Unsus was taking water from a cistern, and while drawing up a double
amphora, with a rope, was singing a strange Lygian song in an undertone,
looking meanwhile with delighted eyes at Lygia and Vinicius, who, among
the cypresses in Linus’s garden, seemed as white as two statues. Their
clothing was not moved by the least breeze. A golden and lily-colored
twilight was sinking on the world while they were conversing in the calm
of evening, each holding the other by the hand.
“May not some evil meet thee, Marcus, because thou hast left Antium
without Cæsar’s knowledge?” asked Lygia.
“No, my dear,” answered Vinicius. “Cæsar announced that he would shut
himself in for two days with Terpnos, and compose new songs. He acts
thus frequently, and at such times neither knows nor remembers aught
else. Moreover, what is Cæsar to me since I am near thee and am looking
at thee? I have yearned too much already, and these last nights sleep
has left me. More than once, when I dozed from weariness, I woke on a
sudden, with a feeling that danger was hanging over thee; at times I
dreamed that the relays of horses which were to bear me from Antium to
Rome were stolen,--horses with which I passed that road more swiftly
than any of Cæsar’s couriers. Besides, I could not live longer without
thee; I love thee too much for that, my dearest.”
“I knew that thou wert coming. Twice Ursus ran out, at my request, to
the Carinæ, and inquired for thee at thy house. Linus laughed at me, and
Ursus also.”
It was, indeed, evident that she had expected him; for instead of her
usual dark dress, she wore a soft white stola, out of whose beautiful
folds her arms and head emerged like primroses out of snow. A few ruddy
anemones ornamented her hair.
Vinicius pressed his lips to her hands; then they sat on the stone bench
amidst wild grapevines, and inclining toward each other, were silent,
looking at the twilight whose last gleams were reflected in their eyes.
The charm of the quiet evening mastered them completely.
“How calm it is here, and how beautiful the world is,” said Vinicius,
in a lowered voice. “The night is wonderfully still. I feel happier than
ever in life before. Tell me, Lygia, what is this? Never have I thought
that there could be such love. I thought that love was merely fire
in the blood and desire; but now for the first time I see that it is
possible to love with every drop of one’s blood and every breath, and
feel therewith such sweet and immeasurable calm as if Sleep and Death
had put the soul to rest. For me this is something new. I look on this
calmness of the trees, and it seems to be within me. Now I understand
for the first time that there may be happiness of which people have not
known thus far. Now I begin to understand why thou and Pomponia Græcina
have such peace. Yes! Christ gives it.”
At that moment Lygia placed her beautiful face on his shoulder
and said,--“My dear Marcus--” But she was unable to continue. Joy,
gratitude, and the feeling that at last she was free to love deprived
her of voice, and her eyes were filled with tears of emotion.
Vinicius, embracing her slender form with his arm, drew her toward him
and said,--“Lygia! May the moment be blessed in which I heard His name
for the first time.”
“I love thee, Marcus,” said she then in a low voice.
Both were silent again, unable to bring words from their overcharged
breasts. The last lily reflections had died on the cypresses, and the
garden began to be silver-like from the crescent of the moon. After a
while Vinicius said,
“I know. Barely had I entered here, barely had I kissed thy dear hands,
when I read in thy eyes the question whether I had received the divine
doctrine to which thou art attached, and whether I was baptized. No, I
am not baptized yet; but knowest thou, my flower, why? Paul said to me:
‘I have convinced thee that God came into the world and gave Himself to
be crucified for its salvation; but let Peter wash thee in the fountain
of grace, he who first stretched his hands over thee and blessed thee.’
And I, my dearest, wish thee to witness my baptism, and I wish Pomponia
to be my godmother. This is why I am not baptized yet, though I believe
in the Saviour and in his teaching. Paul has convinced me, has converted
me; and could it be otherwise? How was I not to believe that Christ came
into the world, since he, who was His disciple, says so, and Paul, to
whom He appeared? How was I not to believe that He was God, since He
rose from the dead? Others saw Him in the city and on the lake and on
the mountain; people saw Him whose lips have not known a lie. I began
to believe this the first time I heard Peter in Ostrianum, for I said to
myself even then: In the whole world any other man might lie rather than
this one who says, ‘I saw.’ But I feared thy religion. It seemed to
me that thy religion would take thee from me. I thought that there was
neither wisdom nor beauty nor happiness in it. But to-day, when I know
it, what kind of man should I be were I not to wish truth to rule the
world instead of falsehood, love instead of hatred, virtue instead
of crime, faithfulness instead of unfaithfulness, mercy instead of
vengeance? What sort of man would he be who would not choose and wish
the same? But your religion teaches this. Others desire justice also;
but thy religion is the only one which makes man’s heart just, and
besides makes it pure, like thine and Pomponia’s, makes it faithful,
like thine and Pomponia’s. I should be blind were I not to see this. But
if in addition Christ God has promised eternal life, and has promised
happiness as immeasurable as the all-might of God can give, what more
can one wish? Were I to ask Seneca why he enjoins virtue, if wickedness
brings more happiness, he would not be able to say anything sensible.
But I know now that I ought to be virtuous, because virtue and love flow
from Christ, and because, when death closes my eyes, I shall find life
and happiness, I shall find myself and thee. Why not love and accept a
religion which both speaks the truth and destroys death? Who would
not prefer good to evil? I thought thy religion opposed to happiness;
meanwhile Paul has convinced me that not only does it not take away, but
that it gives. All this hardly finds a place in my head; but I feel that
it is true, for I have never been so happy, neither could I be, had I
taken thee by force and possessed thee in my house. Just see, thou hast
said a moment since, ‘I love thee,’ and I could not have won these words
from thy lips with all the might of Rome. O Lygia! Reason declares this
religion divine, and the best; the heart feels it, and who can resist
two such forces?”
Lygia listened, fixing on him her blue eyes, which in the light of the
moon were like mystic flowers, and bedewed like flowers.
“Yes, Marcus, that is true!” said she, nestling her head more closely to
his shoulder.
And at that moment they felt immensely happy, for they understood
that besides love they were united by another power, at once sweet
and irresistible, by which love itself becomes endless, not subject to
change, deceit, treason, or even death. Their hearts were filled with
perfect certainty that, no matter what might happen, they would not
cease to love and belong to each other. For that reason an unspeakable
repose flowed in on their souls. Vinicius felt, besides, that that love
was not merely profound and pure, but altogether new,--such as the world
had not known and could not give. In his head all was combined in this
love,--Lygia, the teaching of Christ, the light of the moon resting
calmly on the cypresses, and the still night,--so that to him the whole
universe seemed filled with it.
After a while he said with a lowered and quivering voice: “Thou wilt be
the soul of my soul, and the dearest in the world to me. Our hearts will
beat together, we shall have one prayer and one gratitude to Christ. O
my dear! To live together, to honor together the sweet God, and to know
that when death comes our eyes will open again, as after a pleasant
sleep, to a new light,--what better could be imagined? I only marvel
that I did not understand this at first. And knowest thou what occurs
to me now? That no one can resist this religion. In two hundred or
three hundred years the whole world will accept it. People will forget
Jupiter, and there will be no God except Christ, and no other temples
but Christian. Who would not wish his own happiness? Ah! but I heard
Paul’s conversation with Petronius and dost thou know what Petronius
said at the end? ‘That is not for me’; but he could give no other
answer.”
“Repeat Paul’s words to me,” said Lygia.
“It was at my house one evening. Petronius began to speak playfully and
to banter, as he does usually, whereupon Paul said to him: ‘How canst
thou deny, O wise Petronius, that Christ existed and rose from the dead,
since thou wert not in the world at that time, but Peter and John saw
Him, and I saw Him on the road to Damascus? Let thy wisdom show, first
of all, then, that we are liars, and then only deny our testimony.’
Petronius answered that he had no thought of denying, for he knew
that many incomprehensible things were done, which trustworthy people
affirmed. ‘But the discovery of some new foreign god is one thing,’ said
he, ‘and the reception of his teaching another. I have no wish to know
anything which may deform life and mar its beauty. Never mind whether
our gods are true or not; they are beautiful, their rule is pleasant for
us, and we live without care.’ ‘Thou art willing to reject the religion
of love, justice, and mercy through dread of the cares of life,’ replied
Paul; ‘but think, Petronius, is thy life really free from anxieties?
Behold, neither thou nor any man among the richest and most powerful
knows when he falls asleep at night that he may not wake to a death
sentence. But tell me, if Cæsar professed this religion, which enjoins
love and justice, would not thy happiness be more assured? Thou art
alarmed about thy delight, but would not life be more joyous then? As to
life’s beauty and ornaments, if ye have reared so many beautiful temples
and statues to evil, revengeful, adulterous, and faithless divinities,
what would ye not do in honor of one God of truth and mercy? Thou art
ready to praise thy lot, because thou art wealthy and living in luxury;
but it was possible even in thy case to be poor and deserted, though
coming of a great house, and then in truth it would have been better for
thee if people confessed Christ. In Rome even wealthy parents, unwilling
to toil at rearing children, cast them out of the house frequently;
those children are called alumni. And chance might have made thee
an alumnus, like one of those. But if parents live according to our
religion, this cannot happen. And hadst thou, at manhood’s years,
married a woman of thy love, thy wish would be to see her faithful till
death. Meanwhile look around, what happens among you, what vileness,
what shame, what bartering in the faith of wives! Nay, ye yourselves are
astonished when a woman appears whom ye call “univira” (of one husband).
But I tell thee that those women who carry Christ in their hearts will
not break faith with their husbands, just as Christian husbands will
keep faith with their wives. But ye are neither sure of rulers nor
fathers nor wives nor children nor servants. The whole world is
trembling before you, and ye are trembling before your own slaves, for
ye know that any hour may raise an awful war against your oppression,
such a war as has been raised more than once. Though rich, thou art
not sure that the command may not come to thee to-morrow to leave thy
wealth; thou art young, but to-morrow it may be necessary for thee to
die. Thou lovest, but treason is in wait for thee; thou art enamoured of
villas and statues, but to-morrow power may thrust thee forth into the
empty places of the Pandataria; thou hast thousands of servants, but
to-morrow these servants may let thy blood flow. And if that be the
case, how canst thou be calm and happy, how canst thou live in delight?
But I proclaim love, and I proclaim a religion which commands rulers to
love their subjects, masters their slaves, slaves to serve with love, to
do justice and be merciful; and at last it promises happiness boundless
as a sea without end. How, then, Petronius, canst thou say that that
religion spoils life, since it corrects, and since thou thyself wouldst
be a hundred times happier and more secure were it to embrace the world
as Rome’s dominion has embraced it?’
“Thus discussed Paul, and then Petronius said, ‘That is not for me.’
Feigning drowsiness, he went out, and when going added: ‘I prefer my
Eunice, O little Jew, but I should not wish to struggle with thee on the
platform.’ I listened to Paul’s words with my whole soul, and when he
spoke of our women, I magnified with all my heart that religion from
which thou hast sprung as a lily from a rich field in springtime. And
I thought then: There is Poppæa, who cast aside two husbands for Nero,
there is Calvia Crispinilla, there is Nigidia, there are almost all whom
I know, save only Pomponia; they trafficked with faith and with oaths,
but she and my own one will not desert, will not deceive, and will not
quench the fire, even though all in whom I place trust should desert and
deceive me. Hence I said to thee in my soul, How can I show gratitude to
thee, if not with love and honor? Didst thou feel that in Antium I spoke
and conversed with thee all the time as if thou hadst been at my side? I
love thee a hundred times more for having escaped me from Cæsar’s house.
Neither do I care for Cæsar’s house any longer; I wish not its luxury
and music, I wish only thee. Say a word, we will leave Rome to settle
somewhere at a distance.”
Without removing her head from his shoulder, Lygia, as if
meditating, raised her eyes to the silver tops of the cypresses, and
answered,--“Very well, Marcus. Thou hast written to me of Sicily, where
Aulus wishes to settle in old age.” And Vinieius interrupted her with
delight.
“True, my dear! Our lands are adjacent. That is a wonderful coast,
where the climate is sweeter and the nights still brighter than in Rome,
odoriferous and transparent. There life and happiness are almost one and
the same.”
And he began then to dream of the future.
“There we may forget anxieties. In groves, among olive-trees, we shall
walk and rest in the shade. O Lygia! what a life to love and cherish
each other, to look at the sea together, to look at the sky together, to
honor together a kind God, to do in peace what is just and true.”
Both were silent, looking into the future; only he drew her more firmly
toward him, and the knight’s ring on his finger glittered meanwhile in
the rays of the moon. In the part occupied by the poor toiling people,
all were sleeping; no murmur broke the silence.
“Wilt thou permit me to see Pomponia?” asked Lygia.
“Yes, dear one. We will invite them to our house, or go to them
ourselves. If thou wish, we can take Peter the Apostle. He is bowed
down with age and work. Paul will visit us also,--he will convert Aulus
Plautius; and as soldiers found colonies in distant lands, so we will
found a colony of Christians.”
Lygia raised her hand and, taking his palm, wished to press it to her
lips; but he whispered, as if fearing to frighten happiness,--“No,
Lygia, no! It is I who honor thee and exalt thee; give me thy hands.”
“I love thee.”
He had pressed his lips to her hands, white as jessamine, and for a
time they heard only the beating of their own hearts. There was not the
slightest movement in the air; the cypresses stood as motionless as if
they too were holding breath in their breasts.
All at once the silence was broken by an unexpected thunder, deep, and
as if coming from under the earth. A shiver ran through Lygia’s body.
Vinicius stood up, and said,--“Lions are roaring in the vivarium.”
Both began to listen. Now the first thunder was answered by a second,
a third, a tenth, from all sides and divisions of the city. In Rome
several thousand lions were quartered at times in various arenas, and
frequently in the night-time they approached the grating, and, leaning
their gigantic heads against it, gave utterance to their yearning for
freedom and the desert. Thus they began on this occasion, and, answering
one another in the stillness of night, they filled the whole city with
roaring. There was something so indescribably gloomy and terrible in
those roars that Lygia, whose bright and calm visions of the future were
scattered, listened with a straitened heart and with wonderful fear and
sadness.
But Vinicius encircled her with his arm, and said,--“Fear not, dear one.
The games are at hand, and all the vivaria are crowded.”
Then both entered the house of Linus, accompanied by the thunder of
lions, growing louder and louder.