Now the chariots of Meriamun were pursuing, and they splashed throughthe blood of men in the pass, and rolled over the bodies of men in theplain beyond the pass. They came to the camps and found them peopledwith dead, and lit with the lamps of the blazing ships of the Aquaiusha.Then Meriamun cried aloud:
"Surely Pharaoh grew wise before he died, for there is but one man onthe earth who with so small a force could have won so great a fray. Hehath saved the crown of Khem, and by Osiris he shall wear it."
Now the chariots of Meriamun had passed the camp of the barbarians, andwere come to the inner camp of the Achaeans, and the soldiers shouted asshe came driving furiously.
The Wanderer lay dying on the ground, there by the river-bank, and thelight of the burning ships flamed on his golden armour, and on the Starat Helen's breast.
"Why do the soldiers shout?" he asked, lifting his head from Helen'sbreast.
"They shout because Meriamun the Queen is come," Rei answered.
"Let her come," said the Wanderer.
Now Meriamun sprang from her chariot and walked, through the soldierswho made way, bowing before her royalty, to where the Wanderer lay, andstood speechless looking on him.
But the Wanderer lifting his head spake faintly:
"Hail! O Queen!" he said, "I have accomplished the charge that Pharaohlaid upon me. The host of the Nine-bow barbarians is utterly destroyed,the fleet of the Aquaiusha is burned, or fled, the land of Khem is freefrom foes. Where is Pharaoh, that I may make report to him ere I die?"
"Pharaoh is dead, Odysseus," she answered. "Oh, live on! live on! andthyself thou shalt be Pharaoh."
"Ay, Meriamun the Queen," answered the Wanderer, "I know all. ThePharaoh is dead! Thou didst slay Pharaoh, thinking thus to win me forthy Lord, me, who am won of Death. Heavily shall the blood of Pharaohlie upon thee in that land whither I go, Meriamun, and whither thoumust follow swiftly. Thou didst slay Pharaoh, and Helen, who through thyguile is lost to me, thou wouldst have slain also, but thou couldst notharm her immortality. And now I die, and this is the end of all theseLoves and Wars and Wanderings. My death has come upon me from thewater."
Meriamun stood speechless, for her heart was torn in two, so that in hergrief she forgot even her rage against Helen and Rei the Priest.
Then Helen spoke. "Thou diest indeed, Odysseus, yet it is but for alittle time, for thou shalt come again and find me waiting."
"Ay, Odysseus," said the Queen, "and I also will come again, and thoushalt love me then. Oh, now the future opens, and I know the things thatare to be. Beneath the Wings of Truth shall we meet again, Odysseus."
"There shall we meet again, Odysseus, and there thou shalt draw the Veilof Truth," said the Helen.
"Yea," quoth the dying Wanderer; "there or otherwhere shall we meetagain, and there and otherwhere love and hate shall lose and win, anddie to arise again. But not yet is the struggle ended that began inother worlds than this, and shall endure till evil is lost in good, anddarkness swallowed up in light. Bethink thee, Meriamun, of that visionof thy bridal night, and read its riddle. Lo! I will answer it with mylast breath as the Gods have given me wisdom. When we three are oncemore twain, then shall our sin be purged and peace be won, and theveil be drawn from the face of Truth. Oh, Helen, fare thee well! I havesinned against thee, I have sworn by the Snake who should have sworn bythe Star, and therefore I have lost thee."
"Thou hast but lost to find again beyond the Gateways of the West," sheanswered low.
Then she bent down, and taking him in her arms, kissed him, whisperingin his ear, and the blood of men that fell ever from the Star upon herbreast, dropped like dew upon his brow, and vanished as it dropped.
And as she whispered of joy to be, and things too holy to be written,the face of the Wanderer grew bright, like the face of a God.
Then suddenly his head fell back, and he was dead, dead upon the heartof the World's Desire. For thus was fulfilled the oath of IdalianAphrodite, and thus at the last did Odysseus lie in the arms of theGolden Helen.
Now Meriamun clasped her breast, and her lips turned white with pain.But Helen rose, and standing at the Wanderer's head looked on Meriamun,who stood at his feet.
"My sister," said Helen to the Queen; "see now the end of all. He whomwe loved is lost to us, and what hast thou gained? Nay, look not sofiercely on me. I may not be harmed of thee, as thou hast seen, and thoumayest not be harmed of me, who would harm none, though ever thou wilthate me who hate thee not, and till thou learnest to love me, Sin shallbe thy portion and Bitterness thy comfort."
But Meriamun spoke no word.
Then Helen beckoned to Rei and spake to him, and Rei went weeping to doher bidding.
Presently he returned again, and with him were soldiers bearing torches.The soldiers lifted up the body of the Wanderer, and bore it to a mightypyre that was built up of the wealth of the barbarians, of chariots,spears, and the oars of ships, of wondrous fabrics, and costlyfurniture. And they laid the Wanderer on the pyre, and on his breastthey laid the black bow of Eurytus.
Then Helen spoke to Rei once more, and Rei took a torch and fired thepyre so that smoke and flame burst from it. And all the while Meriamunstood by as one who dreams.
Now the great pyre was a mass of flame, and the golden armour of theWanderer shone through the flame, and the black bow twisted and crumbledin the heat. Then of a sudden Meriamun gave a great cry, and tearing thesnake girdle from her middle hurled it on the flames.
"From fire thou camest, thou Ancient Evil," she said in a dead tongue;"to fire get thee back again, false counsellor."
But Rei the Priest called aloud in the same tongue:
"An ill deed thou hast done, O Queen, for thou hast taken the Snake tothy bosom, and where the Snake passes there thou must follow."
Even as he spoke the face of Meriamun grew fixed, and she was drawnslowly towards the fire, as though by invisible hands. Now she stood onits very brink, and now with one loud wail she plunged into it and castherself at length on the body of the Wanderer.
And as she lay there on the body, behold the Snake awoke in the fire. Itawoke, it grew, it twined itself about the body of Meriamun and the bodyof the Wanderer, and lifting its head, it laughed.
Then the fire fell in, and the Wanderer and Meriamun the Queen, and theSnake that wrapped them round, vanished in the heart of the flames.
For awhile the Golden Helen stood still, looking on the dying fire. Thenshe let her veil fall, and turning, wandered forth into the desert andthe night, singing as she passed.
And so she goes, wandering, wandering, till Odysseus comes again.
Now this is the tale that I, Rei the Priest, have been bidden to setforth before I lay me down to sleep in my splendid tomb that I have madeready by Thebes. Let every man read it as he will, and every woman asthe Gods have given her wit.
PALINODE
Thou that of old didst blind Stesichorus, If e'er, sweet Helen, such athing befell, We pray thee of thy grace, be good to us, Though littlein our tale accordeth well With that thine ancient minstrel had to tell,Who saw, with sightless eyes grown luminous, These Ilian sorrows, andwho heard the swell Of ocean round the world ring thunderous, And thyvoice break when knightly Hector fell!
And thou who all these many years hast borne To see the great webs ofthe weaving torn By puny hands of dull, o'er-learned men, Homer, forgiveus that thy hero's star Once more above sea waves and waves of war, Mustrise, must triumph, and must set again!
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