The Saguntine youths would race outside the walls in the morning to demonstrate that they were as clever as the Celtiberian horsemen; the more pacific would contest in the Forum, lyre in hand, to win the crown offered to the one who should hymn the poems of Homer most creditably; afterward the procession would reveal all its magnificence through the streets of the city, climbing up to the Acropolis; and in the afternoon the race of the flaming torch would take place to divert the people, who would hiss at him who let his torch go out, and would whip up him who traveled slowly to protect the flame.
"But do you really believe in Minerva?" Euphobias asked of Sónnica.
"I believe in what I see," she replied. "I believe in spring, in the resurrection of the verdant fields, in the grain which springs from the ground to nourish man from its golden bearded heads; the flowers, which are the incense-bearers of the earth; and, above all the goddesses, I love Athene for the wisdom with which she endows man and makes him divine, and I love Minerva for her bounty which maintains them."
The slaves laid the third course on the table, and the guests, half-inebriated, raised themselves in their couches to look at the little baskets of fruit, the plates covered with pastry toasted over the fire in the Cappadocian style; buns made of sesame flour, filled with honey, and browned in the oven; and cakes of cheese stuffed with stewed fruits.
Small amphoræ containing the choicest wines, brought from the uttermost ends of the world by Sónnica's ships, were uncorked. Wine from Byblus in Phœnicia saturated the atmosphere with a fragrance as penetrating as bottles of perfume; that from Lesbos which on being poured gave forth a ravishing odor of roses, and, in addition to these, cups were filled with cordials from Erythrea and Heraclea, strong and spiritous, and those from Rhodes and Chios, prudently mixed with sea-water to aid the digestion.
Some slaves, to excite again the appetite of the guests, and to make them drink, offered plates of locusts cured in brine; radishes with vinegar and mustard, toasted garbanzos, and olives, prized for their size and flavor, swimming in a piquant sauce.
Actæon could eat nothing, diverted by Sónnica, who, leaving her epiclintron, pressed against him, rubbing her cheek upon the Athenian's with mingling breath. Thus they remained in silence, each watching the image reflected from the pupils of the other.
"Let me kiss you on the eyes," murmured Sónnica, "they are the windows of the soul, and I imagine that through them my caress will penetrate to the depths of your being."
The arrogant Alorcus, grave as all Celtiberians when intoxicated, spoke of the coming festival as he gazed into his empty cup. He had five horses in the city, the finest his tribe could furnish, and if the magistrates would allow him to take part in the rejoicings, despite his being a foreigner, the Saguntines would have a chance to admire the strength and swiftness of his beautiful coursers. The crown should fall to him, unless some unexpected event summoned him from the city.
Lachares and his elegant friends proposed to contest for the prize in singing, and their effeminate hands, slender and beringed, moved nervously over the table as if already thrumming the lyre, while their painted lips sang Homeric verses in subdued tones. Euphobias, lying on his back on his couch, gazed aloft with dreamy eyes, with no other earthly desire than to reach forth his glass and call for wine; but Alcon and the Greek merchants became impatient at the slowness of the banquet.