she had a great dealto tell you. She has just brought me the little note which I enclose; itis for you alone, and has cost her much fatigue to write.
"But now I must finish my letter, as the messenger has been waiting forit some time.
"I wish I could give you some joyful news, but sadness and sorrowmeet me whichever way I turn. Your brother yields more and more to thepriests' tyranny, and manages the affairs of state for your poor blindfather under Neithotep's guidance.
"Amasis does not interfere, and says it matters little whether his placebe filled a few days sooner or later by his successor.
"He did not attempt to prevent Psamtik from seizing the children ofPhanes in Rhodopis' house, and actually allowed his son to enter into anegotiation with the descendants of those two hundred thousand soldiers,who emigrated to Ethiopia in the reign of Psamtik I. on account ofthe preference shown to the Greek mercenaries. In case they declaredthemselves willing to return to their native land, the Greek mercenarieswere to have been dismissed. The negotiation failed entirely, butPsamtik's treatment of the children of Phanes has given bitter offenceto the Greeks. Aristomachus threatened to leave Egypt, taking with himten thousand of his best troops, and on hearing that Phanes' son hadbeen murdered at Psamtik's command applied for his discharge. From thattime the Spartan disappeared, no one knows whither; but the Greek troopsallowed themselves to be bribed by immense sums and are still in Egypt.
"Amasis said nothing to all this, and looked on silently from the midstof his prayers and sacrifices, while your brother was either offendingevery class of his subjects or attempting to pacify them by meansbeneath the dignity of a ruler. The commanders of the Egyptian and Greektroops, and the governors of different provinces have all alike assuredme that the present state of things is intolerable. No one knows what toexpect from this new ruler; he commands today the very thing, which heangrily forbade the day before. Such a government must soon snap thebeautiful bond, which has hitherto united the Egyptian people to theirking.
"Farewell, my child, think of your poor friend, your mother; and forgiveyour parents when you hear what they have so long kept secret from you.Pray for Tachot, and remember us to Croesus and the young Persians whomwe know. Give a special message too from Tachot to Bartja; I beg him tothink of it as the last legacy of one very near death. If you could onlysend her some proof, that he has not forgotten her! Farewell, once morefarewell and be happy in your new and blooming home."