Meanwhile the ships had reached the shore: they were moored in a broad
front, side by side, greeted with a loud burst of music from pipes and
drums in the balcony. Instantly all flung from their lofty prows
step-ladders, covered with rich rugs. Slaves scattered flowers
over the stairs, down which the bridal pair and their guests now
descended to the land, while, at the same moment, by similar steps the
spectators descended from the platforms. The two groups now formed
in a festal procession upon the shore, A handsome though somewhat
effeminate-looking young Vandal, with a winged hat on his fair locks
and winged shoes on his feet, hurried constantly to and fro, waving an
ivory staff twined with golden serpents. He seemed to be the manager of
the entertainment.
"Who is that?" asked Victor. "Probably the master of the beautiful
Aphrodite. He is nodding; and she smiles at him."
"Yes, that is Thrasabad," cried Laurus, angrily, clinching his fist,
yet lowering his voice timidly. "May Saint Cyprian send scorpions into
his bed! A Vandal writer! He is spoiling my trade. And I am the pupil
of the great Luxorius."
"Pupil? I think you were--"
"His slave, then freedman. I have covered whole ass's skins with copies
of his verses."
"But not as his pupil?"
"You don't understand. The whole art of composition consists of a dozen
little tricks, which are best learned by copying, because they are
constantly recurring. And this Barbarian composes gratis! Of course he
must be glad to have any one listen to him."
"He is leading the procession--as Mercury."
"Oh, the character just suits him. He understands how to steal. Only in
doing so they kill the owners. 'Feud' is what these noble Germans call
it."
"Look! he has given the signal; they are going to the Circus. Up! Let
us follow."
Mercury held out his hand to Aphrodite to help her to land.
"Do I have you again?" he whispered tenderly. "I have missed you two
long hours, fair one. Dearest, I love you fervently."
The girl smiled charmingly, raising her beautiful eyes to his with a
grateful, even tender expression.
"That is the only reason I still live," she murmured, instantly
lowering her long lashes sorrowfully.
"But so completely muffled, my Aphrodite?"
"I am not your Aphrodite; I am your Glauke."
Hand in hand with her, Thrasabad now led the procession, which, not
without occasional pauses, forced its way through the staring
multitude.
As soon as the Circus was reached, numerous slaves showed the guests to
seats, assigned according to their rank or the regard in which they
were held by the giver of the entertainment. The best were in the front
row, originally intended for the Senators of Carthage; the structure on
the southern side, the pulvinar, the imperial box which had been
occupied by many a predecessor of Gelimer, remained empty. On the
northern side, not directly opposite to the pulvinar, but considerably
nearer the eastern end, the "Porta Pompae," there were projecting boxes
for the bridegroom, his most intimate friends, and his most
distinguished guests. Through this gate, in the midst of the stalls
and sheds for the horses and chariots,--the "oppidum" and the
"carceres,"--the circensian procession passed before the beginning of
the races. From this gate the course ran westward in a semi-circle. The
victors made their exit through the "Porta Triumphalis." Extending the
entire length from east to west, the "spina," a low wall richly adorned
with small columns, dark-green marble obelisks, and numerous statuettes
of victors in former races, divided the course into two parts like a
barrier. At the eastern and western ends a goal "Meta" was erected, the
former called the "Meta prima," the latter the "Meta secunda." The
chariots drove into the arena from the southern and northern ends of
the stables, through two gates in the east. Lastly, on the southern
side, midway between the stables and the imperial box, partly concealed
from view, was the sorrowful gate, the "Porta Libitinensis," through
which the killed and wounded charioteers were borne out. The length of
the course was about one hundred and ninety paces, the width one
hundred and forty.
After the bustle had subsided, and the guests were all in their seats.
Mercury appeared in the principal box, which contained about twelve men
and women, among them Modigisel and his beautiful companion. He bowed
gracefully before the bridal pair, and began,--
"Allow me, divine brother, son of Semele--"
"Listen, my little man," interrupted the bridegroom. (Mercury measured
a few inches less than Bacchus, but was considerably over six feet
tall.) "I believe you have had too much wine, and especially the dark
red, which I drank from the 'Ocean'; in short, you share my
intoxication. Our brave father's name was Thrasamer, not Semele." The
poetic Vandal, with a superior smile, exchanged glances with Aphrodite,
who was also in the box, and continued,--
"Allow me, before the games begin, to read my epithalamium--"
"No, no, brother," interrupted the giant, hastily. "Better, far better
not! The verses are--"
"Perhaps not smooth enough? What do you know about hiatus, and--"
"Nothing at all! But the sense--so far as I understood it--you were
good enough to read it aloud to me three times--"
"Five times to me," said Aphrodite, softly, with a charming smile. "I
entreated him to burn the verses. They are neither beautiful nor good.
So what is their use?"
"The meaning is so exaggerated," Thrasaric went on; "well, we may say
shameless."
"They follow the best Roman models," said the poet, resentfully.
"Very probably. Perhaps that is the reason I was ashamed when I
listened to them alone; I should not like, in the presence of these
ladies--"
A shrill laugh reached his ears.
"You are laughing, Astarte?"
"Yes, handsome Thrasaric, I am laughing! You Germans are incorrigible
shamefaced boys, with the limbs of giants."
The bride raised her eyes beseechingly to him. He did not see it.
"Shamefaced? I have seemed to myself very shameless. My part as a
half-nude god is most distasteful to me. I shall be glad, Eugenia, when
all this uproar is over."
She pressed his hand gratefully, whispering, "And to-morrow you will go
with me to Hilda, won't you? She wished to congratulate me on the first
day of my happiness."
"Certainly! And _her_ congratulations will bring you happiness. She is
the most glorious of women. She, her marriage with Gibamund, first
taught me to believe once more in women, love, and the happiness of
wedded life. It was she who--What do you want, little man? Oh, the
games! The guests! I was forgetting everything. Go on! Give the signal!
They must begin below."
Mercury stepped forward to the white marble railing of the box and
waved his serpent wand twice in the air. The two gates at the right and
left of the stables swung open: from the former a man, clad in blue,
carrying a tuba, entered the arena; from the latter one dressed
entirely in green; and two loud blasts announced the entrance of the
circensian procession. In the brief pause before the appearance of the
chariots Modigisel plucked the bridegroom lightly by his panther-skin.
"Listen," he whispered, "my Astarte is fairly devouring you with her
eyes. I believe she likes you far better than she does me. I suppose I
ought to kill her, out of jealousy. But--ugh!--it's too hot for either
jealousy or beating."
"I believe she is no longer your slave," replied Thrasaric.
"I freed her, but retained the obligation of obedience, the obsequium.
Pshaw! I would kill her for that very reason, if it weren't so hot. But
how would it do if we--I am tired of her, and I've taken a fancy to
your slender little Eugenia, perhaps on account of the contrast--how
would it do if we should--exchange?"
Thrasaric had no time to answer. The tuba blared again, and the
chariots entered in a stately procession. Five of the Blues rolled
slowly in from the right gate, five of the Greens from the left; the
chariots themselves, the reins and trappings of the horses, and the
tunics of the charioteers were respectively leek-green and light-blue.
The first three chariots of each party were drawn by four horses, the
usual number; but when the fourth appeared with five, and the last on
both sides actually had seven steeds, loud shouts of surprise and
approval rang from the upper seats, to which, though many better ones
stood empty, the Vandal directors had sent the middle and lower classes
of the Roman citizens.
"Just look, Victor," Laurus whispered to his neighbor. "Those are the
colors of the two parties in Constantinople."
"Certainly. The Barbarians imitate everything."
"But like apes playing the flute!"
"No one should attend the Circus except in a toga."
"As we do," said Victor, complacently. "But these people!--some in
coats of mail, the majority in garments as thin as spider-webs."
"Of course they will never be true residents of the south; only
degenerate northern Barbarians."
"But just look: the magnificence, the lavishness. The wheels, the very
fellies, are silvered and then twined with blue or green ribbons."
"And the bodies of the chariots! They glisten like sapphires and
emeralds."
"Where did Thrasaric get all this treasure?"
"Stolen, friend, stolen from us all. I've often told you so. But not he
himself; this generation has grown almost too lazy even for stealing
and robbing. It was his father Thrasamer and especially his
grandfather, Thrasafred. He was Genseric's right hand. And what that
means in pillaging as well as fighting cannot be imagined."
"Magnificent horses, the five reddish-brown ones! They are not
African."
"Yes, but of the Spanish stock, reared in Cyrene. They are the best."
"Yes, if there is a strain of Moorish blood. You know, like the Moorish
chief Cabaon's famous stallion. A Vandal is said to have him now."
"Impossible! No Moor sells such a horse."
"The procession is over; they are moving side by side, to the white
rope. Now!"
"No, not yet. See, each Green and Blue is approaching the hermulae on
the right and left, to which the rope is fastened. Hark! What is
Mercury shouting?"
"The prizes for the victors. Just listen: fifteen thousand sestertii,
the second prize for the team of four; twenty-five thousand the first;
forty thousand for the victorious five-span; and sixty thousand--that's
unprecedented--for the seven."
"Look, how the seven horses harnessed to the green chariot are pawing
the sand! That is Hercules, the charioteer. He has five medals
already."
"But see! His opponent is the Moor Chalches. He wears seven medals.
Look, he is throwing down his whip; he is challenging Hercules to drive
without one, too. But he will not dare."
"Yes; he is tossing the whip on the sand. I'll bet on Hercules! I side
with the Greens!" shouted Victor, excitedly.
"And I with the Blues. It ought--but stop! We--Roman citizens--betting
on the games of our tyrants?"
"Oh, nonsense! you have no courage! Or no money!"
"More than you--of both! How much? Ten sestertii?"
"Twelve!"
"For aught I care. Done!"
"Look, the rope has fallen!"
"Now they are rushing forward!"
"Bravo, Green, at the first meta already--and nearest--past."
"On, Chalches! There, Blue! Forward! Hi! at the second meta Chalches
was nearest."
"Faster, Hercules! Faster, you lazy snail! Keep more to the right--the
right! or--O, Heaven!"
"Yes, Saint Cyprian! Triumph! There lies the proud Green! Flat on his
belly, like a crushed frog! Triumph! The Blue is at the goal. Pay up,
friend! Where is my money?"
"That isn't fair. I won't pay. The Blue intentionally struck the horse
on the left with his pole. That's cheating!"
"What? Do you insult my color? And won't pay either?"
"Not a pebble."
"Indeed? Well, you rascal, I'll pay _you_."
A blow fell; it sounded like a slap on a fat cheek.
"Keep quiet up there, you dwellers in the clouds," shouted Mercury. "It
is nothing, fair bride, except two Roman citizens cuffing each other.
Friend Wandalar, go; turn them out. Both! There! Now on with the games.
Carry the Green out through the Libitinensis. Is he dead? Yes. Go on.
The prizes will be awarded at the end. We are in a hurry. If the King
should return from Hippo before the time he named--woe betide us!"