"Nor for me," said Cadmus, "while my dear mother pleases to go onward."
And the faithful Thasus, too, was resolved to bear them company. They
remained with Cilix a few days, however, and helped him to build a
rustic bower, resembling the one which they had formerly built for
Phœnix.
When they were bidding him farewell, Cilix burst into tears, and told
his mother that it seemed just as melancholy a dream to stay there, in
solitude, as to go onward. If she really believed that they would ever
find Europa, he was willing to continue the search with them, even now.
But Telephassa bade him remain there, and be happy, if his own heart
would let him. So the pilgrims took their leave of him, and departed,
and were hardly out of sight before some other wandering people came
along that way, and saw Cilix's habitation, and were greatly delighted
with the appearance of the place. There being abundance of unoccupied
ground in the neighborhood, these strangers built huts for themselves,
and were soon joined by a multitude of new settlers, who quickly
formed a city. In the middle of it was seen a magnificent palace of
colored marble, on the balcony of which, every noontide, appeared
Cilix, in a long purple robe, and with a jeweled crown upon his head;
for the inhabitants, when they found out that he was a king's son, had
considered him the fittest of all men to be a king himself.
One of the first acts of King Cilix's government was to send out an
expedition, consisting of a grave ambassador and an escort of bold and
hardy young men, with orders to visit the principal kingdoms of the
earth, and inquire whether a young maiden had passed through those
regions, galloping swiftly on a white bull. It is, therefore, plain to
my mind, that Cilix secretly blamed himself for giving up the search
for Europa, as long as he was able to put one foot before the other.
As for Telephassa, and Cadmus, and the good Thasus, it grieves me to
think of them, still keeping up that weary pilgrimage. The two young
men did their best for the poor queen, helping her over the rough
places, often carrying her across rivulets in their faithful arms, and
seeking to shelter her at nightfall, even when they themselves lay on
the ground. Sad, sad it was to hear them asking of every passer-by if
he had seen Europa, so long after the white bull had carried her away.
But, though the gray years thrust themselves between, and made the
child's figure dim in their remembrance, neither of these true-hearted
three ever dreamed of giving up the search.
One morning, however, poor Thasus found that he had sprained his ankle,
and could not possibly go a step farther.
"After a few days, to be sure," said he, mournfully, "I might make a
shift to hobble along with a stick. But that would only delay you, and
perhaps hinder you from finding dear little Europa, after all your
pains and trouble. Do you go forward, therefore, my beloved companions,
and leave me to follow as I may."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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