Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, -30 B.C. -- Fiction; Egypt -- History -- 332-30 B.C. -- Fiction
Soon the rumour was wafted about the city that a certain holy man named
Olympus abode in solitude in the tombs of the awful Valley of the Dead;
and hither came people bearing sick that I might cure them. And I gave
my mind to the study of simples, in which Atoua instructed me; and by
lore and the weight of my thought I gained great skill in medicine, and
healed many sick. And thus ever, as time went on, my fame was noised
abroad; for it was said that I was also a magician and that in the
tombs I had commune with the Spirits of the Dead. And this, indeed, I
did--though it is not lawful for me to speak of these matters. Thus,
then, it came to pass that no more need Atoua go forth to seek food and
water, for the people brought it--more than was needful, for I would
receive no fee. Now at first, fearing lest some in the hermit Olympus
might know the lost Harmachis, I would only meet those who came in the
darkness of the tomb. But afterwards, when I learned how it was held
through all the land that Harmachis was certainly no more, I came forth
and sat in the mouth of the tomb, and ministered to the sick, and
at times calculated nativities for the great. And thus my fame grew
continually, till at length folk journeyed even from Memphis and
Alexandria to visit me; and from them I learned how Antony had left
Cleopatra for a while, and, Fulvia being dead, had married Octavia, the
sister of Cæsar. Many other things I learned also.
And in the second year I did this: I despatched the old wife, Atoua,
disguised as a seller of simples, to Alexandria, bidding her seek out
Charmion, and, if yet she found her faithful, reveal to her the secret
of my way of life. So she went, and in the fifth month from her sailing
returned, bearing Charmion’s greetings and a token. And she told me that
she had found means to see Charmion, and, in talk, had let fall the name
of Harmachis, speaking of me as one dead; at which Charmion, unable to
control her grief, wept aloud. Then, reading her heart--for the old
wife was very clever, and held the key of knowledge--she told her that
Harmachis yet lived, and sent her greetings. Thereon Charmion wept yet
more with joy, and kissed the old wife, and made her gifts, bidding her
tell me that she had kept her vow, and waited for my coming and the hour
of vengeance. So, having learned many secrets, Atoua returned again to
Tápé.
And in the following year messengers came to me from Cleopatra, bearing
a sealed roll and great gifts. I opened the roll, and read this in it:
“Cleopatra to Olympus, the learned Egyptian who dwells in the Valley of
Death by Tápé--
“The fame of thy renown, O learned Olympus, hath reached our ears. Tell
thou, then, this to us, and if thou tellest aright greater honour and
wealth shalt thou have than any in Egypt: How shall we win back the love
of noble Antony, who is bewitched of cunning Octavia, and tarries long
from us?”
Now, in this I saw the hand of Charmion, who had made my renown known to
Cleopatra.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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