Cleopatra: Chapter 6

Chapter 6

OF THE WORKINGS OF THE LEARNED OLYMPUS AT MEMPHIS; OF THE POISONINGS OF
CLEOPATRA; OF THE SPEECH OF ANTONY TO HIS CAPTAINS; AND OF THE PASSING
OF ISIS FROM THE LAND OF KHEM

Now I, Harmachis, must make speed with my task, setting down that which
is permitted as shortly as may be, and leaving much untold. For of this
I am warned, that Doom draws on and my days are wellnigh sped. After the
drawing forth of Antony from the Timonium came that time of heavy quiet
which heralds the rising of the desert wind. Antony and Cleopatra
once again gave themselves up to luxury, and night by night feasted in
splendour at the palace. They sent ambassadors to C�sar; but C�sar would
have none of them; and, this hope being gone, they turned their minds
to the defence of Alexandria. Men were gathered, ships were built, and a
great force was made ready against the coming of C�sar.

And now, aided by Charmion, I began my last work of hate and vengeance.
I wormed myself deep into the secrets of the palace, counselling all
things for evil. I bade Cleopatra keep Antony gay, lest he should brood
upon his sorrows: and thus she sapped his strength and energy with
luxury and wine. I gave him of my draughts--draughts that sank his
soul in dreams of happiness and power, leaving him to wake to a heavier
misery. Soon, without my healing medicine he could not sleep, and thus,
being ever at his side, I bound his weakened will to mine, till at last
he would do little if I said not "It is well." Cleopatra, also grown
very superstitious, leaned much upon me; for I prophesied falsely to her
in secret.

Moreover, I wove other webs. My fame was great throughout Egypt, for
during the long years that I had dwelt in T�p� it had spread through all
the land. Therefore many men of note came to me, both for their health's
sake and because it was known that I had the ear of Antony and the
Queen; and, in these days of doubt and trouble, they were fain to learn
the truth. All these men I worked upon with doubtful words, sapping
their loyalty; and I caused many to fall away, and yet none could bear
an evil report of what I had said. Also, Cleopatra sent me to Memphis,
there to move the Priests and Governors that they should gather men in
Upper Egypt for the defence of Alexandria. And I went and spoke to the
priests with such a double meaning and with so much wisdom that they
knew me to be one of the initiated in the deeper mysteries. But how I,
Olympus the physician, came thus to be initiated none might say. And
afterwards they sought me secretly, and I gave them the holy sign of
brotherhood; and thereunder bade them not to ask who I might be, but
send no aid to Cleopatra. Rather, I said, must they make peace with
C�sar, for by C�sar's grace only could the worship of the Gods endure in
Khem. So, having taken counsel of the Holy Apis, they promised in public
to give help to Cleopatra, but in secret sent an embassy to C�sar.

Thus, then, it came to pass that Egypt gave but little aid to its hated
Macedonian Queen. Thence from Memphis I came once more to Alexandria,
and, having made favourable report, continued my secret work. And,
indeed, the Alexandrians could not easily be stirred, for, as they say
in the marketplace, "The ass looks at its burden and is blind to its
master." Cleopatra had oppressed them so long that the Roman was like a
welcome friend.

Thus the time passed on, and every night found Cleopatra with fewer
friends than that which had gone before, for in evil days friends fly
like swallows before the frost. Yet she would not give up Antony, whom
she loved; though to my knowledge C�sar, by his freedman, Thyreus, made
promise to her of her dominions for herself and for her children if she
would but slay Antony, or even betray him bound. But to this her woman's
heart--for still she had a heart--would not consent, and, moreover, we
counselled her against it, for of necessity we must hold him to her,
lest, Antony escaping or being slain, Cleopatra might ride out the storm
and yet be Queen of Egypt. And this grieved me, because Antony, though
weak, was still a brave man, and a great; and, moreover, in my own heart
I read the lesson of his woes. For were we not akin in wretchedness? Had
not the same woman robbed us of Empire, Friends, and Honour? But pity
has no place in politics, nor could it turn my feet from the path of
vengeance it was ordained that I should tread. C�sar drew nigh; Pelusium
fell; the end was at hand. It was Charmion who brought the tidings to
the Queen and Antony, as they slept in the heat of the day, and I came
with her.

"Awake!" she cried. "Awake! This is no time for sleep! Seleucus hath
surrendered Pelusium to C�sar, who marches straight on Alexandria!"

With a great oath, Antony sprang up and clutched Cleopatra by the arm.

"Thou hast betrayed me--by the Gods I swear it! Now thou shalt pay the
price!" And snatching up his sword he drew it.

"Stay thy hand, Antony!" she cried. "It is false--I know naught of
this!" And she sprang upon him, and clung about his neck, weeping. "I
know naught, my Lord. Take thou the wife of Seleucus and his little
children, whom I hold in guard, and avenge thyself. O Antony, Antony!
why dost thou doubt me?"

Then Antony threw down his sword upon the marble, and, casting himself
upon the couch, hid his face, and groaned in bitterness of spirit.

But Charmion smiled, for it was she who had sent secretly to Seleucus,
her friend, counselling him to surrender forthwith, saying that no fight
would be made at Alexandria. And that very night Cleopatra took all her
great store of pearls and emeralds--those that remained of the treasure
of Menkau-ra--all her wealth of gold, ebony, ivory, and cinnamon,
treasure without price, and placed it in the mausoleum of granite which,
after our Egyptian fashion, she had built upon the hill that is by the
Temple of the Holy Isis. These riches she piled up upon a bed of flax,
that, when she fired it, all might perish in the flame and escape the
greed of money-loving Octavianus. And she slept henceforth in this tomb,
away from Antony; but in the daytime she still saw him at the palace.

But a little while after, when C�sar with all his great force
had already crossed the Caponic mouth of the Nile and was hard on
Alexandria, I came to the palace, whither Cleopatra had summoned me.
There I found her in the Alabaster Hall, royally clad, a wild light in
her eyes, and, with her, Iras and Charmion, and before her guards; and
stretched here and there upon the marble, bodies of dead men, among whom
lay one yet dying.

"Greeting, thou Olympus!" she cried. "Here is a sight to glad a
physician's heart--men dead and men sick unto death!"

"What doest thou, O Queen?" I said affrighted.

"What do I? I wreak justice on these criminals and traitors; and,
Olympus, I learn the ways of death. I have caused six different poisons
to be given to these slaves, and with an attentive eye have watched
their working. That man," and she pointed to a Nubian, "he went mad, and
raved of his native deserts and his mother. He thought himself a child
again, poor fool! and bade her hold him close to her breast and save
him from the darkness which drew near. And that Greek, he shrieked, and,
shrieking, died. And this, he wept and prayed for pity, and in the end,
like a coward, breathed his last. Now, note the Egyptian yonder, he who
still lives and groans; first he took the draught--the deadliest draught
of all, they swore--and yet the slave so dearly loves his life he will
not leave it! See, he yet strives to throw the poison from him; twice
have I given him the cup and yet he is athirst. What a drunkard we have
here! Man, man, knowest thou not that in death only can peace be found?
Struggle no more, but enter into rest." And even as she spoke, the man,
with a great cry, gave up the spirit.

"There!" she cried, "at length the farce is played--away with those
slaves whom I have forced through the difficult gates of Joy!" and she
clapped her hands. But when they had borne the bodies thence she drew me
to her, and spoke thus:

"Olympus, for all thy prophecies, the end is at hand. C�sar must
conquer, and I and my Lord Antony be lost. Now, therefore, the play
being wellnigh done, I must make ready to leave this stage of earth in
such fashion as becomes a Queen. For this cause, then, I do make trial
of these poisons, seeing that in my person I must soon endure those
agonies of death that to-day I give to others. These drugs please me
not; some wrench out the soul with cruel pains, and some too slowly work
their end. But thou art skilled in the medicines of death. Now, do thou
prepare me such a draught as shall, pangless, steal my life away."

And as I listened the sense of triumph filled my bitter heart, for
I knew now that by my own hand should this ruined woman die and the
justice of the Gods be done.

"Spoken like a Queen, O Cleopatra!" I said. "Death shall cure thy ills,
and I will brew such a wine as shall draw him down a sudden friend and
sink thee in a sea of slumber whence, upon this earth, thou shalt never
wake again. Oh! fear not Death: Death is thy hope; and, surely, thou
shalt pass sinless and pure of heart into the dreadful presence of the
Gods!"

She trembled. "And if the heart be not altogether pure, tell me--thou
dark man--what then? Nay, I fear not the Gods! for if the Gods of Hell
be men, there I shall Queen it also. At the least, having once been
royal, royal I shall ever be."

And, as she spoke, suddenly from the palace gates came a great clamour,
and the noise of joyful shouting.

"Why, what is this?" she said, springing from her couch.

"Antony! Antony!" rose the cry; "Antony hath conquered!"

She turned swiftly and ran, her long hair streaming on the wind. I
followed her, more slowly, down the great hall, across the courtyards,
to the palace gates. And here she met Antony, riding through them,
radiant with smiles and clad in his Roman armour. When he saw her
he leapt to the ground, and, all armed as he was, clasped her to his
breast.

"What is it?" she cried; "is C�sar fallen?"

"Nay, not altogether fallen, Egypt: but we have beat his horsemen back
to their trenches, and, like the beginning, so shall be the end, for,
as they say here, 'Where the head goes, the tail will follow.' Moreover,
C�sar has my challenge, and if he will but meet me hand to hand, the
world shall soon see which is the better man, Antony or Octavian."
And even as he spoke and the people cheered there came the cry of "A
messenger from C�sar!"

The herald entered, and, bowing low, gave a writing to Antony, bowed
again, and went. Cleopatra snatched it from his hand, broke the silk and
read aloud:

"C�sar to Antony, greeting.

"This answer to thy challenge: Can Antony find no better way of death
than beneath the sword of C�sar? Farewell!"

And thereafter they cheered no more.

The darkness came, and before it was midnight, having feasted with his
friends who to-night went over his woes and to-morrow should betray him,
Antony went forth to the gathering of the captains of the land-forces
and of the fleet, attended by many, among whom was I.

When all were come together, he spoke to them, standing bareheaded in
their midst, beneath the radiance of the moon. And thus he most nobly
spoke:

"Friends and companions in arms! who yet cling to me, and whom many a
time I have led to victory, hearken to me now, who to-morrow may lie in
the dumb dust, disempired and dishonoured. This is our design: no
longer will we hang on poised wings above the flood of war, but will
straightway plunge, perchance thence to snatch the victor's diadem, or,
failing, there to drown. Be now but true to me, and to your honour's
sake, and you may still sit, the most proud of men, at my right hand in
the Capitol of Rome. Fail me now, and the cause of Antony is lost and so
are ye. To-morrow's battle must be hazardous indeed, but we have stood
many a time and faced a fiercer peril, and ere the sun had sunk, once
more have driven armies like desert sands before our gale of valour and
counted the spoil of hostile kings. What have we to fear? Though allies
be fled, still is our array as strong as C�sar's! And show we but as
high a heart, why, I swear to you, upon my princely word, to-morrow
night I shall deck yonder Canopic gate with the heads of Octavian and
his captains!

"Ay, cheer, and cheer again! I love that martial music which swells,
not as from the indifferent lips of clarions, now 'neath the breath of
Antony and now of C�sar, but rather out of the single hearts of men who
love me. Yet--and now I will speak low, as we do speak o'er the bier of
some beloved dead--yet, if Fortune should rise against me and if, borne
down by the weight of arms, Antony, the soldier, dies a soldier's death,
leaving you to mourn him who ever was your friend, this is my will,
that, after our rough fashion of the camp, I here declare to you. You
know where all my treasure lies. Take it, most dear friends; and, in the
memory of Antony, make just division. Then go to C�sar and speak thus:
'Antony, the dead, to C�sar, the living, sends greeting; and, in the
name of ancient fellowship and of many a peril dared, craves this boon:
the safety of those who clung to him and that which he hath given them.'

"Nay, let not my tears--for I must weep--overflow your eyes! Why, it is
not manly; 'tis most womanish! All men must die, and death were welcome
were it not so lone. Should I fall, I leave my children to your
tender care--if, perchance, it may avail to save them from the fate
of helplessness. Soldiers, enough! to-morrow at the dawn we spring on
C�sar's throat, both by land and sea. Swear that ye will cling to me,
even to the last issue!"

"We swear!" they cried. "Noble Antony, we swear!"

"It is well! Once more my star grows bright; to-morrow, set in the
highest heaven, it yet may shine the lamp of C�sar down! Till then,
farewell!"

He turned to go. As he went they caught his hand and kissed it; and so
deeply were they moved that many wept like children; nor could Antony
master his grief, for, in the moonlight, I saw tears roll down his
furrowed cheeks and fall upon that mighty breast.

And, seeing all this, I was much troubled. For I well knew that if these
men held firm to Antony all might yet go well for Cleopatra; and though
I bore no ill-will against Antony, yet he must fall, and in that fall
drag down the woman who, like some poisonous plant, had twined herself
about his giant strength till it choked and mouldered in her embrace.

Therefore, when Antony went I went not, but stood back in the shadow
watching the faces of the lords and captains as they spoke together.

"Then it is agreed!" said he who should lead the fleet. "And this we
swear to, one and all, that we will cling to noble Antony to the last
extremity of fortune!"

"Ay! ay!" they answered.

"Ay! ay!" I said, speaking from the shadow; "cling, and _die!_"

They turned fiercely and seized me.

"Who is he?" quoth one.

"'Tis that dark-faced dog, Olympus!" cried another. "Olympus, the
magician!"

"Olympus, the traitor!" growled another; "put an end to him and his
magic!" and he drew his sword.

"Ay! slay him; he would betray the Lord Antony, whom he is paid to
doctor."

"Hold a while!" I said in a slow and solemn voice, "and beware how ye
try to murder the servant of the Gods. I am no traitor. For myself,
I abide the event here in Alexandria, but to you I say, Flee, flee to
C�sar! I serve Antony and the Queen--I serve them truly; but above all
I serve the Holy Gods; and what they make known to me, that, Lords, I do
know. And I know this: that Antony is doomed, and Cleopatra is doomed,
for C�sar conquers. Therefore, because I honour you, noble gentlemen,
and think with pity on your wives, left widowed, and your little
fatherless children, that shall, if ye hold to Antony, be sold as
slaves--therefore, I say, cling to Antony if ye will and die; or flee
to C�sar and be saved! And this I say because it is so ordained of the
Gods."

"The Gods!" they growled; "what Gods? Slit the traitor's throat, and
stop his ill-omened talk!"

"Let him show us a sign from his Gods or let him die: I do mistrust this
man," said another.

"Stand back, ye fools!" I cried. "Stand back--free mine arms--and I will
show you a sign;" and there was that in my face which frightened them,
for they freed me and stood back. Then I lifted up my hands and putting
out all my strength of soul searched the depths of space till my Spirit
communed with the Spirit of my Mother Isis. Only the Word of Power I
uttered not, as I had been bidden. And the holy mystery of the Goddess
answered to my Spirit's cry, falling in awful silence upon the face of
the earth. Deeper and deeper grew the terrible silence; even the dogs
ceased to howl, and in the city men stood still afeared. Then, from far
away, there came the ghostly music of the sistra. Faint it was at first,
but ever as it came it grew more loud, till the air shivered with the
unearthly sound of terror. I said naught, but pointed with my hand
toward the sky. And behold! bosomed upon the air, floated a vast veiled
Shape that, heralded by the swelling music of the sistra, drew slowly
near, till its shadow lay upon us. It came, it passed, it went toward
the camp of C�sar, till at length the music died away, and the awful
Shape was swallowed in the night.

"It is Bacchus!" cried one. "Bacchus, who leaves lost Antony!" and, as
he spoke, there rose a groan of terror from all the camp.

But I knew that it was not Bacchus, the false God, but the Divine Isis
who deserted Khem, and, passing over the edge of the world, sought her
home in space, to be no more known of men. For though her worship is
still upheld, though still she is here and in all Earths, Isis manifests
herself no more in Egypt. I hid my face and prayed, but when I lifted it
from my robe, lo! all had fled and I was alone.

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