第35章 THE BANQUET(11)

"My father," she asked, "should this also be thrown into the flames?

It is of marvellous antique work, and is worth a hundred times its weight in gold.Its loss would be irreparable, for there is not a sculptor in the world capable of making such a beautiful Eros.

Remember also, my father, that this child is Love, and he should not be harshly treated.Believe me, Love is a virtue, and if I have sinned, it is not through him, my father, but against him.Never shall I regret aught that he has caused me to do, and I deplore only those things I have done contrary to his commands.He does not allow women to give themselves to those who do not come in his name.For that reason he ought to be honoured.Look, Paphnutius, how pretty this little Eros is! With what grace he hides himself in the gardener's beard! One day Nicias, who loved me then, brought it to me and said, 'It will remind you of me.' But the roguish boy did not remind me of Nicias, but of a young man I knew at Antioch.Enough riches have been destroyed upon this pile, my father! Preserve this Eros, and place it in some monastery.Those who see it will turn their hearts towards God, for love leads naturally to heavenly thoughts."The gardener, already believing that the little Eros was saved, smiled on it as though it had been a child, when Paphnutius, snatching the god from the arms which held it, threw it into the flames, crying--"It is enough that Nicias has touched it to make it replete with every sort of poison!"Then, seizing by armfuls the sparkling robes, the purple mantles, the golden sandals, the combs, strigils, mirrors, lamps, theorbos, and lyres, he threw them into this furnace, more costly than the funeral pile of Sardanapalus, whilst, drunken with the rage of destruction, the slaves danced round, uttering wild yells amid a shower of sparks and ashes.

One by one, the neighbours, awakened by the noise, opened the windows, and rubbing their eyes, looked out to see whence the smoke came.Then they came down, half dressed, and drew near the fire.

"What does it mean?" they wondered.

Amongst them were merchants from whom Thais had often bought perfumes and stuffs, and they looked on anxiously with long, yellow faces, unable to comprehend what was going on.Some young debauchees, who, returning from a supper, passed by there, preceded by their slaves, stopped, their heads crowned with flowers, their tunics floating, and uttered loud cries.Attracted by curiosity, the crowd increased unceasingly, and soon it was known that Thais had been persuaded by the Abbot of Antinoe to burn her riches and retire to a nunnery.

The shopkeepers thought to themselves--

"Thais is going to leave the city; we shall sell no more to her; it is dreadful to think of.What will become of us without her? This monk has driven her mad.He is ruining us.Why let him do it? What is the use of the laws? Are there no magistrates in Alexandria? Thais does not think about us and our wives and our poor children.It is a public scandal.She ought to be compelled to stay in the city."The young men, on their part, also thought--"If Thais is going to renounce acting and love, our chief amusements will be taken from us.She was the glory, delight, and honour of the stage.She was the joy even of those who had never possessed her.The women we loved, we loved in her.There were no kisses given in which she was altogether absent, for she was the joy of all voluptuaries, and the mere thought that she breathed amongst us excited us to pleasure."Thus thought the young men, and one of them, named Cerons, who had held her in his arms, cried out upon the abduction, and blasphemed against Christ.In every group the conduct of Thais was severely criticised.

"It is a shameful flight!"

"A cowardly desertion!"

"She is taking the bread out of our mouths.""She is robbing our children."

"She ought at least to pay for the wreaths I have sold to her.""And the sixty robes she has ordered of me.""She owes money to everybody."

"Who will represent Iphigenia, Electra, and Polyxena when she is gone?

The handsome Polybia herself will not make such a success as she has done.""Life will be dull when her door is closed.""She was the bright star, the soft moon of the Alexandrian sky."All the most notorious mendicants of the city--cripples, blind men, and paralytics--had by this time assembled in the place; and crawling through the remnants of the riches, they groaned--"How shall we live when Thais is no longer here to feed us? Every day the fragments from her table fed two hundred poor wretches, and her lovers, when they quitted her, threw us as they passed handfuls of silver pieces."Some thieves, too, also mingled with the crowd, and created a deafening clamour, and pushed their neighbours, to increase disorder, and take advantage of the tumult to filch some valuable object.

Old Taddeus, who sold Miletan wool and Tarentan linen, and to whom Thais owed a large sum of money, alone remained calm and silent in the midst of the uproar.He listened and watched, and gently stroking his goat-beard, seemed thoughtful.At last he approached young Cerons, and pulling him by the sleeve, whispered--"You are the favoured lover of Thais, handsome youth; show yourself, and do not allow this monk to carry her off.""By Pollux and his sister, he shall not!" cried Cerons."I will speak to Thais, and without flattering myself, I think she will listen to me rather than to that sooty-faced Lapithan.Place! Place, dogs!"And striking with his fist the men, upsetting the old women and treading on the young children, he reached Thais, and taking her aside--"Dearest girl," he said, "look at me, remember, and tell me truly if you renounce love."But Paphnutius threw himself between Thais and Cerons.

"Impious wretch!" he cried, "beware and touch her not; she is sacred--she belongs to God."