The curving road, which in that direction leads from Pompeii to Herculaneum, wound out of sight amidst hanging vines, above which frowned the sullen23 majesty24 of Vesuvius.
'Hast thou heard the news, old Medon?' said a young woman, with a pitcher25 in her hand, as she paused by Diomed's door to gossip a moment with the slave, ere she repaired to the neighboring inn to fill the vessel27, and coquet with the travellers.
'Why, there passed through the gate this morning, no doubt ere thou wert well awake, such a visitor to Pompeii!'
'Ay,' said the slave, indifferently.
'Yes, a present from the noble Pomponianus.'
'A present! I thought thou saidst a visitor?'
'It is both visitor and present. Know, O dull and stupid! that it is a most beautiful young tiger, for our approaching games in the amphitheatre. Hear you that, Medon? Oh, what pleasure! I declare I shall not sleep a wink29 till I see it; they say it has such a roar!'
'Fool me no fool, old churl31! It is a pretty thing, a tiger, especially if we could but find somebody for him to eat. We have now a lion and a tiger; only consider that, Medon! and for want of two good criminals perhaps we shall be forced to see them eat each other. By-the-by, your son is a gladiator, a handsome man and a strong, can you not persuade him to fight the tiger? Do now, you would oblige me mightily32; nay33, you would be a benefactor34 to the whole town.'
'Vah! vah!' said the slave, with great asperity35; 'think of thine own danger ere thou thus pratest of my poor boy's death.'
'My own danger!' said the girl, frightened and looking hastily around—'Avert the omen26! let thy words fall on thine own head!' And the girl, as she spoke37, touched a talisman38 suspended round her neck. '"Thine own danger!" what danger threatens me?'
'Had the earthquake but a few nights since no warning?' said Medon. 'Has it not a voice? Did it not say to us all, "Prepare for death; the end of all things is at hand?"'
'Bah, stuff!' said the young woman, settling the folds of her tunic39. 'Now thou talkest as they say the Nazarenes talked—methinks thou art one of them. Well, I can prate36 with thee, grey croaker, no more: thou growest worse and worse—Vale! O Hercules, send us a man for the lion—and another for the tiger!'
Ho! ho! for the merry, merry show,
With a forest of faces in every row!
Lo, the swordsmen, bold as the son of Alcmena,
Talk while you may—you will hold your breath
When they meet in the grasp of the glowing death.
Tramp, tramp, how gaily they go!
Ho! ho! for the merry, merry show!
Chanting in a silver and clear voice this feminine ditty, and holding up her tunic from the dusty road, the young woman stepped lightly across to the crowded hostelry.
'My poor son!' said the slave, half aloud, 'is it for things like this thou art to be butchered? Oh! faith of Christ, I could worship thee in all sincerity42, were it but for the horror which thou inspirest for these bloody43 lists.'
The old man's head sank dejectedly on his breast. He remained silent and absorbed, but every now and then with the corner of his sleeve he wiped his eyes. His heart was with his son; he did not see the figure that now approached from the gate with a quick step, and a somewhat fierce and reckless gait and carriage. He did not lift his eyes till the figure paused opposite the place where he sat, and with a soft voice addressed him by the name of:
'Father!'
'My boy! my Lydon! is it indeed thou?' said the old man, joyfully44. 'Ah, thou wert present to my thoughts.'
'I am glad to hear it, my father,' said the gladiator, respectfully touching45 the knees and beard of the slave; 'and soon may I be always present with thee, not in thought only.'
'Yes, my son—but not in this world,' replied the slave, mournfully.
'Talk not thus, O my sire! look cheerfully, for I feel so—I am sure that I shall win the day; and then, the gold I gain buys thy freedom. Oh! my father, it was but a few days since that I was taunted46, by one, too, whom I would gladly have undeceived, for he is more generous than the rest of his equals. He is not Roman—he is of Athens—by him I was taunted with the lust47 of gain—when I demanded what sum was the prize of victory. Alas48! he little knew the soul of Lydon!'
'My boy! my boy!' said the old slave, as, slowly ascending49 the steps, he conducted his son to his own little chamber50, communicating with the entrance hall (which in this villa was the peristyle, not the atrium)—you may see it now; it is the third door to the right on entering. (The first door conducts to the staircase; the second is but a false recess, in which there stood a statue of bronze.) 'Generous, affectionate, pious51 as are thy motives,' said Medon, when they were thus secured from observation, 'thy deed itself is guilt52: thou art to risk thy blood for thy father's freedom—that might be forgiven; but the prize of victory is the blood of another. Oh, that is a deadly sin; no object can purify it. Forbear! forbear! rather would I be a slave for ever than purchase liberty on such terms!'
'Hush40, my father!' replied Lydon, somewhat impatiently; 'thou hast picked up in this new creed53 of thine, of which I pray thee not to speak to me, for the gods that gave me strength denied me wisdom, and I understand not one word of what thou often preachest to me—thou hast picked up, I say, in this new creed, some singular fantasies of right and wrong. Pardon me if I offend thee: but reflect! Against whom shall I contend? Oh! couldst thou know those wretches54 with whom, for thy sake, I assort, thou wouldst think I purified earth by removing one of them. Beasts, whose very lips drop blood; things, all savage55, unprincipled in their very courage: ferocious56, heartless, senseless; no tie of life can bind57 them: they know not fear, it is true—but neither know they gratitude58, nor charity, nor love; they are made but for their own career, to slaughter59 without pity, to die without dread60! Can thy gods, whosoever they be, look with wrath61 on a conflict with such as these, and in such a cause? Oh, My father, wherever the powers above gaze down on earth, they behold62 no duty so sacred, so sanctifying, as the sacrifice offered to an aged63 parent by the piety64 of a grateful son!'
The poor old slave, himself deprived of the lights of knowledge, and only late a convert to the Christian65 faith, knew not with what arguments to enlighten an ignorance at once so dark, and yet so beautiful in its error. His first impulse was to throw himself on his son's breast—his next to start away to wring66 his hands; and in the attempt to reprove, his broken voice lost itself in weeping.
'And if,' resumed Lydon—'if thy Deity67 (methinks thou wilt68 own but one?) be indeed that benevolent69 and pitying Power which thou assertest Him to be, He will know also that thy very faith in Him first confirmed me in that determination thou blamest.'
'How! what mean you?' said the slave.
'Why, thou knowest that I, sold in my childhood as a slave, was set free at Rome by the will of my master, whom I had been fortunate enough to please. I hastened to Pompeii to see thee—I found thee already aged and infirm, under the yoke70 of a capricious and pampered71 lord—thou hadst lately adopted this new faith, and its adoption72 made thy slavery doubly painful to thee; it took away all the softening73 charm of custom, which reconciles us so often to the worst. Didst thou not complain to me that thou wert compelled to offices that were not odious74 to thee as a slave, but guilty as a Nazarene? Didst thou not tell me that thy soul shook with remorse75 when thou wert compelled to place even a crumb76 of cake before the Lares that watch over yon impluvium? that thy soul was torn by a perpetual struggle? Didst thou not tell me that even by pouring wine before the threshold, and calling on the name of some Grecian deity, thou didst fear thou wert incurring77 penalties worse than those of Tantalus, an eternity78 of tortures more terrible than those of the Tartarian fields? Didst thou not tell me this? I wondered, I could not comprehend; nor, by Hercules! can I now: but I was thy son, and my sole task was to compassionate79 and relieve. Could I hear thy groans80, could I witness thy mysterious horrors, thy constant anguish81, and remain inactive? No! by the immortal82 gods! the thought struck me like light from Olympus! I had no money, but I had strength and youth—these were thy gifts—I could sell these in my turn for thee! I learned the amount of thy ransom—I learned that the usual prize of a victorious83 gladiator would doubly pay it. I became a gladiator—I linked myself with those accursed men, scorning, loathing84, while I joined—I acquired their skill—blessed be the lesson!—it shall teach me to free my father!'
'Oh, that thou couldst hear Olinthus!' sighed the old man, more and more affected85 by the virtue86 of his son, but not less strongly convinced of the criminality of his purpose.
'I will hear the whole world talk if thou wilt,' answered the gladiator, gaily; 'but not till thou art a slave no more. Beneath thy own roof, my father, thou shalt puzzle this dull brain all day long, ay, and all night too, if it give thee pleasure. Oh, such a spot as I have chalked out for thee!—it is one of the nine hundred and ninety-nine shops of old Julia Felix, in the sunny part of the city, where thou mayst bask87 before the door in the day—and I will sell the oil and the wine for thee, my father—and then, please Venus (or if it does not please her, since thou lovest not her name, it is all one to Lydon)—then, I say, perhaps thou mayst have a daughter, too, to tend thy grey hairs, and hear shrill88 voices at thy knee, that shall call thee "Lydon's father!" Ah! we shall be so happy—the prize can purchase all. Cheer thee! cheer up, my sire!—And now I must away—day wears—the lanista waits me. Come! thy blessing89!'
As Lydon thus spoke, he had already quitted the dark chamber of his father; and speaking eagerly, though in a whispered tone, they now stood at the same place in which we introduced the porter at his post.
'O bless thee! bless thee, my brave boy!' said Medon, fervently90; 'and may the great Power that reads all hearts see the nobleness of thine, and forgive its error!'
The tall shape of the gladiator passed swiftly down the path; the eyes of the slave followed its light but stately steps, till the last glimpse was gone; and then, sinking once more on his seat, his eyes again fastened themselves on the ground. His form, mute and unmoving, as a thing of stone. His heart!—who, in our happier age, can even imagine its struggles—its commotion91?
'May I enter?' said a sweet voice. 'Is thy mistress Julia within?'
The slave mechanically motioned to the visitor to enter, but she who addressed him could not see the gesture—she repeated her question timidly, but in a louder voice.
'Thanks,' said the speaker, plaintively93; and the slave, roused by the tone, looked up, and recognized the blind flower-girl. Sorrow can sympathize with affliction—he raised himself, and guided her steps to the head of the adjacent staircase (by which you descended94 to Julia's apartment), where, summoning a female slave, he consigned95 to her the charge of the blind girl.
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1
ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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mansion
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| n.大厦，大楼；宅第 | |
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luxurious
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| adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的 | |
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spacious
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| adj.广阔的，宽敞的 | |
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wagons
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| n.四轮的运货马车( wagon的名词复数 )；铁路货车；小手推车 | |
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bustle
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| v.喧扰地忙乱，匆忙，奔忙；n.忙碌；喧闹 | |
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animated
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| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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gaily
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| adv.欢乐地，高兴地 | |
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conversing
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| v.交谈，谈话( converse的现在分词 ) | |
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recess
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| n.短期休息，壁凹（墙上装架子，柜子等凹处） | |
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denizens
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| n.居民，住户( denizen的名词复数 ) | |
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villa
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| n.别墅，城郊小屋 | |
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13
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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14
varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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foliage
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| n.叶子，树叶，簇叶 | |
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16
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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17
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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niche
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| n.壁龛；合适的职务(环境、位置等) | |
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19
sentry
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| n.哨兵，警卫 | |
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crest
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| n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖 | |
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21
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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22
picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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23
sullen
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| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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24
majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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25
pitcher
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| n.(有嘴和柄的)大水罐；(棒球)投手 | |
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26
omen
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| n.征兆，预兆；vt.预示 | |
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27
vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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28
moodily
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| adv.喜怒无常地；情绪多变地；心情不稳地；易生气地 | |
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29
wink
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| n.眨眼，使眼色，瞬间；v.眨眼，使眼色，闪烁 | |
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30
cynically
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| adv.爱嘲笑地，冷笑地 | |
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31
churl
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| n.吝啬之人；粗鄙之人 | |
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32
mightily
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| ad.强烈地；非常地 | |
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33
nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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34
benefactor
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| n. 恩人，行善的人，捐助人 | |
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35
asperity
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| n.粗鲁，艰苦 | |
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prate
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| v.瞎扯，胡说 | |
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37
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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38
talisman
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| n.避邪物，护身符 | |
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39
tunic
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| n.束腰外衣 | |
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40
hush
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| int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静 | |
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41
arena
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| n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台 | |
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42
sincerity
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| n.真诚，诚意；真实 | |
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43
bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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44
joyfully
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| adv. 喜悦地, 高兴地 | |
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45
touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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46
taunted
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| 嘲讽( taunt的过去式和过去分词 )； 嘲弄； 辱骂； 奚落 | |
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47
lust
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| n.性(淫)欲；渴(欲)望；vi.对…有强烈的欲望 | |
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48
alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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49
ascending
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| adj.上升的，向上的 | |
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50
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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51
pious
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| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
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52
guilt
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| n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责 | |
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53
creed
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| n.信条；信念，纲领 | |
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54
wretches
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| n.不幸的人( wretch的名词复数 )；可怜的人；恶棍；坏蛋 | |
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55
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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56
ferocious
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| adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的 | |
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57
bind
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| vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬 | |
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58
gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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59
slaughter
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| n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀 | |
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60
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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61
wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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62
behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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piety
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| n.虔诚，虔敬 | |
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65
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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66
wring
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| n.扭绞；v.拧，绞出，扭 | |
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67
deity
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| n.神，神性；被奉若神明的人(或物) | |
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68
wilt
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| v.(使)植物凋谢或枯萎；(指人)疲倦，衰弱 | |
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69
benevolent
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| adj.仁慈的，乐善好施的 | |
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70
yoke
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| n.轭；支配；v.给...上轭，连接，使成配偶 | |
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71
pampered
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| adj.饮食过量的，饮食奢侈的v.纵容，宠，娇养( pamper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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72
adoption
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| n.采用，采纳，通过；收养 | |
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73
softening
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| 变软，软化 | |
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odious
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| adj.可憎的，讨厌的 | |
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75
remorse
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| n.痛恨，悔恨，自责 | |
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76
crumb
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| n.饼屑，面包屑，小量 | |
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77
incurring
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| 遭受，招致，引起( incur的现在分词 ) | |
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78
eternity
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| n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷 | |
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79
compassionate
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| adj.有同情心的，表示同情的 | |
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80
groans
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| n.呻吟，叹息( groan的名词复数 )；呻吟般的声音v.呻吟( groan的第三人称单数 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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81
anguish
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| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
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82
immortal
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| adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的 | |
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83
victorious
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| adj.胜利的，得胜的 | |
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84
loathing
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| n.厌恶，憎恨v.憎恨，厌恶( loathe的现在分词)；极不喜欢 | |
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85
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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86
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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87
bask
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| vt.取暖，晒太阳，沐浴于 | |
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88
shrill
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| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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89
blessing
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| n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿 | |
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90
fervently
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| adv.热烈地，热情地，强烈地 | |
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91
commotion
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| n.骚动，动乱 | |
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92
peevishly
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| adv．暴躁地 | |
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93
plaintively
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| adv.悲哀地，哀怨地 | |
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94
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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95
consigned
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| v.把…置于（令人不快的境地）( consign的过去式和过去分词 )；把…托付给；把…托人代售；丟弃 | |
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