A woman caused the fall of man,
A woman caused the fall of Troy;
An apple both these woes began,
Which brought beneath pale Sorrow’s ban
All earthly joy.
For Eve was fair, and Helen fair,
Each wrought destruction by her face;
They captured hearts in beauty’s snare,
And made mankind the burden bear
Of their disgrace.
To-day the story we repeat:
A woman wins or loses all;
She plucks the fruit for us to eat,
We taste and find the apples sweet,
And then we fall.
The ill-fated Eunice had been wrecked about the middle of August, and it
was now nearly the end of September, close on the celebration of the
vintage feast, which Justinian determined to celebrate with great
splendor, so as to gratify Maurice with an accurate representation of
the ancient Dionysia of Athens.
Crispin for the moment had resumed his old occupation of playwright, and
had furbished up one of his old dramas, not having the time to write an
absolutely new one. In this play both Caliphronas and Helena were to
take part, and the author himself, like a modern Æschylus, acted as
stage manager, drilling the chorus, arranging the scenery, attending to
the music, and coaching the principal actors in their parts. The people
of Melnos were also busily preparing for the vintage feast of the first
day, and for the Olympian games of the third; but amid all these
peaceful occupations Justinian kept a watchful eye on Caliphronas, and
neglected nothing that might guard the island against a sudden assault
by Captain Alcibiades and his gang.
Completely deceived by the manner of the Demarch, which was Justinian’s
local title among his people, Caliphronas, now assured both of Helena
and Melnos, eagerly entered into the plans of the cunning old man, and,
on returning from a week’s cruise with Alcibiades, revealed a
wide-stretching conspiracy among the Levantine Greeks for the capture of
Melnos. Far and wide Alcibiades with great art had instilled a belief
into the minds of all the idlers, vagabonds, and scamps of the Ægean,
that Melnos contained immense treasures, and weekly, leaders of bands of
men repaired to Alcibiades’ rocky little island to receive instructions
as to how their plans were to be carried out. Of course, the wily old
pirate was the leader, and arranged all his schemes in the most
dexterous manner, for he gave his commands to those chief men who came
to see him, and they, returning to their own islands, communicated such
orders to their own followers. By this means Alcibiades had collected
quite an army, all eager for plunder, and they had arranged among
themselves to attack Melnos, either by the tunnel or the western pass,
at the first convenient opportunity.