CHAPTER XIX.
While Klea had been listening to the conversation between Euergetes andEulaeus, Cleopatra had been sitting in her tent, and allowing herself tobe dressed with no less care than on the preceding evening, but in othergarments.
It would seem that all had not gone so smoothly as she wished during theday, for her two tire-women had red eyes. Her lady-in-waiting, Zoe, wasreading to her, not this time from a Greek philosopher but from a Greektranslation of the Hebrew Psalms: a discussion as to their poetic merithaving arisen a few days previously at the supper-table. Onias, theIsraelite general, had asserted that these odes might be compared withthose of Alcman or of Pindar, and had quoted certain passages that hadpleased the queen. To-day she was not disposed for thought, but wantedsomething strange and out of the common to distract her mind, so shedesired Zoe to open the book of the Hebrews, of which the translationwas considered by the Hellenic Jews in Alexandria as an admirablework--nay, even as inspired by God himself; it had long been known toher through her Israelite friends and guests.
Cleopatra had been listening for about a quarter of an hour to Zoe'sreading when the blast of a trumpet rang out on the steps which ledup her tent, announcing a visitor of the male sex. The queen glancedangrily round, signed to her lady to stop reading, and exclaimed:
"I will not see my husband now! Go, Thais, and tell the eunuchs on thesteps, that I beg Philometor not to disturb me just now. Go on, Zoe."
Ten more psalms had been read, and a few verses repeated twice or thriceby Cleopatra's desire, when the pretty Athenian returned with flamingcheeks, and said in an excited tone:
"It is not your husband, the king, but your brother Euergetes, who asksto speak with you."
"He might have chosen some other hour," replied Cleopatra, looking roundat her maid. Thais cast down her eyes, and twitched the edge of her robebetween her fingers as she addressed her mistress; but the queen, whomnothing could escape that she chose to see, and who was not to-dayin the humor for laughing or for letting any indiscretion escapeunreproved, went on at once in an incensed and cutting tone, raising hervoice to a sharp pitch:
"I do not choose that my messengers should allow themselves to bedetained, be it by whom it may--do you hear! Leave Me this instantand go to your room, and stay there till I want you to undress me thisevening. Andromeda--do you hear, old woman?--you can bring my brother tome, and he will let you return quicker than Thais, I fancy. You neednot leer at yourself in the glass, you cannot do anything to alter yourwrinkles. My head-dress is already done. Give me that linen wrapper,Olympias, and then he may come! Why, there he is already! First you askpermission, brother, and then disdain to wait till it is given you."
"Longing and waiting," replied Euergetes, "are but an ill-assortedcouple. I wasted this evening with common soldiers and fawningflatterers; then, in order to see a few noble countenances, I went intothe prison, after that I hastily took a bath, for the residence of yourconvicts spoils one's complexion more, and in a less pleasant manner,than this little shrine, where everything looks and smells likeAphrodite's tiring-room; and now I have a longing to hear a few goodwords before supper-time comes."
"From my lips?" asked Cleopatra.
"There are none that can speak better, whether by the Nile or theIlissus."
"What do you want of me?"
"I--of you?"
"Certainly, for you do not speak so prettily unless you want something."
"But I have already told you! I want to hear you say something wise,something witty, something soul-stirring."
"We cannot call up wit as we would a maid-servant. It comes unbidden,and the more urgently we press it to appear the more certainly itremains away."
"That may be true of others, but not of you who, even while you declarethat you have no store of Attic salt, are seasoning your speech with it.All yield obedience to grace and beauty, even wit and the sharp-tonguedMomus who mocks even at the gods."
"You are mistaken, for not even my own waiting-maids return in propertime when I commission them with a message to you."
"And may we not to be allowed to sacrifice to the Charites on the way tothe temple of Aphrodite?"
"If I were indeed the goddess, those worshippers who regarded myhand-maidens as my equals would find small acceptance with me."
"Your reproof is perfectly just, for you are justified in requiring thatall who know you should worship but one goddess, as the Jews do but onegod. But I entreat you do not again compare yourself to the brainlessCyprian dame. You may be allowed to do so, so far as your grace isconcerned; but who ever saw an Aphrodite philosophizing and readingserious books? I have disturbed you in grave studies no doubt; what isthe book you are rolling up, fair Zoe?"
"The sacred book of the Jews, Sire," replied Zoe; "one that I know youdo not love."
"And you--who read Homer, Pindar, Sophocles, and Plato--do you like it?"asked Euergetes.
"I find passages in it which show a profound knowledge of life, andothers of which no one can dispute the high poetic flight," repliedCleopatra. "Much of it has no doubt a thoroughly barbarian twang, and itis particularly in the Psalms--which we have now been reading, and whichmight be ranked with the finest hymns--that I miss the number and rhythmof the syllables, the observance of a fixed metre--in short, severity ofform. David, the royal poet, was no less possessed by the divinity whenhe sang to his lyre than other poets have been, but he does not seem tohave known that delight felt by our poets in overcoming the difficultiesthey have raised for themselves. The poet should slavishly obey the lawshe lays down for himself of his own free-will, and subordinate to themevery word, and yet his matter and his song should seem to float on afree and soaring wing. Now, even the original Hebrew text of the Psalmshas no metrical laws."
"I could well dispense with them," replied Euergetes; "Plato toodisdained to measure syllables, and I know passages in his works whichare nevertheless full of the highest poetic beauty. Besides, it has beenpointed out to me that even the Hebrew poems, like the Egyptian, followcertain rules, which however I might certainly call rhetoricalrather than poetical. The first member in a series of ideas stands inantithesis to the next, which either re-states the former one in a newform or sets it in a clearer light by suggesting some contrast. Thusthey avail themselves of the art of the orator--or indeed of thepainter--who brings a light color into juxtaposition with a dark one, inorder to increase its luminous effect. This method and style are indeednot amiss, and that was the least of all the things that filled me withaversion for this book, in which besides, there is many a proverb whichmay be pleasing to kings who desire to have submissive subjects, and tofathers who would bring up their sons in obedience to themselves and tothe laws. Even mothers must be greatly comforted by them,--who ask nomore than that their children may get through the world without beingjostled or pushed, and unmolested if possible, that they may live longerthan the oaks or ravens, and be blessed with the greatest possiblenumber of descendants. Aye! these ordinances are indeed precious tothose who accept them, for they save them the trouble of thinking forthemselves. Besides, the great god of the Jews is said to have dictatedall that this book contains to its writers, just as I dictate toPhilippus, my hump-backed secretary, all that I want said. They regardeveryone as a blasphemer and desecrator who thinks that anything writtenin that roll is erroneous, or even merely human. Plato's doctrines arenot amiss, and yet Aristotle had criticised them severely and attemptedto confute them. I myself incline to the views of the Stagyrite, you tothose of the noble Athenian, and how many good and instructive hours weowe to our discussions over this difference of opinion! And howamusing it is to listen when the Platonists on the one hand and theAristotelians on the other, among the busy threshers of straw in theMuseum at Alexandria, fall together by the ears so vehemently that theywould both enjoy flinging their metal cups at each others' heads--ifthe loss of the wine, which I pay for, were not too serious to bear. Westill seek for truth; the Jews believe they possess it entirely.
"
Even those among them who most zealously study our philosophers believethis; and yet the writers of this book know of nothing but actualpresent, and their god--who will no more endure another god as hisequal than a citizen's wife will admit a second woman to her husband'shouse--is said to have created the world out of nothing for no otherpurpose but to be worshipped and feared by its inhabitants.
"Now, given a philosophical Jew who knows his Empedocles--and I grantthere are many such in Alexandria, extremely keen and cultivatedmen--what idea can he form in his own mind of 'creation out of nothing?'Must he not pause to think very seriously when he remembers thefundamental axiom that 'out of nothing, nothing can come,' and thatnothing which has once existed can ever be completely annihilated? Atany rate the necessary deduction must be that the life of man ends inthat nothingness whence everything in existence has proceeded. To liveand to die according to this book is not highly profitable. I can easilyreconcile myself to the idea of annihilation, as a man who knows how tovalue a dreamless sleep after a day brimful of enjoyment--as a man whoif he must cease to be Euergetes would rather spring into the open jawsof nothingness--but as a philosopher, no, never!"
"You, it is true," replied the queen, "cannot help measuring all andeverything by the intellectual standard exclusively; for the gods, whoendowed you with gifts beyond a thousand others, struck with blindnessor deafness that organ which conveys to our minds any religious or moralsentiment. If that could see or hear, you could no more exclude theconviction that these writings are full of the deepest purport than Ican, nor doubt that they have a powerful hold on the mind of the reader.
"They fetter their adherents to a fixed law, but they take allbitterness out of sorrow by teaching that a stern father sends ussuffering which is represented as being sometimes a means of education,and sometimes a punishment for transgressing a hard and clearly definedlaw. Their god, in his infallible but stern wisdom, sets those who clingto him on an evil and stony path to prove their strength, and to letthem at last reach the glorious goal which is revealed to them from thebeginning."
"How strange such words as these sound in the mouth of a Greek,"interrupted Euergetes. "You certainly must be repeating them after theson of the Jewish high-priest, who defends the cause of his cruel godwith so much warmth and skill."
"I should have thought," retorted Cleopatra, "that this overwhelmingfigure of a god would have pleased you, of all men; for I know of noweakness in you. Quite lately Dositheos, the Jewish centurion--a verylearned man--tried to describe to my husband the one great god to whomhis nation adheres with such obstinate fidelity, but I could not helpthinking of our beautiful and happy gods as a gay company of amorouslords and pleasure-loving ladies, and comparing them with this stern andpowerful being who, if only he chose to do it, might swallow them allup, as Chronos swallowed his own children."
"That," exclaimed Euergetes, "is exactly what most provokes me inthis superstition. It crushes our light-hearted pleasure in life, andwhenever I have been reading the book of the Hebrews everything has comeinto my mind that I least like to think of. It is like an importunatecreditor that reminds us of our forgotten debts, and I love pleasureand hate an importunate reminder. And you, pretty one, life blooms foryou--"
"But I," interrupted Cleopatra, "I can admire all that is great; anddoes it not seem a bold and grand thing even to you, that the mightyidea that it is one single power that moves and fills the world, shouldbe freely and openly declared in the sacred writings of the Jews--anidea which the Egyptians carefully wrap up and conceal, which thepriests of the Nile only venture to divulge to the most privileged ofthose who are initiated into their mysteries, and which--though theGreek philosophers indeed have fearlessly uttered it--has never beenintroduced by any Hellene into the religion of the people? If you werenot so averse to the Hebrew nation, and if you, like my husband andmyself, had diligently occupied yourself with their concerns and theirbelief you would be juster to them and to their scriptures, and to thegreat creating and preserving spirit, their god--"
"You are confounding this jealous and most unamiable and ill-temperedtyrant of the universe with the Absolute of Aristotle!" cried Euergetes;"he stigmatises most of what you and I and all rational Greeks requirefor the enjoyment of life as sin--sin upon sin. And yet if my easilypersuadable brother governed at Alexandria, I believe the shrewdpriests might succeed in stamping him as a worshipper of that magnifiedschoolmaster, who punishes his untutored brood with fire and torment."
"I cannot deny," replied Cleopatra, "that even to me the doctrine of theJews has something very fearful in it, and that to adopt it seems tome tantamount to confiscating all the pleasures of life.--But enough ofsuch things, which I should no more relish as a daily food than youdo. Let us rejoice in that we are Hellenes, and let us now go to thebanquet. I fear you have found a very unsatisfactory substitute for whatyou sought in coming up here."
"No--no. I feel strangely excited to-day, and my work with Aristarchuswould have led to no issue. It is a pity that we should have begun totalk of that barbarian rubbish; there are so many other subjects morepleasing and more cheering to the mind. Do you remember how we used toread the great tragedians and Plato together?"
"And how you would often interrupt our tutor Agatharchides in hislectures on geography, to point out some mistake! Did you prosecutethose studies in Cyrene?"
"Of course. It really is a pity, Cleopatra, that we should no longerlive together as we did formerly. There is no one, not even Aristarchus,with whom I find it more pleasant and profitable to converse and discussthan with you. If only you had lived at Athens in the time of Pericles,who knows if you might not have been his friend instead of the immortalAspasia. This Memphis is certainly not the right place for you; for afew months in the year you ought to come to Alexandria, which has nowrisen to be superior to Athens."
"I do not know you to-day!" exclaimed Cleopatra, gazing at her brotherin astonishment. "I have never heard you speak so kindly and brotherlysince the death of my mother. You must have some great request to makeof us."
"You see how thankless a thing it is for me to let my heart speak foronce, like other people. I am like the boy in the fable when the wolfcame! I have so often behaved in an unbrotherly fashion that when I showthe aspect of a brother you think I have put on a mask. If I had hadanything special to ask of you I should have waited till to-morrow, forin this part of the country even a blind beggar does not like to refusehis lame comrade anything on his birthday."
"If only we knew what you wish for! Philometor and I would do itmore than gladly, although you always want something monstrous. Ourperformance to-morrow will--at any rate--but--Zoe, pray be good enoughto retire with the maids; I have a few words to say to my brotheralone."
As soon as the queen's ladies had withdrawn, she went on:
"It is a real grief to use, but the best part of the festival in honorof your birthday will not be particularly successful, for the priests ofSerapis spitefully refuse us the Hebe about whom Lysias has made us socurious. Asclepiodorus, it would seem, keeps her in concealment, andcarries his audacity so far as to tell us that someone has carried heroff from the temple. He insinuates that we have stolen her, and demandsher restitution in the name of all his associates."
"You are doing the man an injustice; our dove has followed the lure ofa dove-catcher who will not allow me to have her, and who is now billingand cooing with her in his own nest. I am cheated, but I can scarcely beangry with the Roman, for his claim was of older standing than mine."
"The Roman?" asked Cleopatra, rising from her seat and turning pale."But that is impossible. You are making common cause with Eulaeus, andwant to set me against Publius Scipio. At the banquet last night youshowed plainly enough your ill-feeling against him."
"You seem to feel more warmly towards him. But before I prove to youthat I am neither lying nor joking, may I enquire what has this man,this many-named Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica, to recommend him aboveany handsome well-grown Macedonian, who is resolute in my c
ause, in thewhole corps of your body guard, excepting his patrician pride? He is asbitter and ungenial as a sour apple, and all the very best that you--asubtle thinker, a brilliant and cultivated philosopher--can find to sayis no more appreciated by his meanly cultivated intellect than the odesof Sappho by a Nubian boatman."
"It is exactly for that," cried the queen, "that I value him; he isdifferent from all of us; we who--how shall I express myself--who alwaysthink at second-hand, and always set our foot in the rut trodden by themaster of the school we adhere to; who squeeze our minds into the mouldsthat others have carved out, and when we speak hesitate to step beyondthe outlines of those figures of rhetoric which we learned at school!You have burst these bonds, but even your mighty spirit still showstraces of them. Publius Scipio, on the contrary, thinks and sees andspeaks with perfect independence, and his upright sense guides him tothe truth without any trouble or special training. His society revivesme like the fresh air that I breathe when I come out into the open airfrom the temple filled with the smoke of incense--like the milk andbread which a peasant offered us during our late excursion to the coast,after we had been living for a year on nothing but dainties."
"He has all the admirable characteristics of a child!" interruptedEuergetes. "And if that is all that appears estimable to you in theRoman your son may soon replace the great Cornelius."
"Not soon! no, not till he shall have grown older than you are, and aman, a thorough man, from the crown of his head to the sole of hisfoot, for such a man is Publius! I believe--nay, I am sure--that he isincapable of any mean action, that he could not be false in word or evenin look, nor feign a sentiment be did not feel."
"Why so vehement, sister? So much zeal is quite unnecessary on thisoccasion! You know well enough that I have my easy days, and that thisexcitement is not good for you; nor has the Roman deserved that youshould be quite beside yourself for his sake. The fellow dared in mypresence to look at you as Paris might at Helen before he carried heroff, and to drink out of your cup; and this morning he no doubt didnot contradict what he conveyed to you last night with his eyes--nay,perhaps by his words. And yet, scarcely an hour before, he had been tothe Necropolis to bear his sweetheart away from the temple of the gloomySerapis into that of the smiling Eros."
"You shall prove this!" cried the queen in great excitement. "Publius ismy friend--"
"And I am yours!"
"You have often proved the reverse, and now again with lies andcheating--"
"You seem," interrupted Euergetes, "to have learned from yourunphilosophical favorite to express your indignation with extraordinaryfrankness; to-day however I am, as I have said, as gentle as a kitten--"
"Euergetes and gentleness!" cried Cleopatra with a forced laugh. "No,you only step softly like a cat when she is watching a bird, and yourgentleness covers some ruthless scheme, which we shall find out soonenough to our cost. You have been talking with Eulaeus to-day; Eulaeus,who fears and hates Publius, and it seems to me that you have hatchedsome conspiracy against him; but if you dare to cast a single stone inhis path, to touch a single hair of his head, I will show you that evena weak woman can be terrible. Nemesis and the Erinnyes from Alecto toMegaera, the most terrible of all the gods, are women!"
Cleopatra had hissed rather than spoken these words, with her teeth setwith rage, and had raised her small fist to threaten her brother; butEuergetes preserved a perfect composure till she had ceased speaking.Then he took a step closer to her, crossed his arms over his breast, andasked her in the deepest bass of his fine deep voice:
"Are you idiotically in love with this Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica,or do you purpose to make use of him and his kith and kin in Romeagainst me?"
Transported with rage, and without blenching in the least at herbrother's piercing gaze, she hastily retorted: "Up to this moment onlythe first perhaps--for what is my husband to me? But if you go on as youhave begun I shall begin to consider how I may make use of his influenceand of his liking for me, on the shores of the Tiber."
"Liking!" cried Euergetes, and he laughed so loud and violently thatZoe, who was listening at the tent door, gave a little scream, andCleopatra drew back a step. "And to think that you--the most prudentof the prudent--who can hear the dew fall and the grass grow, and smellhere in Memphis the smoke of every fire that is lighted in Alexandriaor in Syria or even in Rome--that you, my mother's daughter, should becaught over head and ears by a broad-shouldered lout, for all the worldlike a clumsy town-girl or a wench at a loom. This ignorant Adonis,who knows so well how to make use of his own strange and resolutepersonality, and of the power that stands in his background, thinks nomore of the hearts he sets in flames than I of the earthen jar out ofwhich water is drawn when I am thirsty. You think to make use of him bythe 'Tiber; but he has anticipated you, and learns from you all thatis going on by the Nile and everything they most want to know in theSenate.
"You do not believe me, for no one ever is ready to believe anythingthat can diminish his self-esteem--and why should you believe me? Ifrankly confess that I do not hesitate to lie when I hope to gain moreby untruth than by that much-belauded and divine truth, which, accordingto your favorite Plato, is allied to all earthly beauty; but it isoften just as useless as beauty itself, for the useful and the beautifulexclude each other in a thousand cases, for ten when they coincide.There, the gong is sounding for the third time. If you care for plainproof that the Roman, only an hour before he visited you this morning,had our little Hebe carried off from the temple, and conveyed to thehouse of Apollodorus, the sculptor, at Memphis, you have only to cometo see me in my rooms early to-morrow after the first morning sacrifice.You will at any rate wish to come and congratulate me; bring yourchildren with you, as I propose making them presents. You might evenquestion the Roman himself at the banquet to-day, but he will hardlyappear, for the sweetest gifts of Eros are bestowed at night, and asthe temple of Serapis is closed at sunset Publius has never yet seen hisIrene in the evening. May I expect you and the children after morningsacrifice?"
Before Cleopatra had time to answer this question another trumpet-blastwas heard, and she exclaimed: "That is Philometor, come to fetch us tothe banquet. I will ere long give the Roman the opportunity of defendinghimself, though--in spite of your accusations--I trust him entirely.This morning I asked him solemnly whether it was true that he was inlove with his friend's charming Hebe, and he denied it in his firm andmanly way, and his replies were admirable and worthy of the noblestmind, when I ventured to doubt his sincerity. He takes truth moreseriously than you do. He regards it not only as beautiful and right tobe truthful, he says, but as prudent too; for lies can only procure usa small short-lived advantage, as transitory as the mists of night whichvanish as soon as the sun appears, while truth is like the sunlightitself, which as often as it is dimmed by clouds reappears again andagain. And, he says, what makes a liar so particularly contemptible inhis eyes is, that to attain his end, he must be constantly declaring andrepeating the horror he has of those who are and do the very same thingas he himself. The ruler of a state cannot always be truthful, and Ioften have failed in truth; but my intercourse with Publius has arousedmuch that is good in me, and which had been slumbering with closed eyes;and if this man should prove to be the same as all the rest of you, thenI will follow your road, Euergetes, and laugh at virtue and truth, andset the busts of Aristippus and Strato on the pedestals where those ofZeno and Antisthenes now stand."
"You mean to have the busts of the philosophers moved again?" askedKing Philometor, who, as he entered the tent, had heard the queen'slast words. "And Aristippus is to have the place of honor? I have noobjection--though he teaches that man must subjugate matter and notbecome subject to it.--['Mihi res, non me rebus subjungere.']--Thisindeed is easier to say than to do, and there is no man to whom it ismore impossible than to a king who has to keep on good terms with Greeksand Egyptians, as we have, and with Rome as well. And besides all thisto avoid quarrelling with a jealous brother, who shares our kingdom!If men could on
ly know how much they would have to do as kings only inreading and writing, they would take care never to struggle for acrown! Up to this last half hour I have been examining and decidingapplications and petitions. Have you got through yours, Euergetes? Evenmore had accumulated for you than for us."
"All were settled in an hour," replied the other promptly. "My eye isquicker than the mouth of your reader, and my decisions commonly consistof three words while you dictate long treatises to your scribes. So Ihad done when you had scarcely begun, and yet I could tell you at once,if it were not too tedious a matter, every single case that has comebefore me for months, and explain it in all its details."
"That I could not indeed," said Philometor modestly, "but I know andadmire your swift intelligence and accurate memory."
"You see I am more fit for a king than you are;" laughed Euergetes. "Youare too gentle and debonair for a throne! Hand over your government tome. I will fill your treasury every year with gold. I beg you now, cometo Alexandria with Cleopatra for good, and share with me the palace andthe gardens in the Bruchion. I will nominate your little Philopator heirto the throne, for I have no wish to contract a permanent tie withany woman, as Cleopatra belongs to you. This is a bold proposal, butreflect, Philometor, if you were to accept it, how much time it wouldgive you for your music, your disputations with the Jews, and all yourother favorite occupations."
"You never know how far you may go with your jest!" interruptedCleopatra. "Besides, you devote quite as much time to your studiesin philology and natural history as he does to music and improvingconversations with his learned friends."
"Just so," assented Philometor, "and you may be counted among the sagesof the Museum with far more reason than I."
"But the difference between us," replied Euergetes, "is that I despiseall the philosophical prattlers and rubbish-collectors in Alexandriaalmost to the point of hating them, while for science I have as great apassion as for a lover. You, on the contrary, make much of the learnedmen, but trouble yourself precious little about science."
"Drop the subject, pray," begged Cleopatra. "I believe that you two havenever yet been together for half an hour without Euergetes having begunsome dispute, and Philometor having at last given in, to pacify him.Our guests must have been waiting for us a long time. Had Publius Scipiomade his appearance?"
"He had sent to excuse himself," replied the king as he scratched thepoll of Cleopatra's parrot, parting its feathers with the tips of hisfingers. "Lysias, the Corinthian, is sitting below, and he says he doesnot know where his friend can be gone."
"But we know very well," said Euergetes, casting an ironical glanceat the queen. "It is pleasant to be with Philometor and Cleopatra, butbetter still with Eros and Hebe. Sister, you look pale--shall I call forZoe?"
Cleopatra shook her head in negation, but she dropped into a seat,and sat stooping, with her head bowed over her knees as if she weredreadfully tired. Euergetes turned his back on her, and spoke to hisbrother of indifferent subjects, while she drew lines, some straight andsome crooked, with her fan-stick through the pile of the soft rug on thefloor, and sat gazing thoughtfully at her feet. As she sat thus hereye was caught by her sandals, richly set with precious stones, and theslender toes she had so often contemplated with pleasure; but now thesight of them seemed to vex her, for in obedience to a swift impulseshe loosened the straps, pushed off her right sandal with her left foot,kicked it from her, and said, turning to her husband:
"It is late and I do not feel well, and you may sup without me."
"By the healing Isis!" exclaimed Philometor, going up to her. "You looksuffering. Shall I send for the physicians? Is it really nothing morethan your usual headache? The gods be thanked! But that you should beunwell just to-day! I had so much to say to you; and the chief thingof all was that we are still a long way from completeness in ourpreparations for our performance. If this luckless Hebe were not--"
"She is in good hands," interrupted Euergetes. "The Roman, PubliusScipio, has taken her to a place of safety; perhaps in order to presenther to me to morrow morning in return for the horses from Cyrene whichI sent him to-day. How brightly your eyes sparkle, sister--with joy nodoubt at this good idea. This evening, I dare say he is rehearsing thelittle one in her part that she may perform it well to-morrow. If we aremistaken--if Publius is ungrateful and proposes keeping the dove, thenThais, your pretty Athenian waiting-woman, may play the part of Hebe.What do you think of that suggestion, Cleopatra?"
"That I forbid such jesting with me!" cried the queen vehemently."No one has any consideration for me--no one pities me, and I sufferfearfully! Euergetes scorns me--you, Philometor, would be glad to dragme down! If only the banquet is not interfered with, and so long asnothing spoils your pleasure!--Whether I die or no, no one cares!"
With these words the queen burst into tears, and roughly pushed away herhusband as he endeavored to soothe her. At last she dried her eyes, andsaid: "Go down-the guests are waiting."
"Immediately, my love," replied Philometor. "But one thing I must tellyou, for I know that it will arouse your sympathy. The Roman read to youthe petition for pardon for Philotas, the chief of the Chrematistesand 'relative of the king,' which contains such serious charges againstEulaeus. I was ready with all my heart to grant your wish and to pardonthe man who is the father of these miserable water-bearers; but,before having the decree drawn up, I had the lists of the exiles to thegold-mines carefully looked through, and there it was discovered thatPhilotas and his wife have both been dead more than half a year. Deathhas settled this question, and I cannot grant to Publius the firstservice he has asked of me--asked with great urgency too. I am sorry forthis, both for his sake and for that of poor Philotas, who was held inhigh esteem by our mother."
"May the ravens devour them!" answered Cleopatra, pressing her foreheadagainst the ivory frame which surrounded the stuffed back of her seat."Once more I beg of you excuse me from all further speech." This timethe two kings obeyed her wishes. When Euergetes offered her his hand shesaid with downcast eyes, and poking her fan-stick into the wool of thecarpet:
"I will visit you early to-morrow."
"After the first sacrifice," added Euergetes. "If I know you well,something that you will then hear will please you greatly; very greatlyindeed, I should think. Bring the children with you; that I ask of youas a birthday request."