CHAPTER VII
In front of
Ben-Hur there was a forest of cypress-trees, each a column tall and straight as
a mast. Venturing into the shady precinct, he heard a trumpet gayly blown, and
an instant after saw lying upon the grass close by the countryman whom he had
run upon in the road going to the temples. The man arose, and came to him.
"I give you
peace again," he said, pleasantly.
"Thank
you," Ben-Hur replied, then asked, "Go you my way?"
"I am for
the stadium, if that is your way."
"The
stadium!"
"Yes. The
trumpet you heard but now was a call for the competitors."
"Good
friend," said Ben-Hur, frankly, "I admit my ignorance of the Grove;
and if you will let me be your follower, I will be glad."
"That will
delight me. Hark! I hear the wheels of the chariots. They are taking the
track."
Ben-Hur listened
a moment, then completed the introduction by laying his hand upon the man's
arm, and saying, "I am the son of Arrius, the duumvir, and thou?"
"I am
Malluch, a merchant of Antioch."
"Well, good
Malluch, the trumpet, and the gride of wheels, and the prospect of diversion
excite me. I have some skill in the exercises. In the palaestrae of Rome I am
not unknown. Let us to the course."
Malluch lingered
to say, quickly, "The duumvir was a Roman, yet I see his son in the
garments of a Jew."
"The noble
Arrius was my father by adoption," Ben-Hur answered.
"Ah! I see,
and beg pardon."
Passing through
the belt of forest, they came to a field with a track laid out upon it, in
shape and extent exactly like those of the stadia. The course, or track proper,
was of soft earth, rolled and sprinkled, and on both sides defined by ropes,
stretched loosely upon upright javelins. For the accommodation of spectators,
and such as had interests reaching forward of the mere practise, there were
several stands shaded by substantial awnings, and provided with seats in rising
rows. In one of the stands the two new-comers found places.
Ben-Hur counted
the chariots as they went by - nine in all.
"I commend
the fellows," he said, with good-will. "Here in the East, I thought
they aspired to nothing better than the two; but they are ambitious, and play
with royal fours. Let us study their performance."
Eight of the
fours passed the stand, some walking, others on the trot, and all
unexceptionably handled; then the ninth one came on the gallop. Ben-Hur burst
into exclamation.
"I have been
in the stables of the emperor, Malluch, but, by our father Abraham of blessed
memory! I never saw the like of these."
The last four was
then sweeping past. All at once they fell into confusion. Some one on the stand
uttered a sharp cry. Ben-Hur turned, and saw an old man half-risen from an
upper seat, his hands clenched and raised, his eyes fiercely bright, his long
white beard fairly quivering. Some of the spectators nearest him began to
laugh.
"They should
respect his beard at least. Who is he?" asked Ben-Hur.
"A mighty
man from the Desert, somewhere beyond Moab, and owner of camels in herds, and
horses descended, they say, from the racers of the first Pharaoh - Sheik
Ilderim by name and title."
Thus Malluch
replied.
The driver
meanwhile exerted himself to quiet the four, but without avail. Each
ineffectual effort excited the sheik the more.
"Abaddon
seize him!" yelled the patriarch, shrilly. "Run! fly! do you hear, my
children?" The question was to his attendants, apparently of the tribe.
"Do you hear? They are Desert-born, like yourselves. Catch them - quick!"
The plunging of
the animals increased.
"Accursed
Roman!" and the sheik shook his fist at the driver. "Did he not swear
he could drive them - swear it by all his brood of bastard Latin gods? Nay,
hands off me - off, I say! They should run swift as eagles, and with the temper
of hand-bred lambs, he swore. Cursed be he - cursed the mother of liars who
calls him son! See them, the priceless! Let him touch one of them with a lash,
and" - the rest of the sentence was lost in a furious grinding of his
teeth. "To their heads, some of you, and speak them - a word, one is
enough, from the tent-song your mothers sang you. Oh, fool, fool that I was to
put trust in a Roman!"
Some of the
shrewder of the old man's friends planted themselves between him and the horses.
An opportune failure of breath on his part helped the stratagem.
Ben-Hur, thinking
he comprehended the sheik, sympathized with him. Far more than mere pride of
property - more than anxiety for the result of the race - in his view it was
within the possible for the patriarch, according to his habits of thought and
his ideas of the inestimable, to love such animals with a tenderness akin to
the most sensitive passion.
They were all
bright bays, unspotted, perfectly matched, and so proportioned as to seem less
than they really were. Delicate ears pointed small heads; the faces were broad
and full between the eyes; the nostrils in expansion disclosed membrane so
deeply red as to suggest the flashing of flame; the necks were arches, overlaid
with fine mane so abundant as to drape the shoulders and breast, while in happy
consonance the forelocks were like ravellings of silken veils; between the
knees and the fetlocks the legs were flat as an open hand, but above the knees
they were rounded with mighty muscles, needful to upbear the shapely close-knit
bodies; the hoofs were like cups of polished agate; and in rearing and plunging
they whipped the air, and sometimes the earth, with tails glossy-black and
thick and long. The sheik spoke of them as the priceless, and it was a good
saying.
In this second
and closer look at the horses, Ben-Hur read the story of their relation to
their master. They had grown up under his eyes, objects of his special care in
the day, his visions of pride in the night, with his family at home in the
black tent out on the shadeless bosom of the desert, as his children beloved.
That they might win him a triumph over the haughty and hated Roman, the old man
had brought his loves to the city, never doubting they would win, if only he
could find a trusty expert to take them in hand; not merely one with skill, but
of a spirit which their spirits would acknowledge. Unlike the colder people of
the West, he could not protest the driver's inability, and dismiss him civilly;
an Arab and a sheik, he had to explode, and rive the air about him with clamor.
Before the
patriarch was done with his expletives, a dozen hands were at the bits of the
horses, and their quiet assured. About that time, another chariot appeared upon
the track; and, unlike the others, driver, vehicle, and races were precisely as
they would be presented in the Circus the day of final trial. For a reason
which will presently be more apparent, it is desirable now to give this turnout
plainly to the reader.
There should be
no difficulty in understanding the carriage known to us all as the chariot of
classical renown. One has but to picture to himself a dray with low wheels and
broad axle, surmounted by a box open at the tail end. Such was the primitive
pattern. Artistic genius came along in time, and, touching the rude machine,
raised it into a thing of beauty - that, for instance, in which Aurora, riding
in advance of the dawn, is given to our fancy.
The jockeys of
the ancients, quite as shrewd and ambitious as their successors of the present,
called their humblest turnout a two, and their best in grade a four; in the
latter, they contested the Olympics and the other festal shows founded in
imitation of them.
The same sharp
gamesters preferred to put their horses to the chariot all abreast; and for
distinction they termed the two next the pole yoke-steeds, and those on the
right and left outside trace-mates. It was their judgment, also, that, by
allowing the fullest freedom of action, the greatest speed was attainable;
accordingly, the harness resorted to was peculiarly simple; in fact, there was
nothing of it save a collar round the animal's neck, and a trace fixed to the
collar, unless the lines and a halter fall within the term. Wanting to hitch
up, the masters pinned a narrow wooden yoke, or cross-tree, near the end of the
pole, and, by straps passed through rings at the end of the yoke, buckled the
latter to the collar. The traces of the yokesteeds they hitched to the axle;
those of the trace-mates to the top rim of the chariot-bed. There remained then
but the adjustment of the lines, which, judged by the modern devices, was not
the least curious part of the method. For this there was a large ring at the
forward extremity of the pole; securing the ends to that ring first, they parted
the lines so as to give one to each horse, and proceeded to pass them to the
driver, slipping them separately through rings on the inner side of the halters
at the mouth.
With this plain
generalization in mind, all further desirable knowledge upon the subject can be
had by following the incidents of the scene occurring.
The other
contestants had been received in silence; the last comer was more fortunate.
While moving towards the stand from which we are viewing the scene, his
progress was signalized by loud demonstrations, by clapping of hands and
cheers, the effect of which was to centre attention upon him exclusively. His
yoke-steeds, it was observed, were black, while the trace-mates were
snow-white. In conformity to the exacting canons of Roman taste, they had all
four been mutilated; that is to say, their tails had been clipped, and, to
complete the barbarity, their shorn manes were divided into knots tied with
flaring red and yellow ribbons.
In advancing, the
stranger at length reached a point where the chariot came into view from the
stand, and its appearance would of itself have justified the shouting. The
wheels were very marvels of construction. Stout bands of burnished bronze
reinforced the hubs, otherwise very light; the spokes were sections of ivory
tusks, set in with the natural curve outward to perfect the dishing, considered
important then as now; bronze tires held the fellies, which were of shining
ebony. The axle, in keeping with the wheels, was tipped with heads of snarling
tigers done in brass, and the bed was woven of willow wands gilded with gold.
The coming of the
beautiful horses and resplendent chariot drew Ben-Hur to look at the driver
with increased interest.
Who was he?
When Ben-Hur
asked himself the question first, he could not see the man's face, or even his
full figure; yet the air and manner were familiar, and pricked him keenly with
a reminder of a period long gone.
Who could it be?
Nearer now, and
the horses approaching at a trot. From the shouting and the gorgeousness of the
turnout, it was thought he might be some official favorite or famous prince.
Such an appearance was not inconsistent with exalted rank. Kings often
struggled for the crown of leaves which was the prize of victory. Nero and
Commodus, it will be remembered, devoted themselves to the chariot. Ben-Hur
arose and forced a passage down nearly to the railing in front of the lower
seat of the stand. His face was earnest, his manner eager.
And directly the
whole person of the driver was in view. A companion rode with him, in classic
description a Myrtilus, permitted men of high estate indulging their passion
for the race-course. Ben-Hur could see only the driver, standing erect in the
chariot, with the reins passed several times round his body - a handsome figure,
scantily covered by a tunic of light-red cloth; in the right hand a whip; in
the other, the arm raised and lightly extended, the four lines. The pose was
exceedingly graceful and animated. The cheers and clapping of hands were
received with statuesque indifference. Ben-Hur stood transfixed - his instinct
and memory had served him faithfully - THE DRIVER WAS MESSALA.
By the selection
of horses, the magnificence of the chariot, the attitude, and display of person
- above all, by the expression of the cold, sharp, eagle features, imperialized
in his countrymen by sway of the world through so many generations, Ben-Hur
knew Messala unchanged, as haughty, confident, and audacious as ever, the same
in ambition, cynicism, and mocking insouciance.
CHAPTER VIII
As Ben-Hur
descended the steps of the stand, an Arab arose upon the last one at the foot,
and cried out,
"Men of the
East and West - hearken! The good Sheik Ilderim giveth greeting. With four
horses, sons of the favorites of Solomon the Wise, he hath come up against the
best. Needs he most a mighty man to drive them. Whoso will take them to his
satisfaction, to him he promiseth enrichment forever. Here - there - in the
city and in the Circuses, and wherever the strong most do congregate, tell ye
this his offer. So saith my master, Sheik Ilderim the Generous."
The proclamation
awakened a great buzz among the people under the awning. By night it would be
repeated and discussed in all the sporting circles of Antioch. Ben-Hur, hearing
it, stopped and looked hesitatingly from the herald to the sheik. Malluch
thought he was about to accept the offer, but was relieved when he presently
turned to him, and asked, "Good Malluch, where to now?"
The worthy
replied, with a laugh, "Would you liken yourself to others visiting the
Grove for the first time, you will straightway to hear your fortune told."
"My fortune,
said you? Though the suggestion has in it a flavor of unbelief, let us to the
goddess at once."
"Nay, son of
Arrius, these Apollonians have a better trick than that. Instead of speech with
a Pythia or a Sibyl, they will sell you a plain papyrus leaf, hardly dry from
the stalk, and bid you dip it in the water of a certain fountain, when it will
show you a verse in which you may hear of your future."
The glow of
interest departed from Ben-Hur's face.
"There are
people who have no need to vex themselves about their future," he said,
gloomily.
"Then you
prefer to go to the temples?"
"The temples
are Greek, are they not?"
"They call
them Greek."
"The Hellenes
were masters of the beautiful in art; but in architecture they sacrificed
variety to unbending beauty. Their temples are all alike. How call you the
fountain?"
"Castalia."
"Oh! it has
repute throughout the world. Let us thither."
Malluch kept
watch on his companion as they went, and saw that for the moment at least his
good spirits were out. To the people passing he gave no attention; over the
wonders they came upon there were no exclamations; silently, even sullenly, he
kept a slow pace.
The truth was,
the sight of Messala had set Ben-Hur to thinking. It seemed scarce an hour ago
that the strong hands had torn him from his mother, scarce an hour ago that the
Roman had put seal upon the gates of his father's house. He recounted how, in
the hopeless misery of the life - if such it might be called - in the galleys,
he had had little else to do, aside from labor, than dream dreams of vengeance,
in all of which Messala was the principal. There might be, he used to say to
himself, escape for Gratus, but for Messala - never! And to strengthen and
harden his resolution, he was accustomed to repeat over and over, Who pointed
us out to the persecutors? And when I begged him for help - not for myself -
who mocked me, and went away laughing? And always the dream had the same
ending. The day I meet him, help me, thou good God of my people! - help me to
some fitting special vengeance!
And now the
meeting was at hand.
Perhaps, if he
had found Messala poor and suffering, Ben-Hur's feeling had been different; but
it was not so. He found him more than prosperous; in the prosperity there was a
dash and glitter - gleam of sun on gilt of gold.
So it happened
that what Malluch accounted a passing loss of spirit was pondering when the
meeting should be, and in what manner he could make it most memorable.
They turned after
a while into an avenue of oaks, where the people were going and coming in
groups; footmen here, and horsemen; there women in litters borne slaves; and
now and then chariots rolled by thunderously.
At the end of the
avenue the road, by an easy grade, descended into a lowland, where, on the
right hand, there was a precipitous facing of gray rock, and on the left an
open meadow of vernal freshness. Then they came in view of the famous Fountain
of Castalia.
Edging through a
company assembled at the point, Ben-Hur beheld a jet of sweet water pouring
from the crest of a stone into a basin of black marble, where, after much
boiling and foaming, it disappeared as through a funnel.
By the basin,
under a small portico cut in the solid wall, sat a priest, old, bearded,
wrinkled, cowled - never being more perfectly eremitish. From the manner of the
people present, hardly might one say which was the attraction, the fountain,
forever sparkling, or the priest, forever there. He heard, saw, was seen, but
never spoke. Occasionally a visitor extended a hand to him with a coin in it.
With a cunning twinkle of the eyes, he took the money, and gave the party in
exchange a leaf of papyrus.
The receiver made
haste to plunge the papyrus into the basin; then, holding the dripping leaf in
the sunlight, he would be rewarded with a versified inscription upon its face;
and the fame of the fountain seldom suffered loss by poverty of merit in the
poetry. Before Ben-Hur could test the oracle, some other visitors were seen
approaching across the meadow, and their appearance piqued the curiosity of the
company, his not less than theirs.
He saw first a
camel, very tall and very white, in leading of a driver on horseback. A houdah
on the animal, besides being unusually large, was of crimson and gold. Two
other horsemen followed the camel with tall spears in hand.
"What a
wonderful camel!" said one of the company.
"A prince
from afar," another one suggested.
"More likely
a king."
"If he were
on an elephant, I would say he was a king."
A third man had a
very different opinion.
"A camel -
and a white camel!" he said, authoritatively. "By Apollo, friends,
they who come yonder - you can see there are two of them - are neither kings
nor princes; they are women!"
In the midst of
the dispute the strangers arrived.
The camel seen at
hand did not belie his appearance afar. A taller, statelier brute of his kind
no traveller at the fountain, though from the remotest parts, had ever beheld.
Such great black eyes! such exceedingly fine white hair! feet so contractile
when raised, so soundless in planting, so broad when set! - nobody had ever
seen the peer of this camel. And how well he became his housing of silk, and
all its frippery of gold in fringe and gold in tassel! The tinkling of silver
bells went before him, and he moved lightly, as if unknowing of his burden.
But who were the
man and woman under the houdah?
Every eye saluted
them with the inquiry.
If the former
were a prince or a king, the philosophers of the crowd might not deny the
impartiality of Time. When they saw the thin, shrunken face buried under an
immense turban, the skin of the hue of a mummy, making it impossible to form an
idea of his nationality, they were pleased to think the limit of life was for
the great as well as the small. They saw about his person nothing so enviable
as the shawl which draped him.
The woman was
seated in the manner of the East, amidst veils and laces of surpassing
fineness. Above her elbows she wore armlets fashioned like coiled asps, and
linked to bracelets at the wrists by strands of gold; otherwise the arms were
bare and of singular natural grace, complemented with hands modelled daintily
as a child's. One of the hands rested upon the side of the carriage, showing
tapered fingers glittering with rings, and stained at the tips till they
blushed like the pink of mother-of-pearl. She wore an open caul upon her head,
sprinkled with beads of coral, and strung with coin-pieces called sunlets, some
of which were carried across her forehead, while others fell down her back,
half-smothered in the mass of her straight blue-black hair, of itself an
incomparable ornament, not needing the veil which covered it, except as a
protection against sun and dust. From her elevated seat she looked upon the
people calmly, pleasantly, and apparently so intent upon studying them as to be
unconscious of the interest she herself was exciting; and, what was unusual -
nay, in violent contravention of the custom among women of rank in public - she
looked at them with an open face.
It was a fair
face to see; quite youthful; in form, oval: complexion not white, like the
Greek; nor brunet, like the Roman; nor blond, like the Gaul; but rather the
tinting of the sun of the Upper Nile upon a skin of such transparency that the
blood shone through it on cheek and brow with nigh the ruddiness of lamplight.
The eyes, naturally large, were touched along the lids with the black paint
immemorial throughout the East. The lips were slightly parted, disclosing,
through their scarlet lake, teeth of glistening whiteness. To all these
excellences of countenance the reader is finally besought to superadd the air
derived from the pose of a small head, classic in shape, set upon a neck long,
drooping, and graceful - the air, we may fancy, happily described by the word
queenly.
As if satisfied
with the survey of people and locality, the fair creature spoke to the driver -
an Ethiopian of vast brawn, naked to the waist - who led the camel nearer the
fountain, and caused it to kneel; after which he received from her hand a cup,
and proceeded to fill it at the basin. That instant the sound of wheels and the
trampling of horses in rapid motion broke the silence her beauty had imposed,
and, with a great outcry, the bystanders parted in every direction, hurrying to
get away.
"The Roman
has a mind to ride us down. Look out!" Malluch shouted to Ben-Hur, setting
him at the same time an example of hasty flight.
The latter faced
to the direction the sounds came from, and beheld Messala in his chariot
pushing the four straight at the crowd. This time the view was near and
distinct.
The parting of
the company uncovered the camel, which might have been more agile than his kind
generally; yet the hoofs were almost upon him, and he resting with closed eyes,
chewing the endless cud with such sense of security as long favoritism may be
supposed to have bred in him. The Ethiopian wrung his hands afraid. In the
houdah, the old man moved to escape; but he was hampered with age, and could
not, even in the face of danger, forget the dignity which was plainly his
habit. It was too late for the woman to save herself. Ben-Hur stood nearest
them, and he called to Messala,
"Hold! Look
where thou goest! Back, back!"
The patrician was
laughing in hearty good-humor; and, seeing there was but one chance of rescue,
Ben-Hur stepped in, and caught the bits of the left yoke-steed and his mate.
"Dog of a Roman! Carest thou so little for life?" he cried, putting
forth all his strength. The two horses reared, and drew the others round; the
tilting of the pole tilted the chariot; Messala barely escaped a fall, while
his complacent Myrtilus rolled back like a clod to the ground. Seeing the peril
past, all the bystanders burst into derisive laughter.
The matchless
audacity of the Roman then manifested itself. Loosing the lines from his body,
he tossed them to one side, dismounted, walked round the camel, looked at
Ben-Hur, and spoke partly to the old man and partly to the woman.
"Pardon, I
pray you - I pray you both. I am Messala," he said; "and, by the old
Mother of the earth, I swear I did not see you or your camel! As to these good
people - perhaps I trusted too much to my skill. I sought a laugh at them - the
laugh is theirs. Good may it do them!"
The good-natured,
careless look and gesture he threw the bystanders accorded well with the
speech. To hear what more he had to say, they became quiet. Assured of victory
over the body of the offended, he signed his companion to take the chariot to a
safer distance, and addressed himself boldly to the woman.
"Thou hast
interest in the good man here, whose pardon, if not granted now, I shall seek
with the greater diligence hereafter; his daughter, I should say."
She made him no
reply.
"By Pallas,
thou art beautiful! Beware Apollo mistake thee not for his lost love. I wonder
what land can boast herself thy mother. Turn not away. A truce! a truce! There
is the sun of India in thine eyes; in the corners of thy mouth, Egypt hath set
her love-signs. Perpol! Turn not to that slave, fair mistress, before proving
merciful to this one. Tell me at least that I am pardoned."
At this point she
broke in upon him.
"Wilt thou
come here?" she asked, smiling, and with gracious bend of the head to
Ben-Hur.
"Take the
cup and fill it, I pray thee," she said to the latter. "My father is
thirsty."
"I am thy
most willing servant!"
Ben-Hur turned
about to do the favor, and was face to face with Messala. Their glances met;
the Jew's defiant; the Roman's sparkling with humor.
"O stranger,
beautiful as cruel!" Messala said, waving his hand to her. "If Apollo
get thee not, thou shalt see me again. Not knowing thy country, I cannot name a
god to commend thee to; so, by all the gods, I will commend thee to - myself!"
Seeing that
Myrtilus had the four composed and ready, he returned to the chariot. The woman
looked after him as he moved away, and whatever else there was in her look,
there was no displeasure. Presently she received the water; her father drank;
then she raised the cup to her lips, and, leaning down, gave it to Ben-Hur;
never action more graceful and gracious.
"Keep it, we
pray of thee! It is full of blessings - all thine!"
Immediately the
camel was aroused, and on his feet, and about to go, when the old man called,
"Stand thou
here."
Ben-Hur went to
him respectfully.
"Thou hast
served the stranger well to-day. There is but one God. In his holy name I thank
thee. I am Balthasar, the Egyptian. In the Great Orchard of Palms, beyond the
village of Daphne, in the shade of the palms, Sheik Ilderim the Generous
abideth in his tents, and we are his guests. Seek us there. Thou shalt have
welcome sweet with the savor of the grateful."
Ben-Hur was left
in wonder at the old man's clear voice and reverend manner. As he gazed after
the two departing, he caught sight of Messala going as he had come, joyous,
indifferent, and with a mocking laugh.
