Thersander approved of his scheme and bid him put it into execution;

accordingly Sosthenes proceeded to the farm, and finding out the

cottage where Leucippe was to pass the night, he ordered two of the

labourers to entice away the maids, who had accompanied her, under

pretence of having something to say to them in private; he then went

accompanied by two others, to the cottage where Leucippe was now

alone, seized her and having stopped her mouth, carried her off to a

lone habitation, where setting her down, he said, "Maiden, I am the

bearer of great good fortune to you, and I hope that you will not

forget me, in your prosperity; be under no alarm at having been carried

off, no injury is intended you, it will be the means of obtaining my

master for your admirer." Leucippe could not utter a word, so much

was she overcome by the sense of the unexpected calamity. Sosthenes

hurrying back informed Thersander of what he had done, again, extolling

Leucippe's beauty to the skies; he was on the point of returning home,

but inflamed by the description, and having his mind filled with such a

lovely vision,[3] he determined at once to pay a visit to the maiden as

the festival was still on foot, and the distance not more than half a

mile. It was when on his way thither, that disguised in Melitta's dress

I came directly upon him. Sosthenes was the first to recognize me;

"Here comes the rake-hell himself," exclaimed he, "masquerading it, in

my mistress's clothes!"

The young man, my guide, who was a little in advance hearing this,

took to his heels in a fright without giving me any previous warning.

I was immediately seized by the pair, and the noise made by Thersander

drew together a number of the revellers, when he became louder than

ever in his charges, heaping upon me all manner of abuse,[4] calling

me a lecher, a cut-purse, and I know not what besides; in the end I

was dragged to the public prison, thrust in, and a charge of _Crim.

Con._[5] entered against me. The disgrace of a prison and the abuse

gave me little or no concern, for as my marriage with Melitta had

been public, I felt confident of being able to refute the charge of

adultery; all my anxiety arose from not having actually recovered

my Leucippe, for the mind is naturally inclined to be a "prophet of

ill,"[6] our predictions of good are seldom realized. In the present

case I augured nothing favourable for Leucippe, and was a prey to fears

and suspicions of every kind.

Thersander, after having had me locked up, continued on his way, and

upon his arrival found Leucippe lying upon the ground and brooding

over what Sosthenes had said. Grief and fear were plainly depicted

upon her countenance; indeed I consider it quite a mistake to say that

the mind is invisible, it may be seen distinctly reflected on the face

as in a mirror; in seasons of happiness joy sparkles in the eyes;

in the time of sorrow the countenance is overcast[7] and reveals the

inward feelings. A light was burning in the cottage; upon hearing the

door open, Leucippe raised her eyes for a moment and then cast them

down again. It is in the eyes that beauty has its seat, and Thersander

having caught a momentary glimpse of the beauty which (rapid as

lightning) flashed from hers, was at once on fire with love, and waited

spell bound, in hopes of her raising them again; but when she continued

to gaze upon the ground, he said, "Fair maiden, why waste the light

of thine eyes upon the earth, why not look up and let them dart fresh

light into mine?"

Upon hearing his voice, Leucippe burst into tears, and appeared even

more charming than before,[8] for tears give permanency and increased

expression to the eyes, either rendering them more disagreeable, or

improving them if pleasing, for in that case the dark iris, fading

into a lighter hue, resembles, when moistened with tears, the head of

a gently-bubbling fount; the white and black growing in brilliancy

from the moisture which floats over the surface, assume the mingled

shades of the violet and narcissus, and the eye appears as smiling

through the tears which are confined within its lids. Such was the

case with Leucippe; her tears made her appear beautiful even in grief;

and if after trickling down they had congealed, the world would have

seen a species of amber hitherto unknown.[9] The sight of her charms,

heightened as they were by her grief, inflamed Thersander; his own eyes

filled with moisture. Tears naturally awaken feelings of compassion,

especially a woman's tears, and the more so in proportion to the

copiousness with which they fall; and when she who weeps is beautiful

and he who beholds her is enamoured, he cannot avoid following her

example; the magic of her charms, which is chiefly in her eyes,

extends its influence to him; her beauty penetrates into his soul, her

tears draw forth his own, he might dry them, but he purposely abstains

from doing so, for he would fain have them attract the notice of the

fair one; he even checks any motion of his eyelids, lest they should

fall before the time, sympathetic tears being the strongest proof of

love. This was the case with Thersander, he shed tears partly because

grief has really in it something which is infectious, partly that he

might appear to sympathize with Leucippe's sorrow. "Pay her every

attention which her state of mind requires," said he in an under tone

to Sosthenes; "however unwillingly I will leave her for the present

for fear of annoying her; when she is more composed I will pay her

another visit. Maiden," added he, addressing her, "cheer up, I will

soon find means to dry those tears of yours;" and whispering to

Sosthenes, "remember," said he, "that you promote my suit, and come to

me to-morrow morning," with which words he left the cottage.

While these things were taking place, Melitta had lost no time in

sending a young man into the country, who was to bid Leucippe return

without delay, as she had no longer any need of ingredients for a

philtre. Upon his arrival, he found the female servants in great

trouble seeking for her everywhere, he therefore at once came back

and informed his mistress of what had taken place. Melitta, upon

learning that Leucippe had disappeared, and that I had been committed

to prison, was thrown into violent agitation: though ignorant of the

whole truth her suspicions fell upon Sosthenes, and being determined to

ascertain by means of Thersander where Leucippe was, she had recourse

to subtlety, combining with it a show of truth. Upon Thersander coming

home and shouting out, "So you have got your paramour set free and have

smuggled him out of the town;--why did you not accompany him? why stop

here? why not take yourself off, and see how he looks now that he is in

'durance vile?'"--"What paramour?" replied Melitta with the greatest

composure. "What delusion are you labouring under?--If you will only

calm your passion and listen to me, I will very soon explain the truth;

all I wish for on your part, is candour; forget any slanderous reports

which you have heard, let reason take the place of anger and listen to

what I have to say.--This young man is neither my paramour nor yet my

husband; he is a native of Phœnicia, and belongs to one of the first

families in Tyre; he was so unfortunate as to suffer shipwreck and lost

everything which he possessed. Upon hearing of his misfortunes I took

compassion upon him (remembering what had befallen you), and received

him into my house.

"'Thersander,' said I, mentally, 'may perhaps be wandering about

himself, some tender hearted female may have taken pity upon him;

nay, if as report says, he has perished, I will shew kindness to all

who have experienced the perils of the sea!' Many are the shipwrecked

passengers to whom I have shewn hospitality, to many a corpse washed

up by the waves have I here given burial; if I saw so much as a

plank from a vessel borne to land, I drew it up on shore, 'for,' I

said, 'it may have belonged to the ship in which Thersander sailed!'

This young man was one of the last who was rescued from a watery

grave, and in treating him with kindness, I was in fact honouring

you. Like you, dearest, he had encountered the perils of the deep;

in him therefore, I was paying regard to the impersonation of your

sufferings. You have now had laid before you the motives by which I

have been influenced.--I may add, that he was in great sorrow for his

wife; he had believed her dead, but she was still alive, and, as he

was informed, in the power of Sosthenes our bailiff. The report proved

true, for upon proceeding into the country we found her there. It is

in your power to test the truth of what I say, you can bring before

you both Sosthenes and the female of whom I speak; if you can convict

me of falsehood, then call me an adultress." Melitta spoke, all along,

as if in ignorance of Leucippe's disappearance, reserving to herself

the power--should Thersander wish to ascertain the truth--of bringing

forward the maid-servants who had accompanied Leucippe, and who could

solemnly declare that the maiden was nowhere to be found. Her motive

was to persuade Thersander of her own innocence, and it was for this

purpose that she urged him to bring forward Leucippe. To give yet

greater colour to her artful words, "Dearest husband," she added,

"during the time that we lived together, you have never discovered

any blot in my character, neither shall you do so now.[10] The report,

at present raised against me, has arisen from people being ignorant of

the cause which induced me to shew kindness to this young man; rumour

has been busy in your case, also; for you, recollect, were reported to

have perished. Now rumour and calumny are two kindred evils, and the

former may be called the daughter of the latter. Calumny is sharper

than any sword--more burning than any fire, more pernicious than any

Siren, while rumour is more fluid than water, swifter than the wind,

fleeter than any wing of bird.[11] No sooner has calumny shot forth

a poisoned word than it flies like an arrow and wounds, even in his

absence, him against whom it is directed; while whosoever hears this

word is readily persuaded, feels his anger kindled, and turns all its

violence against the victim. On the other hand, rumour the offspring of

this shot, flows onward like a torrent, and floods the ears of every

listener; words, like wind, speeding it on its course, and,--to use

another similitude--the wings of the human tongue bearing it aloft and

enabling it to cleave the air.[12] These are the foes against whom I

have to contend, they have gained the mastery over your mind, and have

closed your ears against my words." Here she paused, and taking his

hand endeavoured to kiss it; her plan was not without success, for

Thersander became more calm, influenced by the plausibility of her

speech, and finding the account given of Leucippe to harmonize with

what he had heard from Sosthenes. His suspicions gave way, however,

only in part, for jealousy when once it has gained entrance into the

mind, is hard to be got rid of. The intelligence that the maiden was my

wife annoyed him greatly, and increased his animosity towards me; and

saying that he should enquire into the truth of what he had heard, he

retired to rest alone.--Melitta, on her part was very much distressed

at being unable to perform her promise. Meanwhile Sosthenes after the

departure of Thersander (whom he had encouraged with hopes of speedy

success) again went in to Leucippe, and assuming a joyful countenance,

"Everything is going on satisfactorily Lacæna," said he, "Thersander

is deeply enamoured of you, and very probably will make you his wife;

this success is entirely owing to me, for I have extolled your beauty

to the skies, and his mind sees and thinks of you alone. Dry your tears

therefore, maiden, rise from the ground, sacrifice to Venus on account

of your good fortune, and do not forget how much you owe to me." "May

as much happiness befall you as you have just announced to me," was her

reply. Sosthenes, believing that she spoke sincerely and not in irony,

proceeded in a friendly tone and manner: "I will tell you moreover who

Thersander is; he is the husband of Melitta whom you lately saw, his

family is one of the first in Ionia, his wealth is even greater than

his birth, but it is surpassed by his kindness of disposition. I need

not dwell upon his age, for you have seen that he is still young and

handsome, two qualities especially acceptable to women."

Leucippe could no longer endure listening to such nonsense: "Wicked

wretch!" she exclaimed, "how much longer do you mean to pollute my

ears? What is Thersander to me? Let his beauty delight his wife, his

riches benefit his country, and his good qualities be of service to

those who need them. What matters it to me, if he be nobler in birth

than Codrus, and surpass Crœsus in his wealth? For what purpose should

you enumerate another man's good qualities to me? Thersander shall

receive my praise, when he ceases wishing to do violence to another's

wife." Upon this, changing to a serious air, "Are you jesting, maiden?"

he asked. "What have I to do with jesting?" was her reply. "Leave

me to my own adverse fortune and evil genius; I know full well that

I have fallen into the power of villains." "You must be incurably

crazed," said Sosthenes, "to talk thus. Is it like being in the power

of villains, to have the offer made to you of wealth, marriage, and

a luxurious life; to receive for your husband one so favoured by the

gods, that they have actually snatched him from the jaws of death?"

And then he gave an account of the shipwreck, magnifying Thersander's

escape, and making of it a greater wonder than of Arion and his

Dolphin.[13]

When he had finished his marvellous tale, and still Leucippe made no

reply, "You had better consult your own interest," he resumed, "and

not talk in this fashion to Thersander, lest you should provoke one

who is actually amiable; for when once kindled, his anger knows no

bounds. Kindness of heart, when it meets with a due return, increases,

but when slighted, it soon changes into angry feelings; and then the

desire of taking vengeance is proportioned to the previous willingness

of doing good." Leaving Leucippe for a time, we will now speak of some

of the other characters in this tale. When Clinias and Satyrus learned

from Melitta that I had been incarcerated they immediately came to

the prison, desirous of sharing my captivity; the jailor, however,

would not consent, but bid them at once be gone, and though sorely

disappointed there was no alternative. They left me, therefore, after I

had enjoined them to bring me tidings of Leucippe in the morning; and I

remained alone, thinking of Melitta's promise, and racked by feelings

of mingled fear and hope.

The next day Sosthenes proceeded according to his appointment to

Thersander, and my friends returned to me. Thersander eagerly

inquired whether any favourable impression had been made upon

Leucippe; Sosthenes replied evasively, "She raises objections against

receiving you, but I scarcely believe her to be sincere in what she

says; I rather suspect that she fears you may desert her and expose

her to shame, after once enjoying her." "Let her dismiss all such

apprehensions," replied Thersander; "my feelings of love towards her

are so ardent, that they will end only with my life.[14] One thing

alone gives me uneasiness; I am very anxious to know for certain

whether, as Melitta told me, she is the wife of the young man." Thus

discoursing they came to the cottage where Leucippe was confined; when

near the door they stopped and listened and could hear her speaking to

herself in a mournful voice. "Alas! alas! Clitopho, you know not where

I am and in what place I am detained; neither am I acquainted with your

present condition; and this mutual ignorance augments our mutual grief.

Can Thersander have surprised you in his house? Can you have suffered

any cruel treatment at his hands? Often have I longed to question

Sosthenes about you, but I was at a loss what reason to assign; if I

spoke of you as my husband, I feared that by provoking the resentment

of Thersander, I might produce evil consequences to yourself; if I

inquired after you as after a mere stranger, it might have been said

why do women meddle with what in no way concerns them? Often has my

tongue been on the point of speaking but has refused its office. Often

have I ended by saying to myself, 'Dear Clitopho, faithful husband of

thy Leucippe, thou who couldst share the couch of another woman, yet

without enjoying her, though I, in my jealousy doubted thy fidelity,

could I indeed behold thee again, after so long an interval, and yet

not snatch a single kiss!' What if Thersander comes again to question

me? Shall I throw off all disguise, and disclose the plain unvarnished

truth? Suppose not, Thersander, that I am a sorry slave; I am daughter

of the Byzantian Commandant, wife of one foremost in rank among the

Tyrians. I am no Thessalian, neither am I called Lacæna. No! this is

the invention of pirate violence; my very name has been stolen from

me! I am in reality the wife of Clitopho, a native of Byzantium, the

daughter of Sostratus and Panthea. But, alas! Thersander would give no

credit to my words, or, if he did, my freedom of speech might be the

cause of injury to my best beloved! What then? I will again assume the

mask--and again my name shall be Lacæna!" Thersander, retiring a little

from the door, said to Sosthenes, "Did you hear those words of hers,

unworthy of belief, indeed, as to their tenour, but full of the spirit

of love, and breathing grief and self reproach? This adulterous rival

of mine supplants me everywhere; the villain must surely be a sorcerer;

Melitta loves, Leucippe doats upon him;--would that I were Clitopho!"

"You must not show a faint heart, master," replied Sosthenes; "you

should go in at once and plead your suit; she loves this worthless

fellow, it is true; but only because she has received addresses from

no one else; you have but to insinuate yourself into her good graces,

and your superior personal appearance will speedily gain the day and

banish him from her heart. A new lover soon drives out the old. Women

love the individual while present and remember him when absent until

another is found to take, his place; then he is soon blotted from their

recollection." Thersander now felt emboldened, for one readily believes

words which flatter with a prospect of success; and desire, by dwelling

upon its object, is sure to beget sanguine hope. After waiting a short

time therefore, that he might not seem to have overheard her works,

he put on what he hoped would appear an engaging air, and entered the

cottage.

The sight of Leucippe inflamed his mind; she appeared more charming

then ever, and her presence acted as fuel to the fire of love which had

been burning in his breast all night. He with difficulty restrained

himself from at once folding her in his arms, and sitting down beside

her, began to talk of various unconnected trifles, as lovers are wont

to do when in the company of their mistresses. At such times the

soul is centred upon the object of its love, reason no longer guides

their speech, and the tongue mechanically utters words.[15] In the

course of his address, he put his arm round her neck with the view of

kissing her, and she aware of his intention hung down her head upon

her bosom; he used all his endeavours to raise her face, and she with

equal perseverance continued to conceal it the more and more; when

this mutual struggle had continued for some time, Thersander, under

the influence of amorous obstinacy, slipped his left hand under her

chin, and seizing her hair with his right, compelled her to raise her

head. When at length, he gave over, either from succeeding in his

object, or failing, or from being weary of the sport, Leucippe said to

him indignantly, "Your conduct is unfitting and ungentlemanly, though

fit enough for the slave Sosthenes; the master and his man are worthy

of each other; but spare yourself any farther trouble, you will never

succeed unless you become a second Clitopho."

Distracted between anger and desire, Thersander was at a loss what

to do. These passions are like two fires in the soul; they differ

in nature, but resemble each other in intensity; the former urges

to hatred, the latter to love; the sources also of their respective

flames are near to one another, anger having its seat in the heart,[16]

the liver being the abode of love.[17] When, therefore, a person is

attacked by these two passions, his soul becomes the scales in which

the intensity of either flame is weighed. Each tries to depress its

respective scale, and love, when it obtains its object is generally

successful; but should it be slighted, then it summons its neighbour,

anger, to its aid, and both of them combine their flame. When once

anger has gained the mastery, and has driven love from its seat, being

implacable by nature, instead of assisting it to gain its end, it

rules like a tyrant, and will not allow it (however anxious) to become

reconciled with its beloved. Pressed down by the weight of anger, love

is no longer free, and vainly endeavours to recover its dominion, and

so is compelled to hate what once it doated upon. But, again, when the

tempest of anger has reached its height, and its fury has frothed away,

it becomes weary from satiety, and its efforts cease; then love, armed

by desire, revives, comes to the rescue, and attacks anger sleeping

on his post; and calling to mind the injuries done to the beloved

during its frenzy, it grieves and sues for pardon, and invites to

reconciliation, and promises to make amends in future. If after this

it meets with full success, then it continues to be all smiles and

gentleness; but if again repulsed and scorned, then its old neighbour,

anger, is once more called in, who revives his slumbering fires, and

regains his former power. Thersander, so long as he was buoyed up with

hopes of succeeding in his suit, had been Leucippe's humble servant;

but when he found all his expectations dashed to the ground, love gave

way to wrath, and he smote her upon the face. "Wretched slave!" he

exclaimed, "I have heard your love-sick lamentations, and know all;

instead of taking it as a compliment that I should speak to you, and

regarding a kiss from your master as an honour, you must, forsooth,

coquet and give yourself airs;[18] for my part, I believe you to be a

strumpet, for an adulterer is your love! However, since you refuse to

accept me as a lover, you shall feel my power as a master."

Leucippe meekly replied, "Use me as harshly as you please; I will

submit to everything except the loss of chastity," and turning to

Sosthenes, "you can bear witness to my powers of endurance; for I have

received at your hands harder measure even than this!" Ashamed at

having his conduct brought to light, "This wench," said he, "deserves

to be flayed with the scourge and to be put upon the rack, in order to

teach her better manners towards her master."

"By all means follow his advice!" resumed Leucippe to Thersander, "he

gives good counsel; do the worst which your malice can suggest;--extend

my hands upon the wheel;[19] bare my back to the scourge; burn my

body in the fire;[20] smite off my head with the sword; it will be a

novel sight to see one weak woman contend against all your tortures,

victorious against all! You brand Clitopho as an adulterer, and yet you

yourself would commit adultery! Have you no reverence for your tutelary

goddess Diana?[21] Would you ravish a virgin in the very city sacred

to a virgin? Ο goddess, why do not thy shafts avenge the insult?"

"You a virgin forsooth!" replied Thersander, contemptuously; "you who

passed whole days and nights among the pirates! Prythee were they

eunuchs, or given only to platonic love, or were they blind?"--"Ask

Sosthenes," said she, "whether or not I preserved my chastity against

his attempts; none of the freebooters behaved to me so brutally as you

have done; it is you who deserve the name of pirate, since you feel no

shame in perpetrating deeds which they abstained from[22] doing. You

little think how your unblushing cruelty will redound hereafter to my

praise; you may kill me in your fury, and my encomium will be this:

'Leucippe preserved her chastity despite of buccaneers, despite of

Chæreas, despite of Sosthenes, and crown of all (for this would be but

trifling commendation), she remained chaste despite even of Thersander,

more lascivious than the most lustful pirate; and he who could not

despoil her of her honour, robbed her of her life.' Again, therefore,

I say, bring into action all your engines and implements of torture,

and employ the aid of Sosthenes, your right trusty counsellor. I stand

before you a feeble woman, naked and alone, having but one weapon of

defence, my free spirit,[23] which is proof against sword and fire and

scourge. Burn me, if you will; you shall find that there be things over

which even the fire is powerless!"

[Footnote 1: The allusion is to Achilles disguised in female attire

among the daughters of Lycomedes. See Statius, "Achilleis."

"And now being femininely all array'd.

With some small aid from scissors, paint, and tweezers,

He looked in almost all respects a maid."--Byron.

See Herod. iv. 146, where the Minyeans escape from confinement by a

similar device of their wives.]

[Footnote 2: τὴν ἔλαφον ἀντὶ παρθένου, a proverb alluding to Diana

substituting a stag in the place of Iphigenia when on the point of

being sacrificed at Aulis--

"λέγ' οὕνεκ' ἔλαφον ἀντιδοῦσα μου θεἁ

"Αρτεμις, ἔσωσε μ', ἣν ἔθυσ' ἐμὸς πατήρ."--Iph. in Taur. 783.

]

[Footnote 3:

"Nam si abest quod ames, præsto simulacra tamen sunt

Illius."--Lucret. iv. 1055.

]

[Footnote 4: ῥητά καὶ ἄῤῥητα βοῶν.]

[Footnote 5: ἔγκλημα μοιχείας ἐπιφέρων.]

[Footnote 6:

"Great joy he promis'd to his thoughts, and new

Solace in her return, so long delay'd;

Yet oft his heart, divine of something ill,

Misgave him; he the faltering measure felt."

Milton, P. L. ii. 843.

"Τίπτε μοι τόδ' ἐμπ'έδως

δεὶμα προστατήριον

καρδίας τερασκόπου πότᾶται."--Æsch. Ag. 944.

]

[Footnote 7: "A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance; but by sorrow

of the heart, the spirit is broken."--Prov. xv. 13.]

[Footnote 8:

"As pearls from diamonds dropt. In brief, sorrow

Would be a rarity most belov'd, if all

Could so become it."--Shakspeare.

]

[Footnote 9:

"Inde fluunt lacrymæ, stillataque sole rigescunt

De ramis electra novis."--Ovid. Met. ii. 864.

]

[Footnote 10:

"And she, although her manners shew'd no rigour,

Was deem'd a woman of the strictest principle,

So much as to be thought almost invincible."--Byron.

]

[Footnote 11:

"Fama, malum, quo non aliud velocius ullum;

Mobilitate viget, viresque acquirit eundo."

Virg. Æn. iv. 174.

]

[Footnote 12:

"Open your ears; for which of you will stop

The vent of hearing, when loud Rumour speaks;

I, from the Orient to the drooping West,

Making the wind my posthorse, still unfold

The acts commenced on this ball of earth;

Upon my tongues continued slanders ride:

The which in every language I pronounce,

Stuffing the ears of men with false reports."

Introduction to 2nd part of Henry IV.

]

[Footnote 13: See Herod. i. 23, 24.]

[Footnote 14:

"Wax to receive and marble to retain.

He was a lover of the good old school,

Who still become more constant as they cool."--Byron.

]

[Footnote 15:

"And on the thought my words broke forth.

All incoherent as they were."--Byron.

]

[Footnote 16:

"Κἀμοι προσέστη καρδίας κλνδώνιον

χολῆς."--Æsch. Choe. 183.

]

[Footnote 17:

"Quum tibi flagrans amor,

. . . . . .

Sæviet circa jecur ulcerosum."

Hor. I, Od. xxv. 13.

]

[Footnote 18: "αλλὰ καὶ ἀκκίζῃ καὶ σχηματίζῃ πρὸς άπόνοιαν."]

[Footnote 19:

"ἐπὶ τοῦ τροχοῦ γὰρ δεῖ σ'ἐκἕι στρεβλούμενον

εἰπεῖν ἅ πεπανούργηκας."

Aristoph. Plut. 875. See also Virg. Æn. vi. 616.

]

[Footnote 20: The allusion is to the fire placed under the revolving

wheel, by which the sufferer was slowly roasted. A reference to this

species of torture will be found in ch. 50 of Tertullian's Apology.]

[Footnote 21: "Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there, that knoweth not

how that the city of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great goddess

Diana?"--Acts xix. 35.]

[Footnote 22:

"Harpers have sung and poets told,

That he, in fury uncontrolled,

The shaggy monarch of the wood

Before a virgin fair and good

Hath pacified his savage mood;

But passions in the human frame

Oft put the lion's rage to shame."--Scott.

]

[Footnote 23:

"Eternal spirit of the chainless mind!

Brightest in dungeons, Liberty!"--Byron.

]

BOOK VII.

The scornful reproaches of Leucippe stirred up a tumult of conflicting

passions in Thersander's mind; he was incensed by her taunts, vexed at

his ill success, and perplexed how to secure the accomplishment of his

desires. Without saying another word he rushed out of the house to give

vent to the storm and tempest of his soul.[1] Shortly after, having

conferred with Sosthenes, he went to the jailor, and endeavoured to

persuade him to administer a dose of poison to me; this, however, the

jailor refused to do, his predecessor having suffered death for taking

off a prisoner in this manner. Failing in this, he obtained his consent

to introduce a man (who was to pass for a criminal) into my cell, under

pretence of wishing to extract some secrets out of me through him. The

man had been previously tutored by Thersander, and was casually to

introduce Leucippe's name, and to say that she had been murdered by

the contrivance of Melitta. Thersander's object in persuading me of

her death was to hinder me (in case I obtained a verdict of acquittal)

from instituting any further search for her recovery, and the name

of Melitta was introduced in order that, after learning Leucippe's

death, I might not entertain any thoughts of marrying her, and so by

settling at Ephesus might interrupt Thersander in the prosecution of

his schemes, but on the contrary, might be induced to quit the city

without delay, from hatred to Melitta for having contrived the death of

my beloved.

As soon as this fellow came near me, he began to play his appointed

part, and with a knavish groan[2] exclaimed, "Alackaday! what a

miserable thing is life! There is no keeping out of trouble! It

stands a man in no stead to be honest! Some cross accident is sure to

overtake him! Would I could have guessed the character of my fellow

traveller, and what work he had been engaged in!" This, and much more

of the same sort, he said speaking to himself, craftily endeavouring

to attract my attention, and to make me inquire what it was that ailed

him. He did not succeed, however, for I was sufficiently taken up with

my own troubles, and he went on with his groans and ejaculations. At

length--for the unfortunate take pleasure in listening to another's

griefs, finding in it a kind of medicine for their sorrows--one of

the prisoners asked, "What trick has the jade Fortune been playing

you? I suspect that, like myself, she has laid you up in limbo without

deserving it." He then proceeded to tell his own story, giving an

account of what had brought him into prison; and having finished,

requested the other to favour him with the particulars of his own

misfortune. He of course readily complied.

"I left the city yesterday," said he, "to go towards Smyrna, and had

proceeded about half a mile, when I was joined by a young man out

of the country. He saluted me, and after walking with me for a few

minutes, inquired whither I was going. I told him, and he said that

luckily his road lay in the same direction, so that we proceeded in

company, and entered into conversation. Stopping at an inn, we ordered

dinner, and presently four men came in and did the same. Instead of

eating, however, they continued watching us, and making signs to one

another. I plainly enough saw that we were the objects of their notice,

but was wholly at a loss to understand the meaning of their gestures.

My companion gradually turned very pale, left off eating, and at last

began to tremble all over. Instantly they sprang up, seized, and

bound us; one of them also dealt him a violent blow upon the face;

upon which, as if he had been already on the rack, and even without a

question being asked him he cried out, 'I admit having killed the girl!

Melitta, Thersander's wife, hired me to do the deed, and gave me a

hundred gold pieces for my trouble; here they are every one--take them

for yourselves; and for heaven's sake let me off!'"

Upon hearing these names I started as if stung, and turning to him,

"Who is Melitta?" I asked.--"She is a lady of the first rank in this

city," was his reply. "She took a fancy to a young man, said to be a

native of Tyre; he found a favourite wench of his (whom he had given

up for lost), among the number of Melitta's slaves, and she, moved

by jealousy, had the girl seized by the fellow whom ill luck made my

fellow-traveller, and he, in obedience to Melitta's orders, has made

away with her.--But to return to my own story. I, who had never seen

the man before, nor had dealings with him of any kind, was dragged

along with him, bound, as an accomplice in his crime; but what is

harder than all, they had not gone far, before, for the sake of his

hundred pieces, they let him go, but kept me in custody and carried me

before the judge."

Upon hearing this chapter of accidents, I neither uttered a sound nor

shed a tear, for both voice and tears refused their office, but a

general trembling seized me, my heart sunk within me, and I felt as at

the point of death. After a time, recovering in some degree from the

stupor which his words had caused, "How did the ruffian despatch her?"

I asked, "and what has become of her body?" But having now performed

the business for which he was employed, by stimulating my curiosity,

he became obstinately silent, and I could extract nothing more from

him. In answer to my repeated questions, "Do you think," said he, at

length, "that I had a hand in the murder? The man told me he had killed

her; he said nothing of the place and manner of her death." Tears now

came to my relief, and I gave full vent to my sorrow. It is with mental

wounds as with bodily hurts; when one has been stricken in body some

time elapses before the livid bruise, the result of the blow is seen;

and so also any one who has been pierced by the sharp tusk of a boar,

looks for the wound, but without immediately discovering it, owing to

its being deeply seated; but presently a white line is perceived, the

precursor of the blood, which speedily begins to flow; in like manner,

no sooner have bitter tidings been announced, than they pierce the

soul, but the suddenness of the stroke prevents the wound from being

visible at once, and the tooth of sorrow must for some space have

gnawed the heart ere a vent is found for tears, which are to the mind

what blood is to the body.

It was thus with me; the arrows of grief inflicted an instant wound,

but their result was imperceptible until the soul had leisure to vent

itself in tears and lamentations. Then, indeed, I exclaimed, "What evil

genius has deluded me with this brief gleam of joy, and has shewn me

my Leucippe only to lay a foundation for fresh calamities? All that

has been allowed me was to see her, and I have not been permitted to

satiate even the sense of sight! My pleasure has, indeed, been like

the baseless fabric of a dream. Ο my Leucippe, how often hast thou

been lost to me? Am I never to cease from tears and lamentations? Is

one death perpetually to succeed another? On former occasions Fortune

has been merely jesting with me, but now she is in earnest! In those

former imaginary deaths of thine, some consolation, at least, was

afforded me, for thy body, wholly or in part, was left at my disposal!

But now thou art snatched away both in soul and body! Twice hast thou

escaped the pirates, but Melitta, more foul than any pirate, has had

thee done to death. And I, impious and unholy that I am, have actually

kissed thy murderess, have been enfolded in her accursed embrace, and

she has anticipated thee in receiving from me the offerings of Love!"

While thus plunged in grief, Clinias came to visit me. I related every

particular to him, and declared my determination of putting an end to

my existence. He did all in his power to console me. "Consider," he

said, "how often she has died and come to life again; who knows but

what she may do the same on this occasion also? Why be in such haste to

kill yourself? You will have abundant leisure when the tidings of her

death have been positively confirmed."

"This is mere trifling," I replied; "there is small need of

confirmation; my resolve is fixed, and I have decided upon a manner of

death which will not permit even the hated Melitta to escape unscathed.

Listen to my plan:--In case of being summoned into court[3] it was my

intention to plead not guilty. I have now changed my determination, and

shall plead guilty, confessing the intrigue between Melitta and myself,

and saying that we mutually planned Leucippe's death; by this means

she will suffer the punishment which is her due, and I shall quit

this life which I so much detest."--"Talk not thus," replied he; "can

you endure to die under the base imputation of being a murderer, and,

what is more, the murderer of Leucippe?"--"Nothing is base," replied

I, "by which we can wreak vengeance upon our enemies."[4] While we

were engaged in argument, the fellow who had communicated the tidings

of the fictitious maiden was removed, upon pretence of being taken

before the magistrate to undergo an examination. Clinias and Satyrus

exerted themselves, but ineffectually, in order to persuade me to

alter my resolution; and on the same day they removed into lodgings,

so as to be no longer under the roof of Melitta's foster-brother.

The following day the case came on; Thersander had a great muster[5]

of friends and partisans, and had engaged ten advocates; and Melitta

had been equally on the alert in preparing for her defence. When the

counsel on either side had finished speaking, I asked leave to address

the court, and said, "All those who have been exerting their eloquence,

either for Thersander or for Melitta, have been giving utterance to

sheer nonsense; I will reveal the whole truth, and nothing but the

truth. I was once passionately in love with a female of Byzantium

named Leucippe; she was carried off by pirates, and I had reason to

believe that she was dead. Meeting with Melitta in Egypt, we formed a

connexion, and after some time we travelled together to this city, and

Leucippe, whom I just now mentioned, was found working as a slave upon

Thersander's estate, under his bailiff, Sosthenes. By what means he

obtained possession of a free-born female, and what were his dealings

with the pirates I leave it to you to guess.

"Melitta, finding that I had recovered my former mistress, became

apprehensive of her regaining her influence over my affections,

and contrived a plan for putting her to death. I entered into her

schemes,--for what avails it to conceal the truth?--having received

a promise that she would settle all her property upon me; a man was

found, who, for the reward of a hundred gold pieces, undertook the

business. When the deed was done, he fled, and is now somewhere in

concealment. As for myself, Love was not long in taking vengeance upon

my cruelty. No sooner did I hear of the murder being perpetrated, than

I bitterly repented of what had taken place, and all my former fondness

revived. For this reason I have determined to turn evidence against

myself, in order that you may send me whither she is gone to whom I am

still so deeply attached. Life is intolerable to one who, in addition

to being a murderer, loves her of whose death he has been the cause."

Every one in court was utterly astounded at the unexpected tenour of

my speech, especially Melitta. The advocates of Thersander already

claimed a triumph,[6] while those engaged in Melitta's behalf anxiously

questioned her as to the truth of what I had said. She was in great

confusion; denied some points, virtually admitted others, confessed to

having known Leucippe, and indeed confirmed most of what I had said,

with the exception of the murder. This general agreement on her part

with the facts advanced by me, created a suspicion against her, even

in the minds of her own counsel, and they were at a loss what line

of defence to adopt on her behalf. At this critical juncture, while

the court was being a scene of great clamour, Clinias came forward

and requested to be heard, for "Remember," said he, "a man's life is

now in jeopardy." Obtaining permission to speak, "Men of Ephesus!" he

began, (his eyes filling with tears,) "do not precipitately condemn

to die one who eagerly longs for death, the natural refuge of the

unfortunate. He has been calumniating himself, and has taken upon him

the guilt of others. Let me briefly acquaint you with what has befallen

him. What he has said respecting his mistress, her being carried off

by pirates, about Sosthenes, and other circumstances which happened

before the pretended murder, are strictly true. The young woman has

undoubtedly disappeared; but whether she is still alive, or has been

made away with, it is impossible to say; one thing is certain, that

Sosthenes conceived a passion for her, that he used her cruelly for

not consenting to his desires, and that he was leagued with pirates.

My friend believing her to be murdered, is disgusted with life, and

has, therefore invented this charge against himself; he has already

confessed with his own mouth that he is anxious to die owing to grief

at the loss which he has sustained. Consider, I pray you, whether it

is likely that one who is really a murderer would be so desirous of

dying with his victim, and would feel life so insupportable. When do

we ever find murderers so tender-hearted, and hatred so compassionate?

In the name of the gods, therefore, do not believe his words; do not

condemn to death a man who is much more deserving of commiseration than

of punishment. If, as he says, he really planned this murder, let him

bring forward the hired assassin; let him declare what has become of

the body. If neither the one nor the other can be produced, how can

any belief be attached to such a murder? 'I was in love with Melitta,'

he says, 'and therefore I caused Leucippe to be killed!' How comes

he to implicate Melitta, the object of his affection, and to be so

desirous of dying for Leucippe, whose death he compassed? Is it usual

for persons to hate the object of their love, and to love the object of

their hatred? Is it not much more probable that in such circumstances

he would have denied the crime (even had it been brought home to him)

in order to save his mistress, instead of throwing away his own life

afterwards, owing to a vain regret for her loss? What can possibly,

therefore, be his motive for charging Melitta with a crime of which she

is not guilty? I will tell you, and in so doing do not suppose that I

have any desire of inculpating this lady,--my sole wish is to make you

acquainted with the real truth.

"Before this sea-faring husband of hers came to life again so suddenly,

Melitta took a violent fancy to this young man, and proposed marriage

to him; he on his part was not at all disposed to comply with her

wishes, and his repugnance became yet greater when he discovered that

his mistress, whom he had imagined dead, was in slavery, under the

power of Sosthenes. Until aware who she was, Melitta, taking pity upon

her, had caused her to be set at liberty, had received her into her own

house, and treated her with the consideration due to a gentlewoman in

distress; but after becoming acquainted with her story, she was sent

back into the country, and she has not been heard from since. The truth

of what I say can be attested by Melitta herself and the two maids

in whose company she was sent away. This was one thing which excited

suspicions in my friend's mind that Leucippe had been foully dealt with

through her rival's jealousy; a circumstance which took place after

he was in prison confirmed these suspicions, and has had the effect

of exasperating him not only against Melitta but against himself.

One of the prisoners, in the course of lamenting his own troubles,

mentioned that he had unwittingly fallen into the company of a man

who had committed murder for the sake of gold; the victim was named

Leucippe, and the crime, he said, had been committed at the instigation

of Melitta. Of course I cannot say whether this be true or not, it is

for you to institute inquiries. You can produce the prisoner who made

mention of the hired assassin; Sosthenes, who can declare from whom he

purchased Leucippe, and the maids, who can explain her disappearance.

Before you have thoroughly investigated each of these particulars, it

is contrary to all law, whether human or divine, to pass sentence upon

this unfortunate young man, on the bare evidence of his frenzied words,

for there can be no doubt that the violence of his grief has affected

his intellect."

The arguments of Clinias appeared just and reasonable to many of those

present, but Thersander's counsel, together with his friends, called

out that sentence of death ought to be pronounced without delay upon

the murderer who, by the providence of the gods, had been made his own

accuser. Melitta brought forward her maids, and required Thersander to

produce Sosthenes, who might probably turn out to be the murderer. This

was the challenge[7] mainly insisted upon by her counsel. Thersander,

in great alarm, secretly despatched one of his dependants into the

country, with orders to Sostratus to get out of the way at once,

before the arrival of those who were about to be sent after him.

Mounting a horse without delay, the messenger rode full speed to inform

the bailiff of the danger he ran of being put to the torture, if taken.

Sosthenes was at that moment with Leucippe, doing his best to soothe

her irritated feelings. Hearing himself summoned in a loud voice, he

came out of the cottage; and, upon learning the state of matters,

overcome with fear, and thinking the officers were already at his

heels, he got upon the horse, and rode off towards Smyrna; after which

the messenger returned to his master. It is a true saying that fear

drives away the power of recollection, for Sosthenes in his alarm for

his own safety was so forgetful of everything else, that he neglected

to secure the door of Leucippe's cottage. Indeed slaves, generally

speaking, when frightened, run into the very excess of cowardice.

Melitta's advocates having given the above-mentioned challenge,

Thersander came forward and said, "We have now surely had quite enough

of this man's silly stories; and I cannot but feel surprised at your

want of sense, who, after convicting a murderer upon the strongest

possible evidence, his own admission of his guilt, do not at once

pass sentence of death upon him; whereas, instead of doing this, you

suffer yourselves to be imposed upon by his plausible words and tears.

For my part I believe him actuated by personal fears, and to be an

accomplice in the murder; nor can I see what possible need there can

be for having recourse to the rack in a matter so clear already. Nay,

more, I fully believe him to have had a hand in another murder; for

three days have now elapsed since I saw Sosthenes, the man whom they

call upon me to bring forward; it is not at all improbable that this is

owing to their contrivance, since it was he who informed me of the act

of adultery which has taken place, and having put him to death, they

now craftily call upon me to produce the man, knowing it to be out of

my power to do so. But even supposing he were alive and present, what

difference could it make? What questions would he put to him? 'Did he

ever purchase a certain female?'--'Yes.' 'Was this female in the power

of Melitta?'--'Yes.' Here would be an end of the examination, and

Sosthenes would be dismissed. Let me now, however, address myself to

Clitopho and Melitta.

"What have you done, I ask, with my slave?--for a slave of mine she

assuredly was, having been purchased by Sosthenes, and were she still

alive, instead of having been murdered by them, my slave she would

still be." Thersander said this from mingled malice and cunning, in

order that if Leucippe should turn out to be still alive, he might

detain her in a state of servitude. He then continued:--"Clitopho

confessed that he killed her, he has therefore pronounced judgment upon

himself. Melitta, on the other hand, denies the crime--her maids may

be brought forward and tortured in order to refute what she says. If

it should appear that they received the young woman from her, but have

not brought her back again, the question will arise, What has become

of her? Why was she sent away? And to whom was she sent? Is it not

self-evident that some persons had been hired to commit the murder,

and that the maids were kept in ignorance of this, lest a number of

witnesses might render discovery more probable? No doubt they left her

at some spot where a gang of ruffians were lying in concealment, so

that it was out of their power to witness what took place. He has also

trumped up some story about a prisoner who made mention of the murder.

I should like to know who this prisoner is, who has not said a word on

the subject to the chief magistrate, but has communicated, it seems,

every particular to him, except the name of his informer. Again, I ask,

will you not make an end of listening to such foolery, and taking any

interest in such transparent absurdities? Can you imagine that he would

have turned a self-accuser without the intervention of the deity?"

Thersander, after speaking to this effect, concluded by solemnly

swearing that he was ignorant what had become of Sosthenes.

The presiding judge, who was of royal extraction,[8] and who took

cognizance of cases of blood, had, in accordance with the law, a

certain number of assessors,[9] men of mature age, whose province it

was to assist him in judicial investigations. After conferring with

them, he determined to pronounce sentence of death upon me, agreeably

to a law which awarded capital punishment to any one standing convicted

upon his own accusation. Melitta was to have a second trial, and her

maids were to be examined by torture, Thersander was to register his

oath, declaratory of his ignorance as to Sosthenes. I, as already

condemned to death, was to be tortured in order to make me confess

whether Melitta was privy to the murder. Already was I bound, stripped,

and suspended aloft by ropes, while some were bringing scourges, others

the fire and the wheel, and Clinias was lamenting loudly, and calling

upon the gods, when lo! the priest of Diana crowned with laurel, was

beheld approaching: the sign of a sacred embassy coming to offer

sacrifices to the goddess. In such cases there is suspension[10] of

all judicial punishments during the days occupied in the performance

of the sacrifice, and in consequence of this I was released. The chief

of the sacred embassy was no other than Leucippe's father. Diana had

appeared to the Byzantians, and had secured them victory in the war

against the Thracians, in consequence of which they felt bound to send

her a sacrifice in token of their gratitude. In addition to this, the

goddess had appeared to Sostratus himself at night, signifying to him

that he would find his daughter and his nephew at Ephesus. Just about

this time, Leucippe perceived the door of the cottage to be left open;

and as, after a careful examination, Sosthenes was nowhere to be seen,

her usual presence of mind and sanguine hopes returned. She remembered

how often, contrary to all expectation, she had been preserved, and

the thought of this gave her increased boldness. Fortune moreover

favoured her, since the temple of Diana was near the spot. Accordingly,

hurrying thither, she sought refuge within its precincts. The temple

afforded sanctuary to men and virgins,--any other woman incurred death

by entering it, unless she happened to be a slave who had some cause

of complaint against her master; in which case she was permitted to

take refuge there, and the matter was submitted to the decision of

the magistrates; supposing the master was acquitted, he took back his

slave, being bound by oath to bear her no ill will on account of her

having run away; but if, on the contrary, the slave was proved to have

justice on her side, she remained in the temple, and was employed in

the service of the goddess. Leucippe arrived at the temple just at

the time when Sostratus was conducting the priest to the scene of

the trial, in order to suspend the proceedings, and was very near

encountering her father.

When I was set free, the court broke up, and I was surrounded by a

concourse of people, some pitying me, some calling upon the gods in my

behalf, others questioning me. Sostratus, coming by at the time, no

sooner saw than he recognized me; for, as I before mentioned, he had

formerly been at Tyre upon the occasion of a festival of Hercules, and

had passed a considerable time there before the period of our flight.

He at once knew me, and the more readily because his dream had led him

to expect that he should find me and his daughter there. Coming up to

me, therefore, "Do I see Clitopho?" said he; "and where is Leucippe?"

Instantly recognizing him, I cast my eyes to the ground and remained

silent, while the bystanders related to him every particular relative

to my self-accusation. He no sooner heard what they had to say than

with an ejaculation of bitter grief, and smiting his head he made a

rush at me, and was very near pulling out my eyes, for I remained

altogether passive and offered no resistance to his violence. At length

Clinias coming forward, checked his fury, and endeavoured to pacify

him. "What are you about?" said he: "why are you venting your wrath

against him; he loves Leucippe more dearly than you do, for he has

courted death from belief that she was no longer in existence;" and he

added a great deal more in order to calm his irritation. He, on the

other hand, continued to vent his grief, and to call upon Diana. "Is

it for this that thou hast summoned me hither, Ο goddess? Is this the

fulfilment of my vision? I gave credence to the dreams which thou didst

send, and flattered myself that I should find my daughter! In lieu of

which thou offerest me, forsooth, a welcome present,--my daughter's

murderer!" Hearing of the vision sent by Diana, Clinias was overjoyed.

"Take courage, sir," he said; "the goddess will not belie herself! Rest

assured your daughter is alive; believe me, I am prophesying truth; do

you not remark how wonderfully she has rescued your nephew from the

clutches of his torturers?"

While this was going on, one of the ministers of the goddess came

hurriedly to the priest, and announced that a foreign maiden had taken

refuge in the temple.[11] This intelligence, given in my hearing,

inspired me with new life; my hopes revived, and I summoned courage

to look up. "My prediction is being fulfilled, sir," said Clinias,

addressing Sostratus; and then turning to the messenger he inquired,

"Is the maiden handsome?"--"She is second in beauty only to Diana

herself," was the reply.

At these words I leaped for joy, and exclaimed, "It must be

Leucippe!"--"You are right in your conjecture," said he; "this was the

very name she gave; saying likewise that she was the daughter of one

Sostratus, and a native of Byzantium." Clinias now clapped his hands

and shouted with delight, while Sostratus, overcome by his emotions,

was ready to sink upon the ground. For my part, in spite of my fetters,

I made a bound into the air, and then shot away towards the temple,

like an arrow from a bow. The keepers pursued me, supposing that I was

trying to escape, and bawled out to every one "Stop him! stop him!"

At that moment, however, I seemed to have wings upon my heels, and

it was with much difficulty that some persons at length caught hold

of me in my mad career. The keepers upon coming up were disposed to

use violence, to which, however, I was no longer inclined to submit;

nevertheless they persisted in dragging me towards the prison. By this

time Clinias and Sostratus had arrived at the spot; and the former

called out, "Whither are you taking this man?--he is not guilty of

the murder for which he has been condemned!" Sostratus spoke to the

same effect, and added that he was father to the maiden supposed to

have been murdered. The bystanders, learning the circumstances which

had taken place, were loud in their praises of Diana, and surrounding

me would not permit me to be taken to prison; on the other hand, the

keepers declared that they had no authority to set a prisoner at

liberty who had been condemned to death. In the end, the priest, at the

urgent entreaty of Sostratus, agreed to become bail, and to produce me

in court whenever it should be required. Then at length freed from my

fetters, I hurried on towards the temple, followed by Sostratus, whose

feelings of joy could hardly, I think, equal my own.

Rumour,[12] who outstrips the swiftest of men, had already reached

Leucippe, and informed her of all particulars respecting me and

Sostratus. Upon catching sight of us she darted out of the temple, and

threw her arms around her father, but at the same time her looks were

turned on me; the presence of Sostratus restrained me from embracing

her, though I gazed intently upon her face; and thus our greetings were

confined to eyes.

[Footnote 1:

"And thoughts on thoughts, a countless throng,

Rushed, chasing countless thoughts along;

Until, the giddy whirl to cure,

He rose."--Scott.

]

[Footnote 2: ἀνοιμώξας πάνυ κακούργως.]

[Footnote 3: εἰ κληρωθείη τὸ δικαστήριον.]

[Footnote 4: χρή δὲ πᾶν ἔρδoντα μανρῶσαι τὸν ἐχθρόν.

"Dolus, an virtus, quis in hoste requirit?"

Æn. ii. 390.

]

[Footnote 5: παρασκιύη; see the opening of the oration of Æschines

against Ctesiphon.]

[Footnote 6: ἀνεβόησαν ἐπινίκιον.]

[Footnote 7: πρόκλησιν, a formal challenge proposed by a party to his

opponent that the decision of a disputed point should be determined by

the evidence of a third party. One of the most common was the demand

or offer to examine by torture a slave supposed to be cognizant of the

matter in dispute.--See Dict. of Grk. and Roman Antiq.]

[Footnote 8: The events of this romance are supposed to take place when

Asia was still subject to the Persian Empire, but Tatius borrows his

judicial forms from those in use among the Greeks. He describes the

πρoέδρος to be of _royal extraction_, probably because cases of blood

were tried before that archon, who was styled βασιλεύς.--Jacobs.]

[Footnote 9: Each of the three superior archons was at liberty to have

two assessors (πάρεδροι) chosen by himself, to assist him by advice and

otherwise in the performance of his various duties.--Dict. of Grk. and

Rom. Antiq.]

[Footnote 10: During the absence of the sacred vessel (θεωρίς) on its

mission to Delos, the city of Athens was purified, and no criminal was

allowed to be executed.]

[Footnote 11: See a very full description of the magnificent temple of

Diana in Anthon's "Lemprière."]

[Footnote 12: "Nec tamen Fama volucris, pigrâ pennarum tarditate

cessaverat; sed protinus in patriâ, Deæ providentia adorabile

beneficium, meamque ipsius fortunam memorabilem, narraverat

passim."--Apul. Met. xi.]

BOOK VIII.

Just as we were sitting down and beginning to converse upon the

various events which had taken place, Thersander, accompanied by

several witnesses, arrived in a great bustle, and addressing himself

to the priest in a loud voice said, "I warn you, in the presence of

these witnesses, that you have acted illegally in setting at liberty

a prisoner condemned to death; besides which, what right have you to

detain my slave, a lewd woman, who is insatiable in her appetite for

men?" Exasperated by this language, and not enduring to hear her called

a slave and accused of lewdness, I interrupted him, "You are trebly a

slave[1] yourself, and the rankest lecher who ever existed, where as

she is free born, and pure and worthy of her guardian goddess!"--"Dare

you vent your insolence on me, convicted felon that you are?" exclaimed

he, accompanying his words with a couple of blows, which, given with

all his might, caused the blood to flow from my nose in streams; in

his haste to deal me a third, he struck me on the mouth, and my teeth

inflicting a severe wound upon his fingers avenged the insult offered

to my nostrils. Uttering a cry of pain, he drew back his hand, and did

not offer any further violence; while, pretending not to notice that

he was hurt, I filled the temple with outcries at the usage which I

had received. "Whither," I exclaimed, "shall we henceforth flee to

escape the hands of violence? Where shall we seek sanctuary, if Diana

is despised? Lo! I have been attacked in the very temple, and struck in

front of the holy curtain![2] I had supposed that such acts could take

place only in some howling wilderness, with no human witness to behold

them; but you--abandoned wretch that you are!--exercise your brutality

in the very presence of the gods! Temples are wont to afford an asylum,

even to the guilty; but I, who am wholly innocent and a suppliant of

the goddess, have suffered violence before the altar,--nay, before the

eyes of the goddess! The blows inflicted on me have virtually fallen

upon Diana herself! Nor has your drunken fury been content with blows,

you have even dealt wounds, such as one receives in battle, and you

have defiled the sacred pavement with human blood! Who ever poured out

such drink offerings to the Ephesian goddess? Barbarians do so, and so

do the Tauri, and blood is sprinkled upon the altars of the Scythian

Diana;[3] but you have made a savage Scythia of the polished Ionia,

and the gore fit only for Tauris is seen to flow at Ephesus! Why not

proceed yet farther, and draw your sword against me? Though what need

is there of swords, the work of a weapon has already been accomplished

by your naked hand! Yes! your blood-stained and homicidal hand has done

deeds fit only for a scene of murder!"

Attracted by my outcries, a crowd of those who were in the temple

flocked together, who rated him soundly for his conduct, and the priest

himself said, "Are you not ashamed to exhibit such behaviour openly

and in the temple?" Encouraged by their presence, "Men of Ephesus!" I

said, "you see how foully I have been treated. Yes! I, a free man and

a native of no mean city, have had a plot contrived against my life by

this wicked man, and have been preserved only by the intervention of

Diana, who has brought to light the falsehood of the charge against

me. It behoves me now to go forth in order to cleanse my face; I may

not do so within the temple, lest the holy water should be defiled by

the blood of violence." Thersander was with difficulty forced out, and

muttered to himself as he departed: "Your fate is already sealed, and

ere long the law shall have its due; as for this strumpet who would

fain pass for a virgin, she shall undergo the ordeal of the syrinx."

When at last we were rid of him, I went out and cleansed my face; it

was now supper-time, and the priest entertained us very hospitably.

I could not summon up courage to look Sostratus in the face, from a

recollection of what had been my conduct towards him, and he perceiving

this, and guessing my feelings, was equally unwilling to look towards

me; Leucippe also sat with downcast eyes, so that the supper was

altogether a very solemn affair. When however the wine circulated, and

reserve began to disappear under the influence of Bacchus, patron

of freedom and ease,[4] the priest, addressing Sostratus, said, "My

worthy guest, will you not favour us with your own history?--it must, I

imagine, contain some interesting passages, and the listening to such

subjects adds zest to the wine." Sostratus readily availed himself of

the opportunity to speak, and replied, "My own story is a very simple

one; you are already acquainted with my name and country, and when I

have added that I am uncle to this young man and father to the maiden,

you have heard all.--Do you, son Clitopho, (turning to me) lay aside

all bashfulness and relate whatever you have to say worth hearing; the

grief and vexation which I have endured is to be attributed to Fortune

not to you; besides, to tell of past troubles when one has escaped from

them, is a source of pleasure rather than of grief."[5]

Upon this, I detailed all the events which had occurred since leaving

Tyre--the voyage, the shipwreck, our being cast upon the coast of

Egypt, our falling among the buccaneers, the carrying off of Leucippe,

the adventures of the false stomach contrived by Menelaus, the passion

conceived for her by the commander, the discovery of the love potion

by Chæreas, Leucippe's second rape by corsairs, and the wound received

by me of which I exhibited the scar. When I approached the subject of

Melitta, I related the story in such a manner as to give an exalted

idea of my own continence, yet without being guilty of any falsehood.

I spoke of her violent passion for me, her urgent but unsuccessful

entreaties to obtain its gratification, her munificent promises, her

grief at being disappointed, our subsequent voyage to Ephesus, the

supper, my sharing her bed, and (invoking at the same time Diana's

name) my rising from her side as pure as one female would from another,

my being seized and put in prison, my false accusation of myself; this

and every other matter I detailed down to the appearance of the Sacred

Embassy, suppressing only the disgrace of my connexion with Melitta.[5]

"Leucippe's adventures," said I, in continuation, "are stranger even

than mine. She has been sold to slavery, has been compelled to labour

in the field, has been despoiled of the honours of her head,[6] of

which you can see the tokens;" and then passing on to the conduct of

Sosthenes and Thersander, I entered much more into detail than I had

done, when speaking of myself. My object in doing this, was to gratify

Leucippe, in the hearing of her father. "She has endured every ill in

her person," said I, "excepting one, and to avoid that one, she has

submitted to all the others; and has continued, to this day, father

(addressing Sostratus), pure as when first you sent her from Byzantium.

It is no merit in me to have abstained from consummating the object for

which we fled; the merit is entirely on her side for having preserved

inviolate her chastity in the midst of villains, nay, against that arch

villain, the shameless and violent Thersander. Our flight from home was

caused by mutual love; but I can assure you, father, that during the

voyage we were quite platonic, our intercourse was no other than that

of a brother and a sister; and if there be such a thing as virginity

in men, I am still a virgin as regards Leucippe; she, long since bound

herself by a vow to Diana.[7]

"Queen of love," ejaculated I, "be not wroth nor deem thyself to have

been slighted by us! we were but unwilling to celebrate our nuptials

in the absence of the maiden's father; he has now happily arrived; be

thou present therefore, and smile propitiously upon us." The priest

had listened open-mouthed to my story, and Sostratus had been shedding

tears during the recital of his daughter's sufferings. "Now that you

have heard the account of our adventures," said I to our host, "I have

a favour to ask of you. What did Thersander's parting words refer to,

when he made mention of the syrinx?"--"You have a right to make the

inquiry," replied he; "and I am both able and willing to comply with

your request. It will be some return for the narrative with which you

have just favoured us. You see the grove in the rear of the temple; in

it is a cave, entrance into which is forbidden to women in general,

but is permitted to maidens who have preserved their purity. A little

within the doors a syrinx is suspended; perhaps you Byzantians are

already acquainted with the nature of this instrument; should it be

otherwise, I will give you a description of it, and will likewise

relate the legend of Pan, with which it is connected.

"The syrinx is composed of a certain number of reed pipes, which

collectively produce the same sounds as a flute; these reeds are placed

in regular order and mutually compacted, presenting the same appearance

on either side; beginning from the shortest, they ascend in gradation

to the longest, and the central one holds a medium proportion between

the two extremities. The principle of this arrangement arises from

the laws of harmony, the two extremes of sound (as well as of length)

are found at either end, and the intervening pipes convey downwards

a gradation of notes so as to combine the first and shrillest with

the last and deepest of all. The same variety of sounds, (as before

observed) are produced by Minerva's flute[8] as by the syrinx of Pan;

but in the former case, the fingers direct the notes, in the latter,

the mouth supplies the place; in the one case, the performer closes

every opening except the one through which the breath is intended to

proceed; in the other case, he leaves open the aperture of every other

reed, and places his mouth upon that one only which he wishes to emit

a sound; his lips leap (as we may say) from reed to reed and dance[9]

along the syrinx; as the laws of harmony require.[10] Now, this syrinx

was originally neither pipe nor reed, but a damsel[11] whose charms

made her most desirable. Smitten by love, Pan pursued her, and she fled

for refuge to a thicket; the god still closely following her, stretched

forth his hand to seize as he supposed her hair, but lo! instead of

hair, he grasped a bunch of reeds, which, so the legend says, sprang

from the earth as she descended into it. Enraged at his disappointment,

Pan cut them down, imagining that they had stolen from him the object

of his love; but when his search after her still proved unavailing, he

supposed the maiden to have been changed into these reeds, and wept

at his hasty act, thinking that in so doing he had caused the death

of his beloved. He then proceeded to collect and place together what

he imagined to be her limbs, and holding them in his hands, continued

to kiss what fancy pictured to be the mangled remains of the maiden's

body. Deeply sighing as he imprinted kisses on the reeds, his sighs

found a passage through these hollow pipes, forming sounds of music,

and thus the syrinx came to have a voice. This instrument Pan suspended

within the cave, and he is said often to resort hither in order to play

upon it. At a period subsequent to the event of which I am speaking,

he conveyed the place as a gift to Diana, upon the condition that

none save a spotless maiden should be allowed to enter it. Whenever

therefore the virginity of any female comes into suspicion, she is

conducted to the entrance of this cavern, and it is left to the syrinx

to pronounce judgment upon her. She enters in her usual dress, and

immediately the doors are closed. If she proves to be a virgin, a

sweetly clear and divinely ravishing sound is heard, caused either by

the air which is there stored up, finding its way into the syrinx,[12]

or by the lips of the god himself. After a short space, the doors open

of their own accord, and the maiden makes her appearance, wearing a

crown of pine leaves. If, on the other hand, the female has falsely

asserted her claim to virginity, the syrinx is silent, and instead of

music, the cave sends forth a doleful sound, upon which those who

attended her to the entrance depart and leave her to her fate. Three

days after, the priestess of the temple enters, and finds the syrinx

fallen to the ground, but the female is no where to be seen. I have

now told you everything, and it is for you maturely to deliberate upon

what course you intend pursuing. If, as I sincerely hope, the maiden

is a virgin, you may fearlessly submit to the ordeal, for the syrinx

has never falsified its character. Should the case be otherwise, it is

needless to suggest what is the safer course; and you well know, what

a female, exposed as she has been to various perils, may have been

compelled to submit to, quite against her will."

Eagerly interrupting the priest, Leucippe said, "You need be under

no alarm on my account, I am quite ready to enter, and be shut up

within the cave."--"I rejoice to hear you say so," replied he, "and I

congratulate you on the good fortune which has preserved your virtue."

As it was near evening we retired to the chambers prepared for us

by the priest; Clinias had not supped with us from fear of being

burdensome to our kind host, but had returned to his former lodgings.

The legend of the syrinx caused Sostratus much uneasiness, as he

evidently feared, that out of regard to him, we had been advancing

undue claims to chastity; perceiving this, I made a sign to Leucippe to

remove as best she could, the suspicions of her father. His anxiety had

not escaped her observation, and even before receiving a hint from me,

she had been devising how to set his mind at rest. Upon embracing him,

therefore, as he retired to rest, "Father," she said, in a low voice,

"you need be under no apprehension; I solemnly swear to you by Diana,

that both of us have spoken nothing but the truth." The following day,

Sostratus and the priest were occupied in performing the object of the

sacred embassy, by offering the victims; the members of the Senate were

present at the solemnity, and hymns of praise resounded in honour of

the goddess. Thersander also was there, and coming to the president he

desired to have his case postponed to the next day, as the condemned

criminal had been set at liberty by some meddling persons, and

Sosthenes could no where be found. His request was complied with, and

we on our part, made every preparation for meeting the charge which was

to be brought against us. When the morning of trial arrived, Thersander

spoke as follows:--"I am utterly at a loss how to begin, and against

whom first to direct my charges; the offence which has given rise to

this trial involves various others equal in importance, and implicates

several parties, and each of their offences might supply matter for a

separate trial; my words must almost unavoidably fail in doing justice

to each division of the subject, and in my eagerness to hasten to some

point hitherto untouched, I must necessarily deal imperfectly with

that upon which I am engaged. How indeed can it be otherwise in a

case like this, wherein is mixed up adultery, impiety, bloodshed and

lawless excesses of every kind! Where adulterers are found murdering

other people's slaves, murderers corrupting other people's wives,

whoremongers and harlots interrupting and disgracing with their

presence holy solemnities and the most sacred places? Nevertheless I

will proceed. You condemned a criminal to death--on account of what

cause, it matters not--you sent him back in chains to prison, there

to be kept until the execution of the sentence; yet this man who is

virtually your prisoner, now stands before you at liberty and attired

in white; aye, and no doubt will venture to raise his voice in order to

declaim against me--or rather, I should say, against you and against

the justice of your verdict. I demand to have the sentence of the Court

read aloud.--There, you have now heard it. 'The sentence of the Court

is that Clitopho be put to death.'--Where then is the executioner? Let

the prisoner be led away, let the hemlock[13] be administered--he is

already dead in law, and has lived a day too long. And now, what excuse

have you to plead, holy and reverend priest? In which of the sacred

laws do you find it laid down that prisoners, duly condemned by a

sentence of the court, and delivered up to chains and death, are to be

rescued and set at liberty? On what grounds do you arrogate to yourself

a power superior to that of the judges and the Court? President! it is

time for you to quit your chair and to abdicate to him your place and

power! Your authority is gone, your decrees are good for nought! He

takes upon himself to reverse the sentence you have passed.--Why any

longer stand among us, sir Priest, as a mere private individual? By all

means go up higher, take your place upon the bench; issue henceforth

your judgments, or if it please you better, your arbitrary and

tyrannical decrees; spurn law and justice under your feet; believe that

you are more than man; claim for yourself worship next after Diana,

since you have already arrogated her peculiar privilege. Hitherto she

alone has afforded sanctuary to suppliants, but to suppliants, be it

remembered, whom the law has not yet condemned;--not those to whom

chains and death have been decreed, for the altar should be a refuge

not to the wicked but to the unfortunate! You, forsooth, liberate a

prisoner; you acquit a condemned criminal! You therefore arrogate a

power superior to that of Diana's self! Who, until now, ever heard of a

murderer and adulterer inhabiting the chamber of a temple, instead of

the dungeon of a prison? A foul adulterer under the same roof with a

virgin goddess, and having for his partner a shameless woman, a slave

and runaway! You it is who have entertained the worthy pair at bed and

board; nay, probably have shared her bed. You have converted the temple

of the goddess into a common brothel. You have made her sanctuary,

a den of whoremongers and harlots; your doings would hardly find a

parallel in the vilest stew! So far as regards these two I have now

done, one will I trust meet with his just deserts, let the sentence of

the law be put in force against the other.

"My second charge is against Melitta for adultery; and here I need not

speak at any length, as it has already been decided that her maids

shall be submitted to the torture, in order to ascertain the truth. I

demand, therefore, to have them produced; and if, after undergoing the

question, they persist in denying their knowledge that the accused has

for a considerable time cohabited with her in my house, not only in the

character of paramour but of husband, then I am bound freely to acquit

her of all blame. But should the contrary be proved, then I claim that

in accordance with the laws she be deprived of her marriage portion,

and that it be given up to me,[14] in which case the prisoner must

suffer death, the punishment awarded to adulterers. Whether, however,

he shall suffer under this charge or as a murderer, matters little;

he is guilty of both crimes, and though suffering punishment will, in

fact, be evading justice,[15]--for whereas he owes two deaths, he will

have paid but one. One other subject there remains for me to touch

upon: this slave of mine and her respectable pretended father. I shall,

however, reserve what I have to say on this head until you have come to

a decision respecting the other parties."

Thersander having now ended, it was for the priest to speak. He

was possessed of eloquence, and had in him a large share of the

Aristophanic vein; accordingly he attacked Thersander's debauched

manner of life with great wit and humour. "By the goddess," said he,

"it is the sign of having a foul tongue, thus shamelessly to rail

against honest folks,--but it is nothing new to this worthy gentleman,

for throughout his life the filthiness of his tongue has been

notorious.[16] The season of his youth was passed among the lewdest of

mankind, among whom he gave himself up to the most abandoned practices,

and while affecting gravity, sobriety, and a regard for learning, his

body was made the slave of all impurity. After a time he left his

father's house, and hired a miserable lodging, where he took up his

abode. And how do you suppose he earned his living? Why, partly by

strolling about the town and singing ballads, partly by receiving at

home fellows like himself, for purposes which I shall not now name. All

this time he was supposed to be cultivating his mind, and improving

his education; whereas, accomplished hypocrite! he was but throwing

a veil over his iniquities. Even in the wrestling school his manner

while anointing his body, and his attitudes, and his always choosing

to engage in wrestling with the stoutest and comeliest of the youths,

showed his detestable propensities. Such was his character during

his youthful days. Upon arriving at manhood, he threw off the mask,

and exhibited before the eyes of all the vices which hitherto he had

endeavoured to keep concealed.

"As he could no longer turn any other part of his body to account,

he determined thenceforth to exercise his tongue, and admirably has

he succeeded in sharpening it upon the whetstone of impurity,[17]

making his mouth the vehicle for shameless speech, pouring out its

torrents of abuse on every one, and having his effrontery stamped upon

his very face, he has gone the length (as you have seen) of coarsely

insulting in your presence an individual whom you have honoured with

the priesthood. Were I a stranger to you, and had not my life been

passed among you, I should deem it necessary to dwell upon my own

character, and that of my usual associates; but there is no occasion

for doing this. You well know how opposite has been my way of living

to the slanderous imputations which he has cast upon me. I therefore

pass on at once to his recent charges. I have set at liberty, he says,

a convicted criminal; and upon these grounds he proceeds to inveigh

bitterly against me, and applies to me the epithet of tyrant, and I

know not how many other hard words. Now a tyrant is one who oppresses

the innocent, not one who steps forward to defend the victim of false

accusation. What law, I demand, sanctioned your committing this young

man to prison? Before what tribunal had he been condemned? What judge

had pronounced his sentence? Granting the truth of every charge

advanced against him, he has at all events a right to a fair trial;

he has a right to be heard in his own defence; he has a right to be

legally convicted! If need be, let the law (which is supreme over all

alike,) imprison him; until it has altered its decrees not one of us

can claim authority over another. But if proceedings such as we have

seen, are to be countenanced, it would be advisable at once to close

the courts, to abolish the tribunals, to depose the magistrates. With

far greater justice may I retort against him the expressions which

he has employed respecting me. I may say, President, make way for

Thersander, for your presidentship is but an empty name,--it is he who

really exercises your powers; nay, more, exercises powers which you do

not possess. You have assessors, without whose concurrence you can pass

no sentence. You can exercise no authority except upon the judgment

seat; you cannot sit at home and condemn a man to chains and prisons.

This worshipful gentleman, however, is both judge and jury;[18] all

offices are, forsooth, concentrated in his single person; he makes

his house his court of justice; there he inflicts his punishments;

thence he issues his decrees and condemns a man to chains; and to

make matters yet better, he holds his court at night![19] And what

is it which now finds employment for his lungs? 'You have set free,'

he says, 'a criminal condemned to death.' I ask, What death? I ask,

What criminal?--for what crime condemned? 'For murder,' he replies. A

murderer! Where, then, is the murdered victim? She whom you declared to

have been done to death, stands before you alive and well. The charge,

therefore, at once falls to the ground, for you cannot consider this

maiden as an airy phantom, sent up by Pluto from the realms below! You

are yourself a murderer,--aye, and a double murderer. Her you have

slain by lying words; him you wished in reality to slay. I may add her

also; for we know of your doings in the country. The great goddess

Diana has, however, happily preserved them both, by delivering the

maiden from the hands of Sosthenes, and this young man from you. As

for Sosthenes, you have purposely got him out of the way, in order to

escape detection. Are you not ashamed to have your charges against

these strangers proved to be the vilest calumnies? What I have said

will have sufficed to clear myself; the defence of the strangers I

shall leave to others."

An advocate of considerable reputation as an orator, and a member

of the senate, was about to address the court on behalf of me and

Melitta, when he was interrupted by one of Thersander's counsel, named

Sopater:--"Brother Nicostralus," said he, "I must claim the right of

being first heard against this adulterous couple; it will be your turn

to reply afterwards.

"What Thersander said related only to the priest, and scarcely

touched upon the case of the prisoner; and when I shall prove him to

be richly deserving of a two-fold death, then will be the time for

you to rebut my charges." Then, stroking his chin, and with a great

flourish of words, he proceeded:--"We have listened to the buffoonery

of this priest, venting his scurrilous falsehoods against Thersander,

and endeavouring to turn against him the language so justly directed

against himself. Now, I maintain, that throughout Thersander has

adhered to truth; the priest has taken upon himself to liberate a

prisoner; he has received a harlot beneath his roof; he has been on

friendly terms with an adulterer. Not a word has he uttered against

Thersander but what savours of the vilest calumny, but if anything

especially becomes a priest, surely it is to keep a civil tongue

in his head,--and in saying this I am but borrowing his own words.

However, after edifying us with his wit and jests, he went on to adopt

a tragic strain, and bitterly inveighed against us for handcuffing an

adulterer, and sending him to prison. I wonder what it cost to kindle

in him this prodigious warmth of zeal? Methinks I can give a tolerably

shrewd guess. He has looked with a longing eye upon the features

of these two shameless guests of his; the wench is handsome, the

youth has a goodly countenance; both are well suited for the private

pleasures of a priest! Which of the two best served your turn? At any

rate you all slept together; you all got drunk together; and there

are no witnesses to depose how your nights were passed. I sadly fear

me that Diana's fane has been perverted into Aphrodite's temple! It

will furnish matter for future discussion whether you are fit to be

a priest. As to my client Thersander, every one knows that from his

earliest years he has been a pattern of sobriety and virtue; no sooner

was he arrived at manhood, than he contracted a marriage according to

the laws; his choice was indeed unfortunate, and trusting to her rank

and wealth, he found himself the husband of a wife very different from

what he had expected. There can be little doubt that she long ago went

astray, unknown to this most exemplary of men; it is plain enough that

latterly she has cast off all shame, and has indulged her disgraceful

propensities to the utmost. No sooner had her husband set out on a long

voyage than she thought it a favourable opportunity for indulging her

loose desires; and then it was that, unfortunately for her, she lighted

upon this 'masculine whore;'[20] a paramour who among women is a man,

and among men a woman.

"Not content to cohabit with him in impunity in a foreign land, she

must needs transport him with her over an extent of sea, and on the

voyage must needs take her lascivious sport in the sight of all the

passengers. O, shameless adultery, in which sea and land, had both

a share. Ο shameless adultery, prolonged even from Egypt to Ionia!

Generally, when women are guilty of adultery they confine themselves

to a single act, or if they repeat their crime, it is with every

precaution which may ensure concealment. In the present case, however,

she commits the sin by sound of trumpet, if I may so say. The adulterer

is known to every one in Ephesus, and she herself is not ashamed to

have brought him hither like so much merchandise; making an investment

in good looks, taking in a paramour by way of freight! She will say,

'I concluded my husband to be dead.' 'In that case,' I reply, 'were

your husband dead, you would be free from criminality, for there would

then be no sufferer by the adulterous act, nor is any dishonour cast on

marriage if the husband is no longer in existence; but if the husband

be alive, the marriage bond is still in force, his rights over his wife

continue, and he has, by her criminality, suffered a grievous wrong.'"

Thersander here interrupted him, "It is needless to examine any one

by torture, as was formerly proposed. I offer two challenges: one to

this wife of mine, Melitta; the other to the pretended daughter of

this ambassador, who is lawfully my slave." He then read aloud; "I

Thersander challenge Melitta and Leucippe (such I understand is the

strumpet's name) to submit to the following ordeal:--If the former,

as she asserts, has had no intercourse with this stranger during the

period of my absence, let her go unto the sacred fountain of the Styx,

declare her innocence upon oath, and then stand acquitted of any

further guilt. Let the latter, if free-born and no longer a maiden,

remain my slave, for the temple of the goddess affords sanctuary to

slaves alone; if, on the other hand, she asserts herself to be a

virgin, let her be shut into the cave of the syrinx." We immediately

accepted this challenge, being already aware that it would be made.

Melitta, likewise conscious that nothing improper had taken place

during the actual absence of Thersander, said, "I accept the challenge;

and will here add, that during the period referred to I had criminal

intercourse with no one, whether foreigner or citizen; and I will ask

you," addressing Thersander, "to what penalty will you submit, provided

the charge prove groundless and calumnious?"--"I will submit to

whatever the law decrees," was his reply. The court then broke up, the

following day being appointed for the respective ordeals referred to in

the challenge. The following is the legend of the Stygian fountain:--

"There was once a beauteous maiden, named Rhodopis, whose supreme

delight was in the chase. She was swift of foot, unerring in her

aim; she wore a head-band, had her robe girt up to the knee, and her

hair short, after the fashion of men. Diana met her, bestowed many

commendations on her, and made her her companion in the chase. The

maiden bound herself by oath to observe perpetual virginity, to avoid

the company of men, and never to humiliate herself by submitting to

amorous indulgence.[21] Venus overheard the oath, and was incensed

at it, and determined to punish the damsel for her presumption.

There happened to be a youth of Ephesus, named Euthynicus, as much

distinguished among men for beauty as Rhodopis was among those of her

own sex. He was as ardently devoted to the chase as the maiden, and

like her was averse to the delights of love. One day when Diana was

absent, Venus contrived to make the game which they were following

run in the same direction; then addressing her archer son, she said,

'Do you see yon frigid and unloving pair, enemies to us and to our

mysteries? The maiden has even gone the length of registering an oath

against me! Do you see them both following a hind? Join the chase, and

begin by making an example of the maiden;--your arrows never miss.'

Both at the same moment bend their bows,--she against the hind, but

Cupid against her,--and both hit the mark, but the successful huntress

herself becomes a victim; her arrow pierces the shoulder of the deer,

but Cupid's shaft penetrates her heart, and the result of the wound was

love for Euthynicus. Cupid then aims a shaft at him, and with the same

effect. For a time they stand and gaze upon each other; their eyes are

fascinated; they cannot turn away;[22] gradually their inward wounds

become inflamed; the fire kindles,[23] and love urges their steps to

the cavern where now the fountain flows, and there they violate their

oath.[24] Diana soon after saw Venus laughing, and readily comprehended

what had taken place, and as a punishment changed the maiden into a

fountain, upon the spot where her chastity was lost. For this reason,

when any female is suspected of impurity, she is made to step into

the fountain, which is shallow, reaching only to midleg, and then it

is that the ordeal takes place. The oath declarative of chastity is

written on a tablet, and suspended from her neck; if truly sworn, the

fountain remains unmoved; if falsely taken, it swells and rages, rises

to her neck, and flows over the tablet."

Next morning a great concourse assembled, and at the head came

Thersander, with a confident expression of countenance, and looking at

us with a contemptuous smile. Leucippe was attired in a sacred robe

of fine white linen, reaching to the feet and girded about her waist;

round her head she had a purple fillet, and her feet were bare. She

entered the cavern with an air of becoming modesty. Upon seeing her

disappear within, I was overcome by agitation, and said mentally, "I

doubt not your chastity, dearest Leucippe, but I am afraid of Pan;

he is a virgin-loving god, and for aught I know, you may become a

second syrinx. His former mistress easily escaped him, for her course

lay over an open plain; whereas you are shut up within doors, and so

blockaded that flight is out of the question, however much you may

wish to fly. Ο Pan! be thou propitious; do not violate the statutes

of the place, which we have religiously observed; grant that Leucippe

may again return to us a virgin; remember thy compact with Diana, and

do no injury to the maiden." While talking to myself in this manner,

sounds of music proceeded from the cavern, more ravishingly sweet, I

was assured, than had been heard on any former occasion: the doors

were immediately opened, and when Leucippe sprang forth, the multitude

shouted with delight, and vented execrations upon Thersander. What my

own feelings were, I cannot pretend to describe. After gaining this

first signal triumph, we left the spot, and proceeded to the place

which was to be the scene of the remaining ordeal, the people following

again to behold the spectacle. Everything was in readiness, the tablet

was suspended to Melitta's neck, and she descended into the shallow

fountain with a smiling countenance. No change was perceptible in the

water, which remained perfectly still, and did not in the slightest

degree exceed its usual depth, and at the expiration of the allotted

time the president came forward, and taking Melitta by the hand,

conducted her out of the fountain. Thersander, already twice defeated,

and surely anticipating a third defeat, took to his heels and fled to

his own house, fearing that the people would, in their fury, stone him.

His apprehensions were well founded, for some young men were seen at a

distance dragging Sosthenes along; two of them were Melitta's kinsmen,

and the others were servants, whom she had despatched in quest of him.

Thersander had caught sight of him, and feeling sure that when put to

the torture he would confess everything, he secretly left the city,

as soon as night came on. Sosthenes was committed to prison by order

of the magistrates, and we returned triumphant upon every point, and

accompanied by the shouts and good wishes of the people.

Next morning they whose business it was[25] conducted Sosthenes before

the magistrates. Aware that he was about to be put to the question, he

made a full confession of everything, stating how far Thersander had

been the prime agent, and how far he had himself assisted in carrying

out his schemes! nor did he omit to repeat the conversation which had

taken place between his master and him before the cottage-door. He

was sent back to prison there to await his sentence, and a decree of

banishment was pronounced against Thersander. When this business was

concluded, we again returned to the hospitable dwelling of the priest,

and while at supper resumed the subject of our former conversation,

mutually relating any incidents which had previously been omitted.

Leucippe, now that the purity of her character was fully established,

no longer stood in awe of her father, but took pleasure in narrating

the events which had befallen her. When she came to that part of her

story which referred to Pharos and the pirates, I requested her to give

us every particular about them, and especially to explain the riddle of

the severed head, as this alone was wanting to complete the history of

her adventures. "The recital will interest us all," I said, "especially

your father."

"The unhappy female to whom you allude," replied Leucippe, "was one of

that class who sell their charms for money. She was inveigled on board,

under pretence of becoming the wife of a sea captain, and remained

there in ignorance of the real cause for which she had been brought,

passing her time in the company of one of the pirates, who pretended

to have a passion for her. When I was seized, they placed me, as you

saw, in a boat, and rowed off with all their might; and afterwards

when they perceived that the vessel despatched in pursuit was gaining

upon them, they stripped the wretched woman of her clothes, which they

put on me, making her dress herself in mine; then placing her at the

stern in sight of the pursuers, they cut off her head and cast the body

overboard, doing the same with the head, when the pursuit was given

up. Whether she had been brought on board for the above purpose, or in

order to be sold, as they afterwards told me, I cannot say; certain

it is that she was put to death by way of eluding the pursuers, the

pirates imagining that I should fetch more money as a slave than she

would do. It was this determination on their part which earned his

just reward for Chæreas, who had suggested the murder of the female in

place of me. The pirates refused to let him retain exclusive possession

of me, saying that on his account one woman had already been lost to

them, who would have been a source of gain. They proposed, therefore,

that I should be sold to make up the loss, and that the money should

be equally divided. He replied in an angry and threatening manner,

asserting his prior claims, and reminding them of their compact, and

that I had been carried off, not in order to be sold, but to be his

mistress. Upon this, one of the pirates came behind him, and dealt him

his measure of justice by striking off his head and flinging his body

into the sea,--a worthy requital of his perfidious conduct towards me.

"After two days' sail, the pirates put in at some place, the name of

which I do not know, where they sold me to a merchant who used to

traffic with them, and from his hands I passed into the possession of

Sosthenes."

"My children," said Sostratus, when Leucippe had concluded, "I will

now relate what has happened to Calligone, for it is but fair that I

should contribute my share to the conversation."[26] Upon hearing my

sister's name mentioned, I became all attention, and said, "Prithee,

sir, proceed; I shall rejoice to hear that she is still alive." He

commenced by repeating what has already been mentioned respecting

Callisthenes, the oracle given to the Byzantians, the sacred embassy

sent to Tyre, and the stratagem for carrying off Calligone. He went on

to say: "Callisthenes discovered during the voyage that she was not my

daughter; but although matters had thus turned out quite contrary to

his intentions, he conceived a strong passion for his fair captive, and

throwing himself at her knees: 'Lady,' he said, 'do not imagine that I

am a corsair or a villain; I am of good birth, and second in rank to

none in Byzantium. It is Love who has compelled me to turn pirate, and

to employ this stratagem against you. Deign, therefore, to consider

me your slave from this day forth. I offer you my hand in marriage.

You shall have for your dowry more wealth than your father would have

bestowed upon you, and you shall preserve your maiden state so long as

you may please.'

"By means of these, and other insinuating words, he brought her to

look favourably upon him, for he was handsome in person and possessed

a flow of persuasive language. Upon arriving at Byzantium he had a

deed drawn up assigning her an ample dowry; he then proceeded to make

other preparations, purchased for her splendid dresses, jewellery and

ornaments, in short, whatsoever was required for the wardrobe and

toilette of a lady of rank and wealth. Having done this, he abstained

from soliciting her virtue, and in fulfilment of his promise allowed

her to remain a maiden, and thus he gradually won her affections. In

a short time, quite a wonderful alteration took place in the young

man; he became conciliatory in manner, and prudent and orderly in his

mode of living; he shewed respect by rising up before his elders,[27]

and was the first courteously to salute any whom he met; his former

indiscriminate profusion, which had been mere lavish prodigality, now

became wisely directed liberality, choosing for its objects those who

were suffering from poverty and required assistance.

"All who remembered his former and dissolute course of life were amazed

at this sudden change. He shewed me the most marked attention, and I

could not help loving him and attributing his former conduct more to

an excess of open-heartedness than to any actual vicious propensities,

and I called to mind the case of Themistocles, who after a youth

spent in licentiousness, in after life excelled all his countrymen

in soundness of judgment and many virtues.[28] I really felt sorry

at having repulsed him, when he was a suitor for my daughter's hand,

he treated me with so much respect, giving me the title of father,

and escorting me[29] whenever I had occasion to go through the forum.

He likewise took great interest in military exercises, especially in

what related to the cavalry department; he had always been fond of

horses, but hitherto merely to indulge his love of amusement and his

luxurious tastes; yet though actuated by no higher motives, he had been

unconsciously fostering the seeds of skill and courage; and eventually

his chief ambition was to distinguish himself by valour and ability

in the field. He contributed largely from his own private resources

the expenses of the war, and was elected my colleague in command,

in which position he shewed me a still greater degree of attention

and deference. When at length, victory declared itself on our side,

through the visible intervention of the deity,[30] we returned to

Byzantium, and it was decreed, that the public thanks of the State

should be conveyed to Hercules and Diana, for which purpose he was to

proceed to Tyre, while I was despatched to this city. Before setting

out Callisthenes took me by the hand and related every particular

respecting Calligone. 'Father,' he said, 'the impetuosity of youth led

me away in the first instance; but in the course which since then,

I have pursued, deliberate choice and principle have influenced my

actions. I have scrupulously respected the maiden's honour, during a

time of war and confusion when men are generally least inclined to

deny themselves the indulgence of their desires. My intention is now

to conduct her to her father's house, at Tyre; and then to claim her

for my bride, at her father's hand, in accordance with the law.[31] I

have made an ample settlement upon her, and shall consider myself most

fortunate, if he grants my suit; if, on the contrary, I meet with a

repulse he will receive back his daughter as pure as when she left his

home.'

"I will now read you a friendly letter, which--feeling anxious that the

marriage should be concluded--I addressed to my brother, before the

termination of the war, in which I mentioned the rank of Callisthenes,

and bore testimony to his good birth, the honourable position which he

had attained, and his eminent services in the field. If we gain our

cause in the new trial[32] moved by Thersander, I propose, first of all

to sail to Byzantium, and afterwards to proceed to Tyre."

Clinias came to us next day, with the intelligence that Thersander

had secretly left the city, that his object in appealing from the

recent decision was but a pretext to gain time, and that he had no

intention of following up the case. After waiting three days, the

period appointed for taking fresh proceedings,[33] we appeared before

the President, and having satisfactorily proved by reference to the

statutes, that Thersander had no longer any legal ground against us,

we embarked and enjoyed a favourable voyage to Byzantium, where our

long-desired nuptials took place. A short time after, we sailed to

Tyre, which we reached two days after the arrival of Callisthenes,

and where I found my father preparing to celebrate my sister's wedding

on the following day. We were present on the occasion, and assisted

at the religious ceremonial, offering up our united prayers that both

our marriages might be crowned with happiness; and we arranged, after

wintering at Ephesus, to proceed to Byzantium in the spring.

[Footnote 1: τρίδουλος, a slave through three generations.

"ἐὸν τρίτης ἐγὼ μητρὸς φανῶ τριδουλος."

Soph. Œd. Tyr. 1054.

]

[Footnote 2: ἐv τοῖς τῆς αὐλαίας χωρίοις. In temples, curtains

served more especially to veil the statue of the divinity:--"Dum

velis candentibua reductis in diversum, Deæ venerabilem conspectum

apprecamur."--Apul. Met. xi.]

[Footnote 3:

"ἤκουσιν ἐς γῆν κυανέαν Συμπληγάδα

πλάτῃ φυγόντες δίπτυχοι νεaνίaι

θεᾷ φίλον πρόσφαγμα καὶ θντήριον

Άρτἐμιδι."--Iph. in Tauris, 230.

]

[Footnote 4:

"Tu lene tormentum ingenio admoves

Plerumque duro; tu sapientium

Curas et arcanam jocoso

Consilium retegis Lyæo."--Hor. iii.; Od. xxi. 1.

]

[Footnote 5: τὴν πρὸς Μελίττην αἰδώ.]

[Footnote 6: "If a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her; for her

hair is given her for a covering."--1 Cor. xi. 15.

Apuleius, Met. B. ii. has a remarkable passage illustrative of the

indispensableness of a fine head of hair to constitute perfect female

beauty. "Si cujuslibet eximiæ pulcherrimæque feminæ caput capillo

spoliaveris et faciem nativâ specie nudaveris, licet illa cœlo dejecta,

mari edita, fluctibus educata, licet, inquam Venus ipsa fuerit, licet

omni Gratiarum choro stipata, et toto Cupidinum populo comitata

et baltheo suo cincta, cinnama fragrans et balsama rorans, calva

processerit, placere non poterit nec Vulcano suo."]

[Footnote 7: See the beginning of B. iv. where Diana enjoins upon

Leucippe the preservation of her chastity.]

[Footnote 8: ὁ τῆς Ἀθηνᾰς αἰλὸς.]

[Footnote 9: μεταπηδᾶ--χορεύει.]

[Footnote 10: Throughout this description of the syrinx, the Greek

text is very corrupt: "locus graviter afflictus," is the expression

of Jacobs, who gives four closely printed octavo pages of notes, to

elucidate its difficulties. The translator has endeavoured to give,

what (after a comparison of the notes) appeared to him the true sense.]

[Footnote 11: See the same legend, towards the end of Longus, B. ii.]

[Footnote 12: τoῦ τόπου πνεῦμα ἔχοντος μουσικὸν εἰς τὸν σύριγγα

ταμιεῖον.]

[Footnote 13: "sorbitio--dira cicutæ."--Persius, S. iv. 2.]

[Footnote 14: By the Roman law, a woman convicted of adultery

was mulcted in half her dowry (_dos_) and the third part of her

property (_bona_), and banished to some miserable island, such as

Seriphos.--Dict. of Grk. and Rom. Antiq.]

[Footnote 15: δίκην δεδωκὼς οὐ δέδωκε.]

[Footnote 16: Here and elsewhere in the address of the worthy priest

of Diana occur equivoques, which, owing, to the genius of the English

language and a regard for decency are incapable of and unfit for

translation. The commentators illustrate the passage referred to in

this note by an epigram of Martial, iii. 80.

"De nulli quereris, nulli maledicis, Apici;

Rumor ait, linguæ te tamen esse malæ."

]

[Footnote 17: eἰς ἀσέλγειαν ἀκονᾷ.]

[Footnote 18: πάντα ἑαυτοῦ γίνεται, δήμος, βουλή, πρόεδρος, στρατηγός.]

[Footnote 19: Among the Greeks legal proceedings terminated at sunset;

nor could decrees of the senate, among the Romans, be passed after

that time; hence we find as terms of reproach: "Senatus consulta

_vespertina_," in Cicero; and "advocati nocturni" in Petronius.]

[Footnote 20: πόρνος:--the word given as a translation, is found in

"Troilus and Cressida."]

[Footnote 21:

"... she'll not be hit

With Cupid's arrow,...

And, in strong proof of chastity well arm'd,

From love's weak childish bow she lives unharm'd

She will not stay the siege of loving terms,

Nor bide the encounter of assailing eyes."

Romeo and Juliet.

]

[Footnote 22: The reader will call to mind the "love at first sight"

of Theagenes and Chariclea, so well described in the Third Book of the

Ethiopics.]

[Footnote 23:

"For, oh, Love's bow,

Shoots buck and doe;

The shaft confounds,

Not that it wounds,

But tickles still the sore."

Troilus and Cressida.

]

[Footnote 24: Compare Æneid, B. iv. 115-126.]

[Footnote 25: ὁι τἂύτην ἔχοντες τἠν πίστιν.]

[Footnote 26: ἵνα μὴ ἀσυμβολήσω μυθολογίας παντάπασι.]

[Footnote 27:

"Credebant hoc grande nefas et morte piandum

Si juvenis vetulo non adsurrexerat."--Juv. xiii. 54.

]

[Footnote 28: "Omnium postea Graii sanguinis virorum clarissimus

extitit."--Val. Max. vi. 15. 2.]

[Footnote 29: ἐδορυφόρει--"quod honoris causâ fiebat a

clientibus."--Jacobs.]

[Footnote 30: The appearance of Diana is mentioned in B. vii.]

[Footnote 31: The law referred to in B. ii.]

[Footnote 32: ἢν τὴν ἔφεσιν ἀγωνισώμεθα.

Ἔφεσις, an appeal in order to obtain a new trial, vide Dict. of Greek

and Rom. Antiq. p. 62.

Jacobs observes that the original is here probably imperfect, no

previous mention having been made of a new trial.--&c.]

[Footnote 33: προθεσμία. The term limited for bringing actions and

prosecutions at Athens.--Dict. of Greek and Roman Antiq. p. 797.]

THE END.