About noon on the preceding day, Leucippe had been playing on the harp and Clio was sitting beside her. I was walking up and down, when suddenly a bee flying in, stung Clio's hand; she immediately shrieked out, upon which the maiden, hastily rising from her seat and laying aside the harp, examined the wound, bidding her to be under no anxiety, for that she could relieve the pain by simply uttering two magic words, having been instructed by an Egyptian how to cure the stings inflicted by bees and wasps; she then proceeded to utter the words of incantation, and Clio, in a few moments declared the pain to be relieved. This, as I intimated, took place on the day before. On the present occasion it chanced, that a bee or wasp flew buzzing round my face, when all at once the idea seized me of feigning myself to have been stung;[15] I did so, putting my hand to my face, and pretending to be in pain. The maiden came up to me, removed my hand and enquired where I had been stung; upon my lips, dearest, was my reply, why do you not charm away the pain? Approaching my face, she placed her mouth almost close to mine, in order to work the charm, at the same time murmuring certain words, and ever and anon touching my lips. All this time I kept stealing silent kisses, so that from the maiden alternately opening and closing her lips while uttering the charm, the incantation became changed into one continuous kiss. At last putting my arms around her, I saluted her lips more ardently; upon which drawing back she exclaimed, "What are you about? Are you, too, turned enchanter?" "I am only kissing the charm which has removed my pain." She took my meaning and smiled, which gave me a fresh supply of courage.
"Ah! dear Leucippe," I exclaimed, "I now feel another and severer sting,[16] one which has penetrated to my very heart, and calls for your 'mighty magic;' surely you must carry about a bee upon your lips, they are full of honey, your kisses wound; repeat the charm, I pray, but do not worry over the operation, for fear of exasperating the wound;" at the same time I embraced her more closely and kissed her with still greater freedom; nor, though making a show of resistance, did she seem displeased.[17] At this juncture Clio was seen approaching from a distance, upon which we separated, I much annoyed and sorely against my will; what were her feelings I cannot exactly say. After what had passed, however, I felt easier in mind and began to indulge in brighter hopes.
I still felt the kiss upon my lips as though it had really been something of a corporeal nature; I zealously guarded it as a treasure of sweets, for a kiss is to the lover his chief delight; it takes its birth from the fairest portion of the human body—from the mouth, which is the instrument of the voice, and the voice is the adumbration of the soul; when lips mingle they dart pleasure through the veins, and make even the lovers' souls join in the embrace. Never before did I feel delight comparable to this; and then for the first time I learnt that no pleasurable sensation can vie with a lover's kiss.[18]
At supper time we met as on former occasions, when Satyrus, who acted as cupbearer, hit upon the following amorous device. After our cups were filled, he effected an exchange, presenting mine to the maiden, handing hers to me. Having noticed what part of the brim had been touched by her in drinking, I applied my lips to the same place;[19] thus intimating that I was sending her a kiss. She remarked what I had done, and readily understood that I had been kissing the shadow of her lips. Satyrus again stealthily made a like exchange of cups, when I could observe her imitating me, and drinking as I had done, which, as you may imagine, vastly increased my happiness. This was repeated a third and fourth time; in short, we passed the rest of the time in drinking kisses to one another.
When supper was ended, Satyrus approaching me said, "Now is the time to show your mettle; the maiden's mother, as you are aware, is unwell, and has retired to rest alone. She herself before going to bed will take a few turns as usual in the garden, attended by no one but Clio, whom I will undertake to get out of the way." We then separated, and remained on the watch, he for Clio, I for Leucippe. Everything turned out as we had wished; Clio was got rid of, and Leucippe remained walking by herself. I waited till the daylight had faded away,[20] and then approached her, emboldened by my former success, like a soldier already victorious, who therefore scorns the perils of war. The arms in which I trusted were wine, love, hope, and solitude; so, without saying a word, and as if everything had been preconcerted, I took her in my arms, and covered her with kisses. When about to proceed to other familiarities, a noise was heard behind us, at which we started asunder in alarm. She betook herself to her chamber, and I remained there in great dudgeon at having lost so capital an opportunity, and execrating the noise which had been the cause.
Meanwhile Satyrus came up with a laughing countenance. He had witnessed everything, having concealed himself under a tree to guard against our surprise; and it was he, who seeing some one approach, had made the noise.
In the course of a few days, my father made preparations for concluding my marriage sooner than had been originally intended. He had been much alarmed by various dreams; he thought he was celebrating the nuptial rites, and after the torches had been kindled the light was suddenly extinguished. This made him more anxious to conclude the matter, and we were now within a day of the one formally appointed for the ceremony. The wedding clothes and jewels were already purchased; there was a necklace composed of various gems, and a splendid purple robe edged with a gold border. The gems vied with each other in beauty; among them was a hyacinth,[21] which resembled a rose, only that it was a stone, and an amethyst almost as lustrous as gold itself. In the middle of this necklace were three precious stones, arranged together and curiously blended in their hues; the lowest one was black, the middle white, but with a darkish tinge, the upper one shading off into a ruddy colour. They were set in a rim of gold, and might be said to bear resemblance to an eye.[22] The purple of the dress was of no ordinary dye, but of the kind which the Tyrians fable to have been discovered by the shepherd's dog, and with which they are wont to represent the robe of Venus to be tinged.[23] There was a time when this purple dye was as yet unknown, but remained concealed in the hollow of a little shell fish. A shepherd meeting with one of these hoped to obtain the fish which was inside; foiled by the hardness of the shell, after bestowing a hearty curse upon his booty, he threw it into the sea as so much worthless rubbish. His dog lighted upon this windfall,[24] and broke open the shell with his teeth, in doing which his mouth and lips became stained with the brilliant dye, or as we may call it, blood. The shepherd upon seeing this supposed it the effect of a wound; so taking the dog down to the sea he washed his mouth, upon which the imaginary blood assumed a still more brilliant hue, and upon proceeding to touch it, his hand became of a purple colour. The shepherd now guessed what was the nature of the shell fish, and that it was impregnated with a dye of surpassing beauty; so taking some wool he placed it in the aperture, determined to dive into the mysteries of the shell; and it became of a colour similar to that upon the dog's mouth. By this means he obtained a knowledge of what we call purple; and after breaking open its fortified receptacle with the help of a stone, he arrived at the treasure-house of dye. To return, however, to my story. My father was performing the preliminary rites,[25] the marriage being fixed, as I have said, for the following day. I was in despair, and was devising some pretext for deferring it. While in this state of perplexity, a great tumult was heard to proceed from the men's quarter of the house. It appeared that as my father was offering up a sacrifice; an eagle[26] swooping from on high seized the victim, and in spite of every endeavour to scare him away, bore off his prey. As this was declared to forebode no good, the marriage was postponed for another day. My father proceeded to consult the seers and soothsayers upon the meaning of the portent; they were of opinion that he should offer a sacrifice to hospitable Jove at midnight upon the sea-shore, since the bird had flown in that direction. Sure enough he had winged his flight thither, and appeared no more. For my part, I extolled the eagle to the skies, and declared that he was justly styled the king[27] of birds. No long time elapsed before the meaning of the prodigy became revealed. There was a certain young man, a native of Byzantium, by name Callisthenes; he was an orphan and possessed of wealth, profligate in his life and extravagant in his expenditure. Having heard that Sostratus had a handsome daughter, he was anxious to obtain her hand and became enamoured upon hearsay, for he had never seen her.[28] The force of passion upon the licentious is often so strong that their ears lead them into love, and report has the same effect upon their minds which sight has upon others.
Before the breaking out of the war against the Byzantians, the young man introduced himself to Sostratus, and asked the hand of his daughter in marriage. Sostratus, however, strongly objecting to his irregular way of life, rejected his application. Callisthenes was very indignant at this repulse; he considered himself slighted;—besides, he was in love, and fancy pictured to his mind those charms which he had never seen. Dissembling his displeasure, he meditated how he might revenge himself on Sostratus, and at the same time gratify his own desires; nor was he without hope of success, there being a law of the Byzantians which enacted, that if any one should carry off a maiden he should be exempt from punishment upon making her his wife;[29] of this law he determined to avail himself, and waited only till a seasonable opportunity should offer. Although the war had now broken out, and the maiden had come to us for security, he did not abandon his design, in the execution of which the following circumstance assisted, as the Byzantians had received an oracle to this effect:—
"With plant-born name there lives an island race,
Whose land an isthmus to the shore doth brace;
Vulcan consorts there with the blue-eyed maid,
And there to Hercules be offerings paid."[30]
While all were in doubt what place was intended by these enigmatic words, Sostratus (who was one of the commanders) thus delivered his opinion:—"We must send to Tyre, and offer up a sacrifice to Hercules;[31] the expressions of the miracle clearly point to that city. The 'plant-derived name,' shews that the island of the Phœnicians is intended, the phœnix (or palm), being a plant; both sea and land lay claim to it: the latter joins it to the continent, the former washes it on either side; thus it is seated in the one element, but without abandoning the other, to which it is united by its narrow isthmus or neck of land; moreover, it is not founded in the sea, but both under it and under the isthmus, the waters have free course; thus there is seen the singular spectacle of a city in the sea, and of an island upon shore. The mention made of 'Vulcan consorting with the blue-eyed maid,' alludes to the olive and the fire, which are found there in close proximity: for, in a sacred precinct surrounded by a wall, olive trees are seen to flourish, while fire issuing from their roots burns among the branches, and with its ashes benefits the tree; hence there exists a mutual friendship, and Minerva shuns not Vulcan." Upon this Chærophon, who shared the command with Sostratus in the war, his senior in age and a native of Tyre, extolled him highly for his excellent interpretation of the oracle. "It is not only fire, however," said he, "which claims our wonder; the water also deserves its share. I myself have seen the following marvels:—there is a fountain in Sicily whose waters are mingled with fire; the flame is seen to leap up from underneath, yet if you touch the water it will be found as cold as snow, so that neither is the fire extinguished by the water, nor the water ignited by the flame, but a mutual truce subsists between the elements.[32] There is also a river in Spain, not differing from others in appearance, but if you wish to hear it become vocal, you have but to wait and listen; for when a gentle breeze sweeps over its surface there is heard a sound as if from strings, the wind being the plectrum, the river itself the lyre.[33] I may likewise mention a lake in Lybia, resembling in its nature the Indian soil.[34] The Lybian maidens are well acquainted with its secrets and with the riches which, stored below its waters, are mingled with the mud, for it is, in fact, a fount of gold.[35] Plunging a long pole smeared with pitch into the lake, they lay open its recesses; this pole is to the gold what the hook is to the fish, serving as a bait. The grains of gold alone attach themselves to the pitch, and are drawn on shore. Such is the gold-fishing in the Lybian waters."