 Book 1, Chapter 12 of Arachne. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Anne Boulet. Arachne by George Ebers. Book 1, Chapter 12. Without even vouchsafing Hanno another glance, Lettska glided forward in the shadow of the bushes to the great sycamore, whose thick broad top on the side toward the tents was striped with light from the flood of radiance streaming from them. On the opposite side, the leafage vanished in the darkness of the night, but Murtilus had had a bench-place there that he might rest in the shade, and from this spot the girl could obtain the best view of what she desired to see. How gay and animated it was under the awning. A throng of companions had a ride with the Palestinians, and some also had probably been on the ship, which, she knew it from bias, had come to tennis directly from Alexandria that afternoon. The galley was said to belong to Philotus, an aristocratic relative of King Ptolemy. If she was not mistaken, he was the stately young Greek who was just picking up the ostrich feather fan that had slipped from Daphne's lap. The performance was over. Young slaves and gay garments and nimble female servants with glittering gold circlates, round their upper arms and on their ankles, were passing from couch to couch, and from one guest to another, offering refreshments. Herman had risen from his knees, and the wreath of bright flowers again adorned his black curls. He held himself as proudly erect as if the goddess' victory herself had crowned him, while Althea was reaping applause and thanks. Letzka gazed past her and the others to watch every movement of the sculptor. It was scarcely the daughter of Arceus, who had detained Herman, for he made only a brief answer. Letzka could not hear what was said, when she accosted him pleasantly to devote himself to Althea. And this could be perceived even at a distance. Thank her with ardent devotion. And now. Now he even raised the hem over peplos to his lips. A scornful smile hovered around Letzka's mouth. But Daphne's guests also noticed this mark of homage, an unusual one in their circle. And young Philotas, who had followed Daphne from Alexandria, cast a significant glance at a man with a smooth, thin, bird-like face, whose hair was already turning gray. His name was Proclus. And, as Gramiteus of the Dionysian Games and High Priest of Apollo, he was one of the most influential men in Alexandria, especially as he was one of the favorite courtiers, a queen Arsinoe. He had gone by her command to the Syrian court, had enjoyed on his return at Palusium, with his traveling companion Althea, the hospitality of Philippus, and accompanied the venerable officer to Tennis in order to win him over to certain plans. In spite of his advanced age, he still strove to gain the favor of fair women, and the sculptor's excessive ardor had displeased him. So he let his somewhat mocking glance wander from Althea to Hermann and called to the latter, my congratulations, young master, but I need scarcely remind you that Nike suffers no one, not even goodness and grace personified, to take from her hand what is her sole duty to bestow. While speaking he adjusted the laurel on his own thin hair, but Thione, the wife of Philippus, answered eagerly, If I were a young man like Hermann, instead of an old woman, noble Proclus, I think the reef which beauty bestows would render me scarcely less happy than stern Nike's crown of victory. While making this pleasant reply, the matron's wrinkled face wore an expression of such cordial kindness, and her deep voice was so winning in its melody that Hermann forced himself to heed the glance of urgent warning Daphne cast at him and leave the sharp retort that hovered on his lips unuttered. Half turning to the Gramiteus, half to the matron, he merely said, in a cold and self-conscious tone, that Thione was right. In this gay circle, the wreath of bright flowers proffered by the hands of a beautiful woman was the dearest of all gifts, and he would know how to value it. Until other more precious ones cast it into oblivion, observed Althea, let me see, Hermann, Ivy and roses. The former is lasting, but the roses. She shook her finger in roguish menace at the sculptor as she spoke. The roses, Proclus broke in again, are of course the most welcome to our young friend from such a hand, yet these flowers of the goddess of beauty have little in common with his art, which is hostile to beauty. Still, I don't know what wreath will be offered to the new tendency, with which he surprises us. At this, Hermann raised his head higher and answered sharply, doubtless there must have been few of them, since you, who are so often among the judges, do not know them, at any rate, those which justice bestows have hitherto been lacking. I should deplore that, replied Proclus, stroking his sharp chin with thumb and forefinger, but I fear that our beautiful Nike also cared little for this lofty virtue of the judge in the last coronation. However, her immortal model lacks it often enough. Because she is a woman, said one of the young officers, laughing, and another added gaily, that very thing may be acceptable to us soldiers. For my part, I think everything about the goddess' victory is beautiful and just, that she may remain graciously disposed toward us. Nay, I accuse the noble Althea of withholding from Nike. In her personation, her special ornament, her swift and powerful wings, she gave those to arrows to speed his flight, laughed Proclus, casting a meaningful look at Althea and Hermann. No one failed to notice that this jest alluded to the love which seemed to have been awakened in the sculptor, as quickly as in the personator of the goddess of victory. And, while it excited the merriment of the others, the blood mounted into Hermann's cheeks, but Myrtilus perceived what was passing in the mind of his irritable friend. And, as the Gramataeus praised Nike because in this coronation she had omitted the laurel, the fair-haired Greek interrupted him with the exclamation. Quite right, noble Proclus, the grave laurel does not suit our gay pastime, but roses belong to the artist everywhere and are always welcome to him, the more the better. Then we will wait till the laurel is distributed in some other place, replied the Gramataeus, and Myrtilus quickly added, I will answer for it that Hermann does not leave it empty-handed. No one will greet the work which brings your friend, the wreath of victory with warmer joy, Proclus protested, but if I am correctly informed, Yonderhouse hides completed treasures whose inspection would give the fitting consecration to this happy meeting. Do you know what an exquisite effect gold and ivory statues produce in a full glow of lamp-light? I first learned it a short time ago at the court of King Antiochus. There is no lack of lights here. But what do you say, gentlemen? Will you not have the studios lighted till the rooms are as bright as day and add a noble enjoyment of art to the pleasures of this wonderful night? But Hermann and Myrtilus opposed this proposal with equal decision. Their refusal awakened keen regret, and the old commandant of Pelusium would not willingly yield to it. Angrily shaking his large head, around which, in spite of his advanced age, thick snow-white locks floated like a lion's mane, he exclaimed, Must we then really return to our Pelusium where Ares restricts the native rights of the Muses without having admired the noble works which arose in such mysterious secrecy here where Arachne rules and swings the weavers' shuttle? But my two cruel cousins have closed their doors even upon me, who came here for the sake of their works, Daphne interrupted, and, as rather Zeus is threatening a storm, just see what black clouds are rising. We ought not to urge our artists further. A solemn oath forbids them to show their creations now to anyone. This earnest assurance silenced the curious, and, while the conversation took another turn, the grey-haired general's wife drew Myrtilus aside. Hermann's parents had been intimate friends of her own, as well as of her husbands, and with the interest of sincere affection, she desired to know whether the young sculptor could really hope for the success of which Myrtilus had just spoken. It was years since she had visited Alexandria, but what she heard of Hermann's artistic work from many guests, and now again from Proclus, filled her with anxiety. He had succeeded, it was said, in attracting attention, and his great talent was beyond question. But in this age, to which beauty was as much one of the necessities of life as bread and wine, and which could not separate it from art, he ventured to deny it recognition. He had it a current in art, which was striving to destroy what had been proved and acknowledged. Yet, though his creations were undeniably powerful, even showed many other admirable qualities, instead of pleasing, satisfying, and ennobling, they repelled. These opinions had troubled the matron, who understood men, and was the more disposed to credit them the more distinctly she perceived traces of discontent and instability in Hermann's manner during the present meeting. So it afforded her special pleasure to learn from Murtillas, his firm conviction that, in Arachne, Hermann would produce a masterpiece which could scarcely be excelled. During this conversation, Althea had come to Thione's side, and, as Hermann had already spoken to her of the Arachne, she eagerly expressed her belief that this work seemed as if it were specially created for him. The Greek matron leaned back comfortably upon her cushions. Her wrinkled, owl-like face assumed a cheerful expression. And, with the easy confidence conferred by aristocratic birth, a distinguished social position and a light heart, she exclaimed, Lucifer is probably already behind yonder clouds, preparing to announce day. And this exquisite banquet ought to have a close worthy of it. What do you say, you wonder-working darling of the muses? She held out her hand to Althea as she spoke. To showing us and the two competing artists yonder, what role of the Arachne they are to represent in Golden Ivory? Althea fixed her eyes upon the ground, and, after a short period of reflection, answered hesitatingly, the task which you set before me is certainly no easy one, but I shall rely upon your indulgence. She will, cried the matron to the others. Then, clapping her hands, she continued gaily, in the tone of the director of an entertainment issuing invitations to a performance. The attention is requested. In this city of weavers, the noble thration, Althea, will depict before you all the weaver of weavers, Arachne, in person. Take heed and follow my advice to sharpen your eyes, added Philotus, who, conscious of his inferiority and intellect and talents, to the men and women assembled here, took advantage of this opportunity to assert himself in a manner suited to his aristocratic birth. This artistic yet hapless Arachne, if any, teaches the lesson how the lofty Olympians punish those who venture to place themselves on the same level. So let artists beware. We step-children of the muse can lull ourselves comfortably in the assurance of not giving the jealous gods the slightest cause for the doom which overtook the pitiable weaver. Not a word of this declaration of a Macedonian aristocrat escaped the listening Ledska. Scales seemed to fall from her eyes. Hermann had won her love in order to use her for the model of the statue of Arachne. And, now that he had met Althea, who perhaps suited his purpose even better, he no longer needed the barbarian. He had cast her aside, like a tight shoe, as soon as he found a more acceptable one in this female juggler. The girl had already asked herself, with a slight thrill of horror, whether she had not prematurely called down so terrible a punishment upon her lover. Now she rejoiced in her swift action. If anything else remained for her to do, it was to make the vengeance with which she intended to requite him still more severe. There he stood beside the woman she hated. Could he bestow even one poor thought upon the be a my girl and the wrong he had inflicted? Oh, no. His heart was filled to overflowing by the Greek. Every look revealed it. What was the shameless creature probably whispering to him now? Perhaps a meeting was just being granted. The rapture which had been predicted to her for this moonlight night and of which Herman had robbed her was mirrored in his features. He could think of everything except her and her poor crushed heart. But Ledska was mistaken. Althea asked the sculptor whether he still regretted having been detained by her before midnight and he had confessed that his remaining of the banquet had been connected with a great sacrifice. Nay, with an offense which weighed heavily on his mind. Yet he was grateful to the favor of the gods that had guided his decision for Althea had it in her power to compensate him richly for what he had lost. A glance full of promise flashed upon him from her eloquent eyes and, turning toward the pedestal at the same instant, she asked softly, Is the compensation I must and will bestow connected with the arachne? And eager yes confirmed this question and a swift movement of her expressive lips showed him that his boldest anticipations were to be surpassed. How gladly he would have detained her longer. But she was already the object of all eyes and his too followed her in expected suspense as she gave an order to the female attendant and then stood thoughtfully for some time before the platform. When she at last ascended it the spectators suppose she would again use a cloth. But, instead of asking anything more from the assistants, she cast aside even the peblos that covered her shoulders. Now, almost lean in her slenderness, she stood with downcast eyes. But suddenly she loosed the double chain adorned with flashing gems from her neck, the circlates from her upper arms and wrists. And lastly, even the diadem a gift bestowed by her relative Queen Arsenaway from her narrow brow. The female slaves received them and then with swift movements Althea divided her thick long tresses of red hair into narrower strands which she flung over her back, bosom and shoulders. Next, as if delirious she threw her head so far on one side that it almost touched her left shoulder and stared wildly upward toward the right at the same time raising her bare arms so high that they extended far above her head. It was again her purpose to present the appearance of defending herself against a viewless power, yet she was wholly unlike the Naiobi whom she had formerly personated for not only anguish, horror and defiance but deep despair and inexpressible astonishment were portrayed by her features which obediently expressed the slightest emotion. Something unprecedented incomprehensible even to herself was occurring and Tuleska who watched her with an expectation as passionate as if her own wheel and woe depended upon Althea's every movement is seemed as if an unintelligible marvel was happening before her eyes and a still greater one was impending for was the woman up there really a woman like herself and the others whose eyes were now fixed upon the hated actress no less intently than her own. Did her keen senses deceive her or was not what was occurring actually a mysterious transformation as Althea stood there her delicate arms seemed to have lengthened and lost even their slightest roundness her figure had become even more slender and incorporeal and how strangely her thin fingers spread apart how stiffly the strands of the parted holy uncurled locks stood out in the air did it not seem as if they were to help her move the black shadow which Althea's figure and limbs cast upon the surface of the brightly lighted pedestal no it was no deception it not only resembled the spinner among insects it presented the exact picture of a spider the Greek slender body had contracted her delicate arms and narrow braids of hair change into spider legs and the many jointed hands were already grasping for their prey like a spider or preparing to wind the murderous threads around another living creature a rachne the spider fell almost inaudibly from her quivering lips and overpowered by torturing fear she was already turning away from the frightful image when the storm of applause which burst from the Alexandrian guests soothed her excited imagination instead of the spider a slender length woman with long outstretched hair arms and fingers spread wide apart fluttering hair and wandering eyes again stood before Ledska but no peace was granted to her throbbing heart for while Althea with perspiring brow and quivering lips descended from the pedestal and was received with loud demonstrations of astonishment and delight the glare of a flash of lightning burst from the clouds and a loud peel of thunder shook the night air and reverberated a long time over the water at the same instant a loud cry rang from beneath the canopy Thione the wife of Alexander the great's comrade though absolutely fearless in the presence of human foes dreaded the thunder by which Zeus announced his anger seized with sudden terror she commanded a slave to obtain a black lamb for sacrifice and earnestly entreated her husband and her other companions to go on board the ship with her and seek in its safe rainproof cabin for already heavy drops were beginning to fall upon the tensely drawn awning nemesis exclaimed the gramateus nemesis whispered young felotus to Daphne in a confidential murmur throwing his own costly purple cloak around her to shield her from the rain nowhere that we mortals overstepped the bounds allotted to us do we await her in vain then bending down to her again he added by way of explanation the winged daughter of night would prove herself negligent if she allowed me to enjoy holy without drawback the overwhelming happiness of being with you once more nemesis remarked though us an aristocratic young hip-hark of the guards of the dyadokie who had studied in Athens and belonged to the peripatetics there the master sees in the figure of this goddess the indignation which the good fortune of the base or the unworthy use of good fortune inspires in us she keeps a happy mean between envy and malicious satisfaction the young soldier looked around him expecting applause but no one was listening the tempest was spreading terror among most of the freedmen and slaves felotus and mortilus were following Daphne and her companion chrysilla as they hurried into the tent the deep commanding tones of the old felipus the name of althea whom as he had bestowed his hospitality upon her in pelicium he regarded as his charge while at intervals he reprimanded the black slaves who were to carry his wife to the ship but at another heavy peel of thunder set down the litter to throw themselves on their knees and beseech the angry god for mercy gras the steward whom arceus had given to his daughter a bithinian who had attached himself to one school of philosophy after another and thereby ceased to believe in the power of the olympians lost his quiet composure in this confusion and even his usual good nature deserted him with harsh words and no less harsh blows he rushed upon the servants who instead of carrying the costly household utensils and embroidered cushions into the tent drew out their amulets and idols to confide their own imperiled lives to the protection of higher powers meanwhile the gusts of wind which accompanied the outbreak of the storm extinguished the lamps and pitched pans the awning was torn from the posts and amid the wild confusion rang the commandant of pelicium's shouts for althea and the screams of the two egyptian slave women who with their foreheads pressed to the ground were praying while the angry gras was trying by kicks and blows to compel them to rise and go to work the officers were holding a whisper consultation they should accept the invitation of proclas and spend the short remnant of the night on his galley over the wine or first according to the council of their pious commandant wait in the neighboring temple of zeus until the storm was over the tempest had completely scattered daffney's gas even let's go glance very rarely toward the tents she had thrown herself on the ground under the sycamore to beseech the angry deity for mercy but deeply as fear moved her agitated soul she could not pray but listened anxiously whenever an unexpected noise came from the meeting place of the greeks then the tones of a familiar voice reached her it was hermans and the person to whom he was speaking could be no one but the uncanny spider woman althea they were coming to have a secret conversation under the shade of the dense foliage of the sycamore that was easily perceived and in an instant let's go spear yielded to a different feeling holding her breath she nestled close to the trunk of the ancient tree to listen and the first word she heard was the name nemesis which had just reached her from the tent she knew its meaning for tennis also had a little temple dedicated to the terrible goddess which was visited by the egyptians and bea mites as well as the greeks a triumphant smile flitted over her unveiled features for there was no other divinity on whose age she could more confidently rely she could unchain the vengeance which threatened herman with a far more terrible danger than the thunder clouds above under the protection nay as it were at the behest of nemesis tomorrow she would be the first to anoint her altar now she rejoiced that her wealthy father imposed no restriction upon her in the management of household affairs for she needspare no expense in choosing the animal she intended to offer as a sacrifice this reflection flashed through her mind with the speed of lightning while she was listening to althea's conversation with the sculptor the question here can be no clever play upon the name and the nature of the daughter of arabus and knight said the thracian gravely i will remind you that there is another nemesis besides the just being who drives from his stolen ease the unworthy mortal who sons himself in good fortune the nemesis whom i will recall today while angry zeus is hurling his thunderbolts is the other who chastises sacrilege ate the swiftest and most terrible of the orignes i will invoke her wrath upon you in this hour if you do not confess the truth to me fully and entirely ask herman interrupted in a hollow tone only you strange woman suddenly she hastily broken whatever the answer may be i must pose to you as the model for your arachne and perhaps it may come to that but first i must know briefly and quickly for they will be looking for me immediately do you love dafne no he answered positively true she has been dear to me from childhood and althea added completing the sentence you owe her father a debt of gratitude that is not new to me i know also how little reason you gave her for loving you yet her heart belongs neither to felotus the great lord with the little brain nor to the famous sculptor mertillus whose body is really too delicate to bear all the laurels with which he is overloaded but to you and you alone i know it herman tried to contradict her but althea without allowing him to speak hurried on you know whether you loved her true according to appearances your heart does not glow for her and hitherto you have disdain to transform by her aid at a single stroke the poverty which ill suits you into wealth but it was not merely to speak of the daughter of arceus that i accompanied you into this tempest from which i would feign escape as quickly as possible so speak quickly i am to serve you in your art and yet if i understood correctly you have already found here another excellent model a native of the country answered herman in an embarrassed tone and for my sake you allowed her to wait for you in vain it is as you say and you have promised to seek her certainly but before the appointed hour came i met you you rose before me like a new sun shedding a new light that was full of promise everything else sank into darkness and if you will fulfill the hope which you have awakened in this heart just at that moment another flash of lightning blazed and while the thunder still shook the air althea continued his interrupted protestation then you will give yourself to me body and soul but Zeus who hears oaths is reminding us of his presence and what will await you at the be a might whom you betrayed invokes the wrath of nemesis against you the nemesis of the barbarians he retorted contemptuously she only places herself at the service of my art reluctantly but you althea if you will loan yourself to me as a model i will succeed in doing my very best but you have just permitted me to behold a miracle arachne herself whom you became you enchantress it was real actual life and that that is the highest goal the highest she was hesitatingly you will have to represent the female form and beauty hermon beauty will be there allied with truth flamed hermon if you you peerless more than beautiful creature keep your word to me but you will let me be sure of it is a little love also blended with the wish to serve the artist a little love she repeated scornfully this matter concerns love complete and full we will see each other again tomorrow then show me what the model althea is worth to you with these words she vanished in the darkness while the call of her name again rang from the tents althea he cried in a tone of mournful reproach as he perceived her disappearance hurrying after her but the dense gloom soon forced him to give up the pursuit let's go to left her place beneath the sycamore she has seen and heard enough duty now commanded her to execute vengeance and the bold hono was ready to risk his life for her and a book one chapter twelve book one chapter thirteen of arachne this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Ann Boulet arachne by George Ebers book one chapter thirteen chapter thirteen the following day the sun shone radiantly with scorching brilliancy upon tennis and the archipelago which at this season of the year surrounded the little city of weavers young felotas without going to rest had set out at dawn in pursuit of game accompanied by a numerous hunting party to which several of the palusinian officers belonged he too had brought home a great quantity of booty with which he had expected to awaken Daphne's admiration and to lay as a token of homage at her feet he had intended to lead before her garland slaves bearing tied by ropes bunches of slaughtered wild fowl but his reception was very different from what he had anticipated instead of praising his exploit he had been indignantly requested to remove the poor easily killed victims from her presence and wounded and disappointed he had retired to his magnificent Nile boat where spent by his sleepless night he slumbered so soundly on his soft cushions he did not appear at the breakfast table which the gray haired commander of palusium had invited him to attend on his galley while others were still feasting there Daphne was enjoying an hour alone with her companion Crisilla. She had remained absent from Philippus's banquet and her pale cheeks showed the ill effects produced by the excitement of the previous night. A little before noon Herman came to see her he too had not gone to the palusinians breakfast after Althea had left him the evening before he went directly back to the White House and instead of going to rest devoted himself to Myrtilus for the difficulty of breathing which during his industrious life in quiet seclusion had not troubled him for several months attacked him with twofold violence after the gaiety of the previous night Herman had not left him in instant until day brought the sufferer relief and he no longer needed the supporting hand of his kind nurse. While Herman in his own sleeping room ordered by us to anoint his hair and beard and put on festival garments the slave told him certain things that destroyed the last remnant of composure in his easily agitated soul with the firm resolution to keep the appointment on Pelican Island Herman had gone at sunset in response to the Alexandrian's invitation to attend her banquet and by no means unwillingly for his parents old friends were dear to him and he knew by experience the beneficial influence Daphne's sunny warm hearted nature ordered upon him yet this time he did not find what he expected in the first place he had been obliged to witness how earnestly Philotus was pressing his suit and perceived that her companion Crisilla was most eagerly assisting him as she saw in the young aristocrat a suitable husband for the daughter of Arceus and it was her duty to assign the guests their seats at the banquet she had given the cushion beside and also willingly fulfilled Althea's desire to have Herman for her neighbor when Crisilla presented the black bearded artist to the Thracian she would have sworn that Althea found an old acquaintance in the sculptor but Herman treated the far-famed relative of Queen Arsenaway as coldly and distantly as if he had now seen her for the first time and with little pleasure in truth he was glad to avoid women of Althea's stamp for some time and preferred to associate with the common people among whom he found his best subjects and kept far aloof from the court circles to which Althea belonged and which thanks to his birth and his ability as an artist would easily have been accessible to him also the over refined women who gave themselves heirs of avoiding everything which imposes a restraint upon nature and therefore in their transparent robes treated with contempt all that modest Macedonian dames deemed worthy of a genuine woman's consideration were repulsive to him perhaps because they form so rude a contrast to his noble dead mother and to Daphne although he had been very frequently in feminine society Althea's manner at first caused him a certain degree of embarrassment for in spite of the fact that he believed he met her here for the first time there was something familiar about her especially in the tone of her voice and he fancied that her first words were associated with some former ones yet no if he had ever met her he would surely have remembered her red gold hair and the other peculiarities of a personality which was remarkable in every respect it soon proved that they were total strangers and he wish matters to remain so he was glad that she attracted him so little for at least she was scarcely make a departure to the be a might which he considered his duty a difficult task true he admired from the first the rare milk white line of her delicate skin which was wholly free from rouge his artist's eye perceived that and the wonderfully beautiful shape of her hands and feet the pose of the head on the neck too as she turned toward him seemed remarkably fine this slender plying woman would again she reminded him of a gay lesbian with whom he had corrals for a night during the last dianosia in Alexandria yet on closer inspection the two were as different as possible the former had been as free and reckless in her conduct as Althea was reserved the hair and eyebrows of the lesbian instead of reddish gold were the deepest black and her complexion he remembered it perfectly was much darker the resemblance probably consisted merely in the shape of the somewhat too narrow face with its absolutely straight nose and a chin which was rather too small as well as in the sound of the high voice not a serious word had reached his ears from the wanton lips of the lesbian while Althea at once desired information concerning his art and showed that she was thoroughly familiar with the works and the aspirations of the alexandrian sculptors although aware that Herman had begun his career as an artist and was the leader of a new tendency she pretended to belong to the old school and thereby irritated him to contradiction and the explanation of his efforts which were rooted in the demands of the present day and the life of the flourishing capital the thracian listened to the description of the new art struggling to present truth as if these things were welcome surprises grand revelations for which Althea waited with eager longing true she opposed every statement hostile to the old beliefs but her extremely expressive features soon betrayed to him that he was stirring her to reflect shaking her opinions and winning her to his side already for the sake of the good cause he devoted himself with the utmost zeal to the task of convincing Althea she however did not make it an easy one but presented clever arguments assertions whenever he or she by way of example mentioned any well known work of art she imitated as if involuntarily its pose and action with surprising fidelity frequently also in admiral caricature whose effect was extremely comical what a woman she was familiar with whatever grecian art had created and the animated conversation became a bewitching spectacle when the grand matias proclas who was Althea's traveling companion had a certain claim upon her attention mingled for a while in the discussion and attracted Althea's notice Herman felt injured and answered his sensible remarks with such rudeness that the elder man whose social position was so much higher angrily turned his back upon him Althea had imposed a certain degree of restraint upon herself while talking to the grand matias but during the further conversation with Herman she confessed that she was decidedly of his opinion and added to the old reasons for the deposition of beauty and ideality in favor of truth and reality new ones which surprised the sculptor when she at last offered him her hand for a firm alliance his brain was fevered and it seemed a great honor when she asked eagerly what would occupy him in the immediate future passionate sympathy echoed in every word was expressed in every feature and she listened as if a great happiness was in store for herself when he disclosed the hopes which he based upon the statue of arachne true as time passed he had spoken more than once of the necessity of retiring and before midnight really tried to depart but he had fallen under Althea's thrall and in reply to her inquiry what must shorten these requisite hours had informed her in significant words what drew him away and that his delay threatened him with a loss of a model such as the favor of fate rarely bestowed upon an artist now the thration for the first time permitted her eyes to make frank confessions she also been forward with a natural movement to examine the artistic work on a silver vase and as while doing so her peplos fell over his hand she pressed it tenderly he gazed ardently up at her but she whispered softly stay you will gain through me something better than awaits you there and not only for today and tomorrow we shall meet again in alexandria and to serve your art there shall be a beloved duty his power of resistance was broken yet he beckoned to his slave bias who was busy with the mixing jars and ordered him to seek ledska and tell her not to wait longer urgent duties detain him while he was giving this direction althea had become engaged in the gay conversation of the others and as thione called herman and he was also obliged to speak to dafney he could not again obtain an opportunity for private talk with the wonderful woman who held out far grander prospects for his art then the refractory rude be a mite maiden soon althea's performance seemed to prove how fortunate a choice he had made her arachne appeared like a revelation to him if she kept her promise and he succeeded in modeling her in the pose assumed while imagining the process of transformation and presented her idea to the spectators the great success which hitherto because he had not yielded to demands which were opposed to his convictions he had vainly expected could no longer escape him the alexandrian fellow artist who belonged to his party would gratefully welcome this special work for what grew out of it would have nothing in common with the fascination of superhuman beauty by which the older artist ensnared the hearts and minds of the multitude he would create a genuine woman who would not lack defects yet who, though she inspired neither gratification nor rapture would touch perhaps even thrill the heart by absolute truth while althea was standing on the pedestal she had not only represented the transformation into the spider but experienced it and the features of the spectators revealed that they believed they were witnessing the sinister event his aim was now to awaken the same feelings in the beholders of his arachne nothing, nothing at all must be changed in the figure of the model in which many might miss the roundness and plumpness so pleasing to the eye althea's very defects would perfect the figure of the restless wretched weaver whom Athena transformed into the spider while devoting himself to nursing his friend he had thought far less of the new love happiness which, in spite of her swift flight was probably awaiting him through althea than of the work which was to fill his existence in the immediate future his healthy body, steeled in the palestra felt no fatigue after the sleepless night passed amid so many powerful excitements when he retired to his chamber and committed himself to the hands of his slave it had not been possible to hear his report before but when he at last received it Herman was to learn something extremely unpleasant and not only because no word of apology or even explanation of his absence had reached ledska Bayas was little to blame for this neglect for in the first place he had found no boat to reach the pelican island because half tennis was on the road to tannis where, on the night of the full moon the brilliant festivals of the full eye of horns and the great astarte were celebrated by the mixed population of this place when a boat which belonged to daphne's galley was finally given to him the bea mite girl was no longer at the place appointed for the meeting hoping to find her on the owl's nest with old tabis he then landed there but had been so uncivile rebuffed on the shore by a rough fellow that he might be glad to have escaped with sound limbs lastly he stole to ledska's house and, knowing that her father was absent, had ventured as far as the open courtyard in the center of the stately dwelling the dogs knew him and as a light was shining from one of the rooms that opened upon the courtyard he peeped in and saw teas ledska's younger sister she was kneeling before the statue of a god at the back of the room weeping while the old housekeeper had fallen asleep with the disc staff in her lap he called cautiously to the pretty child she was awaiting the return of her sister who, she supposed was still detained on the owl's nest by old tabis's predictions she had sorrowful tidings for her the husband of her friend gula had returned on his ship and learned that his wife had gone to the greek studio he had raged like a madman and turned the unfortunate woman pitilessly out of doors after sunset her own parents had only been induced to receive her with great difficulty paceth the jealous husband had spared her life and refrained from going at once to kill the artist solely because herman had saved his little daughter at his own peril from the burning house now, said ledska's pretty little sister it would also be known that she had gone with gula to his master who was certainly a handsome man but for whom now that little smethas was wooing her she cared no more than she did for her runaway cat all tennis would point at her and she dared not even think what her father would do when he came home these communications had increased herman's anxiety he was a brave man and did not fear the vengeance of the enraged husband against whom he was conscious of no guilt except having persuaded his wife to commit an imprudence what troubled him was only the consciousness that he had given her an innocent little taeus every reason to curse their meeting the ardent warmth with which gula blessed him as the preserver of her child had given him infinite pleasure now it seemed as if he had been guilty of an act of baseness by inducing her to render a service which was by no means free from danger as though he wished to be paid for a good deed besides the slave had represented the possible consequences of his imprudence in the most gloomy light and with the assurance of knowing the disposition of his fellow countrymen urged his master to leave tennis at once the other bea might men who would bear anything rather than the interference of a greek in their married lives might force gula's husband to take vengeance on him he said nothing about anxiety concerning his own safety but he had good reason to fear being regarded as a go-between and called to account for it but his warnings and entreaties seemed to find deaf ears in herman though he intended to leave tennis as soon as possible for what advantage could he now find here first, however, he must attend to the packing of the statues and then try to appease lezka and make gula's husband understand that he were casting off his pretty wife unjustly he would not think of making a hasty departure he told the slave especially as he was to meet althea queen arsinoe's art appreciating relative in whom he had gained a friend later in alexandria then by us informed him of a discovery which one of the thracian slave women had helped him and what he carelessly told his master drove the blood from his cheeks and, though his voice was almost stifled by surprise and shame, made him assail him with questions what great thing had he revealed there had been reckless gaiety at every festival of Dionysus since he had been in the artist's service and the slave had indulged in the festival mirth no less freely than the masters to intoxicate themselves with wine the gift of the god to whom they were paying homage was not only permitted but commanded and the juice of the great proved its all equalizing power there had been no lack of pretty companions even for him, the bond men and the most beautiful of all had made eyes at his master, the tall slender man with a splendid black beard the reckless lesbian had favored Herman at the last Dionysia had played pranks with him madly enough but then had suddenly vanished by his orders Baez had tried to find her again but in spite of honest search in vain just now he had met, as Althea has made, the little syrian Margula who had been in her company and raced along in the procession of Bacchanals in his Baez's arms true, she could not be persuaded in confession but he, Baez, would let his right hand with her if Herman's companion at the Dionysia was any other than Althea his master would own that he was right if he imagined her with black hair instead of red plenty of people in Alexandria practiced the art of dying and it was well known that Queen Arsenaway herself mingled in the throng at the Dionysia with a handsome effebi who did not suspect the identity of his companion this was the information which so deeply agitated Herman and then led him, after pacing to and fro a short time to go first to Murtilis and then to Daphne he found his friend sleeping and though every fiber of his being urged him to speak to him he forced himself to leave the sufferer undisturbed yet so torturing a sense of dissatisfaction with himself so keen a resentment against his own adverse destiny had awakened with him that he could no longer endure to remain in the presence of his work with which he was more and more dissatisfied away from the studio there was a gay party on board the galley of his parents old friends wine should bring him forgetfulness too bless him again with a sense of joyous existence which he knew so well and which now he seemed on the point of losing when he had once talked and drunk himself into the right mood life would wear a less gloomy face no it should once more be gay and reckless and Althea he would meet her with whom he had once caroused and reveled madly enough in the intoxication of the last Dionysia and instead of allowing himself to be fooled any longer and continuing to bow respectfully before her would assert all the rights she had formerly so liberally granted he would enjoy today forget tomorrow and be gay with the gay eager for new pleasure he drew a long breath as he went out into the open air pressed his hands upon his broad chest and with his eyes fixed upon the commandant of Palusium's galley be decked with flags walked swiftly toward the landing place suddenly from the deck shaded by an awning the loud laugh of a woman's shrill voice reached his ear blended with the deeper tones of the gramateus whose attacks on the previous night Herman had not forgotten he stopped as if the laugh had pierced him to the heart Proclus appeared to be on the most familiar terms with Althea and to meet him with the Thracian now seemed impossible he longed for mirth and pleasure but was unwilling to share it with these two as he dared not disturb Mirtilus there was only one place where he could find what he needed and this was he had said so to himself when he turned his back on his sleeping friend Daphne's society only yesterday he would have sought her without a second thought but today Althea's declaration that he was the only man whom the daughter of Arceus loved stood between him and his friend he knew that from childhood she had watched his every step with sisterly affection a hundred times she had proved her loyalty yet dear as she was to him willingly he would have risked his life to save her from danger he never entered his mind to give the tie that united them the name of love an older relative of both in Alexandria had once advised him when he was complaining of his poverty to seek her hand but his pride of manhood rebelled against having the wealth which fate denied flung into his lap by a woman when she looked in him with her honest eyes he could never have brought himself to feign anything least of all a passion of which he knew her though he had been for years hitherto he had known nothing do you love her Herman asked himself as he walked toward Daphne's tent and the anticipated no had pressed itself upon him far less quickly than he expected one thing was undeniably certain whoever won her for a wife even though she were the poorest of the poor must be numbered among the most enviable of men and should he not recognize in his version to every one of her suitors and now to their aristocratic young philotas a feeling which resembled jealousy no he did not and would not love Daphne if she were really his and whatever concern him had become hers with whom could he have sought in hours like these soothing kind sensible counsel comfort that calmed the heart and the refreshing do which his fate encouraged and faltering creative power required the bear thought of touching clay and wax with his fingers and taking hammer chisel and file in his hands was now repulsive and when just outside of the tent a be a might woman who was bringing fish to the cook reminded him of let's go and that he had lost her in the right model for his arachne he scarcely regretted it and if book one chapter 13 book one chapter 14 of arachne this is a leber vox recording all leber vox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit leber vox.org recording by Ann Boulet arachne by George Ebers book one chapter 14 chapter 14 outside the door of the tent Herman was trying to banish Althea's image from his mind how foolishly he had overestimated last night the value of this miserable actress who as a woman had lost all charm for him even as a model for his arachne he would rather have appeared before his pure friend with unsightly stains on his robe than while mastered by yearning for the thration the first glance that Daphne's beloved face the first words of her greeting taught him he should find with her everything for which he longed in simple beautiful words she reproached him for having neglected her to the verge of incivility the evening before but there was no trace of bitterness or resentment in the accusation and she gave Herman little time for apology but quickly gladden him with words of forgiveness in the opinion of her companion chrysilla Daphne ought to have kept the capricious artist waiting much longer for pardon true the cautious woman took no part in the conversation in her word but she kept her charge in sight while she was skillfully nodding the fringe into a cloth which she had woven herself on account of her favorite philotis it was well for Daphne to be aware that she was watched chrysilla was acquainted with life and knew that Eros never mingles more arbitrarily in the intercourse of a young couple than when after a long separation there is anything whatever to forgive besides many words which the two exchanged escaped her hearing for they talked in low tones and it was hot in the tent often the fatigue she felt after the sleepless night bowed her head still comely in its unwrinkled face though she was no longer young then she quickly raised it again neither Daphne nor Herman noticed her the former at once perceived that something was weighing on the sculptor's mind but he did not need any long inquiry he had come to confide his troubles to her and she kindly lightened the task for him by asking why he had not gone to breakfast with the Palestinians because I am not fit for gay company today was the reply again dissatisfied with fate true it has given me small cause for contentment of late put in place of fate the far-seeing care of the gods and you will accept what befalls you less unkindly let us stick to the mortals I entreat you very well then your demeanor does not fully satisfy you a discontented shrug of the shoulders was the reply then work with two-fold zeal upon the arachne although one model I hope to obtain for sick me and my soul is estranged from the other Althea she asked eagerly and he nodded ascent Daphne clapped her hands joyfully exclaiming so loudly that Crisilla's head sprang up with a jerk it could not be helped being so oh Herman how anxious I have been now I thought when this horrible woman represented the transformation into the spider with such repulsive accuracy Herman will believe that this is the true and therefore the right ideal nay I was deceived myself while gazing but eternal gods as soon as I imagine this arachne in marble or Crisilla time work what a painful feeling overpowered me of course he replied in an irritated tone the thirst for beauty to which you all succumb would not have much satisfaction to expect from this work no no no Daphne interrupted in a louder tone than usual and with the earnest desire to convince him precisely because I transported myself into your tendency your aspirations I recognize the danger would produce so sinister an effect by the wavering light of the lamps and torches while the thunderstorm was rising the strands of hair the outstretched fingers the bewildered staring blue eyes do you not feel yourself how artificial how unnatural it all was this transformation was only a clever trick of acting nothing more before a quiet spectator in the pure truthful light of the pho of all deception what would this arachne probably become even now I have already said so when I imagine her executed in marble or in golden ivory beauty who would expect to find in the active constantly toiling weaver the mortal daughter of an industrious dire in purple the calm refreshing charm of divine women I at least am neither foolish nor unjust enough to do so the degree of beauty Althea possesses would entirely satisfy me for the arachne but when I imagine a plastic work faithful to the model of yesterday evening though I had seen a great deal with my own eyes and am always ready to defer to right for judgment I would think while looking at it this statue came to the artist from the stage but never from nature such would be my view and I would be initiated but the adepts the king with his thorough connoisseurship and fine taste my father and the other famous judges how much more keenly they would perceive and define it here she hesitated for the blood had left Herman's cheeks and she saw with surprise the deep impression which the candid expression of her opinion had produced upon the artist usually so independent and disposed of contradiction her judgment undoubtedly disturbed nay perhaps convinced him but at the same time his features revealed such deep depression that far from rejoicing and so rare a success she patted his arm like an affectionate sister saying you have not yet found time to realize calmly what yesterday dazzled us all and you she added in a lower tone the most strongly but now he murmured sadly half to himself half to her my vision is doubly clear close before the success of which I dreamed failure and bitter disappointment if this doubly refers to your completed work and also to Arachne cry Daphne in an affectionate desire to soothe him a pleasant surprise will perhaps soon await you former Tillis judges your demeanor much more favorably than you yourself do and he also betrayed to me the devil's she blushed slightly as she spoke and as her companions gloomy face brightened for a short time when on eagerly and now for the Arachne you will and must succeed in what you so ardently strive to accomplish a subject so exactly adapted to your magnificent verile genius as so strangely suited to the course which your art has once entered upon and you cannot fail to secure the right model I have not found it in Althea no certainly not oh Herman if I could only make you see clearly how ill-suited she is in whom everything is false is to you your art your only too powerful strength your aspiration after truth you hate her he broke in here in a repellent tone but Daphne dropped her quiet composure and her gray eyes usually so gentle flash fiercely exclaimed yes and again yes from my inmost soul I do and I rejoice in it I have long disliked her but since yesterday I abhor her like the spider which she can simulate like snakes and toads falsehood and vice Herman had never seen his uncle's peaceful daughter in this mood the emotions that rendered this kindly soul so unlike itself could only be the one powerful couple love and jealousy and while gazing intently at her face which in this moment seemed to him as beautiful as Dallas Athena armed for battle he listened breathlessly as she continued already the murderous spider had half entangled you in her net she drew you out into the tempest our steward gross saw it in order while Zeus was raging to deliver you to the wrath of the other gods also and the contempt of all good men for whoever yields himself to her she destroys suck some marrow from his bones like the greedy harpies and all that is noble from his soul why Daphne interrupted Crisilla raising herself from her cushions and alarm I must remind you of the moderation which distinguishes the Greeks from the barbarians and especially the Hellenic woman here Daphne indignantly broken whoever practices moderation in the conflict against vice has already gone halfway over to evil she utterly ruined how long ago is it the unfortunate meander my poor is mean as young husband you know them both Herman here of course you scarcely heard how she lured him from his wife and the lovely girl who bears my name she tempted the poor fellow to her ship only to cast him off at the end of the month for another now he is at home again but he thinks is mean is the statue from the temple of Isis which has gained life in speech for he has lost his mind and when I saw him I felt as if I should die of horror and pity now she is coming home with Proclus and as the way led through Pellus she attached herself to our friends and forces herself in here with them what does she care about her elderly traveling companion but you yes you Herman are the next person who she means to capture just now when my eyes closed but no it is not only in my dreams the hideous gray threads which proceed from this greedy spider are continually floating before me and dim the light here she paused for the maid Stefanian announced the coming of visitors and at the same time loud voices were heard outside and the merry party who had been attending the breakfast given by the Pellusium entered the tent Althea was among the guests but she took little notice of Herman Proclus her associate in Queen Arsenaway's favor was again asserting his rights as her traveling companion and she showed him plainly that the attention which he paid her was acceptable meanwhile her eager bright blue eyes were roving everywhere and nothing that was passing around her escaped her notice as she greeted Daphne she perceived that her cheeks had flushed during her conversation with Herman how reserved and embarrassed the sculptors manner was now to his uncle's daughter whom only yesterday he had treated with as much freedom as though she were his sister what a bungler in dissimilation how short-sighted was this big strong man and remarkable artist he had carried her Althea in his arms like a child for a whole quarter of an hour at the festival of princesses and in spite of the sculptors keen eye he did not recognize her again what would not dies and a change of manner accomplish or had the memory of those mad hours revived and caused his embarrassment if he should know that her companion the molestian nano with whom he had feasted with her on oyster pasties at Canopus after she had given the slip to her handsome young companion was Queen Arsenaway perhaps to inform him of it some day if he recognized her yet that could scarcely have happened he had only been told what she betrayed to him yesterday and was now neglecting her for Daphne's sake that was undoubtedly the way the matter stood how the girls cheeks were glowing when she entered the obstacle that stood between her and Herman was the daughter of Arceus and she full that she was had attracted Herman's attention to her no matter he would want her for the arachne and she needed only to stretch out her hand to draw him to her again if she found no better amusement in Alexandria now she would awaken his fears that the best models would recall her favor besides it would not do to resume the pleasant game with him under the eyes of Philippus and his wife who was a follower of the manors of old times the right course now was to keep him until later standing at Proclus' side she took part gaily in the general conversations but when Mertillas and Philemon had joined the others and Daphne had consented to go with Philippus and Thione that evening in order after offering sacrifice together to Selene to sail for Pellusium Althea requested the Gramiteus to take her into the open air before leaving the tent however she dropped her ostrich feather fan as she passed Herman and when he picked it up whispered with a significant glance at Daphne I see that what was learned of her heart is turned to account promptly enough then laughing gaily she continued loudly enough to be heard by her companion also yesterday our young artist maintained that the muse shunned abundance but the works of his wealthy friend Mertillas contradict him and he changed his view with the speed of lightning with that this swift alteration of his art replied Proclus in a tone audible to her alone both left the tent as he spoke and Herman uttered a sigh of relief as he looked after them she attributed the basis motives to him and Daphne's opinion of her was scarcely too severe he no longer needed to fear her power of attraction though now that he had seen her again he better understood the spell which she had exerted over him her life figure had an exquisite grace whose charm was soothing to the artist's eye only there was something piercing in her gaze when it did not woo love and while making the base charge her extremely thin lips had showed her sharp teeth in a manner that reminded him of the way the she wolf among the king's wild beasts in the Panayum gardens raised her lips when anyone went near her cage Daphne was right let's go would have been infinitely better as a model for the Arachne everything in this proud creature was genuine and original which was certainly not the case with Althea besides stern austerity was as much part of the Beomite as her hair and her hands yet what ardent passion had he seen glow in her eyes the model so long sought in vain he had found in Ledska who in so many respects resembled Arachne full that he was to have yielded to a swift and false ebullition of feeling since Mortillus was again near him Herman had devoted himself with fresh eagerness to his artistic task while a voice within cried more and more loudly that this success of his new work depended entirely upon Ledska he must try to regain her as a model for the Arachne but while pondering over the how he felt a rare sense of pleasure when Daphne spoke to him or her glance met his at first he had devoted himself eagerly to his father's old friends and especially to Thione and had not found it quite easy to remain firm when in her frank kindly cordial manner she tried to persuade him to accompany her and the others to Pelluciam yet he had succeeded in refusing the worthy couple's invitation but when he saw Philotus whose resemblance to the king his cousin had just been mentioned by one of the officers become more and more eager in his attentions to Daphne and heard him also invited by Philotus to share the nocturnal voyage he felt disturbed and could not conceal from himself that the uneasiness which constantly obtained a greater mastery over him arose from the fear of losing his friend to the young aristocrat this was jealousy and where it flames so hotly love could scarcely be absent yet had the shaft of arrows really struck him how was it possible that the longing to win Lezka back stirred so strongly within him that he finally reached a resolution concerning her as soon as the guest left tennis he would approach the be a might again he had already whispered this intention to Mirchilis when he heard Daphne's companion say to Thione Philotus will accompany us and on this voyage they will plight their truth if Aphrodite's powerful son except the sacrifice he invariably looked at the pair who were intended for each other and saw Daphne lower her eyes blushing at a whisper from the young Macedonian his blood also crimsoned his cheeks and when soon after he asked his friend whether she cared for his companionship and Daphne assented in the most eager way he said that he would share the voyage to Palusium Daphne's eyes had never yet beamed upon him so gladly and graciously Althea was right she must love him and it seemed as if this conviction awoke a new star of happiness in his troubled soul if Philotus imagined that he could pluck the daughter of Arceus like a ripe fruit from a tree he would find himself mistaken Herman did not yet exactly understand himself only he felt certain that it would be impossible to surrender Daphne to another and that for her sake he would give up twenty Ledskas though he cherished infinitely great expectations from the be a might for his art which hitherto had been more to him than all else everything that he still had to do in Tennis he would entrust to his conscientious Beos to Myrtilus and his slaves if he returned to the city of Weavers he would earnestly endeavour to paliate the offense which he had inflicted on Ledska and if possible obtain her forgiveness only one thing detained him anxiety about his friend who positively refused to share the night voyage he had promised his uncle Arceus to care for him like a brother and his own kind heart bade him stay with Myrtilus and not leave him to the nursing of his very skillful but utterly unreliable body servant after the last night had proved to what severe attacks of his disease he was still liable Myrtilus however earnestly entreated him not to deprive himself on his account of a pleasure which he would gladly have shared there was plenty of time to pack the statues as for himself nothing would do him more good just now than complete rest in his beloved solitude which as Herman knew was more welcome to him than the gayest society nothing was to be feared for him now the thunderstorm had purified the air and another one was not to be expected soon in this dry region he had always been well here in sunny weather storms which were especially harmful to him never came at this season of the year Myrtilus secretly thought that Herman's departure would be desirable because the slave Beos had confided to him what dangers threatened his friend from the incest be a might husbands finally Myrtilus turned to the others and begged them not to let Herman leave Palusium quickly when at parting he was along with him he embraced him as said more tenderly than usual you know how easy it will be for me to depart from life but it would be easier still if I could leave you behind without anxiety and that would happen if the hymenial hymns at your marriage to Daphne preceded the dirges that will soon resound above my coffin yesterday I first became sure that she loves you and much good as you have in your nature you owe the best to her Herman clasped him in his arms with passionate affection and after confessing that he too felt drawn with the utmost power toward Daphne and urging him to anticipate complete recovery instead of an early death he held out his hand to his friend but Myrtilus clasped a long time in his own saying earnestly only this one frank warning an arachnid like the model which Althea presented yesterday evening would deal the past of your art a blow in the face no one at Rhodes and this is just what I prize in you hate imitation more yet what would using the arachnid on the pedestal for a model be except showing the world not how Herman but how Althea imagines the hapless transformed mortal even if let's go withdraws from you hold fast to her image it will live on in your soul recall it there is superfluous supply whatever it lacks animate it with the idea of the tireless artist the mocking defiant mortal woman who ended her life as the weaver of weavers in the insect world as you have so often vividly described her to me then my dear fellow you will remain loyal to yourself and therefore also to the higher truth towards which every one of us who labors earnestly strives and myself included there is no one who yields hammer and chisel in Greece who could contest the prize with you and a book one chapter 14 book one chapter 15 of arachnid this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Anne Boulay arachnid by George Ebers book one chapter 15 when the sun was approaching the western horizon the traveler started light misveiled the radiant right eye of the goddess of heaven the blood of the contending spirits of light and darkness which usually died the west of Egypt crimson at the departure of the great sun god today vanished from sight the sultry air was damp and oppressive and experienced old Lippus who had commanded a fleet of considerable size under the first hall of maize agreed with the captain of the vessel who pointed to several small dark clouds under the silvery stratus and expressed the fear that Selena would hardly illumine the ship's course during the coming night but before the departure the travelers had offered sacrifices to the foam born Cyprian Aphrodite and Dioscury the protectors of mariners and the nation took the Gaea's turn in the harbor of the neighboring seaport Tannis they went aboard the commandant state galley one of the largest and finest in the royal fleet where a banquet awaited them cushions were arranged on the high poop and the sea was as smooth as the silver dishes in which vines were offered to the guests true not a breath stirred the still sultry air but the three long double ranks in the hold of the ship provided for her swift progress and if no contrary winds sprang up she would run into the harbor of Palusium before the last goblet was emptied soon after the departure it seemed as if the captain of the little vessel had aired in his prediction for the moon burst victoriously through the black clouds only his shining orb was surrounded by a dull shimmering halo doubtless many a guest long for a cool breeze but when the mixed wine had moistened the parched tongues the talk gained fresh animation everyone did his or her part for the point in question was to induce Philippa and his wife to visit Alexandria again and spend some time there as beloved guests with Daphne in her father's house or in the palace of Philotus who jestingly yet with many reasons contested the honor with the absent Arceus the old warrior had remained away from the capital for several years he alone knew why now the act which had incest him and the offense inflicted upon him were forgotten and having past 74 years he intended to ask the commander in chief once more for the retirement from the army which the monarch had several times refused in order as a free man to seek again the city which in his present position he had so long avoided Thione it is true thought that her husband's youthful vigor rendered this step premature but the visit to Alexandria harmonized with her own wishes Proclus eagerly sided with her to him said the man of manifold knowledge who as high priest of Apollo was fond of speaking in an instructive tone experience showed that men like Philippus who solely on account of the number of their years services from the state felt unhappy and like the unused plowshare became prematurely rusty what they lacked and what Philippus would also miss was not merely the occupation which might easily be supplied by another but still more the habit of command one who had had thousand subject to his will was readily overcome by the feeling that he was going downhill when only a few dozen of his own slaves and his wife obeyed him this word aroused the mirth of old Philippus who prays all the good qualities of Macedonian wives except that of obedience while Thione protested that during her more than 40 years of married life her husband had become so accustomed to her complete submission that he no longer noticed it if Philippus should command her tomorrow to leave their comfortable palace in Palusium to accompany him to Alexandria they possessed no home of their own he would see how willingly she obeyed him while speaking her bright clear eyes which seemed to float in the deep folds sunk by age sparkle so merrily in her wrinkled face that Philippus shook his finger gaily at her and show plainly how much pleasure the jest of the old companion of his wanderings gave him yet he insisted upon his purpose of not entering Alexandria again until he had resigned his office and to do this at present was impossible since he was bound just now as if with chains to the important frontier fortress besides there had probably been little change in the capital since the death of his beloved old companion in arms and master the late king this assertion evoked a storm of contradiction and even the young officers who usually impose severe restraint upon themselves in the general's presence raised their voices to prove that they too had looked around the flourishing capital with open eyes yet it was not six decades since Philippus then a lot of 17 had been present at its foundation his father who commanded as hip-hark a division of cavalry in the army of Alexander the great had sent for the sturdy youth just at that time to come to Egypt that he might enter the conqueror of the world had himself assigned him as a young Macedonian of good family to the core of the Heteroi and how the vigorous old man's eyes sparkled as with youthful enthusiasm he spoke of the divine vanquisher of the world who had at that time condescended to address him gazed at him keenly yet encouragingly with his all discerning but kindly blue eyes and extended his hand to him that he cried made this rough right hand precious to me often when in Asia in scorching India and later here also wounded or exhausted it was ready to refuse it service a spirit voice within cried don't forget that he touched it and then as if I had drunk the noble wine of Bible us a fiery stream flowed from my heart into the paralyzed hand and as though animated with new life I used it again and kept it worthy of his touch to have seen a darling of the gods like him young men makes us greater it teaches us how even we human beings are permitted to resemble the immortals now he is transported among the gods and the Olympians received him if anyone gladly whoever shared the deeds of such a hero takes a small portion of his renown life and into the grave and whom he touched as befell me feels himself consecrated and whatever is petty and base flows away from him like water from the anointed body of the wrestler therefore I consider myself fortunate above thousands of others and if there is anything which still tempts me to go to Alexandria it is the desire to touch his dead body once more to do that before I die is my most ardent then gratify it cried Thione with urgent impatience but Proclus turned to the matron and after exchanging a hasty glance with Althea said you probably know my venerable friend that Queen Arsenaway who most deeply honors your illustrious husband had already arranged to have him summoned to the capital as priest of Alexander true in this position he would have had the burden of disposing of all the revenues from Egypt but on the other hand he would always have his master's mortal remains near and be permitted to be their guardian what influences baffle the Queen's wish certainly have not remained hidden from you here you are mistaken replied Filippus gravely not the least whisper of this matter reached my ears and it is fortunate impossible Althea eagerly interrupted nothing else was talked of for weeks in the royal palace Queen Arsenaway you might be jealous lady Thione has been fairly in love with your hero ever since her last day in your house on her way home from Thrace and she has not yet given up her desire to see him in the capital as priest of Alexander it seems to her just and fair that the old companion of the greatest of the great should have the highest place next to her husbands in the city whose foundation he witnessed Arsenaway speaks of you also with all the affection natural to her feeling heart this is as flattering as it is surprising replied Thione the attention we showed her and was nothing more than we owed to the wife of the sovereign but the court is not the principal attraction that draws me to the capital it would make Filippus happy you have just heard him say so to remember his old master beside the tomb of Alexander and added Daphne how amaze you will be when you see the present form of the soma in which rest the golden coffin with the body of the divine hero whom the fortunate Filippus aided to conquer the world you are jesting interrupted the old warrior I aided him only as the drops in the stream help to turn the wheel of the mill as to his body true I marched at the head of the procession which bore it to Memphis and then Alexandria in the soma I was permitted to think of him with devout reverence and meantime I felt as if I had again seen him with these eyes exactly as he looked in the Egyptian fishing village of Rakotis which he transformed into your magnificent Alexandria what a youth he was even what would have been a defect in others became a beauty in him the powerful neck which supported his divine head was a little crooked but what grace it let him when he turned kindly to anyone one scarcely noticed it and yet it was like the bend of a petitioner and gave the wish which he expressed resistless power when he stood erect the sharpest I could not detect it would that he could appear before me thus once more besides the buildings which surrounded the golden coffin were nearly completed at the time of our battle but the statues reliefs and mosaic work were lacking said Herman they were executed by Liz Cipus Euphranar and others of our greatest artists the paintings by Appellis himself and to Phyllis and Nikias only those who had one renown were permitted to take part in this work and the Aries rushing to battle created by our martillus can be seen among the others the tomb of Alexander was not completed until three years ago at the same time as the panayum as philotas completing the sentence and Althea waving her beaker toward the old hero remarked when you have your quarters in the royal palace with your crowned admirer are sin away which I hope will be soon I will be your guide that office is already bestowed on me by the lady Thione Daphne quietly replied in this case obedience is the husband's duty cried the other with a sneering laugh it would only be the confirmation of a wise choice replied Philippus who disliked the Thracian's fawning manner Thione too did not favor her and had glanced indignantly at her when Althea made her rude remark now she turned to Daphne and her plain face regained his pleasant expression as she exclaimed we really promised your father to let him show us the way child but unfortunately we are not yet in Alexandria and the Panayum but you would set out tomorrow Herman protested if we could succeed in fittingly describing what now awaits you there there is only one Alexandria and no city in the world can offer a more beautiful scene than is visible from the mountain in the Panayum gardens certainly not protested the young hip park who had studied in Athens I stood on the acropolis to visit Rhodes and Miletus and you saw nothing more beautiful there cried Proclus the aristocratic Roman envoys who left us a short time ago admitted the same thing they are just men for the view from the capital of their growing city is also to be seen when the king's command led me to the Tiber many things surprised me but as a whole how shall I compare the two cities the older Rome with her admirable military power a barbarian who is just beginning to cultivate more refined manners Alexandria a rich aristocratic Haleen who like you my young friend completed her education in Elysis and unites to the elegant taste and intellect of the Athenian the mysterious thoughtfulness of the Egyptian the tireless industry of the Jew and the many-sided wisdom and brilliant magnificence of the other oriental countries but who disdains to dazzle the eyes with Asiatic splendor interrupted felotus and yet what do we not hear about the unprecedented luxury in the royal palace grow the gray haired warrior parsimony the gods be praised no one need expect from our royal pair Althea broken but King Ptolemy uses his paternal wealth for very different purposes than glittering gems and golden chambers if you disdain my guidance honored hero at least accept that of some genuine alexandrian then you will understand procluses app similarly you ought to begin with the royal palaces in the brokéum no no with the harbor of unostas interrupted the gramateus with the soma cried the young hip park while Daphne wish to have the tour begin in the panayum gardens they were already laid out when we left alexandria said Thione and they had grown marvelously as if creative nature had doubled her powers in their behalf Herman added eagerly but man has also wrought amazing miracles here industrious hands reared an actual mountain a winding path leads to the top and when you stand upon the summit and look northward you at first feel like the sailor who steps on shore and hears the people speak a language which is new to him it seems like a jumble of meaningless sounds until he learns not only to understand the words but also to a distinguish the sentences temples and palaces statues and columns appear everywhere in motley confusion each one if you separate it from the whole and give it careful examination is worthy of inspection nay of admiration here are light graceful creations of Hellenic yonder heavy somber ones of Egyptian art and in the background they exquisite azure of the eternal sea which the marvelous structure of the hepta stadium unites to the land while on the island of pharaohs the lighthouse of Sostratus towers aloft almost to the sky and with a flood of light points out the way to mariners who approach the great harbor at night countless vessels are also at anchor in the unostas the riches of the whole earth flow into both havens and the life and movement there of Finland harbor on lake mariotis while the Nile boats land from early until late what a busy throng what an abundance of wares and how many of the most valuable goods are made in our own city for whatever useful, fine and costly articles industrial art produces are manufactured here the roof has not yet been put on many a factory in which busy workers are already making beautiful things the beavers shuttle flies yonder gold is spun around slender threads of sheep guts elsewhere costly materials are embroidered by women's nibble fingers with a prepared gold thread their glasses blown or weapons and iron utensils are forged finely polished knives split the pith of the papyrus and long rows of work men and work women gum the strips together no hand, no head is permitted to rest in the museum the brains of the great thinkers and investigators are toiling here too, reality asserts its rights the time for chimeras and wretched polemics is over now it is observing fathoming, turning to account nothing more gently my young friend Proclus interrupted the artist I know that you too sat at the feet of some of the philosophers in the museum and still uphold the teachings of Stratton which your fellow pupil King Ptolemy outgrew long ago yet he also recognized in philosophy first of all the bond which unites the widely sundered acquisitions at the intellect the vital breath which pervades them the touchstone which proves each true or false if the praise of Alexandria is to be sung we must not forget the library to which the most precious treasures of knowledge of east and west are flowing and which feeds those who thirst for knowledge with the intellectual gains of former ages and other nations honor too to our king and that I may be just to his illustrious wife for wherever in the grecian world a friend of the muses appears whether he is investigator, poet architect, sculptor, artist actor or singer he is drawn to Alexandria and that he might not be idle work is provided palaces spring from the earth quickly enough yet not like mushrooms Herman interrupted but as the noblest most carefully executed creations of art structure and painting provided for their decoration both without and within and Proclus went on abodes are erected for the gods as well as for men both Egyptian and Hellenic divinities each in their own style and so beautiful that it must be a pleasure for them to dwell under the new roof go to the gardens of the Panayum friends cried young philotis and Herman nodding to Thione added gaily then you must climb the mountain and keep your eyes open while you are ascending the winding path you will find enough to do to look at all the new sights you will stand there with dry feet but your soul will bathe an eternal imperishable divine beauty the foe of beauty exclaimed Proclus pointing to the sculptor with a scornful glance but Daphne, full of joyous emotion whispered to Herman as he approached eternal divine beauty to hear it thus praised by you makes me happy yes cried the artist what else should I call what has often filled me with the deepest rapture the Greek language has no more fitting expression for the grand and lofty things that hovered before me and which I called by that chameleon of a word yet I have a different meaning for what appears before you at its sound were I to call it truth you would scarcely understand me but when I conjure before my soul the image of Alexandria with all that springs from it all that is moving, creating and thriving with such marvelous freedom naturalness and variety within it is not alone the beauty that pleases the eye that delights me I value more the sound natural growth the genuine abundant life to truth Daphne as I mean it he raised his goblet as he spoke and drank to her she willingly pledged him but after removing her lips from the cup she eagerly exclaimed show it to us with the mind which animates it in perfect form and I should not know where in it was to be distinguished from the beauty which hither too has been our highest goal hear the helmsman loud shout the light of Pellusium interrupted the conversation the bright glare from the lighthouse of this city was really piercing the misty night which for some time had again concealed the moon there was no further connected conversation for the sea was now rising and falling in broad ledden almost imperceptible waves the comfort of most of Philippus's guests was destroyed and the ladies uttered a sigh of relief when they had descended from the lofty galley and the boats that conveyed them ashore and their feet once more pressed the solid land the party of travelers went to the commandant's magnificent palace to rest and Herman also retired to his room but sleep fled from his couch no one on earth was nearer to his heart and mind than Daphne and it often seemed as if her kind loyal yet firm look was resting upon him but the memory of Ledska also constantly forced itself upon his mind and stirred his blood when he thought of the menacing fire she seemed to him as terrible as one of the unlovely creatures born of night the Arinnies Apate and Eris then he could not help recalling their meeting in the grove of the start herself forgetting passionate tenderness and the wonderfully delicate beauty of her foreign type true she had never laughed in his presence but what a peculiar charm there was in her smile had he really lost her entirely and forever would it not yet be possible to obtain her forgiveness and persuader to pose as the model of his Arachne during the voyage to Pelluciam he had caught Althea's eye again and again and rejected as an insult her demand to give her his whole love the success of the Arachne depended on Ledska and on her alone he had nothing good to expect from the Demeter and during the nocturnal meditation which shows everything in the darkest colors his best plan seemed to be to destroy the unsuccessful statue and not exhibit it for the verdict of the judges but if he went to work again in tennis to model the Arachne did not love for Daphne forbid him to sue afresh for Ledska's favor what a terrible conflict of feelings but perhaps all this might gain a more satisfactory aspect by daylight now he felt as though he had entangled himself in a snare besides other thoughts drove sleep from his couch the window spaces were closed by wooden shutters and whenever they moved with a low creaking or loud banging Herman started and forgot everything else in anxiety about his invalid friend whose suffering every strong wind brought on again and often seriously increased three times he sprang up from the soft wool covered with linen sheets and looked out to convince himself that he had chosen but though masses of black clouds concealed the moon and stars the sea beat heavily against the solid walls of the harbor as yet only a sultry breeze of no great strength blew on his head as he thrust it into the night air this weather could scarcely be dangerous to Mertillas yet when the morning relieved him from the torturing anxiety which he had found under his host's roof instead of rest and sleep in the port and the ramparts beside him as if they were already driven by a tempest and warm raindrops besprinkled his face he went full of anxiety to take his bath and while committing the care of the adornment of his outer man to one of the household slaves he determined that unless as often happened in this country the sun gained the victory over the clouds he would return to tennis and join Mertillas in the hall of the men he met the rest of the old hero's guests they received him pleasantly enough Alfea alone barely noticed his greeting she seemed to suspect in what way he thought of her Thione and Daphne extended their hands to him all the more cordially Philippus did not appear until after breakfast he had been detained by important dispatches from Alexandria and by questions and communications from Proclus the latter desired to ascertain whether the influential warrior who commanded the most important fortress in the country could be persuaded to join a conspiracy formed by Arsenaway against her royal husband but he seemed to have left Philippus with very faint hopes subordinate officers and messengers also frequently claimed the common Don's attention when the marketplace was filling however the sturdy old soldier kindly fulfilled his duties as host by offering to show his guests the fortified seaport Herman also accompanied him at Daphne's side but he made it easy for Philotas to engross her attention four though the immense thickness of the walls and the arrangement of the wooden towers which crowned with battlements rose at long intervals seemed to him also well worth seeing he gave them only partial attention while Philippus was showing the guests how safely the archers and slingers could be concealed behind the walls and battlements and discharge their missiles and explaining the purpose of the great catapults on the outermost dike washed by the sea the artist was listening to the ever increasing roar of the waves which poured into the harbor from the open sea to their loud dashing against the strong mole to the shrill scream of the seagulls the flapping of the sails which were being taken in everywhere in short to all the sounds occasioned by the rising violence of the wind there were not a few warships in the port and among them perfect giants of amazing size and unusual construction but Herman had already seen many similar ones when, shortly after noon the sun for a few brief moments pierced with scorching rays the dark curtain that shrouded it from sight and then suddenly dense masses of clouds driven from the sea by the tempest covered the day star his eyes and ears were engrossed entirely by the uproar of the elements the air darkened as if night was falling at this noontide hour and with savage fury the foaming mountain waves rushed like mad wild beasts in fierce assault upon the mole the walls and the dykes of the fortified port home cried Thione and again entered the litter which she had left to inspect the new catapults Althea, trembling drew her peplos together as the storm swept her light figure before it and Shrieking struggled against the black slaves who tried to lift her upon the war elephant which had borne her here Philotas gave his arm to Daphne Herman had ceased to notice her he had just gone to his grey haired host with the entreaty that he would give him a ship for the voyage to Tennis where Mertillas would need his assistance it is impossible in such weather was the reply then I will ride cried Herman resolutely and Philippa scanned the son of his old friend and companion in arms with an expression of quiet satisfaction in his eyes still sparkling brightly and answered quickly you shall have two horses my boy and a guide who knows the road besides then turning swiftly to one of the officers who accompanied him he ordered him to provide what was necessary when soon after in the influvium the tempest tore the valarium that covered the open space from its rings and the ladies endeavored to detain Herman Philippa silenced them with the remark a disagreeable ride is before him but what urges him on is pleasing to the gods I have just ventured to send out a carrier dove he added turning to the artist to inform Mertillas that he may expect you before sunset the storm comes from the east otherwise it would hardly reach the goal put even if it should be lost what does it matter Dione nodded to her old husband with a look of pleasure and her eyes shone through tears at Herman as she clasped his hand and remembering her friend his mother exclaimed go then you true son of your father and tell your friend that we will offer sacrifices for his welfare a lean chicken to Askolapias whispered the gramateus to Althea she holds on to the oboli which at any rate would be hard enough to dispose of this wretched place unless one were a dealer in weapons or a thirsty sailor as soon as the sky and sea are blue again chains could not keep me here and the cooing around this insipid rich beauty into the bargain this remark referred to Filotas who was just offering Daphne a magnificent bunch of roses which a mounted messenger had brought to him from Alexandria the girl received it with a grateful glance she instantly separated one of the most beautiful blossoms from its companions and handed it to Herman saying for our suffering friend with my affectionate remembrances the artist pressed her dear hand with a tender look of love intended to express how difficult it was for him to leave her and when, just at that moment a slave announced that the horses were waiting, Thione whispered have no anxiety my son your ride away from her through the tempest will bring you a better reward than his slave's swift horse will bear the giver of the roses End of Book 1, Chapter 15