there drew near to the doors a company of women. Maidens they were from
the land of Attica, and they had come with Creüsa, who was Queen of the
country. And first they marvelled at the graved work that was on the
doors and in the porch, for some cunning workmen had wrought thereon
Hercules slaying the great dragon of Lerna, and Iolaüs standing with a
torch to sear that which he cut with his knife. Also Bellerophon was to
be seen on a horse with wings, slaying the Chimæra; and Pallas fighting
against the Sons of Earth, with the thunderbolt of her father Zeus and
the shield of the Gorgon head. And when they had made an end of seeing
these things came the Queen Creüsa herself and had speech with Ion. And
she told him that she was the daughter of Erechtheus, King of Athens,
and that she was married to Xuthus, a Prince from the island of Pelops.
And when Ion would know how it had come to pass that Xuthus, being a
stranger and a foreigner, had received her that was a Princess of the
land in marriage, she said that the Prince had fought for the men of
Athens against the land of Euboea, and had subdued it, and so had won
for himself this reward. Also when the youth would know for what end she
had come to the oracles of Delphi, she said that she had come because
having been long married she was yet childless, and that her husband
also was with her, and that he was even then making inquiry about this
same matter in the cave of Trophonius. For there also was an oracle
giving answers to men about things to come. Then the Queen asked Ion of
his estate, and heard from him that the priestess of Apollo had brought
him up, having found him laid at the door of the temple.
After these things came King Xuthus himself, who, after he had greeted
the Queen, said that Trophonius would not indeed go before the answer of
Apollo, yet promised this, that he should not go to his home childless.
So the two went together into the shrine that they might inquire yet
further of the matter; and Ion abode without, meditating much on the
things which these strangers had said.
But after a while the King came forth in great joy, and when he saw the
youth Ion standing without the shrine, he caught him by the hand, and
would have thrown his arms about him, but the youth drew back, thinking
that the God had smitten him with madness, and even would have drawn his
bow against him. Then the King set forth to him the answer that Apollo
had given him. For the God had said, "Thou art not childless as thou
thinkest, but the father of a fair son. And thy son is he whom first
thou shalt meet going forth from my shrine." "And now," said the King,
"thou art he whom first I meet coming forth, and I claim thee to be my
son." And when Ion would know how this might be, the King said that in
days past, before he had married the Princess Creüsa, being young and
foolish, he had taken to wife a maiden of low degree in this very city
of Delphi, and that if she had borne him a son--for that he knew not,
having left her long since--the child would bear such age as Ion. And
when Ion heard this he was glad, for he had feared lest haply he should
be found to be the son of some slave. Only he said to himself, "O my
dear mother, shall I ever see thee? For now do I long more than ever to
look upon thee; but haply thou art dead and this may never be."
And the maidens of Athens standing by heard the talk between the two,
and said, "It is well for the people that the royal house should
prosper. Yet it had pleased us well that our lady the Queen should have
hope of offspring, and that the house of Erechtheus should not be left
without an heir."
Then said the King to Ion, "My son, it is well both with thee and me,
for I have found that which I most desired and thou also. And as to that
which thou now sayest about thy mother, haply, if only we have patience,
this also shall be as thou wouldst have it. But now I would have thee
leave the temple of Apollo and this thy subsistence of alms, and come
with me to the great city of Athens, where thou shalt have great wealth,
and in due time this sceptre that I hold. But why art thou silent and
castest thine eyes to the ground? Suddenly art thou changed from joy to
sorrow, and the heart of thy father misgiveth him."
Then spoke Ion, saying, "My father, the aspect of many things changeth
according as a man seeth them, whether it be near or afar off. Right
glad was I to find a father in thee; but as to what else thou sayest,
hearken to me. Men say that the Athenians are a people that have dwelt
in the land from the beginning. Wherefore I shall have among them a
double reproach, being both basely born and also a foreigner. And if I
come to high place in the state, they that are beneath me shall hate me,
seeing that men love not those that are above them. Also those that are
of high account among the citizens shall have much jealousy against me,
for such men have ever great enmity against their rivals. Think also of
thy house, how matters shall stand there. For before, thy wife the Queen
shared with thee this reproach of childlessness, but now will she stand
alone and bear her sorrow by herself. How then shall she not hate me
when she seeth me at thy right hand? And so shalt thou either for love
of her go back from what thou hast promised to me, or else, seeking my
profit, shalt trouble thine own house. For thou knowest what deadly
deeds with the sword and with poison women holding themselves to be
wronged have wrought against their husbands. And of a truth, my father,
I hold that thy wife, seeing that she groweth old without hope of
children, is most miserable among women. And then as to kingship, I
count that this is more pleasant to regard from afar than to possess;
for how can he be happy who liveth in daily fear of death? And if thou
sayest that great store of wealth out-weigheth all other things, and
that it is pleasant to be rich, I hold otherwise. I would have neither
poverty nor riches, but to live quietly and without trouble. For listen,
my father, to the good things that I have had in this place--that which
all men count dear, even leisure; and such labour as I did, not
toilsome, and to be free from all ill company, and to be constant in
prayers to the Gods, or in talk with men, ever consorting with new
company among such as came to inquire of the god. Surely, my father,
this life is better than that which thou promisest to me."
"My son," the King made answer, "learn to take the good which the Gods
have provided for thee. First, then, I will bring thee to the feast
which I purpose to hold in this place as though thou wert a stranger.
And afterwards I will take thee to the city of Athens, yet not declaring
at the first thy birth, for I would not vex my wife with my good luck,
seeing that she is yet childless. Only in time I will work with her that
thou shalt bear rule in the land with her good will. And now call such
of thy friends as thou wilt to the feast, for thou must even bid
farewell to this city of Delphi."
And Ion made answer, "Let it be so; only if I find not my mother, my
life is nothing worth."
And to the maidens the King said, "Take heed that ye keep silence on
these matters, or ye shall surely die."
But they were much troubled in heart for their mistress that she should
be childless, while the King her husband had found a son. Also they
doubted much whether they should not tell the Queen the things which
they had heard.
And now there was seen to come near to the shrine an old man who had in
days past been servant to King Erechtheus; and when the Queen saw him,
she reached her hand to him, and helped him to climb the steps of the
temple, for he was very feeble with age. And when he was come to the
top, the Queen turned her to the maidens that stood by and inquired of
them whether they knew aught of the answer which the God had given to
her husband in the matter of his childlessness. But they were loath to
make answer, remembering that the King had bidden them to be silent
under pain of death; but at the last, for the thing pleased them not,
both for pity of their mistress and also for hatred that a stranger
should be King in Athens, they said, "O lady, thou must never hold a
child in thy arms or nurse a babe at thy breast." And when the old man
asked--for the Queen was distraught with grief--whether the King also
shared this trouble, they said, "Not so, old man; to him Apollo giveth a
son."
"How so?" said he; "is this son yet to be born, or doth he live
already?"
"He is a youth full grown. For the God said, 'He whom thou shalt first
meet, coming forth from this shrine, is thy son.' And know, lady, that
this youth is he who is wont to serve in this shrine, with whom thou
talkedst at the first. But more than this I know not; only that thy
husband is gone without thy knowledge to hold a great feast, and that
the lad sitteth thereat in much honour."
And when the old man heard these things he waxed wroth and said, "Lady,
there is treachery in this matter. We are betrayed by thy husband, and
of fixed purpose set at naught, that he may drive us out of the house of
thy father, King Erechtheus. And this I say not because I hate thy
husband, but that I love thee more. Hearken, then, to my words. He came
a stranger to the city of Athens, and took thee to wife, and had with
thee the inheritance of thy father's kingdom; and when he found thee
childless, he was not content to bear this reproach with thee, but
wedded secretly some slave woman, and gave the child whom she bare to
him to some citizen of Delphi to rear for him. And the child grew up, as
thou knowest, a minister in the temple of Apollo. And when thy husband
knew that he was come to full age he devised this device that thou and
he should come to this place, and make inquiry of the god, whether there
might be any remedy for thy childlessness. And now thou wilt suffer the
foulest wrong, for he will bring this son of a bondwoman to be lord in
thy house. Wherefore I give thee this counsel. Devise some device, and
be it with the sword or with poison, or with whatever thou wilt, slay
thy husband and his son, or they shall surely slay thee. For if thou
spare them thou wilt surely die. For if there be two enemies under one
roof, it must needs be that the one perish. And now, if thou wilt, I
will do this deed for thee, and slay them at the feast which he
prepareth; for I have had sustenance in the house of thy father to this
day, for which I would fain make this return."
Then the Queen and the old man talked together about the matter. And
when he would have had her slay her husband, she refused, saying that
she could not do the deed, for that she thought of the time when he was
faithful and loving to her. But when he would have her execute vengeance
on the youth, she consented. Only she doubted how this might be done.
Then the old man cried, "Arm thine attendants with the sword and slay
him."
"Aye," said the Queen, "and I would lead them myself; but where shall I
slay him?"
"Slay him," said the old man, "in the tent where he feasteth his
friends."
"Nay," answered the Queen, "the deed would be too manifest; the hands
also of slaves are ever feeble."
Then the old man cried in a rage, "I see thou playest the coward. Take
counsel for thyself."
Then said the Queen, "I have a plan in my heart that is both crafty and
sure. Listen now, and I will unfold it to thee. Thou knowest how in time
past the Giants that were the sons of Earth made war against the Gods in
the plain of Phlegra; and that Earth, seeking to help her children,
brought forth the Gorgon; and that Pallas, the daughter of Zeus, slew
the monster. Know then that Pallas gave to Ericthonius, who was the
first King of the land of Attica, being sprung from the earth, two drops
of the blood of the Gorgon, whereof the one hath the power to kill
whomsoever it shall touch, and the other to heal all manner of
diseases. And these she shut in gold to keep them; and Ericthonius gave
them to King Erechtheus my father, and he, when he died, gave them to
me. And I carry them in a bracelet on my wrist. And thou shalt take the
one that worketh death, and with it thou shalt slay this youth."
"'Tis well thought," the old man made answer; "but where shall I do the
deed?"
"In Athens," said the Queen, "when he shall have come to my house."
But the old man said, "That is not well; for thou wilt have the repute
of the deed, even if thou slay him not. Slay him rather in this place,
where thou shalt be more likely to deceive thy husband, for it must not
be that he know it."
When the Queen heard this she said, "Hear, then, what thou must do. Go
to the place where my husband maketh a sacrifice and a feast following.
And when the guests are even now ready to cease from their feasting and
make libations to the Gods, drop his drop of death into the cup of him
who would lord it over my house. Of a surety if it pass his throat he
shall never come to the city of Athens."
So the old man went on his errand, and as he went he said to himself,
"Old foot of mine, do this thy business as though thou wert young. Thou
hast to help the house of thy master against an enemy. Let them that are
happy talk of piety; he that would work his adversary woe must take no
account of laws."
But meanwhile Xuthus had bidden the youth Ion have a care for the feast,
for that he himself had yet sacrifice to make, at which he might haply
tarry long time. Wherefore Ion set up a great tent on poles, looking
neither wholly to the south nor to the west, but between the two. And
the tent he made foursquare, being of a hundred feet each way, for he
purposed to call the whole people of Delphi to the feast. Then he took
curtains from the treasure-house to cover it within, very marvellous to
behold; for on them was wrought the Heaven with all the gathering of the
stars, and the Sun driving his chariot to the west, and dark-robed
Night, with the stars following her, the Pleiades, and Orion with his
sword, and the Bear turning about the Pole, and the bright circle of the
Moon; and on the other side the Morning chasing the stars. Also there
were tapestries from foreign land, ships fighting with ships, and
strange shapes, half men half beasts, and the hunting of stags and
lions.
But in the midst of the tent great bowls were set for wine; and a herald
bade all the men of Delphi to the feast. But when they had had enough of
eating and drinking, the old man, the servant of the Queen, came
forward; and all men laughed to see him how busy he was. For he took the
water that should have been mixed with the wine and used it for the
washing of hands, and burnt the incense, and took upon himself the
ordering of the cups. And after a while he said, "Take away those cups,
and bring greater that we may be merry." So they brought great cups of
gold and silver. And the old man took one that was more beautiful than
the rest, and filled it to the brim and gave it to the youth Ion, as
though he would do him great honour; but he dropped into it the deadly
drop. Only no man saw the thing that he did. But when they were all
about to drink, some one spake an evil word to his neighbour, and Ion
heard it, and having full knowledge of augury, held it to be of ill
omen, and bade them fill another bowl; and that every one should pour
out upon the ground that which was in his cup. And on this there came
down a flight of doves, for such dwelt in the temple of Apollo without
fear, and sipped of the wine that had been poured forth. And all the
rest drank and suffered no harm; but that which had settled where the
youth Ion had poured out from his cup shook and reeled and screamed
aloud, and so died, being sorely rent with the pangs of death. And when
the youth saw this he cried, "Who is it that hath plotted my death? Tell
me, old man, for thou gavest me the cup." And he leapt over the table
and laid hands on him. And at last the old man, being sorely pressed,
unfolded the whole matter. Then Ion gathered all the Princes of Delphi
together, and told them that the strange woman, the daughter of
Erechtheus, had plotted his death by poison. And the sentence of the
Princes was that she should be cast down from the rock on which their
city was built, because she had sought to slay with poison the minister
of the god.
Then one who had seen the whole matter from the beginning to the end,
ran with all speed and told it to the Queen; and she, when she heard it,
and that the officers of the people were coming to lay hands on her,
fled to the altar of Apollo, and sat upon it in the place whereon the
sacrifice was laid; for they that flee to the altar are sacred, and it
is a sin against the god if any man touch them. But in a short space
came Ion with a troop of armed men, breathing out threats and fury
against the Queen. And when he saw her he said, "What a viper is this
that thou hast brought forth, land of Attica! Worse is she than the drop
of Gorgon's blood wherewith she would have slain me. Seize her that she
may be thrown from the rock. 'Tis well for me that I set not foot in her
house in Athens; for then had she caught me in a net, and I had surely
died. But now the altar of Apollo shall not save her."
And he bade the men drag her from the holy place. But even as he spake
came in the Pythia, the priestess. And when Ion had greeted her, asking
her whether she knew how this woman had sought to slay him, she answered
that she knew it, but that he too was fierce above measure, and that he
must not defile with blood the house whereto he went in the city of
Athens. And when he was loath to listen to her, she said, "Seest thou
this that I hold in my hand?" Now what she held was a basket with tufts
of wool about it. "This is that in which I found thee, long ago, a
new-born babe. And Apollo hath laid it upon me not to say aught of this
before, but now to give it into thy hands. Take it, therefore, for the
swaddling clothes wherein thou wast wrapped are within, and find out for
thyself of what race thou art. And now, farewell; for I love thee as a
mother loveth her child."
Then Ion said to himself, "This is a sorrowful thing to see, this basket
in which my mother laid me long since, putting me away from her in
secret, so that I have grown up as one without a name in this temple.
The god hath dealt kindly with me, yet hath my fortune and the fortune
of my mother been but ill. And what if I find that I am the son of some
bondwoman. It was better to know nought than to know this. But I may not
fight against the will of the god; wherefore I will open it and hear my
past whatever it be."
So he opened the basket, and marvelled that it was not wasted with time,
and that there was no decay upon that which was within. But when the
Queen saw the basket, she knew it, and leapt from where she sat upon the
altar, and told him all that was in her heart, that in time past, before
she was wedded to King Xuthus, she had borne a son to Apollo, and had
laid the babe in this basket, and with him swaddling clothes of things
which she had woven with her own hands, and "Thou," she said, "art my
son, whom I see after this long time."
And when the young man doubted whether this was so, the Queen told him
the pattern of the clothes; that there was one which she had woven being
yet a girl, not finished with skill, but like rather to the task of one
that learns, and that there was wrought upon it the head of the Gorgon,
and that it was fringed about with snakes, like to Pallas's shield, the
ægis. Also she said that there were necklaces wrought like to the scales
of a snake, and a wreath of olive besides, as befitted the child of a
daughter of Athens.
Then Ion knew that the Queen was his mother; yet was he sore perplexed,
for the god had given him as a son to King Xuthus, nor did he doubt but
that the god ever speaketh that which is true. Then he said that he
would himself inquire of Apollo. But as he turned to go, lo! a great
brightness in the air, and the shape as of one of the dwellers in
heaven. And when he was afraid, and would have fled with the Queen,
there came a voice, saying, "Flee not, for I am a friend and not an
enemy. I am Pallas, and I come from King Apollo with a message to this
youth and to the Queen. To Ion he saith, 'Thou art my son, whom this
woman bare to me in time past.' And to the Queen, 'Take this thy son
with thee to the city of Athens, and set him on the throne of thy
father, for it is meet that he, being of the race of Erechtheus, should
sit thereon. And know that he shall become a great nation, and that his
children in time to come shall dwell in the islands of the sea, and in
the lands that border thereon, and that they shall be called Ionians
after his name. Know also that thou shalt bear children to Xuthus--Dorus
and Æolus--and that these also shall become fathers of nations.'"
And when the goddess had thus spoken she departed; and the two, Ion and
Queen Creüsa, with King Xuthus also, went to their home in great joy and
peace.
_THE AJAX SERIES_
Each volume bound like this book
For sale at all bookstores
* * * * *
By E.P. ROE
Barriers Burned Away
Day of Fate, A
Driven Back to Eden
Earth Trembled, The
Face Illumined, A
From Jest to Earnest
He Fell in Love with His Wife
His Sombre Rivals
Home Acre, The
Knight of the XIX. Century, A
Miss Lou
Nature's Serial Story
Near to Nature's Heart
Opening of a Chestnut Burr
Original Belle, An
Success with Small Fruits
Taken Alive
What Can She Do?
Without a Home
Young Girl's Wooing, A
By AMELIA E. BARR
Bernecia
Between Two Loves
Border Shepherdess, A
Bow of Orange Ribbon, The
Christopher
Cluny MacPherson
Daughter of Fife, A
Feet of Clay
Friend Olivia
Hallam Succession, The
Household of McNeil
Jan Vedder's Wife
King's Highway, The
Knight of the Nets, A
Last of the Macallisters, The
Lone House, The
Lost Silver of Briffault, The
Love for an Hour is Love Forever
Master of His Fate
Paul and Christina
Remember the Alamo
Rose of a Hundred Leaves, A
Scottish Sketches
She Loved a Sailor
Singer from the Sea, A
Sister to Esau, A
Squire of Sandal-Side, The
By JOHN S. G ABBOTT
Benjamin Franklin
Captain Kidd and the Early American Buccaneers
Columbus and the Discovery of America
Daniel Boone and the Early Settlement of Kentucky
David Crockett and the Early Texas History
De Soto, the Discoverer of the Mississippi
George Washington and the Revolutionary War
Kit Carson, the Pioneer of the Far West
La Salle: His Discoveries and Adventures
Miles Standish, Captain of the Pilgrims
Paul Jones, Naval Hero of the Revolution
Peter Stuyvesant and the Early Settlement of New York
MISCELLANEOUS
Captain Shannon Coulson Kernahan
First in the Field Geo. Manville Fenn
Gallant Fight, A Marion Harland
House in Bloomsbury Mrs. Oliphant
Impregnable City, The Max Pemberton
Irish Idylls Jane Barlow
Kitty Alone S. Baring Gould
Land of the Dollar, The G.W. Steevens
Lilith George Macdonald
Marooners' Island F.R. Goulding
Mosby's War Reminiscences John S. Mosby
Samantha Among the Colored Folks Marietta Holley
Tales of Our Coast S.R. Crockett and Others
Two Captains, The W. Clark Russell
What Might Have Been Expected Frank R. Stockton
Young Marooners, The F.R. Goulding
End of Project Gutenberg's Stories from the Greek Tragedians, by Alfred Church