Complete Works of Achilles Tatius

by Achilles Tatius

  3. As for me, Fortune, as usual, was hostile to me, and contrived a new plot against me; this was no less than to bring Thersander to meet me face to face. He had been persuaded by the friend to whom he had repaired not to sleep away from home, and, after dining, he was returning to his own house. It was the monthly festival of Artemis, and the whole place was full of drunken roysterers; the whole night long the entire market-place was occupied by crowds of people. I thought that this was my only danger; I never dreamed of another worse one that had been contrived for me.

  For Sosthenes, the man who had purchased Leucippe, who had been dismissed by Melitte from his post as steward of the country estate, when he heard that his master had arrived, had remained on the estate, and had sought about how he might take vengeance on Melitte. In the first place he began by telling Thersander all about me — his was the slander that led to my capture — and then he came with a plausible story that he had made up about Leucippe. Unable himself to gain possession of her for his own purposes, he adopted the character of pimp to his master, in order to widen the breach between him and Melitte. “I have bought a girl, Master,” he said, “who is beautiful, aye a perfect miracle of beauty: believe it from hearsay, as though you actually saw her. I had been keeping her for you; I had heard that you were alive, and I believed it, because I desired it to be so. However, I did not make public my belief, in order that you might be able to catch my lady in the very act, and that a worthless paramour, a foreigner too, might not have the laugh of you. Yesterday my mistress took the girl from me, and purposed to send her away, but fortune has kept her for you, so that you will be able to get possession of this fair prize. She is now at the country estate, whither she has been sent for some object or other; if you like, I can shut her up before she comes back, so that she may be at your disposal.”

  [1] Ἐπῄνεσεν ὁ Θέρσανδρος καὶ ἐκέλευσε τοῦτο ποιεῖν. Ἔρχεται δὴ σπουδῇ μάλα ὁ Σωσθένης εἰς τοὺς ἀγρούς, καὶ τὴν καλύβην ἑωρακώς, ἔνθα ἡ Λευκίππη διανυκτερεύειν ἔμελλε, δύο τῶν ἐργατῶν παραλαβών, τοὺς μὲν κελεύει τὰς θεραπαινίδας, αἵπερ ἦσαν ἅμα τῇ Λευκίππῃ παροῦσαι, περιελθεῖν δόλῳ καὶ καλεσαμένους ὅτι πορρωτάτω διατρίβειν ἔχοντας ἐφ̓ ὁμιλίᾳ: [2] δύο δὲ ἄλλους ἐπαγαγών, ὡς εἶδε τὴν Λευκίππην μόνην, εἰσπηδήσας καὶ τὸ στόμα ἐπισχὼν συναρπάζει καὶ κατὰ θάτερα τῆς τῶν θεραπαινίδων ἐκτροπῆς χωρεῖ, φέρων εἴς τι δωμάτιον ἀπόρρητον, καὶ καταθέμενος λέγει πρὸς αὐτήν ‘ἥκω σοι φέρων σωρὸν ἀγαθῶν, ἀλλ̓ ὅπως εὐτυχήσασα μὴ ἐπιλήσῃ μου. [3] Μὴ γὰρ φοβηθῇς ταύτην τὴν ἁρπαγήν, μηδὲ ἐπὶ κακῷ τῷ σῷ γεγονέναι δόξῃς: αὕτη γὰρ τὸν δεσπότην τὸν ἐμὸν ἐραστήν σοι προξενεῖ.’ Ἡ μὲν δὴ τῷ παραλόγῳ τῆς συμφορᾶς ἐκπλαγεῖσα ἐσιώπησεν, ὁ δὲ ἐπὶ τὸν Θέρσανδρον ἔρχεται καὶ λέγει τὰ πεπραγμένα: ἔτυχε δὲ ὁ Θέρσανδρος ἐπανιὼν εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν. [4] Τοῦ δὲ Σωσθένους αὐτῷ μηνύσαντος τὰ περὶ τῆς Λευκίππης καὶ κατατραγῳδοῦντος αὐτῆς τὸ κάλλος, μεστὸς γενόμενος ἐκ τῶν εἰρημένων ὡσεὶ κάλλους φαντάσματος, φύσει καλοῦ, παννυχίδος οὔσης καὶ ὄντων μεταξὺ τεττάρων σταδίων ἐπὶ τοὺς ἀγρούς, ἡγεῖσθαι κελεύσας ἐπ̓ αὐτὴν χωρεῖν ἔμελλεν.

  4. Thersander praised him for his suggestion, and bade him act accordingly. Sosthenes therefore repaired with all haste to the country estate, and after inspecting the hut where Leucippe was to pass the night, took two of the labourers, and ordered them to employ the arts of deception upon the serving-maids who were with Leucippe by calling them away and keeping them at a distance on the pretence of having something to communicate to them; then, taking two others, when he saw that Leucippe was alone, he burst in upon her, and, after gagging her, seized her and went off in the opposite direction to that in which the maids had gone. He took her to a cottage in a secret spot, and depositing her there, spoke as follows: “I have come bringing you a mass of good fortune; see that you do not forget me when you are happy. Do not be frightened at the way you have thus been carried off, or think that it portends any harm to you; it is the means by which my master is to become your lover.” Thunderstruck at the incredible nature of her misfortune, she kept silence, while Sosthenes went off to Thersander, who was just returning home, and related what he had done, at the same time praising Leucippe’s beauty to the skies in high-flown language, with the result that the latter was excited by his words as though by some fair vision, instinct with beauty; and as the festival was going to last through the night, and it was only half a mile to the country place, he bade the steward lead on and set out to visit her.

  [1] Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ ἐγὼ τὴν ἐσθῆτα τῆς Μελίτης εἶχον ἠμφιεσμένος καὶ ἀπερισκέπτως ἐμπίπτω κατὰ πρόσωπον αὐτοῖς, καί με ὁ Σωσθένης πρῶτος γνωρίσας ‘ἀλλ̓ ἰδοὺ’ φησὶν ‘οὗτος ὁ μοιχὸς βακχεύων ἡμῖν [2] ἔπεισι καὶ τῆς σῆς γυναικὸς ἔχων λάφυρα.’ Ὁ μὲν οὖν νεανίσκος ἔτυχε προηγούμενος καὶ προϊδὼν ἀποφεύγει, μὴ λαβὼν καιρὸν ὑπὸ δέους κἀμοὶ προμηνῦσαι: ἐμὲ δὲ ἰδόντες συλλαμβάνουσι, καὶ ὁ Θέρσανδρος βοᾷ, καὶ πλῆθος τῶν παννυχιζόντων συνέρρει. [3] Ἔτι μᾶλλον οὖν ὁ Θέρσανδρος ἐδεινοπάθει, ῥητὰ μὲν καὶ ἄρρητα βοῶν, τὸν μοιχόν, τὸν λωποδύτην: ἄγει δέ με εἰς τὸ δεσμωτήριον καὶ παραδίδωσιν ἔγκλημα μοιχείας ἐπιφέρων. [4] Ἐμὲ δὲ ἐλύπει τούτων μὲν οὐδέν, οὔθ̓ ἡ τῶν δεσμῶν ὕβρις οὔθ̓ ἡ τῶν λόγων αἰκία: καὶ γὰρ ἐθάρρουν τῷ λόγῳ περιέσεσθαι μὴ μοιχὸς εἶναι, γῆμαι δὲ ἐμφανῶς: δέος δέ με περὶ τῆς Λευκίππης εἶχεν οὔπω σαφῶς αὐτὴν ἀπολαβόντα. [5] Ψυχαὶ δὲ πεφύκασι μάντεις τῶν κακῶν, ἐπεὶ τῶν γε ἀγαθῶν ἥκιστα ἐκ μαντείας εὐστοχοῦμεν. Οὐδὲν οὖν ὑγιὲς ἐνενόουν περὶ τῆς Λευκίππης, ἀλλ̓ ἦν ὕποπτά μοι πάντα καὶ μεστὰ δείματος.

  5. I was meanwhile going on, clad in Melitte’s garments, and suddenly without any warning fell in with them face to face. Sosthenes was the first to recognize me; and, “Hulloa,” he cried, “here is the gallant coming roystering to meet us, and actually with your wife’s spoils upon him.” Now the young man who was acting as my guide was a little in front, and when he saw what was going to happen, he ran away, his fear preventing him from taking time to warn me. Thersander’s companions, when they spied me, laid hands upon me, and he himself raised so great a commotion that a crowd of the revellers collected. Thersander then took to more and more violent language, shouting all kinds of abusive terms at me, and calling me now adulterer, now thief; he then haled me off to the prison and handed me over to the constables, laying an information of adultery against me. I cared nothing for all this, the insult offered to me by the fetters and the abusive words: I felt confident that at the hearing I should be able to clear myself of the c
harge of adultery, and to prove that my marriage had been open and public; but I was still afflicted with fear in the matter of Leucippe, because I had not yet definitely recovered her. The mind is ever inclined to be a prophet of ill, because we are seldom successful in the presages of good fortune that we make; I had therefore no consoling thought about Leucippe, but was full of suspicions and fears. Such was my uncomfortable state of mind.

  [1] Ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν οὕτως εἶχον τὴν ψυχὴν κακῶς: ὁ δὲ Θέρσανδρος ἐμβαλών με εἰς τὸ δεσμωτήριον, ὡς εἶχεν ὁρμῆς ἐπὶ τὴν Λευκίππην ἵεται. Ὡς δὲ παρῆσαν ἐπὶ τὸ δωμάτιον, καταλαμβάνουσιν αὐτὴν χαμαὶ κειμένην, ἐν νῷ καθεστηκυῖαν ὧν ἔτυχεν ὁ Σωσθένης εἰπών, ἐμφαίνουσαν τοῖς προσώποις λύπην ὁμοῦ καὶ δέος. [2] Ὁ γὰρ νοῦς οὔ μοι δοκεῖ λελέχθαι καλῶς ἀόρατος εἶναι τὸ παράπαν: φαίνεται γὰρ ἀκριβῶς ὡς ἐν κατόπτρῳ τῷ προσώπῳ: ἡσθείς τε γὰρ ἐξέλαμψε τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς εἰκόνα χαρᾶς, καὶ ἀνιαθεὶς συνέστειλε τὸ πρόσωπον εἰς τὴν ὄψιν τῆς συμφορᾶς. [3] Ὡς οὖν ἤκουσεν ἡ Λευκίππη ἀνοιγομένων τῶν θυρῶν ‘ἦν δ̓ ἔνδον λύχνος’, ἀνανεύσασα μικρὸν αὖθις τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς κατέβαλεν. Ἰδὼν δὲ ὁ Θέρσανδρος τὸ κάλλος ἐκ παραδρομῆς, ὡς ἁρπαζομένης ἀστραπῆς （μάλιστα γὰρ ἐν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς κάθηται τὸ κάλλος）, ἀφῆκε τὴν ψυχὴν ἐπ̓ αὐτὴν καὶ εἱστήκει τῇ θέᾳ δεδεμένος, ἐπιτηρῶν πότε αὖθις ἀναβλέψει πρὸς αὐτόν. [4] Ὡς δὲ ἔνευσεν εἰς τὴν γῆν, λέγει ‘τί κάτω βλέπεις, γύναι; τί δέ σου τὸ κάλλος τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν εἰς τὴν γῆν καταρρεῖ; ἐπὶ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς μᾶλλον ῥεέτω τοὺς ἐμούς.’

  6. Thersander, after thrusting me into the gaol, started with all rapidity on his journey to Leucippe. Arriving at the cottage where she was, they found her lying on the ground and turning over in her mind what Sosthenes had said to her; the expression of her face shewed the presence together in her both of grief and fear. For I do not think that it is rightly said that the mind is entirely invisible: it can be accurately discerned in the face as in a mirror. When it is in a state of delight, it causes the appearance of joy to shine from the eyes; when in sorrow, it contracts the face in a manner that tells of the disaster that has occurred. So when Leucippe heard the doors open, and a light was struck within, she looked up for a moment, and then let her eyes drop again. Thersander, after obtaining this cursory sight of her beauty, sudden as a flash of lightning, for the chiefest seat of beauty is in the eyes, found his whole heart set on her and stood spell-bound by the sight, waiting for her to look up again at him. But as she still kept her eyes fixed on the ground, “Why look down, maiden?” said he. “Why waste the loveliness of your eyes upon the earth? Rather let it sink deep into mine.”

  [1] Ἡ δὲ ὡς ἤκουσεν, ἐνεπλήσθη δακρύων, καὶ εἶχεν αὐτῆς ἴδιον κάλλος καὶ τὰ δάκρυα. Δάκρυον γὰρ ὀφθαλμὸν ἀνίστησι καὶ ποιεῖ προπετέστερον: κἂν μὲν ἄμορφος ᾖ καὶ ἄγροικος, προστίθησιν εἰς δυσμορφίαν: ἐὰν δὲ ἡδὺς καὶ τοῦ μέλανος ἔχων τὴν βαφὴν ἠρέμα τῷ λευκῷ στεφανούμενος, ὅταν τοῖς δάκρυσιν ὑγρανθῇ, ἔοικε πηγῆς ἐγκύμονι μαζῷ. [2] Χεομένης δὲ τῆς τῶν δακρύων ἅλμης περὶ τὸν κύκλον, τὸ μὲν λευκὸν πιαίνεται, τὸ δὲ μέλαν πορφύρεται, καὶ ἔστιν ὅμοιον τὸ μὲν ἴῳ, τὸ δὲ ναρκίσσῳ: τὰ δὲ δάκρυα τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν ἔνδον εἱλούμενα γελᾷ. [3] Τοιαῦτα Λευκίππης ἦν τὰ δάκρυα, αὐτὴν τὴν λύπην εἰς κάλλος νενικηκότα: εἰ δὲ ἠδύνατο παγῆναι πεσόντα, καινὸν ἂν εἶχεν ἤλεκτρον ἡ γῆ. Ὁ δὲ Θέρσανδρος ἰδὼν πρὸς μὲν τὸ κάλλος ἐκεχήνει, πρὸς δὲ τὴν λύπην ἐξεμεμήνει καὶ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς δακρύων ἐγκύους εἶχεν. [4] Ἔστι μὲν γὰρ φύσει δάκρυον ἐπαγωγότατον ἐλέου τοῖς ὁρῶσι, τὸ δὲ τῶν γυναικῶν μᾶλλον: ὅσῳ γὰρ θαλερώτερον, τοσούτῳ καὶ γοητότερον. Ἐὰν δὲ ἡ δακρύουσα ᾖ καὶ καλὴ καὶ ὁ θεατὴς ἐραστής, οὐδ̓ ὀφθαλμὸς ἀτρεμεῖ, ἀλλὰ τὸ δακρύον ἐμιμήσατο. [5] Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ εἰς τὰ ὄμματα τῶν καλῶν τὸ κάλλος κάθηται, ῥέον ἐκεῖθεν ἐπὶ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς τῶν ὁρώντων ἵσταται καὶ τῶν δακρύων τὴν πηγὴν συνεφέλκεται. Ὁ δὲ ἐραστὴς δεξάμενος ἄμφω τὸ μὲν κάλλος εἰς τὴν ψυχὴν ἥρπασε, τὸ δὲ δάκρυον εἰς τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἐτήρησεν, ὁραθῆναι δὲ εὔχεται, καὶ ἀποψήσασθαι δυνάμενος οὐκ ἐθέλει, ἀλλὰ τὸ δάκρυον, ὡς δύναται, κατέχει καὶ φοβεῖται μὴ πρὸ καιροῦ φύγῃ. [6] Ὁ δὲ καὶ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν τὴν κίνησιν ἐπέχει, μὴ πρὶν τὸν ἐρώμενον ἰδεῖν ταχὺ θελήσῃ πεσεῖν: μαρτυρίαν γὰρ ταύτην νενόμικεν ὅτι καὶ φιλεῖ. [7] Τοιοῦτό τι τῷ Θερσάνδρῳ συμβεβήκει: ἐδάκρυε γὰρ πρὸς ἐπίδειξιν, παθὼν μέν τι, κατὰ τὸ εἰκός, ἀνθρώπινον, καλλωπιζόμενος δὲ πρὸς τὴν Λευκίππην, ὡς διὰ τοῦτο δεδακρυμένος, ὅτι κἀκείνη δακρύει. [8] Λέγει οὖν πρὸς τὸν Σωσθένην προσκύψας ‘νῦν μὲν αὐτὴν θεράπευσον, ὁρᾷς γὰρ ὡς ἔχει λύπης: ὥστε ὑπεκστήσομαι καὶ μάλα ἄκων, ὡς ἂν μὴ ὀχληρὸς εἴην: ὅταν δ̓ ἡμερώτερον διατεθῇ, τότε αὐτῇ διαλεχθήσομαι. [9] Σὺ δέ, ὦ γύναι, θάρρει: ταχὺ γὰρ σου ταῦτα τὰ δάκρυα ἰάσομαι.’ Εἶτα πρὸς τὸν Σωσθένην πάλιν ἐξιὼν ‘ὅπως εἴπῃς τὰ εἰκότα περὶ ἐμοῦ: ἕωθεν δὲ ἧκε πρός με κατορθώσας’ ἔφη. Ἐπὶ τούτοις ἀπηλλάττετο.

  7. On hearing these words, she burst into tears; and her tears too had a peculiar beauty of their own. Tears set off the eye and make its character more prominent: if it be ugly or coarse, they make it less pleasing still; if it be handsome, the pupil jet-black and surrounded by the white into which it insensibly shades, it becomes like a rich fountain spring when it is bedewed with tears. The brine of the tear-drops coming down into the white of the eye makes it rich and shining, while the black takes on from the same cause a deep purple hue; it comes to resemble a violet, while the rest of the eye is like a narcissus, and the tears which are rolling within the eye almost seem to smile. Such were Leucippe’s tears, which overcame her very grief and made it into beauty; if they could have solidified after they had fallen, the world would have possessed a new variety of amber. (Ordinary amber was fabled to be derived from the tears of the Ήeliades weeping for their dead brother Phaethon.) When Thersander saw her thus, he was struck dumb with her beauty and maddened by the sight of her
grief, and his own eyes filled with tears. Indeed tears are by their very nature exceedingly provocative of a beholder’s pity; those of a woman in particular have the more magic in their effects in proportion as they are the more abundant; be the woman fair, and he that sees her lover, his eye too cannot remain unmoved, but copies her weeping. Since, in the case of the beauteous, their beauty is in great part in their eyes, it therefore proceeding thence to the eyes of the beholder makes its home there and draws forth the fount of tears. Both — the beauty and the tears — are received into the lover’s being: the beauty he takes to his heart, but his tears he keeps in his eyes, and hopes that it will be apparent that he is in such a state; even if he could wipe them away, he will not do so, but keeps them hanging there as best he may, and fears lest they should disappear before they have had their effect. He will even refrain from moving his eyes, so that the tears may not too quickly fall before the beloved sees them: he thinks that they form a true witness that he loves. This was the case with Thersander: he wept partly because he felt some human compassion, as was only natural, and partly to make a shew to Leucippe that he was weeping too because she wept. He therefore whispered to Sosthenes: “Do you look after her for the present — you see in how sorrowful a plight she is — and I will retire, though much against my will, so as not to trouble her: when she has come to a calmer state, I will then put my arguments before her. And you, maiden, be of good cheer; I will soon cure you of these tears.” Then, as he was going out, he spoke again to Sosthenes; “See that you give her a good account of me, and come to me in the morning when you have put all right.” With these words he left the cottage.