Egypt -- History -- 30 B.C.-640 A.D. -- Fiction; German fiction -- Translations into English; Hadrian, Emperor of Rome, 76-138 -- Fiction
“Yes, but who are you?”
“Selene is my name, I am the daughter of the palace-steward.”
“And who is Pollux, whom you were calling to help you when you recovered
your senses?”
“What does that matter to you?”
Antinous colored, and answered in confusion:
“I was startled when you suddenly roused up, with his name so loudly on
your lips, when I brought you back to life with water and this essence.”
“Well, I was roused--and now I can walk again. People who bring furious
dogs into a strange place, should know how to take better care of
them. Tie the dog up safely, for the children--my little brothers and
sisters--come this way when they want to go out. Thank you for your
help--and my pitcher?”
As she spoke she looked down on the remains of the pretty jar, which was
one her mother had particularly valued. When she saw the fragments lying
on the ground, she gave a deep sob, but she shed no tears. Then she
exclaimed angrily: “It is infamous!”
With these words she turned her back on Antinous and returned to her
father’s room, using her left foot, however, with caution, for it was
very painful.
The young Bithynian gazed in silence at Selene’s tall, slight form, he
felt prompted to follow her, to say to her how very sorry he was for the
mischance that had befallen her, and that the hound belonged not to him
but to another man; but he dared not. Long after she had disappeared
from sight he stood on the same spot. At last he collected his senses,
and slowly went back to his room, where he sat on his couch with his
eyes fixed dreamily on the ground, till the Emperor’s call roused him
from his reverie.
Selene had hardly vouchsafed Antinous a glance. She was in pain not
merely in her left foot, but also in the back of her head where she
found there was a deep cut; but her thick hair had staunched the blood
that flowed from the wound. She felt very tired, and the loss of her
pretty jug, which must also be replaced by another, vexed her far more
than the beauty of the favorite had charmed her.
She slowly and wearily entered the sitting-room, where her father was
by this time waiting for her and his water. He was accustomed to have it
regularly at the same hour, and as Selene was absent longer than usual,
he could think of no better way of filling up the time than by grumbling
and scolding to himself; when, at last, his daughter appeared on the
threshold, he at once perceived that she had no jug, and said crossly:
“And am I to have no water to-day?”
Selene shook her head, sank into a seat, and began to cry softly.
“What is the matter?” asked her father.
“The pitcher is broken,” she said sadly.
“You should take better care of such expensive things,” scolded her
father. “You are always complaining of want of money, and at the same
time you break half our belongings.”
“I was thrown down,” answered Selene, drying her eyes.
“Thrown down! by whom?” asked the steward, slowly rising.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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