"Did you bring this letter from the Shades below," I inquired of Satyrus. "What in the name of heaven does all this mean? Has Leucippe come to life again?"—"Most assuredly she has," replied he; "it is no other than she whom you saw in the country, but she is so changed in appearance from having had her hair cut off,[28] that scarcely any one would recognize her."—"And are you going to stop short at this good news?" I asked: "Do you mean my ears alone to be gratified and my eyes to have no share in the delight?"—"For heaven's sake be cautious," was his reply; "let us first contrive some course of action, else you will bring destruction on us all. Only consider; here is this lady, one of the most distinguished for rank and wealth in Ephesus, madly in love with you, and we are in the midst of the toils without any possibility of getting free."—"Talk not of caution," rejoined I, "it is out of the question, joy thrills too strongly through all my veins. Think, too, how she upbraids me in her letter"—and upon this, I again eagerly ran over the contents, fancying I could see her in every line, and ejaculating as I read;—"Yes, dearest Leucippe, I plead guilty to thy charge! Thou hast indeed endured all these things for love of me! I have been the cause to thee of infinite misfortune!" And upon coming to the mention of the scourgings and other sufferings inflicted upon her by Sosthenes, I wept as though actually a witness of their infliction. Reflection turns the eyes of the soul upon the purport of what we read, and brings everything as vividly before us, as if it were actually being seen and done. Such was the influence of Leucippe's words, that her allusion to my marriage made me blush as though I had been really surprised in the commission of adultery.
"Satyrus," said I, "what excuses shall I offer? Leucippe, it is clear, knows everything; nay, her love may have become changed into hate! But tell me by what means she has been preserved? Whose corpse was that which was buried?"—"She will herself relate everything in proper season," he replied.—"What you have to do now is to write back an answer, in order to soothe her irritation. I solemnly declared to her that you married your present wife against your will."—"What! did you really tell her I was married? You have utterly undone me then! How could you be guilty of such folly?"—"Why tax me with folly? The whole city is aware of it."—"But I swear by Hercules and my present Fortune that no actual marriage has taken place."—"Nonsense! you share her bed."—"I well know," said I, "that I shall not be credited, but nevertheless I speak the truth: up to this very day Clitopho has had no connexion with Melitta; however, the present question is, what am I to write to Leucippe? My mind is so confused by what has taken place, that I really know not how to begin."—"Upon my word," said Satyrus, "it is out of my power to help you, but I have no doubt that Love will suggest materials for a letter; but whatever you do, lose no time." I at length wrote as follows:—
"Health to Leucippe, mistress of my heart! It is my lot to be at once happy and unhappy;—happy in that I have you mentally present to me; unhappy in that you are really absent from me. Only defer pronouncing judgment upon me until the truth shall be cleared up, and you will find that the example of your chastity has been followed by myself (if chastity may be spoken of in men); but if you already hate and have condemned me unheard, I swear to you, by those gods who have preserved your life, that ere long you shall have proof of my perfect innocence. Farewell, dearest, and still give me a place in your affections!"
This letter I delivered to Satyrus, desiring him to say all he could in my favour to Leucippe. I then went back to supper full of joy, but not free from grief, well knowing that Melitta would not allow the night to pass without pressing me to consummate our nuptials, and, having recovered Leucippe, it was hateful to me even to look upon any other woman. I endeavoured to conceal what was passing in my mind, but it was to no purpose, so at last I feigned to be seized with a shivering fit.
Melitta guessed that I was seeking some excuse for not complying with her wishes, though as yet she had no actual proof. When, however, I arose from table without finishing my supper, and retired to rest, she got up and followed me into the bed-room. I then pretended that I felt much worse, upon which she became very urgent with me, and said, "Why will you persist in acting thus? How long will you continue to disappoint me? We have now crossed the sea, we are at Ephesus; the time is come for realizing your promise. Why should there be any more delay? How long are we to sleep together as though we were in a sanctuary?[29] You place before my eyes a refreshing stream,[30] of which nevertheless you prohibit me to drink; and though sleeping near the very fountain head, I am parched with thirst; my couch may compare with the feast of Tantalus." While thus venting her grief, she leaned her head upon my bosom and wept so piteously that I could not but sympathize with her sorrow; and feeling her reproaches to be just, I really was at a loss what to do. At last I said, "Believe me, dearest, by our country's gods, I feel an ardour equal to your own! but this sadden indisposition has seized me,—I know not from what cause,—and, as you are well aware, without the blessing of health it is in vain to think of love."[31]
While saying this, I wiped away her tears, and solemnly assured her, that ere long she should obtain everything she wished. Not without great difficulty, however, did I succeed in pacifying her. On the following day Melitta called for the maid-servants, to whom she had committed Leucippe, and inquired whether every requisite attention had been shewn her. They replied, that nothing had been omitted. Upon this Melitta sent for her, and when she came into the room said, "I need scarcely remind you of the kindness you have experienced from me; all I ask as a return is assistance which it is in your power to afford me. Now, I understand that you Thessalian women[32] can, by your magic, work so powerfully upon the minds of those you love, that their affections, instead of wandering to any other object, will thenceforth be wholly rivetted on you, their mistresses. It is a magic potion of this kind which I now want from you, to procure requital for the love which is consuming me. You remember, doubtlessly, the young man who was walking with me yesterday?"—"I suppose you mean your husband," replied Leucippe, maliciously, "for I have been told by some of the household that he stands to you in that relation."—"A pretty kind of husband!" interrupted Melitta; "he has in him more of marble than of manhood; and my rival is a certain dead Leucippe, whose name, whether waking or sleeping, is always on his lips. Four whole months have I spent in Alexandria, entirely on his account, praying and beseeching him, and leaving nothing undone likely to gain his love, but all to no purpose, for he remained as insensible to my entreaties as any stock or stone; and when at length he did give way, it was to become my husband but in name; for I swear to you by Venus, that after sleeping with him for a week I have risen from his side as if I had been sleeping with a eunuch; in short, I have fallen in love with a statue, not a man.[33] To use the words, therefore, which yesterday you addressed to me, 'Have compassion upon one of your own sex;' give me your aid against the overweening and unimpressible man; by so doing you will save my life, which is now fast ebbing from me."[34]
Leucippe was rejoiced at finding that no intercourse had taken place between Melitta and myself, and believing it to be of no use to deny her magic skill, undertook to find suitable herbs, if permitted to go and seek for them in the country. These promises tranquillized Melitta, for the mind is easily persuaded to feed upon the empty hope of future good.[35] Meanwhile, knowing nothing of all this, I was in great perplexity how to put off Melitta during the approaching night, and to contrive a meeting with Leucippe. In the evening, Melitta, who had taken her out of town in a carriage, returned,[36] and we had just began our supper when a great disturbance was heard in the men's quarter of the house, and a servant rushed into the room, out of breath, and exclaiming, "Thersander is alive, and is arrived!"[37]
This Thersander was no other than Melitta's husband, who was supposed to have been lost at sea, the report of his death having been spread by two of his servants who had been saved when the ship was wrecked. In a moment he was in the room; for, having learnt every particular by the way, he had hastened home on purpose to surprise me. Melitta, in great alarm at an event so utterly unlooked for, started up and endeavoured to embrace her husband; who, however thrust her from him with great violence, and then catching sight of me and exclaiming, "So, here is the spark himself!" he rushed towards me, and dealt me a tremendous blow in the face, after which, seizing me by the hair, he dashed me to the ground and beat me most unmercifully. All this time I remained as silent as if I had been at the celebration of the mysteries, neither asking him who he was, or why he used me so; for, suspecting the truth, I had not courage to retaliate, though possessing physical strength enough to do so.
At length when he was weary of striking and I of forming conjectures in my mind, I got up and said, "Pray, who are you, and what do you mean by this rough usage?" More than ever irritated by the sound of my voice, he recommenced his attack upon me, and called aloud for fetters and handcuffs; they were brought, and, after being bound hand and foot, I was shut up in a room. During this struggle, Leucippe's letter, which had been fastened under my tunic to the fringes of my shirt,[38] fell to the ground without my perceiving it, and was picked up by Melitta, who feared lest it might be one of her own letters written to me; when, however, she had an opportunity of reading it in private and met with Leucippe's name, it went like an arrow to her heart, but having so often heard of her death she did not at once identify the name with the female whom she had set at liberty; but as she read on, and felt all uncertainty upon the point removed, she became at once the divided prey of shame, rage, love, and jealousy;—she felt ashamed at exposure before her husband; she was enraged at the contents of the letter; this passion yielded to love on my account, which in its turn was stung by jealousy; but love, in the end, remained triumphant. Thersander, after the first ebullition of his anger, had retired to the house of a friend; Melitta, therefore, in the evening, after speaking to the slave who kept guard over my apartment, came in privately, having for precaution posted two of her servants before the door.
She found me lying upon the floor, and approaching me shewed by her countenance, that she wished, were it possible, to give utterance in one breath to all her various emotions. "Wretched that I am," she at length exclaimed, "fatal for me was the day when I first beheld you; I, who have loved so madly yet so fruitlessly; who still doat upon him who hates me; who pity him who is the cause of all my pain, and whose love is not extinguished even by injury and insult!—What a pair of juggling plotters against me are you both! You have all along been making me your sport, and she, forsooth, is gone to procure a philtre for me! Little did I dream that I was seeking aid from those who were my bitterest enemies!" Thus speaking she threw Leucippe's letter on the ground; which I no sooner recognized than a sudden chill came over me, and I cast my eyes upon the ground as if convicted of a crime. She then continued in the same strain: "What misery is mine! My husband is lost to me through you, and henceforth I shall be deprived even of the barren pleasure which I have enjoyed, that of seeing you! Through you I have incurred my husband's hatred, who believes me guilty of an intrigue against his honour—an intrigue which has borne me none of the fruits of love, and from which all I gain is infamy! Other women receive enjoyment for the guerdon of their shame: I inherit the shame, but obtain none of the enjoyment! Barbarous and faithless man, how can you allow a loving woman thus to pine away, when you are yourself the slave of Love? Did you not dread his anger? Had you no reverence for his fires,—no regard for his mysteries? Had these tearful eyes no influence over you,—more ruthless as you are than any pirate!—for even a pirate's breast will be softened by tears! Neither entreaty nor opportunity, nor my close embrace, has persuaded you to grant me so much as one amorous indulgence; nay, most insulting of all, after yourself returning my kisses and my embraces, you have risen from my side like any woman! What is this but the very ghost of matrimony? Remember also, that you have not been sharing the bed of one who is grown old, or who repulses your embraces, but of one who is young and ardent, and whom some might consider possessed of charms,—eunuch that you are!—unsexed and bane of beauty,[39] listen to my righteous imprecation:—may Love requite your fires as you have requited mine!"