Homo Sum — Complete

  CHAPTER VIII.

  It was a delicious refreshing evening; the full moon rose calmly in thedark blue vault of the night-sky, and poured a flood of light downon the cool earth. But its rays did not give a strong enough lightto pierce the misty veil that hung over the giant mass of the HolyMountain; the city of the oasis on the contrary was fully illuminated;the broad roadway of the high-street looked to the wanderer whodescended from the height above like a shining path of white marble, andthe freshly plastered walls of the new church gleamed as white as inthe light of day. The shadows of the houses and palm-trees lay like darkstrips of carpet across the road, which was nearly empty in spite of theevening coolness, which usually tempted the citizens out into the air.

  The voices of men and women sounded out through the open windows of thechurch; then the door opened and the Pharanite Christians, who hadbeen partaking of the Supper--the bread and the cup passed from hand tohand--came out into the moonlight. The elders and deacons, the readersand singers, the acolytes and the assembled priesthood of the placefollowed the Bishop Agapitus, and the laymen came behind Obedianus,the head-man of the oasis, and the Senator Petrus; with Petrus came hiswife, his grown up children and numerous slaves.

  The church was empty when the door-keeper, who was extinguishing thelights, observed a man in a dark corner of an antechamber through whicha spring of water softly plashed and trickled, and which was intendedfor penitents. The man was prostrate on the ground and absorbed inprayer, and he did not raise himself till the porter called him, andthrew the light of his little lamp full in his face.

  He began to address him with hard words, but when he recognized in thebelated worshipper the anchorite Paulus of Alexandria he changed hiskey, and said, in a soft and almost submissive tone of entreaty, "Youhave surely prayed enough, pious man. The congregation have left thechurch, and I must close it on account of our beautiful new vessels andthe heathen robbers. I know that the brethren of Raithu have chosen youto be their elder, and that his high honor was announced to you by theirmessengers, for they came to see our church too and greatly admiredit. Are you going at once to settle with them or shall you keep thehigh-feast with us?"

  "That you shall hear to-morrow," answered Paulus, who had risen from hisknees, and was leaning against a pillar of the narrow, bare, penitentialchamber. "In this house dwells One of whom I would fain take counsel,and I beg of you to leave me here alone. If you will, you can lock thedoor, and fetch me out later, before you go to rest for the night."

  "That cannot be," said the man considering, "for my wife is ill, and myhouse is a long way from here at the end of the town by the little gate,and I must take the key this very evening to the Senator Petrus, becausehis son, the architect Antonius, wants to begin the building of the newaltar the first thing to-morrow morning. The workmen are to be here bysunrise, and if--"

  "Show me the key," interrupted Paulus. "To what untold blessing may thislittle instrument close or open the issues! Do you know, man, that Ithink there is a way for us both out of the difficulty! You go to yoursick wife, and I will take the key to the senator as soon as I havefinished my devotions."

  The door-keeper considered for a few minutes, and then acceded to therequest of the future presbyter of Raithu, while at the same time hebegged him not to linger too late.

  As he went by the senator's house he smelt the savor of roast meat; hewas a poor man and thought to himself, "They fast in there just when itpleases them, but as for us, we fast when it pleases us least."

  The good smell, which provoked this lament, rose from a roast sheep,which was being prepared as a feast-supper for the senator and theassembled members of his household; even the slaves shared in the lateevening meal.

  Petrus and Dame Dorothea sat in the Greek fashion, side by side in ahalf reclining position on a simple couch, and before them stood a tablewhich no one shared with them, but close to which was the seat for thegrown up children of the house. The slaves squatted on the ground nearerto the door, and crowded into two circles, each surrounding a steamingdish, out of which they helped themselves to the brown stew of lentilswith the palm of the hand. A round, grey-looking cake of bread laynear each, and was not to be broken till the steward Jethro had cut andapportioned the sheep. The juicy pieces of the back and thighs of theanimal were offered to Petrus and his family to choose from, but thecarver laid a slice for each slave on his cake--a larger for the menand a smaller for the women. Many looked with envy on the more succulentpiece that had fallen to a neighbor's share, but not even those thathad fared worst dared to complain, for a slave was allowed to speak onlywhen his master addressed him, and Petrus forbid even his children todiscuss their food whether to praise it or to find fault.

  In the midst of the underlings sat Miriam; she never ate much, and allmeat was repulsive to her, so she pushed the cut from the ribs that wasgiven to her over to an old garden-woman, who sat opposite, and whohad often given her a fruit or a little honey, for Miriam loved sweetthings. Petrus spoke not a word to-day to his slaves, and very littleeven to his family; Dorothea marked the deep lines between his graveeyes, not without anxiety, and noted how he pinched his lips, when,forgetful of the food before him, he sat lost in meditation.

  The meal was ended, but still he did not move, nor did he observe theenquiring glances which were turned on him by many eyes; no one dared torise before the master gave the signal.

  Miriam followed all his movements with more impatience than any of theothers who were present; she rocked restlessly backwards and forwards,crumbled the bread that she had left with her slender fingers, and herbreath now came fast and faster, and now seemed to stop entirely. Shehad heard the court-yard gate open, and had recognized Hermas' step.

  "He wants to speak to the master, in a moment he will come in, and findme among these--" thought she, and she involuntarily stroked her handover her rough hair to smooth it, and threw a glance at the otherslaves, in which hatred and contempt were equally marked.

  But Hermas came not. Not for an instant did she think that her ear haddeceived her--was he waiting now at the door for the conclusion of themeal? Was his late visit intended for the Gaulish lady, to whom she hadseen him go yesterday again with the wine jar?

  Sirona's husband, Phoebicius, as Miriam well knew, was upon themountain, and offering sacrifice by moonlight to Mithras with his fellowheathen in a cave which she had long known. She had seen the Gaul quitthe court during the time of evening-prayer with a few soldiers, two ofwhom carried after him a huge coffer, out of which rose the handle of amighty cauldron, and a skin full of water, and various vessels. She knewthat these men would pass the whole night in the grotto of Mithras, andthere greet "the young god"--the rising sun--with strange ceremonies;for the inquisitive shepherdess had more than once listened, when shehad led her goats up the mountain before the break of day, and herear had detected that the worshippers of Mithras were performing theirnocturnal solemnities. Now it flashed across her mind, that Sirona wasalone, and that the late visit of Hermas probably concerned her, and notthe senator.

  She started, there was quite a pain in her heart, and, as usual, whenany violent emotion agitated her mind, she involuntarily sprang to herfeet prompted by the force of her passion, and had almost reached thedoor, when the senator's voice brought her to a pause, and recalled herto the consciousness of the impropriety of her behavior.

  The sick man still lay with his inflamed wound and fever down in thecourt, and she knew that she should escape blame if in answer to hermaster's stern questioning she said that the patient needed her, butshe had never told a lie, and her pride forbade her even now to speak anuntruth. The other slaves stared with astonishment, as she replied, "Iwanted to get out; the supper is so long."

  Petrus glanced at the window, and perceiving how high the moon stood, heshook his head as if in wonder at his own conduct, then without blamingher he offered a thanksgiving, gave the slaves the signal to leavethe room, and after receiving a kiss of "good-night" from each of hischildren--from amon
g whom Polykarp, the sculptor, alone was missing--hewithdrew to his own room. But he did not remain alone there for long:so soon as Dorothea had discussed the requirements of the house forthe next day with Marthana and the steward, and had been through thesleeping-room of her younger children, casting a loving glance on thepeaceful sleepers, arranging here a coverlet, and there a pillow--sheentered her husband's room and called his name.

  Petrus stood still and looked round, and his grave eyes were full ofgrateful tenderness as they met those of his wife. Dorothea knew thesoft and loving heart within the stern exterior, and nodded to him withsympathetic understanding: but before she could speak, he said, "Comein, come nearer to me; there is a heavy matter in hand, and you cannotescape your share of the burden."

  "Give me my share!" cried she eagerly. "The slim girl of former yearshas grown a broad-shouldered old woman, so that it may be easier to herto help her lord to bear the many burdens of life. But I am seriouslyanxious--even before we went to church something unsatisfactory hadhappened to you, and not merely in the council-meeting. There must besomething not right with one of the children."

  "What eyes you have!" exclaimed Petrus.

  "Dim, grey eyes," said Dorothea, "and not even particularly keen. Butwhen anything concerns you and the children I could see it in the dark.You are dissatisfied with Polykarp; yesterday, before he set out forRaithu, you looked at him so--so--what shall I say? I can quite imaginewhat it is all about, but I believe you are giving yourself groundlessanxiety. He is young, and so lovely a woman as Sirona--"

  Up to this point Petrus had listened to his wife in silence. Now heclasped his hands, and interrupted her, "Things certainly are not goingon quite right--but I ought to be used to it. What I meant to haveconfided to you in a quiet hour, you tell me as if you knew all aboutit!"

  "And why not?" asked Dorothea. "When you graft a scion on to a tree, andthey have grown well together, the grafted branch feels the bite of thesaw that divides the stock, or the blessing of the spring that feedsthe roots, just as if the pain or the boon were its own. And you arethe tree and I am the graft, and the magic power of marriage has made usone. Your pulses are my pulses, your thoughts have become mine, and so Ialways know before you tell me what it is that stirs your soul."

  Dorothea's kind eyes moistened as she spoke, and Petrus warmly claspedher hands in his as he said, "And if the gnarled old trunk bears fromtime to time some sweet fruit, he may thank the graft for it. I cannotbelieve that the anchorites up yonder are peculiarly pleasing to theLord because they live in solitude. Man comes to his perfect humanityonly through his wife and child, and he who has them not, can neverlearn the most glorious heights and the darkest depths of life andfeeling. If a man may stake his whole existence and powers for anything,surely it is for his own house."

  "And you have honestly done so for ours!" cried Dorothea.

  "For ours," repeated Petrus, giving the words the strongest accent ofhis deep voice. "Two are stronger than one, and it is long since weceased to say 'I' in discussing any question concerning the house or thechildren; and both have been touched by to-day's events."

  "The senate will not support you in constructing the road?"

  "No, the bishop gave the casting-vote. I need not tell you how we standtowards each other, and I will not blame him; for he is a just man, butin many things we can never meet half-way. You know that he was inhis youth a soldier, and his very piety is rough--I might almost saywarlike. If we had yielded to his views, and if our head man Obedianushad not supported me, we should not have had a single picture in thechurch, and it would have looked like a barn rather than a house ofprayer. We never have understood each other, and since I opposed hiswish of making Polykarp a priest, and sent the boy to learn of thesculptor Thalassius--for even as a child he drew better than manymasters in these wretched days that produce no great artists--sincethen, I say, he speaks of me as if I were a heathen--"

  "And yet he esteems you highly, that I know," interrupted Dame Dorothea.

  "I fully return his good opinion," replied Petrus, "and it is noordinary matter that estranges. He thinks that he only holds the truefaith, and ought to fight for it; he calls all artistic work a heathenabomination; he never felt the purifying influence of the beautiful, andregards all pictures and statues as tending to idolatry. Still he allowshimself to admire Polykarp's figures of angels and the Good Shepherd,but the lions put the old warrior in a rage. 'Accursed idols and worksof the devil,' are what he calls them."

  "But there were lions even in the temple of Solomon," cried Dorothea.

  "I urged that, and also that in the schools of the catechists, and inthe educational history of animals which we possess and teach from, theSaviour himself is compared to a lion, and that Mark, the evangelist,who brought the doctrine of the gospel to Alexandria, is representedwith a lion. But he withstood me more and more violently, saying thatPolykarp's works were to adorn no sacred place, but the Caesareum, andthat to him is nothing but a heathen edifice, and the noble works of theGreeks that are preserved there he calls revolting images by which Satanensnares the souls of Christian men. The other senators can understandhis hard words, but they cannot follow mine; and so they vote with him,and my motion to construct the roadway was thrown over, because it didnot become a Christian assembly to promote idolatry, and to smooth a wayfor the devil."

  "I can see that you must have answered them sharply!"

  "Indeed I believe so," answered Petrus, looking down. "Many painfulthings were no doubt said, and it was I that suffered for them.Agapitus, who was looking at the deacons' reports, was especiallydissatisfied with the account that I laid before them; they blamed usseverely because you gave away as much bread to heathen households as toChristians. It is no doubt true, but--"

  "But," cried Dorothea eagerly, "hunger is just as painful to theunbaptized, and their Christian neighbors do not help them, and yet theytoo are our flesh and blood. I should ill fulfil my office if I were tolet them starve, because the highest comfort is lacking to them."

  "And yet," said Petrus, "the council decided that, for the future, youmust apply at the most a fourth part of the grain allotted to their use.You need not fear for them; for the future some of our own produce maygo to them out of what we have hitherto sold. You need not withdraw evena loaf from any one of your proteges, but certainly may now be laid bythe plans for the road. Indeed there is no hurry for its completion, forPolykarp will now hardly be able to go on with his lions here amongus. Poor fellow! with what delight he formed the clay models, andhow wonderfully he succeeded in reproducing the air and aspect of themajestic beasts. It is as if he were inspired by the spirit of the oldAthenian masters. We must now consider whether in Alexandria--"

  "Rather let us endeavor," interrupted Dorothea, "to induce him at onceto put aside his models, and to execute other more pious works. Agapitushas keen eyes, and the heathen work is only too dear to the lad'sheart."

  The senator's brow grew dark at the last words, and he said, not withoutsome excitement, "Everything that the heathen do is not to be condemned.Polykarp must be kept busy, constantly and earnestly occupied, for hehas set his eyes where they should not be set. Sirona is the wife ofanother, and even in sport no man should try to win his neighbor's wife.Do you think, the Gaulish woman is capable of forgetting her duty?"

  Dorothea hesitated, and after some reflection answered, "She is abeautiful and vain child--a perfect child; I mean in nature, and notin years, although she certainly might be the grandchild of her strangehusband, for whom she feels neither love nor respect, nor, indeed,anything but utter aversion. I know not what, but something frightfulmust have come between them even in Rome, and I have given up allattempts to guide her heart back to him. In everything else she is softand yielding, and often, when she is playing with the children, Icannot imagine where she finds her reckless gaiety. I wish she werea Christian, for she is very dear to me, why should I deny it? It isimpossible to be sad when she is by, and she is devoted to me, anddreads my blame,
and is always striving to win my approbation. Certainlyshe tries to please every one, even the children; but, so far as I cansee, not more Polykarp than any one else, although he is such a fineyoung man. No, certainly not."

  "And yet the boy gazes at her," said Petrus, "and Phoebicius has noticedit; he met me yesterday when I came home, and, in his sour, politemanner, requested me to advise my son, when he wished to offer a rose,not to throw it into his window, as he was not fond of flowers, andpreferred to gather them himself for his wife."

  The senator's wife turned pale, and then exclaimed shortly andpositively, "We do not need a lodger, and much as I should miss hiswife, the best plan will be for you to request him to find anotherdwelling."

  "Say no more, wife," Petrus said, sternly, and interrupting her with awave of his hand. "Shall we make Sirona pay, for it because our son hascommitted a folly for her sake? You yourself said, that her intercoursewith the children, and her respect for you, preserve her from evil, andnow shall we show her the door? By no means. The Gauls may remain in myhouse so long as nothing occurs that compels me to send them out of it.My father was a Greek, but through my mother I have Amalekite blood inmy veins, and I should dishonor myself, if I drove from my thresholdany, with whom I had once broken bread under my roof. Polykarp shall bewarned, and shall learn what he owes to us, to himself, and to the lawsof God. I know how to value his noble gifts, and I am his friend, butI am also his master, and I will find means of preventing my son fromintroducing the light conduct of the capital beneath his father's roof."

  The last words were spoken with weight and decision, like the blows of ahammer, and stern resolve sparkled in the senator's eyes. Nevertheless,his wife went fearlessly up to him, and said, laying her hand on hisarm, "It is, indeed, well that a man can keep his eyes set on what isjust, when we women should follow the hasty impulse of our heart. Evenin wrestling, men only fight with lawful and recognized means, whilefighting women use their teeth and nails. You men understand better howto prevent injustice than we do, and that you have once more proved tome, but, in carrying justice out, you are not our superiors. The Gaulsmay remain in our house, and do you take Polykarp severely to task, butin the first instance as his friend. Or would it not be better if youleft it to me? He was so happy in thinking of the competition of hislions, and in having to work for the great building in the capital, andnow it is all over. I wish you had already broken that to him; but lovestories are women's affairs, and you know how good the boy is to me. Amother's word sometimes has more effect than a father's blow, and it isin life as it is in war; the light forces of archers go first into thefield, and the heavily armed division stays in the background to supportthem; then, if the enemy will not yield, it comes forward and decidesthe battle. First let me speak to the lad. It may be that he threw therose into Sirona's window only in sport, for she plays with his brothersand sisters as if she herself were one of them. I will question him;for if it is so, it would be neither just nor prudent to blame him. Somecaution is needed even in giving a warning; for many a one, who wouldnever have thought of stealing, has become a thief through falsesuspicion. A young heart that is beginning to love, is like a wild boywho always would rather take the road he is warned to avoid, and whenI was a girl, I myself first discovered how much I liked you, when theSenator Aman's wife--who wanted you for her own daughter--advised me tobe on my guard with you. A man who has made such good use of his time,among all the temptations of the Greek Sodom, as Polykarp, and who haswon such high praise from all his teachers and masters, cannot have beenmuch injured by the light manners of the Alexandrians. It is in a man'searly years that he takes the bent which he follows throughout his laterlife, and that he had done before he left our house. Nay--even if I didnot know what a good fellow Polykarp is--I need only look at you to say,'A child that was brought up by this father, could never turn out a badman.'"

  Petrus sadly shrugged his shoulders, as though he regarded his wife'sflattering words as mere idle folly, and yet he smiled, as he asked,"Whose school of rhetoric did you go to? So be it then; speak to thelad when he returns from Raithu. How high the moon is already; come torest--Antonius is to place the altar in the early dawn, and I wish to bepresent."