As soon as this fellow came near me, he began to play his appointed part, and with a knavish groan[2] exclaimed, "Alackaday! what a miserable thing is life! There is no keeping out of trouble! It stands a man in no stead to be honest! Some cross accident is sure to overtake him! Would I could have guessed the character of my fellow traveller, and what work he had been engaged in!" This, and much more of the same sort, he said speaking to himself, craftily endeavouring to attract my attention, and to make me inquire what it was that ailed him. He did not succeed, however, for I was sufficiently taken up with my own troubles, and he went on with his groans and ejaculations. At length—for the unfortunate take pleasure in listening to another's griefs, finding in it a kind of medicine for their sorrows—one of the prisoners asked, "What trick has the jade Fortune been playing you? I suspect that, like myself, she has laid you up in limbo without deserving it." He then proceeded to tell his own story, giving an account of what had brought him into prison; and having finished, requested the other to favour him with the particulars of his own misfortune. He of course readily complied.
"I left the city yesterday," said he, "to go towards Smyrna, and had proceeded about half a mile, when I was joined by a young man out of the country. He saluted me, and after walking with me for a few minutes, inquired whither I was going. I told him, and he said that luckily his road lay in the same direction, so that we proceeded in company, and entered into conversation. Stopping at an inn, we ordered dinner, and presently four men came in and did the same. Instead of eating, however, they continued watching us, and making signs to one another. I plainly enough saw that we were the objects of their notice, but was wholly at a loss to understand the meaning of their gestures. My companion gradually turned very pale, left off eating, and at last began to tremble all over. Instantly they sprang up, seized, and bound us; one of them also dealt him a violent blow upon the face; upon which, as if he had been already on the rack, and even without a question being asked him he cried out, 'I admit having killed the girl! Melitta, Thersander's wife, hired me to do the deed, and gave me a hundred gold pieces for my trouble; here they are every one—take them for yourselves; and for heaven's sake let me off!'"
Upon hearing these names I started as if stung, and turning to him, "Who is Melitta?" I asked.—"She is a lady of the first rank in this city," was his reply. "She took a fancy to a young man, said to be a native of Tyre; he found a favourite wench of his (whom he had given up for lost), among the number of Melitta's slaves, and she, moved by jealousy, had the girl seized by the fellow whom ill luck made my fellow-traveller, and he, in obedience to Melitta's orders, has made away with her.—But to return to my own story. I, who had never seen the man before, nor had dealings with him of any kind, was dragged along with him, bound, as an accomplice in his crime; but what is harder than all, they had not gone far, before, for the sake of his hundred pieces, they let him go, but kept me in custody and carried me before the judge."
Upon hearing this chapter of accidents, I neither uttered a sound nor shed a tear, for both voice and tears refused their office, but a general trembling seized me, my heart sunk within me, and I felt as at the point of death. After a time, recovering in some degree from the stupor which his words had caused, "How did the ruffian despatch her?" I asked, "and what has become of her body?" But having now performed the business for which he was employed, by stimulating my curiosity, he became obstinately silent, and I could extract nothing more from him. In answer to my repeated questions, "Do you think," said he, at length, "that I had a hand in the murder? The man told me he had killed her; he said nothing of the place and manner of her death." Tears now came to my relief, and I gave full vent to my sorrow. It is with mental wounds as with bodily hurts; when one has been stricken in body some time elapses before the livid bruise, the result of the blow is seen; and so also any one who has been pierced by the sharp tusk of a boar, looks for the wound, but without immediately discovering it, owing to its being deeply seated; but presently a white line is perceived, the precursor of the blood, which speedily begins to flow; in like manner, no sooner have bitter tidings been announced, than they pierce the soul, but the suddenness of the stroke prevents the wound from being visible at once, and the tooth of sorrow must for some space have gnawed the heart ere a vent is found for tears, which are to the mind what blood is to the body.
It was thus with me; the arrows of grief inflicted an instant wound, but their result was imperceptible until the soul had leisure to vent itself in tears and lamentations. Then, indeed, I exclaimed, "What evil genius has deluded me with this brief gleam of joy, and has shewn me my Leucippe only to lay a foundation for fresh calamities? All that has been allowed me was to see her, and I have not been permitted to satiate even the sense of sight! My pleasure has, indeed, been like the baseless fabric of a dream. Ο my Leucippe, how often hast thou been lost to me? Am I never to cease from tears and lamentations? Is one death perpetually to succeed another? On former occasions Fortune has been merely jesting with me, but now she is in earnest! In those former imaginary deaths of thine, some consolation, at least, was afforded me, for thy body, wholly or in part, was left at my disposal! But now thou art snatched away both in soul and body! Twice hast thou escaped the pirates, but Melitta, more foul than any pirate, has had thee done to death. And I, impious and unholy that I am, have actually kissed thy murderess, have been enfolded in her accursed embrace, and she has anticipated thee in receiving from me the offerings of Love!" While thus plunged in grief, Clinias came to visit me. I related every particular to him, and declared my determination of putting an end to my existence. He did all in his power to console me. "Consider," he said, "how often she has died and come to life again; who knows but what she may do the same on this occasion also? Why be in such haste to kill yourself? You will have abundant leisure when the tidings of her death have been positively confirmed."
"This is mere trifling," I replied; "there is small need of confirmation; my resolve is fixed, and I have decided upon a manner of death which will not permit even the hated Melitta to escape unscathed. Listen to my plan:—In case of being summoned into court[3] it was my intention to plead not guilty. I have now changed my determination, and shall plead guilty, confessing the intrigue between Melitta and myself, and saying that we mutually planned Leucippe's death; by this means she will suffer the punishment which is her due, and I shall quit this life which I so much detest."—"Talk not thus," replied he; "can you endure to die under the base imputation of being a murderer, and, what is more, the murderer of Leucippe?"—"Nothing is base," replied I, "by which we can wreak vengeance upon our enemies."[4] While we were engaged in argument, the fellow who had communicated the tidings of the fictitious maiden was removed, upon pretence of being taken before the magistrate to undergo an examination. Clinias and Satyrus exerted themselves, but ineffectually, in order to persuade me to alter my resolution; and on the same day they removed into lodgings, so as to be no longer under the roof of Melitta's foster-brother. The following day the case came on; Thersander had a great muster[5] of friends and partisans, and had engaged ten advocates; and Melitta had been equally on the alert in preparing for her defence. When the counsel on either side had finished speaking, I asked leave to address the court, and said, "All those who have been exerting their eloquence, either for Thersander or for Melitta, have been giving utterance to sheer nonsense; I will reveal the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. I was once passionately in love with a female of Byzantium named Leucippe; she was carried off by pirates, and I had reason to believe that she was dead. Meeting with Melitta in Egypt, we formed a connexion, and after some time we travelled together to this city, and Leucippe, whom I just now mentioned, was found working as a slave upon Thersander's estate, under his bailiff, Sosthenes. By what means he obtained possession of a free-born female, and what were his dealings with the pirates I leave it to you to guess.
"Melitta, finding that I had recovered my former mistress, became apprehensive of her regaining her influence over my affections, and contrived a plan for putting her to death. I entered into her schemes,—for what avails it to conceal the truth?—having received a promise that she would settle all her property upon me; a man was found, who, for the reward of a hundred gold pieces, undertook the business. When the deed was done, he fled, and is now somewhere in concealment. As for myself, Love was not long in taking vengeance upon my cruelty. No sooner did I hear of the murder being perpetrated, than I bitterly repented of what had taken place, and all my former fondness revived. For this reason I have determined to turn evidence against myself, in order that you may send me whither she is gone to whom I am still so deeply attached. Life is intolerable to one who, in addition to being a murderer, loves her of whose death he has been the cause."
Every one in court was utterly astounded at the unexpected tenour of my speech, especially Melitta. The advocates of Thersander already claimed a triumph,[6] while those engaged in Melitta's behalf anxiously questioned her as to the truth of what I had said. She was in great confusion; denied some points, virtually admitted others, confessed to having known Leucippe, and indeed confirmed most of what I had said, with the exception of the murder. This general agreement on her part with the facts advanced by me, created a suspicion against her, even in the minds of her own counsel, and they were at a loss what line of defence to adopt on her behalf. At this critical juncture, while the court was being a scene of great clamour, Clinias came forward and requested to be heard, for "Remember," said he, "a man's life is now in jeopardy." Obtaining permission to speak, "Men of Ephesus!" he began, (his eyes filling with tears,) "do not precipitately condemn to die one who eagerly longs for death, the natural refuge of the unfortunate. He has been calumniating himself, and has taken upon him the guilt of others. Let me briefly acquaint you with what has befallen him. What he has said respecting his mistress, her being carried off by pirates, about Sosthenes, and other circumstances which happened before the pretended murder, are strictly true. The young woman has undoubtedly disappeared; but whether she is still alive, or has been made away with, it is impossible to say; one thing is certain, that Sosthenes conceived a passion for her, that he used her cruelly for not consenting to his desires, and that he was leagued with pirates. My friend believing her to be murdered, is disgusted with life, and has, therefore invented this charge against himself; he has already confessed with his own mouth that he is anxious to die owing to grief at the loss which he has sustained. Consider, I pray you, whether it is likely that one who is really a murderer would be so desirous of dying with his victim, and would feel life so insupportable. When do we ever find murderers so tender-hearted, and hatred so compassionate? In the name of the gods, therefore, do not believe his words; do not condemn to death a man who is much more deserving of commiseration than of punishment. If, as he says, he really planned this murder, let him bring forward the hired assassin; let him declare what has become of the body. If neither the one nor the other can be produced, how can any belief be attached to such a murder? 'I was in love with Melitta,' he says, 'and therefore I caused Leucippe to be killed!' How comes he to implicate Melitta, the object of his affection, and to be so desirous of dying for Leucippe, whose death he compassed? Is it usual for persons to hate the object of their love, and to love the object of their hatred? Is it not much more probable that in such circumstances he would have denied the crime (even had it been brought home to him) in order to save his mistress, instead of throwing away his own life afterwards, owing to a vain regret for her loss? What can possibly, therefore, be his motive for charging Melitta with a crime of which she is not guilty? I will tell you, and in so doing do not suppose that I have any desire of inculpating this lady,—my sole wish is to make you acquainted with the real truth.
"Before this sea-faring husband of hers came to life again so suddenly, Melitta took a violent fancy to this young man, and proposed marriage to him; he on his part was not at all disposed to comply with her wishes, and his repugnance became yet greater when he discovered that his mistress, whom he had imagined dead, was in slavery, under the power of Sosthenes. Until aware who she was, Melitta, taking pity upon her, had caused her to be set at liberty, had received her into her own house, and treated her with the consideration due to a gentlewoman in distress; but after becoming acquainted with her story, she was sent back into the country, and she has not been heard from since. The truth of what I say can be attested by Melitta herself and the two maids in whose company she was sent away. This was one thing which excited suspicions in my friend's mind that Leucippe had been foully dealt with through her rival's jealousy; a circumstance which took place after he was in prison confirmed these suspicions, and has had the effect of exasperating him not only against Melitta but against himself. One of the prisoners, in the course of lamenting his own troubles, mentioned that he had unwittingly fallen into the company of a man who had committed murder for the sake of gold; the victim was named Leucippe, and the crime, he said, had been committed at the instigation of Melitta. Of course I cannot say whether this be true or not, it is for you to institute inquiries. You can produce the prisoner who made mention of the hired assassin; Sosthenes, who can declare from whom he purchased Leucippe, and the maids, who can explain her disappearance. Before you have thoroughly investigated each of these particulars, it is contrary to all law, whether human or divine, to pass sentence upon this unfortunate young man, on the bare evidence of his frenzied words, for there can be no doubt that the violence of his grief has affected his intellect."
The arguments of Clinias appeared just and reasonable to many of those present, but Thersander's counsel, together with his friends, called out that sentence of death ought to be pronounced without delay upon the murderer who, by the providence of the gods, had been made his own accuser. Melitta brought forward her maids, and required Thersander to produce Sosthenes, who might probably turn out to be the murderer. This was the challenge[7] mainly insisted upon by her counsel. Thersander, in great alarm, secretly despatched one of his dependants into the country, with orders to Sostratus to get out of the way at once, before the arrival of those who were about to be sent after him.