The Emperor (Historical Novel). Georg Ebers

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СКАЧАТЬ propped himself on his left arm, and lifting his right hand, he said emphatically:

      “Yes.”

      “And which,” asked Hadrian.

      “I know what longing is.”

      “For what?”

      “For many things.”

      “Tell me one.”

      “Some enjoyment that is not followed by depression. I do not know of one.”

      “That is a desire you share with all the youth of Rome, only they are apt to postpone the reaction. Well, and what next?”

      “I cannot tell you.”

      “What prevents your speaking openly to me?”

      “You, yourself did.” “I?”

      “Yes, you; for you forbid me to speak of my home, my mother, and my people.”

      The Emperor’s brow darkened, and he answered sternly:

      “I am your father and your whole soul should be given to me.”

      “It is all yours,” answered the youth, falling back on to the bear-skin, and drawing the pallima closely over his shoulders, for a gust blew coldly in at the side of the tent, through which Phlegon, the Emperor’s private secretary, now entered and approached his master. He was followed by a slave with several sealed rolls under his arms.

      “Will it be agreeable to you, Caesar, to consider the despatches and letters that have just arrived?” asked the official, whose carefully-arranged hair had been tossed by the sea-breeze.

      “Yes, and then we can make a note of what I was able to observe in the heavens last night. Have you the tablets ready?”

      “I left them in the tent set up especially for the work, Caesar.”

      “The storm has become very violent.”

      “It seems to blow from the north and east both at once, and the sea is very rough. The Empress will have a bad voyage.”

      “When did she set out?”

      “The anchor was weighed towards midnight. The vessel which is to fetch her to Alexandria is a fine ship, but rolls from side to side in a very unpleasant manner.”

      Hadrian laughed loudly and sharply at this, and said:

      “That will turn her heart and her stomach upside down. I wish I were there to see—but no, by all the gods, no! for she will certainly forget to paint this morning; and who will construct that edifice of hair if all her ladies share her fate. We will stay here to-day, for if I meet her soon after she has reached Alexandria she will be undiluted gall and vinegar.”

      With these words Hadrian rose from his couch, and waving his hand to Antinous, went out of the tent with his secretary.

      A third person standing at the back of the tent had heard the Emperor’s conversation with his favorite; this was Mastor, a Sarmatian of the race of the Taryges. He was a slave, and no more worthy of heed than the dog which had followed Hadrian, or than the pillows on which the Emperor had been reclining. The man, who was handsome and well grown, stood for some time twisting the ends of his long red moustache, and stroking his round, closely-cropped head with his bands; then he drew the open chiton together over his broad breast, which seemed to gleam from the remarkable whiteness of the skin. He never took his eyes off Antinous, who had turned over, and covering his face with his hands had buried them in the bear’s hairy mane.

      Mastor had something he wanted to say to him, but he dared not address him for the young favorite’s demeanor could not be reckoned on. Often he was ready to listen to him and talk with him as a friend, but often, too, he repulsed him more sharply than the haughtiest upstart would repel the meanest of his servants. At last the slave took courage and called the lad by his name, for it seemed less hard to submit to a scolding than to smother the utterance of a strong, warm feeling, unimportant as it might be, which was formed in words in his mind. Antinous raised his head a little on his hands and asked:

      “What is it?”

      “I only wanted to tell you,” replied the Sarmatian, “that I know who the little girl was that you so often took upon your shoulders. It was your little sister, was it not, of whom you were speaking to me lately?”

      The lad nodded assent, and then once more buried his head in his hands, and his shoulders heaved so violently that it would seem that he was weeping.—Mastor remained silent for a few minutes, then he went up to Antinous and said:

      “You know I have a son and a little daughter at home, and I am always glad to hear about little girls. We are alone and if it will relieve your heart.”

      “Let me alone, I have told you a dozen times already about my mother and little Parthea,” replied Antinous, trying to look composed.

      “Then do so confidently for the thirteenth,” said the slave. “In the camp and in the kitchen I can talk about my people as much as I like. But you—tell me, what do you call the little dog that Panthea made a scarlet cloak for?”

      “We called it Kallista,” cried Antinous wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. “My father would not allow it but we persuaded my mother. I was her favorite, and when I put my arms round her and looked at her imploringly she always said ‘yes’ to anything I asked her.”

      A bright light shone in the boy’s weary eyes; he had remembered a whole wealth of joys which left no depression behind them.

      CHAPTER II.

       Table of Contents

      One of the palaces built in Alexandria by the Ptolemaic kings stood on the peninsula called Lochias which stretched out into the blue sea like a finger pointing northwards; it formed the eastern boundary of the great harbor. Here there was never any lack of vessels but to-day they were particularly numerous, and the quay-road paved with smooth blocks of stone, which led from the palatial quarter of the town—the Bruchiom as it was called—which was bathed by the sea, to the spit of land was so crowded with curious citizens on foot and in vehicles, that all conveyances were obliged to stop in their progress before they had reached the private harbor reserved for the Emperor’s vessels.

      But there was something out of the common to be seen at the landing-place, for there lying under the shelter of the high mole were the splendid triremes, galleys, long boats and barges which had brought Hadrian’s wife and the suite of the imperial couple to Alexandria. A very large vessel with a particularly high cabin on the after deck and having the head of a she-wolf on the lofty and boldly-carved prow excited the utmost attention. It was carved entirely in cedar wood, richly decorated with bronze and ivory, and named the Sabina. A young Alexandrian pointed to the name written in gold letters on the stern, nudging his companion and saying with a laugh:

      “Sabina has a wolf’s head then!”

      “A peacock’s would suit her better. Did you see her on her way to the Caesareum?” replied the other.

      “Alas! СКАЧАТЬ