Arachne — Complete

  CHAPTER VI.

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

  After taking their seats there, the anxious exclamation escaped herlips: "How excited he became again! The stay in Tennis does not seem toagree with you--you are coughing, and father expected so much benefit toyour ailment from the pure moist air, and to Hermon still more fromthe lonely life here in your society. But I have rarely seen him morestrongly enlisted in behalf of the tendency opposed to beauty."

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

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

  "Certainly not," replied Myrtilus eagerly.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  "Certainly; yet not of that alone," was the reply. "You do not know howhe stood by me in the worst days. Who was it that after my first greatsuccesses, when base envy clouded many an hour of my life, rejoiced withme as though he himself had won the laurel? It was he, the ambitiousartist, though recognition held even farther aloof from his creationsthan success. And when, just at that time, the insidious diseaseattacked me more cruelly than ever, he devoted himself to me like aloving brother. While formerly, in the overflowing joy of existence, hehad revelled all day and caroused all night, how often he paused in therush of gaiety to exchange the festal hall for a place beside my couch,frequently remaining there until Eos dyed the east, that he mighthold my fevered hand and support my shaken frame! Frequently too, whenalready garlanded for some gay banquet, he took the flowers from hishead and devoted the night to his friend, that he might not leave him tothe attendance of the slaves. It is owing to him, and the care and skillof the great leech Erasistratus, that I am still standing before youalive and can praise what my Hermon was and proved himself to me inthose days. Yet I must also accuse him of a wrong; to this hour I bearhim a grudge for having, in those sorrowful hours, refused to share myproperty with me fraternally. What manly pride would have cheerfullypermitted him to accept was opposed by the defiant desire to show me,your father, you, the whole world, that he would depend upon himself,and needed assistance neither from human beings nor even the gods. Inthe same way, while working, he obstinately rejected my counsel andmy help, though the Muse grants me some things which he unfortunatelylacks. Great as his talent is, firmly as I believe that he will yetsucceed some day in creating something grand, nay, perhaps somethingmighty, the unbelieving disciple of Straton lacks the power ofcomprehending the august dignity, the superhuman majesty of the divinenature, and he does not succeed in representing the bewitching charmof woman, because he hates it as the bull hates a red rag. Only oncehitherto has he been successful, and that was with your bust."

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

  "It is rather an unusually fascinating one," Myrtilus assertedresolutely. "I have no idea of flattering you, and you are certainlyaware that I do not number you among the beauties of Alexandria. Butinstead of the delicate, symmetrical features which artists need, thegods bestowed upon you a face which wins all hearts, even those ofwomen, because it is a mirror of genuine, helpful, womanly kindness, asincere disposition, and a healthy, receptive mind. To reproduce such aface, not exactly beautiful, and yet bewitching, is the hardest possibletask, and Hermon, I repeat it, has succeeded. You are the only one ofyour noble sex who inspires the motherless man with respect, and forwhom he feels more than a fleeting fancy. What does he not owe you?After the bridge which united him to his uncle and paternal friend hadbeen so suddenly broken, it was you who rebuilt it. Now, I think, it isstronger than ever. I could not imagine anything that would induce himto give you up; and all honour to your father, who, instead of bearingthe insubordinate fellow a grudge, only drew him more warmly to hisheart, and gave us two commissions which will permit each to do hisbest. If I see clearly, the daughter of Archias is closely connectedwith this admirable deed."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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