“Qualis spelunca subito commota Columba,
Cui domus, et dulces latebroso in pumice nidi,
Fertur in arva volans, plausumque exterrita pennis
Dat tecto ingentem; mox ære lapsa quieto
Radit iter liquidum, celeres neque commovet alas.”
VIRGILIUS: _Aen._, V. 213.
This is another story, telling how Virgil first met the Emperor.
* * * * *
It happened on a time that the Emperor of Rome invited many of his
friends to a hunt, and on the appointed day all assembled with fine
horses and hounds, gay attendants, and sounding horns—_tutti allegri e
contenti_, “all as gay as larks.”
And when they came to the place, they left their horses and went into the
forest, where it befell, as usual, that some got game, while others
returned lame; but on the whole they came to camp with full bags and many
brags of their adventures and prowess, and supped merrily.
“It is ever so,” said the Emperor to a courtier, “one stumbles, and
another grumbles; then the next minute something joyful comes, and he
smiles.
“‘Thus it is true in every land
Good luck and bad go hand in hand.’”
“When men speak in that tone,” replied the courtier, “they often
prophesy. Now, there is near by an ancient grotto, long forgot by men,
wherein if you will sleep you may have significant dreams, even as people
had in the olden time.”
So when night came on some of the courtiers went to a contadino house to
lodge, while others camped out _alla stella_, or in the _albergo al
fresco_, while the Emperor was guided by the courtier to an old ruin,
where in a solid rock there was a door of stone, which Virgil opened by a
spell. (_Sic_ in MS.)
The Emperor was then led through a long passage into a cave, which was
dry and comfortable enough, and where the attendants made a bed, whereon
His Highness lay down, and, being very weary, was soon asleep.
But he had not slumbered long ere, as it seemed to him, he was awakened
by the loud barking of a dog, and saw before him to his amazement a
marvellously beautiful lady clad in white, with a resplendent star
(crescent) on her forehead. In her right hand she bore a white dove, and
in her left another, which was black.
When the lady, or goddess, saw that the Emperor was awake, she let both
the doves fly. The white one, after circling several times round his
head, alighted on his shoulder. The black one also flew about him, and
then winged its course far away.
Then the lady disappeared, and the white dove followed her, and sat on
her shoulder as she fled.
The Emperor was so much amazed, or deeply moved, by this strange sight
that he slept no more, but remained all night meditating on it, nor did
he on the morrow give any heed to the chase, but ever reflected on the
lady and her doves.
The courtier asked him what had occurred. And the Emperor replied:
“I have had a wonderful vision, and I cannot tell the meaning thereof.”
The gentleman replied:
“There is in Rome a young man, a poet and sage, of whom I have heard
strange things, and I believe that he excels in unfolding signs and
mysteries.”
“It is well,” replied the Emperor. So when they returned to Rome he sent
for the magician, who came, yet he knew beforehand why he was summoned to
Court. And it is said that this was the first time when the Emperor knew
Virgil. {12}
Now, Virgil was as yet a young man. And when the Emperor set forth what
he had beheld, he replied:
“It is a marvellously favourable sign for you, oh my Emperor, for in that
lady you have seen your star. There is a planet allotted to every man,
and thine is of the greatest. Thou hast one—call to her, invoke her ever
when in need of help, and she will never abandon thee. Thou hast seen
thy star. Her greeting to thee (_saluto_) means that a year hence a
danger will threaten thee. The black dove signifies that one year hence
thou wilt have an enemy who will make war on thee. When the dove fled
afar, it was not the dove but the enemy, who will be put to flight. And
the white dove was not a dove, but your victory announced to you in that
form, and your star has announced it because in one year you will have,
as the proverb says, ‘the enemy at your heels.’”
And all this came to pass as he had foretold.
Then the poet and magician became his friend, and from that time the
Emperor never moved a leaf (_i.e._ did nothing) without taking the advice
of Virgil.
* * * * *
The goddess, or planet, described in this tale is very evidently Diana,
appropriately introduced as the deity of the chase, but more
significantly as the queen of the witches, and mistress of mysteries and
divination. In both forms the dog has a peculiar adaptation, because a
black dog was the common attendant of a sorcerer, as exampled by that of
Henry C. Agrippa.
The dove is so widely spread in this world, and is everywhere so
naturally recognised as a pretty, innocent creature, that it is no wonder
that very different and distant races should have formed much the same
ideas and traditions regarding it. It is a curious anomaly that while
doves, especially in Roman Catholic symbolism, are the special symbols of
love and peace, there are in reality no animals or birds which fight and
peck so assiduously among themselves, as I have verified by much
observation. However, herein the pious mythologists “builded better than
they knew,” for the _odium theologicum_, either with heretics or among
rivals in the Church, has been the cause of more quarrelling than any
other in the world—woman perhaps excepted.
In the Egyptian symbolism, a widow who, out of love for her husband, will
not wed again was typified by a black dove. {13} The dove who brought
the olive-leaf to Noah was generally recognised as symbolizing the new
birth of the world, or its regeneration after a divine bath or
lustration, and the same meaning is attached to its appearance at the
baptism of Christ. A German writer named Wernsdorf has written two books
on the dove as a symbol, viz., “De simulacro columbæ in locis sacris
antiquitas recepto,” Viterbo, 1773; and “De Columba auriculæ Gregorii
adhærente,” Witteberg, 1780.
As Diana always bears the crescent, here confounded or identified very
naturally with a star—both being heavenly bodies—the representing her as
the peculiar planet of the Emperor is very ingenious. In seeing her he
beholds his star, and, in the mute language of emblems, hears her voice.
Truly there is unto all of us a star, but it is within and not without,
and its name is the Will, which, when revealed or understood, can work
miracles.
“So mote it be!”