Its heavy leaves were half open; they passed through, and it closed behind them.
At first they followed the foot of the ramparts for a time, and at the height of the cisterns4 they took their way along the Taenia, a narrow strip of yellow earth separating the gulf5 from the lake and extending as far as Rhades.
No one was to be seen around Carthage, whether on the sea or in the country. The slate-coloured waves chopped softly, and the light wind blowing their foam6 hither and thither7 spotted8 them with white rents. In spite of all her veils, Salammbo shivered in the freshness of the morning; the motion and the open air dazed her. Then the sun rose; it preyed9 on the back of her head, and she involuntarily dozed10 a little. The two animals rambled11 along side by side, their feet sinking into the silent sand.
When they had passed the mountain of the Hot Springs, they went on at a more rapid rate, the ground being firmer.
But although it was the season for sowing and ploughing, the fields were as empty as the desert as far as the eye could reach. Here and there were scattered12 heaps of corn; at other places the barley13 was shedding its reddened ears. The villages showed black upon the clear horizon, with shapes incoherently carved.
From time to time a half-calcined piece of wall would be found standing14 on the edge of the road. The roofs of the cottages were falling in, and in the interiors might be distinguished15 fragments of pottery16, rags of clothing, and all kinds of unrecognisable utensils17 and broken things. Often a creature clothed in tatters, with earthy face and flaming eyes would emerge from these ruins. But he would very quickly begin to run or would disappear into a hole. Salammbo and her guide did not stop.
Deserted18 plains succeeded one another. Charcoal19 dust which was raised by their feet behind them, stretched in unequal trails over large spaces of perfectly20 white soil. Sometimes they came upon little peaceful spots, where a brook21 flowed amid the long grass; and as they ascended22 the other bank Salammbo would pluck damp leaves to cool her hands. At the corner of a wood of rose-bays her horse shied violently at the corpse23 of a man which lay extended on the ground.
The slave immediately settled her again on the cushions. He was one of the servants of the Temple, a man whom Schahabarim used to employ on perilous24 missions.
With extreme precaution he now went on foot beside her and between the horses; he would whip the animals with the end of a leathern lace wound round his arm, or would perhaps take balls made of wheat, dates, and yolks of eggs wrapped in lotus leaves from a scrip hanging against his breast, and offer them to Salammbo without speaking, and running all the time.
In the middle of the day three Barbarians26 clad in animals’ skins crossed their path. By degrees others appeared wandering in troops of ten, twelve, or twenty-five men; many were driving goats or a limping cow. Their heavy sticks bristled27 with brass28 points; cutlasses gleamed in their clothes, which were savagely30 dirty, and they opened their eyes with a look of menace and amazement31. As they passed some sent them a vulgar benediction32; others obscene jests, and Schahabarim’s man replied to each in his own idiom. He told them that this was a sick youth going to be cured at a distant temple.
However, the day was closing in. Barkings were heard, and they approached them.
Then in the twilight33 they perceived an enclosure of dry stones shutting in a rambling34 edifice35. A dog was running along the top of the wall. The slave threw some pebbles36 at him and they entered a lofty vaulted37 hall.
A woman was crouching38 in the centre warming herself at a fire of brushwood, the smoke of which escaped through the holes in the ceiling. She was half hidden by her white hair which fell to her knees; and unwilling39 to answer, she muttered with idiotic40 look words of vengeance41 against the Barbarians and the Carthaginians.
The runner ferreted right and left. Then he returned to her and demanded something to eat. The old woman shook her head, and murmured with her eyes fixed42 upon the charcoal:
“I was the hand. The ten fingers are cut off. The mouth eats no more.”
The slave showed her a handful of gold pieces. She rushed upon them, but soon resumed her immobility.
At last he placed a dagger43 which he had in his girdle beneath her throat. Then, trembling, she went and raised a large stone, and brought back an amphora of wine with fish from Hippo-Zarytus preserved in honey.
Salammbo turned away from this unclean food, and fell asleep on the horses’ caparisons which were spread in a corner of the hall.
He awoke her before daylight.
The dog was howling. The slave went up to it quietly, and struck off its head with a single blow of his dagger. Then he rubbed the horses’ nostrils44 with blood to revive them. The old woman cast a malediction45 at him from behind. Salammbo perceived this, and pressed the amulet46 which she wore above her heart.
They resumed their journey.
From time to time she asked whether they would not arrive soon. The road undulated over little hills. Nothing was to be heard but the grating of the grasshoppers47. The sun heated the yellowed grass; the ground was all chinked with crevices48 which in dividing formed, as it were, monstrous49 paving-stones. Sometimes a viper50 passed, or eagles flew by; the slave still continued running. Salammbo mused51 beneath her veils, and in spite of the heat did not lay them aside through fear of soiling her beautiful garments.
At regular distances stood towers built by the Carthaginians for the purpose of keeping watch upon the tribes. They entered these for the sake of the shade, and then set out again.
For prudence52 sake they had made a wide detour53 the day before. But they met with no one just now; the region being a sterile54 one, the Barbarians had not passed that way.
Gradually the devastation55 began again. Sometimes a piece of mosaic56 would be displayed in the centre of a field, the sole remnant of a vanished mansion57; and the leafless olive trees looked at a distance like large bushes of thorns. They passed through a town in which houses were burnt to the ground. Human skeletons might be seen along the walls. There were some, too, of dromedaries and mules58. Half-gnawed carrion59 blocked the streets.
Night fell. The sky was lowering and cloudy.
They ascended again for two hours in a westerly direction, when suddenly they perceived a quantity of little flames before them.
These were shining at the bottom of an ampitheatre. Gold plates, as they displaced one another, glanced here and there. These were the cuirasses of the Clinabarians in the Punic camp; then in the neighbourhood they distinguished other and more numerous lights, for the armies of the Mercenaries, now blended together, extended over a great space.
Salammbo made a movement as though to advance. But Schahabarim’s man took her further away, and they passed along by the terrace which enclosed the camp of the Barbarians. A breach60 became visible in it, and the slave disappeared.
A sentry61 was walking upon the top of the entrenchment62 with a bow in his hand and a pike on his shoulder.
Salammbo drew still nearer; the Barbarian25 knelt and a long arrow pierced the hem3 of her cloak. Then as she stood motionless and shrieking63, he asked her what she wanted.
“To speak to Matho,” she replied. “I am a fugitive65 from Carthage.”
He gave a whistle, which was repeated at intervals67 further away.
Salammbo waited; her frightened horse moved round and round, sniffing68.
When Matho arrived the moon was rising behind her. But she had a yellow veil with black flowers over her face, and so many draperies about her person, that it was impossible to make any guess about her. From the top of the terrace he gazed upon this vague form standing up like a phantom69 in the penumbrae of the evening.
At last she said to him:
“Lead me to your tent! I wish it!”
A recollection which he could not define passed through his memory. He felt his heart beating. The air of command intimidated70 him.
“Follow me!” he said.
The barrier was lowered, and immediately she was in the camp of the Barbarians.
It was filled with a great tumult71 and a great throng72. Bright fires were burning beneath hanging pots; and their purpled reflections illuminating73 some places left others completely in the dark. There was shouting and calling; shackled74 horses formed long straight lines amid the tents; the latter were round and square, of leather or of canvas; there were huts of reeds, and holes in the sand such as are made by dogs. Soldiers were carting faggots, resting on their elbows on the ground, or wrapping themselves up in mats and preparing to sleep; and Salammbo’s horse sometimes stretched out a leg and jumped in order to pass over them.
She remembered that she had seen them before; but their beards were longer now, their faces still blacker, and their voices hoarser75. Matho, who walked before her, waved them off with a gesture of his arm which raised his red mantle76. Some kissed his hands; others bending their spines77 approached him to ask for orders, for he was now veritable and sole chief of the Barbarians; Spendius, Autaritus, and Narr’ Havas had become disheartened, and he had displayed so much audacity78 and obstinacy79 that all obeyed him.
Salammbo followed him through the entire camp. His tent was at the end, three hundred feet from Hamilcar’s entrenchments.
She noticed a wide pit on the right, and it seemed to her that faces were resting against the edge of it on a level with the ground, as decapitated heads might have done. However, their eyes moved, and from these half-opened mouths groanings escaped in the Punic tongue.
Two Negroes holding resin80 lights stood on both sides of the door. Matho drew the canvas abruptly81 aside. She followed him. It was a deep tent with a pole standing up in the centre. It was lighted by a large lamp-holder shaped like a lotus and full of a yellow oil wherein floated handfuls of burning tow, and military things might be distinguished gleaming in the shade. A naked sword leaned against a stool by the side of a shield; whips of hippopotamus82 leather, cymbals83, bells, and necklaces were displayed pell-mell on baskets of esparto-grass; a felt rug lay soiled with crumbs84 of black bread; some copper85 money was carelessly heaped upon a round stone in a corner, and through the rents in the canvas the wind brought the dust from without, together with the smell of the elephants, which might be heard eating and shaking their chains.
“Who are you?” said Matho.
She looked slowly around her without replying; then her eyes were arrested in the background, where something bluish and sparkling fell upon a bed of palm-branches.
She advanced quickly. A cry escaped her. Matho stamped his foot behind her.
“Who brings you here? why do you come?”
“To take it!” she replied, pointing to the zaimph, and with the other hand she tore the veils from her head. He drew back with his elbows behind him, gaping86, almost terrified.
She felt as if she were leaning on the might of the gods; and looking at him face to face she asked him for the zaimph; she demanded it in words abundant and superb.
Matho did not hear; he was gazing at her, and in his eyes her garments were blended with her body. The clouding of the stuffs, like the splendour of her skin, was something special and belonging to her alone. Her eyes and her diamonds sparkled; the polish of her nails continued the delicacy87 of the stones which loaded her fingers; the two clasps of her tunic88 raised her breasts somewhat and brought them closer together, and he in thought lost himself in the narrow interval66 between them whence there fell a thread holding a plate of emeralds which could be seen lower down beneath the violet gauze. She had as earrings89 two little sapphire90 scales, each supporting a hollow pearl filled with liquid scent91. A little drop would fall every moment through the holes in the pearl and moisten her naked shoulder. Matho watched it fall.
He was carried away by ungovernable curiosity; and, like a child laying his hand upon a strange fruit, he tremblingly and lightly touched the top of her chest with the tip of his finger: the flesh, which was somewhat cold, yielded with an elastic92 resistance.
This contact, though scarcely a sensible one, shook Matho to the very depths of his nature. An uprising of his whole being urged him towards her. He would fain have enveloped93 her, absorbed her, drunk her. His bosom94 was panting, his teeth were chattering95.
Taking her by the wrists he drew her gently to him, and then sat down upon a cuirass beside the palm-tree bed which was covered with a lion’s skin. She was standing. He looked up at her, holding her thus between his knees, and repeating:
“How beautiful you are! how beautiful you are!”
His eyes, which were continually fixed upon hers, pained her; and the uncomfortableness, the repugnance96 increased in so acute a fashion that Salammbo put a constraint97 upon herself not to cry out. The thought of Schahabarim came back to her, and she resigned herself.
Matho still kept her little hands in his own; and from time to time, in spite of the priest’s command, she turned away her face and tried to thrust him off by jerking her arms. He opened his nostrils the better to breathe in the perfume which exhaled98 from her person. It was a fresh, indefinable emanation, which nevertheless made him dizzy, like the smoke from a perfuming-pan. She smelt100 of honey, pepper, incense101, roses, with another odour still.
But how was she thus with him in his tent, and at his disposal? Some one no doubt had urged her. She had not come for the zaimph. His arms fell, and he bent102 his head whelmed in sudden reverie.
To soften103 him Salammbo said to him in a plaintive104 voice:
“What have I done to you that you should desire my death?”
“Your death!”
She resumed:
“I saw you one evening by the light of my burning gardens amid fuming99 cups and my slaughtered105 slaves, and your anger was so strong that you bounded towards me and I was obliged to fly! Then terror entered into Carthage. There were cries of the devastation of the towns, the burning of the country-seats, the massacre106 of the soldiery; it was you who had ruined them, it was you who had murdered them! I hate you! Your very name gnaws107 me like remorse108! You are execrated109 more than the plague, and the Roman war! The provinces shudder111 at your fury, the furrows112 are full of corpses113! I have followed the traces of your fires as though I were travelling behind Moloch!”
Matho leaped up; his heart was swelling114 with colossal115 pride; he was raised to the stature116 of a god.
With quivering nostrils and clenched117 teeth she went on:
“As if your sacrilege were not enough, you came to me in my sleep covered with the zaimph! Your words I did not understand; but I could see that you wished to drag me to some terrible thing at the bottom of an abyss.”
Matho, writhing118 his arms, exclaimed:
“No! no! it was to give it to you! to restore it to you! It seemed to me that the goddess had left her garment for you, and that it belonged to you! In her temple or in your house, what does it matter? are you not all-powerful, immaculate, radiant and beautiful even as Tanith?” And with a look of boundless119 adoration120 he added:
“Unless perhaps you are Tanith?”
“I, Tanith!” said Salammbo to herself.
They left off speaking. The thunder rolled in the distance. Some sheep bleated121, frightened by the storm.
“Oh! come near!” he went on, “come near! fear nothing!
“Formerly I was only a soldier mingled122 with the common herd123 of the Mercenaries, ay, and so meek124 that I used to carry wood on my back for the others. Do I trouble myself about Carthage! The crowd of its people move as though lost in the dust of your sandals, and all its treasures, with the provinces, fleets, and islands, do not raise my envy like the freshness of your lips and the turn of your shoulders. But I wanted to throw down its walls that I might reach you to possess you! Moreover, I was revenging myself in the meantime! At present I crush men like shells, and I throw myself upon phalanxes; I put aside the sarissae with my hands, I check the stallions by the nostrils; a catapult would not kill me! Oh! if you knew how I think of you in the midst of war! Sometimes the memory of a gesture or of a fold of your garment suddenly seizes me and entwines me like a net! I perceive your eyes in the flames of the phalaricas and on the gilding125 of the shields! I hear your voice in the sounding of the cymbals. I turn aside, but you are not there! and I plunge126 again into the battle!”
He raised his arms whereon his veins127 crossed one another like ivy128 on the branches of a tree. Sweat flowed down his breast between his square muscles; and his breathing shook his sides with his bronze girdle all garnished129 with thongs130 hanging down to his knees, which were firmer than marble. Salammbo, who was accustomed to eunuchs, yielded to amazement at the strength of this man. It was the chastisement132 of the goddess or the influence of Moloch in motion around her in the five armies. She was overwhelmed with lassitude; and she listened in a state of stupor133 to the intermittent134 shouts of the sentinels as they answered one another.
The flames of the lamp kindled135 in the squalls of hot air. There came at times broad lightning flashes; then the darkness increased; and she could only see Matho’s eyeballs like two coals in the night. However, she felt that a fatality137 was surrounding her, that she had reached a supreme138 and irrevocable moment, and making an effort she went up again towards the zaimph and raised her hands to seize it.
“What are you doing?” exclaimed Matho.
“I am going back to Carthage,” she placidly139 replied.
He advanced folding his arms and with so terrible a look that her heels were immediately nailed, as it were, to the spot.
“Going back to Carthage!” He stammered140, and, grinding his teeth, repeated:
“Going back to Carthage! Ah! you came to take the zaimph, to conquer me, and then disappear! No, no! you belong to me! and no one now shall tear you from here! Oh! I have not forgotten the insolence142 of your large tranquil143 eyes, and how you crushed me with the haughtiness144 of your beauty! ’Tis my turn now! You are my captive, my slave, my servant! Call, if you like, on your father and his army, the Ancients, the rich, and your whole accursed people! I am the master of three hundred thousand soldiers! I will go and seek them in Lusitania, in the Gauls, and in the depths of the desert, and I will overthrow145 your town and burn all its temples; the triremes shall float on the waves of blood! I will not have a house, a stone, or a palm tree remaining! And if men fail me I will draw the bears from the mountains and urge on the lions! Seek not to fly or I kill you!”
Pale and with clenched fists he quivered like a harp146 whose strings147 are about to burst. Suddenly sobs148 stifled149 him, and he sank down upon his hams.
“Ah! forgive me! I am a scoundrel, and viler150 than scorpions151, than mire152 and dust! Just now while you were speaking your breath passed across my face, and I rejoiced like a dying man who drinks lying flat on the edge of a stream. Crush me, if only I feel your feet! curse me, if only I hear your voice! Do not go! have pity! I love you! I love you!”
He was on his knees on the ground before her; and he encircled her form with both his arms, his head thrown back, and his hands wandering; the gold discs hanging from his ears gleamed upon his bronzed neck; big tears rolled in his eyes like silver globes; he sighed caressingly153, and murmured vague words lighter154 than a breeze and sweet as a kiss.
Salammbo was invaded by a weakness in which she lost all consciousness of herself. Something at once inward and lofty, a command from the gods, obliged her to yield herself; clouds uplifted her, and she fell back swooning upon the bed amid the lion’s hair. The zaimph fell, and enveloped her; she could see Matho’s face bending down above her breast.
“Moloch, thou burnest me!” and the soldier’s kisses, more devouring155 than flames, covered her; she was as though swept away in a hurricane, taken in the might of the sun.
He kissed all her fingers, her arms, her feet, and the long tresses of her hair from one end to the other.
“Carry it off,” he said, “what do I care? take me away with it! I abandon the army! I renounce156 everything! Beyond Gades, twenty days’ journey into the sea, you come to an island covered with gold dust, verdure, and birds. On the mountains large flowers filled with smoking perfumes rock like eternal censers; in the citron trees, which are higher than cedars157, milk-coloured serpents cause the fruit to fall upon the turf with the diamonds in their jaws158; the air is so mild that it keeps you from dying. Oh! I shall find it, you will see. We shall live in crystal grottoes cut out at the foot of the hills. No one dwells in it yet, or I shall become the king of the country.”
He brushed the dust off her cothurni; he wanted her to put a quarter of a pomegranate between her lips; he heaped up garments behind her head to make a cushion for her. He sought for means to serve her, and to humble159 himself, and he even spread the zaimph over her feet as if it were a mere141 rug.
“Have you still,” he said, “those little gazelle’s horns on which your necklaces hang? You will give them to me! I love them!” For he spoke160 as if the war were finished, and joyful161 laughs broke from him. The Mercenaries, Hamilcar, every obstacle had now disappeared. The moon was gliding162 between two clouds. They could see it through an opening in the tent. “Ah, what nights have I spent gazing at her! she seemed to me like a veil that hid your face; you would look at me through her; the memory of you was mingled with her beams; then I could no longer distinguish you!” And with his head between her breasts he wept copiously163.
“And this,” she thought, “is the formidable man who makes Carthage tremble!”
He fell asleep. Then disengaging herself from his arm she put one foot to the ground, and she perceived that her chainlet was broken.
The maidens164 of the great families were accustomed to respect these shackles165 as something that was almost religious, and Salammbo, blushing, rolled the two pieces of the golden chain around her ankles.
Carthage, Megara, her house, her room, and the country that she had passed through, whirled in tumultuous yet distinct images through her memory. But an abyss had yawned and thrown them far back to an infinite distance from her.
The storm was departing; drops of water splashing rarely, one by one, made the tent-roof shake.
Matho slept like a drunken man, stretched on his side, and with one arm over the edge of the couch. His band of pearls was raised somewhat, and uncovered his brow; his teeth were parted in a smile; they shone through his black beard, and there was a silent and almost outrageous166 gaiety in his half-closed eyelids167.
Salammbo looked at him motionless, her head bent and her hands crossed.
A dagger was displayed on the table of cypress-wood at the head of the bed; the sight of the gleaming blade fired her with a sanguinary desire. Mournful voices lingered at a distance in the shade, and like a chorus of geniuses urged her on. She approached it; she seized the steel by the handle. At the rustling168 of her dress Matho half opened his eyes, putting forth169 his mouth upon her hands, and the dagger fell.
Shouts arose; a terrible light flashed behind the canvas. Matho raised the latter; they perceived the camp of the Libyans enveloped in great flames.
Their reed huts were burning, and the twisting stems burst in the smoke and flew off like arrows; black shadows ran about distractedly on the red horizon. They could hear the shrieks170 of those who were in the huts; the elephants, oxen, and horses plunged171 in the midst of the crowd crushing it together with the stores and baggage that were being rescued from the fire. Trumpets172 sounded. There were calls of “Matho! Matho!” Some people at the door tried to get in.
“Come along! Hamilcar is burning the camp of Autaritus!”
He made a spring. She found herself quite alone.
Then she examined the zaimph; and when she had viewed it well she was surprised that she had not the happiness which she had once imagined to herself. She stood with melancholy173 before her accomplished174 dream.
But the lower part of the tent was raised, and a monstrous form appeared. Salammbo could at first distinguish only the two eyes and a long white beard which hung down to the ground; for the rest of the body, which was cumbered with the rags of a tawny175 garment, trailed along the earth; and with every forward movement the hands passed into the beard and then fell again. Crawling in this way it reached her feet, and Salammbo recognised the aged176 Gisco.
In fact, the Mercenaries had broken the legs of the captive Ancients with a brass bar to prevent them from taking to flight; and they were all rotting pell-mell in a pit in the midst of filth177. But the sturdiest of them raised themselves and shouted when they heard the noise of platters, and it was in this way that Gisco had seen Salammbo. He had guessed that she was a Carthaginian woman by the little balls of sandastrum flapping against her cothurni; and having a presentiment178 of an important mystery he had succeeded, with the assistance of his companions, in getting out of the pit; then with elbows and hands he had dragged himself twenty paces further on as far as Matho’s tent. Two voices were speaking within it. He had listened outside and had heard everything.
“It is you!” she said at last, almost terrified.
“Yes, it is I!” he replied, raising himself on his wrists. “They think me dead, do they not?”
She bent her head. He resumed:
“Ah! why have the Baals not granted me this mercy!” He approached so close he was touching179 her. “They would have spared me the pain of cursing you!”
Salammbo sprang quickly back, so much afraid was she of this unclean being, who was as hideous180 as a larva and nearly as terrible as a phantom.
“I am nearly one hundred years old,” he said. “I have seen Agathocles; I have seen Regulus and the eagles of the Romans passing over the harvests of the Punic fields! I have seen all the terrors of battles and the sea encumbered181 with the wrecks182 of our fleets! Barbarians whom I used to command have chained my four limbs like a slave that has committed murder. My companions are dying around me, one after the other; the odour of their corpses awakes me in the night; I drive away the birds that come to peck out their eyes; and yet not for a single day have I despaired of Carthage! Though I had seen all the armies of the earth against her, and the flames of the siege overtop the height of the temples, I should have still believed in her eternity183! But now all is over! all is lost! The gods execrate110 her! A curse upon you who have quickened her ruin by your disgrace!”
She opened her lips.
“Ah! I was there!” he cried. “I heard you gurgling with love like a prostitute; then he told you of his desire, and you allowed him to kiss your hands! But if the frenzy184 of your unchastity urged you to it, you should at least have done as do the fallow deer, which hide themselves in their copulations, and not have displayed your shame beneath your father’s very eyes!”
“What?” she said.
“Ah! you did not know that the two entrenchments are sixty cubits from each other and that your Matho, in the excess of his pride, has posted himself just in front of Hamilcar. Your father is there behind you; and could I climb the path which leads to the platform, I should cry to him: ‘Come and see your daughter in the Barbarian’s arms! She has put on the garment of the goddess to please him; and in yielding her body to him she surrenders with the glory of your name the majesty185 of the gods, the vengeance of her country, even the safety of Carthage!’” The motion of his toothless mouth moved his beard throughout its length; his eyes were riveted186 upon her and devoured187 her; panting in the dust he repeated:
“Ah! sacrilegious one! May you be accursed! accursed! accursed!”
Salammbo had drawn188 back the canvas; she held it raised at arm’s length, and without answering him she looked in the direction of Hamilcar.
“It is this way, is it not?” she said.
“What matters it to you? Turn away! Begone! Rather crush your face against the earth! It is a holy spot which would be polluted by your gaze!”
She threw the zaimph about her waist, and quickly picked up her veils, mantle, and scarf. “I hasten thither!” she cried; and making her escape Salammbo disappeared.
At first she walked through the darkness without meeting any one, for all were betaking themselves to the fire; the uproar189 was increasing and great flames purpled the sky behind; a long terrace stopped her.
She turned round to right and left at random190, seeking for a ladder, a rope, a stone, something in short to assist her. She was afraid of Gisco, and it seemed to her that shouts and footsteps were pursuing her. Day was beginning to break. She perceived a path in the thickness of the entrenchment. She took the hem of her robe, which impeded191 her, in her teeth, and in three bounds she was on the platform.
A sonorous192 shout burst forth beneath her in the shade, the same which she had heard at the foot of the galley193 staircase, and leaning over she recognised Schahabarim’s man with his coupled horses.
He had wandered all night between the two entrenchments; then disquieted194 by the fire, he had gone back again trying to see what was passing in Matho’s camp; and, knowing that this spot was nearest to his tent, he had not stirred from it, in obedience195 to the priest’s command.
He stood up on one of the horses. Salammbo let herself slide down to him; and they fled at full gallop196, circling the Punic camp in search of a gate.
Matho had re-entered his tent. The smoky lamp gave but little light, and he also believed that Salammbo was asleep. Then he delicately touched the lion’s skin on the palm-tree bed. He called but she did not answer; he quickly tore away a strip of the canvas to let in some light; the zaimph was gone.
The earth trembled beneath thronging197 feet. Shouts, neighings, and clashing of armour198 rose in the air, and clarion199 flourishes sounded the charge. It was as though a hurricane were whirling around him. Immoderate frenzy made him leap upon his arms, and he dashed outside.
The long files of the Barbarians were descending200 the mountain at a run, and the Punic squares were advancing against them with a heavy and regular oscillation. The mist, rent by the rays of the sun, formed little rocking clouds which as they rose gradually discovered standards, helmets, and points of pikes. Beneath the rapid evolutions portions of the earth which were still in the shadow seemed to be displaced bodily; in other places it looked as if huge torrents201 were crossing one another, while thorny202 masses stood motionless between them. Matho could distinguish the captains, soldiers, heralds203, and even the serving-men, who were mounted on asses29 in the rear. But instead of maintaining his position in order to cover the foot-soldiers, Narr’ Havas turned abruptly to the right, as though he wished himself to be crushed by Hamilcar.
His horsemen outstripped204 the elephants, which were slackening their speed; and all the horses, stretching out their unbridled heads, galloped205 at so furious a rate that their bellies206 seemed to graze the earth. Then suddenly Narr’ Havas went resolutely207 up to a sentry. He threw away his sword, lance, and javelins208, and disappeared among the Carthaginians.
The king of the Numidians reached Hamilcar’s tent, and pointing to his men, who were standing still at a distance, he said:
“Barca! I bring them to you. They are yours.”
Then he prostrated209 himself in token of bondage210, and to prove his fidelity211 recalled all his conduct from the beginning of the war.
First, he had prevented the siege of Carthage and the massacre of the captives; then he had taken no advantage of the victory over Hanno after the defeat at Utica. As to the Tyrian towns, they were on the frontiers of his kingdom. Finally he had not taken part in the battle of the Macaras; and he had even expressly absented himself in order to evade212 the obligation of fighting against the Suffet.
Narr’ Havas had in fact wished to aggrandise himself by encroachments upon the Punic provinces, and had alternately assisted and forsaken213 the Mercenaries according to the chances of victory. But seeing that Hamilcar would ultimately prove the stronger, he had gone over to him; and in his desertion there was perhaps something of a grudge214 against Matho, whether on account of the command or of his former love.
The Suffet listened without interrupting him. The man who thus presented himself with an army where vengeance was his due was not an auxiliary215 to be despised; Hamilcar at once divined the utility of such an alliance in his great projects. With the Numidians he would get rid of the Libyans. Then he would draw off the West to the conquest of Iberia; and, without asking Narr’ Havas why he had not come sooner, or noticing any of his lies, he kissed him, striking his breast thrice against his own.
It was to bring matters to an end and in despair that he had fired the camp of the Libyans. This army came to him like a relief from the gods; dissembling his joy he replied:
“May the Baals favour you! I do not know what the Republic will do for you, but Hamilcar is not ungrateful.”
The tumult increased; some captains entered. He was arming himself as he spoke.
“Come, return! You will use your horsemen to beat down their infantry216 between your elephants and mine. Courage! exterminate217 them!”
And Narr’ Havas was rushing away when Salammbo appeared.
She leaped down quickly from her horse. She opened her ample cloak and spreading out her arms displayed the zaimph.
The leathern tent, which was raised at the corners, left visible the entire circuit of the mountain with its thronging soldiers, and as it was in the centre Salammbo could be seen on all sides. An immense shouting burst forth, a long cry of triumph and hope. Those who were marching stopped; the dying leaned on their elbows and turned round to bless her. All the Barbarians knew now that she had recovered the zaimph; they saw her or believed that they saw her from a distance; and other cries, but those of rage and vengeance, resounded218 in spite of the plaudits of the Carthaginians. Thus did the five armies in tiers upon the mountain stamp and shriek64 around Salammbo.
Hamilcar, who was unable to speak, nodded her his thanks. His eyes were directed alternately upon the zaimph and upon her, and he noticed that her chainlet was broken. Then he shivered, being seized with a terrible suspicion. But soon recovering his impassibility he looked sideways at Narr’ Havas without turning his face.
The king of the Numidians held himself apart in a discreet219 attitude; on his forehead he bore a little of the dust which he had touched when prostrating220 himself. At last the Suffet advanced towards him with a look full of gravity.
“As a reward for the services which you have rendered me, Narr’ Havas, I give you my daughter. Be my son,” he added, “and defend your father!”
Narr’ Havas gave a great gesture of surprise; then he threw himself upon Hamilcar’s hands and covered them with kisses.
Salammbo, calm as a statue, did not seem to understand. She blushed a little as she cast down her eyelids, and her long curved lashes136 made shadows upon her cheeks.
Hamilcar wished to unite them immediately in indissoluble betrothal221. A lance was placed in Salammbo’s hands and by her offered to Narr’ Havas; their thumbs were tied together with a thong131 of ox-leather; then corn was poured upon their heads, and the grains that fell around them rang like rebounding222 hail.
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1
ascend
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| vi.渐渐上升，升高；vt.攀登，登上 | |
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2
jutting
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| v.（使）突出( jut的现在分词 )；伸出；（从…）突出；高出 | |
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3
hem
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| n.贴边，镶边；vt.缝贴边；(in)包围，限制 | |
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4
cisterns
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| n.蓄水池，储水箱( cistern的名词复数 )；地下储水池 | |
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5
gulf
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| n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂 | |
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6
foam
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| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
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7
thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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spotted
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| adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的 | |
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preyed
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| v.掠食( prey的过去式和过去分词 )；掠食；折磨；（人）靠欺诈为生 | |
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10
dozed
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| v.打盹儿，打瞌睡( doze的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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11
rambled
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| （无目的地）漫游( ramble的过去式和过去分词 )； （喻）漫谈； 扯淡； 长篇大论 | |
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12
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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13
barley
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| n.大麦，大麦粒 | |
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14
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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15
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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16
pottery
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| n.陶器，陶器场 | |
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17
utensils
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| 器具，用具，器皿( utensil的名词复数 )； 器物 | |
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18
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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19
charcoal
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| n.炭，木炭，生物炭 | |
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20
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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21
brook
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| n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让 | |
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22
ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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23
corpse
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| n.尸体，死尸 | |
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24
perilous
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| adj.危险的，冒险的 | |
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25
barbarian
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| n.野蛮人；adj.野蛮(人)的；未开化的 | |
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barbarians
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| n.野蛮人( barbarian的名词复数 )；外国人；粗野的人；无教养的人 | |
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27
bristled
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| adj. 直立的，多刺毛的 动词bristle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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28
brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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asses
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| n. 驴，愚蠢的人，臀部 adv. (常用作后置)用于贬损或骂人 | |
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30
savagely
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| adv. 野蛮地，残酷地 | |
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31
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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32
benediction
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| n.祝福；恩赐 | |
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33
twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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34
rambling
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| adj.[建]凌乱的，杂乱的 | |
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35
edifice
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| n.宏伟的建筑物(如宫殿，教室) | |
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36
pebbles
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| [复数]鹅卵石； 沙砾； 卵石，小圆石( pebble的名词复数 ) | |
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37
vaulted
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| adj.拱状的 | |
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38
crouching
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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39
unwilling
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| adj.不情愿的 | |
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40
idiotic
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| adj.白痴的 | |
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41
vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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42
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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43
dagger
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| n.匕首，短剑，剑号 | |
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44
nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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45
malediction
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| n.诅咒 | |
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46
amulet
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| n.护身符 | |
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47
grasshoppers
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| n.蚱蜢( grasshopper的名词复数 )；蝗虫；蚂蚱；（孩子）矮小的 | |
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48
crevices
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| n.（尤指岩石的）裂缝，缺口( crevice的名词复数 ) | |
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49
monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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50
viper
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| n.毒蛇；危险的人 | |
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51
mused
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| v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事） | |
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52
prudence
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| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
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53
detour
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| n.绕行的路，迂回路；v.迂回，绕道 | |
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54
sterile
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| adj.不毛的，不孕的，无菌的，枯燥的，贫瘠的 | |
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55
devastation
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| n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤 | |
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56
mosaic
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| n./adj.镶嵌细工的，镶嵌工艺品的，嵌花式的 | |
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57
mansion
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| n.大厦，大楼；宅第 | |
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58
mules
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| 骡( mule的名词复数 )； 拖鞋； 顽固的人； 越境运毒者 | |
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59
carrion
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| n.腐肉 | |
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60
breach
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| n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破 | |
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61
sentry
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| n.哨兵，警卫 | |
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62
entrenchment
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| n.壕沟，防御设施 | |
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63
shrieking
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| v.尖叫( shriek的现在分词 ) | |
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64
shriek
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| v./n.尖叫，叫喊 | |
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65
fugitive
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| adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者 | |
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66
interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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67
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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68
sniffing
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| n.探查法v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的现在分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说 | |
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69
phantom
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| n.幻影，虚位，幽灵；adj.错觉的，幻影的，幽灵的 | |
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70
intimidated
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| v.恐吓；威胁adj.害怕的；受到威胁的 | |
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71
tumult
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| n.喧哗；激动，混乱；吵闹 | |
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72
throng
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| n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集 | |
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73
illuminating
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| a.富于启发性的，有助阐明的 | |
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74
shackled
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| 给（某人）带上手铐或脚镣( shackle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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75
hoarser
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| （指声音）粗哑的，嘶哑的( hoarse的比较级 ) | |
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76
mantle
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| n.斗篷，覆罩之物，罩子；v.罩住，覆盖，脸红 | |
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77
spines
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| n.脊柱( spine的名词复数 )；脊椎；（动植物的）刺；书脊 | |
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78
audacity
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| n.大胆，卤莽，无礼 | |
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79
obstinacy
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| n.顽固；（病痛等）难治 | |
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80
resin
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| n.树脂，松香，树脂制品；vt.涂树脂 | |
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81
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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82
hippopotamus
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| n.河马 | |
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83
cymbals
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| pl.铙钹 | |
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84
crumbs
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| int. (表示惊讶)哎呀 n. 碎屑 名词crumb的复数形式 | |
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85
copper
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| n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的 | |
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86
gaping
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| adj.口的；张口的；敞口的；多洞穴的v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的现在分词 )；张开，张大 | |
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87
delicacy
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| n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴 | |
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88
tunic
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| n.束腰外衣 | |
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89
earrings
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| n.耳环( earring的名词复数 )；耳坠子 | |
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90
sapphire
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| n.青玉，蓝宝石；adj.天蓝色的 | |
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91
scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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92
elastic
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| n.橡皮圈，松紧带；adj.有弹性的；灵活的 | |
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93
enveloped
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| v.包围，笼罩，包住( envelop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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94
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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95
chattering
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| n. （机器振动发出的）咔嗒声，(鸟等)鸣，啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的，啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式 | |
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96
repugnance
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| n.嫌恶 | |
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97
constraint
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| n.(on)约束，限制；限制(或约束)性的事物 | |
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98
exhaled
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| v.呼出，发散出( exhale的过去式和过去分词 )；吐出（肺中的空气、烟等），呼气 | |
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99
fuming
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| 愤怒( fume的现在分词 )； 大怒； 发怒； 冒烟 | |
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100
smelt
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| v.熔解，熔炼；n.银白鱼，胡瓜鱼 | |
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101
incense
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| v.激怒；n.香，焚香时的烟，香气 | |
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102
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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103
soften
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| v.(使)变柔软；(使)变柔和 | |
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104
plaintive
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| adj.可怜的，伤心的 | |
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105
slaughtered
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| v.屠杀，杀戮，屠宰( slaughter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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106
massacre
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| n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀 | |
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107
gnaws
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| 咬( gnaw的第三人称单数 )； （长时间） 折磨某人； （使）苦恼； （长时间）危害某事物 | |
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108
remorse
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| n.痛恨，悔恨，自责 | |
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109
execrated
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| v.憎恶( execrate的过去式和过去分词 )；厌恶；诅咒；咒骂 | |
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110
execrate
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| v.憎恶；厌恶；诅咒 | |
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111
shudder
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| v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动 | |
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112
furrows
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| n.犁沟( furrow的名词复数 )；（脸上的）皱纹v.犁田，开沟( furrow的第三人称单数 ) | |
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113
corpses
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| n.死尸，尸体( corpse的名词复数 ) | |
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114
swelling
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| n.肿胀 | |
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115
colossal
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| adj.异常的，庞大的 | |
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116
stature
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| n.（高度）水平，（高度）境界，身高，身材 | |
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117
clenched
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| v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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118
writhing
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| （因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的现在分词 ) | |
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119
boundless
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| adj.无限的；无边无际的；巨大的 | |
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120
adoration
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| n.爱慕，崇拜 | |
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121
bleated
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| v.（羊，小牛）叫( bleat的过去式和过去分词 )；哭诉；发出羊叫似的声音；轻声诉说 | |
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122
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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123
herd
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| n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起 | |
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124
meek
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| adj.温顺的，逆来顺受的 | |
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125
gilding
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| n.贴金箔，镀金 | |
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126
plunge
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| v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲 | |
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127
veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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128
ivy
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| n.常青藤，常春藤 | |
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129
garnished
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| v.给（上餐桌的食物）加装饰( garnish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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130
thongs
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| 的东西 | |
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131
thong
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| n.皮带；皮鞭；v.装皮带 | |
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132
chastisement
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| n.惩罚 | |
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133
stupor
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| v.昏迷；不省人事 | |
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134
intermittent
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| adj.间歇的，断断续续的 | |
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135
kindled
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| （使某物）燃烧，着火( kindle的过去式和过去分词 )； 激起（感情等）； 发亮，放光 | |
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136
lashes
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| n.鞭挞( lash的名词复数 )；鞭子；突然猛烈的一击；急速挥动v.鞭打( lash的第三人称单数 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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137
fatality
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| n.不幸，灾祸，天命 | |
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138
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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139
placidly
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| adv.平稳地，平静地 | |
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140
stammered
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| v.结巴地说出( stammer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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141
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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142
insolence
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| n.傲慢；无礼；厚颜；傲慢的态度 | |
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143
tranquil
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| adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的 | |
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144
haughtiness
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| n.傲慢；傲气 | |
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145
overthrow
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| v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆 | |
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146
harp
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| n.竖琴；天琴座 | |
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147
strings
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| n.弦 | |
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148
sobs
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| 啜泣（声），呜咽（声）( sob的名词复数 ) | |
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149
stifled
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| （使）窒息， （使）窒闷( stifle的过去式和过去分词 )； 镇压，遏制； 堵 | |
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150
viler
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| adj.卑鄙的( vile的比较级 )；可耻的；极坏的；非常讨厌的 | |
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151
scorpions
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| n.蝎子( scorpion的名词复数 ) | |
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152
mire
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| n.泥沼，泥泞；v.使...陷于泥泞，使...陷入困境 | |
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153
caressingly
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| 爱抚地，亲切地 | |
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154
lighter
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| n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级 | |
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155
devouring
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| 吞没( devour的现在分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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156
renounce
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| v.放弃；拒绝承认，宣布与…断绝关系 | |
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157
cedars
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| 雪松，西洋杉( cedar的名词复数 ) | |
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158
jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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159
humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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160
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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161
joyful
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| adj.欢乐的，令人欢欣的 | |
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162
gliding
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| v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的 | |
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163
copiously
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| adv.丰富地，充裕地 | |
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164
maidens
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| 处女( maiden的名词复数 )； 少女； 未婚女子； （板球运动）未得分的一轮投球 | |
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165
shackles
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| 手铐( shackle的名词复数 )； 脚镣； 束缚； 羁绊 | |
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166
outrageous
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| adj.无理的，令人不能容忍的 | |
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167
eyelids
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| n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 )；眼睛也不眨一下；不露声色；面不改色 | |
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168
rustling
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| n. 瑟瑟声，沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的 | |
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169
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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170
shrieks
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| n.尖叫声( shriek的名词复数 )v.尖叫( shriek的第三人称单数 ) | |
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171
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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172
trumpets
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| 喇叭( trumpet的名词复数 )； 小号； 喇叭形物； （尤指）绽开的水仙花 | |
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173
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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174
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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175
tawny
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| adj.茶色的，黄褐色的；n.黄褐色 | |
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176
aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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177
filth
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| n.肮脏，污物，污秽；淫猥 | |
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178
presentiment
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| n.预感，预觉 | |
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179
touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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180
hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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181
encumbered
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| v.妨碍，阻碍，拖累( encumber的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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182
wrecks
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| n.沉船( wreck的名词复数 )；（事故中）遭严重毁坏的汽车（或飞机等）；（身体或精神上）受到严重损伤的人；状况非常糟糕的车辆（或建筑物等）v.毁坏[毁灭]某物( wreck的第三人称单数 )；使（船舶）失事，使遇难，使下沉 | |
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183
eternity
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| n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷 | |
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184
frenzy
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| n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动 | |
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185
majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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186
riveted
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| 铆接( rivet的过去式和过去分词 )； 把…固定住； 吸引； 引起某人的注意 | |
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187
devoured
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| 吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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188
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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189
uproar
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| n.骚动，喧嚣，鼎沸 | |
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190
random
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| adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动 | |
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191
impeded
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| 阻碍，妨碍，阻止( impede的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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192
sonorous
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| adj.响亮的，回响的；adv.圆润低沉地；感人地；n.感人，堂皇 | |
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193
galley
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| n.（飞机或船上的）厨房单层甲板大帆船；军舰舰长用的大划艇； | |
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194
disquieted
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| v.使不安，使忧虑，使烦恼( disquiet的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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195
obedience
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| n.服从，顺从 | |
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196
gallop
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| v./n.(马或骑马等)飞奔；飞速发展 | |
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197
thronging
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| v.成群，挤满( throng的现在分词 ) | |
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198
armour
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| （=armor）n.盔甲；装甲部队 | |
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199
clarion
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| n.尖音小号声；尖音小号 | |
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200
descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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201
torrents
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| n.倾注；奔流( torrent的名词复数 )；急流；爆发；连续不断 | |
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202
thorny
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| adj.多刺的，棘手的 | |
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203
heralds
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| n.使者( herald的名词复数 )；预报者；预兆；传令官v.预示( herald的第三人称单数 )；宣布（好或重要） | |
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204
outstripped
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| v.做得比…更好，（在赛跑等中）超过( outstrip的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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205
galloped
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| （使马）飞奔，奔驰( gallop的过去式和过去分词 )； 快速做[说]某事 | |
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206
bellies
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| n.肚子( belly的名词复数 )；腹部；（物体的）圆形或凸起部份；腹部…形的 | |
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207
resolutely
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| adj.坚决地，果断地 | |
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208
javelins
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| n.标枪( javelin的名词复数 ) | |
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209
prostrated
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| v.使俯伏，使拜倒( prostrate的过去式和过去分词 )；（指疾病、天气等）使某人无能为力 | |
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210
bondage
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| n.奴役，束缚 | |
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211
fidelity
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| n.忠诚，忠实；精确 | |
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212
evade
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| vt.逃避，回避；避开，躲避 | |
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213
Forsaken
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| adj. 被遗忘的, 被抛弃的 动词forsake的过去分词 | |
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214
grudge
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| n.不满，怨恨，妒嫉；vt.勉强给，不情愿做 | |
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215
auxiliary
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| adj.辅助的，备用的 | |
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216
infantry
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| n.[总称]步兵(部队) | |
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217
exterminate
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| v.扑灭，消灭，根绝 | |
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218
resounded
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| v.（指声音等）回荡于某处( resound的过去式和过去分词 )；产生回响；（指某处）回荡着声音 | |
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219
discreet
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| adj.(言行)谨慎的；慎重的；有判断力的 | |
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220
prostrating
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| v.使俯伏，使拜倒( prostrate的现在分词 )；（指疾病、天气等）使某人无能为力 | |
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221
betrothal
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| n. 婚约, 订婚 | |
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222
rebounding
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| 蹦跳运动 | |
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