The most interesting passage that has come down to us, dealing6 with the whole question of the power of the dead to appear to those whom they love in dreams, is undoubtedly7 Quintilian's Tenth Declamation8. The fact that the greatest teacher of rhetoric9 of his day actually chose it as a subject for one of his model speeches shows how important a part it must have played in the feelings of educated Romans of the time. The story is as follows.
A mother was plunged10 in grief at the loss of her favourite son, when, on the night of the funeral, which had been long delayed at her earnest request, the boy appeared to her in a vision, and remained with her all night, kissing her and fondling her as if he were alive. He did not leave her till daybreak. "All that survives of a son," says Quintilian, "will remain in close communion with his mother when he dies." In her unselfishness, she begs her son not to withhold11 the comfort which he has brought to her from his father. But the father, when he hears the story, does not at all relish12 the idea of a visit from his son's ghost, and is, in fact, terrified at the prospect13. He says nothing to the mother, who had moved the gods of the world above no less than those of the world below by the violence of her grief and the importunity14 of her prayers, but at once sends for a sorcerer. As soon as he arrives, the sorcerer is taken to the family tomb, which has its place in the city of the dead that stretches along the highway from the town gate. The magic spell is wound about the grave, and the urn3 is finally sealed with the dread15 words, until at last the hapless boy has become, in very truth, a lifeless shade. Finally, we are told, the sorcerer threw himself upon the urn itself and breathed his spells into the very bones and ashes. This at least he admitted, as he looked up: "The spirit resists. Spells are not enough. We must close the grave completely and bind16 the stones together with iron." His suggestions are carried out, and at last he declares that all has been accomplished17 successfully. "Now he is really dead. He cannot appear or come out. This night will prove the truth of my words." The boy never afterwards appeared, either to his mother or to anyone else.
The mother is beside herself with grief. Her son's spirit, which had successfully baffled the gods of the lower world in its desire to visit her, is now, thanks to these foreign spells, dashing itself against the top of the grave, unable to understand the weight that has been placed upon it to keep it from escaping. Not only do the spells shut the boy in—he might possibly have broken through these—but the iron bands and solid fastenings have once again brought him face to face with death. This very realistic, if rather material, picture of a human soul mewed up for ever in the grave gives us a clear idea of the popular belief in Rome about the future life, and enables us to realize the full meaning of the inscription, "Sit tibi terra levis" (May the earth press lightly upon thee), which is so common upon Roman tombs as often to be abbreviated18 to "S.T.T.L."
The speech is supposed to be delivered in an action for cruelty[74] brought by the wife against her husband, and in the course of it the father is spoken of as a parricide19 for what he has done. He defends himself by saying that he took the steps which are the cause of the action for his wife's peace of mind. To this plea it is answered that the ghost of a son could never frighten a mother, though other spirits, if unknown to her, might conceivably do so.
In the course of the speech we are told that the spirit, when freed from the body, bathes itself in fire and makes for its home among the stars, where other fates await it. Then it remembers the body in which it once dwelt. Hence the dead return to visit those who once were dear to them on earth, and become oracles20, and give us timely warnings, and are conscious of the victims we offer them, and welcome the honours paid them at their tombs.
The Declamation ends, like most Roman speeches, with an appeal: in this case to the sorcerer and the husband to remove the spells; especially to the sorcerer, who has power to torture the gods above and the spirits of the dead; who, by the terror of his midnight cries, can move the deepest caves, can shake the very foundations of the earth. "You are able both to call up the spirits that serve you and to act as their cruel and ruthless gaoler. Listen for once to a mother's prayers, and let them soften21 your heart."
Then we have the story of Thrasyllus, as told by Apuleius,[75] which is thoroughly22 modern in its romantic tone. He was in love with the wife of his friend, Tlepolemus, whom he treacherously23 murdered while out hunting. His crime is not discovered, and he begins to press his suit for her hand to her parents almost immediately. The widow's grief is heart-rending. She refuses food and altogether neglects herself, hoping that the gods will hear her prayer and allow her to rejoin her husband. At last, however, she is persuaded by her parents, at Thrasyllus's instance, to give ordinary care to her own health. But she passes her days before the likeness24 of the deceased, which she has had made in the image of that of the god Liber, paying it divine honours and finding her one comfort in thus fomenting25 her own sufferings.
When she hears of Thrasyllus's suit, she rejects it with scorn and horror; and then at night her dead husband appears to her and describes exactly what happened, and begs her to avenge26 him. She requires no urging, and almost immediately decides on the course that her vengeance27 shall take. She has Thrasyllus informed that she cannot come to any definite decision till her year of mourning is over. Meanwhile, however, she consents to receive his visits at night, and promises to arrange for her old nurse to let him in. Overjoyed at his success, Thrasyllus comes at the hour appointed, and is duly admitted by the old nurse. The house is in complete darkness, but he is given a cup of wine and left to himself. The wine has been drugged, however, and he sinks into a deep slumber28. Then Tlepolemus's widow comes and triumphs over her enemy, who has fallen so easily into her hands. She will not kill him as he killed her husband. "Neither the peace of death nor the joy of life shall be yours," she exclaims. "You shall wander like a restless shade between Orcus and the light of day.... The blood of your eyes I shall offer up at the tomb of my beloved Tlepolemus, and with them I shall propitiate29 his blessed spirit." At these words she takes a pin from her hair and blinds him. Then she rushes through the streets, with a sword in her hand to frighten anyone who might try to stop her, to her husband's tomb, where, after telling all her story, she slays30 herself.
Thither31 Thrasyllus followed her, declaring that he dedicated32 himself to the Manes of his own free-will. He carefully shut the tomb upon himself, and starved himself to death.
This is by far the best of the stories in which we find a vision of the dead in sleep playing an important part; but there is also the well-known tale of the Byzantine maiden33 Cleonice.[76] She was of high birth, but had the misfortune to attract the attention of the Spartan34 Pausanias, who was in command of the united Greek fleet at the Hellespont after the battle of Plat?a. Like many Spartans35, when first brought into contact with real luxury after his frugal36 upbringing at home, he completely lost his mental balance, and grew intoxicated37 with the splendour of his position, endeavouring to imitate the Persians in their manners, and even aspiring38, it is said, to become tyrant39 of the whole of Greece. Cleonice was brutally40 torn from her parents and brought to his room at night. He was asleep at the time, and being awakened41 by the noise, he imagined that someone had broken into his room with the object of murdering him, and snatched up a sword and killed her. After this her ghost appeared to him every night, bidding him "go to the fate which pride and lust42 prepare." He is said to have visited a temple at Heraclea, where he had her spirit called up and implored43 her pardon. She duly appeared, and told him that "he would soon be delivered from all his troubles after his return to Sparta"—an ambiguous way of prophesying44 his death, which occurred soon afterwards. She was certainly avenged45 in the manner of it.
Before leaving these stories of visions of the dead, we must not omit to mention that charming poem of Virgil's younger days, the Culex (The Gnat46). Just as the first sketch47 of Macaulay's famous character of William III. is said to be contained in a Cambridge prize essay on the subject, so the Culex contains the first draft of some of the greatest passages in Virgil's later works—the beautiful description of the charms of country life in the Georgics, for instance, and the account of Tartarus in the sixth book of the ?neid. The story is slight, as was usually the case in these little epics48, where the purple patches are more important than the plot. A shepherd falls asleep in the shade by a cool fountain, just as he would do in Southern Italy to-day, for his rest after the midday meal. Suddenly a snake, the horrors of which are described with a vividness that is truly Virgilian, appears upon the scene and prepares to strike the shepherd. A passing gnat, the hero of the poem, sees the danger, and wakes the shepherd by stinging him in the eye. He springs up angrily, brushes it off with his hand, and dashes it lifeless to the ground. Then, to his horror, he sees the snake, and promptly49 kills it with the branch of a tree.
While he lies asleep that night, the ghost of the gnat appears to him in a dream, and bitterly reproaches him for the cruel death with which it has been rewarded for its heroic services. Charon has now claimed it for his own. It goes on to give a lurid50 description of the horrors of Tartarus, and contrasts its hard lot with that of the shepherd. When he wakes, the shepherd is filled with remorse51 for his conduct and is also, perhaps, afraid of being continually haunted by the ghost of his tiny benefactor52. He therefore sets to work to raise a mound53 in honour of the gnat, facing it with marble. Round it he plants all kinds of flowers, especially violets and roses, the flowers usually offered to the dead, and cuts on a marble slab54 the following inscription: "Little gnat, the shepherd dedicates to thee thy meed of a tomb in return for the life thou gavest him."[77]
There is also an interesting story of Pindar, told by Pausanias.[78] In his old age the great poet dreamt that Persephone appeared to him and told him that she alone of all the goddesses had not been celebrated55 in song by him, but that he should pay the debt when he came to her. Shortly after this he died. There was, however, a relation of his, a woman then far advanced in years, who had practised the singing of most of his hymns56. To her Pindar appeared in a dream and sang the hymn57 to Proserpine, which she wrote down from memory when she awoke.
I have included one or two stories of apparitions58 in dreams among those in the next section, as they seemed to be more in place there.
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1
wraiths
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| n.幽灵( wraith的名词复数 )；（传说中人在将死或死后不久的）显形阴魂 | |
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strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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urn
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| n.（有座脚的）瓮；坟墓；骨灰瓮 | |
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touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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inscription
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| n.（尤指石块上的）刻印文字，铭文，碑文 | |
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dealing
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| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
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undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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declamation
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| n. 雄辩，高调 | |
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rhetoric
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| n.修辞学，浮夸之言语 | |
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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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withhold
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| v.拒绝，不给；使停止，阻挡 | |
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relish
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| n.滋味，享受，爱好，调味品；vt.加调味料，享受，品味；vi.有滋味 | |
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prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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importunity
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| n.硬要，强求 | |
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dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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bind
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| vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬 | |
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accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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abbreviated
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| adj. 简短的，省略的 动词abbreviate的过去式和过去分词 | |
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parricide
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| n.杀父母；杀亲罪 | |
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oracles
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| 神示所( oracle的名词复数 )； 神谕； 圣贤； 哲人 | |
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21
soften
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| v.(使)变柔软；(使)变柔和 | |
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thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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23
treacherously
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| 背信弃义地； 背叛地； 靠不住地； 危险地 | |
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24
likeness
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| n.相像，相似（之处） | |
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fomenting
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| v.激起，煽动（麻烦等）( foment的现在分词 ) | |
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avenge
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| v.为...复仇，为...报仇 | |
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vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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28
slumber
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| n.睡眠，沉睡状态 | |
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propitiate
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| v.慰解，劝解 | |
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slays
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| 杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的第三人称单数 ) | |
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thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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dedicated
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| adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的 | |
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maiden
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| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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spartan
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| adj.简朴的，刻苦的；n.斯巴达；斯巴达式的人 | |
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spartans
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| n.斯巴达（spartan的复数形式） | |
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frugal
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| adj.节俭的，节约的，少量的，微量的 | |
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intoxicated
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| 喝醉的，极其兴奋的 | |
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aspiring
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| adj.有志气的；有抱负的；高耸的v.渴望；追求 | |
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tyrant
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| n.暴君，专制的君主，残暴的人 | |
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40
brutally
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| adv.残忍地，野蛮地，冷酷无情地 | |
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41
awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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42
lust
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| n.性(淫)欲；渴(欲)望；vi.对…有强烈的欲望 | |
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43
implored
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| 恳求或乞求（某人）( implore的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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prophesying
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| v.预告，预言( prophesy的现在分词 ) | |
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45
avenged
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| v.为…复仇，报…之仇( avenge的过去式和过去分词 )；为…报复 | |
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46
gnat
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| v.对小事斤斤计较，琐事 | |
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47
sketch
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| n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述 | |
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48
epics
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| n.叙事诗( epic的名词复数 )；壮举；惊人之举；史诗般的电影（或书籍） | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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lurid
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| adj.可怕的；血红的；苍白的 | |
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51
remorse
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| n.痛恨，悔恨，自责 | |
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52
benefactor
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| n. 恩人，行善的人，捐助人 | |
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53
mound
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| n.土墩，堤，小山；v.筑堤，用土堆防卫 | |
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slab
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| n.平板，厚的切片；v.切成厚板，以平板盖上 | |
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celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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hymns
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| n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌( hymn的名词复数 ) | |
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hymn
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| n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌 | |
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58
apparitions
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| n.特异景象( apparition的名词复数 )；幽灵；鬼；（特异景象等的）出现 | |
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