Cleopatra

by H. Rider Haggard

  CHAPTER XIV

  OF THE TENDER CARE OF CHARMION; OF THE HEALING OF HARMACHIS; OF THESAILING OF THE FLEET OF CLEOPATRA FOR CILICIA; AND OF THE SPEECH OFBRENNUS TO HARMACHIS

  Cleopatra went, and for a while I lay silent, gathering up my strengthto speak. But Charmion came and stood over me, and I felt a great tearfall from her dark eyes upon my face, as the first heavy drop of rainfalls from a thunder cloud.

  "Thou goest," she whispered; "thou goest fast whither I may not follow!O Harmachis, how gladly would I give my life for thine!"

  Then at length I opened my eyes, and spoke as best I could:

  "Restrain thy grief, dear friend," I said, "I live yet; and, in truth, Ifeel as though new life gathered in my breast!"

  She gave a little cry of joy, and I never saw aught more beautiful thanthe change that came upon her weeping face! It was as when the firstlights of the day run up the pallor of that sad sky which veils thenight from dawn. All rosy grew her lovely countenance; her dim eyesshone out like stars; and a smile of wonderment, more sweet than thesudden smile of the sea as its ripples wake to brightness beneath thekiss of the risen moon, broke through her rain of tears.

  "Thou livest!" she cried, throwing herself on her knees beside my couch."Thou livest--and I thought thee gone! Thou art come back to me! Oh!what say I? How foolish is a woman's heart! 'Tis this long watching!Nay; sleep and rest thee, Harmachis!--why dost thou talk? Not onemore word, I command thee straitly! Where is the draught left bythat long-bearded fool? Nay thou shalt have no draught! There, sleep,Harmachis; sleep!" and she crouched down at my side and laid her coolhand upon my brow, murmuring, "_Sleep! sleep!_"

  And when I woke there she was still, but the lights of dawn were peepingthrough the casement. There she knelt, one hand upon my forehead, andher head, in all its disarray of curls, resting upon her outstretchedarm.

  "Charmion," I whispered, "have I slept?"

  Instantly she was wide awake, and, gazing on me with tender eyes, "Yea,thou hast slept, Harmachis."

  "How long, then, have I slept?"

  "Nine hours."

  "And thou hast held thy place there, at my side, for nine long hours?"

  "Yes, it is nothing; I also have slept--I feared to waken thee if Istirred."

  "Go, rest," I said; "it shames me to think of this thing. Go rest thee,Charmion!"

  "Vex not thyself," she answered; "see, I will bid a slave watch thee,and to wake me if thou needest aught; I sleep there, in the outerchamber. Peace--I go!" and she strove to rise, but, so cramped was she,fell straightway on the floor.

  I can scarcely tell the sense of shame that filled me when I saw herfall. Alas! I could not stir to help her.

  "It is naught," she said; "move not, I did but catch my foot. There!"and she rose, again to fall--"a pest upon my awkwardness! Why--I must besleeping. 'Tis well now. I'll send the slave;" and she staggered thencelike one overcome with wine.

  And after that, I slept once more, for I was very weak. When I woke itwas afternoon, and I craved for food, which Charmion brought me.

  I ate. "Then I die not," I said.

  "Nay," she answered, with a toss of her head, "thou wilt live. In truth,I did waste my pity on thee."

  "And thy pity saved my life," I said wearily, for now I remembered.

  "It is nothing," she answered carelessly. "After all, thou art mycousin; also, I love nursing--it is a woman's trade. Like enough I haddone as much for any slave. Now, too, that the danger is past, I leavethee."

  "Thou hadst done better to let me die, Charmion," I said after a while,"for life to me can now be only one long shame. Tell me, then, whensails Cleopatra for Cilicia?"

  "She sails in twenty days, and with such pomp and glory as Egypt hasnever seen. Of a truth, I cannot guess where she has found the means togather in this store of splendour, as a husbandman gathers his goldenharvest."

  But I, knowing whence the wealth came, groaned in bitterness of spirit,and made no answer.

  "Goest thou also, Charmion?" I asked presently.

  "Ay, I and all the Court. Thou, too--thou goest."

  "I go? Nay, why is this?"

  "Because thou art Cleopatra's slave, and must march in gilded chainsbehind her chariot; because she fears to leave thee here in Khem;because it is her will, and there is an end."

  "Charmion, can I not escape?"

  "Escape, thou poor sick man? Nay, how canst thou escape? Even now thouart most strictly guarded. And if thou didst escape, whither wouldstthou fly? There's not an honest man in Egypt but would spit on thee inscorn!"

  Once more I groaned in spirit, and, being so very weak, I felt the tearsroll adown my cheek.

  "Weep not!" she said hastily, and turning her face aside. "Be a man, andbrave these troubles out. Thou hast sown, now must thou reap; butafter harvest the waters rise and wash away the rotting roots, and thenseed-time comes again. Perchance, yonder in Cilicia, a way may be found,when once more thou art strong, by which thou mayst fly--if in truththou canst bear thy life apart from Cleopatra's smile; then in some farland must thou dwell till these things are forgotten. And now my task isdone, so fare thee well! At times I will come to visit thee and see thatthou needest nothing."

  So she went, and I was nursed thenceforward, and that skilfully, by thephysician and two women-slaves; and as my wound healed so my strengthcame back to me, slowly at first, then most swiftly. In four days fromthat time I left my couch, and in three more I could walk an hour in thepalace gardens; another week and I could read and think, though I wentno more to Court. And at length one afternoon Charmion came and bade memake ready, for the fleet would sail in two days, first for the coast ofSyria, and thence to the gulf of Issus and Cilicia.

  Thereon, with all formality, and in writing, I craved leave of Cleopatrathat I might be left, urging that my health was so feeble that I couldnot travel. But a message was sent to me in answer that I must come.

  And so, on the appointed day, I was carried in a litter down to theboat, and together with that very soldier who had cut me down, theCaptain Brennus, and others of his troop (who, indeed, were sent toguard me), we rowed aboard a vessel where she lay at anchor with therest of the great fleet. For Cleopatra was voyaging as though to warin much pomp, and escorted by a fleet of ships, among which her galley,built like a house and lined throughout with cedar and silken hangings,was the most beautiful and costly that the world has ever seen. But Iwent not on this vessel, and therefore it chanced that I did not seeCleopatra or Charmion till we landed at the mouth of the river Cydnus.

  The signal being made, the fleet set sail; and, the wind being fair, wecame to Joppa on the evening of the second day. Thence we sailedslowly with contrary winds up the coast of Syria, making Caesarea, andPtolemais, and Tyrus, and Berytus, and past Lebanon's white brow crownedwith his crest of cedars, on to Heraclea and across the gulf of Issus tothe mouth of Cydnus. And ever as we journeyed, the strong breath of thesea brought back my health, till at length, save for a line of whiteupon my head where the sword had fallen, I was almost as I had been.And one night, as we drew near Cydnus, while Brennus and I sat alonetogether on the deck, his eye fell upon the white mark his sword hadmade, and he swore a great oath by his heathen Gods. "An thou hadstdied, lad," he said, "methinks I could never again have held up my head!Ah! that was a coward stroke, and I am shamed to think that it was I whostruck it, and thou on the ground with thy back to me! Knowest thouthat when thou didst lie between life and death, I came every day to asktidings of thee? and I swore by Taranis that if thou didst die I'd turnmy back upon that soft palace life and then away for the bonny North."

  "Nay, trouble not, Brennus," I answered; "it was thy duty."

  "Mayhap! but there are duties that a brave man should not do--nay, notat the bidding of any Queen who ever ruled in Egypt! Thy blow had dazedme or I had not struck. What is it, lad?--art in trouble with thisQueen of ours? Why art thou dragged a prisoner upon this pleasure party?Knowest thou that we are strictly charged that if thou dost escape ourlives s
hall pay the price?"

  "Ay, in sore trouble, friend," I answered; "ask me no more."

  "Then, being of the age thou art, there's a woman in it--that Iswear--and, perchance, though I am rough and foolish, I might make aguess. Look thou, lad, what sayest thou? I am weary of this service ofCleopatra and this hot land of deserts and of luxury, that sap a man'sstrength and drain his pocket; and so are others whom I know of. Whatsayest thou: let's take one of these unwieldy vessels and away to theNorth? I'll lead thee to a better land than Egypt--a land of lake andmountain, and great forests of sweet-scented pine; ay, and find thee agirl fit to mate with--my own niece--a girl strong and tall, with wideblue eyes and long fair hair, and arms that could crack thy ribs wereshe of a mind to hug thee! Come, what sayest thou? Put away the past,and away for the bonny North, and be a son to me."

  For a moment I thought, and then sadly shook my head; for though I wassorely tempted to be gone, I knew that my fate lay in Egypt, and I mightnot fly my fate.

  "It may not be, Brennus," I answered. "Fain would I that it might be,but I am bound by a chain of destiny which I cannot break, and in theland of Egypt I must live and die."

  "As thou wilt, lad," said the old warrior. "I should have dearly lovedto marry thee among my people, and make a son of thee. At the least,remember that while I am here thou hast Brennus for a friend. And onething more; beware of that beauteous Queen of thine, for, by Taranis,perhaps an hour may come when she will hold that thou knowest too much,and then----" and he drew his hand across his throat. "And now goodnight; a cup of wine, then to sleep, for to-morrow the foolery----"

  [Here several lengths of the second roll of papyrus are so broken asto be undecipherable. They seem to have been descriptive of Cleopatra'svoyage up the Cydnus to the city of Tarsus.]

  "And--[the writing continues]--to those who could take joy in suchthings, the sight must, indeed, have been a gallant one. For the sternof our galley was covered with sheets of beaten gold, the sails wereof the scarlet of Tyre, and the oars of silver touched the water to ameasure of music. And there, in the centre of the vessel, beneath anawning ablaze with gold embroidery, lay Cleopatra, attired as the RomanVenus (and surely Venus was not more fair!), in thin robes of whitestsilk, bound in beneath her breast with a golden girdle delicately gravenover with scenes of love. All about her were little rosy boys, chosenfor their beauty, and clad in naught save downy wings strapped upontheir shoulders, and on their backs Cupid's bow and quiver, who fannedher with fans of plumes. Upon the vessel's decks, handling the cordage,that was of silken web, and softly singing to the sound of harps and thebeat of oars, were no rough sailors, but women lovely to behold, somerobed as Graces and some as Nereids--that is, scarce robed at all,except in their scented hair. And behind the couch, with drawn sword,stood Brennus, in splendid armour and winged helm of gold; and by himothers--I among them--in garments richly worked, and knew that Iwas indeed a slave! On the high poop also burned censers filled withcostliest incense, of which the fragrant steam hung in little cloudsabout our wake."

  Thus, as in a dream of luxury, followed by many ships, we glided ontowards the wooded slopes of Taurus, at whose foot lay that ancient cityTarshish. And ever as we came the people gathered on the banks and ranbefore us, shouting: "Venus is risen from the sea! Venus hath come tovisit Bacchus!" We drew near to the city, and all its people--everyonewho could walk or be carried--crowded down in thousands to the docks,and with them came the whole army of Antony, so that at length theTriumvir was left alone upon the judgment seat.

  Dellius, the false-tongued, came also, fawning and bowing, and in thename of Antony gave the "Queen of Beauty" greeting, bidding her to afeast that Antony had made ready. But she made high answer, and said,"Forsooth, it is Antony who should wait on us; not we on Antony. Bid thenoble Antony to our poor table this night--else we dine alone."

  Dellius went, bowing to the ground; the feast was made ready; and thenat last I set eyes on Antony. He came clad in purple robes, a great manand beautiful to see, set in the stout prime of life, with bright eyesof blue, and curling hair, and features cut sharply as a Grecian gem.For he was great of form and royal of mien, and with an open countenanceon which his thoughts were so clearly written that all might read them;only the weakness of the mouth belied the power of the brow. He cameattended by his generals, and when he reached the couch where Cleopatralay he stood astonished, gazing on her with wide-opened eyes. She, too,gazed on him earnestly; I saw the red blood run up beneath her skin, anda great pang of jealousy seized upon my heart. And Charmion, who saw allbeneath her downcast eyes, saw this also and smiled. But Cleopatra spokeno word, only she stretched out her white hand for him to kiss; and he,saying no word, took her hand and kissed it.

  "Behold, noble Antony!" she said at last in her voice of music, "thouhast called me, and I am come."

  "Venus has come," he answered in his deep notes, and still holding hiseyes fixed upon her face. "I called a woman--a Goddess hath risen fromthe deep!"

  "To find a God to greet her on the land," she laughed with ready wit."Well, a truce to compliments, for being on the earth even Venus isahungered. Noble Antony, thy hand."

  The trumpets blared, and through the bowing crowd Cleopatra, followed byher train, passed hand in hand with Antony to the feast.

  [Here there is another break in the papyrus.]