Night brought little sleep to Cleopatra. Memory followed memory, plan
was added to plan. The resolve made the day before was the right one.
To-day she would begin its execution. Whatever might happen, she was
prepared for every contingency.
Ere she went to her work she granted a second audience to the Roman
envoy. Timagenes exerted all his powers of eloquence, skill in
persuasion, wit, and ingenuity. He again promised to Cleopatra life and
liberty, and to her children the throne; but when he insisted upon the
surrender or death of Mark Antony as the first condition of any further
negotiations, Cleopatra remained steadfast, and the ambassador set forth
on his way home without any pledge.
After he had gone, the Queen and Iras looked over the plans for the tomb
brought by Gorgias, but the intense agitation of her soul distracted
Cleopatra's attention, and she begged him to come again at a later hour.
When she was alone, she took out the letters which Cæsar and Antony had
written to her. How acute, subtle, and tender were those of the former;
how ardent, impassioned, yet sincere were those of the mighty and fiery
orator, whose eloquence swept the listening multitudes with him, yet
whom her little hand had drawn wherever she desired!
Her heart throbbed faster when she thought of the meeting with Antony,
now close at hand; for Charmian had gone with the Nubian to invite him
to join her again. They had started several hours ago, and she awaited
their return with increasing impatience. She had summoned him for their
last mutual battle. That he would come she did not doubt. But could she
succeed in rekindling his courage? Two persons so closely allied should
sink and perish, still firmly united, in the final battle, if victory
was denied.
Archibius was now announced.
It soothed her merely to gaze into the faithful countenance, which
recalled so many of her happiest memories.
She opened her whole soul to him without reserve, and he drew himself up
to his full height, as if restored to youth; while when she told him
that she would never sully herself by treachery to her lover and
husband, and had resolved to die worthy of her name, the expression of
his eyes revealed that she had chosen the right path.
Ere she had made the request that he should undertake the education and
guidance of the children, he voluntarily proposed to devote his best
powers to them. The plan of uniting Didymus's garden with the Lochias
and giving it to the little ones also met with his approval. His sister
had already told him that Cleopatra had determined to build her tomb. He
hoped, he added, that its doors would not open to her for many years.
She shook her head sorrowfully, exclaiming: "Would that I could read
every face as I do yours! My friend Archibius wishes me a long life, if
any one does; but he is as wise as he is faithful, and therefore will
consider that earthly life is by no means a boon in every case. Besides,
he says to himself: 'Events are impending over this Queen and woman, my
friend, which will perhaps render it advisable to make use of the great
privilege which the immortals bestow on human beings when it becomes
desirable for them to leave the stage of life. So let her build her
tomb.' Have I read the old familiar book aright?"
"On the whole, yes," he answered gravely. "But it is inscribed upon its
pages that a great princess and faithful mother can be permitted to set
forth on the last journey, whence there is no return, only when----"
"When," she interrupted, "a shameful end threatens to fall upon the fair
beginning and brilliant middle period, as a swarm of locusts darkens the
air and devours and devastates the fields. I know it, and will act
accordingly."
"And," added Archibius, "this end also (faithful to your nature) you
will shape regally.--On my way here I met my sister near the Choma. You
sent her to your husband. He will grasp the proffered hand. Now that it
is necessary to stake everything or surrender, the grandson of Herakles
will again display his former heroic power. Perhaps, stimulated and
encouraged by the example of the woman he loves, he will even force
hostile Fate to show him fresh favour."
"Destiny will pursue its course," interrupted Cleopatra firmly. "But
Antony must help me to heap fresh obstacles in the pathway, and when he
wishes to use his giant strength, what masses of rock his mighty arm can
hurl!"
"And if your lofty spirit smooths the path for him, then, my royal
mistress----"
"Even then the close of the tragedy will be death, and every scene a
disappointment. Was not the plan of bringing the fleet across the
isthmus bold and full of promise? Even the professional engineers
greeted it with applause, and yet it proved impracticable. Destiny dug
its grave. And the terrible omens before and after Actium, and the
stars--the stars! Everything points to speedy destruction, everything!
Every hour brings news of the desertion of some prince or general. As if
from a watch-tower, I now overlook what is growing from the seed I
sowed. Sterile ears or poisonous vegetation, wherever I turn my eyes.
And yet! You, who know my life from its beginning, tell me--must I veil
my head in shame when the question is asked, what powers of intellect,
what talents industry, and desire for good Cleopatra displayed?"
"No, my royal mistress, a thousand times no!"
"Yet the fruit of every tree I planted degenerated and decayed.
Cæsarion is withering in the flower of his youth--by whose fault I know
only too well. You will now take charge of the education of the other
children. So it is for you to consider what brought me where I now
stand, and how to guard their life-bark from wandering and shipwreck."
"Let me train them to be human beings," replied Archibius gravely, "and
preserve them from the desire to enter the lists with the gods. From the
simple Cleopatra in the garden of Epicurus, who was a delight to the
good and wise, you became the new Isis, to whom the multitude raised
hearts, eyes, and hands, dazzled and blinded. We will transfer the
twins, Helios and Selene, the sun and the moon, from heaven to earth;
they must become mortals--Greeks. I will not transplant them to the
garden of Epicurus, but to another, where the air is more bracing. The
inscription on its portals shall not be, 'Here pleasure is the chief
good,' but 'This is an arena for character.' He who leaves this garden
shall not owe to it the yearning for happiness and comfort, but an
immovably steadfast moral discipline. Your children, like yourself, were
born in the East, which loves what is monstrous, superhuman,
exaggerated. If you entrust them to me, they must learn to govern
themselves. At the helm stands moral earnestness, which, however, does
not exclude the joyous cheerfulness natural to our people; the sails
will be trimmed by moderation, the noblest quality of the Greek nation."
"I understand," Cleopatra interrupted, with drooping head. "Interwoven
with the means of securing the children's welfare, you set before the
mother's eyes the qualities she has lacked. I know that long ago you
abandoned the teachings of Epicurus and the Stoa, and with an earnest
aim before your eyes sought your own paths. The tempest of life swept me
far away from the quiet garden where we sought the purest delight. Now I
have learned to know the perils which threaten those who see the chief
good in happiness. It stands too high for mortals, for in the changeful
stir of life it remains unattainable, and yet it is too low an aim for
their struggles, for there are worthier objects. Yet one saying of
Epicurus we both believed, and it has always stood us in good stead:
'Wisdom can obtain no more precious contribution to the happiness of
mortal life than the possession of friendship.'"
She held out her hand as she spoke, and while, deeply agitated, he
raised it to his lips, she went on: "You know I am on the eve of the
last desperate battle--if the gods will--shoulder to shoulder with
Antony. Therefore I shall not be permitted to watch your work of
education; yet I will aid it. When the children question you about their
mother, you will be obliged to restrain yourself from saying: 'Instead
of striving for the painless peace of mind, the noble pleasure of
Epicurus, which once seemed to her the highest good, she constantly
pursued fleeting amusements. The Oriental recklessly squandered her once
noble gifts of intellect and the wealth of her people, yielded to the
hasty impulses of her passionate nature.' But you shall also say to
them: 'Your mother's heart was full of ardent love, she scorned what was
base, strove for the highest goal, and when she fell, preferred death to
treachery and disgrace.'"
Here she paused, for she thought she heard footsteps approaching, and
then exclaimed anxiously: "I am waiting--expecting. Perhaps Antony
cannot escape from the paralyzing grasp of despair. To fight the last
battle without him, and yet under the gaze of his wrathful, gloomy eyes,
once so full of sunshine, would be the greatest sorrow of my life.
Archibius, I may confess this to you, the friend who saw love for this
man develop in the breast of the child---- But what does this mean? An
uproar! Have the people rebelled? Yesterday the representatives of the
priesthood, the members of the museum, and the leaders of the army
assured me of their changeless fidelity and love. Dion belonged to the
Macedonian men of the Council; yet I have already declared, in
accordance with the truth, that I never intended to persecute him on
Cæsarion's account. I do not even know--and do not desire to know--the
refuge of the lately wedded pair. Or has the new tax levied, the command
to seize the treasures of the temple, driven them to extremities? What
am I to do? We need gold to bid the foe defiance, to preserve the
independence of the throne, the country, and the people. Or have tidings
from Rome----? It is becoming serious--and the noise is growing louder."
"Let me see what they want," Archibius anxiously interrupted, hastening
to the door; but just at that moment the Introducer opened it, crying,
"Mark Antony is approaching the Lochias, attended by half Alexandria!"
"The noble Imperator is returning!" fell from the bearded lips of the
commander of the guard, ere the courtier's words had died away; and even
while he spoke Iras pressed past him, shrieking as if half frantic: "He
is coming! He is here! I knew he would come! How they are shouting and
cheering! Out with you, men! If you are willing, my royal mistress, we
will greet him from the balcony of Berenike. If we only had----"
"The twins--little Alexander!" interrupted Cleopatra, with blanched face
and faltering voice. "Put on their festal garments."
"Quick--the children, Zoe!" cried Iras, completing the order and
clapping her hands. Then she turned to the Queen with the entreaty: "Be
calm, my royal mistress, be calm, I beseech you. We have ample time.
Here is the vulture crown of Isis, and here the other. Antony's slave,
Eros, has just come in, panting for breath. The Imperator, he says, will
appear as the new Dionysus. It would certainly please his master--though
he had not commissioned him to request it--if you greeted him as the new
Isis.--Help me, Hathor. Nephoris, tell the usher to see that the
fan-bearers and the other attendants, women and men, are in their
places.--Here are the pearl and diamond necklaces for your throat and
bosom. Take care of the robe. The transparent bombyx is as delicate as a
cobweb, and if you tear it---- No, you must not refuse. We all know how
it pleases him to see his goddess in divine majesty and beauty."
Cleopatra, with glowing cheeks and throbbing heart, made no further
objection to donning the superb festal robe, strewn with glimmering
pearls and glittering gems. It would have been more in harmony with her
feelings to meet the returning Antony in the plain, dark garb which,
since her arrival at home, she had exchanged for a richer one only on
festal occasions; but Antony was coming as the new Dionysus, and Eros
knew what would please his master.
Eight nimble hands, which were often aided by Iras's skilful fingers,
toiled busily, and soon the latter could hold up the mirror before
Cleopatra, exclaiming from the very depths of her heart, "Like the
foam-born Aphrodite and the golden Hathor!"
Then Iras, who, in adorning her beloved mistress, had forgotten love,
hate, and envy, and amid her eager haste barely found time for a brief,
fervent prayer for a happy issue of this meeting, threw the broad
folding-doors as wide as if she were about to reveal to the worshippers
in the temple the image of the god in the innermost sanctuary.
A long, echoing shout of surprise and delight greeted the Queen, for the
courtiers, hastily summoned, were already awaiting her without, from the
grey-haired epistolograph to the youngest page. Regally attired women in
her service raised the floating train of her cloak; others, in
sacerdotal robes, were testing the ease of movement of the rings on the
sistrum rods, men and boys were forming into lines according to the rank
of each individual, and the chief fan-bearer gave the signal for
departure. After a short walk through several halls and corridors, the
train reached the first court-yard of the palace, and there ascended the
few steps leading to the broad platform at the entrance-gate which
overlooked the whole Bruchium and the Street of the King, down which the
expected hero would approach.
The distant uproar of the multitude had sounded threatening, but now,
amid the deafening din, they could distinguish every shout of welcome,
every joyous greeting, every expression of delight, surprise, applause,
admiration, and homage, known to the Greek and Egyptian tongues.
Only the centre and end of the procession were visible. The head had
reached the Corner of the Muses, where, concealed by the old trees in
the garden, it moved on between the Temple of Isis and the land owned by
Didymus. The end still extended to the Choma, whence it had started.
All Alexandria seemed to have joined it.
Men large and small, of high and low degree, old and young, the lame and
the crippled, mingled with the throng, sweeping onward among horses and
carriages, carts and beasts of burden, like a mountain torrent dashing
wildly down to the valley. Here a loud shriek rang from an overturned
litter, whose bearers had fallen. Yonder a child thrown to the ground
screamed shrilly, there a dog trodden under the feet of the crowd howled
piteously. So clear and resonant were the shouts of joy that they rose
high above the flutes and tambourines, the cymbals and lutes of the
musicians, who followed the man approaching in the robes of a god.
The head of the procession now passed beyond the Corner of the Muses and
came within view of the platform.
There could be no doubt to whom this ovation was given, for the
returning hero was in the van, high above all the other figures. From
the golden throne borne on the shoulders of twelve black slaves he waved
his long thyrsus in greeting to the exulting multitude. Before the
bacchanalian train which accompanied him, and behind the musicians who
followed, moved two elephants bearing between them, as a light burden,
some unrecognizable object covered with a purple cloth. Now the column
had passed between the pylons through the lofty gateway which separated
the palace from the Street of the King, and stopped opposite to the
platform.
While officials, Scythians, and body-guards of all shades of complexion,
on foot and on horseback, kept back the throng by force where friendly
warning did not avail, Cleopatra saw her lover descend from the throne
and give a signal to the Indian slave who guided the elephants. The
cloth was flung aside, revealing to the astonished eyes of the
spectators a bouquet of flowers such as no Alexandrian had ever beheld.
It consisted entirely of blossoming rose-bushes. The red flowers formed
a circle in the centre, surrounded by a broad light garland of white
ones. The whole gigantic work rested like an egg in its cup in a holder
of palm fronds which, as it were, framed it in graceful curving
outlines. More than a thousand blossoms were united in this peerless
bouquet, and the singular gigantic gift was characteristic of its giver.
He advanced on foot to the platform, his figure towering above the
brown, light-hued, and black freedmen and slaves who followed as, on the
monuments of the Pharaohs, the image of the sovereign dominates those of
the subjects and foes.
He could look down upon the tallest men, and the width of his shoulders
was as remarkable as his colossal height. A long, gold-broidered purple
mantle, floating to his ancles, increased his apparent stature. Powerful
arms, with the swelling muscles of an athlete, were extended from his
sleeveless robe towards the beloved Queen.
The well-formed head, thick dark hair, and magnificent beard
corresponded with the powerful figure. Formerly these locks had adorned
the head of the youth with the blue-black hue of the raven's plumage;
now the threads of grey scattered abundantly through them were concealed
by the aid of dye. A thick wreath of vine leaves rested on the
Imperator's brow, and leafy vine branches, to which clung several dark
bunches of grapes, fell over his broad shoulders and down his back,
which was covered like a cloak, not by a leopard-skin, but that of a
royal Indian tiger of great size--he had slain it himself in the arena.
The head and paws of the animal were gold, the eyes two magnificent
sparkling sapphires. The clasp of the chain, by which the skin was
suspended, as well as that of the gold belt which circled the
Imperator's body above the hips, was covered with rubies and emeralds.
The wide armlets above his elbows, the ornaments on his broad breast,
nay, even his red morocco boots, glittered and flashed with gems.
Radiant magnificent as his former fortunes seemed the attire of this
mighty fallen hero, who but yesterday had shrunk timidly and sadly from
the eyes of his fellow-men. His features, too, were large, noble, and
beautiful in outline; but, though his pale cheeks were adorned with the
borrowed crimson of youth, half a century of the maddest pursuit of
pleasure and the torturing excitement of the last few weeks had left
traces only too visible; for the skin hung in loose bags beneath the
large eyes; wrinkles furrowed his brow and radiated in slanting lines
from the corners of his eyes across his temples.
Yet not one of those whom this bedizened man of fifty was approaching
thought of seeing in him an aged, bedecked dandy; it was an instinct of
his nature to surround himself with pomp and splendour and, moreover,
his whole appearance was so instinct with power that scorn and mockery
shrank abashed before it.
How frank, gracious, and kindly was this man's face, how sincere the
heart-felt emotion which sparkled in his eyes, still glowing with the
fire of youth, at the sight of the woman from whom he had been so long
parted! Every feature beamed with the most ardent tenderness for the
royal wife whom he was approaching, and the expression on the lips of
the giant varied so swiftly from humble, sorrowful anguish of mind to
gratitude and delight, that even the hearts of his foes were touched.
But when, pressing his hand on his broad breast, he advanced towards the
Queen, bending so low that it seemed as if he would fain kiss her feet,
when in fact the colossal figure did sink kneeling before her, and the
powerful arms were outstretched with fervent devotion like a child
beseeching help, the woman who had loved him throughout her whole life
with all the ardour of her passionate soul was overpowered by the
feeling that everything which stood between them, all their mutual
offences, had vanished. He saw the sunny smile that brightened her
beloved, ever-beautiful face, and then--then his own name reached his
ears from the lips to which he owed the greatest bliss love had ever
offered. At last, as if intoxicated by the tones of her voice, which
seemed to him more musical than the songs of the Muses; half smiling at
the jest which, even in the most serious earnest, he could not abandon;
half moved to the depths of his soul by the power of his newly awakening
happiness after such sore sorrow, he pointed to the gigantic bouquet,
which three slaves had lifted down from the elephant and were bearing to
the Queen. Cleopatra, too, was overwhelmed with emotion.
This floral gift imitated, on an immense scale, the little bouquet which
the famous young general had taken from her father's hand before the
gate of the garden of Epicurus to present to her as his first gift. That
had also been composed of red roses, surrounded by white ones. Instead
of palm fronds, it had been encircled only by fern leaves. This was one
of the beautiful offerings which Antony's gracious nature so well
understood how to choose. The bouquet was a symbol of the unprecedented
generosity natural to this large-minded man. No magic goblet had
compelled him to approach her thus and with such homage. Nothing had
constrained him, save his overflowing heart, his constant, fadeless
love.
As if restored to youth, transported by some magic spell to the happy
days of early girlhood, she forgot her royal dignity and the hundreds of
eyes which rested upon him as if spell-bound; and, obedient to an
irresistible impulse of the heart, she sank upon the broad, heaving
breast of the kneeling hero. Laughing joyously in the clear, silvery
tones which are usually heard only in youth, he clasped her in his
strong arms, raised her slender figure in its floating royal mantle from
the ground, kissed her lips and eyes, held her aloft in the soaring
attitude of the Goddess of Victory, as if to display his happiness to
the eyes of all, and at last placed her carefully on her feet again like
some treasured jewel.
Then, turning to the children, who were waiting at their mother's side,
he lifted first little Alexander, then the twins, to kiss them; and,
while holding Helios and Selene in his arms, as if the joy of seeing
them again had banished their weight, the shouts which had arisen when
the Queen sank on his breast again burst forth.
The ancient walls of the Lochias palace had never heard such
acclamations. They passed from lip to lip, from hundreds to hundreds
and, though those more distant did not know the cause, they joined in
the shouts. Along the whole vast stretch from the Lochias to the Choma
the cheers rang out like a single, heart-stirring, inseparable cry,
echoing across the harbour, the ships lying at anchor, the towering
masts, to the cliff amid the sea where Barine was nursing her new-made
husband.