SHORT STORY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2299, 24 March 1898, Page 50

SHORT STORY.

« THE SACRIFICE TO. SEMAUSUS. A Passage from "Pbrpettja, a Tale OF NIMES IN A.D. 213,'' BY THE REV. S. Babixg Goxjld. The Kalends (first) of March. A brilliant day in,the town of Nemaueus — tba modern Nimos — in the province of Gallia Narbonensis, tbat arrogated to itse3f the title j of being Hie province, a title that baa con- - tinned in use to the present day, as distinguishing the olive-growing, rose-prodacing, ruin-strewn portion of Southern France whose fringe is kissed by the blua Mediterranean. . . . At the back of the whice city stands arock, ibe extreme limit of a spur oi: the CebanLsa, forming an amphitheatre, tho stones scrambled over by blue and white periwinkle, and the crags heavy with syringa and flowering thorns. lir-the midst of this circle of .rock welled up a river of transparent bottle-green water. On &.ccourt of the incessant agitation of. the water, tbat rose in bells, aad broka in rhythmic wavesagainst thecoritaioiag breast- ; work, neither were the swans mirrored ia J the surface, nor did the whita temple of Nemausus reflect its peristyle of channeled pilJars in the green flood. This temple occupied one eicie of the basin ; on tha other, a little removed, were the bathe, named after Auguarug, to which some of the water was conducted after it- had passed beyond the precinct within which it was regarded as sacred. But in the place of honour, in the miti&t of the public walk hefore the fountain, Barrounded by acacias and pink-blossomed i Judas trees, stood the god Nemausas, who j was at once the presiding deity over the i f ouniain and ths reputed founder of the city. Ha was represented aa a youth of graceful form, almost feminine, aud though he bore some military insignia, yet seemed too girllike and timid to appear in war. The fountain had, in rery trutb, created the city, Thia marvellous upheaval of a limpid river out of the heart of the earth had early attracted settters to it, who had built their rude cabins beside tha stream and who paid to the fountain divine honours., Around it they sec up a circle of rude stonee, and called the place " Nemet " — that is to say, the Sacred Place. After a while came Greek settlers, and they introduced a new civilisation and new ideas. They at once erected an image of the deity of the fountain, and called this deity Nemausios. The spring had been female to the Gaulish occupants of the settlement ; it now became male, but in its aspect the deity still bore indications of feminine origin. Lastly the place became a Rjoian town. Now beautiful statuary had taken the place of the m;.noliths of unhewn atone that had at ore lima bounded ths sacred spring. On this firfit day of March the inhabitants of Nemausus were congregated near the fountain, all in holiday costume. Among them ran and laughed numerous young girlp, all with wreaths of white hyacinths or of narcissus on their heads, and their clear, musical voices rang as bells in the fresh air. Yet, jocund as the scene wap, to such as looked closer there was observable an undercurrent of alarm that found expression in the faces of the elder men acd women of the throng, at least, in those of such persons as had their daughters flower-crowned. Many a parent held the child with convulsive clasp, and tne eyes of fathers and mothers alike followed their darlings with a greed, as though desirous of not losing one glimpse, not missing one word, of tha little creatures on whom so many kisses were bestowed and in whom bo much love was centred. For this day was specially dedicated to tho founder and patron of the towD, who supplied ib with, water from bis unfailing urn, and ouce , ia every eeYen years on. thjjg day a Liftman '

victim was- offered in sacrifice to the god Nemausus, to ensure the continuance of bis favour, by a constant efßax of water, pure, cool, and salubrious. The victim was chosen from among the daughters of the old Gaulish families of the town, and the victim was selected among girls between the ages of seven and 17. Seven times seven were bound to appear on this day before the sacred spring, clothed in white and crowned with spring flowers. None knew which would be chosen and which rejected. The selection was not made by either the. priests, or the priestesses attached to the temple. Nor was it made by the magistrates of Nemausus. No parent might redeem bis child. Chance or destiny alone determined who was to be chosen out of the 49 who appeared before the god. Suddenly from the temple sounded a blast of horns, and immediately the peristyle (colonnade) filled with priests and priestesses in white, tha former with wreaths of silvered olive leaves around their heads, the latter crowned with oak leaves- of gold foil. The trumpeters descended the steps. The crowd fell back, and a procession advanced. First came players on the double fiate, or syrinx, with red bands round their hair Then followed dancing ' girls .performing graceful movements about; the silver, image of the god that was borne on the shoulders of four maidens covered with spangled. veils of the finest Oriental texture. Oa both sides paced priests with brazen trumpets. Before and behind the image were, boys bearing censers that' diffused aromatic smoke i which rose and spread in Ail directions, wafred by the soft air that spun above the cold waters of the fountain. Behind the imige and the dancing girls marched the priests and priestesses singing alternately a hymn to the god. Then the priests and priestesses drew up in lines between the people and the fountain, | and the seiile of the city, standing forth, read out from a roll the names of seven j times seven maidens ; and as each name was called a whise~robsd flower-crowned child flattered from among the crowd and was received by the priestly band. When all 49 were gathered- together, then they were formed into a ring', holding hands, and round tbia ring passed the bearers of the ■ silver image. v j •Now again ro?e the hymn : - ' Hail, holy fountain, limpid and eternal, i Green as the sapphire, infinite, abundant. Sweet, unpolluted, cold aud clear as crystal • Father Nemausus. And as the bearers carried the image round the circle, suddenly a golden apple held by the god fell and touched a graceful | girl who stood in. the ring. [ "Come forth, Lucilla," said the chief i priestess. "It is the will of the god thati thou speak the worde. B?gin." Then the damsel loosed her bands from thoss she held, stepped into the midst of the j ekele and' raised the golden pippin. At.! once the entire ring of children began to ! revolve, like a dance of white but?trflea-iu. early spring ; and as they swung from rfght j to left the girl began to recite at a rapid j pace a jingle of words in a Gallic dialect that { ran thus : j One and two, " I Drops of dew ; 'I hrae and four, Shut the door. And as she spoke she indicated a child at each numeral. Five and six, Pick tip sticks ; Seven and eigli 1 ", 'Jhou must wait. Now there passed a thrili through the crowd, and the children whirled quicker. J Nine and ten, Pass again. Golden pippin, lo ! I cast, Ihou, Alcmene, touchtd at last. At the word " last " she threw the apple and struck a girl, and at once left the ring, cast her coronet of narcissus into the foun- ', tai& and ran into the crowd. With a gasp i of relief she was caught in the arms of her mother; who held her to her heart, and sobbed with joy that her child waa spared. For her the risk wai passed, as she would be over age when the next septennial sacrifice cms round. s Now it was the torn of Alcmene. She held tha ball, paused a moment, looking about her, and then, as the troop of. children revolved, she rattled the rhyme and threw the pippin at a damsel named Tertiola. Whereupon she in tnrn cast her garland, that ' was of white violets, into the fountain and withdrew. Again the wreath o? children circled, and Tertiola repeated the jingle till she came to j " touched at last," when a girl named JEia was selected, and came into the middle. This was a chilcl of Beven, who was shy and cluDg to her mother. Tne mother fondled her and said, " My iEiia f Rejoice that thou art nob the fated victim. Tne god ha 3 surrendered tbee to me. - Be speedy with the verse and I will give thee ' ciustulse ' that are in my ba&kefc." So encouraged the frightened child rattled out some Irftes, thtn halted ; her memory had failed, and she had' to be reminded of j the rest. At last she also was free, ran to her mother's bosom, and was comforted with cakes. A young man with folded arms stood lounging near the great basin. He occasionally addressed a shorter man — a client apparently, from his cringing manner and the set smile he wore when addressing or addressed by the other. "By Hercules'" said the first — "or let , me rather swear by Venua and her wi. ward i son, the Bow-bearer — that is a handsome girl yonder, she who is the tallest, and methinks the eldest of all. What is her name, my Callipodius 7 " " She that looks so scared, O supremity of excellent youths, JEmilius Lentulus Varo I I believe that she is the daughter and only Child of the widow Qaincta, who lost her husband two years ago, and has refused marriage since. They whisper strange things concerning her " " What things, thou tittle-tattle bearer ? " . ■ " Nay, I bear but what is desired of me. Didst thou not inquire of me who the maiden waa 1 I have a mind to make no answer. But who can deny anything to thee? " «'By the genius of Augustus," exclaimed the patron, " thou makest me turn away my head at thy unctuous flattery. The peasants do all their cooking in. oil, and when their meals be set oa the table the appetite is

taken away, there is too much oil. It is so with thy conversation. Coma, thy news." " I speak but what I feel. But see .how the circle is shrunk. As to the scandal thou wouldst hear, it is this. The report goes that the widow and her daughter are infected with a foreign superstition, and worship an ass head." "An ass's head hast thou to hold and repeat such lies. Look at the virgin. Didst ever see one more modest, ona who mora bears the stamp of sound reason and o£ - virtue on her brow 1 The next thoa wilt „aj " That ..these Christiana devour yjsng children." 11 This is slander, not scandal. By Japiter Camulns ! the circle is reduced to four, and she, that fair maid, is still in it. There is Qainctills", the daughter of Largus ; lock at him, how ha eyes her with agony in his face 1 There is Vestilia Fatercola. I > would to the gods that the fair — what is her name ? " " Perpetua, daughter of Aalus Har"— - — "Ah 1 " interrupted the patron uneasily. " Qainctilla is out." - • " Her father, Aulus Harpinius. " " Sse, gee 1 " again burßt in the youth jEmiliu?, " there arc- but two left — that little brown girl and she whom thou earnest"— — " Parpetua." 7 -Now arrived the supreme moment — that of the final selection. The choosing girl, in whose hand was the apple, stQod before those who alone remained. She began : 1 ' " One, two,, . ' Drops cf dew." Although there was so vn,sfr a concouree present, not a sound could ba beard, sav&the voics of the girl repeating the jingle and ths rush of the holy water over the weir. Every breath wae bsM. " Nine and ten, Pays again. Goldsn pippin, now I cast, i Thou, Portumna, touched at last." At once the brown girl skipped to tha basin, cast; in her garland, atid the high priestess, raising her band, stepped forward, pointed to Perpefcua, and cried : " Eat." Wnen the lot had fallen, th«n a cry rang j from among the spectators, and a woman, j wearing the white cloak of widowhood, i would have fallen had shs not been caught and sustained by a man in a brown tame and lacerna (tho'rt cloak). "B3 not overcome, lady," said this man in a low tone. " What thou losest is lent to the Lori3." " Biudillas," sobbed the woman, " she is ; mv only child, and is to be sacrificed to [ devils." ) The peer mother clasped her arms, and buned her head in them. Then the girl thruet aside such as interposed and essayed to reach her mother. The ■j priestesses laid hands on her to stay her, but J she said : , , .T. T ! " Suffer me to kiss my njbfcher and to com- .'! fort her. Do net doubt" that I win preserve a j smiling countenance.*' j "I cannot peimit it," said the high { priestess. "There will be resistance and | tears." • " And therefore," said the girl, " you will put -drops of oil or water into the ears of oxen brought to the altars, thai they may rod their heads, and so seem to express congent. Let me console my mother, so shall I be able to go gladly to death. Otherwise I may weep, and thereby mar thy sacrifice." Then, with firmness, she thrust through the belt of priestesses, and clasped the almost } fainting and derpamrg mother to her i heart. "Be of good cotfragfc," sbo said. "Be like unio Felicitas, wbo sent her sons, one by one, to receive the crown, and who — blessed mother that sh* was — encouraged them in their torments to play the man for i Christ." i " But thou art my only child." " And she offered them all to God." " I am a widow, and alone." " And such was she." Then Perpetua gently unclasped the arms of her mother, who was lapsing into uncon-sciousness.-kissed her, and said : "The God of all strength and comfort be to thee a strong tower of defence." Sh* then hastily returned to the basin. Ths young man who before had noticed Perpetua turned with quiveriDg lip to his companion and said : " I would forswear Nemausus — that he should exact such a price. Look at her face, OalHpodius, Xs it the sun that lightens it 2 j By H-js cules, I could swear that it streamed with effulgence from within, as though she were one of the gods. 1 ' " The more beautiful and innocent she' be the more grateful is she to the august Archegos ! . . . They are binding her." "She refuses to be bound." - Shrieks now rang from the frantic mother, and she mads dssperate efforts to reach her -dan^hter. She was deaf to the consolations of Baudilias, and to the remonstrances and entreaties of the people around her, who j pitied and yet could not help her. Then said the senile to his police, "Remove the woman ! '' The chief priest made a sign, and at once the trumpeters began to bray through their brazan tubes, making such anoise a3 to drown the cries of the mother. . . The priestesses divested Perpetua of her girded stole, and revealed her gracefol young form in the tunic bordered with purple indicative of the nobility of the house to which she i belonged. The priest bad bound her hands ; but Perpetua smiled, and shook off the bonds at her feet. "Lat be," she said; "I shall not resist." On her bead she still wore a crown of white narcissns. Not more fresh and pure were these flowers than her delicate face, which the blood had left. Ever and anon she turned eyes in the direction of her mother, but she could no longer see her,, as the attendants formed a ring so compact that . none could break through. " Elect of the god, bride of Nemausus I* said the chief priestess, " ascend the balustrade of the holy perennial fountain." Without shrinking the girl obeyed. She fixed her eye's steadily on tha sky, and then made the sacred sign on her brow. Then at a sign the trumpeters blew a furions bellow and as suddenly ceased. Whereupon, to the strain o£ ffute» and tho

iinklicg of triangles, the choir broke forth Into the last verse of the bymn : Thou, the perennial, loving tender virgins, De thou accept the sacrifice we offer; May tby selection be the best and fittest, Father Nemausus. As they chanted, and a cloud of incense mounted around her, Perpetua looked down into the water. It was green as glacier ice, and so full of bubbles in places as to be there semi-opaque. The depth seemed infinite. No bottom waß visible. No fish darted through it. An immense volume boiled up unceasingly from unknown, unfathomed depths. The wavelets lapped the marble breasting as though licking it with greed, expecting their victim. The water, after brimming the basin, flowed away over asluice under a bridge as a considerable stream. Then it lost its sanctity and was employed for profane uses. Perpetua heard the song of the ministers of the god, but gave no heed to it, for her lips moved in prayer, and her soul was already unfurling its pure wings to y>ar into that Presence before which, as she surely expected, she was about to appear. When the chorus had reached the lice : May thy selection be the beat and fittest, •Father Nemausus 1 thea she was tnru&t by three priestesses from the balustrade and precipitated into the basin. She uttered no cry, bus from all present a gtsp of breath was audible. For a moment, sbe disappeared in the vitrsouß waters, and her white garland alone remained floating on the surface. Then her dress glimmered, next her arm, f.s tbe surging spring threw her up. Suddenly from tiae entire concourse rose a cry of astonishment and dismay. The young maw, iEmilias Lentulas Varo, had leaped into the holy bssin.