by Georg Ebers
CHAPTER IX.
The palace-steward, to whom Selene had called up his younger daughter,had just returned from the meeting of the citizens; and his oldblack slave, who always accompanied him when he went out, took thesaffron-colored pallium from his shoulders, and from his head the goldencirclet, with which he loved to crown his curled hair when he quittedthe house. Keraunus still looked heated, his eyes seemed more prominentthan usual and large drops of sweat stood upon his brow, when hisdaughter entered the room where he was. He absently responded toArsinoe's affectionate greeting with a few unmeaning words, and beforemaking the important communication he had to disclose to his daughters,he walked up and down before them for some time, puffing out his fatcheeks and crossing his arms. Selene was alarmed, and Arsinoe had longbeen out of patience, when at last he began:
"Have you heard of the festivals which are to be held in Caesar'shonor?"
Selene nodded and her sister exclaimed:
"Of course we have! Have you secured places for us on the seats kept forthe town council?"
"Do not interrupt me," the steward crossly ordered his daughter. "Thereis no question of staring at them. All the citizens are required toallow their daughters to take part in the grand things that are to becarried out, and we all were asked how many girls we had."
"And how are we to take part in the show?" cried Arsinoe, joyfullyclapping her hands.
"I wanted to withdraw before the summons was proclaimed, but Tryphon,the shipwright, who has a workshop down by the King's Harbor, held meback and called out to the assembly that his sons said that I had twopretty young daughters. Pray how did he know that?"
With these words the steward lifted his grey brows and his face grewred to the roots of his hair. Selene shrugged her shoulders, but Arsinoesaid:
"Tryphon's shipyard lies just below and we often pass it; but we do notknow him or his sons. Have you ever seen them Selene? At any rate it ispolite of him to speak of us as pretty."
"Nobody need trouble themselves about your appearance unless they wantto ask my permission to marry you," replied the steward with a growl.
"And what did you say to Tryphon?" asked Selene.
"I did as I was obliged. Your father is steward of a palace which atpresent belongs to Rome and the Emperor; hence I must receive Hadrian asa guest in this, the dwelling of my fathers, and therefore I, less thanany other citizen--cannot withhold my share in the honors which the citycouncil has decreed shall be paid to him."
"Then we really may," said Arsinoe, and she went up to her father togive him a coaxing pat. But Keraunus was not in the humor to acceptcaresses; he pushed her aside with an angry: "Leave me alone," and thenwent on:
"If Hadrian were to ask me 'Where are your daughters on the occasion ofthe festival?' and if I had to reply, 'They were not among the daughtersof the noble citizens,' it would be an insult to Caesar, to whom in factI feel very well disposed. All this I had to consider, and I gave yournames and promised to send you to the great Theatre to the assembly ofyoung girls. There you will be met by the noblest matrons and maidens ofthe city, and the first painters and sculptors will decide to what partof the performance your air and appearance are best fitted."
"But, father," cried Selene, "we cannot show ourselves in such anassembly in our common garments, and where are we to find the money tobuy new ones?"
"We can quite well show ourselves by any other girls, in clean, whitewoollen dresses, prettily smartened with fresh ribbons," declaredArsinoe, interposing between her father and her sister.
"It is not that which troubles me," replied the steward; "it is thecostumes, the costumes! It is only the daughters of the poorer citizenswho will be paid by the council, and it would be a disgrace to benumbered among the poor--you understand me, children."
"I will not take part in the procession," said Selene resolutely, butArsinoe interrupted her.
"It is inconvenient and horrible to be poor, but it certainly is nodisgrace! The most powerful Romans of ancient times, regarded it ashonorable to die poor. Our Macedonian descent remains to us even if thestate should pay for our costumes."
"Silence," cried the steward. "This is not the first time that I havedetected this low vein of feeling in you. Even the noble may submit tothe misfortunes entailed by poverty, but the advantages it brings withit he can never enjoy unless he resigns himself to being so no longer."
It had cost the steward much trouble to give due expression to thisidea, which he did not recollect to have heard from another, whichseemed new to him, and which nevertheless fully represented what hefelt; and he slowly sank, with all the signs of exhaustion, into a couchwhich formed a divan round a side recess in the spacious sitting-room.
In this room Cleopatra might have held with Antony those banquets ofwhich the unequalled elegance and refinement had been enhanced by everygrace of art and wit. On the very spot where Keraunus now reclined thedining-couch of the famous lovers had probably stood; for, though thewhole hall had a carefully-laid pavement, in this recess there was amosaic of stones of various colors of such beauty and delicacy of finishthat Keraunus had always forbidden his children to step upon it. This,it is true, was less out of regard for the fine work of art than becausehis father had always prohibited his doing so, and his father againbefore him. The picture represented the marriage of Peleus and Thetis,and the divan only covered the outer border of the picture, which wasdecorated with graceful little Cupids.
Keraunus desired his daughter to fetch him a cup of wine, but she mixedthe juice of the grape with a judicious measure of water. After hehad half drunk the diluted contents of the goblet, with many faces ofdisgust, he said:
"Would you like to know what each of your dresses will cost if it is tobe in no respect inferior to those of the others?"
"Well," said Arsinoe anxiously.
"About seven hundred drachmae;--[$115 in 1880]--Philinus, the tailor,who is working for the theatre, tells me it will be impossible to doanything well for less."
"And you are really thinking of such insane extravagance," cried Selene."We have no money, and I should like to know the man who would lend usany more."
The steward's younger daughter looked doubtfully at the tips of herfingers and was silent, but her eyes swimming in tears betrayed what shefelt. Keraunus was rejoiced at the silent consent which Arsinoe seemedto accord to his desire to let her take part in the display at whatevercost. He forgot that he had just reproached her for her low sentiments,and said:
"The little one always feels what is right. As for you, Selene, I begyou to reflect seriously that I am your father, and that I forbid you touse this admonishing tone to me; you have accustomed yourself to it withthe children and to them you may continue to use it. Fourteen hundreddrachmae certainly, at the first thought of it, seems a very large sum,but if the material and the trimming required are bought with judgment,after the festival we may very likely sell it back to the man withprofit."
"With profit!" cried Selene bitterly, "not half is to be got for oldthings-not a quarter! And even if you turn me out of the house--I willnot help to drag us into deeper wretchedness; I will take no part in theperformances."
The steward did not redden this time, he was not even violent; on thecontrary, he simply raised his head and compared his daughters as theystood--not without an infusion of satisfaction. He was accustomed tolove his daughters in his own way, Selene as the useful one, and Arsinoeas the beauty; and as on this occasion all he cared for was to satisfyhis vanity, and as this end could be attained through his youngerdaughter alone, he said:
"Stay with the children then, for all I care. We will excuse you on thescore of weak health, and certainly, child, you do look extremely pale.I would far rather find the means for the little one only."
Two sweet dimples again began to show in Arsinoe's cheeks, but Selene'slips were as white as her bloodless cheeks as she exclaimed:
"But, father--father! neither the baker nor the butcher has had a coinpaid him for the last two months, and you
will squander seven hundreddrachmae!"
"Squander!" cried Keraunus indignantly, but still in a tone of disgustrather than anger. "I have already forbidden you to speak to me inthat way. The richest of our noble youths will take part in the games;Arsinoe is handsome and perhaps one of them may choose her for his wife.And do you call it squandering, when a father does his utmost to find asuitable husband for his daughter. After all, what do you know of what Imay possess?"
"We have nothing, so I cannot know of it," cried the girl besideherself.
"Indeed!" drawled Keraunus with an embarrassed smile. "And is thatnothing which lies in the cup board there, and stands on the corniceshelf? For your sakes I will part with these--the onyx fibula, therings, the golden chaplet, and the girdle of course."
"They are of mere silver-gilt!" Selene interrupted, ruthlessly. "All mygrandfather's real gold you parted with when my mother died."
"She had to be cremated and buried as was due to our rank," answeredKeraunus; "but I will not think now of those melancholy days."
"Nay, do think of them, father."
"Silence! All that belongs to my own adornment of course I cannot dowithout, for I must be prepared to meet Caesar in a dress befittingmy rank; but the little bronze Eros there must be worth something,Plutarch's ivory cup, which is beautifully carved, and above all, thatpicture; its former possessor was convinced that it had been paintedby Apelles himself herein Alexandria. You shall know at once what theselittle things are worth, for, as the gods vouchsafed, on my way home Imet, here in the palace, Gabinius of Nicaea, the dealer in such objects.He promised me that when he had done his business with the architecthe would come to me to inspect my treasures, and to pay money down foranything that might suit him. If my Apelles pleases him, he will giveten talents for that alone, and if he buys it for only the half or eventhe tenth of that sum, I will make you enjoy yourself for once, Selene."
"We will see," said the pale girl, shrugging her shoulders, and hersister exclaimed:
"Show him the sword too, that you always declared belonged to Caesar,and if he gives you a good sum for it you will buy me a gold bracelet."
"And Selene shall have one, too. But I have the very slenderest hopesof the sword, for a connoisseur would hardly pronounce it genuine. But Ihave other things, many others. Hark! that is Gabinius, no doubt.Quick, Selene, throw the chiton round me again. My chaplet, Arsinoe.A well-to-do man always gets a higher price than a poor one. I haveordered the slave to await him in the ante-room; it is always done inthe best houses."
The curiosity dealer was a small, lean man, who, by prudence and goodluck, had raised himself to be one of the most esteemed of his class anda rich man. Having matured his knowledge by industry, and experience, heknew better than any man how to distinguish what was good from what wasindifferent or bad, what was genuine from what was spurious. No one hada keener eye; but he was abrupt in his dealings with those from whom hehad nothing to gain. In circumstances where there was profit in view, hecould, to be sure, be polite even to subservience and show inexhaustiblepatience. He commanded himself so far as to listen with an air ofconviction to the steward as he told him in a condescending tone thathe was tired of his little possessions, that he could just as wellkeep them as part with them; he merely wanted to show them to him asa connoisseur and would only part with them if a good round sum wereoffered for what was in fact idle capital. One piece after anotherpassed through the dealer's slender fingers, or was placed before himthat he might contemplate it; but the man spoke not, and only shookhis head as he examined every fresh object. And when Keraunus told himwhence this or that specimen of his treasures had been obtained, he onlymurmured--"Indeed" or "Really."
"Do you think so?" After the last piece of property had passed throughhis hands, the steward asked:
"Well, what do you think of them?"
The beginning of the sentence was spoken confidently, the end almostin fear, for the dealer only smiled and shook his head again before hesaid:
"There are some genuine little things among them, but nothing worthspeaking of. I advise you to keep them, because you have an affectionfor them, while I could get very little by them."
Keraunus avoided looking towards Selene, whose large eyes, full ofdread, had been fixed on the dealer's lips; but Arsinoe, who hadfollowed his movements with no less attention, was less easilydiscouraged, and pointing to her father's Apelles, she said: "And thatpicture, is that worth nothing?"
"It grieves me that I cannot tell so fair a damsel that it isinestimably valuable," said the dealer, stroking his gray whiskers."But we have here only a very feeble copy. The original is in theVilla belonging to Phinius on the Lake of Larius, and which he callsCothurnus. I have no use whatever for this piece."
"And this carved cup?" asked Keraunus. "It came from among thepossessions of Plutarch, as I can prove, and it is said to have been thegift of the Emperor Trajan."
"It is the prettiest thing in your collection," replied Gabinius; "butit is amply paid for with four hundred drachmae."
"And this cylinder from Cyprus, with the elegant incised work?" Thesteward was about to take up the polished crystal, but his hand wastrembling with agitation and pushed instead of lifting it from thetable. It rolled away on the floor and across the smooth mosaic pictureas far as the couches. Keraunus was about to stoop to pick it up, buthis daughters both held him back, and Selene cried out:
"Father, you must not; the physician strictly forbade it."
While the steward pushed the girls away grumbling, the dealer had gonedown on his knees to pick up the cylinder, but it seemed to cost theslightly-built man much less effort to stoop than to get up again, forsome minutes had elapsed before he once more stood on his feet, infront of Keraunus. His countenance had put on an expression of eagerattention, and he once more took up the painting attributed to Apelles,sat down with it on the couch, and appeared wholly absorbed in thecontemplation of the picture, which hid his face from the bystanders.
But his eye was not resting on the work before him, but on themarriage-scene at his feet, in which he detected each moment some freshand unique beauty. As the dealer sat there for some minutes with thelittle picture on his knee, the steward's face brightened, Selene drewa deep breath, and Arsinoe went up to her father to cling to his arm andwhisper in his ear:
"Do not let him have the Apelles cheap--remember my bracelet."
Gabinius now rose, glanced at the various objects lying on the table andsaid in a much shorter and more business-like tone than before:
"For all these things I can give you--wait a minute--twenty-seventy-fourhundred--four hundred and fifty--I can give you six hundred and fiftydrachmae, not a sesterce more!"
"You are joking," cried Keraunus.
"Not a sesterce more," answered the other coldly. "I do not want to makeanything, but you as a business man will understand that I do not wishto buy with a certain prospect of loss. As regards the Apelles--"
"Well?"
"It may be of some value to me, but only under certain conditions.The case is quite different as regards buying pictures. Your two youngdamsels know of course that my line of business leads me to admire andvalue all that is beautiful, but still I must request you to leave mealone with your father for a little while. I want to speak with himabout this curious painting." Keraunus signed to his daughters, whoimmediately left the room. Before the door was closed upon them thedealer called after them:
"It is already growing dark, might I ask you to send me as bright alight as possible by one of your slaves."
"What about the picture?" asked Keraunus.
"Till the light is brought let us talk of something else," saidGabinius.
"Then take a seat on the couch," said Keraunus. "You will be doing me apleasure and perhaps yourself as well."
As soon as the two men were seated on the divan, Gabinius began:
"Those little things which we have collected with particular liking, wedo not readily part with--that I know by long experience. Many
a man whohas come into some property after he has sold all his little antiquitieshas offered me ten times the price I have paid him to get them backagain, generally in vain, unfortunately. Now, what is true of othersis true of you, and if you had not been in immediate need of money youwould hardly have offered me these things."
"I must entreat you," began the steward, but the dealer interrupted him,saying:
"Even the richest are sometimes in want of ready money; no one knowsthat better than I, for I--I must confess--have large means at mycommand. Just at present it would be particularly easy for me to freeyou from all embarrassment."
"There stands my Apelles," exclaimed the steward. "It is yours if youmake a bid that suits me."
"The light--here comes the light!" exclaimed Gabinius, taking from theslave's hand the three-branched lamp which Selene had hastily suppliedwith a fresh wick, and he placed it, while he murmured to Keraunus, "Byyour leave," down on the centre of the mosaic. The steward looked at theman on his left hand, with puzzled inquiry, but Gabinius heeded him notbut went down on his knees again, felt the mosaic over with his hand,and devoured the picture of the marriage of Peleus with his eyes.
"Have you lost anything?" asked Keraunus.
"No-nothing whatever. There in the corner--now I am satisfied. Shall Iplace the lamp there, on the table? So--and now to return to business."
"I beg to do so, but I may as well begin by telling you that in my caseit is a question not of drachmae but of Attic talents."--[ The Attictalent was worth about L200, or $1000 dollars in the 1880 exchangerate.]
"That is a matter of course, and I will offer you five; that is to say asum for which you could buy a handsome roomy house."
Once more the blood mounted to the steward's head; for a few minutes hecould not utter a word, for his heart thumped violently; but presentlybe so far controlled himself as to be able to answer. This time at anyrate, he was determined to seize Fortune by the forelock and not to betaken advantage of, so he said:
"Five talents will not do; bid higher."
"Then let us say six."
"If you say double that we are agreed."
"I cannot put it beyond ten talents; why, for that sum you might build asmall palace."
"I stand out for twelve."
"Well, be it so, but not a sesterce more."
"I cannot bear to part with my splendid work of art," sighed Keraunus."But I will take your offer, and give you my Apelles."
"It is not that picture I am dealing for," replied Gabinius. "It is oftrifling value, and you may continue to enjoy the possession of it. Itis another work of art in this room that I wish to have, and which hashitherto seemed to you scarcely worth notice. I have discovered it, andone of my rich customers has asked me to find him just such a thing."
"I do not know what it is."
"Does everything in this room belong to you?"
"Whom else should it belong to?"
"Then you may dispose of it as you please?"
"Undoubtedly."
"Very well, then--the twelve Attic talents which I offer you are to bepaid for the picture that is under our feet."
"The mosaic! that? It belongs to the palace."
"It belongs to your residence, and that, I heard you say yourself, hasbeen inhabited for more than a century by your forefathers. I know thelaw; it pronounces that everything which has remained in undisputedpossession in one family, for a hundred years, becomes their property."
"This mosaic belongs to the palace."
"I assert the contrary. It is an integral portion of your familydwelling, and you may freely dispose of it."
"It belongs to the palace."
"No, and again no; you are the owner. Tomorrow morning early you shallreceive twelve Attic talents in gold, and, with the help of my son,later in the day I will take up the picture, pack it, and when it growsdark, carry it away. Procure a carpet to cover the empty place for thepresent. As to the secrecy of the transaction--I must of course insiston it as strongly--and more so--than yourself."
"The mosaic belongs to the palace," cried the steward, this time in alouder voice, "Do you hear? it belongs to the palace, and whoever darestouch it, I will break his bones."
As he spoke Keraunus stood up, his huge chest panting, his cheeks andforehead dyed purple, and his fist, which he held in the dealer's face,was trembling. Gabinius drew back startled, and said:
"Then you will not have the twelve talents!"
"I will--I will!" gasped Keraunus, "I will show you how I beat thosewho take me for a rogue. Out of my sight, villain, and let me hear notanother word about the picture, and the robbery in the dark, or I willsend the prefect's lictors after you and have you thrown into irons, yourascally thief!"
Gabinius hurried to the door, but he there turned round once more tothe groaning and gasping colossus, and cried out, as he stood on thethreshold:
"Keep your rubbish! we shall have more to say to each other yet."
When Selene and Arsinoe returned to the sitting-room they found theirfather breathing hard and sitting on the couch, with his head droopingforward. Much alarmed, they went close up to him, but he exclaimed quitecoherently:
"Water--a drink of water!--the thief!--the scoundrel!"
Though hardly pressed, it had not cost him a struggle or a pang torefuse what would have placed him and his children in a position ofease; and yet he would not have hesitated to borrow it, aye, or twicethe sum, from rich or poor, though he knew full certainly that he wouldnever be in a position to restore it. Nor was he even proud of what hehad done; it seemed to him quite natural in a Macedonian noble. Itwas to him altogether out of the pale of possibility that he shouldentertain the dealer's proposition for an instant.
But where was he to get the money for Arsinoe's outfit? how could hekeep the promise given at the meeting?
He lay meditating on the divan for an hour; then he took a wax tabletout of a chest and began to write a letter on it to the prefect. Heintended to offer the precious mosaic picture which had been discoveredin his abode, to Titianus for the Emperor, but he did not bring hiscomposition to an end, for he became involved in high-flown phrases. Atlast he doubted whether it would do at all, flung the unfinished letterback into the chest, and disposed himself to sleep.