Cleopatra

by H. Rider Haggard

  Thus the long years rolled away, and I, the hermit Olympus, the dwellerin a tomb, the eater of bread and the drinker of water, by strength ofthe wisdom that was given me of the avenging Power, became once moregreat in Khem. For I grew ever wiser as I trampled the desires of theflesh beneath my feet and turned my eyes to heaven.

  At length eight full years were accomplished. The war with the Parthianshad come and gone, and Artavasdes, King of Armenia, had been led intriumph through the streets of Alexandria. Cleopatra had visited Samosand Athens; and, by her counselling, the noble Octavia had been driven,like some discarded concubine, from the house of Antony at Rome. Andnow, at the last, the measure of the folly of Antony was full even tothe brim. For this Master of the World had no longer the good gift ofreason; he was lost in Cleopatra as I had been lost. Therefore, in theevent, Octavianus declared war against him.

  And as I slept upon a certain day in the chamber of the Harpers, in thetomb of Pharaoh that is by Tape, there came to me a vision of my father,the aged Amenemhat, and he stood over me, leaning on his staff, andspoke, saying:

  "Look forth, my son."

  Then I looked forth, and with the eyes of my spirit saw the sea, andtwo great fleets grappling in war hard by a rocky coast. And the emblemswere those of Octavian, and of the other those of Cleopatra and Antony.The ships of Antony and Cleopatra bore down upon the ships of Caesar, anddrove them on, for victory inclined to Antony.

  I looked again. There sat Cleopatra in a gold-decked galley watching thefight with eager eyes. Then I cast my Spirit on her so that she seemedto hear the voice of dead Harmachis crying in her ear.

  "_Fly, Cleopatra,_" it seemed to say, "_fly or perish!_"

  She looked up wildly, and again she heard my Spirit's cry. Now a mightyfear took hold of her. She called aloud to the sailors to hoist thesails and make signal to her fleet to put about. This they did wonderingbut little loath, and fled in haste from the battle.

  Then a great roar went up from friend and foe.

  "Cleopatra is fled! Cleopatra is fled!" And I saw wreck and red ruinfall upon the fleet of Antony and awoke from my trance.

  The days passed, and again a vision of my father came to me and spoke,saying:

  "Arise, my son!--the hour of vengeance is at hand! Thy plots have notfailed; thy prayers have been heard. By the bidding of the Gods, as shesat in her galley at the fight of Actium, the heart of Cleopatra wasfilled with fears, so that, deeming she heard thy voice bidding her flyor perish, she fled with all her fleet. Now the strength of Actium isbroken on the sea. Go forth, and as it shall be put into thy mind, so dothou."

  In the morning I awoke, wondering, and went to the mouth of the tomb,and there, coming up the valley, I saw the messengers of Cleopatra, andwith them a Roman guard.

  "What will ye with me now?" I asked, sternly.

  "This is the message of the Queen and of great Antony," answered theCaptain, bowing low before me, for I was much feared by all men. "TheQueen commands thy presence at Alexandria. Many times has she sent, andthou wouldst not come; now she bids thee to come, and that swiftly, forshe has need of thy counsel."

  "And if I say Nay, soldier, what then?"

  "These are my orders, most holy Olympus; that I bring thee by force."

  I laughed aloud. "By force, thou fool! Use not such talk to me, lest Ismite thee where thou art. Know, then, that I can kill as well as cure!"

  "Pardon, I beseech thee!" he answered, shrinking. "I say but thosethings that I am bid."

  "Well, I know it, Captain. Fear not; I come."

  So on that very day I departed, together with the aged Atoua. Ay, I wentas secretly as I had come; and the tomb of the Divine Rameses knew me nomore. And with me I took all the treasures of my father, Amenemhat, forI was not minded to go to Alexandria empty-handed and as a suppliant,but rather as a man of much wealth and condition. Now, as I went, Ilearned that Antony, following Cleopatra, had, indeed, fled from Actium,and knew that the end drew nigh. For this and many other things hadI foreseen in the darkness of the tomb of Tape, and planned to bringabout.

  Thus, then, I came to Alexandria, and entered into a house which hadbeen made ready for me at the palace gates.

  And that very night Charmion came to me--Charmion whom I had not seenfor nine long years.