Complete Works of Achilles Tatius

by Achilles Tatius

  15. On the next day he made preparations to fill up and so cross over a wide trench which lay in our way: for on the other side of it we could see the robbers standing in great numbers and fully armed; they had an improvised altar made of mud and a coffin near it. Then two of them led up the girl, her hands tied behind her back. I could not see who they were, (The reason for this will be made clear in chapters xxi and xxii.) as they were in full armour, but I recognized her as Leucippe. First they poured libations over her head and led her round the altar while, to the accompaniment of a flute, a priest chanted what seemed to be an Egyptian hymn; this at least was indicated by the movements of his lips and the contortions of his features. (I do not think that this necessarily means that the Egyptian language was of so “crack-jaw” a kind that the face of anybody singing it would be distorted beyond recognition; but rather that the narrator was standing too far off to hear the words, and could only guess as to their nature by observing the facial movements of the singer.) Then, at a concerted sign, all retired to some distance from the altar; one of the two young attendants laid her down on her back, and strapped her so by means of pegs fixed in the ground, just as the statuaries represent Marsyas fixed to the tree; then he took a sword and plunging it in about the region of the heart, drew it down to the lower part of the belly, opening up her body; the bowels gushed out, and these they drew forth in their hands and placed upon the altar; and when they were roasted, the whole body of them cut them up into small pieces, divided them into shares and ate them. The soldiers and the general who were looking on cried out as each stage of the deed was done and averted their eyes from the sight. I sat gazing in my consternation, rooted to the spot by the horror of the spectacle; the immeasurable calamity struck me, as by lightning, motionless. Perhaps the story of Niobe was no fiction; she too, suffering some such woe as I, may, at the destruction of her children, have become so fixed and motionless, that she seemed to be made of stone. When the business came, as I thought, to an end, the two attendants placed her body in the coffin, put the lid upon it, overturned the altar, and hurried away without looking round; such were the instructions given to them by the priest in the liturgy which he chanted.

  [1] Ἑσπέρας δὲ γενομένης ἡ διῶρυξ κέχωστο πᾶσα, οἱ δὲ στρατιῶται διαβάντες αὐλίζονται μικρὸν ἄνω τῆς διώρυχος καὶ περὶ δεῖπνον ἦσαν: ὁ δὲ στρατηγὸς ἐπεχείρει με παρηγορεῖν ἀνιαρῶς ἔχοντα. [2] Περὶ δὲ πρώτην νυκτὸς φυλακὴν πάντας ἐπιτηρήσας καθεύδοντας πρόειμι τὸ ξίφος ἔχων, ἐπικατασφάξων ἐμαυτὸν τῇ σορῷ. [3] Ἐπεὶ δὲ πλησίον ἐγενόμην, ἀνατείνω τὸ ξίφος ‘Λευκίππη’ λέγων ‘ἀθλία καὶ πάντων ἀνθρώπων δυστυχεστάτη, οὐ τὸν θάνατον ὀδύρομαί σου μόνον, οὐδ̓ ὅτι τέθνηκας ἐπὶ ξένης, οὐδ̓ ὅτι σοι γέγονεν ἐκ βίας σφαγή, ἀλλ̓ ὅτι ταῦτα τῶν σῶν ἀτυχημάτων παίγνια, ἀλλ̓ ὅτι καθάρσιον γέγονας ἀκαθάρτων σωμάτων καί σε ζῶσαν ἀνέτεμον, οἴμοι, καὶ βλέπουσαν ὅλην τὴν ἀνατομήν, ἀλλ̓ ὅτι σου τῆς γαστρὸς τὰ μυστήρια ἐμέρισαν καὶ τὴν ταφὴν κακοδαίμονι βωμῷ καὶ σορῷ. [4] Καὶ τὸ μὲν σῶμα ταύτῃ κατατέθειται, τὰ δὲ σπλάγχνα ποῦ; Εἰ μὲν δεδαπανήκει τὸ πῦρ, ἥττων ἡ συμφορά: νῦν δὲ ἡ τῶν σπλάγχνων σου ταφὴ λῃστῶν γέγονε τροφή. Ὢ πονηρᾶς ἐπὶ βωμοῦ δᾳδουχίας: ὦ τροφῶν καινὰ μυστήρια. [5] Καὶ ἐπὶ τοιούτοις θύμασιν ἔβλεπον ἄνωθεν οἱ θεοὶ καὶ οὐκ ἐσβέσθη τὸ πῦρ, ἀλλὰ μιαινόμενον ἠνείχετο καὶ ἀνέφερε τοῖς θεοῖς τὴν κνίσσαν; Λάβε οὖν, Λευκίππη, τὰς πρεπούσας σοι παῤ ἐμοῦ χοάς.’

  16. Evening come, the whole trench was filled up, the soldiers crossed it, pitched their camp a little beyond it, and set about preparing their supper, while the general tried to console me in my misery. Nevertheless about the first watch of the night, waiting until all were asleep, I took my sword and went forth, intending to kill myself over the coffin. When I had arrived at the spot, I held out the sword, and, “Leucippe,” said I, “wretched Leucippe, most ill-fated of mankind, it is not thy death alone that I mourn, nor thy death in a strange land, nor the violence of thy murder, but I grieve at the mockeries added to thy woes — that thou didst become a purifying sacrifice for the bodies of the most impure of men; that, still alive, thou wast ripped up and couldst see the torture with thine own eyes; that division was made of the secret and inner parts of thy belly, to receive its burial upon this ill-starred altar and in this ill-starred coffin. Here lies the shell of thy carcase, but its entrails where? If the fire had consumed them, thy fate would have been more tolerable; but now has the burial of them been at the same time the robbers’ sustenance. Accursed requiem at an accursed altar! Horrible and new-fangled banquet! At a sacrifice such as this the gods looked down — and yet the fire was not quenched, but was allowed to pollute itself and carry up to heaven the savour of such an offering! Receive then, Leucippe, from me the only fitting-expiatory offering.”

  [1] Ταῦτα εἰπὼν ἀνατείνω τὸ ξίφος ἄνω, ὡς καθήσων ἐμαυτῷ κατὰ τῆς σφαγῆς, καὶ ὁρῶ δύο τινὰς ἐξ ἐναντίας （σεληναία δὲ ἦν） σπουδῇ θέοντας. Ἐπέσχον οὖν λῃστὰς εἶναι δοκῶν, ὡς ἂν ὑπ̓ αὐτῶν ἀποθάνοιμι. [2] Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ ἐγγὺς ἐγένοντο καὶ ἀναβοῶσιν ἄμφω: Μενέλαος δὲ ἦν καὶ ὁ Σάτυρος. Ἐγὼ δὲ ἄνδρας ἰδὼν ἐκ παραλόγου ζῶντας φίλους οὔτε περιεπτυξάμην, οὔτ̓ ἐξεπλάγην ὑφ̓ ἡδονῆς: τοσοῦτον ἡ λύπη με τῆς συμφορᾶς ἐξεκώφωσε. [3] Λαμβάνονται δή μου τῆς δεξιᾶς καὶ ἐπεχείρουν ἀφαιρεῖσθαι τὸ ξίφος: ἐγὼ δὲ ‘πρὸς θεῶν’ ἔφην ‘μή μοι φθονήσητε θανάτου καλοῦ, μᾶλλον δὲ φαρμάκου τῶν κακῶν: οὐδὲ γὰρ ζῆν ἔτι δύναμαι, κἂν νῦν με βιάσησθε, [4] Λευκίππης οὕτως ἀνῃρημένης. Τοῦτο μὲν γὰρ ἀφαιρήσεσθέ μου τὸ ξίφος, τὸ δὲ τῆς ἐμῆς λύπης ξίφος ἔνδον καταπέπηγε καὶ τέμνει κατ̓ ὀλίγον. Ἀθανάτῳ σφαγῇ ἀποθνήσκειν με βούλεσθε;’ Λέγει οὖν ὁ Μενέλαος ‘ἀλλ̓ εἰ διὰ τοῦτο θέλεις ἀποθανεῖν, ὥρα σοι τὸ ξίφος ἐπισχεῖν: Λευκίππη δέ σοι νῦν ἀναβιώσεται.’ [5] Βλέψας οὖν πρὸς αὐτὸν ‘ἔτι μου καταγελᾷς’ ἔφην ‘ἐπὶ τηλικούτῳ κακῷ; εὖ γε, Μενέλαε, Ξενίου μέμνησαι Διός.’ Ὁ δὲ δρούσας τὴν σορὸν ‘ἐπεὶ τοίνυν ἀπιστεῖ Κλειτοφῶν’ ἔφη, ‘σύ μοι, Λευκίππη, [6] μαρτύρησον, εἰ ζῇς.’ Ἅμα δὲ εἶπε καὶ δίς που καὶ τρὶς ἐπάταξε τὴν σορόν, καὶ κάτωθεν ἀκούω φωνῆς πάνυ λεπτῆς. Τρόμος οὖν εὐθὺς ἴσχει με καὶ πρὸς τὸν Μενέλαον ἀπέβλεπον, μάγον εἶναι δοκῶν. [7] Ὁ δὲ ἀνέῳγεν ἅμα τὴν σορὸν καὶ ἡ Λευκίππη κάτωθεν ἀνέβαινε, φοβερὸν θέαμα, ὦ θεοί, καὶ φρικωδέστατον. Ἀνέῳκτο μὲν ἡ γαστ
ὴρ αὐτῆς πᾶσα καὶ ἦν ἐντέρων κενή: ἐπιπεσοῦσα δέ μοι περιπλέκεται καὶ συνέφυμεν καὶ ἄμφω κατεπέσομεν.

  17. With these words I raised my sword on high, intending to plunge it into my throat, when I saw two figures — the moon was shining — running towards me from in front. I therefore stayed my hand, thinking them to be two of the robbers, in order to meet my death at their hands. They approached and shouted aloud; they were Menelaus and Satyrus! When I saw that they were friends, and all unexpectedly still alive, I neither embraced them, nor had I the astonishment of joy; my grief for my misfortunes had made me dumb. They seized my hand and tried to wrest away the sword from me; but “By all the gods,” said I, “do not grudge me a death that is honourable, nay, is a cure for my woes; I cannot endure to live, even though you now constrain me, after Leucippe has thus been murdered. You can take away this sword of mine from me, but the sword of my grief has already stuck fast within me, and is little by little wounding me to death. Do you prefer that I should die by a death that never dies?”

  “If this is your reason for killing yourself,” said Menelaus, “you may indeed withold your sword; your Leucippe will now at once live once more.”

  “Do you still mock me,” said I, looking steadily at him, “in this my great woe? Come, Menelaus, have regard to Zeus, the god that protects the guest.” But he knocked upon the lid of the coffin, and said, “Since Clitophon is still an unbeliever, do you, Leucippe, bear me witness if you are yet alive.” As he spoke, he struck the coffin two or three times in different places, and I heard a faint voice come from beneath; a shuddering instantly took hold of me, and I looked hard at Menelaus, thinking him a wizard; then he opened the coffin, and out came Leucippe — a shocking and horrible sight, God wot. Her belly seemed ripped open and deprived of all its entrails, but she fell upon my neck and embraced me; we clung together and both fell to the ground.

  [1] Μόλις οὖν ἀναζωπυρήσας λέγω πρὸς τὸν: Μενέλαον ‘οὐκ ἐρεῖς μοι τί ταῦτα; οὐχὶ Λευκίππην ὁρῶ; ταύτην οὐ κρατῶ καὶ ἀκούω λαλούσης; ἃ οὖν χθὲς ἐθεασάμην τίνα ἦν; ἢ γὰρ ἐκεῖνά ἐστιν ἢ ταῦτα ἐνύπνια. [2] Ἀλλ̓ ἰδοὺ καὶ φίλημα ἀληθινὸν καὶ ζῶν, ὡς κἀκεῖνο τὸ τῆς Λευκίππης γλυκύ.’ ‘Ἀλλὰ νῦν’ ὁ Μενέλαος ἔφη ‘καὶ τὰ σπλάγχνα ἀπολήψεται καὶ τὰ στέρνα συμφύσεται καὶ ἄτρωτον ὄψει. Ἀλλ̓ ἐπικάλυψαί σου τὸ πρόσωπον: καλῶ γὰρ τὴν Ἑκάτην ἐπὶ τὸ ἔργον.’ Ἐγὼ δὲ πιστεύσας ἐνεκαλυψάμην. [3] Ὁ δὲ ἄρχεται τερατεύεσθαι καὶ λόγον τινὰ καταλέγειν: καὶ ἅμα λέγων περιαιρεῖ τὰ μαγγανεύματα τὰ ἐπὶ τῇ γαστρὶ τῆς Λευκίππης καὶ ἀποκατέστησεν εἰς τὸ ἀρχαῖον, [4] λέγει τέ μοι ‘ἀποκάλυψαι.’ Κἀγὼ μόλις μὲν καὶ φοβούμενος （ἀληθῶς γὰρ ᾤμην τὴν Ἑκάτην παρεῖναι）, ὅμως δ̓ οὖν ἀπέστησα τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν τὰς χεῖρας καὶ ὁλόκληρον τὴν Λευκίππην ὁρῶ. [5] Ἔτι μᾶλλον οὖν ἐκπλαγεὶς ἐδεόμην τοῦ Μενελάου λέγων ‘ὦ φίλτατε Μενέλαε, εἰ διάκονός τις εἶ θεῶν, δέομαί σου, ποῦ γῆς εἰμι καὶ τίνα ποτὲ ταῦτα ὁρῶ;’ Καὶ ἡ Λευκίππη ‘καῦσαι’ ἔφη ‘Μενέλαε, δεδιττόμενος αὐτόν, λέγε δὲ πῶς τοὺς λῃστὰς ἠπάτησας.’

  18. When I had with difficulty come again to myself, I said to Menelaus, “Tell me, what is this? Is not this Leucippe whom I see, and hold, and hear her speaking? What was it then that I saw yesterday? Either that was a dream, or else this is. But certainly this is a real, living kiss, as was of old Leucippe’s sweet embrace.”

  “Yes,” said Menelaus, “and now all these entrails shall be taken away, the wound in her body shall close, and you shall see her whole and sound. But cover your face, I am going to invoke the assistance of Hecate in the task.” I believed him and veiled myself, while he began to conjure and to utter some incantation; and as he spoke he removed the deceptive contrivances which had been fitted to Leucippe’s belly, and restored it to its original condition. Then he said to me, “Uncover yourself”; with some hesitation and full of fright (for I really thought that Hecate was there), I at length removed my hands from my eyes and saw Leucippe whole and restored. Still more greatly astonished, I implored Menelaus, saying; “Menelaus, my best of friends, if you are really a minister of the gods, where am I and what is this I see?” Hereupon Leucippe broke in. “Stop teasing and frightening him, Menelaus,” said she, “and tell him how you cheated the robbers.”

  [1] Ὁ οὖν Μενέλαος λέγει ‘οἶδας ὡς Αἰγύπτιός εἰμι τὸ γένος: φθάνω γάρ σοι ταῦτα εἰπὼν ἐπὶ τῆς νεώς. Ἦν οὖν μοι τὰ πλεῖστα τῶν κτημάτων περὶ ταύτην τὴν κώμην καὶ οἱ ἄρχοντες αὐτῆς γνώριμοι. [2] Ἐπεὶ οὖν τῇ ναυαγίᾳ περιεπέσομεν, εἶτά με προσέρριψε τὸ κῦμα τοῖς τῆς Αἰγύπτου παραλίοις, λαμβάνομαι μετὰ τοῦ Σατύρου πρὸς τῶν ταύτῃ παραφυλαττόντων λῃστῶν. Ὡς δὲ ἄγομαι πρὸς τὸν λῄσταρχον, ταχύ με τῶν λῃστῶν τινες γνωρίσαντες λύουσί μου τὰ δεσμά, θαρρεῖν τε ἐκέλευον καὶ συμπονεῖν αὐτοῖς, ὡς ἂν οἰκεῖον. [3] Ἐξαιτοῦμαι δὴ καὶ τὸν Σάτυρον ὡς ἐμόν.’ Οἱ δὲ ‘ἀλλ̓ ὅπως’ ἔφησαν ‘ἐπιδείξεις ἡμῖν σεαυτὸν τολμηρὸν πρῶτον.’ Κἀν τούτῳ χρησμὸν ἴσχουσι κόρην καταθῦσαι καὶ καθῆραι τὸ λῃστήριον καὶ τοῦ μὲν ἥπατος ἀπογεύσασθαι τυθείσης, τὸ δὲ λοιπὸν σῶμα σορῷ παραδόντας ἀναχωρῆσαι, ὡς ἂν τὸ τῶν ἐναντίων στρατόπεδον ὑπερβάλοι τῆς θυσίας τὸν τόπον. ‘λέγε δὴ τὰ ἐπίλοιπα, Σάτυρε, σὸς γὰρ ἐντεῦθεν ὁ λόγος.’

  19. So Menelaus began his story. “You know,” said he, “that I am an Egyptian by birth; I told you so before, on the ship; most of my property is near this village, and the chief people here are acquaintances of mine. Well, when we had suffered shipwreck, the tide brought me to the shores of Egypt, and I, with Satyrus, was captured by the robbers who were on guard in this part of it. When I was brought before the robber-chief, some of them at once recognized me, struck off my chains, and bade me be of good cheer and join their company, as a friend ought to do. I begged to have Satyrus too, as being my servant. ‘Yes,’ said they, ‘if you will first prove yourself a courageous companion.’ At this time it happened that they had received an oracle that that they should sacrifice a maiden and so purify the robber-camp, devouring her liver after her sacrifice; they were then to put the rest of her body in a coffin and retire from the spot, and all this was to be done so that the opposing army would have to march over the spot where the sacrifice had taken place. (So that the magic should take them, presumably, as they crossed the place. If, on the other hand, we wish to understand the sentence in the sense that the horror of the cannibal sacrifice was to affright and overawe the enemy, the rendering would be more easily reached if we were to read της θυσίας rb άτοπου, which would then be the subject of νπερβάλοι, and Tó TOW εναντίων στρατοπέδου its object.) Do you now relate the rest, Satyrus; from this point the story is you
rs.”

  [1] Καὶ ὁ Σάτυρος λέγει ‘ἅμα δὲ βιαζόμενος ἐπὶ τὸ στρατόπεδον ἔκλαον, ὦ δέσποτα, καὶ ὠδυρόμην, τὰ περὶ τῆς Λευκίππης πυθόμενος, καὶ ἐδεόμην Μενελάου παντὶ τρόπῳ σῶσαι τὴν κόρην. [2] Δαίμων δέ τις ἀγαθὸς ἡμῖν συνήργησεν. Ἐτύχομεν τῇ προτεραίᾳ τῆς θυσίας ἡμέρᾳ καθεζόμενοι πρὸς τῇ θαλάττῃ λυπούμενοι καὶ περὶ τούτων σκοποῦντες, τῶν δὲ λῃστῶν τινες ναῦν ἰδόντες ἀγνοίᾳ πλανηθεῖσαν ὥρμησαν ἐπ̓ αὐτήν. [3] Οἱ δὲ ἐπὶ τῆς νεὼς συνέντες οἳ τυγχάνουσιν, ἐπεχείρουν ἐλαύνειν εἰς τοὐπίσω: ὡς δὲ φθάνουσιν οἱ λῃσταὶ καταλαβόντες, πρὸς ἄμυναν τρέπονται: [4] καὶ γάρ τις ἐν αὐτοῖς ἦν τῶν τὰ Ὁμήρου τῷ στόματι δεικνύντων ἐν τοῖς θεάτροις. Τὴν Ὁμηρικὴν οὖν σκευὴν ὁπλισάμενος καὶ αὐτὸς καὶ τοὺς ἀμφ̓ αὑτὸν οὕτω σκευάσας, ἐπεχείρουν μάχεσθαι. [5] Πρὸς μὲν οὖν τοὺς πρώτους ἐπελθόντας καὶ μάλα ἐρρωμένως ἀντετάξαντο: πλειόνων δὲ ἐπιπλευσάντων σκαφῶν λῃστρικῶν καταδύουσι τὴν ναῦν καὶ τοὺς ἄνδρας ἐκπεσόντας ἀνῄρουν. [6] Λανθάνει δὴ κίστη ἐκτραπεῖσά τις καὶ τῷ ναυαγίῳ καθ̓ ἡμᾶς τῷ ῥοΐ κομισθεῖσα, ἣν ὁ Μενέλαος ἀναιρεῖται: καὶ ἀναχωρήσας ποι παρόντος ἅμα κἀμοῦ ‘προσεδόκα γάρ τι σπουδαῖον ἔνδον εἶναι’ ἀνοίγει τὴν κίστην καὶ ὁρῶμεν χλαμύδα καὶ ξίφος, τὴν μὲν κώπην ὅσον παλαιστῶν τεσσάρων, τὸν δὲ σίδηρον ἐπὶ τῇ κώπῃ βραχύτατον, [7] δακτύλων ὅσον τριῶν. Ὡς δὲ ἀνελόμενος τὸ ξίφος ὁ Μενέλαος ἔλαθε μεταστρέψας κατὰ τὸ τοῦ σιδήρου μέρος, τὸ μικρὸν ἐκεῖνο ξίφος ὥσπερ ἀπὸ χηραμοῦ τῆς κώπης κατατρέχει τοσοῦτον, ὅσον εἶχεν ἡ κώπη τὸ μέγεθος: ὡς δὲ ἀνέστρεψεν εἰς τοὔμπαλιν, αὖθις ὁ σίδηρος εἴσω καταδύεται. Τούτῳ δ̓ ἄρα, ὡς εἰκός, ὁ κακοδαίμων ἐκεῖνος ἐν τοῖς θεάτροις ἐχρῆτο πρὸς τὰς κιβδήλους σφαγάς.’