Daphne: An Autumn PastoralSherwood, Margaret Pollock
General
Daphne: An Autumn Pastoral
Sherwood, Margaret Pollock
Italy -- Fiction
"But no gods except money, I have heard."
"Yes, gods, and impostors too," she answered significantly.
"So I have heard," said Apollo, with composure.
The maddening thing was that she could not look away from him--some
radiance of life in his face compelled her eyes. He had thrown his hat
upon the grass, and the girl could see strength and sweetness and
repose in every line of forehead, lip, and chin. There was pride there,
too, and with it a slight leaning forward of the head.
"I presume that comes from listening to beseeching prayers," she was
thinking to herself.
"Ow!" she remarked suddenly.
"That is the place, is it?"
He drew from one of the pockets of the grotesque coat a piece of
sheepskin, which he proceeded to cut into two strips with his knife.
"It seems to be a very slight sprain," remarked Apollo. "I must
bandage it. Have you any pins about you?"
"Can the gods lack pins?" asked the girl, smiling. She searched, and
found two in her belt, and handed them to him.
"The gods do not explain themselves," he answered, binding the
sheepskin tightly about her wrist.
"So I observe," she remarked dryly.
"Is that right?" he asked. "Now, when you reach home, you must remove
the bandage and hold your hand and wrist first in very hot water, then
in cold. Is there some one who can put the bandage back as I have it?
See, it simply goes about the wrist, and is rather tight. You must
pardon my taking possession of the case, but no one else was near.
Apollo has always been something of a physician, you know."
"You apparently used the same classical dictionary that I did,"
retorted Daphne. "I remember the statement there."
Then she became uncomfortable, and wished her words unsaid, for awe had
come upon her. After all, nothing could be more unreal than she was to
herself in these days of wonder. Her mind was full of dreams as they
sat and watched white clouds drifting over the deep blue of the sky.
Near them the sheep were cropping grass, and all the rest was silence.
"You look anxious," said the physician. "Is it the wrist?"
"No," answered the girl, facing him bravely, under the momentary
inspiration of a wave of common sense, "I am wondering why you make
this ridiculous assumption about yourself. Tell me who you really are."
If he had defended himself she would have argued, but he was silent and
she half believed.
"But you look like a mortal," she protested, answering her own
thoughts. "And you wear conventional clothing. I don't mean this
sheepskin, but the other day."
"It is a realistic age," he answered, smiling. "People no longer
believe what they do not see. We are forced to adopt modern methods
and modern costume to show that we exist."
"You do not look like the statue of Apollo," ventured Daphne.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account