XXA FEMALE SYMPOSIUM
Adouble awning shielded the house-top of Glaucon from the glare of the late afternoon sun, whose rays gathered intensity by being reflected from a hundred white domes which, like inverted wasps' nests, rose from the lower roofs of the city. Toward the sky the canopy was of coarse white flaxen material; beneath it was lined with silk, blue and white. Several movable divans, one of ivory, one of beaten brass, the others of sycamore wood, were set next the western parapet. These were covered with cloths of various colors upon which were wrought conventional figures in threads of silver and gold. The couches were so arranged that they faced a low table of ebony, heavily inlaid with mother of pearl. On this were the remnants of a repast, consisting of cakes, confections, fruits, and wines mixed with water. On the couches reclined four women, richly clad according to the fashion of the day.
Cynthia, the wife of General Seron, wore an outer robe of blue silk. This was closely drawn about her person, so that the full proportions of bust and limb were revealed by the very device for their concealment. It was the boast of Seron that his spouse was the best-formed woman among the wives of the generals. Her costume showed that she was conscious of this pride of her husband, and inclinedto show that it was fully warranted. Her attitude as she reclined was that of an Amazon, and would have been sufficient to warn away any assailant, even if he were not terrified at the tiny spear of silver which she held in her fingers, and which had fastened to her coiffure the hat, a flat disc of ornamented straw, that now lay in her lap.
The Princess Helena was radiant in the relics of nature's bountiful endowment, judiciously repaired by the newest arts of feminine fashion. If wax and rouge, pencil and pomade were her allies, they were in slyest ambush within unsuspected wrinkles, and gave out not so much as a stray freckle for a sign of the delusion. Her hair was thrown back from her forehead and temples, and banded with a triple fillet which gathered it up at the crown, whence it sprayed down in a shower of gold upon her alabaster neck. Her outer robe of white wool had been thrown back, and lay upon the couch, in seemingly careless, but really artistic, contrast with her purple chiton. This under-garment was gathered at the left shoulder within a gemmed clasp, loosely girded beneath the breasts, and open below, displaying her limb from foot to thigh.
Lydia, the wife of Menelaos, the High Priest, had reason for being more modestly covered, yet blazed in her green himation spangled with gold.
Deborah, the hostess, rivalled these beauties in the contrast of her purely oriental costume. Her black hair was covered with what seemed a solid helmet of gold, so many were the coins which made her cap. About her throat and falling low upon her bosom was a great necklace of rarest gems, whichflashed in all the hues most prized by lapidaries, from the starry white of diamonds to the deepest blush of rubies. The pearls pendant from her ears touched her shoulders, and glowed like rivulets of light. Her inner garment was elaborately wrought with needlework, and partly covered with a yellow outer robe. Altogether the Jewess was a splendid vision of wealth and beauty, of which it is sufficient to say that it had already passed the favourable inspection of so great a connoisseur as her brother Glaucon.
In their conversation the women seem to have exhausted all themes of a purely human range—the faults of generals, from strategy to bow legs; the King's stud of horses and his harem; the statuary of Phidias and the flat-nosed gods of the Phœnicians; the epic of Hesiod, and the latest songs from the streets of Antioch. Berenice had been induced to tell her adventures, of which she gave as authentic an account as perhaps her visitors gave of their romantic haps and doings on less savory fields. The glory of the western sky, the palette of colors ready to be painted together into the sunset, the grand old Temple mount of the Jews, over which echoed now and then the bugle-calls of a hostile race—these, together with the quickening influence of their generous repast, now lifted their discourse to higher planes.
"All religions are one," said Lydia, the wife of the High Priest. "The Jews should be the first to recognize this. Since we say that there is one only living and true God, it surely follows that Jove, and the Phœnicians' Baal, and Ormuzd of the Persians, and Jehovah of Israel are the same."
"How," interposed the Princess, "how can Jehovah be Jove, the universal god, since Jehovah never shows himself, nor is He worshipped, except in this little land, and by the children of the one family of Abraham? He is rather like one of our household gods, such as we teach the children to do homage to, but ourselves use for ornaments."
"But he has not even an image," laughed Cynthia, the wife of Seron. "I have learned in Egypt that the gods always abide near their images."
"That is if they are pretty images, beautifully carved and painted. For the gods seem to be as vain as we women who love our mirrors," said Helena.
"But," rejoined Cynthia, "the Jews' god is such a serious being; always telling his people to be good, and scolding them for their sins. That story of Mount Sinai, with its dreary rocks and sands, and the lightnings with their nest among the peaks, and caves like great mouths roaring out thunder; oh, it must be a doleful place! I prefer Mount Olympus, with its fair women and warriors for divinities."
"And the worship of the Jews' God must be very tedious," added the Princess. "On the Sabbath, no laughing, no playing."
"Our God takes his rest on that day, like an old grandfather, and does not want his children to disturb his nap," sneered Lydia. "But my good Menelaos is changing such customs. On Sabbath next we have the great games. Charicles from Sparta races with a Nubian chariot runner and an Arab sheikh, for a stake of ten shekels which the High Priest has offered. It will be a sight; three statues, one in marble, one in ebony, and one in porphyry, all come to life."
"The fault of the Jewish religion is that it makes too little of this world," said the Princess. "It has no divine patron for the arts; no Melpomene to inspire the song, no Terpsichore to stir the dance, no Ares for war, and no Aphrodite to teach us how to love. I don't believe that our fair hostess, who lies so solemnly there, has yet learned how to commune with Aphrodite. I will pray that our happy goddess touch her lips and make them itch for kisses, before the crow's feet make their marks at her eyelids, as they soon will do if she insists on such mannish escapades as she has been having. What shafts from Cupid's quiver those black eyes could shoot, my fair Berenice! I shall warn all my lovers to beware of you ere you learn your power."
"I fear that just now we need to consult the war god," said Berenice. "Think you that Ares had gone wooing the day of the battle in the Wady? Or did it please his godship to lend his sword to the Maccabæan rebels rather than to Apollonius?"
"Quick! the Princess is fainting. A little wine, my dear. The death of her kinsman went to her heart. That was a cruel thing for Berenice to say," exclaimed Lydia, bending over her friend.
"I am better now," responded Helena in a moment. "My dear kinsman, Apollonius, taught me to bear misfortune. It was his motto, 'Forget the dead, except to emulate their virtues.' As he braved death, I must brave my bereavement. I believe with Plato—do you not? that the soul is immortal. Then Apollonius lives. Perhaps I shall see him again." She hid her face in the cushions.
"Apollonius' death will be quickly avenged," cried Cynthia. "Already my husband, Seron, has beencalled to lead the new army, and at one blow he will utterly extirpate those Jewish beasts. All save Jerusalem, from the Great Sea to Jordan, is to be swept with sword. The King has put into my Seron's hand all the forces in Syria; and following them is a great multitude of colonists from the north, who are to settle the lands."
"Where is Seron now?" asked Berenice.
"This letter came to me but three hours since," replied Cynthia. "Let me read:
"'The armies from the capital, joined by many phalanges recalled from service beyond the Lebanons, are with me. We shall rendezvous on the plain of Sharon, and thence advance westward to the hills where the outlaw Judas has his camp. Have no fears, my love, I am not an Apollonius. We shall this time avoid all ravines, and march only in the open. The number of soldiers with me needs neither secrecy nor haste. The peltastai and cavalry alone could quickly destroy all armed bands of Jews. We shall consume the land, walled cities, open villages, and scattered houses, as an army of grasshoppers consumes the harvests. Not a partridge shall escape our pots, nor a Jew's head our spear-points. Greet Glaucon with this bit of news—his friend Dion is with us, having alone of all his company escaped the massacre at the Wady. The day after the full moon we begin the ascent of the hill country. Keep thy dear heart in patience until the war god rests his head in the lap of love, for I shall be a day with you in Jerusalem before we press to the East and South.'"
"'The armies from the capital, joined by many phalanges recalled from service beyond the Lebanons, are with me. We shall rendezvous on the plain of Sharon, and thence advance westward to the hills where the outlaw Judas has his camp. Have no fears, my love, I am not an Apollonius. We shall this time avoid all ravines, and march only in the open. The number of soldiers with me needs neither secrecy nor haste. The peltastai and cavalry alone could quickly destroy all armed bands of Jews. We shall consume the land, walled cities, open villages, and scattered houses, as an army of grasshoppers consumes the harvests. Not a partridge shall escape our pots, nor a Jew's head our spear-points. Greet Glaucon with this bit of news—his friend Dion is with us, having alone of all his company escaped the massacre at the Wady. The day after the full moon we begin the ascent of the hill country. Keep thy dear heart in patience until the war god rests his head in the lap of love, for I shall be a day with you in Jerusalem before we press to the East and South.'"
"The moon will be full three nights hence, will it not?" asked Berenice nonchalantly.
"Nay, in two," said Lydia, consulting her tablet. "It is one of the duties of the High Priest's wife to wait upon the Night Queen, as does the Priestess of Tanit. The second night the moon goddess will be in full array. I must haste to tell the news ofSeron's coming to my Menelaos, that we may have a religious celebration of the triumph."
"Then must I say farewell so soon to my new friends?" said Berenice, rising. "Make my salutation to your good husbands, our friend Menelaos and General Seron. And to what princely gallant will the fair Helena convey my greeting?"
"I must keep your greeting all for myself, my dear Berenice, until time has allayed my grief for Apollonius' death," replied the Princess. "Unless you bid me send it on your own account to Captain Dion," she added. "Ah, blushes tell tales the lips do not care to utter."
She kissed both the cheeks of Berenice, but did not note that her breath blanched the blushes which Dion's name had started, as frost kills roses.
An hour later Deborah stood beneath the jewelled lantern in her chamber, for it was now dark. In her large mirror she saw reflected a figure far different from that which on the roof had excited the envy of the vainest of her sex. Her cap of coins, her necklace and ear-rings, silken robes and bejewelled sandals, were tossed together in a heap on the floor.
"You can arrange them, Huldah, when I am gone; and lay them back in the chests."
The old nurse was too much blinded by her tears, and her hands were too trembling with excitement to have performed that duty then. She sat on the floor rocking herself, her hands covering her face.
"My darling came back to me with feet hard and torn, and in the clouts of a washerwoman, and now she is going away again like a—like a——"
"Like a woman, a woman of Israel," interjected Deborah, adjusting the brown sheet, the commoncoarse outer garment of a peasant, over her head and around her form.
"Tell me, Huldah, do I not look like you or any other woman? If I do I am handsome enough for the stars to gaze at. Now remember, I am supposed to be sick and confined here in my chamber, and you are to bring me my broth three times every day until I really come back. I will think of your love, Huldah, and that will make me strong; and you will think of me, and that will bring me back safely."
She kissed the cheeks of her "good mother" as she called her, and glided across the court to the entrance of the cellar. Caleb was already there. They descended to the lower story.
"What news for me to-night?" said a familiar voice, accompanied by the click of a crutch on the stone pavement.
"Why, Meph, you must take me along with you for your message this time."
"Whew!" said the boy. "You're not really going yourself, Deborah?"
"Yes; can we reach Judas before morning?"
"If the stars don't get sleepy and go to bed before their time," replied the lad. "It's a good six hours' stretch though."
Deborah embraced Caleb, and disappeared with her guide.