"Do you remember your answer?"
"O espousals, espousals of Paris, fatal to the beloved! O you, paternal waters of the Scamandros! Once, on your shores, my youth was nourished by you!"
"Ah, divine woman, your melody does not make one regret the syllables of Æschylus! I remember. The soul of the multitude, seized by the lamentation 'of discordant sounds,' relaxed and was soothed by that melodious sigh, and each of us received the vision of years long past and our innocent happiness. You can say: 'I was Cassandra.' In speaking of her, you will remember a former life. Her mask of gold will be in your hands."
He seized both her hands; both were intent on the flashes generated by their blended forces; the same electric spark ran through their nerves.
"You are there, near the spoil of the slave-princess, and you feel the mask. What shall you say?"
In the pause that followed, both seemed to be waiting for a flash. The actress's eyes again became fixed and blind, her face became like marble. The Inspirer let go her hands, and they made the gesture of feeling the sepulchral golden mask. In a voice that created the tangible form, she said:
"How large her mouth is!"
"You see her, then?"
"Yes, I too can see her. The mouth is large; the terrible effort of prophecy dilated it; she cried aloud, cursed, and lamented without ceasing. Can you imagine her mouth in silence?"
Still in the same attitude, as if in ecstasy, she said slowly: