by Longus
They decided to speculate no further but to inspect the tokens and see if they heralded an illustrious and more distinguished origin. Myrtale went away and brought all the items, which had been kept in an old bag for protection. Dionysophanes was the first to look at them after they were brought in, and when he saw the purple cloak, the golden brooch and the dagger with the ivory hilt, he let out a great shout, ‘Lord Zeus!’, and called his wife to come over and look. When she saw the objects, she also cried out, ‘Dear Fates, aren’t these the very things that we abandoned together with our own son? Aren’t these the very fields to which we ordered Sophrone to bring them? These are not other things, no, but the very same. My dear husband, the child is our own. Daphnis is your son and he’s been grazing his father’s goats.’
She was still speaking and Dionysophanes was kissing the tokens and weeping because of his great happiness, when Astylus understood that Daphnis was his brother, and flinging off his coat, he ran down from the garden, wanting to be the first to kiss Daphnis. Daphnis saw him running towards him with many others and crying out ‘Daphnis’, but he thought that Astylus was running because he wished to seize him, so he threw aside his bag and his pipes and turned towards the sea, with the intention of throwing himself down from the large rock. And perhaps, as strange as it seems, Daphnis would have been lost on the very day he was found if Astylus had not realized what he was intending to do and cried out again, ‘Stop, Daphnis. Don’t be afraid. I’m your brother, and your parents are the same people who used to be your masters. Lamon told us just now about the she-goat and he showed us the tokens. Turn around and see, they are coming, look at their smiles and their laughter. But let me be the first to kiss you. I swear to you by the Nymphs that I’m not lying.’
He heard the oath and stopped, at last, then waited for Astylus to run up to him, and after he came up to him, he kissed him. While he was kissing him, the rest of the crowd flowed up, menservants, maidservants, his father himself and his mother with him. All of them threw their arms around and clasped him, kissed him, showing their happiness and their tears together. He embraced his father and mother before all the others, held them close to his breast as if he had known about them for a long time and would not let go of their arms. So quickly does Nature make us learn to trust! Even Chloe was forgotten for a short while as Daphnis went into the farmhouse, put on fine clothing, sat down by his own father and heard him tell the following story:
‘My boys, I married when I was quite young, and after a little time, I became a lucky father, or so I thought. First, I had a son and then a daughter and then, third, Astylus. So I thought that my family was large enough, and when this child was born after the others, I abandoned him, laying out these things not as tokens of recognition but as burial ornaments. But Fortune willed otherwise. My eldest son and daughter were lost to the same illness on one day – and you were saved by divine providence so that we would have more help in our old age. Don’t be angry at me, Daphnis, because I once abandoned you; I had no desire to do so. And you, Astylus, don’t be annoyed now at receiving a part of my estate rather than all of it; wise men say no possession is more precious than a brother. Love one another. As far as wealth is concerned, you will be able to hold your own even with princes and kings. I shall leave you vast amounts of land, many able servants, gold, silver, and all the other trappings of the rich. Only, I grant this estate to Daphnis alone, and with it I give him Lamon and Myrtale and the goats that he grazed himself.’
Even before he had finished speaking, Daphnis leaped up. ‘Father, you just reminded me, and quite rightly. I’m off to take the goats to drink their water. They’re probably thirsty now, waiting for my pipes to give them the signal, and here I am sitting among you.’ They all laughed pleasantly because although he had become a master, he was still a goatherd. Another one of the servants was sent to look after the goats, while they offered a sacrifice to Zeus the Saviour and began a party. Gnathon alone did not come to this party; he was afraid and was staying day and night in the temple of Dionysus as a suppliant. Quickly word reached everyone that Dionysophanes had found a son and that Daphnis the goatherd was discovered to be the master of his fields, and so at daybreak people from all parts hurriedly converged there, to share in the young man’s pleasure and bring presents to his father. Of these, the first was Dryas, Chloe’s foster father.
Dionysophanes made them stay on at his estate to share in his happiness and in the celebrations. He made arrangements to serve large amounts of wine, wheatmeal bread, marsh fowl, suckling pigs and various honey cakes. And many animals were sacrificed to the local deities. Then Daphnis gathered together all his farm possessions and offered them up as dedications to the gods: to Dionysus he dedicated his bag and goatskin, to Pan the pipes and transverse flute, to the Nymphs his staff and the milk pails that he himself had made. And yet, as familiar things give us greater pleasure than an unforeseen or strange prosperity, Daphnis wept as he was parted from each of them. In truth, he did not dedicate the milk pails until he had used them for milking one last time, nor the goatskin before he put it on again, nor the pipes before he played them, and he also kissed all these things and he spoke to the she-goats and called out to the he-goats by name. He drank too from the spring, because he had done so many times with Chloe. But he did not yet admit his love, and was still waiting for the right moment.
While Daphnis was occupied with his sacrificial offerings, this was what was happening with Chloe. She was sitting and weeping, grazing the sheep and saying things that were entirely predictable in the circumstances: ‘Daphnis has forgotten me. He’s dreaming of a wealthy marriage. Why did I tell him to swear by the goats instead of the Nymphs? He’s abandoned them as he’s abandoned Chloe. Not even when he was sacrificing to the Nymphs and to Pan did he feel the desire to see Chloe. Perhaps he’s found his mother’s maids to be better than I. I say goodbye Daphnis, then. I shall not live.’
While she was saying and thinking these sorts of things, the cowherd Lampis suddenly turned up with a gang of farm workers and snatched her away, supposing that Daphnis would not still want to marry her and that Dryas would welcome him as her husband. And so she was carried off, weeping piteously, but someone who saw what had happened told Nape about it, she told Dryas and Dryas told Daphnis. He went out of his mind, but did not dare speak to his father, nor was he able to suffer the news in silence, and so he went into the yard and lamented to himself: ‘This self-discovery is proving to be very bitter! I was better off when I was a herdsman, much happier when I was a slave. Then I could look at Chloe, then I could hear her and her chatter. But as it is, Lampis has snatched her and gone away, and when night falls, he’ll sleep with her. And here I am drinking and living in luxury, and my oaths to Pan and the goats have come to mean nothing.’
Gnathon, who was hiding in the garden, heard Daphnis’ words, and thought that the opportunity had come for reconciliation with him. He took some of Astylus’ young men, went after Dryas and told him to lead them to Lampis’ farm. He rushed there with alacrity, overtook Lampis just as he was taking Chloe inside, rescued her and gave the farmers a severe beating. He was eager also to tie up Lampis and take him away as a prisoner of war, but Lampis was a step ahead of him and ran away first. So Gnathon achieved this great victory and returned as night was falling. He found Dionysophanes asleep, but then he saw that Daphnis was still awake and still weeping in the garden. He brought Chloe to him and as he handed her over, he told him everything; he asked Daphnis not to bear a grudge against him any longer and to consider him a useful slave and not to exile him from his table, in which case he would die of starvation. Seeing Chloe and holding Chloe in his arms, Daphnis realized that Gnathon was now a benefactor and reconciled himself to him. And he also gave Chloe a defence of his own behaviour and of his neglect of her.
They deliberated on a course of action and decided that they would keep their marriage plans secret and that Daphnis would hide Chloe and admit his love only to her mother. But Dryas di
d not agree and said that they should tell Daphnis’ father and promised that he himself would obtain his consent. On the next day, he placed Chloe’s tokens in his bag and proceeded to Dionysophanes and Cleariste, who were sitting in the garden, with Astylus and Daphnis himself by their side. Dryas waited for silence and then began to speak: ‘I, like Lamon, need to say things that until now have been left in secret. I did not give birth to Chloe, nor did I suckle her; others gave birth to her, and a ewe suckled her as she lay in the cave of the Nymphs. I myself saw this and was amazed to see it and in my amazement I brought her up in my household. Her beauty bears witness to the truth; it is utterly unlike ours. Her tokens also bear witness to the truth; they are finer than anything a shepherd could possess. Look at these things, and seek out the girl’s relatives; she might prove to be worthy of your Daphnis.’
Dryas did not throw out this last comment casually. Nor did Dionysophanes listen to it without interest, and when he looked at Daphnis and when he saw him grow pale and weep furtively, he immediately recognized the lover. So, moved more by concern for his own son than for someone else’s daughter, he weighed Dryas’ words very carefully. But when he saw the tokens that Dryas had brought with him, the golden sandals, the anklets and the belt, he called for Chloe and reassured her, saying that she already had a husband and would soon find her father and mother. Cleariste took her away and dressed her up to fit the part of her son’s future wife. Dionysophanes took Daphnis to one side and when they were alone asked him if Chloe was still a virgin, and when Daphnis swore that nothing more than kisses and vows had passed between them, Dionysophanes was pleased and made them recline at the banquet table.
And then you could learn what beauty can be when properly displayed! After Chloe was dressed, her hair put up and her face washed, she seemed so much lovelier to everyone that even Daphnis hardly recognized her. Even without the tokens anyone would have sworn that Dryas was not the father of such a girl. And yet, Dryas himself was also present, sharing in the feast alongside Nape, with Lamon and Myrtale as drinking companions on their own couch. So again on the following days animals were sacrificed and wine bowls were set out, while Chloe, too, dedicated to the gods her own possessions, her pipes, bag, goatskin and milk pails. She also mixed the wine with water from the spring in the cave because she had been brought up beside it and had washed many times in it, and she placed garlands on the ewe’s grave, which Dryas pointed out to her, and then, she too, like Daphnis, played the pipes to her flock, and after she finished with the pipes, she prayed to the goddesses that she would find the parents who abandoned her to be worthy enough for her to marry Daphnis.
When they had had enough of the festivities in the country, they decided to go to the city and look for Chloe’s parents and not put off the wedding any longer. So after they had completed their preparations the next morning, they gave Dryas another three thousand drachmas, and they gave Lamon half a share in the harvest and fruit picking of the farm, along with the goats, two new goatherds, four pairs of oxen, winter cloaks, and freedom for himself and his wife. And then they drove their carriages and horses to Mytilene in great luxury. Since they arrived at night, they escaped the notice of the city’s residents, but on the following day, a crowd of men and women gathered around their doors. The men congratulated Dionysophanes for finding his son and congratulated him still more when they saw Daphnis’ beauty; the women shared in Cleariste’s joy at bringing home both a son and his bride, and were also struck by Chloe’s exceptional beauty. In fact, the whole city was set astir by the boy and the girl and was calling their marriage happy already and praying that the girl’s family would be found to be worthy of her loveliness. And many a wife, in many of the richest families in the city, prayed to the gods that she might prove to be the mother of this beautiful girl.
Dionysophanes fell into a deep sleep, after being kept awake by his anxieties and thoughts, and had the following dream. The Nymphs seemed to be asking Love to give them his assent to the marriage, finally, and Love had unstrung his bow, set aside his quiver and was asking Dionysophanes to invite all the well-born families of Mytilene to a banquet and then, when he had filled the last wine bowl, to show Chloe’s tokens to each guest and lastly to sing the wedding hymn. After he had seen and heard this, Dionysophanes woke up early in the morning and ordered the preparation of a brilliant feast, crammed with foods from land and sea, from marsh and river, and he invited all the well-born Mytileneans to join him as his guests in the celebration. And then when it was dark, and when they had filled the wine bowl from which they used to pour libations to Hermes, a servant brought in the tokens on a silver vessel and, carrying them around from left to right, showed them to all the guests.
None of the others recognized them, but Megacles, who was reclining in the place of honour, last because of his age, recognized them when he saw them, and shouted out very loudly and vigorously, ‘What’s this I see? What has happened to you, my daughter? Are you still alive, or did some shepherd stumble on these things and carry them away? I beg you, Dionysophanes, tell me, where did you find my child’s tokens? Don’t keep me from finding something, now that you’ve found Daphnis.’ Dionysophanes told the man first to relate the story of the child’s exposure, and Megacles said, as forcefully as before: ‘A long time ago, I used to have very little money to live on, because I would spend whatever I did have on public services such as choruses and triremes. It was in those straitened circumstances that a little daughter was born to me. I declined to bring her up in poverty, but fitted her out with these tokens and abandoned her; I knew that many people were eager to become parents even by this method. And so the child was abandoned in the cave of the Nymphs and entrusted to those goddesses. As for my life since, wealth has come pouring in every day, but I have no heir, and haven’t had the good luck to become a father, even of another daughter. The gods must be laughing at me, as it were, because they send me dreams every night that show a sheep making me into a father.’
Dionysophanes shouted out in a voice louder than Megacles’ and leaped up and brought in Chloe very beautifully dressed and said, ‘This is the child you abandoned. By divine providence, this girl of yours was suckled by a ewe, just as my Daphnis was suckled by a she-goat. Take the tokens and your daughter, but take her and give her back as a bride for Daphnis! We abandoned them both, we found them both and both were cared for by Pan and the Nymphs and Love.’ Megacles strongly approved of what Dionysophanes said; he sent for his wife Rhode and held Chloe close to his heart. They stayed and slept there, in the house, because Daphnis had sworn that he would give up Chloe to no one, not even to her own father.
When day came, they decided to drive back to the country. Daphnis and Chloe had begged for this, because they could not take life in the town, and their families too thought it best to celebrate the wedding in the pastoral style. So they went to Lamon’s house and introduced Dryas to Megacles, presented Nape to Rhode, and they made preparations for a glittering feast. Her father gave Chloe away in the presence of the Nymphs and he offered the tokens to them as dedications along with many other things and he rounded out the earlier gift of drachmas to Dryas, making the sum an even ten thousand.
Since it was a fine day, Dionysophanes spread out beds of green leaves there, in front of the cave, invited all the villagers to recline, and served them an extravagant feast. Lamon and Myrtale were there, Dryas and Nape, Dorcon’s family, Philetas and his sons, Chromis and Lycaenion, and even Lampis, now forgiven, was there. Predictably, for such a banquet, everything was celebrated in the rustic ways of the country. They sang the songs that reapers sing or made jokes heard at the wine press. Philetas played his pipes, Lampis his flute, Dryas and Lamon danced, and Chloe and Daphnis kissed each other. Even the goats grazed nearby, as if they too were sharing in the festivities. This did not quite thrill the visitors from the city. But Daphnis also called out to some of the goats by name and gave them green leaves and took them by the horns and kissed them.
And not on
ly then, but as long as they lived, they spent most of their time in the pastoral life, worshipping as gods the Nymphs and Pan and Love, owning flocks of sheep and goats, and thinking of fruit and milk as the sweetest foods there were. And they placed their baby boy to nurse under a she-goat and made their baby girl, who arrived later, suck the teats of a ewe, and they called him Philopoemen and her Agele. They also decorated the cave, and dedicated statues in it, and raised an altar to Love the Shepherd, and they gave Pan a temple to live in instead of the pine, and named him Pan the Soldier.
But it was only later that they did these things and devised these names. On that occasion, when night fell, everyone escorted them to the bride-chamber, playing pipes and flutes, or holding up flaming torches, and when they were near the doors, they sang in harsh, hard tones, as if they were breaking up the earth with hoes and forks instead of singing a wedding hymn. Daphnis and Chloe lay down naked together and put their arms around each other and kissed, and even as they got less sleep that night than owls, Daphnis did some of the things that Lycaenion taught him, and it was then that Chloe learned, for the first time, that the things they had done earlier in the woods were merely games that shepherds play.
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