OrientationsMaugham, W. Somerset (William Somerset)
General
Orientations
Maugham, W. Somerset (William Somerset)
Fiction; Short stories, English
'I cannot give you fame, or riches, or wisdom; I can only give you Love,
Love, Love.... Oh, what an eternity of delight shall we enjoy in one
another's arms! Come, my beloved, come!'
'Yes, I come, my darling!' Amyntas stepped forward with outstretched
arms, and took her hands in his. 'I take you for my love; I want not
wealth nor great renown, but only you. You will give me love-alluring
kisses, and we will live in never-ending bliss.'
He drew her to him, and, with his arms around her, pressed back her head
and covered her lips with kisses.
XIV
And while Amyntas lost his soul in the eyes of his beloved, the three
sisters went sadly away. They ascended the stately barge which awaited
them, and the water bore them down the long avenue of columns into the
darkness. After a long time they reached the entrance of the cavern, and
having placed a great stone against it, that none might enter more, they
separated, wandering in different directions.
The Lady of War passed through Spain, finding none there worthy of her.
She crossed the mountains, and presently she fell in love with a little
artillery officer, and raised him to dignity and power; and together
they ran through the lands, wasting and burning, making women widows and
children orphans, ruthless, unsparing, caring for naught but the
voluptuousness of blood. But she sickened of the man at last and left
him; then the blood he had spilt rose up against him, and he was cast
down and died an exile on a lonely isle. And now they say she dwells in
the palaces of a youth with a withered hand; together they rule a
mighty empire, and their people cry out at the oppression, but the ruler
heeds nothing but the burning kisses of his love.
The Lady of Riches, too, passed out of Spain. But she was not content
with one love, nor with a hundred. She gave her favours to the first
comer, and everyone was welcome; she wandered carelessly through the
world, but chiefly she loved an island in the north; and in its capital
she has her palace, and the inhabitants of the isle have given
themselves over, body and soul, to her domination; they pander and lie
and cheat, and forswear themselves; to gain her smile they will shrink
from no base deed, no meanness; and she, too, makes women widows and
children orphans.... But her subjects care not; they are fat and
well-content; the goddess smiles on them, and they are the richest in
the world.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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