[1] Ταῦτα ἀκούσας ἀνῴμωξα ἐπὶ τῇ τῆς Τύχης παιδιᾷ ‘ὦ δαῖμον’ λέγων, ‘νῦν μὲν Σώστρατός μοι Λευκίππην ἐκδίδωσι καί μοι γάμους ἐκ μέσου πολέμου πέμπει, μετρήσας ἀκριβῶς τὰς ἡμέρας, ἵνα μὴ φθάσῃ τὴν φυγήν. [2] Ὢ τῶν ἐξώρων εὐτυχημάτων, ὦ μακάριος ἐγὼ παρὰ μίαν ἡμέραν. Μετὰ θάνατον γάμοι, μετὰ θρῆνον ὑμέναιοι. Τίνα μοι δίδωσι νύμφην ἡ Τύχη; ἣν οὐδὲ ὁλόκληρόν μοι δέδωκε νεκράν.’ [3] ‘Οὐ θρήνων νῦν καιρὸς’ ὁ Κλεινίας εἶπεν, ‘ἀλλὰ σκεψώμεθα, πότερον εἰς τὴν πατρίδα σοι νῦν ἀνακομιστέον ἢ τὸν πατέρα ἐνταῦθα ἀναμενετέον.’ ‘Οὐδέτερον’ εἶπον: （ποίῳ γὰρ ἂν ἴδοιμι προσώπῳ τὸν πατέρα, μάλιστα μὲν οὕτως αἰσχρῶς φυγών, εἶτα καὶ τὴν παρακαταθήκην αὐτῷ τἀδελφοῦ διαφθείρας; φεύγειν οὖν ἐντεῦθεν ὑπολείπεται πρὶν ἥκειν αὐτόν.） [4] Ἐν τούτῳ δὴ ὁ Μενέλαος εἰσέρχεται καὶ ὁ Σάτυρος μετ̓ αὐτοῦ, καὶ τόν τε Κλεινίαν περιπτύσσονται καὶ μανθάνουσι παῤ ἡμῶν τὰ πεπραγμένα. Καὶ ὁ Σάτυρος ‘ἀλλ̓ ἔστι σοι’ ἔφη ‘τὰ παρόντα θέσθαι καλῶς καὶ ἐλεῆσαι ψυχὴν ἐπὶ σοὶ φλεγομένην: [5] ἀκουσάτω δὲ καὶ ὁ Κλεινίας. Ἡ γὰρ Ἀφροδίτη μέγα τούτῳ παρέσχεν ἀγαθόν, ὁ δ̓ οὐκ ἐθέλει λαβεῖν: γυναῖκα γὰρ ἐξέμηνεν ἐπ̓ αὐτὸν πάνυ καλήν, ὥστε ἂν ἰδὼν αὐτὴν εἴποις ἄγαλμα, Ἐφεσίαν τὸ γένος, [6] ὄνομα Μελίτην: πλοῦτος πολὺς καὶ ἡλικία νέα. Τέθνηκε δ̓ αὐτῆς προσφάτως ὁ ἀνὴρ κατὰ θάλατταν, βούλεται δὲ τοῦτον ἔχειν δεσπότην （οὐ γὰρ ἄνδρα ἐρῶ） καὶ δίδωσιν ἑαυτὴν καὶ πᾶσαν ἑαυτῆς τὴν οὐσίαν: δἰ αὐτὸν γὰρ τέτταρας μῆνας νῦν ἐνθάδε διέτριψεν, ἀκολουθῆσαι δεομένη. Ὁ δὲ οὐκ οἶδα τί παθὼν ὑπερηφανεῖ, νομίζων αὐτῷ Λευκίππην ἀναβιώσεσθαι.’
11. Hearing this story, I cried aloud at the prank that Fortune had played me: “Cruel goddess,” I said, “this is the time that Sostratus chooses to give me Leucippe — an espousal coming from the field of war (The πόλεμος Θρακικός of I. iii. § G.) — so exactly measuring his time that his message should not arrive before our flight. Alas for my untimely good luck! How happy could I have been with one day’s difference! After death comes a wedding, after the dirge the marriage-hymn. What sort of a bride is this that Fate gives me? Why, she has not even given her to me in the shape of a whole corpse.”
“This is not the time,” said Clinias, “for lamentations; but let us consider whether it would be best for you to return at once to your own country or to wait for your father here.”
“Neither,” said I: “with what sort of countenance could I meet my father, after first fleeing from him in an underhand manner, and then being the destruction of the charge entrusted to him by his brother? There is nothing that I can do except to make my escape before he arrives.” While I was thus speaking, in came Menelaus and Satyrus with him; after embracing Clinias they heard the whole story from us. “You have the chance,” said Satyrus, “of putting your fortunes in a fine position and at the same time of shewing pity to a soul that is all afire for your sake. Let Clinias hear the state of affairs as well; Aphrodite offers this fellow a real prize, and he will not stretch out his hand to take it. She has made to dote on him a woman so beautiful that you might take her for a lovely statue; she is an Ephesian by race, her name is Melitte; she is very rich, and young. Her husband has lately been lost at sea, and now she is willing to take this fellow to be — I will not say her husband, (I am not quite certain of the meaning of this phrase. It may either be that Clitophon was to marry her, but to have more domination over herself and her riches than an ordinary husband; or, more probably, that he was not to be her husband, but in the more advantageous position of amant en titre.) but — her lord and master; she offers him herself and all that she possesses. On his account she has now spent four months here asking him to be her companion on her journey home, but he, for some reason which I cannot fathom, is too proud to consent; I suppose that he thinks that his Leucippe will come to life again.”
[1] Καὶ ὁ Κλεινίας ‘οὐκ ἀπὸ τρόπου δοκεῖ μοι’ φησὶν ‘ὁ Σάτυρος λέγειν: κάλλος γὰρ καὶ πλοῦτος καὶ ἔρως εἰ συνῆλθον ἐπὶ σέ, οὐχ ἕδρας ἔργον οὐδ̓ ἀναβολῆς. Τὸ μὲν γὰρ κάλλος ἡδονήν, ὁ δὲ πλοῦτος τρυφήν, ὁ δὲ ἔρως αἰδῶ: μισεῖ δὲ ὁ θεὸς τοὺς ἀλαζόνας. [2] Φέρε πείσθητι τῷ Σατύρῳ καὶ χάρισαι τῷ θεῷ.’ Κἀγὼ στενάξας ‘ἄγε με’ εἶπον ‘ὅποι θέλεις, εἰ καὶ Κλεινίᾳ τοῦτο δοκεῖ: μόνον ὅπως τὸ γύναιόν μοι μὴ παράσχῃ πράγματα ἐπείγουσα πρὸς τὸ ἔργον, [3] ἔστ̓ ἂν εἰς τὴν Ἔφεσον ἀφικώμεθα. Φθάνω γὰρ ἐπομοσάμενος ἐνταῦθα μὴ συνελθεῖν, ἔνθα Λευκίππην ἀπολώλεκα.’ Ταῦτα ἀκούσας ὁ Σάτυρος προστρέχει πρὸς τὴν Μελίτην εὐαγγέλια φέρων: καὶ μικρὸν διαλιπὼν αὖθις ἐπανέρχεται, λέγων ἀκούσασαν τὴν γυναῖκα ὑφ̓ ἡδονῆς παρὰ μικρὸν τὴν ψυχὴν ἀφεῖναι, δεῖσθαι δὲ ἥκειν ὡς αὐτὴν δειπνήσοντα τὴν ἡμέραν γάμων προοίμιον.
12. “Satyrus,” said Clinias, “seems to me to talk reason. When beauty, wealth, and love beckon you all at once, it is no time for sitting down and procrastination: her beauty will bring you pleasure, her wealth luxurious living, and her love the respect (αiδώs is here difficult to translate: it may mean self respect, or respect shewn to others, or respect shewn by others. I have preferred the third possibility.) of men. God hates the proud, so come, allow yourself to be persuaded by Satyrus and obey God’s will.”
“Take me where you will,” I said, with a groan, “if Clinias too approves; but on the one condition that this tiresome woman shall not trouble and press me to become her husband in deed until we arrive at Ephesus; I have some time ago taken an oath that I will have nothing to do with any woman here where t lost Leucippe.” Immediately that Satyrus heard this, he hurried to Melitte to take her the good news and very soon returned to report that when she had heard his message she very nearly expired from delight; also, that I must go that very day to dine with her as the prelude to our coming union. I agreed to this and repaired to her.
[1] Ἐπείσθην καὶ ᾠχόμην: ἡ δὲ ὡς εἶδέ με, ἀναθοροῦσα περιβάλλει καὶ πᾶν μου τὸ πρόσωπον ἐμπίπλησι φιλημάτων. Ἦν δὲ τῷ ὄντι καλὴ καὶ γάλακτι μὲν ἂν εἶπες αὐτῆς τὸ πρόσωπον κεχρῖσθαι, ῥόδον δὲ ἐμπεφυτεῦσθαι ταῖς παρειαῖς. [2] Ἐμάρμαιρεν αὐτῆς τὸ βλέμμα μαρμαρυγὴν ἀφροδίσιον: κόμη πολλὴ καὶ βαθεῖα καὶ κατάχρυσος τῇ χρόᾳ, ὥστε ἔδοξα οὐκ ἀηδῶς ἰδεῖν τὴν γυναῖκα. [3] Τὸ μὲν οὖν δεῖπνον ἦν πολυτελές: ἡ
δὲ ἐφαπτομένη τῶν παρακειμένων, ὡς δοκεῖν ἐσθίειν, οὐκ ἠδύνατο τυχεῖν ὁλοκλήρου τροφῆς, πάντα δὲ ἔβλεπεν ἐμέ: οὐδὲν γὰρ ἡδὺ τοῖς ἐρῶσι πλὴν τὸ ἐρώμενον: τὴν γὰρ ψυχὴν πᾶσαν ὁ ἔρως καταλαβὼν οὐδὲ αὐτῇ χώραν δίδωσι τῇ τροφῇ. [4] Ἡ δὲ τῆς θέας ἡδονὴ διὰ τῶν ὀμμάτων εἰσρέουσα τοῖς στέρνοις ἐγκάθηται: ἕλκουσα δὲ τοῦ ἐρωμένου τὸ εἴδωλον ἀεὶ ἐναπομάττει τῷ τῆς ψυχῆς κατόπτρῳ καὶ ἀναπλάττει τὴν μορφήν: ἡ δὲ τοῦ κάλλους ἀπορροὴ δἰ ἀφανῶν ἀκτίνων ἐπὶ τὴν ἐρωτικὴν ἑλκομένη καρδίαν ἐναποσφραγίζει κάτω τὴν σκιάν. [5] Λέγω δὴ πρὸς αὐτὴν συνεὶς ‘ἀλλὰ σύ γε οὐδενὸς μετέχεις τῶν σῶν αὐτῆς, ἀλλ̓ ἔοικας τοῖς ἐν γραφαῖς ἐσθίουσιν:’ ἡ δὲ （ποῖον γὰρ ὄψον） ἔφη ‘μοι πολυτελέστερον ἢ ποῖος οἶνος τιμιώτερος τῆς σῆς ὄψεως;’ καὶ ἅμα λέγουσα κατεφίλησέ με, προσιέμενον οὐκ ἀηδῶς τὰ φιλήματα: εἶτα διασχοῦσα εἶπεν ‘αὕτη μοι τροφή.’
13. When she saw me, she jumped up, embraced me and covered my face with kisses. She was indeed beautiful; you might describe her face as of the colour and texture of milk, (A literal translation would be: “that her face had been anointed with milk.” I have had to have recourse to something of a paraphrase.) the rose also growing in her cheeks; her look shone with a splendour proper to the goddess of love, and her hair was long and thick and golden, so that I had to admit that it was not without pleasure that I beheld her. The dinner she provided was sumptuous; she took a portion of the meats set before her, so as to appear to eat, but could swallow nothing of the food; she did nothing but gaze upon me. To lovers there is no delight save in the object of love, which occupies the whole of their soul, and leaves no place in it for the pleasures of the table. The pleasure which comes from vision enters by the eyes and makes its home in the breast; bearing with it ever the image of the beloved, it impresses it upon the mirror of the soul and leaves there its image; the emanation given off by beauty travels by invisible rays to the lovesick heart and imprints upon it its photograph. Realizing the position, I said to her, “How is this? Do you take nothing of the dainties you have yourself provided? You consume no more than those who are painted as eating.”
“What costly dish,” said she, “what wine could be more agreeable to me than the sight of you?” As she spoke, she kissed me, and it was not without pleasure that I received her kisses; then, as she tore herself from me— “That is my sustenance,” she said.
[1] Τότε μὲν οὖν ἐν τούτοις ἦμεν: ἑσπέρας δὲ γενομένης ἡ μὲν ἐπεχείρει με κρατεῖν ἐκεῖ κοιμησόμενον, ἐγὼ δὲ παρῃτούμην, εἰπὼν ἃ καὶ πρὸς τὸν Σάτυρον ἔτυχον προαγορεύσας. Μόλις οὖν ἀφίησιν ἀνιωμένη. [2] Τῇ δὲ ὑστεραίᾳ συνέκειτο ἡμῖν εἰς τὸ τῆς Ἴσιδος ἱερὸν ἀπαντῆσαι διαλεξομένοις τε ἀλλήλοις καὶ πιστωσομένοις ἐπὶ μάρτυρι τῇ θεῷ: συμπαρῆσαν δὲ ἡμῖν ὅ τε Μενέλαος καὶ ὁ Κλεινίας: καὶ ὠμνύομεν ἐγὼ μὲν ἀγαπήσειν ἀδόλως, ἡ δὲ ἄνδρα ποιήσεσθαι καὶ πάντων ἀποφανεῖν δεσπότην. [3] ‘Ἄρξει δὲ’ εἶπον ἐγὼ ‘τῶν συνθηκῶν ἡ εἰς Ἔφεσον ἡμῶν ἄφιξις: ἐνταῦθα γάρ, ὡς ἔφην, Λευκίππῃ παραχωρήσεις.’ Δεῖπνον οὖν ἡμῖν ηὐτρεπίζετο πολυτελές, καὶ ὄνομα μὲν ἦν τῷ δείπνῳ γάμοι, τὸ δὲ ἔργον συνέκειτο ταμιεύεσθαι. [4] Καί τι μέμνημαι καὶ γελοῖον παρὰ τὴν ἑστίασιν τῆς Μελίτης. Ὡς γὰρ ἐπευφήμουν τοῖς γάμοις οἱ παρόντες, νεύσασα πρός με ἡσυχῆ ‘καινὸν’ εἶπεν ‘ἐγὼ μόνη πέπονθα. Κενοτάφιον μὲν γὰρ εἶδον, κενογάμιον δ̓ οὔ.’ Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ἔπαιζε σπουδῇ.
14. F or the time we continued in this manner; and when evening came she did her best to make me pass the night there. I, however, begged to be excused, using the same words to her that I had previously spoken to Satyrus. She let me go, though hardly and in distress; and it was agreed upon between us that the next day we should meet at the temple of Isis in order to discuss our future and take the goddess as witness to our troth. Menelaus and Clinias came there with us, and we took oaths, I to love her honourably, and she to make me her husband and declare me master of all that she possessed, “Our actual arrival at Ephesus,” I said, “must be time enough for you for the completion of our nuptials; here, as I said, you must be content to give place to Leucippe.” A rich banquet was then prepared for us: it was called a wedding breakfast, though we had agreed to defer the consummation of the marriage. I remember a good joke made by Melitte during the feast; the guests were calling down blessings upon our espousals, when she quietly nodded towards me, saying: “I seem to be unique in having an unheard of experience, and one that generally happens only in the case of the dead whose bodies cannot be found; I have often seen a tenantless catafalque, (κeνοτάφιον can he represented in English, and we have adopted the same word, cenotaph, for an empty memorial or tomb. But we have no proper expression for κeιατγάμιον, a mariage blanc.) but never a tenantless marriage-bed” — a jest that was half in earnest.
[1] Τῇ δὲ ἐπιούσῃ στελλόμεθα πρὸς ἀποδημίαν: κατὰ τύχην δὲ καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα ἐκάλει ἡμᾶς. Καὶ ὁ Μενέλαος μέχρι τοῦ λιμένος ἐλθὼν καὶ ἀσπασάμενος, εὐτυχεστέρας εἰπὼν νῦν ἡμᾶς τυχεῖν τῆς θαλάσσης ἀπετράπετο αὖθις, νεανίσκος πάνυ χρηστὸς καὶ θεῶν ἄξιος καὶ ἅμα δακρύων ἐμπεπλησμένος: καὶ ἡμῖν δὲ πᾶσι κατεφέρετο δάκρυα. [2] Τῷ δὲ Κλεινίᾳ ἐδόκει μή με καταλιπεῖν, ἀλλὰ μέχρις Ἐφέσου συμπλεύσαντα καί τινα ἐνδιατρίψαντα τῇ πόλει χρόνον ἐπανελθεῖν, [3] εἰ τἀμὰ ἐν καλῷ κείμενα καταμάθοι. Γίνεται δὴ κατ̓ οὐρὰν ἡμῶν ὁ ἄνεμος, ἑσπέρα τε ἦν καὶ δειπνήσαντες ἐκείμεθα κοιμησόμενοι: ἰδία δὲ ἐμοί τε καὶ τῇ Μελίτῃ καλύβη τις ἦν ἐπὶ τοῦ σκάφους περιπεφραγμένη. [4] Περιβαλοῦσα οὖν με κατεφίλει καὶ ἀπῄτει τὸν γάμον ‘νῦν μὲν’ λέγουσα ‘Λευκίππης τοὺς ὅρους ἐξήλθομεν καὶ τῶν συνθηκῶν τοὺς ὅρους ἀπειλήφαμεν: ἐντεῦθεν ἡ προθεσμία. Τί με δεῖ νῦν εἰς Ἔφεσον περιμένειν; ἄδηλοι τῆς θαλάσσης αἱ τύχαι, ἄπιστοι τῶν ἀνέμων αἱ μεταβολαί. [5] Πίστευσόν μοι, Κλειτοφῶν, κάομαι: ὄφελον ἠδυνάμην δεῖξαι τὸ πῦρ, ὄφελον εἶχε τὴν αὐτὴν φύσιν τῷ κοινῷ πυρί, ἵνα σοι περιχυθεῖσα κατέφλεξα: νῦν δὲ πρὸς τοῖς ἄλλοις τοῦτο μόνον τὸ πῦρ ἰδίαν ὕλην ἔχει καὶ ἐν ταῖς πρὸς τοὺς ἐραστὰς συμπλοκαῖς ἀνακαόμενον λάβρον τῶν συμπλεκομέν
ων φείδεται. [6] Ὢ πυρὸς μυστικοῦ, πυρὸς ἐν ἀπορρήτῳ δᾳδουχουμένου, πυρὸς τοὺς ὅρους αὐτοῦ φυγεῖν μὴ θέλοντος. Μυηθῶμεν οὖν, ὦ φίλτατε, τὰ τῆς Ἀφροδίτης μυστήρια.’
15. On the next day we made our preparations for departure, being by good chance invited by a favourable wind. Menelaus came with us to the harbour and bade us god-speed, telling us that on this occasion we should find a sea that was more friendly to us; he then left us, a young man who was the truest of friends and of a nature better than mortal; his eyes filled with tears and we were all constrained to weep in return. Clinias decided not to leave me, but to sail with me as far as Ephesus, and, after remaining some time in that city, to return if he found my future prospects in fair case. The wind was fair behind us; it was now evening and we had dined and were retiring to rest; Melitte and I had a cabin to ourselves which had been built (Literally, “fenced round”; doubtless a temporary structure.)on the upper deck; and there she flung her arms about me, kissed me, and asked me for the full rites of marriage: “Now,” said she, “we have traversed Leucippe’s boundaries and reached those of your promises; now begins the time when they are to be fulfilled. Why must I wait for our arrival at Ephesus? No one can be sure of what will happen at sea, and no trust can be placed in the changeful winds. Believe me, Clitophon, I am all afire — would that I could shew it to you — would that the fire of love had a like nature with that of the common element, in order that I might set you aflame by my embrace; but, as it is, this fire of mine, unlike other kinds, has its fuel in itself, and in lovers’ embraces it seems to burn up furiously but to spare the object of those embraces. O strange and mystic fire, fire that glows in secret and will not transgress the limits of the victim on whom it preys! Let us then, my dearest, become initiates in the sacred rites of Aphrodite.”
Complete Works of Achilles Tatius Page 70