Book: The Satyricon, Vol. 1, Introduction
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Petronius Arbiter >> The Satyricon, Vol. 1, Introduction
This is the account given by his Spanish biographer. In his preface,
dedicated to the Army of the Rhine, he states that he found the fragment
in a manuscript of the work of St. Gennadius on the Duties of Priests,
probably of the XI Century. A close examination revealed the fact that
it was a palimpsest which, after treatment, permitted the restoration of
this fragment. It is supposed to supply the gap in Chapter 26 after the
word "verberabant."
Its obscenity outrivals that of the preceding text, and the grammar,
style, and curiosa felicitas Petroniana make it an almost perfect
imitation. There is no internal evidence of forgery. If the text is
closely scrutinized it will be seen that it is composed of words and
expressions taken from various parts of the Satyricon, "and that in every
line it has exactly the Petronian turn of phrase."
"Not only is the original edition unprocurable," to quote again from
Mr. Gaselee's invaluable bibliography, "but the reprint at Soleure
(Brussels), 1865, consisted of only 120 copies, and is hard to find.
The most accessible place for English readers is in Bohn's translation,
in which, however, only the Latin text is given; and the notes were a
most important part of the original work."
These notes, humorously and perhaps sarcastically ascribed to Lallemand,
Sanctae Theologiae Doctor, "are six in number (all on various forms of
vice); and show great knowledge, classical and sociological, of unsavory
subjects. Now that the book is too rare to do us any harm, we may admit
that the pastiche was not only highly amusing, but showed a perverse
cleverness amounting almost to genius."
Marchena died at Madrid in great poverty in 1821. A contemporary has
described him as being rather short and heavy set in figure, of great
frontal development, and vain beyond belief. He considered himself
invincible where women were concerned. He had a peculiar predilection
in the choice of animal pets and was an object of fear and curiosity
to the towns people. His forgery might have been completely successful
had he not acknowledged it himself within two or three years after the
publication of his brochure. The fragment will remain a permanent
tribute to the excellence of his scholarship, but it is his Ode to Christ
Crucified which has made him more generally known, and it is one of the
ironies of fate that caused this deformed giant of sarcasm to compose a
poem of such tender and touching piety.
Very little is known about Don Joe Antonio Gonzalez de Salas, whose
connecting passages, with the exception of one which is irrelevant, are
here included.
The learned editors of the Spanish encyclopedia naively preface their
brief sketch with the following assertion: "no tenemos noticias de su
vida." De Salas was born in 1588 and died in 1654. His edition of
Petronius was first issued in 1629 and re-issued in 1643 with a copper
plate of the Editor. The Paris edition, from which he says he supplied
certain deficiencies in the text, is unknown to bibliographers and is
supposed to be fictitious.
To distinguish the spurious passages, as a point of interest, in the
present edition, the forgeries of Nodot are printed within round
brackets, the forgery of Marchena within square brackets, and the
additions of De Salas in italics {In this PG etext in curly brackets}.
The work is also accompanied by a translation of the six notes, the
composition of which led Marchena to forge the fragment which first
appeared in the year 1800. These have never before been translated.
Thanks are due Ralph Straus, Esq., and Professor Stephen Gaselee.
THE SATYRICON OF
PETRONIUS ARBITER
BRACKET CODE:
(Forgeries of Nodot)
[Forgeries of Marchena]
{Additions of De Salas}
DW
VOLUME 1.--ADVENTURES OF ENCOLPIUS AND HIS COMPANIONS
CHAPTER THE FIRST.
(It has been so long; since I promised you the story of my adventures,
that I have decided to make good my word today; and, seeing that we have
thus fortunately met, not to discuss scientific matters alone, but also
to enliven our jolly conversation with witty stories. Fabricius Veiento
has already spoken very cleverly on the errors committed in the name of
religion, and shown how priests, animated by an hypocritical mania for
prophecy, boldly expound mysteries which are too often such to
themselves. But) are our rhetoricians tormented by another species of
Furies when they cry, "I received these wounds while fighting for the
public liberty; I lost this eye in your defense: give me a guide who will
lead me to my children, my limbs are hamstrung and will not hold me up!"
Even these heroics could be endured if they made easier the road to
eloquence; but as it is, their sole gain from this ferment of matter and
empty discord of words is, that when they step into the Forum, they think
they have been carried into another world. And it is my conviction that
the schools are responsible for the gross foolishness of our young men,
because, in them, they see or hear nothing at all of the affairs of
every-day life, but only pirates standing in chains upon the shore,
tyrants scribbling edicts in which sons are ordered to behead their own
fathers; responses from oracles, delivered in time of pestilence,
ordering the immolation of three or more virgins; every word a honied
drop, every period sprinkled with poppy-seed and sesame.
CHAPTER THE SECOND.
Those who are brought up on such a diet can no more attain to wisdom than
a kitchen scullion can attain to a keen sense of smell or avoid stinking
of the grease. With your indulgence, I will speak out: you--teachers
--are chiefly responsible for the decay of oratory. With your well
modulated and empty tones you have so labored for rhetorical effect that
the body of your speech has lost its vigor and died. Young men did not
learn set speeches in the days when Sophocles and Euripides were
searching for words in which to express themselves. In the days when
Pindar and the nine lyric poets feared to attempt Homeric verse there was
no private tutor to stifle budding genius. I need not cite the poets for
evidence, for I do not find that either Plato or Demosthenes was given
to this kind of exercise. A dignified and, if I may say it, a chaste,
style, is neither elaborate nor loaded with ornament; it rises supreme by
its own natural purity. This windy and high-sounding bombast, a recent
immigrant to Athens, from Asia, touched with its breath the aspiring
minds of youth, with the effect of some pestilential planet, and as soon
as the tradition of the past was broken, eloquence halted and was
stricken dumb. Since that, who has attained to the sublimity of
Thucydides, who rivalled the fame of Hyperides? Not a single poem
has glowed with a healthy color, but all of them, as though nourished
on the same diet, lacked the strength to live to old age. Painting
also suffered the same fate when the presumption of the Egyptians
"commercialized" that incomparable art. (I was holding forth along these
lines one day, when Agamemnon came up to us and scanned with a curious
eye a person to whom the audience was listening so closely.)
CHAPTER THE THIRD.
He would not permit me to declaim longer in the portico than he himself
had sweat in the school, but exclaimed, "Your sentiments do not reflect
the public taste, young man, and you are a lover of common sense, which
is still more unusual. For that reason, I will not deceive you as to the
secrets of my profession. The teachers, who must gibber with lunatics,
are by no means to blame for these exercises. Unless they spoke in
accordance with the dictates of their young pupils, they would, as Cicero
remarks, be left alone in the schools! And, as designing parasites, when
they seek invitations to the tables of the rich, have in mind nothing
except what will, in their opinion, be most acceptable to their audience
--for in no other way can they secure their ends, save by setting snares
for the ears--so it is with the teachers of rhetoric, they might be
compared with the fisherman, who, unless he baits his hook with what he
knows is most appetizing to the little fish, may wait all day upon some
rock, without the hope of a catch."
CHAPTER THE FOURTH.
What, then, is there to do? The parents who are unwilling to permit
their children to undergo a course of training under strict discipline,
are the ones who deserve the reproof. In the first place, everything
they possess, including the children, is devoted to ambition. Then, that
their wishes may the more quickly be realized, they drive these unripe
scholars into the forum, and the profession of eloquence, than which none
is considered nobler, devolves upon boys who are still in the act of
being born! If, however, they would permit a graded course of study to
be prescribed, in order that studious boys might ripen their minds by
diligent reading; balance their judgment by precepts of wisdom, correct
their compositions with an unsparing pen, hear at length what they ought
to imitate, and be convinced that nothing can be sublime when it is
designed to catch the fancy of boys, then the grand style of oratory
would immediately recover the weight and splendor of its majesty. Now
the boys play in the schools, the young men are laughed at in the forum,
and, a worse symptom than either, no one, in his old age, will confess
the errors he was taught in his school days. But that you may not
imagine that I disapprove of a jingle in the Lucilian manner, I will
deliver my opinions in verse,--
CHAPTER THE FIFTH.
"The man who emerges with fame, from the school of stern art,
Whose mind gropes for lofty ideals, to bring them to light,
Must first, under rigid frugality, study his part;
Nor yearn for the courts of proud princes who frown in their might:
Nor scheme with the riff-raf, a client in order to dine,
Nor can he with evil companions his wit drown in wine
Nor sit, as a hireling, applauding an actor's grimace.
But, whether the fortress of arms-bearing Tritonis smile
Upon him, or land which the Spartan colonials grace,
Or home of the sirens, with poetry let him beguile
The years of young manhood, and at the Maeonian spring
His fortunate soul drink its fill: Then, when later, the lore
Of Socrates' school he has mastered, the reins let him fling,
And brandish the weapons that mighty Demosthenes bore.
Then, steeped in the culture and music of Greece, let his taste
Be ripened and mellowed by all the great writers of Rome.
At first, let him haunt not the courts; let his pages be graced
By ringing and rhythmic effusions composed in his home
Next, banquets and wars be his theme, sung in soul-stirring chant,
In eloquent words such as undaunted Cicero chose.
Come! Gird up thy soul! Inspiration will then force a vent
And rush in a flood from a heart that is loved by the muse!"
CHAPTER THE SIXTH.
I was listening so attentively to this speech that I did not notice the
flight of Ascyltos, and while I was pacing the gardens, engulfed in this
flood-tide of rhetoric, a large crowd of students came out upon the
portico, having, it would seem, just listened to an extemporaneous
declamation, of I know not whom, the speaker of which had taken
exceptions to the speech of Agamemnon. While, therefore, the young men
were making fun of the sentiments of this last speaker, and criticizing
the arrangement of the whole speech, I seized the opportunity and went
after Ascyltos, on the run; but, as I neither held strictly to the road,
nor knew where the inn was located, wherever I went, I kept coming back
to the same place, until, worn out with running, and long since dripping
with sweat, I approached a certain little old woman who sold country
vegetables.
CHAPTER THE SEVENTH.
"Please, mother," I wheedled, "you don't know where I lodge, do you?"
Delighted with such humorous affability, "What's the reason I don't" she
replied, and getting upon her feet, she commenced to walk ahead of me. I
took her for a prophetess until, when presently we came to a more obscure
quarter, the affable old lady pushed aside a crazy-quilt and remarked,
"Here's where you ought to live," and when I denied that I recognized the
house, I saw some men prowling stealthily between the rows of name-boards
and naked prostitutes. Too late I realized that I had been led into a
brothel. After cursing the wiles of the little old hag, I covered my
head and commenced to run through the middle of the night-house to the
exit opposite, when, lo and behold! whom should I meet on the very
threshold but Ascyltos himself, as tired as I was, and almost dead; you
would have thought that he had been brought by the self-same little old
hag! I smiled at that, greeted him cordially, and asked him what he was
doing in such a scandalous place.
CHAPTER THE EIGHTH.
Wiping away the sweat with his hands, he replied, "If you only knew what
I have gone through!" "What was it?" I demanded. "A most respectable
looking person came up to me," he made reply, "while I was wandering all
over the town and could not find where I had left my inn, and very
graciously offered to guide me. He led me through some very dark and
crooked alleys, to this place, pulled out his tool, and commenced to beg
me to comply with his appetite. A whore had already vacated her cell for
an as, and he had laid hands upon me, and, but for the fact that I was
the stronger, I would have been compelled to take my medicine." (While
Ascyltos was telling me of his bad luck, who should come up again but
this same very respectable looking person, in company with a woman not at
all bad looking, and, looking at Ascyltos, he requested him to enter the
house, assuring him that there was nothing to fear, and, since he was
unwilling to take the passive part, he should have the active. The
woman, on her part, urged me very persistently to accompany her, so we
followed the couple, at last, and were conducted between the rows of
name-boards, where we saw, in cells, many persons of each sex amusing
themselves in such a manner) that it seemed to me that every one of them
must have been drinking satyrion. (On catching sight of us, they
attempted to seduce us with paederastic wantonness, and one wretch, with
his clothes girded up, assaulted Ascyltos, and, having thrown him down
upon a couch, attempted to gore him from above. I succored the sufferer
immediately, however,) and having joined forces, we defied the
troublesome wretch. (Ascyltos ran out of the house and took to his
heels, leaving me as the object of their lewd attacks, but the crowd,
finding me the stronger in body and purpose, let me go unharmed.)
CHAPTER THE NINTH.
(After having tramped nearly all over the city,) I caught sight of Giton,
as though through a fog, standing at the end of the street, (on the very
threshold of the inn,) and I hastened to the same place. When I inquired
whether my "brother" had prepared anything for breakfast, the boy sat
down upon the bed and wiped away the trickling tears with his thumb.
I was greatly disturbed by such conduct on the part of my "brother," and
demanded to be told what had happened. After I had mingled threats with
entreaties, he answered slowly and against his will, "That brother or
comrade of yours rushed into the room a little while ago and commenced to
attempt my virtue by force. When I screamed, he pulled out his tool and
gritted out--If you're a Lucretia, you've found your Tarquin!" When I
heard this, I shook my fists in Ascyltos' face, "What have you to say for
yourself," I snarled, "you rutting pathic harlot, whose very breath is
infected?" Ascyltos pretended to bristle up and, shaking his fists more
boldly still, he roared: "Won't you keep quiet, you filthy gladiator, you
who escaped from the criminal's cage in the amphitheatre to which you
were condemned (for the murder of your host?) Won't you hold your
tongue, you nocturnal assassin, who, even when you swived it bravely,
never entered the lists with a decent woman in your life? Was I not a
'brother' to you in the pleasure-garden, in the same sense as that in
which this boy now is in this lodging-house?" "You sneaked away from the
master's lecture," I objected.
CHAPTER THE TENTH. "What should I have done, you triple fool, when I was
dying of hunger? I suppose I should have listened to opinions as much to
the purpose as the tinkle of broken glass or the interpretation of
dreams. By Hercules, you are much more deserving of censure than I, you
who will flatter a poet so as to get an invitation to dinner!" Then we
laughed ourselves out of a most disgraceful quarrel, and approached more
peaceably whatever remained to be done. But the remembrance of that
injury recurred to my mind and, "Ascyltos," I said, "I know we shall not
be able to agree, so let us divide our little packs of common stock and
try to defeat our poverty by our individual efforts. Both you and I know
letters, but that I may not stand in the way of any undertaking of yours,
I will take up some other profession. Otherwise, a thousand trifles will
bring us into daily collision and furnish cause for gossip through the
whole town." Ascyltos made no objection to this, but merely remarked,
"As we, in our capacity of scholars, have accepted an invitation to
dinner, for this date, let us not lose our night. Since it seems to be
the graceful thing to do, I will look out for another lodging and another
'brother,' tomorrow." "Deferred pleasures are a long time coming,"
I sighed. It was lust that made this separation so hasty, for I had, for
a long time, wished to be rid of a troublesome chaperon, so that I could
resume my old relations with my Giton. (Bearing this affront with
difficulty, Ascyltos rushed from the room, without uttering a word.
Such a headlong outburst augured badly, for I well knew his ungovernable
temper and his unbridled passion. On this account, I followed him out,
desirous of fathoming his designs and of preventing their consequences,
but he hid himself skillfully from my eyes, and all in vain, I searched
for him for a long time.)
CHAPTER THE ELEVENTH.
After having had the whole town under my eyes, I returned to the little
room and, having claimed the kisses which were mine in good faith, I
encircled the boy in the closest of embraces and enjoyed the effect of
our happy vows to a point that might be envied. Nor had all the
ceremonies been completed, when Ascyltos stole stealthily up to the
outside of the door and, violently wrenching off the bars, burst in upon
me, toying with my "brother." He filled the little room with his
laughter and hand-clapping, pulled away the cloak which covered us, "What
are you up to now, most sanctimonious 'brother'?" he jeered. "What's
going on here, a blanket-wedding?" Nor did he confine himself to words,
but, pulling the strap off his bag, he began to lash me very thoroughly,
interjecting sarcasms the while, "This is the way you would share with
your comrade, is it!" (The unexpectedness of the thing compelled me to
endure the blows in silence and to put up with the abuse, so I smiled at
my calamity, and very prudently, too, as otherwise I should have been put
to the necessity of fighting with a rival. My pretended good humor
soothed his anger, and at last, Ascyltos smiled as well. "See here,
Encolpius," he said, "are you so engrossed with your debaucheries that
you do not realize that our money is gone, and that what we have left is
of no value? In the summer, times are bad in the city. The country is
luckier, let's go and visit our friends." Necessity compelled the
approval of this plan, and the repression of any sense of injury as well,
so, loading Giton with our packs, we left the city and hastened to the
country-seat of Lycurgus, a Roman knight. Inasmuch as Ascyltos has
formerly served him in the capacity of "brother," he received us royally,
and the company there assembled, rendered our stay still more delightful.
In the first place, there was Tryphaena, a most beautiful woman, who had
come in company with Lycas, the master of a vessel and owner of estates
near the seashore. Although Lycurgus kept a frugal table, the pleasures
we enjoyed in this most enchanting spot cannot be described in words.
Of course you know that Venus joined us all up, as quickly as possible.
The lovely Tryphaena pleased my taste, and listened willingly to my vows,
but hardly had I had time to enjoy her favors when Lycas, in a towering
rage because his preserves had been secretly invaded, demanded that I
indemnify him in her stead. She was an old flame of his, so he broached
the subject of a mutual exchange of favors. Burning with lust, he
pressed his suit, but Tryphaena possessed my heart, and I said Lycas nay.
By refusal, however, he was only made more ardent, followed me
everywhere, entered my room at night, and, after his entreaties had met
with contempt, he had recourse to violence against me, at which I yelled
so lustily that I aroused the entire household, and, by the help of
Lycurgus, I was delivered from the troublesome assault and escaped. At
last, perceiving that the house of Lycurgus was not suitable to the
prosecution of his design, he attempted to persuade me to seek his
hospitality, and when his suggestion was refused, he made use of
Tryphaena's influence over me. She besought me to comply with Lycas'
desires, and she did this all the more readily as by that she hoped to
gain more liberty of action. With affairs in this posture, I follow my
love, but Lycurgus, who had renewed his old relations with Ascyltos,
would not permit him to leave, so it was decided that he should remain
with Lycurgus, but that we would accompany Lycas. Nevertheless, we had
it understood among ourselves that whenever the opportunity presented
itself, we would each pilfer whatever we could lay hands upon, for the
betterment of the common stock. Lycas was highly delighted with my
acceptance of his invitation and hastened our departure, so, bidding our
friends good-bye, we arrived at his place on the very same day. Lycas
had so arranged matters that, on the journey, he sat beside me, while
Tryphaena was next to Giton, the reason for this being his knowledge
of the woman's notorious inconstancy; nor was he deceived, for she
immediately fell in love with the boy, and I easily perceived it.
In addition, Lycas took the trouble of calling my attention to the
situation, and laid stress upon the truth of what we saw. On this
account, I received his advances more graciously, at which he was
overjoyed. He was certain that contempt would be engendered from the
inconstancy of my "sister," with the result that, being piqued at
Tryphaena, I would all the more freely receive his advances. Now this
was the state of affairs at the house of Lycas, Tryphaena was desperately
in love with Giton, Giton's whole soul was aflame for her, neither of
them was a pleasing sight to my eyes, and Lycas, studying to please me,
arranged novel entertainments each day, which Doris, his lovely wife,
seconded to the best of her ability, and so gracefully that she soon
expelled Tryphaena from my heart. A wink of the eye acquainted Doris of
my passion, a coquettish glance informed me of the state of her heart,
and this silent language, anticipating the office of the tongue, secretly
expressed that longing of our souls which we had both experienced at the
same instant. The jealousy of Lycas, already well known to me, was the
cause of my silence, but love itself revealed to the wife the designs
which Lycas had upon me. At our first opportunity of exchanging
confidences, she revealed to me what she had discovered and I candidly
confessed, telling her of the coldness with which I had always met his
advances. The far-sighted woman remarked that it would be necessary for
us to use our wits. It turned out that her advice was sound, for I soon
found out that complacency to the one meant possession of the other.
Giton, in the meantime, was recruiting his exhausted strength, and
Tryphaena turned her attention to me, but, meeting with a repulse, she
flounced out in a rage. The next thing this burning harlot did was to
discover my commerce with both husband and wife. As for his wantonness
with me, she flung that aside, as by it she lost nothing, but she fell
upon the secret gratifications of Doris and made them known to Lycas,
who, his jealousy proving stronger than his lust, took steps to get
revenge. Doris, however, forewarned by Tryphaena's maid, looked out
for squalls and held aloof from any secret assignations. When I became
aware of all this, I heartily cursed the perfidy of Tryphaena and the
ungrateful soul of Lycas, and made up my mind to be gone. Fortune
favored me, as it turned out, for a vessel sacred to Isis and laden with
prize-money had, only the day before, run upon the rocks in the vicinity.
After holding a consultation with Giton, at which he gladly gave consent
to my plan, as Tryphaena visibly neglected him after having sapped his
virility, we hastened to the sea-shore early on the following morning,
and boarded the wreck, a thing easy of accomplishment as the watchmen,
who were in the pay of Lycas, knew us well. But they were so attentive
to us that there was no opportunity of stealing a thing until, having
left Giton with them, I craftily slipped out of sight and sneaked aft
where the statue of Isis stood, and despoiled it of a valuable mantle and
a silver sistrum. From the master's cabin, I also pilfered other
valuable trifles and, stealthily sliding down a rope, went ashore. Giton
was the only one who saw me and he evaded the watchmen and slipped away
after me. I showed him the plunder, when he joined me, and we decided
to post with all speed to Ascyltos, but we did not arrive at the home of
Lycurgus until the following day. In a few words I told Ascyltos of the
robbery, when he joined us, and of our unfortunate love-affairs as well.
He was for prepossessing the mind of Lycurgus in our favor, naming the
increasing wantonness of Lycas as the cause of our secret and sudden
change of habitation. When Lycurgus had heard everything, he swore
that he would always be a tower of strength between us and our enemies.
Until Tryphaena and Doris were awake and out of bed, our flight remained
undiscovered, for we paid them the homage of a daily attendance at the
morning toilette. When our unwonted absence was noted, Lycas sent out
runners to comb the sea-shore, for he suspected that we had been to the
wreck, but he was still unaware of the robbery, which was yet unknown
because the stern of the wreck was lying away from the beach, and the
master had not, as yet, gone back aboard. Lycas flew into a towering
rage when our flight was established for certain, and railed bitterly at
Doris, whom he considered as the moving factor in it. Of the hard words
and the beating he gave her I will say nothing, for the particulars are
not known to me, but I will affirm that Tryphaena, who was the sole cause
of the unpleasantness, persuaded Lycas to hunt for his fugitives in the
house of Lycurgus, which was our most probable sanctuary. She
volunteered to accompany him in person, so that she could load us with
the abuse which we deserved at her hands. They set out on the following
day and arrived at the estate of Lycurgus, but we were not there, for he
had taken us to a neighboring town to attend the feast of Hercules, which
was there being celebrated. As soon as they found out about this, they
hastened to take to the road and ran right into us in the portico of the
temple. At sight of them, we were greatly put out, and Lycas held forth
violently to Lycurgus, upon the subject of our flight, but he was met
with raised eyebrows and such a scowling forehead that I plucked up
courage and, in a loud voice, passed judgment upon his lewd and base
attempts and assaults upon me, not in the house of Lycurgus alone, but
even under his own roof: and as for the meddling Tryphaena, she received
her just deserts, for, at great length, I described her moral turpitude
to the crowd, our altercation had caused a mob to collect, and, to give
weight to my argument, I pointed to limber-hamed Giton, drained dry, as
it were, and to myself, reduced almost to skin and bones by the raging
lust of that nymphomaniac harlot. So humiliated were our enemies by the
guffaws of the mob, that in gloomy ill-humor they beat a retreat to plot
revenge. As they perceived that we had prepossessed the mind of Lycurgus
in our favor, they decided to await his return, at his estate, in order
that they might wean him away from his misapprehension. As the
solemnities did not draw to a close until late at night, we could not
reach Lycurgus' country place, so he conducted us to a villa of his,
situated near the halfway point of the journey, and, leaving us to sleep
there until the next day, he set off for his estate for the purpose of
transacting some business. Upon his arrival, he found Lycas and
Tryphaena awaiting him, and they stated their case so diplomatically that
they prevailed upon him to deliver us into their hands. Lycurgus, cruel
by nature and incapable of keeping his word, was by this time striving to
hit upon the best method of betraying us, and to that end, he persuaded
Lycas to go for help, while he himself returned to the villa and had us
put under guard. To the villa he came, and greeted us with a scowl as
black as any Lycas himself had ever achieved, clenching his fists again
and again, he charged us with having lied about Lycas, and, turning
Ascyltos out, he gave orders that we were to be kept confined to the room
in which we had retired to rest. Nor would he hear a word in our
defense, from Ascyltos, but, taking the latter with him, he returned to
his estate, reiterating his orders relative to our confinement, which was
to last until his return. On the way back, Ascyltos vainly essayed to
break down Lycurgus' determination, but neither prayers nor caresses, nor
even tears could move him. Thereupon my "brother" conceived the design
of freeing us from our chains, and, antagonized by the stubbornness of
Lycurgus, he positively refused to sleep with him, and through this he
was in a better position to carry out the plan which he had thought out.
When the entire household was buried in its first sleep, Ascyltos loaded
our little packs upon his back and slipped out through a breach in the
wall, which he had previously noted, arriving at the villa with the dawn.
He gained entrance without opposition and found his way to our room,
which the guards had taken the precaution to bar. It was easy to force
an entrance, as the fastening was made of wood, which same he pried off
with a piece of iron. The fall of the lock roused us, for we were
snoring away, in spite of our unfortunate situation. On account of the
long vigil, the guard was in such a deep sleep that we alone were wakened
by the crashing fall of the lock, and Ascyltos, coming in, told us in a
few words what he had done for us; but as far as that goes, not many were
necessary. We were hurriedly dressing, when I was seized with the notion
of killing the guard and stripping the place. This plan I confided to
Ascyltos, who approved of the looting, but pointed out a more desirable
solution without bloodshed: knowing all the crooks and turns, as he did,
he led us to a store-room which he opened. We gathered up all that was
of value and sallied forth while it was yet early in the morning.
Shunning the public roads; we could not rest until we believed ourselves
safe from pursuit. Ascyltos, when he had caught his breath, gloatingly
exulted of the pleasure which the looting of a villa belonging to
Lycurgus, a superlatively avaricious man, afforded him: he complained,
with justice of his parsimony, affirming that he himself had received no
reward for his k-nightly services, that he had been kept at a dry table
and on a skimpy ration of food. This Lycurgus was so stingy that he
denied himself even the necessities of life, his immense wealth to the
contrary notwithstanding.)