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.