Julian.
There you touch the kernel of the matter, my Themistius! ’Tis to the gods that we must uplift our hands and hearts. I say this, not as instructing you, but merely to remind you of what has so long been forgotten at this court. By no means would I seek to coerce any one. But can I be blamed because I would fain have others share in the sweet rapture which possesses me when I feel myself uplifted into communion with the immortals? Praise, praise to thee, vine-clad Dionysus! For it is chiefly thou who dost bring about such great and mysterious things. Depart now each to his task. I, for my part, have ordered a festal procession through the streets of the city. It shall be no mere revel for my courtiers, nor a banquet within four walls. The citizens shall be free to join me or to hold aloof; I will discern the pure from the impure, the pious from the misguided.
Oh Sun-King, shed light and beauty over the day! Oh Dionysus, let thy glory descend in floods upon our minds; fill our souls with thy sacred storm-wind; fill them till all trammels are burst asunder, and ecstasy enfranchised draws breath in dance and song!—Life, life, life in beauty!
[He goes out hastily to the right. The courtiers break up into whispering groups, and gradually disperse.
SCENE THIRD.
A narrow street in Constantinople.
A great concourse of people, all looking in one direction down the street. Noise, singing, and the music of flutes and drums is heard at some distance.
A Shoemaker.
[At his house-door, calls across the street.] What a foot, dear neighbour?
A Shopkeeper.