Quo Vadis - Henryk Sienkiewicz (best ereader under 100 .txt) 📗
- Author: Henryk Sienkiewicz
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mother died soon after, and Hister, not knowing what to do with the
daughter, sent her to Pomponius, the governor of all Germany. He, at
the close of the war with the Catti, returned to Rome, where Claudius,
as is known to thee, permitted him to have a triumph. The maiden on
that occasion walked after the car of the conqueror; but, at the end of
the solemnity,—since hostages cannot be considered captives, and since
Pomponius did not know what to do with her definitely—he gave her to
his sister Pomponia Græcina, the wife of Plautius. In that house where
all—beginning with the masters and ending with the poultry in the
hen-house—are virtuous, that maiden grew up as virtuous, alas! as Græcina
herself, and so beautiful that even Poppæa, if near her, would seem like
an autumn fig near an apple of the Hesperides.”
“And what?”
“And I repeat to thee that from the moment when I saw how the sun-rays
at that fountain passed through her body, I fell in love to
distraction.”
“She is as transparent as a lamprey eel, then, or a youthful sardine?”
“Jest not, Petronius; but if the freedom with which I speak of my desire
misleads thee, know this,—that bright garments frequently cover deep
wounds. I must tell thee, too, that, while returning from Asia, I slept
one night in the temple of Mopsus to have a prophetic dream. Well,
Mopsus appeared in a dream to me, and declared that, through love, a
great change in my life would take place.”
“Pliny declares, as I hear, that he does not believe in the gods, but he
believes in dreams; and perhaps he is right. My jests do not prevent me
from thinking at times that in truth there is only one deity, eternal,
creative, all-powerful, Venus Genetrix. She brings souls together; she
unites bodies and things. Eros called the world out of chaos. Whether
he did well is another question; but, since he did so, we should
recognize his might, though we are free not to bless it.”
“Alas! Petronius, it is easier to find philosophy in the world than
wise counsel.”
“Tell me, what is thy wish specially?”
“I wish to have Lygia. I wish that these arms of mine, which now
embrace only air, might embrace Lygia and press her to my bosom. I wish
to breathe with her breath. Were she a slave, I would give Aulus for
her one hundred maidens with feet whitened with lime as a sign that they
were exhibited on sale for the first time. I wish to have her in my
house till my head is as white as the top of Soracte in winter.”
“She is not a slave, but she belongs to the ‘family’ of Plautius; and
since she is a deserted maiden, she may be considered an ‘alumna.’
Plautius might yield her to thee if he wished.”
“Then it seems that thou knowest not Pomponia Græcina. Both have become
as much attached to her as if she were their own daughter.”
“Pomponia I know,—a real cypress. If she were not the wife of Aulus,
she might be engaged as a mourner. Since the death of Julius she has
not thrown aside dark robes; and in general she looks as if, while still
alive, she were walking on the asphodel meadow. She is, moreover, a
‘one-man woman’; hence, among our ladies of four and five divorces, she
is straighrway a phoenix. But! hast thou heard that in Upper Egypt the
phoenix has just been hatched out, as ‘tis said?—an event which happens
not oftener than once in five centuries.”
“Petronius! Petronius! Let us talk of the phoenix some other time.”
“What shall I tell thee, my Marcus? I know Aulus Plautius, who, though
he blames my mode of life, has for me a certain weakness, and even
respects me, perhaps, more than others, for he knows that I have never
been an informer like Domitius Afer, Tigellinus, and a whole rabble of
Ahenobarbus’s intimates [Nero’s name was originally L. Domitius
Ahenobarbus]. Without pretending to be a stoic, I have been offended
more than once at acts of Nero, which Seneca and Burrus looked at
through their fingers. If it isthy thought that I might do something
for thee with Aulus, I am at thy command.”
“I judge that thou hast the power. Thou hast influence over him; and,
besides, thy mind possesses inexhaustible resources. If thou wert to
survey the position and speak with Plautius.”
“Thou hast too great an idea of my influence and wit; but if that is the
only question, I will talk with Plautius as soon as they return to the
city.”
“They returned two days since.”
“In that case let us go to the triclinium, where a meal is now ready,
and when we have refreshed ourselves, let us give command to bear us to
Plautius.”
“Thou hast ever been kind to me,” answered Vinicius, with vivacity; “but
now I shall give command to rear thy statue among my lares,—just such a
beauty as this one,—and I will place offerings before it.”
Then he turned toward the statues which ornamented one entire wall of
the perfumed chamber, and pointing to the one which represented
Petronius as Hermes with a staff in his hand, he added,—“By the light
of Helios! if the ‘godlike’ Alexander resembled thee, I do not wonder at
Helen.”
And in that exclamation there was as much sincerity as flattery; for
Petronius, though older and less athletic, was more beautiful than even
Vinicius. The women of Rome admired not only his pliant mind and his
taste, which gained for him the title Arbiter elegantiæ, but also his
body. This admiration was evident even on the faces of those maidens
from Kos who were arranging the folds of his toga; and one of whom,
whose name was Eunice, loving him in secret, looked him in the eyes with
submission and rapture. But he did not even notice this; and, smiling
at Vinicius, he quoted in answer an expression of Seneca about woman,—
Animal impudens, etc. And then, placing an arm on the shoulders of his
nephew, he conducted him to the triclinium.
In the unctorium the two Grecian maidens, the Phrygians, and the two
Ethiopians began to put away the vessels with perfumes. But at that
moment, and beyond the curtain of the frigidarium, appeared the heads of
the balneatores, and a low “Psst!” was heard. At that call one of the
Grecians, the Phrygians, and the Ethiopians sprang up quickly, and
vanished in a twinkle behind the curtain. In the baths began a moment
of license which the inspector did not prevent, for he took frequent
part in such frolics himself. Petronius suspected that they took place;
but, as a prudent man, and one who did not like to punish, he looked at
them through his fingers.
In the unctorium only Eunice remained. She listened for a short time to
the voices and laughter which retreated in the direction of the
laconicum. At last she took the stool inlaid with amber and ivory, on
which Petronius had been sitting a short time before, and put it
carefully at his statue. The unctorium was full of sunlight and the
hues which came from the many-colored marbles with which the wall was
faced. Eunice stood on the stool, and, finding herself at the level of
the statue, cast her arms suddenly around its neck; then, throwing back
her golden hair, and pressing her rosy body to the white marble, she
pressed her lips with ecstasy to the cold lips of Petronius.
After a refreshment, which was called the morning meal and to which the
two friends sat down at an hour when common mortals were abeady long
past their midday prandium, Petronius proposed a light doze. According
to him, it was too early for visits yet. “There are, it is true,” said
he, “people who begin to visit their acquaintances about sunrise,
thinking that custom an old Roman one, but I look on this as barbarous.
The afternoon hours are most proper,—not earlier, however, than that
one when the sun passes to the side of Jove’s temple on the Capitol and
begins to look slantwise on the Forum. In autumn it is still hot, and
people are glad to sleep after eating. At the same time it is pleasant
to hear the noise of the fountain in the atrium, and, after the
obligatory thousand steps, to doze in the red light which filters in
through the purple half-drawn velarium.”
Vinicius recognized the justice of these words; and the two men began to
walk, speaking in a careless manner of what was to be heard on the
Palatine and in the city, and philosophizing a little upon life.
Petronius withdrew then to the cubiculum, but did not sleep long. In
half an hour he came out, and, having given command to bring verbena, he
inhaled the perfume and rubbed his hands and temples with it.
“Thou wilt not believe,” said he, “how it enlivens and freshens one. Now
I am ready.”
The litter was waiting long since; hence they took their places, and
Petronius gave command to bear them to the Vicus Patricius, to the house
of Aulus. Petronius’s “insula” lay on the southern slope of the
Palatine, near the so-called Carinæ; their nearest way, therefore, was
below the Forum; but since Petronius wished to step in on the way to see
the jeweller Idomeneus, he gave the direction to carry them along the
Vicus Apollinis and the Forum in the direction of the Vicus Sceleratus,
on the corner of which were many tabernæ of every kind.
Gigantic Africans bore the litter and moved on, preceded by slaves
called pedisequii. Petronius, after some time, raised to his nostrils
in silence his palm odorous with verbena, and seemed to be meditating on
something.
“It occurs to me,” said he after a while, “that if thy forest goddess is
not a slave she might leave the house of Plautius, and transfer herself
to thine. Thou wouldst surround her with love and cover her with
wealth, as I do my adored Chrysothemis, of whom, speaking between us, I
have quite as nearly enough as she has of me.”
Marcus shook his head.
“No?” inquired Petronius. “In the worst event, the case would be left
with Cæsar, and thou mayst be certain that, thanks even to my influence,
our Bronzebeard would be on thy side.”
“Thou knowest not Lygia,” replied Vinicius.
“Then permit me to ask if thou know her otherwise than by sight? Hast
spoken with her? hast confessed thy love to her?”
“I saw her first at the fountain; since then I have met her twice.
Remember that during my stay in the house of Aulus, I dwelt in a
separate villa, intended for guests, and, having a disjointed arm, I
could not sit at the common table. Only on the eve of the day for which
I announced my departure did I meet Lygia at supper, but I could not say
a word to her. I had to listen to Aulus and his account of victories
gained by him in Britain, and then of the fall of small states in Italy,
which Licinius Stolo strove to prevent. In general I do not know
whether Aulus will be able to speak of aught else, and do not think that
we shall escape this history unless it be thy wish to hear about the
effeminacy of these days. They have pheasants in their preserves, but
they do not eat them, setting out from the principle that every pheasant
eaten brings nearer the end of Roman power. I met
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