Quo Vadis - Henryk Sienkiewicz (best ereader under 100 .txt) 📗
- Author: Henryk Sienkiewicz
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prayer, I inquired concerning him, and those who knew him declared that
he was the man who had been betrayed by his comrade on the journey from
Naples. Otherwise I should not have known that he gives out such a
story.”
“How does this concern me? Tell what thou sawest in the house of
prayer.”
“It does not concern thee, lord, but it concerns me just as much as my
life. Since I wish that my wisdom should survive me, I would rather
renounce the reward which thou hast offered, than expose my life for
empty lucre; without which, I as a true philosopher shall be able to
live and seek divine wisdom.”
But Vinicius approached him with an ominous countenance, and began in a
suppressed voice,—“Who told thee that death would meet thee sooner at
the hands of Glaucus than at mine? Whence knowest thou, dog, that I
will not have thee buried right away in my garden?”
Chilo, who was a coward, looked at Vinicius, and in the twinkle of an
eye understood that one more unguarded word and he was lost beyond
redemption.
“I will search for her, lord, and I will find her!” cried he, hurriedly.
Silence followed, during which were heard the quick breathing of
Vinicius, and the distant song of slaves at work in the garden.
Only after a while did the Greek resume his speech, when he noticed that
the young patrician was somewhat pacified.
“Death passed me, but I looked on it with the calmness of Socrates. No,
lord, I have not said that I refuse to search for the maiden; I desired
merely to tell thee that search for her is connected now with great
peril to me. On a time thou didst doubt that there was a certain
Euricius in the world, and though thou wert convinced by thine own eyes
that the son of my father told the truth to thee, thou hast suspicions
now that I have invented Glaucus. Ah! would that he were only a
fiction, that I might go among the Christians with perfect safety, as I
went some time since; I would give up for that the poor old slave woman
whom I bought, three days since, to care for my advanced age and maimed
condition. But Glaucus is living, lord; and if he had seen me once,
thou wouldst not have seen me again, and in that case who would find the
maiden?”
Here he was silent again, and began to dry his tears.
“But while Glaucus lives,” continued he, “how can I search for her?—for
I may meet him at any step; and if I meet him I shall perish, and with
me will cease all my searching.”
“What art thou aiming at? What help is there? What dost thou wish to
undertake?” inquired Vinicius.
“Aristotle teaches us, lord, that less things should be sacrificed for
greater, and King Priam said frequently that old age was a grievous
burden. Indeed, the burden of old age and misfortune weighs upon
Glaucus this long time, and so heavily that death would be to him a
benefit. For what is death, according to Seneca, but liberation?”
“Play the fool with Petronius, not with me! Tell what thy desire is.”
“If virtue is folly, may the gods permit me to be a fool all my life. I
desire, lord, to set aside Glaucus, for while he is living my life and
searches are in continual peril.”
“Hire men to beat him to death with clubs; I will pay them.”
“They will rob thee, lord, and afterward make profit of the secret.
There are as many ruffians in Rome as grains of sand in the arena, but
thou wilt not believe how dear they are when an honest man needs to
employ their villainy. No, worthy tribune! But if watchmen catch the
murderers in the act? They would tell, beyond doubt, who hired them,
and then thou wouldst have trouble. They will not point to me, for I
shall not give my name. Thou art doing ill not to trust in me, for,
setting aside my keenness, remember that there is a question of two
other things,—of my life, and the reward which thou has promised me.”
“How much dost thou need?”
“A thousand sestertia, for turn attention to this, that I must find
honest ruffians, men who when they have received earnest money, will not
take it off without a trace. For good work there must be good pay!
Something might be added, too, for my sake, to wipe away the tears which
I shall shed out of pity for Glaucus. I take the gods to witness how I
love him. If I receive a thousand sestertia to-day, two days hence his
soul will be in Hades; and then, if souls preserve memory and the gift
of thought, he will know for the first time how I loved him. I will
find people this very day, and tell them that for each day of the life
of Glaucus I will withhold one hundred sestertia. I have, besides, a
certain idea, which seems to me infallible.”
Vinicius promised him once more the desired sum, forbidding him to
mention Glaucus again; but asked what other news he brought, where he
had been all the time, what he had seen, and what he had discovered.
But Chilo was not able to tell much. He had been in two more houses of
prayer,—had observed each person carefully, especially the women,—but
had seen no one who resembled Lygia: the Christians, however, looked on
him as one of their own sect, and, since he redeemed the son of
Euricius, they honored him as a man following in the steps of “Christ.”
He had learned from them, also, that a great lawgiver of theirs, a
certain Paul of Tarsus, was in Rome, imprisoned because of charges
preferred by the Jews, and with this man he had resolved to become
acquainted. But most of all was he pleased by this,—that the supreme
priest of the whole sect, who had been Christ’s disciple, and to whom
Christ had confided government over the whole world of Christians, might
arrive in Rome any moment. All the Christians desired evidently to see
him, and hear his teachings. Some great meetings would follow, at which
he, Chilo, would be present; and what is more, since it is easy to hide
in the crowd, he would take Vinicius to those meetings. Then they would
find Lygia certainly. If Glaucus were once set aside, it would not be
connected even with great danger. As to revenge, the Christians, too,
would revenge but in general they were peaceful people.
Here Chilo began to relate, with a certain surprise, that he had never
seen that they gave themselves up to debauchery, that they poisoned
wells or fountains, that they were enemies of the human race, worshipped
an ass, or ate the flesh of children. No; he had seen nothing of that
sort. Certainly he would find among them even people who would hide
away Glaucus for money; but their religion, as far as he knew, did not
incite to crime,—on the contrary, it enjoined forgiveness of offences.
Vinicius remembered what Pomponia had said to him at Acte’s, and in
general he listened to Chilo’s words with pleasure. Though his feeling
for Lygia assumed at times the seeming of hatred, he felt a relief when
he heard that the religion which she and Pomponia confessed was neither
criminal nor repulsive. But a species of undefined feeling rose in him
that it was just that reverence for Christ, unknown and mysterious,
which created the difference between himself and Lygia; hence he began
at once to fear that religion and to hate it.
FOR Chilo, it was really important to set aside Glaucus, who, though
advanced in years, was by no means decrepit. There was considerable
truth in what Chilo had narrated to Vinicius. He had known Glaucus on a
time, he had betrayed him, sold him to robbers, deprived him of family,
of property, and delivered him to murder. But he bore the memory of
these events easily, for he had thrown the man aside dying, not at an
inn, but in a field near Minturna. This one thing he had not foreseen,
that Glaucus would be cured of his wounds and come to Rome. When he saw
him, therefore, in the house of prayer, he was in truth terrified, and
at the first moment wished to discontinue the search for Lygia. But on
the other hand, Vinicius terrified him still more. He understood that
he must choose between the fear of Glaucus, and the pursuit and
vengeance of a powerful patrician, to whose aid would come, beyond
doubt, another and still greater, Petronius. In view of this, Chilo
ceased to hesitate. He thought it better to have small enemies than
great ones, and, though his cowardly nature trembled somewhat at bloody
methods, he saw the need of killing Glaucus through the aid of other
hands.
At present the only question with him was the choice of people, and to
this he was turning that thought of which he had made mention to
Vinicius. Spending his nights in wine-shops most frequently, and
lodging in them, among men without a roof, without faith or honor, he
could find persons easily to undertake any task, and still more easily
others who, if they sniffed coin on his person, would begin, but when
they had received earnest money, would extort the whole sum by
threatening to deliver him to justice. Besides, for a certain time past
Chilo had felt a repulsion for nakedness, for those disgusting and
terrible figures lurking about suspected houses in the Subura or in the
Trans-Tiber. Measuring everything with his own measure, and not having
fathomed sufficiently the Christians or their religion, he judged that
among them, too, he could find willing tools. Since they seemed more
reliable than others, he resolved to turn to them and present the affair
in such fashion that they would undertake it, not for money’s sake
merely, but through devotion.
In view of this, he went in the evening to Euricius, whom he knew as
devoted with whole soul to his person, and who, he was sure, would do
all in his power to assist him. Naturally cautious, Chilo did not even
dream of revealing his real intentions, which would be in clear
opposition, moreover, to the faith which the old man had in his piety
and virtue. He wished to find people who were ready for anything, and
to talk with them of the affair only in such a way that, out of regard
to themselves, they would guard it as an eternal secret.
The old man Euricius, after the redemption of his son, hired one of
those little shops so numerous near the Circus Maximus, in which were
sold olives, beans, unleavened paste, and water sweetened with honey, to
spectators coming to the Circus. Chilo found him at home arranging his
shop; and when he had greeted him in Christ’s name, he began to speak of
the affair which had brought him. Since he had rendered them a service,
he considered that they would pay him with gratitude. He needed two or
three strong and courageous men, to ward off danger threatening not only
him, but all Christians. He was poor, it was true, since he had given
to Euricius almost all that he owned; still he would pay such men for
their services if they would trust him and perform faithfully what he
commanded.
Euricius and his son Quartus listened to him as their benefactor almost
on their knees. Both declared that they were ready themselves to do all
that he asked of them, believing
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