Not unless I am forcibly carried thither, said Arabella; but I do determine, if that misfortune should ever happen to me, that I would, if possible, visit the valley of Tempe, which is in that part of Greece they call Macedonia.
Then I am persuaded, replied Sir Charles, you'll never see that famous vale you talk of; for it is not very likely you should be forcibly carried away into Turkey.
And why do you think it unlikely that I should be carried thither? interrupted Arabella. Do not the same things happen now, that did formerly? And is any thing more common, than ladies being carried, by their ravishers, into countries far distant from their own? May not the same accidents happen to me, that have happened to so many illustrious ladies before me? And may I not be carried into Macedonia by a similitude of destiny with that of a great many beautiful princesses, who, though born in the most distant quarters of the world, chanced to meet at one time in the city of Alexandria, and related their miraculous adventures to each other?
And it was for that very purpose they met, madam, said Mr. Glanville, smiling.
Why, truly, said Arabella, it happened very luckily for each of them, that they were brought into a place where they found so many illustrious companions in misfortune, to whom they might freely communicate their adventures, which otherwise might, haply, have been concealed, or, at least, have been imperfectly delivered down to us. However, added she, smiling, if I am carried into Macedonia, and by that means have an opportunity of visiting the famous vale of Tempe, I shall take care not to draw the resentment of the Thessalians upon me, by an indiscretion like that of Hortensius.
For be pleased to know, sir, said she, addressing herself to her uncle, that his killing a stork, however inconsiderable a matter it may appear to us, was yet looked upon as a crime of a very atrocious nature among the Thessalians; for they have a law, which forbids, upon pain of death, the killing of storks; the reason for which is, that Thessaly being subject to be infested with a prodigious multitude of serpents, which are a delightful food to these sorts of fowls, they look upon them as sacred birds, sent by the gods to deliver them from these serpents and vipers: and though Hortensius, being a stranger, was pardoned through the intercession of the princess Andronice, they made him promise to send another stork into Thessaly, to the end that he might be reputed innocent.