Sad realities follow bright anticipations nearly as surely as a rainy day
succeeds a golden sunrise. Nitetis had been so happy in the thought of
reading the very letter, which poured such bitter drops of wormwood into
her cup of happiness.
One beautiful element in her life, the remembrance of her dear home and
the companions of her happy childhood, had been destroyed in one moment,
as if by the touch of a magician's wand.
She sat there in her royal purple, weeping, forgetful of everything but
her mother's grief, her father's misfortunes and her sister's illness.
The joyful future, full of love, joy, and happiness, which had been
beckoning her forward only a few minutes before, had vanished. Cambyses'
chosen bride forgot her waiting, longing lover, and the future queen of
Persia could think of nothing but the sorrows of Egypt's royal house.
It was long past mid-day, when the attendant Mandane came to put a last
touch to Nitetis' dress and ornaments.
"She is asleep," thought the girl. "I can let her rest another quarter
of an hour; the sacrifice this morning has tired her, and we must have
her fresh and beautiful for the evening banquet; then she will outshine
the others as the moon does the stars."
Unnoticed by her mistress she slipped out of the room, the windows of
which commanded a splendid view over the hanging-gardens, the immense
city beneath, the river, and the rich and fruitful Babylonian plain, and
went into the garden.
Without looking round she ran to a flower-bed, to pluck some roses. Her
eyes were fixed on her new bracelet, the stones of which sparkled in the
sun, and she did not notice a richly-dressed man peering in at one of the
windows of the room where Nitetis lay weeping. On being disturbed in his
watching and listening, he turned at once to the girl and greeted her in
a high treble voice.
She started, and on recognizing the eunuch Boges, answered: "It is not
polite, sir, to frighten a poor girl in this way. By Mithras, if I had
seen you before I heard you, I think I should have fainted. A woman's
voice does not take me by surprise, but to see a man here is as rare as
to find a swan in the desert."
Boges laughed good-humoredly, though he well understood her saucy
allusion to his high voice, and answered, rubbing his fat hands: "Yes,
it is very hard for a young and pretty bird like you, to have to live in
such a lonely corner, but be patient, sweetheart. Your mistress will
soon be queen, and then she will look out a handsome young husband for
you. Ah, ha! you will find it pleasanter to live here alone with him,
than with your beautiful Egyptian."
"My mistress is too beautiful for some people's fancy, and I have never
asked any one to look out a husband for me," she answered pertly. "I can
find one without your help either."
"Who could doubt it? Such a pretty face is as good a bait for a man, as
a worm for a fish."
"But I am not trying to catch a husband, and least of all one like you."
"That I can easily believe," he answered laughing. But tell me, my
treasure, why are you so hard on me? Have I done anything to vex you?
Wasn't it through me, that you obtained this good appointment, and are
not we both Medes?"
"You might just as well say that we are both human beings, and have five
fingers on each hand and a nose in the middle of our faces. Half the
people here are Medes, and if I had as many friends as I have countrymen,
I might be queen to-morrow. And as to my situation here, it was not you,
but the high-priest Oropastes who recommended me to the great queen
Kassandane. Your will is not law here,"
"What are you talking about, my sweet one? don't you know, that not a
single waiting-woman can be engaged without my consent?"
"Oh, yes, I know that as well as you do, but . . ."
"But you women are an unthankful race, and don't deserve our kindness."
"Please not to forget, that you are speaking to a girl of good family."
"I know that very well, my little one. I know that your father was a
Magian and your mother a Magian's daughter; that they both died early and
you were placed under the care of the Destur Ixabates, the father of
Oropastes, and grew up with his children. I know too that when you had
received the ear-rings, Oropastes' brother Gaumata, (you need not blush,
Gaumata is a pretty name) fell in love with your rosy face, and wanted to
marry you, though he was only nineteen. Gaumata and Mandane, how well
the two names sound together! Mandane and Gaumata! If I were a poet I
should call my hero Gaumata and his lady-love Mandane."
"I insist on your ceasing to jest in this way," cried Mandane, blushing
deeply and stamping her foot.
"What, are you angry because I say the names sound well together? You
ought rather to be angry with the proud Oropastes, who sent his younger
brother to Rhagar and you to the court, that you might forget one
another."
"That is a slander on my benefactor."
"Let my tongue wither away, if I am not speaking the truth and nothing
but the truth! Oropastes separated you and his brother because he had
higher intentions for the handsome Gaumata, than a marriage with the
orphan daughter of an inferior Magian. He would have been satisfied with
Amytis or Menische for a sister-in-law, but a poor girl like you, who
owed everything to his bounty, would only have stood in the way of his
ambitious plans. Between ourselves, he would like to be appointed regent
of Persia while the king is away at the Massagetan war, and would
therefore give a great deal to connect himself by marriage in some way
or other with the Archemenidae. At his age a new wife is not to be
thought of; but his brother is young and handsome, indeed people go so
far as to say, that he is like the Prince Bartja."
"That is true," exclaimed the girl. "Only think, when we went out to
meet my mistress, and I saw Bartja for the first time from the window of
the station-house, I thought he was Gaumata. They are so like one
another that they might be twins, and they are the handsomest men in the
kingdom."
"How you are blushing, my pretty rose-bud! But the likeness between them
is not quite so great as all that. When I spoke to the high-priest's
brother this morning . . ."
"Gaumata is here?" interrupted the girl passionately. "Have you really
seen him or are you trying to draw me out and make fun of me?"
"By Mithras! my sweet one, I kissed his forehead this very morning, and
he made me tell him a great deal about his darling. Indeed his blue
eyes, his golden curls and his lovely complexion, like the bloom on a
peach, were so irresistible that I felt inclined to try and work
impossibilities for him. Spare your blushes, my little pomegranate-
blossom, till I have told you all; and then perhaps in future you will
not be so hard upon poor Boges; you will see that he has a good heart,
full of kindness for his beautiful, saucy little countrywoman."
"I do not trust you," she answered, interrupting these assurances.
"I have been warned against your smooth tongue, and I do not know what I
have done to deserve this kind interest."
"Do you know this?" he asked, showing her a white ribbon embroidered all
over with little golden flames.
"It is the last present I worked for him," exclaimed Mandane.
"I asked him for this token, because I knew you would not trust me. Who
ever heard of a prisoner loving his jailer?"
"But tell me at once, quickly--what does my old playfellow want me to do?
Look, the-western sky is beginning to glow. Evening is coming on, and I
must arrange my mistress's dress and ornaments for the banquet."
"Well, I will not keep you long," said the eunuch, becoming so serious
that Mandane was frightened. "If you do not choose to believe that I
would run into any risk out of friendship to you, then fancy that I
forward your love affair to humble the pride of Oropastes. He threatens
to supplant me in the king's favor, and I am determined, let him plot and
intrigue as he likes, that you shall marry Gaumata. To-morrow evening,
after the Tistar-star has risen, your lover shall come to see you. I
will see that all the guards are away, so that he can come without
danger, stay one hour and talk over the future with you; but remember,
only one hour. I see clearly that your mistress will be Cambyses'
favorite wife, and will then forward your marriage, for she is very fond
of you, and thinks no praise too high for your fidelity and skill. So
to-morrow evening," he continued, falling back into the jesting tone
peculiar to him, "when the Tistar-star rises, fortune will begin to shine
on you. Why do you look down? Why don't you answer? Gratitude stops
your pretty little mouth, eh? is that the reason? Well, my little bird,
I hope you won't be quite so silent, if you should ever have a chance of
praising poor Boges to your powerful mistress. And what message shall I
bring to the handsome Gaumata? May I say that you have not forgotten him
and will be delighted to see him again? You hesitate? Well, I am very
sorry, but it is getting dark and I must go. I have to inspect the
women's dresses for the birthday banquet. Ah! one thing I forgot to
mention. Gaumata must leave Babylon to-morrow. Oropastes is afraid,
that he may chance to see you, and told him to return to Rhage directly
the festival was over. What! still silent? Well then, I really cannot
help you or that poor fellow either. But I shall gain my ends quite as
well without you, and perhaps after all it is better that you should
forget one another. Good-bye."
It was a hard struggle for the girl. She felt nearly sure that Boges was
deceiving her, and a voice within warned her that it would be better to
refuse her lover this meeting. Duty and prudence gained the upper hand,
and she was just going to exclaim: "Tell him I cannot see him," when her
eye caught the ribbon she had once embroidered for her handsome
playfellow. Bright pictures from her childhood flashed through her mind,
short moments of intoxicating happiness; love, recklessness and longing
gained the day in their turn over her sense of right, her misgivings and
her prudence, and before Boges could finish his farewell, she called out,
almost in spite of herself and flying towards the house like a frightened
fawn: "I shall expect him."
Boges passed quickly through the flowery paths of the hanging-gardens.
He stopped at the parapet end cautiously opened a hidden trap-door,
admitting to a secret staircase which wound down through one of the huge
pillars supporting the hanging-gardens, and which had probably been
intended by their original designer as a means of reaching his wife's
apartments unobserved from the shores of the river. The door moved
easily on its hinges, and when Boges had shut it again and strewed a few
of the river-shells from the garden walks over it, it would have been
difficult to find, even for any one who had come with that purpose. The
eunuch rubbed his jeweled hands, smiling the while as was his custom, and
murmured: "It can't fail to succeed now; the girl is caught, her lover is
at my beck and call, the old secret flight of steps is in good order,
Nitetis has been weeping bitterly on a day of universal rejoicing, and
the blue lily opens to-morrow night. Ah, ha! my little plan can't
possibly fail now. And to-morrow, my pretty Egyptian kitten, your little
velvet paw will be fast in a trap set by the poor despised eunuch, who
was not allowed, forsooth, to give you any orders."
His eyes gleamed maliciously as he said these words and hurried from the
garden.
At the great flight of steps he met another eunuch, named Neriglissar,
who held the office of head-gardener, and lived at the hanging-gardens.
"How is the blue lily going on?" asked Boges.
"It is unfolding magnificently!" cried the gardener, in enthusiasm at
the mere mention of his cherished flower. "To-morrow, as I promised,
when the Tistar-star rises, it will be in all its beauty. My Egyptian
mistress will be delighted, for she is very fond of flowers, and may I
ask you to tell the king and the Achaemenidae, that under my care this
rare plant has at last flowered? It is to be seen in full beauty only
once in every ten years. Tell the noble Achaemenidae; this, and bring
them here."
"Your wish shall be granted," said Boges smiling, "but I think you must
not reckon on the king, as I do not expect he will visit the hanging-
gardens before his marriage with the Egyptian. Some of the Archimenidae,
however, will be sure to come; they are such lovers of horticulture that
they would not like to miss this rare sight. Perhaps, too, I may succeed
in bringing Croesus. It is true that he does not understand flowers or
doat on them as the Persians do, but he makes amends for this by his
thorough appreciation of everything beautiful."
"Yes, yes, bring him too," exclaimed the gardener. "He will really be
grateful to you, for my queen of the night is the most beautiful flower,
that has ever bloomed in a royal garden. You saw the bud in the clear
waters of the reservoir surrounded by its green leaves; that bud will
open into a gigantic rose, blue as the sky. My flower . . ."
The enthusiastic gardener would have said much more in praise of his
flower, but Boges left him with a friendly nod, and went down the flight
of steps. A two-wheeled wooden carriage was waiting for him there; he
took his seat by the driver, the horses, decked out with bells and
tassels, were urged into a sharp trot and quickly brought him to the gate
of the harem-garden.
That day was a busy, stirring one in Cambyses' harem. In order that the
women might look their very best, Boges had commanded that they should
all be taken to the bath before the banquet. He therefore went at once
to that wing of the palace, which contained the baths for the women.
While he was still at some distance a confused noise of screaming,
laughing, chattering and tittering reached his ears. In the broad porch
of the large bathing-room, which had been almost overheated, more than
three hundred women were moving about in a dense cloud of steam.
[We read in Diodorus XVII. 77. that the king of Persia had as many
wives as there are days in the year. At the battle of Issus,
Alexander the Great took 329 concubines, of the last Darius,
captive.]
The half-naked forms floated over the warm pavement like a motley crowd
of phantoms. Their thin silken garments were wet through and clung to
their delicate figures, and a warm rain descended upon them from the roof
of the bath, rising up again in vapor when it reached the floor.
Groups of handsome women, ten or twenty together, lay gossiping saucily
in one part of the room; in another two king's wives were quarrelling
like naughty children. One beauty was screaming at the top of her voice
because she had received a blow from her neighbor's dainty little
slipper, while another was lying in lazy contemplation, still as death,
on the damp, warm floor. Six Armenians were standing together, singing a
saucy love-song in their native language with clear-toned voices, and a
little knot of fair-haired Persians were slandering Nitetis so fearfully,
that a by-stander would have fancied our beautiful Egyptian was some
awful monster, like those nurses used to frighten children.
Naked female slaves moved about through the crowd, carrying on their
heads well-warmed cloths to throw over their mistresses. The cries of
the eunuchs, who held the office of door-keepers, and were continually
urging the women to greater haste,--the screeching calls of those whose
slaves had not yet arrived,--the penetrating perfumes and the warm vapor
combined to produce a motley, strange and stupefying scene.
A quarter of an hour later, however, the king's wives presented a very
different spectacle.
They lay like roses steeped in dew, not asleep, but quite still and
dreaming, on soft cushions placed along the walls of an immense room.
The wet perfumes still lay on their undried and flowing hair, and nimble
female slaves were busied in carefully wiping away, with little bags made
of soft camels' hair, the slightest outward trace of the moisture which
penetrated deep into the pores of the skin.
Silken coverlets were spread over their weary, beautiful limbs, and a
troop of eunuchs took good care that the dreamy repose of the entire body
should not be disturbed by quarrelsome or petulant individuals. Their
efforts, however, were seldom so successful as to-day, when every one
knew that a disturbance of the peace would be punished by exclusion from
the banquet. They had probably been lying a full hour in this dreamy
silence, when the sound of a gong produced another transformation.
The reposing figures sprang from their cushions, a troop of female slaves
pressed into the hall, the beauties were annointed and perfumed, their
luxuriant hair ingeniously braided, plaited, and adorned with precious
stones. Costly ornaments and silken and woolen robes in all the colors
of the rainbow were brought in, shoes stiff with rich embroidery of
pearls and jewels were tied on to their tender feet, and golden girdles
fastened round their waists.
[Some kings gave their wives the revenues of entire cities as
"girdle-money" (pin-money).]
By the time Boges came in, the greater number of the women were already
fully adorned in their costly jewelry, which would have represented
probably, when taken together, the riches of a large kingdom.
He was greeted by a shrill cry of joy from many voices. Twenty of the
women joined hands and danced round their smiling keeper, singing a
simple song which had been composed in the harem in praise of his
virtues. On this day it was customary for the king to grant each of his
wives one reasonable petition. So when the ring of dancers had loosed
hands, a troop of petitioners rushed in upon Boges, kissing his hands,
stroking his cheeks, whispering in his ear all kinds of requests, and
trying by flattery to gain his intercession with the king. The woman's
tyrant smiled at it all, stopped his ears and pushed them all back with
jests and laughter, promising Amytis the Median that Esther the
Phoenician should be punished, and Esther the same of Amytis,--that
Parmys should have a handsomer set of jewels than Parisatys, and
Parisatys a more costly one than Parmys, but finding it impossible to get
rid of these importunate petitioners, he blew a little golden whistle.
Its shrill tones acted like magic on the eager crowd; the raised hands
fell in a moment, the little tripping feet stood still, the opening lips
closed and the eager tumult was turned into a dead silence.
Whoever disobeyed the sound of this little whistle, was certain of
punishment. It was as important as the words "Silence, in the king's
name!" or the reading of the riot-act. To-day it worked even more
effectually than usual. Boges' self-satisfied smile showed that he had
noticed this; he then favored the assembly with a look expressive of his
contentment with their conduct, promised in a flowery speech to exert all
his influence with the king in behalf of his dear little white doves, and
wound up by telling them to arrange themselves in two long rows.
The women obeyed and submitted to his scrutiny like soldiers on drill, or
slaves being examined by their buyer.
With the dress and ornaments of most he was satisfied, ordering, however,
to one a little more rouge, to another a little white powder to subdue a
too healthy color, here a different arrangement of the hair--there a
deeper tinge to the eyebrows, or more pains to be taken in anointing the
lips.
When this was over he left the hall and went to Phaedime, who as one of
the king's lawful wives, had a private room, separated from those
allotted to the concubines.
This former favorite,--this humbled daughter of the Achaemenidae, had
been expecting him already some time.
She was magnificently dressed, and almost overloaded with jewels. A
thick veil of gauze inwrought with gold hung from her little tiara, and
interlaced with this was the blue and white band of the Achaemenidae.
There could be no question that she was beautiful, but her figure was
already too strongly developed, a frequent result of the lazy harem life
among Eastern women. Fair golden hair, interwoven with little silver
chains and gold pieces, welled out almost too abundantly from beneath her
tiara, and was smoothed over her white temples.
She sprang forward to meet Boges, trembling with eagerness, caught a
hasty glance at herself in the looking-glass, and then, fixing her eyes
on the eunuch, asked impetuously: "Are you pleased with me? Will he
admire me?"
Boges smiled his old, eternal smile and answered: "You always please me,
my golden peacock, and the king would admire you too if he could see you
as you were a moment ago. You were really beautiful when you called out,
'Will he admire me?' for passion had turned your blue eyes black as
night, and your lip was curled with hatred so as to show two rows of
teeth white as the snow on the Demawend!"
Phaedime was flattered and forced her face once more into the admired
expression, saying: "Then take us at once to the banquet, for I know my
eyes will be darker and more brilliant, and my teeth will gleam more
brightly, when I see that Egyptian girl sitting where I ought to sit."
"She will not be allowed to sit there long."
"What! is your plan likely to succeed then? Oh, Boges, do not hide it
any longer from me--I will be as silent as the grave--I will help you--I
will--"
"No, I cannot, I dare not tell you about it, but this much I will say in
order to sweeten this bitter evening: we have dug the pit for our enemy,
and if my golden Phaedime will only do what I tell her, I hope to give
her back her old place, and not only that, but even a higher one."
"Tell me what I am to do; I am ready for anything and everything."
"That was well and bravely spoken; like a true lioness. If you obey me
we must succeed; and the harder the task, the higher the reward. Don't
dispute what I am going to say, for we have not a minute to lose. Take
off all your useless ornaments and only wear the chain the king gave you
on your marriage. Put on a dark simple dress instead of this bright one;
and when you have prostrated yourself before Kassandane, bow down humbly
before the Egyptian Princess too."
"Impossible!"
"I will not be contradicted. Take off those ornaments at once, I entreat
you. There, that is right. We cannot succeed unless you obey me. How
white your neck is! The fair Peri would look dark by your side."
"But--"
"When your turn comes to ask a favor of the king, tell him you have no
wishes, now that the sun of your life has withdrawn his light."
"Yes, that I will do."
"When your father asks after your welfare, you must weep."
"I will do that too."
"And so that all the Achaemenidae can see that you are weeping."
"That will be a fearful humiliation!"
"Not at all; only a means by which to rise the more surely. Wash the red
color from your cheeks and put on white powder. Make yourself pale--
paler still."
"Yes, I shall need that to hide my blushes. Boges, you are asking
something fearful of me, but I will obey you if you will only give me a
reason."
"Girl, bring your mistress's new dark green robe."
"I shall look like a slave."
"True grace is lovely even in rags."
"The Egyptian will completely eclipse me."
"Yes, every one must see that you have not the slightest intention of
comparing yourself with her. Then people will say: 'Would not Phaedime
be as beautiful as this proud woman, if she had taken the same pains to
make herself so?"'
"But I cannot bow down to her."
"You must."
"You only want to humble and ruin me."
"Short-sighted fool! listen to my reasons and obey. I want especially to
excite the Achaemenidae against our enemy. How it will enrage your
grandfather Intaphernes, and your father Otanes to see you in the dust
before a stranger! Their wounded pride will bring them over to our side,
and if they are too 'noble,' as they call it, to undertake anything
themselves against a woman, still they will be more likely to help than
to hinder us, if I should need their assistance. Then, when the Egyptian
is ruined, if you have done as I wish, the king will remember your sad
pale face, your humility and forgetfulness of self. The Achaemenidae,
and even the Magi, will beg him to take a queen from his own family; and
where in all Persia is there a woman who can boast of better birth than
you? Who else can wear the royal purple but my bright bird of Paradise,
my beautiful rose Phaedime? With such a prize in prospect we must no
more fear a little humiliation than a man who is learning to ride fears a
fall from his horse."
And she, princess as she was, answered: "I will obey you."
"Then we are certain of victory," said the eunuch. "There, now your eyes
are flashing darkly again as I like to see them, my queen. And so
Cambyses shall see you when the tender flesh of the Egyptian shall have
become food for dogs and the birds of the air, and when for the first
time after long months of absence, I bring him once more to the door of
your apartments. Here, Armorges! tell the rest of the women to get
ready and enter their litters. I will go on and be there to show them
their places."
..........................
The great banqueting-hall was bright as day--even brighter, from the
light of thousands of candles whose rays were reflected in the gold
plates forming the panelling of the walls. A table of interminable
length stood in the middle of the hall, overloaded with gold and silver
cups, plates, dishes, bowls, jugs, goblets, ornaments and incense-altars,
and looked like a splendid scene from fairy-land.
"The king will soon be here," called out the head-steward of the table,
of the great court-lords, to the king's cup-bearer, who was a member of
the royal family. "Are all the wine-jugs full, has the wine been tasted,
are the goblets ranged in order, and the skins sent by Polykrates, have
they been emptied?"
"Yes," answered the cup-bearer, "everything is ready, and that Chian
wine is better than any I ever tasted; indeed, in my opinion, even the
Syrian is not to be compared to it. Only taste it."
So saying he took a graceful little golden goblet from the table in one
hand, raised a wine-pitcher of the same costly metal with the other,
swung the latter high into the air and poured the wine so cleverly into
the narrow neck of the little vessel that not a drop was lost, though the
liquid formed a wide curve in its descent. He then presented the goblet
to the head-steward with the tips of his fingers, bowing gracefully as he
did so.
The latter sipped the delicious wine, testing its flavor with great
deliberation, and said, on returning the cup: "I agree with you, it is
indeed a noble wine, and tastes twice as well when presented with such
inimitable grace. Strangers are quite right in saying that there are no
cupbearers like the Persian."
"Thanks for this praise," replied the other, kissing his friend's
forehead. "Yes, I am proud of my office, and it is one which the king
only gives to his friends. Still it is a great plague to have to stay so
long in this hot, suffocating Babylon. Shall we ever be off for the
summer, to Ecbatana or Pasargada?"
"I was talking to the king about it to-day. He had intended not to leave
before the Massagetan war, and to go straight from Babylon into the
field, but to-day's embassy has changed matters; it is probable that
there may be no war, and then we shall go to Susa three days after the
king's marriage--that is, in one week from the present time."
"To Susa?" cried the cup-bearer. "It's very little cooler there than
here, and besides, the old Memnon's castle is being rebuilt."
"The satrap of Susa has just brought word that the new palace is
finished, and that nothing so brilliant has ever been seen. Directly
Cambyses heard, it he said: Then we will start for Susa three days after
our marriage. I should like to show the Egyptian Princess that we
understand the art of building as well as her own ancestors. She is
accustomed to hot weather on the Nile, and will not find our beautiful
Susa too warm.' The king seems wonderfully fond of this woman."
"He does indeed! All other women have become perfectly indifferent to
him, and he means soon to make her his queen."
"That is unjust; Phaedime, as daughter of the Achaemenidae, has an older
and better right."
"No doubt, but whatever the king wishes, must be right."
"The ruler's will is the will of God."
"Well said! A true Persian will kiss his king's hand, even when dripping
with the blood of his own child."
"Cambyses ordered my brother's execution, but I bear him no more ill-will
for it than I should the gods for depriving me of my parents. Here, you
fellows! draw the curtains back; the guests are coming. Look sharp, you
dogs, and do your duty! Farewell, Artabazos, we shall have warm work
to-night."
ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS:
Death is so long and life so short
No man was allowed to ask anything of the gods for himself
Take heed lest pride degenerate into vainglory