Preface (cont. 7)

Thus he spoke. But, when I saw giants towering like mountains near me, in the gloom, then, instantly, I broke my necklace of heliotrope stones moistened with the juice of marigolds; and I thrust the two halves of it into the hands of my two trusty slaves, making the _Act of Will_ for them, whereby they became unseen, even by Stygian gods, unknowing it. But I gave them a short command. And the stalwart Neandros started my horses, goading them again to madness in the twinkling of an eye, turning them, so that my slaves and my chariot went ramping out of the palace of blameless Hades like a flash of white thunder. By which means, both my slaves evaded the Tyrant of Tartaros. But, being visible and willing, I remained: for, as yet I had not done any of the wily deeds which I had come to do, and, moreover, there was no retreat for me till I had ravished a spoil from the king of the shades. Furthermore, I was not unmindful of the very pious and secret monitions which Hermes had whispered to me at parting, when he said: _Under-go to Over-come_.[44]

And, so, I waited; and gigantic hands were thrust down out of obscurity, which seized me, and shook me violently to and fro over enormous areas: so that giddiness nauseated me, and the eyes in my face refused to continue seeing, and my strength also rebelled and left me, and the utter darkness of oblivion settled upon me, shrouding the senses of my soul.

Thus, then, I began my ordeals in the Quest of the Treasure of Hades.

FOOTNOTES:

[43] This is perfectly Homeresque. A. H.

[44] I am almost inclined to say that this delicious epigram contains the whole body of Christian doctrine. But of course I speak under correction. A. H.

THE NINETEENTH PAPYRUS

But when, anon, I had recollected my forces, I was in a pit, dismal, slimy, creeping with long cold worms. And great chains, also, were hanged to my wrists and waist and ankles. But, far above my head, there was a little window, very heavily barred; and, through it, there came a dull-red glow from the distant River Pyriphthlegethon. And the shrieks and moans of damned souls in mind-grieving torment elsewhere was the music provided for my entertainment.

As for myself, it seemed that I had been stripped of my armour, and (indeed) of all which I had brought with me from the sunlight; and, now, I was mother-naked, gyved also, and with no gear which would deliver me from my plight, excepting the knowledge of sacred spells which was stored in my mind, and a large quantity of natural strength which was stored in my body. But I rejoiced, seeing that I was unhurt, and as able as ever: because I was aware that I should have the greater fame when I should have passed through this ordeal. For there is not any greater renown for a man, while he exists, than what he shall have earned naked with his feet and his hands.

But, first, I gathered up the weight of my fetters, to try to break them; and, when I felt them to be as massive as the cable of my galley, then I let them drop again, not to waste time: for my noble mind began to devise insidious wiles. But, when the chains clashed against the slimy floor, I heard a sound of a drawing of bolts, and a brazen door was opened in my pit near by. And, to me, there entered a very gravely objectionable individual.

For she was a barren virgin of inconceivable antiquity, whose skinny arms were joined to her withered body by membraneous wings such as are the wings of bats and vampires and pterodactyls and all other flying dragons; and her slit mouth grinned disgustingly, having loose yellow fangs dangling from the dripping corners: vipers, also, writhed in the dankness of her sparse hair; and her hands were filled with torches and scourges. Moreover, what I took to be blood was oozing out of her pustulous eyeballs. And thus she said: “How now, O wily Odysseys! And art thou yet alive? For we deemed that the titans had shaken the life from thy white bones. And that, indeed, would have made our task an easy one: for we are not accustomed to torment live men here among the shades.”

Thus she spoke: but the mind in my lordly breast bade me to treat this blameless Erinnys with affability while keeping her at arm’s length, that I might gain a benefit from her conversation without coming to close quarters with her. For, when a female of this kind prevails, her audacity is more than one can bear without blasphemy; and, when she is affrighted or affronted, she is a still greater mischief to her house and city. Wherefore I said: “Hail, O divine one of goddesses, serpent-crowned, for I am ignorant of thy blessed name, or I would ask thee where we are.”

But to me the most righteous of furies responded, saying: “I am night-born Tisiphone, a scratcher of earth-walking men after they are dead. But this is the dungeon where Pirithoos lay to be scratched by me during a hundred years.”

Now there is nothing more terrible than such an impudent female as this. Wherefore, having prepared a wile, not to enrage her, but to delude her, by seeming to be overcome by piety and terror, then, I let my mouth gape like a fool’s while I repeated after her: “A hundred years!”

But she began to be garrulous. But I watched for an opportunity of entangling her in her talk. And thus she chattered: “Yea, here indeed lay Pirithoos, son of Ixion, during a hundred years. For King Hades would not give him to sweet Death, so black was his crime. But, every night, we sisters three tormented his body as though he were dead, using fiery tortures and nail-tearings, until the decree came that his shade should repose in peace, being purged. But thou, also, O much-enduring Odysseys, will lie here, chained, purging thy presumptuous prepotence: but, not till after thy death, may we deal with thee according to thy doom, whatever that may be.”

And, having thus enlightened me, the very excessive Fury suddenly left me, with extempore shrieks and a flapping of her skinny wings.

Thereafter, I forget how some days passed: for a prisoner may not reckon the flight of Time in the region of Tartaros, excepting by marking the ebb and flow of the fiery tides of Pyriphthlegethon. Moreover, I was occupied in my mind, reviewing all my store of magic wisdom and contriving many wiles.

And, by chance, one day, I became aware that I was hearing a song; and the sound of it seemed to come from very far away, sweetly, like the voice of a cicada drunk on dewdrops,[45] which, in the woods, sitting on a tree, sends forth a delicate lily-like voice.

Now, in the house of shady Hades (most righteous of gods), this is the condition of mortals when they are dead. For their nerves have no longer flesh and bones: but the strong force of burning fire subdues them, when first the mind leaves the white bones; and the soul, gibbering like a dream, flits and flutters away. Wherefore, the souls of the dead cannot sing, nor do they attempt it, being occupied in shrieking with agony and fear. For which cause, I was vastly amazed to hear so very sweet a song, so grave, so quiet in tone; and, having summoned all my strength, despite the weighty manacles which trammelled me, I leaped up to the high barred window which looked out into the gloom. But I saw little more than that my dungeon was a pit in a rocky height: for it happened to be the hour of slack tide, when the flames of Pyriphthlegethon die down for a while.

And the wonderful song came more clearly from below, thrilling the darkness of black night.

But, when, anon, the voice was silent, I wedged myself (as best I could) into the narrow alcove of the window, waiting for the ebb of the tide, when I might see more plainly in the light of the increscent flames.

And, when the flickering gleam of the fires leaped up, I saw that my pit was a cell in a watch-tower perched high above the walls of the house of blameless Hades. But there was a great gulph fixed below, and bleak meadows beyond, swept by mists and winds of hell.

And, while I gazed, the lily-like voice began again to sing, maidenlike, very solemn, and of entrancing sweetness. But I, listening, heard it; and the heart in my dear breast thrilled strangely: for it seemed as though Memory (that divine one of goddesses) was opening yet once more certain chambers in my mind, unknown, or unremembered; and I was aware of treasures stored therein, whose very existence I had forgotten. But the simple song went sadly on, as though the singer sat in patience waiting, singing only just to pass the time, but always with hope, very faint indeed but never-failing, ever-enduring, in the depth of her maiden breast. And thus she sang:

_Once, a flower, in a garden where gold sunlight flamed on all with its fervent splendour, flourish’d stainless aye, from the tender seed’s upspringing to the snow of its yet-unfolded blossom. When, at length, on its stem so straight and slender, fragrant, delicate, fresh, this blossom budded, men from near and a host from far came, each one longing only to pluck and wear the full flower. Came a stripling of noble mien and stately, strong and clean as a sword. His bright eyes saw her, shyly paused to admire, and pass’d in silence: but she, pure as a priestess, ne’er forgot him. Came a hero in triumph, wearing garlands woven close with the glory of full-blown roses; and he stole from her place the snow-white blossom-- rescued soon by the two who were her wardens, Came a noisily-shouting dotard, jealous for the bud, which he knew not how to cherish: him, the lord of the garden fair permitted; and he carried away the prize unfolded. Came one mad with the scents of gaudy posies, One who revell’d in robbing other gardens: he, the delicate blossom, ravish’d: but she never open’d for him her snow-white petals. Last of all, then, the gods in grace restored her to the peace of the sunlit garden’s splendour; and the youth who, afore, had seen and loved her, would have taken her: but dire Fate o’ertook him. Still she blooms in a garden, where the winter frost and cold cannot quench the golden sunlight in her heart, nor the storms defile her whiteness; waiting, till, on his breast, she bursts in full flower._[46]

And the strange sweet dancing rhythm made my pulses bound; and my breath came quickly in accord. For it was like a sudden-blazing thunderbolt illuminating the recesses of my mind; and I remembered the object of my quest, to wit, Golden Helen, who, when I was not much more than a boy, had watched me faring girded high through the ford of Eyrotas near windy Lakedaimon--Golden Helen, whom her star-crowned brothers (Kastor the tamer of horses and Polydeykes the pugilist) had rescued from the blameless hero Theseys carrying her away when she was a tender girl,--Golden Helen, whom King Tyndareys had given in so-called marriage to loud-shouting impotent old sandy-haired Menelaos, blameless, and blubber-lipped,--Golden Helen, whom woman-mad Paris had reft from her farcical husband,--Golden Helen, who had come again to me in the land of Khem, long ages since, pure as snow or fire, and always mine alone,--Golden Helen, whom black Fate had reft from me, when I died that time by the sacred river of Egypt, being wounded to death by blameless Kirke’s son and mine, unknowing Telegonos.[47]

But now, indeed, I knew of a truth that Golden Helen was that very Treasure of Hades which I had come to win: for, by favour of Queen Persephone, she was safe in the netherworld, and only there, for in the netherworld there are no men capable of worrying a lady, but merely shades of men, who are quite negligible; and, there, she (being immortal) could live faithful to me and not altogether without certain amenities. Wherefore, with a great shout, I called her by name.

And she made answer, half-amazed and half-afraid, saying: “Who calleth me with the voice of one long dead?”

To whom I replied: “I am Odysseys, grandson of Hermes, victor over all sorts of people; and I am come here for thee, O high-born long-robed Helen whom I love.”

Thus I spoke. But the golden goddess, filled with joy, said: “O Odysseys, I have waited long. But now where art thou?”

To whom I answered, saying: “I am imprisoned by shady Hades in a pit in one of his towers. But canst thou see me at any window, O Golden Helen, for I can not see thee.”

She said: “I see thee not, O much-enduring Odysseys. But thou shalt soon escape and come to me: for, though it is not safe for me to go alone among the gods (married and unmarried) of lofty Olympos to plead for thee, and, though shady Hades doth regard me with disfavour, yet my twin-brothers (who are dead to-day in the netherworld where I can speak firmly to them) will be all alive to-morrow in the neighbourhood of the immortals, such being their destiny. And they shall demand graces from my lordly sire Zeys Pantokrator.”

Thus she spoke; and, incontinent, sped away about my business. But I, being refilled with hopeful ideas, felt my great strength increasing every moment. Wherefore, with loud laughter, I came down from the hollow window, beginning to break my bonds. Now, had I been on earth or sea, I should have used certain magic recipes known to me, whereby the bitter iron would have crumpled up in sheer bewilderment: but I wished it to be said of me that I had won the Treasure of Hades with my naked strength as far as possible, if (indeed) it should be permitted to me by the gods inhabiting olympian palaces. Wherefore, I set my sinews to work: for youth was hotter than ever in my veins and my life was raging within me. And, having tasted the name of the golden goddess desired of all men, I made that my only spell; and then indeed I burst great fetters with my little fingers. And, with the same spell (and lusty loin-heavings), I tore at the staple inset in a flag-stone, dragging it from its socket. And, with the same spell (and a mighty swelling of my hardened body), I wrenched asunder the last hoop of iron; and stood free among my splendidly-shattered shackles.

Thus having delivered myself from bonds, I waited as patiently as might be. But none came near me; and, indeed, the mind in my noble breast would have bidden me to attempt the slaughter of anyone, even a blameless titan, who should have approached me, not openly coming as a friend. And my patience was tried during all that day, and the day after: nor did any voice of song cheer me.

But, on the third day, I heard someone buffetting the bars of my window; and a friendly voice uttered my great name. And, when I answered, a young and very godly face, crowned on the brow with a star, looked in upon me through the grating. And the half-immortal hero said: “Our sister, fair Helen, hath sent us to thee, O Odysseys, sacker of cities; and here am I, Polydeykes: but brother Kastor keeps watch below, for Father Zeys wishes to see what we can do unaided. Wherefore, we two are come to rescue thee: but Queen Persephone hath promised help hereafter, for Helen’s sake whom she considers injured.”

Thus he spoke: and indeed it was Polydeykes the pugilist, son of Zeys the Swan, who was taking my part. But, first, he tore at the bars of the window: but when, indeed, he found them firmly fixed, then he laughed, warning me away; and, with a boxer’s blow straight from the shoulder, he drove the massive irons inward, so that they stretched out, becoming thin as threads with sheer amazement, until they snapped in twain in every direction and ceased from being bars. But I instantly leaped to the window, crouching on the sill, till star-crowned Kastor ascended. And, having squeezed myself through the narrow aperture, the Great Twins bore me up, supporting me on both sides, till we touched the solid earth once more.

In this manner, I escaped from my dungeon in the house of Shady Hades.

FOOTNOTES:

[45] One cannot help pointing out that the same poetic imagery as that used here by Mr. C. seems to have been adopted subsequently by Meleagros of Gadara. A. H.

[46] I have managed (not without complacency) to render this exquisite (and perfectly pagan) ditty both literally and in its original hendecasyllabic or ithyphallic measure--a somewhat difficult task, and (perhaps) an audacious, in the light of Lord Tennyson’s deplorable attempt “all composed in a metre of Catullus.” A. H.

[47] I fancy that I do not err in affirming that this particular incident in the lives of Mr. C. (_i.e._ King Odysseys) may be best studied in Haggard’s erudite treatise entitled _The World’s Desire_. A. H.

THE TWENTIETH PAPYRUS

But, upon the instant when we stood in open country at the base of the rock, there came a fearful whirring of the wings of blameless harpies, beating down upon us, raucously screeching, calling titans and furies to their aid. But the Dioskoyroi laughed these bestial birds to scorn; and Polydeykes dashed his iron-studded boxing-glove into their ugly faces, whereat the ill-breathing wardens of the damned became melancholy, and fled back to their station on the wall, feeling much hurt.

But we went on through the murk, entering a secret chamber in the house of Hades, where were food and drink, corn-cakes the strength of men, with cheeses and the fat haunches of pigs, and honey-hearted wine. Here, also, by the arts of Queen Persephone, I found all my gear, and my silver-shining armour piled upon a bed, and baths of boiling water for washing. And having cleaned away my abounding sweat and slime, I anointed myself, coming out of the bath like to the immortals in person, and was visited by the shades of most accomplished barbers. But, when I sat down to a repast (not because of hunger, for, in that life I was not afflicted with the craving belly, pernicious, which brings so many evils to mortal men, but merely for the pleasure of eating and drinking with friends), then, indeed, godlike Kastor and Polydeykes served me as squires for a religious reason,[48] girding me again with my silver-shining armour glittering with rock-crystals and blue moonstones, which I won from Aias son of Telamon, in a foot-race, after lordly Akhilleys had left the earth.

Which matters having been concluded, the Great Twins conducted me to the presence of well-disposed Queen Persephone, who addressed to me unwinged words, saying: “O much-enduring grandson of Hermes, always wily and ready at need, my cousin Golden Helen hath persuaded me on thy behalf; and I will protect thee as far as may be from my shady husband’s wrath. For King Hades hath a bitter spirit, and is fain to do thee wrong, by reason that thou already hast evaded him twice, and, also, that thou (by thy wiles and a woolly sheep) didst cause to suffer much in mind and to perish most miserably his sweet friend the Kyklops Polyphemos. Nevertheless I will beseech the king to let thee go in peace, for the sake of avoiding fresh wiles of thine.”

Then came long-robed Helen, the divine one of goddesses; and I read in her amber eyes that which told me (even more than her song had told me) that she was mine now, even as she had been willing to be mine in Egypt long before. Glowed then the heart in my dear breast with love and joy; and my very form swelled hugely with pride of conquest: for, not to everyone of earth-trampling men is it given to win the love of a goddess so true that she will wait for him during a thousand years.

And so we passed into the judgment-hall of Hades, most righteous of gods brooding on his shady throne: that that which had to be done might be well-done with the least possible delay. And, before the king, the judges were giving dooms to the unnumbered dead, as usual. But Queen Persephone stood before him; and she held my hand, and said: “O king and lord of shades, it pleaseth me that King Odysseys should retire forthwith from these dismal realms, with his life, and with all else which belongeth to him.”

But, at sight of me, surly Hades bounced and had a borborygm; and he quickly answered her, saying: “Such, O daughter of Demeter, is by no means my intent: but now I will toss him into Tartaros, there to lie for ever, on account of his presumption in coming hither after having twice escaped me, and also on account of the woes which his prepotence wrought wilily upon my sweet friend, the giver of cherished gifts, even the Kyklops Polyphemos who gave me this blooming helmet of viewless night.”

But the holy queen persisted, saying: “Odysseys shall not lie for ever in Tartaros: for my cousin, Golden Helen, hath persuaded me for his sake. Yet, seeing that he cannot go hence without thy leave, I say let him fight a select champion for his liberty.”

But the shady king of terrors instantly assented, saying: “So mote it be. And irrevocable doom shall come upon him when he has been properly slain.”

But the Stygian queen smiled in scorn, mocking a king so foolish as to think that a woman, a daughter of Great Zeys, could not find some crafty wile for evading an adverse chance if necessary.

And the king cried again, saying: “Who, of all the heroes here, will fight against Odysseys, grandson of Hermes, for the honour of the house of Hades?”

And straightway answered him Attik Theseys the conqueror of the Kretan Minotayr, and loud-shouting impotent old sandy-haired King Menelaos, and woman-mad Paris son of Dardanian Priam, saying: “That will we do, O dread lord: for, of old, we sought the love of long-robed Helen, to have her after the manner of men and women. But she rejected us, favouring Odysseys with her amber eyes, from her girlhood to this day. Wherefore, we are ready to fight against him on thy behalf, O Dominator of the netherworld.”

And these three made their way to the front of the throne. Now Theseys was a stalwart hero and a very worthy champion: moreover, his very nose had gone black with jealous hatred. But sandy-haired Menelaos was merely an aged screecher and whimperer, blear-eyed, rheumy-nosed, scraggy, knotty as to the joints, and unfit to be put to tussle even with a foot-boy’s slut out of the kitchens. And Phrygian Paris, once the comely shepherd of Ida, was a flaccid obese weakling, exhausted by excess, against whom I should have been ashamed to lift a finger. So I said. But, from afar, there came a great bellowing from Salaminian Aias son of King Telamon, very mad with rage, saying that he would fight on the part of King Menelaos, having also a private grievance to avenge, in that I had won from him (on the plain of windy Ilion) the armour of glorious Akhilleys. And great-hearted Hektor, son of King Priam, took up the cause of his wasted brother Paris, claiming the right of fighting against me because of the ruin which I worked on his house and city by my wile of the Wooden Horse.

But shady Hades sniggered, saying: “Not one of these three champions, who hold my honour so dear, shall be disappointed. Wherefore, fight each of you in turn; and let King Theseys fight first. And, if so be that no Odysseys is left in life to fight loud-bellowing Aias and great Hektor in turn, then, indeed, the blame will not be mine.”

But Queen Persephone cried: “Now would it be foul shame to pit a single man, even though he be King Odysseys whom they call Peer of Zeys in Counsel, against three heroes so justly famous in battle, princes renowned throughout all time. Wherefore I, the queen, call for two heroes to fight side by side with King Odysseys, upholding the honour of Queen Persephone protecting him.”

And, almost before the goddess had ceased from speaking, and, while King Hades was yet frowning in perplexity, Argive Diomedes the well-thewed son of King Tydeys cried: “I will fight cheerfully for the honour of Queen Persephone, and for my ancient friendship with King Odysseys, with whom, by night, I attacked the hardy Thrakians who wear their red hair bunched on the crown of their heads.”

Then, indeed, the mind in my breast rejoiced: for I knew that, with my old comrade Diomedes (a mighty man of war) by my side, many very virtuous and proper deeds would be done against the hostile champions. But, while I wondered who would be my other sword-fellow and shield-friend, the voice of great-hearted implacable Akhilleys declared that his god-forged armour might in no wise go into battle, he being present, unless he himself fought by its wearer’s side. But I knew then that I should not tarry long among the ghosts.

King Hades preened himself at the prospect of bloody war; and, seeing three sons of kings ready to contend with three sons of kings, he made no more ado, but began to embody the shades of these five heroes, furnishing them with bodies and limbs and arms and armour such as they had used in their very prime, when (living) they stamped on the earth the giver of grain.

Now it is not to be thought that I, when I saw such notable magic being done before my eyes, could (or would) refrain from offering also a specimen of my own proficiency. But I determined at once to let King Hades see how great a mage he had been minded to treat thus bitterly, and (at the same time) to comfort my friends and to secure respectful opinions from the inhabitants of the netherworld there present in innumerable multitudes.

Wherefore, seeing the ghosts of those five heroes becoming clothed with live flesh and about to be armed by their proper squires, I nobly refused the service of the Great Twins, star-crowned, when they would have prepared me for the fray. And the eyes of all, from highest to lowest instantly became fixed upon me. But I stood still, summoning certain forces within me, and silently saying the _Spell_ called _The Summons which must be Answered_.

And, forthwith, Thalos my foot-boy (whose life was bound to mine) came from the misty meadows of asphodel, where he and Neandros and my silver chariot were waiting for me. Fearlessly he came, entering the judgment-hall of Hades, thinking of naught but his duty to his lord. And it was very strange to see a mere boy, mortal, but alive and very healthy, wearing his usual sandals and short mantle, running toward me through so vast a throng of naked shades. But the dead all made way for him, being beaten back and most dreadfully worried: for he was (as I was) immune against death by reason of my magic and also by reason of the grace of his own luminous innocence. And, having come to me, he went over the clasps of my armour in the usual manner, saying nothing. But, when he had done his service, he went (at my command) and crouched by the feet of long-robed Helen.

Then, again, I called, calling (this time) as Master.

And forthwith there came in Delphic Phoibos Apollon as Knight of the Sun, and Arkadian Hermes as Knight of East and West and North and South, and lordly Ares as Knight of Kadosh, and Lemnian Hephaistos as Knight of the Brazen Serpent, and Theban Herakles (who, they say, changed wives with Zeys) as Knight of the Sword of the East, all gloriously triumphant, and, also, beardless Dionysos as Noahite Patriarch, and pale Death and dusky Sleep as Princes of Mercy, and immortal Eros as Prince of the Royal Secret, each one giving me the greeting of his own degree. But to them I responded as Master. They seated themselves on the bench with the judges Aiakos, Minos, and Rhadamanthos. And I remember how that the shade of accursed Thersites, humpty-backed, blameless, took a mind-grieving toss from lordly Ares, having presumed (as his wont was) to thrust himself unbidden into the pews of his betters. And inextinguishable laughter arose among the shades, when they saw the staggering unhappiness of that chatterbox Thersites.

But, when all was ready, I took my place, having kissed the still brow of Golden Helen. But the touch of the goddess, though her mien was strange and unresponsive, put strength into my shoulders and knees, and placed in my breast the boldness of a fly, which persists in biting, although often driven away by a mortal man whose blood is its most delicate sweetmeat. For I burned with an insatiable desire for slaying, nor to surcease therefrom till all were gone who stood between me and Golden Helen. For I was in face of her, for pious reasons.

Thus, indeed, were the champions placed: at my side, I had great-hearted Akhilleys on my left, and well-thewed Diomedes on the right: but at the other side, renowned Theseys faced me, and keen Hektor faced Akhilleys, and sacrilegious Aias faced Diomedes. And we were to fight with spears and swords. But my wily revolver was ready to my hand; and long-robed Helen held my black bow, which sang of war and the slaughter of heroes till King Hades gave signal for the onset.

Theseys thrust his spear straight at my best eyelid, terribly shouting: but I raised my shining shield like a flash of white thunder, taking his point full on the god-made boss of it. And the heavenly silver rang true as a bell. But I, stooping, drove up with my own spear, which he (also) took on his shield. But, so mightily had I thrust it, that the head stuck fast in the metal: nor could I tear it again from the grip of his shield. He, then, noisily swang his targe aside, snatching away my weapon. But I dashed in, battering him with my own shield, till he was beaten to his knee. And, while he recollected himself, I drew my sword and lopped off his spear-head, pressing hard with my shield against his, and hewing at his head. But he, cunning, took my strokes on his well-crested helmet, while he fumbled for his sword. Nevertheless, his head must have hummed, for sparks fell thickly on all sides from every blow, as they fall from a red-hot horse-shoe smitten upon an anvil in a winter’s night. And, when once more we were equally armed, we fell to fighting very seriously; and, for a time, neither of us gained an advantage.

But, suddenly, I heard a great sob on my right hand. For well-thewed Diomedes crashed to the ground; and all the netherworld shook at his fall, as a citadel shakes when thumped by a battering-ram. And, at the same time, Aias son of Telamon leaped upon me, masked in blood, and bellowing like a hamstrung bull.

Now, hitherto, notwithstanding the gravity of our combat, neither I nor Theseys had let blood. But, when I saw scarlet Aias coming ravening upon me, and, when I sniffed the delicious odour of a hero’s blood, then, indeed, I accomplished a certain wile. For I feinted downward, to draw the sword of Aias; and, lightening my guard before his eye (half-dimmed with streaming gore) could follow, I lunged upward, plunging my blade like an onion into the bellowing mouth of him, where a wound is particularly painful to a miserable mortal; and awfully my hilt thudded on the bones behind his face, passing right through his head under the brain and bruising the white bones at the back. And his teeth were shivered to splinters; and his two eyes gushed with gore, which he (gaping) made violently to spout also with a bubbling noise from his mouth and from both his ears and nostrils, drenching me with five purple fountains. But his knees relaxed; and he sat down suddenly backward, stretching out his two hands; and Death enveloped him in a pale cloud. In this manner, I lost my sword as well as my spear, being too much occupied to retrieve it from the badly-wrecked face of Aias.

And now one would have said that I was at the mercy of my own enemy: for Theseys all the time did not omit to hack at my head. But I caught his strokes on my shield till it was split in twain, and then upon my crested helmet studded with adamantine crystals and blue moonstones; and his blows were like the blows of a poleaxe wielded by a blooming butcher, or of a sledge-hammer wielded by a lusty smith. But, because I was unarmed and liable to reel giddily under the hero’s onslaught, my noble mind contrived a new wile. And, diving upward under his shield (lest he should wound me in the back), I caught him round the ribs with my long arms, and began to crumple him up. He, indeed, having dropped his shield, smote once on my back: but it was only a half-cut, for my shoulder filled the sweet pit of his sword-arm, preventing him from giving either force or weight unto his effort. Meanwhile, I splintered his crackling ribs one by one, pinching him as ferociously as possible, and wrenching him hither and thither, with a heart full of pure joy, when I felt so renowned a hero as Theseys becoming like a broken basket of entrails in my arms. He, indeed, tried to stab me with his bitter steel, in the intervals when he was neither screeching nor gasping for breath with much hiccoughing. And, anon, having heaved him high above my head, (for he tired me), then I dashed him to the ground, snapping his big backbone with a noise like the quick tearing of linen. But he lapsed limply into a shapeless bundle of broken man; and his last breath shot out with a wet squeak, moistly whistling; and renowned Theseys was once more a shade.

But I sidled away from the carcase, looking toward my left hand, where the two great heroes and masters of perfect swordsmanship were fighting valiantly. And crest-tossing Hektor feigned to slip, half exposing his head: but implacable Akhilleys, for the nonce unwary, brandished his blade for a last terrific blow which should end the battle. But him Hektor overcame, eluding the shield which swang away to the left, and thrusting his own sword through the taslets of the breast-plate deep into the beautiful groin. Nevertheless, the end was not yet. For fierce Akhilleys, though wounded to death, finished the stroke which he had begun. And his sword came down irresistibly on Hektor’s crested helm; and the horse-hair floated away on this side and on that; and the whole casque fell in two halves here and there, like the split shells of a walnut; and the head within, being divided in twain right down to the roots of the throat, flapped upon the shoulders like a halved pomegranate on a sliced stem. In this manner, fell together the two greatest warriors and the two most glorious heroes who ever stamped on the wide-bosomed earth.

But all voices were hushed at the splendour of the sight, grieving that the five famous sons of kings should so soon have ceased from sweet life, again becoming shades. And I, also, stood in silence: for I was still rather dizzy. But, all at once, shady Hades shouted from his throne: “This much-contriving Odysseys again hath tricked us by some magic wile. Ha, Titans, hold him!”

And, on the word, the enormous monsters lumbered in my direction. But all the shades began to gibber like bats, moaning with fear; and the shade of great-hearted Akhilleys became paler with horror, because of King Hades’ treachery. But Thalos, my foot-boy, lithely leaped from crouching at the feet of Golden Helen; and, having snatched my black bow from her (but she gave it willingly), he thrust it into my hand, standing alertly close behind me with my quiver, ready to feed me with arrows. And, in an instant, I bent the great bow to the string, while it sang shrilly with joy, loosing the well-feathered shafts which swiftly hissed down the long hall; and they bit the eyeballs of the titans so that they yelped like whipped whelps in their displeasure, falling as great oaks crash earthward in storms, littering considerable areas.

But, as I sped the winged deaths on their way, I heard a terrible cry from the queen. But I, without turning round to her, was suddenly aware that I was seeing on all sides, both before and behind: for the eyes in my face, fearfully rolling, gazed in front; and, when I drew the string of the bent-back bow to my ear with my right hand, the two eye-chalcedonyxes in the magic ring which Hermes, my grandsire, had placed on my third finger looked out over my shoulder in the rear, warning me of danger from that quarter. And I saw shady King Hades, the most righteous of gods, about to dash out my brain with the gigantic key which fits the locks of hell.

But, leaping aside, I evaded the blameless coward’s blow: but, in escaping from the god, I became far away from Thalos who bore my arrows; and my bow shrieked because I could not use it. Once more, King Hades struck at me; and, once more mightily leaping, I eluded the danger. Moreover, I saw, from the bewildered gestures of the shades, that they understood neither what was going on nor the reason of my marvellous agility. And, then, I perceived that the shady one had donned his cyclopean helmet of invisibility, whereby none but a god’s eyes could see him. But I, being hard pressed, determined to use magic of another kind, such as I had found very efficacious against shady hustlers and bullies when I was a subject of Victory queen of the stalwart stately Anglicans. And, first, I praised rustic Pan and wing-footed Hermes, with wildly joyful acclamations: the one for his gift in the touch of fennel on the seashore by Tainaron, whereby I was able to see with the eyes of a god as well as with the eyes of a man, and the other (my grandsire) for his gift of two eyes more than the number allotted to olympians, to say nothing of miserable mortals: for, without these extraordinary faculties, shady Hades would certainly have gotten me again, and for good, and I should have lost Golden Helen for the third and last time.

Wherefore, I plucked out my revolver, as blameless Hades came upon me. He, indeed, had the air of being dreadfully worried, believing himself to be invisible, and yet finding that I was able to dodge him quite successfully. And, having pressed the well-made spring of my weapon with my palm, I pulled the beautiful trigger six times, afflicting the Shady One with a dumdum[49] in each nostril and two in the belly and one in each knee. But he, being a god, was unable to die, even though he had lost his ugly face: but all the same, he was extremely capable of feeling pain; and dreadful pain he felt. Now, as everyone knows, when lordly Ares was wounded by well-thewed Diomedes at the siege of windy Ilion, he hullabalooed (as it is chanted in the canticle) like an army of ten thousand men all mad-drunk with beer. But, King Hades being of the elder generation of the gods, and (therefore) of far vaster bulk than his lusty nephew, the bellowing of nineteen such armies would have been (to the outpouring of his godly griefs and pains) but as the wheezy puling of an infant to the thunder of immeasurable Ocean on a rock-bound coast. For, indeed, the very firmament of the netherworld was riven and cleft asunder by the thuds of his high-stepped capers and contortions, and the bombilation of his vibrant vociferatings to my address.

But I, looking upward through the grateful fissure, saw clear heaven again, and the serenely-sailing Moon, and the glittering constellation of the Crab, and all the holy stars which kindly gaze upon earth-trampling men.

After this manner, did I work notable wiles in the house of blameless Hades.

FOOTNOTES:

[48] This might, perhaps, almost strike some persons as being just a little “thin.” A. H.

[49] I find several English words in this papyrus, written in what we will agree to call Mr. C.’s own hand. A. H.

THE TWENTY-FIRST PAPYRUS

Then, the gods, divine ones inhabiting olympian palaces, whom I had summoned to see how a master-mage under-goes that he may overcome, intervened to protect me from further annoyance. For unspeakable confusion buzzed and boomed throughout all the house of Hades.

For the shades of well-born Theseys and of sandy-haired old Menelaos and of woman-mad Paris were gibbering with rage, seeing that I was free to depart with Golden Helen, the Treasure of Hades, as my spoil. And they shook their angry fingers at me, like fringes in a wind, being quite impotent: but Paris, unable to contain what there was of himself (so abounding was his ire), burst, over and over again, like a bad bubble in my vicinity. And he suddenly frittered away.