Cleopatra

by H. Rider Haggard

  CHAPTER IX

  OF THE FAREWELL OF CHARMION; OF THE DEATH OF CHARMION; OF THE DEATHOF THE OLD WIFE, ATOUA; OF THE COMING OF HARMACHIS TO ABOUTHIS; OF HISCONFESSION IN THE HALL OF SIX-AND-THIRTY PILLARS; AND OF THE DECLARINGOF THE DOOM OF HARMACHIS

  Charmion unclasped my arm, to which she had clung in terror.

  "Thy vengeance, thou dark Harmachis," she said, in a hoarse voice, "isa thing hideous to behold! O lost Egypt, with all thy sins thou wastindeed a Queen!

  "Come, aid me, Prince; let us stretch this poor clay upon the bed anddeck it royally, so that it may give its dumb audience to the messengersof Caesar as becomes the last of Egypt's Queens."

  I spoke no word in answer, for my heart was very heavy, and now that allwas done I was weary. Together, then, we lifted up the body and laid iton the golden bed. Charmion placed the uraeus crown upon the ivory brow,and combed the night-dark hair that showed never a thread of silver,and, for the last time, shut those eyes wherein had shone all thechanging glories of the sea. She folded the chill hands upon the breastwhence Passion's breath had fled, and straightened the bent kneesbeneath the broidered robe, and by the head set flowers. And there atlength Cleopatra lay, more splendid now in her cold majesty of deaththan in her richest hour of breathing beauty!

  We drew back and looked on her, and on dead Iras at her feet.

  "It is done!" quoth Charmion; "we are avenged, and now, Harmachis,dost follow by this same road?" And she nodded towards the phial on theboard.

  "Nay, Charmion. I fly--I fly to a heavier death! Not thus easily may Iend my space of earthly penance."

  "So be it, Harmachis! And I, Harmachis--I fly also, but with swifterwings. My game is played. I, too, have made atonement. Oh! what a bitterfate is mine, to have brought misery on all I love, and, in the end, todie unloved! To thee I have atoned; to my angered Gods I have atoned;and now I go to find a way whereby I may atone to Cleopatra in that Hellwhere she is, and which I must share! For she loved me well, Harmachis;and, now that she is dead, methinks that, after thee, I loved her bestof all. So of her cup and the cup of Iras I will surely drink!" Andshe took the phial, and with a steady hand poured what was left of thepoison into the goblet.

  "Bethink thee, Charmion," I said; "yet mayst thou live for many years,hiding these sorrows beneath the withered days."

  "Yet I may, but I will not! To live the prey of so many memories, thefount of an undying shame that night by night, as I lie sleepless, shallwell afresh from my sorrow-stricken heart!--to live torn by a love Icannot lose!--to stand alone like some storm-twisted tree, and, sighingday by day to the winds of heaven, gaze upon the desert of my life,while I wait the lingering lightning's stroke--nay, that will not I,Harmachis! I had died long since, but I lived on to serve thee; now nomore thou needest me, and I go. Oh, fare thee well!--for ever fare theewell! For not again shall I look again upon thy face, and there I gothou goest not! For thou dost not love me who still dost love thatqueenly woman thou hast hounded to the death! Her thou shalt never win,and I thee shall never win, and this is the bitter end of Fate! See,Harmachis: I ask one boon before I go and for all time become naught tothee but a memory of shame. Tell me that thou dost forgive me so far asthine is to forgive, and in token thereof kiss me--with no lover's kiss,but kiss me on the brow, and bid me pass in peace."

  And she drew near to me with arms outstretched and pitiful tremblinglips and gazed upon my face.

  "Charmion," I answered, "we are free to act for good or evil, and yetmethinks there is a Fate above our fate, that, blowing from some strangeshore, compels our little sails of purpose, set them as we will, anddrives us to destruction. I forgive thee, Charmion, as I trust in turnto be forgiven, and by this kiss, the first and the last, I seal ourpeace." And with my lips I touched her brow.

  She spoke no more; only for a little while she stood gazing on me withsad eyes. Then she lifted the goblet, and said:

  "Royal Harmachis, in this deadly cup I pledge thee! Would that I haddrunk of it ere ever I looked upon thy face! Pharaoh, who, thy sinsoutworn, yet shalt rule in perfect peace o'er worlds I may not tread,who yet shalt sway a kinglier sceptre than that I robbed thee of, forever, fare thee well!"

  She drank, cast down the cup, and for a moment stood with the wide eyesof one who looks for Death. Then He came, and Charmion the Egyptian fellprone upon the floor, dead. And for a moment more I stood alone with thedead.

  I crept to the side of Cleopatra, and, now that none were left to see,I sat down on the bed and laid her head upon my knee, as once beforeit had been laid in that night of sacrilege beneath the shadow of theeverlasting pyramid. Then I kissed her chill brow and went from theHouse of Death--avenged, but sorely smitten with despair!

  "Physician," said the officer of the Guard as I went through the gates,"what passes yonder in the Monument? Methought I heard the sounds ofdeath."

  "Naught passes--all hath passed," I made reply, and went.

  And as I went in the darkness I heard the sound of voices and therunning of the feet of Caesar's messengers.

  Flying swiftly to my house I found Atoua waiting at the gates. She drewme into a quiet chamber and closed the doors.

  "Is it done?" she asked, and turned her wrinkled face to mine, while thelamplight streamed white upon her snowy hair. "Nay, why ask I--I knowthat it is done!"

  "Ay, it is done, and well done, old wife! All are dead! Cleopatra, Iras,Charmion--all save myself!"

  The aged woman drew up her bent form and cried: "Now let me go in peace,for I have seen my desire upon thy foes and the foes of Khem. _La!la!_--not in vain have I lived on beyond the years of man! I have seenmy desire upon thy enemies---I have gathered the dews of Death, and thyfoe hath drunk thereof! Fallen is the brow of Pride! the Shame of Khemis level with the dust! Ah, would that I might have seen that wantondie!"

  "Cease, woman! cease! The Dead are gathered to the Dead! Osiris holdsthem fast, and everlasting silence seals their lips! Pursue not thefallen great with insults! Up!--let us fly to Abouthis, that all may beaccomplished!"

  "Fly thou, Harmachis!--Harmachis, fly--but I fly not! To this end onlyI have lingered on the earth. Now I untie the knot of life and let myspirit free! Fare thee well, Prince, the pilgrimage is done! Harmachis,from a babe have I loved thee, and love thee yet!--but no more in thisworld may I share thy griefs--I am spent. Osiris, take thou my Spirit!"and her trembling knees gave way and she sank to the ground.

  I ran to her side and looked upon her. She was already dead, and I wasalone upon the earth without a friend to comfort me!

  Then I turned and went, no man hindering me, for all was confusion inthe city, and departed from Alexandria in a vessel I had made ready.On the eighth day, I landed, and, in the carrying out of my purpose,travelled on foot across the fields to the Holy Shrine of Abouthis. Andhere, as I knew, the worship of the Gods had been lately set up againin the Temple of the Divine Sethi: for Charmion had caused Cleopatra torepent of her decree of vengeance and to restore the lands that she hadseized, though the treasure she restored not. And the temple having beenpurified, now, at the season of the Feast of Isis, all the High Priestsof the ancient Temples of Egypt were gathered together to celebrate thecoming home of the Gods into their holy place.

  I gained the city. It was on the seventh day of the Feast of Isis. Evenas I came the long array wended through the well-remembered streets.I joined in the multitude that followed, and with my voice swelled thechorus of the solemn chant as we passed through the pylons into theimperishable halls. How well known were the holy words:

  "Softly we tread, our measured footsteps falling Within the Sanctuary Sevenfold; Soft on the Dead that liveth are we calling: 'Return, Osiris, from thy Kingdom cold! Return to them that worship thee of old!'"

  And then, when the sacred music ceased, as aforetime on the setting ofthe majesty of Ra, the High Priest raised the statue of the living Godand held it on high before the multitude.

  With a joyful shout of

  "Osiris! our hope,
Osiris! Osiris!"

  the people tore the black wrappings from their dress, showing the whiterobes beneath, and, as one man, bowed before the God.

  Then they went to feast each at his home; but I stayed in the court ofthe temple.

  Presently a priest of the temple drew near, and asked me of my business.And I answered him that I came from Alexandria, and would be led beforethe council of the High Priests, for I knew that the Holy Priests weregathered together debating the tidings from Alexandria.

  Thereon the man left, and the High Priests, hearing that I was fromAlexandria, ordered that I should be led into their presence in the Hallof Columns--and so I was led in. It was already dark, and between thegreat pillars lights were set, as on that night when I was crownedPharaoh of the Upper and the Lower Land. There, too, was the longline of Dignitaries seated in their carven chairs, and taking counseltogether. All was the same; the same cold images of Kings and Gods gazedwith the same empty eyes from the everlasting walls. Ay, more; amongthose gathered there were five of the very men who, as leaders of thegreat plot, had sat here to see me crowned, being the only conspiratorswho had escaped the vengeance of Cleopatra and the clutching hand ofTime.

  I took my stand on the spot where once I had been crowned and made meready for the last act of shame with such bitterness of heart as cannotbe written.

  "Why, it is the physician Olympus," said one. "He who lived a hermit inthe Tombs of Tape, and who but lately was of the household of Cleopatra.Is it, then, true that the Queen is dead by her own hand, Physician?"

  "Yea, holy Sirs, I am that physician; also Cleopatra is dead by _my_hand."

  "By thy hand? Why, how comes this?--though well is she dead, forsooth,the wicked wanton!"

  "Your pardon, Sirs, and I will tell you all, for I am come hitherto that end. Perchance among you there may be some--methinks I seesome--who, nigh eleven years ago, were gathered in this hall to secretlycrown one Harmachis, Pharaoh of Khem?"

  "It is true!" they said; "but how knowest thou these things, thouOlympus?"

  "Of the rest of those seven-and-thirty nobles," I went on, making noanswer, "are two-and-thirty missing. Some are dead, as Amenemhat isdead; some are slain, as Sepa is slain; and some, perchance, yet labouras slaves within the mines, or live afar, fearing vengeance."

  "It is so," they said: "alas! it is so. Harmachis the accursed betrayedthe plot, and sold himself to the wanton Cleopatra!"

  "It is so," I went on, lifting up my head. "Harmachis betrayed the plotand sold himself to Cleopatra; and, holy Sirs--_I am that Harmachis!_"

  The Priests and Dignitaries gazed astonished. Some rose and spoke; somesaid naught.

  "I am that Harmachis! I am that traitor, trebly steeped in crime!--atraitor to my Gods, a traitor to my Country, a traitor to my Oath! Icome hither to say that I have done this. I have executed the Divinevengeance on her who ruined me and gave Egypt to the Roman. And nowthat, after years of toil and patient waiting, this is accomplishedby my wisdom and the help of the angry Gods, behold I come with all myshame upon my head to declare the thing I am, and take the traitor'sguerdon!"

  "Mindest thou of the doom of him who hath broke the oath that may not bebroke?" asked he who first had spoken, in heavy tones.

  "I know it well," I answered; "I court that awful doom."

  "Tell us more of this matter, thou who wast Harmachis."

  So, in cold clear words, I laid bare all my shame, keeping back nothing.And ever as I spoke I saw their faces grow more hard, and knew that forme there was no mercy; nor did I ask it, nor, had I asked, could it havebeen granted.

  When, at last, I had done, they put me aside while they took counsel.Then they drew me forth again, and the eldest among them, a man very oldand venerable, the Priest of the Temple of the Divine Hatshepu at Tape,spoke, in icy accents:

  "Thou Harmachis, we have considered this matter. Thou hast sinned thethreefold deadly sin. On thy head lies the burden of the woe of Khem,this day enthralled of Rome. To Isis, the Mother Mystery, thou hastoffered the deadly insult, and thou hast broken thy holy oath. For allof these sins there is, as well thou knowest, but one reward, and thatreward is thine. Naught can it weigh in the balance of our justice thatthou hast slain her who was thy cause of stumbling; naught that thoucomest to name thyself the vilest thing who ever stood within thesewalls. On thee also must fall the curse of Menkau-ra, thou false priest!thou forsworn patriot! thou Pharaoh shameful and discrowned! Here, wherewe set the Double Crown upon thy head, we doom thee to the doom! Go tothy dungeon and await the falling of its stroke! Go, remembering whatthou mightest have been and what thou art, and may those Gods whothrough thy evil doing shall perchance ere long cease to be worshippedwithin these holy temples, give to thee that mercy which we deny! Leadhim forth!"

  So they took me and led me forth. With bowed head I went, looking notup, and yet I felt their eyes burn upon my face.

  Oh! surely of all my shames this is the heaviest!

  CHAPTER X

  OF THE LAST WRITING OF HARMACHIS, THE ROYAL EGYPTIAN

  They led me to the prison chamber that is high in the pylon tower andhere I wait my doom. I know not when the sword of Fate shall fall. Weekgrows to week, and month to month, and still it is delayed. Still itquivers unseen above my head. I know that it will fall, but when I knownot. Perchance, I shall wake in some dead hour of midnight to hear thestealthy steps of the slayers and be hurried forth. Perchance, they arenow at hand. Then will come the secret cell! the horror! the namelesscoffin! and at last it will be done! Oh, let it come! let it comeswiftly!

  All is written; I have held back nothing--my sin is sinned--my vengeanceis finished. Now all things end in darkness and in ashes, and I prepareto face the terrors that are to come in other worlds than this. I go,but not without hope I go: for, though I see Her not, though no more Sheanswers to my prayers, still I am aware of the Holy Isis, who is with mefor evermore, and whom I shall yet again behold face to face. And thenat last in that far day I shall find forgiveness; then the burden ofmy guilt will roll from me and innocency come back and wrap me round,bringing me holy Peace.

  Oh! dear land of Khem, as in a dream I see thee! I see Nation afterNation set its standard on thy shores, and its yoke upon thy neck! Isee new Religions without end calling out their truths upon the banks ofSihor, and summoning thy people to their worship! I see thy temples--thyholy temples--crumbling in the dust: a wonder to the sight of menunborn, who shall peer into thy tombs and desecrate the great onesof thy glory! I see thy mysteries a mockery to the unlearned, and thywisdom wasted like waters on the desert sands! I see the Roman Eaglesstoop and perish, their beaks yet red with the blood of men, and thelong lights dancing down the barbarian spears that follow in theirwake! And then, at last, I see Thee once more great, once more free, andhaving once more a knowledge of thy Gods--ay, thy Gods with a changedcountenance, and called by other names, but still thy Gods!

  The sun sinks over Abouthis. The red rays of Ra flame on temple roofs,upon green fields, and the wide waters of father Sihor. So as a childI watched him sink; just so his last kiss touched the further pylon'sfrowning brow; just that same shadow lay upon the tombs. All isunchanged! I--I only am changed--so changed, and yet the same!

  Oh, Cleopatra! Cleopatra! thou Destroyer! if I might but tear thy visionfrom my heart! Of all my griefs, this is the heaviest grief--still mustI love thee! Still must I hug this serpent to my heart! Still in myears must ring that low laugh of triumph--the murmur of the fallingfountain--the song of the nightinga----

  [Here the writing on the third roll of papyrus abruptly ends. It wouldalmost seem that the writer was at this moment broken in upon by thosewho came to lead him to his doom.]

 
ne-share-buttons">share