I 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 , 
 
 THAIS 
 
 
 ' 
 
 
 
 ANATOLE FRANCE 
 
 .
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 SANTA BARBARA 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 M| SS PEARL CHASE
 
 
 (
 
 THAIS
 
 BY THE SAME TRANSLATOR 
 
 BERENICE. Privately printed. 
 ROMAN PRIVATE LIFE. Ditto. 
 THE C^SARS. Ditto.
 
 THAIS
 
 THE LOTUS LIBRARY 
 
 Foolscap 8vo, top edge gilt, with bookmark. 
 Leather, $1.00 net. 
 
 Sidonie's Revenge. By A. DAUDET. \ 
 
 Zyte. By HECTOR MALOT. 
 
 The Dream. By EMILE ZOLA. In Preparation. 
 
 The Poison Dealer. By G. OHNET. i 
 
 Sevastopol. By LEO TOLSTOY 
 
 The Woman of Mystery. By GEORGES OHNET. 
 
 The Disaster. By PAUL and VICTOR MARGUERITTE. 
 
 The Diamond Necklace. By F. FUNCK-BRENTANO. 
 
 Cagliostro 8? Co. By FRANZ FUNCK-BRENTANO. 
 
 Count Bruhl. By JOSEPH K.RASZEWSKI. 
 
 The Latin Quarter. By HENRY MURGKR. 
 
 Salammbo. By GUSTAVE FLAUBERT. 
 
 Thais. By ANATOLE FRANCE. 
 
 The Nabob. By ALPHONSE DAUDET. 
 
 Drink. By ZOLA. 
 
 Madame Bovary. By GUSTAVE FLAUBERT. 
 
 The Black Tulip. By ALEXANDRE DUMAS. 
 
 Sapho. By ALPHONSE DAUDET. 
 
 A Woman's Soul. By Guv DE MAUPASSANT. 
 
 La Faustin. By EDMOND DE GONCOURT. 
 
 A Modern Man's Confession. By ALFRED oiMussn . 
 
 The Matapan Jewels. By FORTUNE DU BOISGOBEY. 
 
 Vathek. By WILLIAM BECKFORD. 
 
 Romance of a Harem. Translated from the French 
 
 by C. FORESTIER-WALKER. 
 Woman and Puppet. By PIERRE Louyg. 
 The Blackmailers. By EMILE GABORIAU. 
 The Mummy's Romance. By THEOPHILE GAUTIER. 
 The Blue Duchess. By PAUL BOURGET. 
 A Woman's Heart. By PAUL BOURGET. 
 A Good-natured Fellow. By PAUL DE K.OCH. 
 Andre Cornells. By PAUL BOURGET. 
 The Rival Actresses. By GEORGES OHNET. 
 Our Lady of Lies. By PAUL BOURGET. 
 Their Majesties the Kings. By JULES LEMAITRE. 
 Mademoiselle de Maupin. By THEOPHILE GAUTIER. 
 In Deep Abyss. By GEORGES OHNET. 
 The Popinjay. By ALPHONSE DAUDET. 
 The Temptation of Saint Anthony. By G. FLAI.-BERT. 
 Captain Fracasse. By THEOPHILE GAUTIER. 
 He and She. By PAUL DE MUSSET. 
 A Passion of the South. By ALPHONSE DAUDET.
 
 ANATOLE FRANCE 
 
 Translated by 
 
 ERNEST TRISTAN 
 
 BRENTANO'S 
 
 NKW YORK 
 
 ran
 
 BeOicatcD to 
 ISIDORE DE LARA 
 
 WITH HOMAGE 
 
 London, 1902
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 PREFACE. By G. F. MONKSHOOD ix 
 
 BOOK I. THE LOTUS i 
 
 BOOK II. THE PAPYRUS .... 65 
 
 BOOK III. THE EUPHORBIUM . . .185
 
 A NOTE UPON "THAIS" 
 
 When Anatole France gave his " Thais " 
 to the light, even the sex -worn brain of 
 Paris received a new sensation. It was 
 a really great re - conquest of antiquity. 
 Now, among the most difficult things to 
 excavate from the ancient world stand 
 thought and speech. It is the pedantic 
 fool who disinters the domestic utensils of 
 a dead world and flourishes them in your 
 face. Anatole France has restored, re- 
 created, some wonderful thought and speech, 
 and we should be grateful for the pas- 
 sionate and persuasive prose in which he 
 tells the life of 'Thais, the immoral 
 immortal, and the love - distraught priest 
 Paphnutius, who for her sake left his 
 knee - worn altar - stones and cursed the 
 God that made him and the Christ that 
 died for him. To clearly understand what 
 ix
 
 x THAIS 
 
 a feat the success of " Thau " was, one 
 has to remember that in Paris M. Anatole 
 France had, and still has, many rivals. 
 Pierre Loiiys, Prosper Castanier, ILugene 
 Morand, there are three men assuredly 
 who could write a " Thais" and, of course, 
 criticise one. But the work stood, and will 
 still stand, criticism. It may be used as 
 a " canon of proportions " for those who 
 follow after, as an Alexander of ILysippus 
 would be used by sculptors. But now to 
 speak of the book itself a little more 
 intimately. The sheer technical difficulty 
 of re-creating with a pen the period of 
 Paphnutius, will, perhaps, only be per- 
 ceived by absolute masters in classical 
 literary work such as Saltus, Mackail, 
 Loiiys, and others who ever hold before 
 them the traditions of great prose. But 
 such difficulty, in this particular case, 
 was a serious one, for of the Christian 
 and Pagan literature of that second cen- 
 tury hardly a complete authentic work 
 has survived. It was a century of
 
 A NOTE UPON THAIS xi 
 
 heresy and of a fourfold gospel, although, 
 curiously enough, vigorous Christian churches 
 existed at Corinth and Athens. At the 
 symposia of these two cities Christianity 
 was discussed as a new fashion in thought 
 and speech. 'The pall of its manifold 
 enigmce and persecutions was to descend 
 upon patient humanity a little later. As 
 imaginer, and narrator, Anatole France 
 reached in " Thais " the highest point be 
 has yet touched. We have ventured to 
 term it a great re-conquest of antiquity. 
 It is much more. In it a word-wizard 
 pictures cities, palaces, philosophers, actors, 
 courtezans, and naked vine - wreathed 
 corybantes dancing, full of life, to drones 
 and shrieks of the syrinx, sullen clank of 
 brass, and the murmur of harps beneath 
 a golden plectrum. The feast is described, 
 the Desert also. The horrors of the The- 
 baid are once more written, and then the 
 death of Tha'is and the conversion thereby 
 of Paphnutius into a maddened blasphemer 
 and heresiarch, longing once more for
 
 xii THAIS 
 
 carnal love., earthly joy and tragedy, and 
 the mirror-kiss of Maya. The passages 
 commencing and culminating in the heart- 
 cry " Thais is about to die" are among 
 the most poignant, impassioned, and musical 
 in all literature. One feels, while reading, 
 that in Paphnutius " all the woes of the 
 land of Egypt were gathered up." 
 
 It is an exceedingly beautiful book. Its 
 author has unbarred the ivory gate of 
 dream and offered to an age of deed one 
 
 \*j o y 
 
 more great love -drama worthy of pictures 
 by Poynter, of music by De Lara. Of 
 course, our hearts are dead within us, 
 but not petrified, and they quicken into 
 life at such a passion as is here unveiled. 
 Perhaps in the multi-coloured nights of 
 other worlds fas a prose laureate saidj 
 some of us may again love as Paphnutius 
 loved. Recently a savant discovered the 
 body of Thais, at Antinoe. M. Anatole 
 France has done more : he has made her 
 
 speak. 
 
 G. F. MONKSHOOD.
 
 I 
 
 THE LOTUS
 
 THE LOTUS 
 
 IN those days the desert was peopled with 
 anchorites. Upon each bank of the Nile 
 numerous huts, built of branches and clay by 
 hermits, were scattered at various distances 
 apart, in such a way that those who dwelt in 
 them could live in isolation, and yet assist 
 each other in time of need. Churches, sur- 
 mounted by a cross, rose up here and there 
 high above the huts, and the monks assembled 
 in them on feast days to assist in celebrat- 
 ing the Mysteries and to participate in the 
 Sacraments. There were, too, right on the 
 banks of the river, houses in which the Ceno- 
 bites, each of whom was confined to his narrow 
 cell, united solely in order to better preserve 
 their solitude. 
 
 The Anchorites and Cenobites lived ab- 
 stemiously ; eating nothing until after sunset, 
 and then only taking bread with a little salt 
 and hyssop. Some buried themselves in the 
 sand, making their home in a cavern or tomb, 
 and leading a still more singular existence. 
 3
 
 4 THAIS 
 
 They all wore a hood and robe, slept upon 
 the bare earth after long vigils, prayed, sang 
 psalms, and every day performed masterpieces 
 of penitence. In consideration of original sin, 
 they denied their bodies not only pleasure and 
 gratification, but even that attention which to- 
 day is considered indispensable. They con- 
 sidered that physical maladies made the soul 
 more healthy, and that the flesh could receive 
 no more glorious adornments than ulcers and 
 sores. Thus were fulfilled the words of the 
 prophets, who said : " The deserts shall be 
 covered with flowers." 
 
 Some of the guests of this holy Thebaid 
 spent their time in asceticism and contempla- 
 tion, while others earned their living by plaiting 
 palm fibres, or hired themselves to neighbouring 
 farmers during harvest. The Gentiles falsely 
 suspected some of living by robbery and of 
 joining the wandering Arabs, who pillaged 
 caravans ; but in truth these monks despised 
 riches and the scent of their virtues went up 
 to heaven. 
 
 Angels, in appearance like young men, came 
 staff in hand as travellers to visit the hermit- 
 ages, whilst demons, assuming the shapes of 
 Ethiopians or animals, wandered around the
 
 THE LOTUS 5 
 
 hermits to tempt them. When, in the morning, 
 the monks went to fill their pitchers at the 
 fountain, they saw the footprints of Satyrs in 
 the sand. Considered in its true and spiritual 
 aspect, the Thebaid was a battlefield on which, 
 at all hours and particularly during the night, 
 wonderful combats between heaven and hell 
 were fought. 
 
 The ascetics, being furiously assailed by 
 legions of the damned, defended themselves, 
 with the aid of God and the angels, with 
 weapons of fasting, penitence and maceration. 
 Sometimes the spur of carnal desires wounded 
 them so cruelly that they groaned with pain, 
 their moans being similar to the howls of 
 famished hyaenas. Then it was that the 
 demons appeared to them in forms of beauty ; 
 for though demons are in reality ugly, they 
 sometimes assume an outward beauty in order 
 to veil their inner nature. The ascetics of 
 the Thebaid saw with terror in their cells 
 pictures of pleasure, unknown even to the 
 voluptuous of that century ; but, as the sign 
 of the Cross was upon them, they did not 
 succumb to temptation, and the evil spirits, 
 assuming their own shapes, fled away at dawn 
 shameful and raging. It was not uncommon
 
 6 THAIS 
 
 to meet one of them at daybreak fleeing in 
 tears, and, when asked, replying : " I am weep- 
 ing and groaning because one of the Christians 
 who dwell here has beaten me with rods, and 
 has ignominiously driven me away." 
 
 The old men of the desert understood 
 their power over sinners. Their goodness 
 was sometimes terrible. They possessed from 
 the Apostles the power of punishing offences 
 against the true God, and nothing could save 
 those whom they condemned. In the towns, 
 and as far as Alexandria, people whispered 
 in terror that the earth opened to swallow 
 up those sinners who were struck by the rods 
 of these old men. For this reason they were 
 greatly feared by all who lived a vicious life, 
 and particularly by pantomimes, buffoons, 
 married priests and courtesans. 
 
 So great was the virtue of these good men 
 that even wild beasts submitted to their 
 authority, and when a hermit was on the 
 point of death a lion came to him to dig his 
 grave with its claws. The holy man, knowing 
 by this event that God would shortly call 
 him hence, embraced all his brethren, and 
 then lay down cheerfully to sleep in the Lord. 
 
 Now since Anthony, who was more than a
 
 THE LOTUS 7 
 
 hundred years old, had retired to Mount Colzin 
 with his beloved disciples Macairus and 
 Amathus, there was no monk in all the 
 Thebaid more abounding in good works 
 than Paphnutius, priest of Antinoe. Ephrem 
 and Serapion, to be sure, commanded a larger 
 number of monks, and were renowned for 
 the spiritual and temporal conduct of their 
 monasteries. But Paphnutius observed the 
 most rigorous fasts, and sometimes remained 
 three whole days without nourishment. He 
 wore a robe of rough hair, whipped himself 
 morning and evening, and often prostrated 
 himself upon his face. 
 
 His twenty - four disciples, after building 
 their huts near his, imitated his austerities. 
 He loved them dearly in Jesus Christ, and 
 ceaselessly exhorted them to penitence. 
 Among his spiritual sons were men who, 
 after being brigands for many years, were 
 so touched by the exhortations of the holy 
 abbot that they had embraced the monastic 
 life. The purity of their lives elevated their 
 companions. Among them was the cook of 
 the Queen of Abyssinia, who, after being con- 
 verted by the holy abbot, shed tears without 
 ceasing, and also the deacon Flavian, who
 
 8 THAIS 
 
 was a man of learning and a skilful orator. 
 But the most admirable of the disciples of 
 Paphnutius was a young peasant named Paul, 
 who was called the Simple on account of his 
 extreme innocence. Men laughed at his 
 candour ; but God favoured him by sending 
 him visions, and by granting him the gift of 
 prophecy. 
 
 Paphnutius sanctified his hours by instructing 
 his disciples, and by the practice of asceticism. 
 He, too, often meditated upon the sacred books 
 to discover allegories in them, for which reason 
 though still young he had many virtues. The 
 devils who made such vigorous assaults upon 
 the holy anchorites dared not approach him. 
 At night seven little jackals sat listening before 
 his hut in silence : it was said that they were 
 seven demons whom he retained at his door 
 by virtue of his sanctity. 
 
 Paphnutius was born at Alexandria of a 
 noble family, and had been carefully instructed 
 in profane literature. He had even been 
 seduced by the lies of the poets, and, in his 
 early youth, such were the errors of his mind 
 and the disorder of his thoughts, that he 
 believed the human race had been drowned 
 by the deluge of Deucalion, and disputed with
 
 THE LOTUS 9 
 
 his fellow-pupils as to the nature, attributes, 
 and even the existence of God. In those days 
 he lived a life of dissipation, this being the 
 fashion among the Gentiles, and now recalled 
 the past with shame for his own confusion. 
 At that time he used to tell his brethren that 
 he boiled in the cauldron of false delight, by 
 which he meant that he ate viands skilfully 
 served and frequented public baths. As a 
 matter of fact, up to his twentieth year he had 
 led the life of the century which should 
 rather be called death than life but after 
 receiving instruction from the priest Macrinus 
 he became a new man. 
 
 The truth took entire possession of him, and 
 he used to say that it had entered into him 
 like a sword. He embraced the faith of 
 Calvary and adored the crucified Christ. After 
 his baptism he remained for another year 
 among the Gentiles, bound by the chains of 
 habit. But upon entering a church one day 
 he heard a deacon read this verse of Scripture : 
 "If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou 
 hast and give to the poor." He at once sold 
 his property, distributed the proceeds in charity, 
 and entered upon a monastic life. 
 
 During the ten years which he had spent
 
 io THAIS 
 
 in solitude, he had not boiled in the cauldron 
 of carnal delights, but had anointed himself 
 with profit in the balm of penitence. 
 
 One day when, according to his pious 
 custom, he was . recalling the hours which he 
 had spent far from God, and was examining 
 his faults one by one in order to exactly 
 understand their enormity, he remembered 
 having seen years before at the theatre of 
 Alexandria an actress of great beauty named 
 Thai's. This woman took part in the games 
 and was not ashamed to join in skilful dances, 
 the movements of which recalled the most 
 terrible passions. Or else she enacted some 
 of the scenes of shame which the Pagan fables 
 attribute to Venus, Leda, or Pasiphae. Thus 
 she inflamed all the spectators with the fire of 
 luxury ; and when fine young men or rich old 
 men, full of love, came and hung garlands of 
 flowers at her door, she received them kindly. 
 So that, in destroying her own soul, she 
 also destroyed a number of others. 
 
 Paphnutius, too, had been one of her 
 admirers. She had aroused the fever of de- 
 sire in his veins, and on one occasion he 
 had approached her house ; but he halted at 
 the door, stayed by the natural timidity of
 
 THE LOTUS ii 
 
 extreme youth (he was only fifteen) and by the 
 fear of being expelled. God in his pity had 
 taken these means of saving him from a great 
 crime. At that time, however, Paphnutius 
 did not recognise this, because he could not 
 then discern between his real interests and 
 his false desires. Then, kneeling in his hut 
 before the image of that saving wood, from 
 which the ransom of the world was suspended 
 as in a balance, Paphnutius began to think 
 of Thai's, because she was his sin, and he 
 meditated long according to the rules of 
 asceticism upon the fearful horror of carnal 
 delights, the taste for which this woman had 
 inspired in him in the days of trouble and 
 ignorance. After some hours of meditation 
 the image of Thai's appeared to him with 
 extreme clearness. He saw her again, beauti- 
 ful in the flesh as she was at the time of 
 his temptation. She appeared first as Leda, 
 lying on a bed of hyacinth, head thrown 
 back, eyes humid and full of light, nostrils 
 quivering, mouth half open, full round breasts, 
 and arms fresh as running streams. At this 
 vision Paphnutius beat his breast, and said : 
 " My God, I call Thee to witness that I per- 
 ceive the grossness of my sin ! "
 
 12 THAIS 
 
 Her image gradually changed in expression. 
 As the corners of her mouth drooped, the 
 lips of Thai's slowly revealed mysterious suffer- 
 ing. Her eyes were full of tears and light ; 
 from her breast the breath came like the 
 first gusts of the storm. Seeing her thus, 
 Paphnutius was touched to the quick, and 
 throwing himself upon his knees he offered 
 up this prayer: " O THOU, who hast put 
 pity in our hearts, as the morning dew on 
 the meadows, O Just and Pitiful God, be 
 blessed ! Praise be unto Thee ! Take away 
 from me this false tenderness which leads to 
 desire, and by thy grace cause me to love 
 thy creatures only in thyself, for they pass 
 away and thou remainest. If I am grieved 
 for this woman, it is because she is thy handi- 
 work. Even the angels bend towards her 
 in solicitude. Is she not, O Lord, the breath 
 of thy mouth? She must not continue sinning 
 with so many citizens and strangers. A great 
 pity for her has arisen in my heart. Her crimes 
 are abominable, and the thought of them alone 
 makes me shudder so that my hair stands up 
 in affright. But the greater her sin the more 
 I must pity her. I weep at the thought that 
 devils will torment her through all eternity."
 
 THE LOTUS 13 
 
 As he meditated thus he saw a little jackal 
 seated at his feet : this greatly surprised him 
 as the door of his hut had been shut since 
 the morning. The animal seemed to read 
 the priest's thoughts and wagged its tail like 
 a dog. Paphnutius crossed himself: the beast 
 disappeared. Knowing by this that for the 
 first time the devil had entered his hut, he 
 offered up a short prayer. Then he thought 
 again of Thais. " With the help of God," 
 he said to himself, " I must save her." Then 
 he slept. 
 
 The following morning, after prayer, he 
 visited the holy man Palemon, who led the 
 life of a hermit a short distance away, and 
 found him peaceful and smiling, and digging 
 his garden as was his custom. Palemon was 
 an old man and had a small garden : wild 
 beasts came and licked his hands and the 
 devils did not torment him. 
 
 " God be praised ! brother Paphnutius," 
 said he, resting on his spade. 
 
 " God be praised ! " replied Paphnutius. 
 " And peace be with you, brother ! " 
 
 " Peace be with you also ! brother Paph- 
 nutius," replied Palemon, as he wiped the 
 sweat from his brow.
 
 H THAIS 
 
 " Brother Palemon, the sole object of our 
 conversation should be the praise of the one 
 who has promised to be in the midst of those 
 who assemble in his name. That is the 
 reason I come to talk with you about a plan 
 I have formed to glorify the Lord." 
 
 " May the Lord bless thy plan, Paphnutius, 
 as he has blessed my lettuce ! Every morn- 
 ing he sheds grace upon my garden with 
 his dew, and his goodness incites me to 
 glorify him in the cucumbers and pumpkins 
 which he gives me. Let us pray him to 
 keep us in his peace, for nothing is more to 
 be feared than the disorderly motions which 
 trouble the heart. When these motions dis- 
 turb us we are like drunken men, and we 
 walk, wavering to the right or to the left, 
 always ready to fall ignominiously. Some- 
 times these transports plunge us into in- 
 temperate joy, and the man who abandons 
 himself is the cause of the thick laughter of 
 the brutes which echoes through the air. 
 This lamentable joy involves the sinner in 
 all sorts of confusion. But sometimes, too, the 
 troubles of the soul and senses bring an 
 unholy sadness, a thousand times more fatal 
 than joy. Brother Paphnutius, I am only a
 
 THE LOTUS 15 
 
 poor sinner, but during my long life I have 
 discovered that the Cenobite has no worse 
 enemy than sadness. I mean by that the 
 tenacious melancholy which envelops the soul 
 like a fog and conceals the light of God. 
 Nothing is more adverse to safety, and the 
 devil's greatest triumph is to plant a black 
 and bitter disposition in the heart of a good 
 man. If he only sent joyous temptations 
 against us he would not be half so terrible. 
 Alas ! he excels in afflicting us. Did he not 
 show our father Anthony a black child so 
 beautiful that it made him weep? With the 
 aid of God, our father Anthony avoided the 
 demon's snares. I have known him the whole 
 of the time he has lived among us ; he re- 
 joiced with his disciples and never once 
 became melancholy. But have you not come, 
 brother, to talk of a plan which you have 
 formed ? If you will connect me with it, I 
 shall consider it a favour, as its object is 
 the glorification of God." 
 
 " Brother Palemon, I indeed propose to 
 glorify the Lord. Fortify me with your 
 counsel, for you are enlightened and sin 
 has never obscured the clearness of your 
 intellect."
 
 16 THAIS 
 
 " Brother Paphnutius, I am not worthy to 
 untie the strap of your sandal, and my 
 iniquities are as countless as the sands of the 
 desert. But I am old, and will not refuse 
 you the aid of my experience." 
 
 " I will confide in you then, Brother Palemon, 
 that I am stricken with grief at the thought 
 that there is in Alexandria a courtesan, named 
 Thai's, who lives in sin and remains an object 
 of scandal to the people." 
 
 " Brother Paphnutius, that indeed is a sad 
 abomination. Many women live in this 
 manner among the Gentiles. Have you 
 thought of a remedy applicable to so grave 
 a malady?" 
 
 " Brother Palemon, I will go and seek this 
 woman in Alexandria, and, with God's help, 
 I will convert her. That is my plan ; does it 
 not meet with your approval, brother? 
 
 " Brother Paphnutius, I am nothing but a 
 poor sinner, but our father Anthony used to 
 say : ' Wheresoever you may be, haste not 
 to leave that place for another.'" 
 
 " Do you, brother Palemon, see anything 
 evil in the enterprise which I have conceived ? " 
 
 " Paphnutius, God keeps me from suspecting 
 my brother's intentions, but our father Anthony
 
 THE LOTUS 17 
 
 also said : ' Fish, which are put upon dry land,' 
 die : in the same way, monks who leave their 
 cells and mix with the world deviate from their 
 holy purpose.' " 
 
 After saying this, Palemon drove his spade 
 into the earth and began to dig up the soil 
 around a fig-tree laden with fruit : while he 
 dug, an antelope which had jumped the garden 
 hedge, stopped surprised and restless, and then 
 in two bounds came up to the old man and slid 
 its fine head into his bosom. 
 
 " God be praised in the gazelle of the desert," 
 said Palemon. 
 
 He then went into his hut, followed by the 
 graceful animal, and procured some black bread 
 which the antelope ate out of his hand. 
 
 Paphnutius remained long in thought with his 
 eyes fixed upon the ground. Then he walked 
 back slowly to his hut, carefully thinking over 
 what he had just heard. 
 
 " This hermit," he said to himself, " is a man 
 of great experience ; the spirit of prudence is 
 in him. He doubts the wisdom of my plan. 
 However, it would be cruel of me to abandon 
 Thais any longer to the demon which possesses 
 her. May God guide and counsel me ! " 
 
 As he walked along, he saw a plover caught 
 B
 
 i8 THAIS 
 
 in the net which a hunter had stretched upon 
 the sand, and he knew it was a female bird, 
 for the male bird came flying to the net and 
 broke the meshes one by one with his beak till 
 he had made an opening large enough to allow 
 his mate to escape. The man of God contem- 
 plated this scene and as, by virtue of his 
 sanctity, he easily read the mystic meaning 
 of events, he knew that the captive bird was 
 none other than Thai's, taken in the lakes of 
 abomination, and that, following the example 
 of the plover which had broken the meshes with 
 his beak, he must break with words of power 
 the invisible bonds that bound down Thai's in 
 sin. He therefore praised God and was con- 
 firmed in his resolution. But when he saw the 
 plover entangled by the claws in the net which 
 he had broken, he became uncertain once more. 
 
 He did not sleep all night, and before dawn 
 had a vision. Thais appeared to him again. 
 Her face did not show any signs of guilty 
 pleasure, nor was she clothed as usual in dia- 
 phanous draperies. A shroud enveloped her 
 entirely, and even concealed part of her face, 
 so that the priest could only see two eyes filled 
 with great white tears. 
 
 He, too, began to weep, and thinking the
 
 THE LOTUS 19 
 
 vision had come to him from God hesitated no 
 longer. He rose, took a knotty staff (the image 
 of the Christian faith), left his hut, carefully 
 closing the door so that the birds and beasts of 
 the desert could not destroy or injure the book 
 of the Scriptures which he kept at the head of 
 his bed, and called Flavian the deacon to entrust 
 to his care his twenty-three disciples. Then, 
 clad simply in a long cloak, he made his way 
 towards the Nile, intending to follow the Lybian 
 bank to the city founded by the Macedonian. 
 He began to walk over the sand at sunrise, 
 despising fatigue, hunger and thirst, and the 
 sun was almost below the horizon when he saw 
 the dreadful river rolling its blood - stained 
 waters between rocks of gold and fire. He 
 walked along the bank, begging bread at the 
 doors of the huts isolated for the love of God, 
 and cheerfully received abuse, refusals and 
 threats. He feared neither brigands nor wild 
 beasts, but took good care to turn aside from 
 villages and towns along the route. He was 
 afraid to meet children playing at huckle-bones 
 in front of their homes, or to see women in blue 
 robes put down their pitchers on the edge of 
 the water tanks. Everything is dangerous to 
 the hermit ; sometimes it is dangerous for him to
 
 20 THAIS 
 
 read in the Scriptures that the Divine Master 
 went from town to town and supped with his 
 disciples. The virtues which the Anchorites 
 carefully embroider upon the tissue of their 
 faith are as fragile as they are magnificent : a 
 breath from the world will tarnish their beautiful 
 colours. For that reason Paphnutius refrained 
 from entering the towns, fearing lest his heart 
 might soften at the sight of men. 
 
 He travelled along the bye-paths. When 
 evening came, the murmur of the tamarisks, 
 caressed by the breeze, made him tremble and 
 pull down his hood over his eyes to shut out 
 Nature's beauty. After six days' journeying he 
 reached a place called Silsile. There the river 
 flows through a narrow valley bounded on each 
 side by mountains of granite. There the 
 Egyptians, when they adored demons, carved 
 their idols. Paphnutius saw an enormous 
 Sphinx's head still standing among the rocks. 
 Fearing it might be animated by some diabolical 
 power, he made the sign of the Cross and pro- 
 nounced the name of Jesus ; a bat immediately 
 flew out from one of the Sphinx's ears, and 
 Paphnutius knew that he had driven out the 
 evil spirit which had resided there for many 
 centuries. His zeal increased, and seizing a
 
 THE LOTUS 21 
 
 great stone he hurled it at the idol's face. Then 
 the mysterious visage of the Sphinx became so 
 sad that Paphnutius was moved with compas- 
 sion. In fact, the expression of superhuman 
 grief upon this face of stone would have moved 
 the most callous. Therefore Paphnutius said 
 to the Sphinx : 
 
 " O Beast, confess the divinity of Christ 
 Jesus, and I will bless you in the name of 
 the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost ! " 
 
 As he spoke, a red light shone from the 
 eyes of the Sphinx ; the beast's heavy eye- 
 lids quivered and the lips of granite pain- 
 fully articulated, like an echo of the human 
 voice, the holy name of Jesus Christ. Then 
 Paphnutius stretched forth his right hand and 
 blessed the Sphinx of Silsile. 
 
 He at once resumed his journey, and as the 
 valley opened out saw the ruins of a mighty 
 city. The temples that were still standing 
 were supported by idols which served as 
 columns, and with God's consent all, from 
 women's heads to animals' horns, fixed upon 
 Paphnutius a steadfast gaze, which made him 
 pale. He walked thus seventeen days, eating 
 herbs only, and sleeping at night in the 
 crumbling palaces among the wild cats and
 
 22 THAIS 
 
 rats of the Pharaohs, with which mingled 
 women whose bodies ended in the scales of 
 fish. But Paphnutius knew that these women 
 came from hell, and he drove them away by 
 making the sign of the Cross. 
 
 On the eighteenth day, he discovered a 
 miserable palm-leaf hut, far away from any 
 village, and buried by the wind in the sand 
 of the desert, and approached it hoping to 
 find it inhabited by some pious anchorite. 
 As there was no door he could see a pitcher, 
 a heap of onions, and a bed of dry leaves 
 inside. 
 
 "That is," he said to himself, "the furni- 
 ture of an ascetic. Hermits, as a rule, do not 
 wander far from their huts. I shall soon 
 meet this man. I desire to give him the kiss 
 of peace, according to the example of the 
 holy hermit Anthony who, travelling near 
 the abode of the hermit Paul, embraced him 
 three times. We will talk of things eternal, 
 and perhaps our Lord will send us, by a 
 raven, bread which my host will invite me 
 to break in honour." 
 
 While he thus spoke to himself, he walked 
 round the hut seeking the hermit He had 
 not gone a hundred yards when he saw a
 
 THE LOTUS 23 
 
 man sitting cross-legged on the bank of the 
 Nile. The man was naked ; his hair and 
 beard were entirely white, and his body was 
 of a deep red colour. Paphnutius had no 
 doubt that he was the hermit, and saluted 
 him with the monks' usual greeting : 
 
 " Peace be with you, brother ! may you one 
 day taste the sweet joys of Paradise ! " 
 
 The man did not reply, but remained motion- 
 less and appeared not to hear. Paphnutius 
 imagined that his silence was caused by one 
 of those transports saints often enjoy. He 
 knelt with clasped hands by the unknown's side 
 and remained thus in prayer till sunset. Then, 
 seeing his companion had not moved, he said 
 to him : 
 
 " Father, if you have recovered from the 
 transport in which I have seen you, give 
 me your benediction in our Lord Jesus 
 Christ ! " 
 
 The other replied, without turning his head : 
 " Stranger, I know not what you mean, nor 
 this Lord Jesus Christ." 
 
 " What ! " cried Paphnutius. " The prophets 
 have foretold him ; legions of martyrs have 
 confessed his name ; Caesar himself has adored 
 him, and but a short time ago I had his glory
 
 24 THAIS 
 
 proclaimed by the Sphinx of Silsile. Is it 
 possible that you know him not?" 
 
 " Friend," replied the other, " it is possible. 
 It would even be certain were there any cer- 
 tainty in the world." 
 
 Paphnutius was surprised and grieved at this 
 man's incredible ignorance. 
 
 " If you know not Jesus Christ," he said to 
 him, "your works will avail you nothing, and 
 you will not gain eternal life." 
 
 The old man replied : 
 
 " It is vain to act or to refrain ; life or death 
 is indifferent to me." 
 
 " What ! " asked Paphnutius, " you do not 
 desire to live eternally? But, are you not 
 dwelling in this desert in a hut after the 
 manner of the Anchorites?" 
 
 " It would appear so." 
 
 " Are you not naked and deprived of every- 
 thing?" 
 
 " It would appear so." 
 
 "Do you not live on roots and practisechastity?" 
 
 "It would appear so." 
 
 " Have you not renounced all the vanities of 
 this world ? " 
 
 " In truth, I have renounced those vain things 
 which are usually men's care."
 
 THE LOTUS 25 
 
 " So you are as I am, poor, chaste, and a 
 hermit. But you are not as I am in the love 
 of God and in the sight of celestial felicity. 
 Why are you virtuous if you do not believe in 
 Jesus Christ? Why do you deprive yourself 
 of this world's treasure if you do not hope for 
 treasure in heaven ? " 
 
 "Stranger, I deprive myself of nothing, and 
 I flatter myself that I have found a manner of 
 life satisfying enough, though, to be exact, it 
 is neither a good nor n. bad life. Nothing is 
 in itself honourable or shameful, just or unjust, 
 agreeable or painful, good or bad. It is opinion 
 which gives things qualities, as salt savours 
 meats." 
 
 " Then, in your opinion, there is no certainty. 
 You deny the truth which idolaters themselves 
 have sought. You lie in ignorance, like a tired 
 dog sleeping in the mire." 
 
 " It is as useless to revile philosophers as to 
 revile dogs. We do not know what a dog is, 
 nor do we know what we ourselves are. We 
 know nothing." 
 
 " Old man, do you then belong to that ridicu- 
 lous sect called Sceptics? Are you then one 
 of those miserable fools who deny both move- 
 ment and repose, and know not how to dis-
 
 26 THAIS 
 
 tinguish the light of the sun from the shades 
 of the night ? " 
 
 " My friend, I am indeed a sceptic, and belong 
 to a sect which, though it seems ridiculous to 
 you, appears good to me. For the same things 
 have diverse appearances. The Pyramids of 
 Memphis are at sunrise cones of rosy light : at 
 sunset they appear like black triangles in a 
 flaming sky. But who will penetrate their in- 
 most substance? You reproach me with deny- 
 ing appearances, when, in fact, appearances are 
 the sole realities which I recognise. The sun 
 appears to me luminous, but its nature is un- 
 known to me. I feel that fire burns, but know 
 not how or why. My friend, you think very ill 
 of me ; but thoughts make no difference." 
 
 " Why do you live upon dates and onions in 
 the desert? Why do you endure great priva- 
 tions ? I endure as great and like you practise 
 abstinence in solitude ; but I do it to please 
 God and to merit eternal beatitude. That is 
 a reasonable aim, for it is wise to suffer with a 
 view to a great reward. On the other hand, it 
 is madness to expose oneself willingly to useless 
 fatigue and vain suffering. If I did not believe 
 pardon this blasphemy, O, uncreated Light ! 
 if I did not believe in the truth of God's
 
 THE LOTUS 27 
 
 teaching by the voices of his prophets, by the 
 example of his Son, by the acts of the apostles, 
 by the authority of councils, and by the witness 
 of martyrs ; if I did not know that bodily 
 suffering was necessary for the health of the 
 soul, if I were as you, steeped in ignorance of 
 the sacred mysteries, I should immediately 
 return to the world, should set myself to obtain 
 wealth and to live in luxury, and should say 
 to the children of pleasure : " Come, my 
 daughters, come, my servants, come all and 
 pour out your wines, philtres and perfumes 
 before me." But you, foolish man, deprive 
 yourself of all comforts ; you lose without gain- 
 ing anything ; you give without hope of return, 
 and imitate in ridicule the admirable works of 
 our Anchorites, just as an impudent monkey 
 thinks that by daubing a wall he is copying 
 the picture of a clever painter. O, most stupid 
 of men, what then are your reasons ? " 
 
 Paphnutius said this with great vehemence. 
 But the old man remained quiet, and said 
 gently : 
 
 " Friend, what matter the reasons of a dog 
 sleeping in the mire and a mischievous 
 monkey?" 
 
 Paphnutius's sole object was the glory of
 
 28 THAIS 
 
 God. His anger was gone ; he accused himself 
 with noble humility. 
 
 " Forgive me, my brother," said he, " if zeal 
 for the truth has carried me beyond the proper 
 bounds. God is my witness that it is your 
 error and not your person that I hate. It 
 pains me to see you in darkness, for I love 
 you in Jesus Christ and my heart is filled 
 with care for your salvation. Speak, give me 
 your reasons : I am burning to know them in 
 order that I may refute them." 
 
 The old man gently replied : 
 
 " I am as much inclined to speech as to 
 silence. I will give you my reasons without 
 asking yours in return, for you do not interest 
 me in any way. I have no thought for your 
 happiness or misfortune, and your views are 
 of the utmost indifference to me. How should 
 I love or hate you ? Aversion and sympathy 
 are equally unworthy of the sage. But, since 
 you ask me, my name is Timocles, and I was 
 born at Cos, of parents who acquired wealth 
 in business. My father armed ships. His in- 
 telligence bore a great resemblance to that of 
 Alexander the Great. He was, however, less 
 dense. In short, his was a man's poor nature. 
 I had two brothers, who became armourers like
 
 THE LOTUS 29 
 
 him. But I turned my attention to the arts. 
 Now my eldest brother was forced by our 
 father to marry a Corian woman named 
 Timaessa, who was so distasteful to him that 
 he could not live with her without becoming 
 melancholy. Timaessa, however, inspired in my 
 youngest brother a criminal love which soon 
 became a furious mania. The Corian hated 
 them both. She loved a flute-player, and 
 received him at night. One morning he left 
 behind the crown he wore at feasts, upon 
 finding which my two brothers swore to kill 
 him, and on the morrow he was killed by the 
 lash, in spite of his tears and prayers. My 
 sister-in-law lost her reason through despair, 
 and these three wretches became like wild 
 beasts, wandering in their madness about Cos, 
 howling like wolves, foaming at the mouth 
 their eyes fixed upon the ground, amid the 
 shouts of the children who threw shells at 
 them. They died, and my father buried them. 
 Shortly after, his stomach refused all nourish- 
 ment and he died of hunger, though wealthy 
 enough to buy all the food and fruit in all 
 the marts of Asia. He was grieved at leaving 
 me his fortune. I spent it in travel. I visited 
 Italy, Greece, and Africa without meeting
 
 30 THAIS 
 
 anyone wise or happy. I studied philosophy 
 at Athens and Alexandria, and I was stunned 
 by the violence of the discussions. At last, 
 when I had gone as far as India, I saw upon 
 the banks of the Ganges a naked man who 
 had been there motionless, with his legs 
 crossed, for thirty years. Creepers clung 
 around his emaciated body, while in his hair 
 birds built their nests. But he was alive. 
 Upon seeing him I thought of Timaessa, the 
 flute-player, my two brothers, and my father, 
 and I understood that this Indian was wise. 
 ' Men suffer,' I said to myself, ' because they 
 are deprived of what they believe to be a 
 benefit, or else, possessing it, they fear to lose 
 it ; or because they suffer that which they 
 believe to be a wrong. Suppress all belief 
 of this kind, and all evils would disappear.' 
 That is the reason why, following the Indian's 
 example, I decided to no longer consider any- 
 thing advantageous, to profess entire detach- 
 ment from this world's goods, and to live in 
 solitude and immobility." 
 
 Paphnutius had listened to the old man's 
 story with attention. 
 
 " Timocles of Cos," he replied, " I confess 
 that everything in your purpose is not with-
 
 THE LOTUS 31 
 
 out sense. It is wise, for instance, to despise 
 this world's goods ; but it would be madness 
 to despise the eternal, and to expose one's self 
 to God's anger in the same way. I deplore 
 your ignorance, Timocles, and I will instruct 
 you in the truth, so that knowing that a 
 God exists in three hypostases you may obey 
 this God as a son obeys his father." 
 
 But Timocles interrupted him : 
 
 " Restrain yourself, stranger, from expound- 
 ing your doctrines, and do not attempt to 
 constrain me to share your opinions. All 
 'discussion is sterile. My opinion is to have 
 no opinion. I live exempt from troubles, pro- 
 vided that I live without preferences. Resume 
 your way, and do not attempt to draw me 
 from the blessed apathy in which I am 
 plunged, as in a delicious bath, after the 
 rough toil of my life." 
 
 Paphnutius was deeply learned in the 
 doctrines of the faith. By his knowledge of 
 the hearts of men he knew that the grace of 
 God was not with the old man Timocles, 
 and that the day of salvation was not yet 
 come to that soul implacable at its loss. He 
 made no reply, for fear that edification might 
 turn to scandal ; for it sometimes happens
 
 32 THAIS 
 
 that disputes with the unfaithful urge them 
 into sin, instead of converting them. For 
 that reason those who possess the truth should 
 publish it abroad with prudence. 
 
 " Farewell, then," said he, " unfortunate 
 Timocles." 
 
 Heaving a deep sigh, he resumed his pious 
 journey in the darkness. 
 
 In the morning he saw ibis standing motion- 
 less, on one foot, on the banks of the river, 
 which reflected their pale and rosy necks. 
 The willows extended their soft grey foliage 
 far along the bank ; cranes flew in triangles' 
 in the clear sky, and among the reeds sounded 
 the cries of invisible herons. 
 
 As far as the eye could see, the river rolled 
 its broad green waves on which, like the wings 
 of birds, sails glided here and there ; white 
 houses stood on the banks at intervals, with 
 light vapours hovering round them, while 
 from the shade of islands, weighed down with 
 palms, flowers and fruit, escaped a noisy 
 multitude of ducks, geese, flamingoes and 
 teal. On the left the green valley stretched 
 out to meet the desert, its fields and orchards 
 quivering with joy, the sun gilded the ears, and 
 the earth's fecundity was exhaled in odorous dust.
 
 THE LOTUS 33 
 
 Then Paphnutius fell down on his knees 
 and cried : 
 
 " Blessed be the Lord who has favoured my 
 journey ! Thou God, who spread'st the dawn 
 upon the fig-trees of Arsinoitides, send down 
 thy grace upon the soul of this Thafs whom 
 thou hast fashioned with no less love than the 
 flowers and trees of the field. Make her to 
 flower by thy care as a balsamic rose in thy 
 celestial Jerusalem ! " 
 
 Each time he saw a tree in bloom or a 
 brilliant bird he thought of Thai's. Thus, along 
 the left bank of the river, through fertile and 
 populous countries, he in a few days reached 
 Alexandria, surnamed the beautiful and golden 
 by the Greeks. It was an hour after daybreak 
 when he saw the mighty city from the summit 
 of a hill, its roof sparkling in the rosy morn. 
 He stopped, and folding his arms upon his 
 breast, said : 
 
 " There then is the delightful spot where I 
 was born in sin, the air from which I breathed 
 poisoned perfumes, the sea of pleasure upon 
 which I heard the Sirens sing ! There is my 
 cradle according to the flesh, there my home 
 according to the world ! A cradle of flowers 
 and a home of nobility in the eyes of men ! 
 C
 
 34 THAIS 
 
 It is natural, Alexandria, for children to cherish 
 you as a mother, and I was reared upon your 
 breasts decked in magnificence. But the 
 ascetic despises nature, the mystic disdains 
 appearances, the Christian regards his human 
 home as a place of exile, and the monk shuns 
 the world. I have turned away my heart from 
 love for you, Alexandria. I hate you ! I hate 
 you for your wealth, for your science, for your 
 gentleness and for your beauty. My curse be 
 upon you, temple of demons ! Gentile couch of 
 shame, tainted Aryan see, my curse be upon 
 you ! O Son of God, who led the holy hermit 
 Anthony our father when, coming from the 
 depths of the desert, he entered this citadel of 
 idolatry to confirm the faith of the confessors 
 and the courage of the martyrs ; angel of 
 beauty, invisible child, God's earliest breath, fly 
 before me and with the beating of your wings 
 perfume the corrupted air I am about to breathe 
 among the princes of darkness of this world ! " 
 
 After praying thus, he resumed his journey. 
 He entered the city by the gate of the Sun. 
 This gate was of stone, and stood up proudly. 
 But reclining in its shade wretches offered for 
 sale to the passers-by citrons and figs, or with 
 their lamentations begged an obol.
 
 THE LOTUS 35 
 
 A ragged old woman who was kneeling there 
 seized the monk's robe and kissing it, said : 
 
 " Man of God, bless me so that God may 
 also bless me. I have suffered many things 
 in this world, and I desire joy in the next. 
 You come from God, holy man, and so the 
 dust of your feet is more precious than fine 
 gold." 
 
 " God be praised," said Paphnutius, as 
 with half-open . hand he placed the sign of 
 redemption upon the old woman's head. 
 
 But hardly had he gone twenty paces 
 along the street when a crowd of children 
 began to throw stones at him, crying : 
 
 " Oh, wicked monk ! He is blacker than 
 a raven, and more bearded than a goat. He 
 is a drone. Why not hang him in a field, 
 like a Priapus, to frighten the birds? No, 
 he would bring down hail upon the apple 
 blossoms. He brings bad luck. To the 
 ravens with him ! " Stones accompanied these 
 last words. 
 
 " God bless these poor children," murmured 
 Paphnutius. 
 
 As he pursued his way, he thought : 
 
 " I am venerated by the old woman and 
 despised by the children. Thus the same
 
 36 THAIS 
 
 object is differently appreciated by men, who 
 are uncertain in their judgment and are 
 subject to error. It must be admitted that, 
 for a Gentile, the old man Timocles is not 
 void of sense. In his blindness he perceives 
 that he is deprived of light. Everything in 
 this world is mirage and shifting sand. 
 Stability is in God alone." 
 
 He traversed the city with a rapid step. 
 After ten years' absence he recognised each 
 stone, and each stone was to him a stone 
 of scandal, recalling a sin. Therefore he 
 roughly trampled with his naked feet the 
 stones of the street, and rejoiced as he saw 
 upon them the blood of his mangled heels. 
 Leaving on the left the magnificent porticoes 
 of the temple of Serapis, he walked along 
 a road bordered by magnificent villas, which 
 seemed steeped in perfume. Pines, maples, 
 and turpentine trees lifted their heads above 
 red cornice and golden acroteria. Through 
 the half-open doors he saw statues of brass 
 in marble vestibules and streams of water 
 among the foliage, no sounds disturbed the 
 peace of these lovely retreats, nothing but 
 the distant sound of a flute. The monk 
 stopped before a small but nobly proper-
 
 THE LOTUS 37 
 
 tioned house, supported by columns as grace- 
 ful as young girls. It was ornamented with 
 bronze busts of the most famous Greek 
 philosophers. 
 
 Among them he saw Plato, Socrates, 
 Aristoles, Epicurus and Zeno, and after 
 knocking he thought, as he waited : " It is 
 vain for metal to glorify these false sages. 
 Their untruths are confounded ; their souls 
 are plunged in hell, and Plato, the famous, 
 who filled the land with the power of his 
 eloquence, is now disputing with devils." 
 
 A slave opened the door, and finding a 
 man with naked feet upon the mosaic of the 
 porch, said roughly : 
 
 " Go and beg elsewhere, ridiculous monk, 
 and do not wait for me to drive you away 
 with a stick." 
 
 " Brother," replied the priest of Antinoe, 
 " I simply desire you to take me to Nicias, 
 your master." 
 
 The slave replied still more angrily : 
 
 " My master does not receive dogs like 
 you." 
 
 " Son," replied Paphnutius, " please do as 
 I ask, and tell your master I desire to see 
 him."
 
 38 THAIS 
 
 " Off you go," shouted the furious porter. 
 
 He raised his staff to the holy man, who, 
 crossing his arms upon his breast, received, 
 without moving, the blow full on his face, 
 and then gently repeated : 
 
 " Do as I desire, my son, I beg you." 
 
 Then the trembling porter murmured : 
 
 " Who is this man who does not fear to 
 suffer ? " 
 
 He ran to tell his master. 
 
 Nicias was having his bath. He was a 
 gracious smiling man. He wore an expression 
 of gentle irony upon his face. As he saw the 
 monk approach, he rose and advanced with 
 open arms : 
 
 " What, you, Paphnutius," he cried, " my 
 fellow-disciple, friend and brother ! I can still 
 recognise you, though you have become more 
 like a wild beast than a man. Embrace me. 
 Do you recollect the time we studied grammar, 
 rhetoric and philosophy together ? Even then 
 you had a sombre and savage humour, but I 
 loved you because of your perfect sincerity. 
 We used to say that you saw the universe 
 through a horse's wild eyes, and it was not 
 surprising that you were distrustful. You 
 were a little lacking in atticism, but your
 
 THE LOTUS 39 
 
 liberality knew no bounds. You set no store 
 either by your money or your life. There was, 
 too, in you a strange genius, a strange spirit, 
 which interested me greatly. I am, indeed, 
 glad to see you after ten years' absence. You 
 have left the desert ; you are giving up 
 Christian superstition and resuming your old 
 life. This is indeed a red-letter day." 
 
 " Crobyle and Myrtale," he added, turning 
 to his slaves, " perfume my dear guest's feet, 
 hands and beard." 
 
 They brought the ewer and phials and metal 
 mirror with a smile. But Paphnutius with an 
 imperious gesture stayed them, and cast down 
 his eyes, so that he might not see them, for 
 they were naked. Nicias, however, gave him 
 cushions and offered him food and drink of 
 various kinds, all of which he contemptuously 
 declined. 
 
 " Nicias," said he, " I have not given up what 
 you wrongly call the Christian superstition, 
 and what is indeed the truth of truths. In 
 the beginning was the Word, and the Word 
 was with God, and the Word was God. Every- 
 thing was made by him, and without him 
 was nothing made that was made. In him 
 was life, and the life was the light of men."
 
 40 THAI'S 
 
 " Dear Paphnutius," replied Nicias, as he 
 put on a perfumed tunic, " do you think you 
 will astonish me by quoting unskilfully arranged 
 words, which are only a vain murmur. Have 
 you forgotten that I myself am something of 
 a philosopher? Do you think you can content 
 me with a few shreds torn from the purple of 
 Amelius, when Amelius, Porphyrius and Plato, 
 in all their glory, fail to satisfy me. Systems 
 constructed by sages are only stories imagined 
 to amuse men's eternal infancy. We must 
 smile at them, as we do at the stories of the 
 ass, the Matron of Ephesus, or any other 
 Milesian fable." Taking his guest by the arm, 
 he led him into a hall, in which were thou- 
 sands of rolls of papyrus in baskets. " Here 
 is my library," he said ; " it contains a small 
 number of the systems which philosophers 
 have constructed to explain the world. The 
 Serapeum with all its wealth does not contain 
 them all. Alas, they are only sick men's 
 dreams." 
 
 He forced his guest to sit in an ivory chair, 
 and sat down himself. Paphnutius threw a 
 sorrowful glance at the books in the library, 
 and said : 
 
 " They must all be burnt."
 
 THE LOTUS 41 
 
 " O, my guest, what a loss that would be ! " 
 replied Nicias ; " for sometimes sick men's 
 dreams are amusing. Besides, if all the dreams 
 and visions of men were to be destroyed, the 
 earth would lose its forms and colours, and 
 we should all sleep in sorrowful stupidity." 
 
 Paphnutius continued his idea : 
 
 " It is certain that the doctrines of the 
 Pagans are only empty dreams. But God, 
 who is the truth, has revealed himself to men 
 by miracles. He was made flesh, and dwelt 
 among us." 
 
 Nicias replied : 
 
 " You speak well, dear Paphnutius, when 
 you say that he was made flesh. A God who 
 thinks, acts, speaks and walks in nature as 
 ancient Ulysses did, is quite a man. How do 
 you expect belief in this new Jupiter, when 
 the fools in Athens, in the days of Pericles, 
 did not any longer believe in the old Jupiter? 
 But let us leave all that. You have not come, 
 I think, to dispute upon the three hypostases. 
 What can I do for you, fellow-disciple ? " 
 
 " Something exceedingly good," replied the 
 priest of Antinoe. Lend me a perfumed tunic 
 like the one you have just put on. Add to 
 that golden sandals and a phial of oil to anoint
 
 42 THAIS 
 
 my beard and hair. I shall be glad, too, 
 if you will give me a purse of a thousand 
 drachmae. That, Nicias, is what I came to 
 ask of you, for the love of God and in memory 
 of our former friendship." 
 
 Nicias made Crobyle and Myrtale bring his 
 richest tunic ; it was embroidered in the 
 Asiatic style with flowers and animals. The 
 two women held it open and made its vivid 
 colours flash, expecting Paphnutius to take 
 off the cloak which covered him from head 
 to foot. But as the monk declared he would 
 sooner lose his flesh than take off his robe, 
 they passed the tunic underneath. As these 
 two women were beautiful they did not fear 
 men, although they were slaves. They began 
 to laugh at the appearance of this strangely 
 arrayed monk. Crobyle called him her dear 
 satrap, as she held up the mirror before him, 
 and Myrtale pulled his beard. But Paphnutius 
 was praying to God, and did not see them. 
 After putting on the golden sandals and 
 fastening the purse to his belt, he said to 
 Nicias, who was looking at him with a 
 smile : 
 
 " Nicias, the things you see need not be a 
 scandal to your eyes. Be sure that I will
 
 THE LOTUS 43 
 
 make good use of this tunic, this purse and 
 these sandals." 
 
 " Dear friend," replied Nicias, " I am think- 
 ing no evil, for I believe men equally incap- 
 able of good and ill. Good and evil exist 
 only in opinion. The sage has, for reasons 
 of action, only custom and habit. I conform 
 to the reigning prejudices at Alexandria. 
 That is the reason I pass for an honourable 
 man. Go, friend, and be glad." 
 
 But Paphnutius considered that he ought 
 to warn his host of his plan. 
 
 " You know," he said, " the Thai's who acts 
 at the theatre?" 
 
 "She is beautiful," replied Nicias, "and 
 there was a time when she was dear to me. 
 I have sold a mill and two fields of corn for 
 her, and have composed in her honour three 
 books of detestable elegies. Surely beauty is 
 the most powerful thing in the world, and if 
 we were made to possess it for ever, we 
 should think as little as possible of the 
 Divine Word, eons and all the other reveries 
 of philosophers. But I wonder, Paphnutius, 
 at your coming from the depths of the 
 Thebaid to talk of Thai's." 
 
 After saying this, he sighed gently. Paph-
 
 44 THA'fS 
 
 nutius looked at him in horror, being unable 
 to conceive how a man could so quietly avow 
 such a sin. He expected to see the earth 
 open and swallow Nicias up in flames. But 
 the earth remained firm, and the Alexandrian, 
 with his face in his hand, smiled in silence 
 sadly at the images of his departed youth. 
 The monk, rising, replied in a solemn voice : 
 
 " Nicias ! my object, by God's aid, is to 
 snatch away this Thai's from base earthly love 
 and give her as a spouse to Jesus Christ. If 
 the Holy Spirit does not forsake me, Tha'i's 
 will to-day quit this city to enter a nunnery." 
 
 " Fear to offend Venus," replied Nicias, " she 
 is a poxverful goddess. She will be angry 
 with you if you take away her most illustrious 
 servant." 
 
 " God will protect me," said Paphnutius. 
 " May he send light into your heart, Nicias, 
 and draw you from the abyss in which you 
 are plunged ! " 
 
 He went out. But Nicias followed him. 
 Rejoining him near the door, he placed his 
 hand upon his shoulder and whispered in 
 his ear : 
 
 " Fear to offend Venus ; her vengeance is 
 terrible."
 
 THE LOTUS 45 
 
 Paphnutius, disdaining this warning, went 
 out without turning his head. His conversa- 
 tion with Nicias had strongly inspired him 
 with contempt ; but the idea that his friend 
 of the past had received the caresses of Thai's 
 was quite unbearable. Sin with this woman 
 seemed to him more detestable than any 
 other sin. It aroused in him a singular 
 feeling of malice, and henceforth he exe- 
 crated Nicias. He had always hated im- 
 purity, but surely the image of this vice had 
 never appeared so abominable before ; never 
 had he partaken so heartily of Jesus Christ's 
 anger and the angels' sorrow. 
 
 He felt a stronger desire to snatch Thai's 
 from the midst of the Gentiles and longed 
 to see and save the actress. It was always 
 necessary to wait when visiting this woman 
 till the heat of the day was past. The 
 morning was hardly over as Paphnutius 
 walked along the chief streets of the city, 
 and he had resolved to take no nourishment 
 upon the journey so that he might be more 
 worthy of the favour for which he had prayed 
 the Lord. In the supreme bitterness of his 
 soul, he did not dare to enter any of the 
 churches of the city, because he knew they
 
 46 THAIS 
 
 had been profaned by the Aryans, who had 
 overthrown the Lord's tables. In fact these 
 heretics, who were maintained by the Emperor 
 of the East, had driven out the patriarch 
 Athanasius from his episcopal see, and had 
 filled the Christians of Alexandria with fear 
 and dread. 
 
 He walked at hazard, sometimes fixing his 
 eyes upon the earth in humility, and at 
 others raising them in ecstasy. After wander- 
 ing about for some time he found himself 
 upon one of the quays. The harbour sheltered 
 innumerable dark - hulled ships, while the 
 treacherous sea smiled in azure and silver 
 in the offing. A galley having a Nereid at 
 the prow, was weighing anchor. The oars- 
 men sang as they rowed ; and soon the white 
 daughter of the ocean, covered with humid 
 pearls, became to the monk but a fleeting 
 profile, she sailed with a pilot's aid through 
 the narrow passage into the basin of Eunostos 
 and gained the open sea, leaving behind her 
 a trail of foam. 
 
 "I, too," thought Paphnutius, "once desired 
 to embark upon the ocean of the world with a 
 song upon my lips. But I soon recognised my 
 folly, and the Nereid has not overpowered me."
 
 THE LOTUS 47 
 
 With this in his thoughts he sat down 
 upon a coil of rope and fell asleep. While 
 he slept he saw a vision. He seemed to hear 
 the piercing blast of a trumpet and, as the 
 sky became the colour of blood, he knew that 
 the end was come. As he prayed to God 
 with his whole heart, he saw an enormous 
 beast coming to him, having upon its fore- 
 head a cross of light, and recognised the 
 Sphinx of Silsile. The beast seized him with 
 its teeth without doing him any injury and 
 carried him off, as a cat does her kittens, 
 dangling from its mouth. Paphnutius in this 
 manner traversed several kingdoms, crossing 
 rivers and mountains, till he came to a scene 
 of desolation covered with frightful rocks and 
 hot ashes. The earth emitted from many 
 openings a breath of fire. The beast, gently 
 placing Paphnutius upon the earth, said to 
 him : 
 
 " Look ! " 
 
 Paphnutius leant over the edge of the 
 abyss and saw a river of fire flaming through 
 the centre of the earth in a channel of black 
 rocks. There in a fierce light demons tor- 
 mented the souls of the dead. These souls 
 retained the shapes of the bodies which had
 
 48 THAIS 
 
 contained them, and even shreds of clothing 
 remained attached to them. They seemed at 
 peace in the midst of torment. The soul of 
 a man tall and white, with a band across his 
 forehead and sceptre in his hand, sang with 
 closed eyes ; his voice filled the sterile plain 
 with harmony; he sang of gods and heroes. 
 Little green devils were piercing his lips and 
 throat with red-hot irons. The shade of 
 Homer continued to sing. Close by old 
 Anaxagoras, bald and gnarled, traced figures 
 in the dust with his compass. A demon was 
 pouring boiling oil into the sage's ear without 
 interrupting his meditations. The monk saw, 
 too, a crowd of persons upon the dreary bank 
 of the river of fire, reading or conversing as 
 they walked, like masters and pupils of the 
 Academy in the shade of the plane-trees. 
 Apart, old Timocles shook his head in denial. 
 An angel of the abyss was waving a torch 
 under his eyes, and Timocles would see 
 neither. 
 
 Dumb with surprise at this sight, Paphnutius 
 turned towards the beast. It had disappeared, 
 and in its place stood a veiled woman who said 
 to him : 
 
 " Look well and understand. Such is the
 
 THE LOTUS 49 
 
 stubbornness of these infidels that they remain 
 in hell the victims of the illusions which se- 
 duced them on earth. Death has not disabused 
 their minds, for it is very clear that to see God 
 it is not sufficient to die. Those you see there, 
 who ignored the truth as men, will always 
 ignore it. Who are the demons, who rage 
 around these souls, but forms of divine Justice. 
 For that reason these souls neither see nor 
 understand. Strangers to truth of all kinds, 
 they know not their own condemnation, and 
 even God cannot constrain them to suffer." 
 
 " God is omnipotent," said the priest of 
 Antinoe. 
 
 " He cannot perform an absurdity," replied the 
 veiled woman. " To punish them, it would be 
 necessary to enlighten them, and if they pos- 
 sessed the truth they would be as the elect." 
 
 Again Paphnutius, full of horror and uneasi- 
 ness, leaned over the abyss. This time he saw, 
 under the charred myrtles, the smiling shade 
 of Nicias, his forehead wreathed with flowers. 
 Near him Aspasia of Miletus, attired in her 
 elegant mantle, seemed to speak at once of 
 philosophy and love, so sweet and noble was 
 the expression of her face. The rain of fire 
 which was falling was like the freshness of the 
 D
 
 50 THAIS 
 
 dawn to them, and their feet trod the burnt-up 
 earth as if it were lovely turf. At this, Paph- 
 nutius became furious. 
 
 " Strike, my God, strike ! It is Nicias," he 
 cried. " Make him weep ! make him groan ! 
 make him grind his teeth ! He has sinned with 
 Thais!" 
 
 Paphnutius awoke in the arms of a sailor 
 strong as Hercules, who was crying out, as he 
 dragged him on to the sand : 
 
 " Peace, friend, peace. By Proteus, god of 
 the sea, you sleep restlessly. If I had not 
 held you back, you would have fallen into the 
 Eunostos. As true as my mother sold salt fish, 
 I saved your life." 
 
 " Thank God," Paphnutius replied. 
 
 Rising to his feet he walked straight before 
 him, meditating upon the vision which had 
 come to him in his sleep. 
 
 " This vision," he said to himself, " is mani- 
 festly evil ; it offends divine goodness by repre- 
 senting hell as devoid of reality. It certainly 
 comes from the Devil." 
 
 He reasoned thus because he knew how to 
 discern dreams sent by God from those pro- 
 duced by wicked angels. Such discrimination 
 is useful to the hermit, who lives surrounded by
 
 THE LOTUS 51 
 
 apparitions, for in shunning men he is sure to 
 meet spirits. The deserts are peopled with 
 phantoms. When pilgrims approached the 
 ruined castle to which the holy Anthony had 
 retired, they heard noises like those of towns 
 en fete. These noises were made by the devils 
 tempting the holy man. 
 
 Paphnutius recalled this memorable example. 
 He recalled the case of St John of Egypt, 
 whom for sixty years the Devil tried to seduce 
 by means of his spells. But John baffled the 
 ruses of hell. One day, however, the demon, 
 in man's shape, entered the venerable man's 
 grotto and said to him : " John, you must pro- 
 long your fast till to-morrow evening." John, 
 believing he was listening to an angel's voice, 
 obeyed the demon and fasted on the morrow 
 till the hour of vespers. That was the only 
 victory the Prince of Darkness ever won over 
 St John the Egyptian, and it was but a paltry 
 one. For that reason it is not at all wonderful 
 that Paphnutius at once recognised the falsity 
 of the vision which had visited him during his 
 sleep. 
 
 While he was gently reproaching God for 
 abandoning him to the demon's power, he was 
 pushed and carried along by a crowd of people
 
 52 THAIS 
 
 all hurrying the same way. Being unaccus- 
 tomed to walking in cities, he was driven from 
 one passer-by to another like an inert mass ; 
 and becoming entangled in the folds of his 
 own tunic he almost fell on several occasions. 
 Desirous to know where all these people were 
 going, he asked one of them the reason of his 
 haste. 
 
 " Stranger, do you not know," the latter re- 
 plied, " that the games are about to commence 
 and that Thai's is appearing ? All these citizens 
 are going to the theatre, and I am going there 
 too. Would you care to accompany me? " 
 
 Suddenly perceiving that it would suit his 
 plan to see Thai's in the games, Paphnutius 
 followed the stranger. The theatre was just 
 in front of them ; its portico was adorned with 
 brilliant masks, and its vast circular wall 
 peopled with innumerable statues. Following 
 the crowd, they entered a narrow corridor at 
 the end of w r hich stretched the amphitheatre 
 dazzling with light. They took their seats in 
 one of the rows, while the magnificently decor- 
 ated arena was still empty. No curtain ob- 
 structed the view, and the audience could see 
 a mound like those which the ancient nations 
 dedicated to the shades of their heroes. This
 
 THE LOTUS 53 
 
 mound stood in the midst of a camp. Piles 
 of lances stood before tents, and golden shields 
 hung from the tent poles among wreaths of 
 laurel and crowns of oak leaves. The silence 
 of sleep was over all. But a buzzing, like the 
 sound of a hive of bees, arose from the semi- 
 circle of spectators. Every face, red with the 
 reflection of purple robes, turned with an ex- 
 pression of expectant curiosity towards the 
 large silent space containing the tomb and 
 tents. The women laughed as they ate citrons. 
 
 Paphnutius prayed inwardly and refrained 
 from vain conversation, but his neighbour com- 
 menced to complain of the decline of the 
 theatre. 
 
 " Formerly," said he, " skilled actors de- 
 claimed beneath the mask the verses of Euri- 
 pides and Menander. Now dramas are not 
 spoken, they are only acted, and of the divine 
 spectacles held in honour of Bacchus in Athens, 
 there remains only pose and gesture which a 
 Barbarian or even a Scythian could understand. 
 The tragic mask, in which the voices of the 
 actors were augmented by the clash of metal, 
 the buskin, which made men like gods in 
 stature, the tragic majesty and sweet-versed 
 songs, all have gone. Pantomimes and dancers
 
 54 THAIS 
 
 with uncovered faces replace Paulus and 
 Roscius. What would the Athenians in the 
 days of Pericles have said, had they seen a 
 woman show herself thus at the games? It is 
 indecent for a woman to appear in public. We 
 have indeed degenerated to allow it. As true 
 as my name is Dorion, woman is the enemy of 
 man and the shame of the earth." 
 
 " You speak wisely," replied Paphnutius, 
 " woman is our worst enemy. She gives 
 pleasure in that she is to be feared." 
 
 " By the eternal gods," cried Dorion, " woman 
 brings man not pleasure, but sorrow, trouble 
 and black care ! Love is the cause of our most 
 poignant sorrows. Listen, stranger : in my 
 youth I went to Trezena in Argolis, and I 
 saw a myrtle of wonderful size, the leaves of 
 which were covered with innumerable pin-holes. 
 Now this is what the people of Trezena say 
 about the myrtle : ' Queen Phaedra, at the 
 time she began to love Hippolytus, remained 
 all day languishing under this very tree. In 
 her dreadful weariness, she drew the golden 
 pin, which held her blonde hair, and with it 
 pierced the leaves of the shrub. Thus all the 
 leaves were covered with pricks. After destroy- 
 ing the innocent man whom she pursued with
 
 THE LOTUS 55 
 
 her incestuous love, Phaedra, as you know, died 
 in misery. She shut herself in her nuptial 
 chamber and hung herself by her golden girdle 
 from an ivory peg. The gods willed that the 
 myrtle, a witness of this terrible misery, should 
 for ever bear upon its leaves the pin-pricks.' I 
 plucked one of its leaves ; I placed it at the 
 head of my bed, as an ever-present warning to 
 myself not to abandon myself to the furies of 
 love, and to strengthen myself in the doctrine 
 of the divine Epicurus, my master, who teaches 
 that desire is a thing greatly to be feared. 
 Properly speaking, however, love is a malady 
 of faith, and one can never be sure of perfect 
 health." 
 
 Paphnutius asked : 
 
 " Dorion, what are your pleasures ? " 
 
 Dorion, in sorrow, replied : 
 
 " I have only one pleasure, and that I admit 
 is not a very vivid one ; it is meditation. With 
 a weak stomach a man must not seek others." 
 
 Taking advantage of these last words, Paph- 
 nutius was beginning to initiate the Epicurean 
 in the spiritual joys procured by the contempla- 
 tion of God. He began : 
 
 " Listen to the truth and receive the light ! " 
 
 As he shouted out this, he saw on all sides
 
 56 THAIS 
 
 of him heads and arms turned towards him, 
 bidding him be silent. A deep silence fell 
 over the theatre, through which soon burst the 
 heroic music. 
 
 The games commenced. Soldiers had left 
 the tents and begun to prepare for departure, 
 when, by an awful prodigy, a cloud covered 
 the summit of the funeral mound. Then the 
 cloud dispersed, and the shade of Achilles ap- 
 peared clad in golden armour. Stretching out 
 his arm towards the warriors, he seemed to 
 say: "What! you are departing, children of 
 Greece ; you are returning to the land I shall 
 never again see, and you leave my tomb with- 
 out offerings ? " At once the leaders of the 
 Greeks crowded round the base of the mound. 
 
 Acamas, son of Theseus, old Nestor, and 
 Agamemnon, bearing the sceptre and bands, 
 gazed at the prodigy. Pyrrhus, the young son 
 of Achilles, was prostrate in the dust. Ulysses, 
 recognisable by the cap from which his curly 
 hair escaped, showed by his gestures that he 
 agreed with the hero's shade. He argued with 
 Agamemnon, and from their gestures the 
 audience could understand their words. 
 
 " Achilles," the King of Ithaca seemed to 
 say, " is worthy of honour among us, the man
 
 THE LOTUS 57 
 
 who died gloriously for Greece. He asks that 
 the daughter of Priam, the virgin Polyxena, 
 be sacrificed upon his tomb. Greeks, content 
 the hero's manes, and let the son of Peleus 
 rejoice in Hades." 
 
 But the King of Kings replied : 
 
 " Let us spare the Trojan virgins, whom we 
 have snatched from the altars. Evils enough 
 have fallen upon Priam's illustrious race." 
 
 He spoke thus because he loved Polyxena's 
 sister ; but sage Ulysses reproached him with 
 preferring Cassandra's couch to the lance of 
 Achilles. 
 
 All the Greeks applauded Ulysses with 
 clashing arms. Polyxena's death was decided, 
 and, thus appeased, the shade of Achilles 
 vanished. The music, sometimes furious and 
 sometimes plaintive, followed the thoughts of the 
 characters. The audience burst into applause. 
 
 Paphnutius, who ascribed everything to the 
 divine truth, murmured : 
 
 " We see by this fable how cruel were the 
 worshippers of false gods." 
 
 " All religions were born in crime," replied 
 the Epicurean. " Happily a Greek full of divine 
 wisdom came to free men from the vain terrors 
 of the unknown."
 
 58 THAIS 
 
 But Hecuba, with dishevelled hair and torn 
 robe, came out of the tent where she was a 
 captive. There was a deep sigh when her 
 perfect image of misfortune appeared. Hecuba, 
 warned by a prophetic dream, moaned for 
 herself and her daughter. Ulysses was already 
 at her side asking for Polyxena. The old 
 mother tore out her hair, rent her cheeks with 
 her nails, and kissed the hands of this cruel 
 man, who maintained his pitiless gentleness, 
 and seemed to say : 
 
 " Be wise, Hecuba, and yield to necessity. 
 There are old mothers also in our homes, 
 weeping for their children, who for ever sleep 
 beneath the pines of Ida." 
 
 Cassandra, once the queen of prosperous 
 Asia, now a slave, put dust upon her head. 
 
 But at this point the lifting of the tent-cloth 
 displayed the virgin Polyxena. An unanimous 
 murmur rose from the spectators. They had 
 recognised Thai's. Paphnutius saw once more 
 the woman he sought. With her white arm 
 she held above her head the heavy tent-cloth. 
 Motionless as a beautiful statue, but throwing 
 from her violet eyes sweet and proud glances 
 all around, she made everyone feel the magic 
 tremor of her beauty.
 
 THE LOTUS 59 
 
 A murmur of approval arose from the audi- 
 ence, and Paphnutius, clasping his hands upon 
 his heart in agitation, breathed with a sigh : 
 
 " Why, O God, dost thou give this power 
 to one of thy creatures ? " 
 
 Dorion, less moved, said : 
 
 " Truly the atoms which compose this woman 
 present an agreeable combination to the eye. 
 It is but one of Nature's frolics, for these 
 atoms know not what they compose. One day 
 they will separate with the same indifference 
 with which they united. Where now are the 
 atoms which composed Lai's or Cleopatra ? I do 
 not deny that women are sometimes beautiful. 
 They are, however, made to submit to annoying 
 disgrace and disgusting inconvenience. These 
 things occupy the minds of the thoughtful, 
 while the vulgar pay them no attention. 
 Women inspire love, although it is unreason- 
 able to love them." 
 
 Thus the philosopher and the ascetic con- 
 templated Thai's, and followed each his train 
 of thought. Neither had seen Hecuba turn 
 towards her daughter, and say to her in 
 gesture : 
 
 " Try to move cruel Ulysses. Make your 
 tears, your youth, your beauty, speak to him ! ''
 
 6o THAIS 
 
 Thai's, or rather Polyxena herself, let fall 
 the tent door. She moved a step and all 
 hearts were won. When, with a noble, gliding 
 gait, she advanced towards Ulysses, the rhythm 
 of her movements, accompanied by the music 
 of flutes, seemed to render her the divine 
 centre of the harmony of the world. The 
 audience saw nothing but her, all the rest 
 being eclipsed by her glory. The action of 
 the scene, however, continued. 
 
 The prudent son of Laertes turned his head, 
 and concealed his hand beneath his cloak to 
 avoid the glances and kisses of the suppliant. 
 The virgin signed to him to fear her no more. 
 Her calm glance said : 
 
 " Ulysses, I will follow you and obey neces- 
 sity, because I desire to die. Daughter of 
 Priam and sister of Hector, my couch formerly 
 judged worthy of kings, shall not receive a 
 foreign master. I freely renounce the light of 
 day." 
 
 Hecuba, inert in the dust, suddenly arose 
 and clasped her daughter in a desperate 
 embrace. Polyxena, with resolute gentleness, 
 removed her mother's arms from about her ; 
 she appeared to say : 
 
 " Mother, do not expose yourself to the
 
 THE LOTUS 61 
 
 outrages of the master. Do not think that 
 he will not drag you roughly from me. Be- 
 loved mother, give me your withered hand, 
 and approach your lips to mine." 
 
 The beauty of grief was on the face of 
 Thai's. The crowd recognised this woman's 
 power of thus clothing, with superhuman 
 grace, the forms and acts of life ; and Paph- 
 nutius, pardoning her present splendour for 
 the sake of her approaching humility, gloried 
 in the saint he was about to add to 
 Heaven. 
 
 The spectacle reached its climax. Hecuba 
 fell as dead, and Polyxena, led by Ulysses, 
 advanced towards the tomb surrounded by the 
 noblest of the warriors. She climbed, to an 
 accompaniment of mourning chants, the mound, 
 on the summit of which the son of Achilles 
 offered libations in a golden cup to the manes 
 of the hero. When the sacrificers stretched 
 out their arms to seize her, she signed to them 
 her wish to die at liberty, as the descendant 
 of so many kings ought. Then tearing her 
 tunic, she bared her heart. There Pyrrhus 
 with averted head plunged his sword, and by 
 a skilful device, blood flowed in streams from 
 the virgin's dazzling breast, while she, with
 
 62 THAIS 
 
 averted head and the horror of death in her 
 eyes, fell prone. 
 
 While the warriors violated the victim, and 
 covered her with lilies and anemones, cries of 
 fright and sobs rent the air, and Paphnutius, 
 rising from his seat, prophesied in a voice of 
 thunder : 
 
 " Gentiles, vile worshippers of demons ! And 
 Aryans, more infamous than idolaters, learn ! 
 What you have just seen is an image and 
 symbol. This fable has a mystic meaning, 
 and soon that woman will be sacrificed, a 
 willing victim, to the resurrected God." 
 
 The crowd was already leaving the theatre 
 in great numbers. The priest of Antinoe, 
 escaping from the surprised Dorion, gained the 
 exit still prophesying. 
 
 An hour later he knocked at Thais' door. 
 
 The actress dwelt in the wealthy quarter of 
 Racotes near Alexander's tomb, in a house 
 surrounded by shady gardens, containing arti- 
 ficial rockeries, and a stream fringed with pop- 
 lars. An old black slave, loaded with rings, 
 opened the door and asked his business. 
 
 " I desire to see Thais," he replied. " God 
 is my witness that I have come only to see 
 her."
 
 THE LOTUS 63 
 
 As he wore a rich tunic, and spoke with an 
 air of authority, the slave permitted him to 
 enter. 
 
 "You will find Thai's," she said, "in the 
 Nymphs' grotto."
 
 II 
 
 THE PAPYRUS
 
 THE PAPYRUS 
 
 THAIS was the child of poor though free parents 
 who were idolaters. From her youngest days 
 her father kept an inn much frequented by 
 sailors at Alexandria near the gate of the 
 Moon. A few vivid detached souvenirs of her 
 infancy remained in her mind. She could 
 recall her father as he sat with his legs crossed 
 in the angle of the hearth, a big quiet man, 
 but one to be feared, like one of those old 
 Pharaohs whose memory the chants of com- 
 plaint uttered by the blind at the crossways 
 preserve. She could recall, too, her thin and 
 sorrowful mother, wandering about the house 
 like a famished cat, and filling it with the 
 sounds of her piercing voice, and the light of 
 her phosphorescent eyes. It was said that she 
 was a magician, and changed into an owl at 
 night to meet her lovers. Rumour lied : Thais 
 knew well from frequent observation that her 
 mother had no dealings with the magic arts, 
 but as she was devoured with avarice, she 
 spent the night counting the day's profit. Her 
 67
 
 68 THAIS 
 
 inert father and avaricious mother allowed her 
 to shape her life like the animals in the yard. 
 Thus she became very skilful in abstracting 
 obols one by one from the girdles of drunken 
 sailors, and amusing them by naive songs, and 
 infamous words of whose meaning she was 
 ignorant. She passed from knee to knee in 
 the tavern impregnated with the smell of fer- 
 mented drinks and resinous bottles ; then, with 
 her face sticky with beer, and covered with 
 scratches from the sailors' rough beards, she 
 escaped clasping the obols in her little hands, 
 and ran to buy honeycomb from an old woman 
 in the gate of the Moon. Every day the 
 scenes were the same : sailors recounted their 
 dangers in times of storm, then played dice 
 or huckle-bones, and called with oaths for the 
 best Cilician beer. 
 
 Each night she was wakened by the scuffles 
 of the drinkers. Oyster - shells hurled across 
 the tables in the midst of furious uproar 
 wounded their faces. Sometimes by the light 
 of smoky lamps she saw knives gleam and 
 blood flow. 
 
 In her early years, the only form of human 
 goodness known to her was in the person of 
 Ahmes, in whom she was humiliated. Ahmes,
 
 THE PAPYRUS 69 
 
 the slave of the house, was a Nubian blacker 
 than the pots he gravely scoured and as good 
 as a night of sleep. He often took Thai's upon 
 his knees and told her stories in which there 
 were caverns full of treasure, built for avari- 
 cious kings, who put to death the masons and 
 architects. There were too, in these stories, 
 clever thieves, who married King's daughters, 
 and courtesans who built pyramids. Little 
 Tha'is loved Ahmes as a father, as a mother, 
 as a nurse, and as a dog. She clung to the 
 slave and followed him to the cellar among 
 the wine jars, and to the yard among the 
 poor ragged hens who fluttered, quicker than 
 eaglets, before the negro's knife. Often at 
 night upon the straw he made water-mills and 
 ships large as a hand with all their equipment 
 for Thais, instead of sleeping. 
 
 From his master's continual ill-treatment he 
 had an ear torn off, and his body was covered 
 with scars. His face, however, still wore a 
 peaceful and joyful expression. No one about 
 him thought of asking him whence he drew his 
 soul's consolation and his heart's pacification. 
 He was as simple as a child. When doing his 
 daily work he chanted in a harsh voice canticles 
 which made the child tremble and dream.
 
 70 THAIS 
 
 Ahmes was a Christian. He had been 
 baptised, and was called Theodore at the 
 feasts of the faithful, which he attended 
 secretly during the time allowed him for 
 sleep. 
 
 At this time the Church was undergoing its 
 supreme trial. By the orders of the Emperor, 
 the churches were destroyed, holy books burnt, 
 and holy vessels and candlesticks melted down. 
 Despoiled of their honours, the Christians ex- 
 pected nothing short of death. Terror reigned 
 in the community at Alexandria ; the prisons 
 were filled to overflowing with victims. It was 
 whispered in affright among the faithful, that 
 in Syria, Arabia, Mesopotamia, Cappadocia, 
 and the whole empire, whips, wooden-horses, 
 iron-claws, and wild beasts were rending priests 
 and virgins asunder. Then, Anthony, who was 
 already celebrated for his visions and solitude, 
 the head prophet of the faithful in Egypt, 
 swooped down like an eagle from the top of 
 his rock upon the city of Alexandria, and, 
 passing from church to church, inflamed with 
 his own zeal the entire community. Invisible 
 to the Pagans, he was nevertheless present 
 in all Christian assemblies, inspiring in each 
 the spirit of strength and prudence which
 
 THE PAPYRUS 71 
 
 animated him. The persecution was particu- 
 larly severe upon slaves. Many of them in 
 fear denied the faith. Others, in greater 
 numbers, fled to the desert, hoping to live 
 there either in contemplation or by pillage. 
 But Ahmes frequented the assemblies as usual, 
 visited prisoners, buried martyrs, and professed 
 the religion of Christ with joy. Struck by this 
 true zeal, the great Anthony, before returning 
 to the desert, clasped the black slave in his 
 arms, and gave him the kiss of peace. 
 
 When Tha'fs was seven years old, Ahmes 
 began to speak to her of God. 
 
 "The Lord God," he told her, "lived in 
 heaven, like a Pharaoh in the tents of his 
 harem and beneath the trees of his gardens. 
 He was the oldest of the old, more ancient 
 than the world, and had only one son, Prince 
 Jesus, whom he loved with all his heart, and 
 who excelled both virgins and angels in beauty. 
 And the good God said to Prince Jesus : 
 
 " ' Leave my harem and palace, my date-trees 
 and my fountains. Descend to earth for the 
 good of men. There you will be like a little 
 child and live in poverty among the poor. 
 Suffering will be your daily bread, and so 
 abundant will be your tears, that they will form
 
 72 THAI'S 
 
 rivers, in which weary slaves will bathe in 
 delight. Go, my son ! ' 
 
 " Prince Jesus obeyed the Lord, and came to 
 earth at a place called Bethlehem in Judaea. 
 He walked in meadows carpeted with anemones, 
 saying to his companions : 
 
 "' Happy are those who are hungry, for they 
 shall sit at meat with my father ! Happy are 
 those who are thirsty, for they shall drink at 
 the fountains of heaven ! Happy are those who 
 weep, for I will dry their eyes with veils finer 
 than those of the alm6es.' 
 
 " For that reason the poor loved and believed 
 in him. But the rich hated him, fearing he 
 would set the poor over them. In those days 
 Cleopatra and Caesar were all-powerful on the 
 earth. They both hated Jesus, and ordered the 
 judges and priests to kill him. To obey the 
 Queen of Egypt, the Princes of Syria raised a 
 cross upon a high mountain and upon the cross 
 killed Jesus. But women washed the body and 
 buried it, and Prince Jesus, after breaking the 
 covering of his tomb, ascended to God his father. 
 
 " Since that time all those who die in him go 
 to heaven. The Lord God, with open arms, 
 says to them : ' Welcome, since you love the 
 Prince my son. Bathe and eat.'
 
 THE PAPYRUS 73 
 
 "They shall bathe to the sounds of beautiful 
 music and all the time they feast they shall see 
 almees dancing and listen to stories without 
 end. The Lord God will hold them dearer to 
 himself than the light of his eyes, as they are 
 his guests, and they shall have pomegranates 
 from his garden." 
 
 Ahmes often spoke thus, and so Thais learned 
 the truth. She admired it, and said : 
 
 " I should like to eat the pomegranates." 
 
 Ahmes answered her : 
 
 " Only those who are baptised in Jesus will 
 taste the fruits of heaven." 
 
 Thais asked to be baptised. Seeing by this 
 that she had hope in Jesus, the slave resolved 
 to instruct her more deeply, so that when 
 baptised she might enter the Church. She 
 attached herself closely to him as his daughter 
 in the Spirit. 
 
 The child, repulsed by her unjust parents, had 
 no bed under the parental roof. She slept in a 
 corner of the stable among the animals. There 
 each night Ahmes secretly joined her. 
 
 He gently approached the straw upon which 
 she slept, and then sat down on his heels with 
 his legs doubled up in the hereditary attitude of 
 his race. His black body and face were lost in
 
 74 THAIS 
 
 the darkness ; his great white eyes shone, and 
 from them came a light like a ray of dawn 
 through the chinks of a door. He spoke in a 
 sad chanting voice, having the sorrowful sweet- 
 ness of music heard in the evening in the streets. 
 Sometimes the bray of a donkey or the soft 
 lowing of an ox accompanied, like a choir of 
 obscured spirits, the voice of the slave as he 
 repeated the Gospel. Out of the darkness came 
 his voice impregnated with zeal, grace and hope ; 
 and the neophyte, her hand clasped in the hand 
 of Ahmes, soothed by these monotonous sounds 
 and the vague images of her imagination, slept, 
 calm and smiling, among the harmonies of the 
 dark night and the mysterious saints, in the 
 beams of a star which peeped through the 
 cracks of the stable. 
 
 Her initiation lasted an entire year, till the 
 season in which the Christians joyfully keep 
 the Feast of the Passover. One night of that 
 glorious week, Thai's, who was already asleep 
 upon the straw, felt herself lifted up by the 
 slave, whose eyes gleamed with a new light. 
 He was not, as usual, in rags, but wore a long 
 white cloak, beneath which he clasped the child, 
 saying in a low voice : 
 
 " Come, my soul, come, mine eyes ! Come,
 
 THE PAPYRUS 75 
 
 my little heart ! Come, and put on the bap- 
 tismal robe." 
 
 He carried away the child pressed to his 
 breast. Being timid, and yet curious, Thai's, 
 with her head outside the cloak, clasped her 
 hands around her friend's neck as he carried her 
 out into the darkness. They went along dark 
 lanes ; traversed the Jewish quarter ; and passed 
 a cemetery, from which the sinister cry of an 
 osprey proceeded. They passed at the cross- 
 roads beneath crosses, upon which hung the 
 bodies of executed criminals, upon whose arms 
 croaking ravens were perched. Thais hid her 
 head in the slave's breast. She dare not look 
 again during the rest of the journey. Suddenly 
 it seemed to her as if they were descending 
 underground. When she opened her eyes 
 she found herself in a narrow cave, lit by 
 resin torches, the walls of which were covered 
 with great upright covered figures, which ap- 
 peared animate in the smoke. There were men, 
 clad in long tunics, bearing palms in the midst 
 of lambs, doves, and vine branches. 
 
 Among these figures Thais recognised Jesus 
 of Nazareth, because anemones blossomed at 
 his feet. In the midst of the hall, near a 
 great stone font full of water to the brim,
 
 76 THAIS 
 
 stood an old man with a mitre on his head, 
 clad in a scarlet dalmatica embroidered with 
 gold. His heavily bearded face had a soft 
 and gentle expression in spite of his rich 
 costume. He was Bishop Vivantius, who, 
 though an exiled Prince of the Church of 
 Cyrene, gained his living as a weaver by 
 making coarse goat's-hair stuff. Two poor 
 children stood upright at his side. Close by 
 stood an old negress with a small white robe 
 in her hand. Ahmes, after putting down the 
 child, knelt before the Bishop and said : 
 
 " Father, here is the little soul, the daughter 
 of my own soul. I bring her to you so that, 
 according to your promise, if it seems good to 
 you, you may give her the baptism of life." 
 
 At these words the Bishop, stretching out 
 his arms, displayed his mutilated hands. He 
 had had his fingers torn for confessing the 
 faith in the days of trial. Thai's was afraid, 
 and fled into the arms of Ahmes. But the 
 priest reassured her with caressing words. 
 
 " Fear nothing, beloved. You have here a 
 spiritual father in Ahmes, who is called 
 Theodore among the faithful, and a gentle 
 mother in grace, who has prepared for you a 
 white robe with her own hands." Turning
 
 THE PAPYRUS 77 
 
 towards the negress, he added : " Her name is 
 Nitida ; she is a slave on this earth. But 
 Jesus, in heaven, will take her as his bride." 
 Then he asked the young neophyte : " Thai's, 
 do you believe in God, the omnipotent Father, 
 in his only Son who died for our salvation, 
 and in all that the apostles teach ? " 
 
 " Yes," replied the negro and negress, who 
 were holding her hands. 
 
 Following the Bishop's instructions, Nitida 
 knelt down and stripped Thai's of all her 
 clothing. The child was naked, save for a 
 charm about her neck. The Bishop dipped 
 her three times in the baptismal font. The 
 acolytes presented the oil with which Vivantius 
 anointed her, and the salt, a grain of which 
 he placed upon the lips of the catechumen. 
 Then after drying this body, which was 
 destined after many trials for eternal life, 
 Nitida dressed her in the white robe she had 
 herself woven. 
 
 The Bishop gave all of them the kiss of 
 peace, and at the conclusion of the ceremony 
 removed his sacerdotal ornaments. 
 
 When they were all outside the crypt, Ahmes 
 said : 
 
 " We must rejoice to-day because we have
 
 78 THAIS 
 
 given a soul to the Lord ; let us go to your 
 house, Pastor Vivantius, and give ourselves up 
 to joy for the rest of the night." 
 
 " You have spoken the truth, Theodore," 
 replied the Bishop. 
 
 He led the little party to his house, which 
 was quite near. It consisted of a single 
 chamber furnished with two looms, a large 
 table and a well-worn carpet. As soon as 
 they entered, the Nubian said : 
 
 " Nitida, bring the pan and jar of oil and 
 let us make a good meal." 
 
 As he spoke, he drew from beneath his cloak 
 some small fish he had hidden there ; then, 
 lighting a large fire, he began to cook them. 
 The Bishop, the child, the two boys and the 
 two slaves sat down in a circle upon the floor, 
 and ate the fish, blessing God as they did so. 
 
 Vivantius spoke of the martyrdom he had 
 suffered, and announced the Church's approach- 
 ing triumph. His language was rough, but 
 full of simile. He compared the life of the 
 just to a purple cloth, and to explain baptism, 
 he said : 
 
 " The Holy Spirit floated on the waters, for 
 which reason Christians receive the baptism of 
 water. But demons also dwell in streams ;
 
 THE PAPYRUS 79 
 
 fountains consecrated to nymphs are to be 
 feared, and we see that certain waters occasion 
 different maladies of soul and body." 
 
 Sometimes, too, he expressed himself in 
 enigma, and thus inspired the child with 
 profound admiration. At the end of the 
 meal he offered a little wine to his guests, 
 whose tongues it loosened so that they began 
 to sing litanies and chants. Ahmes and 
 Nitida rose and danced a Nubian dance 
 which they had learnt as children, and which, 
 without a doubt, had been danced in their 
 tribe since the beginning of the world. It 
 was a dance of love ; moving the arms and 
 body in rhythm, they feigned alternately to 
 flee and follow. They rolled their eyes, and 
 showed their glistening teeth when they 
 smiled. 
 
 In this way Thais received the Holy 
 Baptism. 
 
 She loved amusement, and as she grew 
 vague desires were born in her. She danced 
 and sang all day with the wandering children 
 of the streets, and at night returned to her 
 father's house still singing. 
 
 But she preferred the society of boys and 
 girls to that of gentle Ahmes. She did not
 
 8o THAIS 
 
 notice that her friend was less often with her 
 Persecution having ceased, the assemblies of 
 the Christians became more regular, and the 
 Nubian always attended. His zeal became 
 hotter ; sometimes mysterious menaces escaped 
 his lips. He said that the rich would not 
 keep their wealth. He went to those public 
 places where humble Christians were wont to 
 assemble, and there collected the wretches 
 stretched out in the shade of the walls, and 
 announced to them the freeing of slaves and 
 the near approach of Justice. 
 
 " In the realm of God," he said, " slaves 
 shall drink fresh wine and eat delicious fruits, 
 while the rich shall be at their feet like dogs, 
 and devour the crumbs from their table." 
 
 These ideas did not remain secret ; they 
 were published abroad in the city, and masters 
 feared lest Ahmes should excite their slaves 
 to revolt. The innkeeper, too, had a pro- 
 found hatred for him, which he carefully 
 dissimulated. 
 
 One day a silver salt-cellar, reserved for 
 the table of the gods, disappeared from the 
 inn. Ahmes was accused of stealing it, as a 
 mark of hatred against his master and the 
 gods of the empire. The accusation was en-
 
 THE PAPYRUS 81 
 
 tirely without proof, and the slave denied it 
 with all his strength. None the less he was 
 taken before the Tribunal, and, as he was 
 supposed to be a worthless slave, the judge 
 condemned him to death. 
 
 " Your hands," the judge said to him, " of 
 which you have not made good use, shall be 
 nailed to a cross." 
 
 Ahmes listened quietly to this sentence, 
 saluted the judge with great respect, and was 
 led away to the public prison. During the 
 three days he was confined there he never 
 ceased to preach the Gospel to the prisoners, 
 and it has since been said that criminals, and 
 even the jailor himself, touched by his words, 
 believed in Christ crucified. 
 
 He was led to those cross roads which 
 one night, less than two years before, he had 
 quickly passed bearing beneath his white 
 cloak his well - beloved flower Thais, the 
 daughter of his soul. When his hands were 
 nailed to the cross he uttered not even a 
 groan, only several times he said : " I am 
 thirsty ! " 
 
 His penalty lasted three days and three 
 nights. It is hardly possible to believe that 
 human flesh could endure such lengthy torture. 
 F
 
 82 THAIS 
 
 Several times he appeared to be dead ; the 
 flies devoured part of his eyes ; but suddenly 
 he would raise his bleeding eyelids. On the 
 morning of the fourth day he smiled and said : 
 
 " Here are the angels of God ! They bring 
 me wine and fruit. How fresh is the beating 
 of their wings ! " 
 
 He expired. 
 
 In death his face retained an expression of 
 happy ecstasy. The soldiers who guarded the 
 cross were filled with admiration. Vivantius, 
 accompanied by a few of his fellow-Christians, 
 came to claim the body for burial among the 
 remains of the martyrs in the crypt of St John 
 the Baptist. The Church guarded in veneration 
 the memory of St Theodore the Nubian. 
 
 Three years later Constantine, the con- 
 queror of Maxentius, published an edict in 
 which he assured the Christians' peace, and 
 from that time the faithful were only perse- 
 cuted by heretics. 
 
 Thai's was eleven years old when her friend 
 was tortured to death. She felt sorrow and 
 invincible fear. Her soul was not sufficiently 
 pure to understand that Ahmes, by his life 
 and death, was a happy man. The idea
 
 THE PAPYRUS 83 
 
 sprung up in her little soul that it was only 
 possible to be good in this world at the ex- 
 pense of frightful suffering. She feared to be 
 good, for her delicate flesh feared to suffer. 
 
 Before she came of age she had lovers in 
 the boys of the harbour, and she followed 
 the old men, who wandered in the evening in 
 the outskirts of the city ; with the money she 
 received she bought herself jewels and clothing. 
 
 As she did not take home any of the money 
 she earned, her mother ill - treated her. To 
 avoid her mother's blows she fled with bare 
 feet to the ramparts of the city, where she 
 hid among the lizards in clefts of the stones. 
 There she thought in envy of the richly- 
 dressed women in their litters surrounded by 
 slaves. 
 
 One day, after being beaten more than 
 usual, she was crouching near the gate, when 
 an old woman stopped in front of her, looked 
 at her for some seconds, and then said : 
 
 " O pretty flower ! lovely child ! Happy is 
 the father who begat you and the mother 
 who brought you into the world ! " 
 
 Thai's remained silent, with her eyes fixed 
 upon the ground. Her eyes were red and 
 showed she had been crying.
 
 84 THAIS 
 
 " My white violet," said the old woman, 
 "is not your mother fortunate to have nursed 
 a little goddess like you, and does not your 
 father rejoice over you at the bottom of his 
 heart ? " 
 
 Then the child, as if speaking to herself, 
 said : " My father is a drunkard and my 
 mother is a miser." 
 
 The old woman looked to right and left 
 to be sure that no one was watching her. 
 Then in a caressing voice she said : 
 
 " Sweet hyacinth, come with me, and your 
 life shall be a continuous dance and smile. 
 I will feed you with honeycomb, and my 
 son, my own son, will love you as his own 
 eyes. My son is beautiful, he is young ; he 
 has only a light beard upon his chin ; his 
 skin is soft." 
 
 Thai's replied : " I will go with you." 
 
 Getting up, she followed the old woman out 
 of the city. 
 
 This woman, whose name was Moeroe, took 
 from place to place girls and boys whom she 
 taught to dance and afterwards hired out to 
 the rich to appear at feasts. 
 
 Seeing that Thais would soon become the 
 most beautiful of women, she taught her
 
 THE PAPYRUS 85 
 
 music by means of a whip, and lashed her 
 legs with leather thongs when they did not 
 rise in time with the cithara. Her son, who 
 was a decrepit abortion, ageless and unsexed, 
 ill-treated this girl, as if he were pursuing in 
 her the entire female race with his hatred. 
 Being a rival of the dancers, whose grace he 
 affected, he taught Thai's the art of simulat- 
 ing in pantomime, by expression of face, 
 gesture and attitude, all human sentiments, 
 and especially the passions of love. He, as if 
 in disgust, gave her the advice of a skilled 
 master ; but, jealous of his pupil, he scratched 
 her cheeks, pinched her arms, or pricked her 
 from behind with a needle, as naughty girls 
 do, when he saw too clearly that she was 
 born for the pleasure of men. Thanks to 
 these lessons, she became in a short time a 
 musician, pantomime and an excellent dancer. 
 The harshness of her master did not surprise 
 her, for it seemed natural to her to be ill- 
 treated. She even felt a certain amount of 
 respect for the old woman, who was a 
 musician, and drank Greek wine. Moeroe, 
 when staying at Antioch for a time, hired her 
 pupil as dancer and flute-player to the rich 
 business men of the city, who were giving
 
 86 THAIS 
 
 feasts. Thais danced and pleased. The most 
 vulgar bankers took her, after leaving the 
 table, to the groves of the Orontes. She 
 gave herself to all without knowing the price 
 of love. But one night, after dancing before 
 the most elegant young men in the city, the 
 son of the Proconsul approached her, glowing 
 with youth and pleasure, and said to her in 
 a voice which seemed moist with kisses : 
 
 " Why, Thai's, am I not the crown which 
 surrounds your hair, the tunic which presses 
 upon your charming body, the sandal of your 
 beautiful foot ! I desire you to tread on me 
 with your feet like a sandal ; I desire my 
 caresses to be your tunic and your crown. 
 Come, lovely child, come to my home and 
 forget the world." 
 
 She looked at him as he spoke, and s^w 
 that he was beautiful. Suddenly she felt the 
 sweat standing on her forehead ; she became 
 green as the grass ; she staggered a cloud 
 descended before her eyes. But she refused 
 to follow him. His ardent looks and words 
 of love were all in vain, and when he took 
 her in his arms to force her, she roughly 
 repulsed him. Then he became a suppliant 
 and shed tears. Under the dominion of a
 
 THE PAPYRUS 87 
 
 new, unknown and invincible power, she re- 
 sisted : 
 
 " What folly ! " said the guests. " Lollius is 
 noble ; he is good-looking and rich, and yet 
 a flute-player disdains him." 
 
 Lollius returned home alone, and during the 
 night became eaten up with love. In the 
 morning he went, pale and red-eyed, and 
 hung flowers upon the flute-player's door. 
 But Thai's, seized with trouble and affright, 
 shunned him. She suffered and did not 
 know her malady. She asked herself why 
 she had thus changed and whence her melan- 
 choly came. She repulsed all her lovers ; 
 they became horrible to her. She did not 
 want to see the light, and remained all day 
 reclining on her bed, sobbing with her head 
 in the pillows. Lollius found out a means of 
 forcing her door, and came many times to 
 supplicate and curse this wayward child. She 
 remained in his presence as fearful as a 
 maiden, and repeated : 
 
 " I will not ! I will not ! " 
 
 Then at the end of a fortnight she knew 
 she loved him ; she followed him to his home 
 and did not leave him. Theirs was a delicious 
 life. They spent the day gazing into each
 
 88 THAI'S 
 
 other's eyes, and speaking to each other in 
 the way that children do. In the evenings 
 they walked along the lonely banks of the 
 Orontes, and lost themselves in the laurel 
 woods. Sometimes they rose at dawn to go 
 and gather hyacinths upon the slopes of the 
 Silpicus. They drank out of the same cup, 
 and when she raised a grape to her mouth, 
 he took it with his lips from between her lips. 
 
 Moeroe came in great indignation to the 
 house of Lollius to reclaim Thai's. 
 
 " She is my daughter," said she, " whom 
 you have taken from me, my perfumed flower, 
 flesh of my flesh ! " 
 
 Lollius sent her away with a large sum of 
 money. But as she returned, demanding still 
 more golden staters, the young man had her 
 imprisoned, and as the magistrates discovered 
 several crimes of which she was guilty, she 
 was condemned to death, and given to the 
 wild beasts. 
 
 Thai's loved Lollius with all the fury of her 
 imagination and surprise of her innocence. 
 She said to him from the bottom of her 
 heart : 
 
 " I have always been yours." 
 
 Lollius replied to her :
 
 THE PAPYRUS 89 
 
 "You are like no other woman." 
 
 The charm lasted for six months, and was 
 broken in one day. Suddenly Thai's felt her- 
 self to be alone and empty. She no longer 
 recognised Lollius ; she thought : 
 
 " What has changed him thus in a moment ? 
 How is it that he is like all other men and 
 no longer like himself?" 
 
 She left him, not without a secret desire to 
 find Lollius in another, since she could no 
 longer find him in himself. She thought, too, 
 that life with a person whom she had never 
 loved would be less sad than with a person 
 whom she no longer loved. She showed her- 
 self in the company of rich pleasure-seekers 
 at those sacred fetes where choirs of naked 
 females danced in the temples, and troops of 
 courtesans swam across the Orontes. She 
 took part in all the pleasures which the 
 elegant monstrous city provided ; she in 
 particular frequented the theatres, in which 
 skilled pantomimes from every land appeared 
 amid the applause of a spectacle-loving audi- 
 ence. 
 
 She carefully observed the pantomimes, 
 dancers, actresses, and particularly the women 
 who represented the goddess- lovers of young
 
 90 THAI'S 
 
 men and the mortals loved by the gods in 
 the tragedies. After discovering the secrets 
 by which they charmed the crowd she told 
 herself, as she was more beautiful than they, 
 she could act still better. She went to the 
 chief of the pantomimes and asked to be 
 allowed to join his troop. Thanks to her 
 beauty and the lessons she had received from 
 old Moeroe, she was admitted, and appeared 
 upon the stage as Dirce. 
 
 She had but a moderate success, as she lacked 
 experience, and as the spectators had not been 
 excited to admiration by constant praise being 
 showered upon her. But after a few months 
 of obscure parts the power of her beauty burst 
 upon the stage with such force that the whole 
 city was moved. All Antioch crowded to the 
 theatre. The Imperial magistrates and chief 
 citizens went there, driven by the force of 
 opinion. The porters, sweepers and workmen 
 deprived themselves of garlic and bread to pay 
 for their seats. Poets composed epigrams in 
 her honour. Bearded philosophers declaimed 
 against her at the bath and school when 
 her litter passed. Christian priests turned 
 their heads. The threshold of her house was 
 crowned with flowers and sprinkled with blood.
 
 THE PAPYRUS 91 
 
 She received from her lovers untold gold, and 
 all the treasures amassed by the careful old 
 men flowed like rivers to her feet. Therefore 
 her soul was happy. She rejoiced in peaceful 
 pride at public favour and the goodness of the 
 gods, and being loved so much by others she 
 loved herself. 
 
 After enjoying for some years the admira- 
 tion and love of Antioch, she had a desire to 
 revisit Alexandria and show her glory to the 
 city in which, as a child, she wandered in 
 misery and shame, famished and thin as a 
 grasshopper in the middle of a dusty road. 
 The 'golden city received her with joy and 
 showered more wealth upon her. Her appear- 
 ance at the games was a triumph. Innumer- 
 able admirers and lovers came to her. She 
 received them carelessly, for at last she de- 
 spaired of recovering Lollius. 
 
 She received among many others the philo- 
 sopher Nicias, although he professed to live 
 without desire. In spite of his wealth, he 
 was intelligent and gentle. But he did not 
 charm her with his wonderful wisdom or the 
 grace of his sentiments. She did not love 
 him, and was sometimes even irritated by his 
 delicate irony. He wounded her by his per-
 
 92 THAI'S 
 
 petual doubt. He believed in nothing, she in 
 everything. She believed in divine providence, 
 the omnipotence of evil spirits, fate, incanta- 
 tion and eternal justice. She believed in Jesus 
 Christ, and in the good goddess of the Syrians ; 
 she believed, too, that dogs barked when black 
 Hecate passed the crossways, and that a 
 woman could inspire love by pouring a philtre 
 into a cup containing a sheep's bleeding fleece. 
 She thirsted for the unknown, she called name- 
 less beings, and lived in perpetual expectancy. 
 The future frightened her and she desired 
 knowledge of it. She surrounded herself with 
 priests of Isis, Chaldean magicians, witch- 
 doctors and sorcerers, who always deceived 
 but never left her. She feared death, and saw 
 it everywhere. When she yielded to pleasure, 
 it seemed to her as if an ice - cold finger 
 touched her naked shoulder, and, turning pale, 
 she shrieked in terror. 
 
 " What does it matter, Thais," Nicias said 
 to her, " if our destiny is to descend with white 
 hair and wasted cheeks to eternal Night, or 
 this day, now smiling in the sunny sky, is to 
 be our last ? Let us taste life ! We shall 
 live long if we feel much. There is no other 
 intelligence than that of the senses : love is
 
 THE PAPYRUS 93 
 
 understanding. That of which we are ignor- 
 ant, is not What is the use of tormenting 
 ourselves for naught?" 
 
 She answered him angrily : 
 
 " I despise those who, like you, neither hope 
 nor fear. I desire knowledge ! I desire 
 knowledge ! " 
 
 To discover the secret of life she began to 
 read books of philosophy, but she did not 
 understand them. The further the years of 
 her infancy passed from her, the more will- 
 ingly she recalled them to her mind. She 
 loved to traverse in disguise the lanes, banks 
 and public places, where she had grown up in 
 misery. She regretted the loss of her parents, 
 and particularly the fact of never having loved 
 them. When she met Christian priests, she 
 thought of her baptism and felt troubled. One 
 night when, enveloped in a long cloak, with 
 her blonde hair hidden beneath a dark hood, 
 she was wandering as usual in the suburbs of 
 the city, -she found herself, without knowing 
 why, before the poor church of St John the 
 Baptist. She heard singing within, and saw 
 a brilliant light shining through the cracks of 
 the door. There was nothing strange in this, 
 as for twenty years the Christians, protected
 
 94 THAlfS 
 
 by the conqueror of Maxentius, had solem- 
 nised their feasts in public. 
 
 But these chants signified an ardent appeal 
 to the soul. The actress pushed open the door 
 with her hand, and entered as a guest at the 
 mysteries. She found a numerous assembly, 
 women, children, and old men, kneeling before 
 a tomb against the wall. This tomb was 
 simply a stone font, with some branches and 
 grapes roughly carved upon it ; it had, how- 
 ever, received great honour : it was covered 
 with green palms and crowned with red roses. 
 All around innumerable lights shone out of 
 the shadow, in which the smoke of Arabian 
 gums seemed like the folds of angels' robes. 
 On the wall were figures like visions from 
 heaven. Priests clad in white lay prostrate 
 at the foot of the sarcophagus. The hymn 
 which these priests and people were chant- 
 ing, expressed the delights of suffering, and 
 mingled in a triumphal mourning so much 
 joy with so much grief, that Thai's while 
 listening to them felt the pleasures of life and 
 the terrors of death run side by side through 
 her reviving senses. 
 
 When they had finished singing, the faithful 
 rose to go and kiss one by one, the side of
 
 THE PAPYRUS 95 
 
 the tomb. They were simple men, accus- 
 tomed to manual work. They advanced with 
 heavy tread, set eyes and drooping mouth, 
 with an air of candour. They knelt in turn 
 before the sarcophagus and pressed their lips 
 to it. The women lifted in their arms the 
 little children and placed their cheeks gently 
 against the stone. Thais, surprised and dis- 
 turbed, asked a deacon why they did this. 
 
 " Do you not know, woman," replied the 
 deacon, "that to-day we celebrate the blessed 
 memory of St Theodore the Nubian, who 
 suffered for the faith in the days of the Em- 
 peror Diocletian. He lived a chaste life and 
 died a martyr, that is why, clad in white, we 
 bear red roses to his glorious tomb." 
 
 On hearing this Thais fell on her knees and 
 burst into tears. The half extinct recollec- 
 tion of Ahmes awoke in her mind. Upon this 
 obscure memory, gentle and painful as it was, 
 the light of the tapers, the perfume of the 
 roses, the clouds of incense, the harmony of 
 the chants, and the piety of the congregation 
 threw the charms of glory. Thais thought : 
 
 " He was good, and here he is great and 
 beautiful ! How high above men he is up- 
 lifted ! What, then, is this unknown thing,
 
 96 THAIS 
 
 which is worth more than wealth and 
 pleasure ? " 
 
 She rose slowly and turned towards the 
 tomb of the Saint, who had loved her violet 
 eyes, in which tears glistened in the taper's 
 light ; then, with bent head, humble and slow, 
 last of all, with the lips on which so much 
 desire had rested, she kissed the slave's tomb. 
 
 Returning to her house, she found Nicias 
 waiting, with perfumed hair and unfastened 
 tunic, and reading a treatise on morality. He 
 advanced to meet her with open arms. 
 
 " Naughty Thais," cried he, with laughter 
 in his voice, " while you delayed coming, do 
 you know what I found in this manuscript 
 written by the gravest of the Stoics ? Precepts 
 of virtue and maxims of pride ? No ! upon 
 the austere papyrus I saw thousands of little 
 Thai'ses. They were each as high as a finger, 
 and yet their grace was infinite and all were 
 the one Thai's. Some dragged behind them 
 cloaks of purple' and gold ; others, like a white 
 cloud, floated in the air under diaphanous veils. 
 Others, motionless and divine in their nudity, 
 expressed no thought, the better to inspire 
 pleasure. Last of all were two hand-in-hand, 
 so much alike that it was impossible to
 
 THE PAPYRUS 97 
 
 distinguish one from the other. They both 
 smiled : the first said : " I am love ; the 
 other : I am death." 
 
 As he said this he clasped Thai's in his arms, 
 and without seeing the fierce glance she fixed 
 upon the ground, he added one thought to 
 another, careless that they were thrown away 
 upon her. 
 
 " Yes, when I was reading the line which 
 says : ' Nothing must turn you aside from 
 training your soul,' I read : ' The kisses of 
 Thais are more ardent than flames and sweeter 
 than honey.' That is the way in which, 
 through your fault, naughty child, a philosopher 
 to-day understands works of philosophy. It is 
 true that, all that we are, we discover our own 
 thoughts only in those of other people, and 
 read the books, like the one I have just been 
 reading, a little. . . ." 
 
 She was not listening, and her mind was 
 still before the Nubian's tomb. As he heard 
 her sigh he kissed her, and said : 
 
 " Be not sad, my child. The only happiness 
 in this world is to forget it. We have secrets 
 for that. Come, let us deceive life ; it is well 
 worth deceiving. Come ! Let us love." 
 
 She repulsed him, crying : 
 G
 
 98 THAIS 
 
 " Love ! You have never loved anyone. I 
 do not love you ! No, I do not love you ! I 
 hate you ! Go away ! I hate you ! I hate 
 and despise all the happy and the rich ! Go 
 away ! Go away ! . . . There is no goodness 
 except in the unfortunate. When I was a 
 child, I knew a black slave who was crucified. 
 He was good ; he was full of love, and he 
 possessed the secret of life. You would not 
 be worthy to wash his feet. Go away ! I 
 will see you no more." 
 
 She stretched herself, face downwards, upon 
 the floor and passed the night in sobs, resolving 
 henceforth to live like St Theodore in poverty 
 and simplicity. 
 
 On the morrow she returned to the pleasures 
 she had arranged. As she knew her still 
 immaculate beauty would not last long, she 
 made haste to obtain all possible joy and glory 
 from it. At the theatre, where she performed 
 with more care than ever, she brought to life 
 the imaginations of sculptors, painters, and 
 poets. Recognising in the form, attitude, 
 movements and gait of the actress an idea 
 of the divine harmony which rules the world, 
 savants and philosophers put so perfect a grace 
 among the virtues, and said " Thais is a
 
 THE PAPYRUS 99 
 
 mathematician." The ignorant, poor, humble 
 and timid, before whom she consented to 
 appear, blessed her for her celestial charity. 
 Still she was sad in the midst of praise, and 
 more than ever feared to die. Nothing could 
 dispel her uneasiness, not even her house and 
 gardens, which were so celebrated as to be 
 proverbial in the city. 
 
 She had planted trees, brought at great 
 expense from India and Persia. A running 
 stream irrigated them and ruined colonnades, 
 wild rocks, imitated by a skilful architect, were 
 reflected in a lake in which statues gazed at 
 their own reflection. In the midst of the 
 garden stood the Nymphs' grotto, which owed 
 its name to three great waxen female figures 
 which stood upon the threshold. These women 
 were undressing themselves to take a bath. 
 They turned their heads uneasily for fear of 
 being seen, and appeared to be alive. Light 
 only entered this retreat across small sheets of 
 water, which softened and coloured it. From 
 the walls on all sides hung, as in the sacred 
 grotto, crowns, garlands and votive pictures 
 in which the beauty of Thai's was celebrated. 
 There were, too, tragic and comic masks in 
 bright colours, pictures representing either
 
 ioo THAIS 
 
 scenes in the theatre, grotesque figures, or 
 fabulous animals. In the middle stood upon 
 a column a little ivory Eros, of ancient and 
 wonderful workmanship. It was a gift from 
 Nicias. A black marble she-goat stood in a 
 hollow, from which its shining agate eyes 
 could be seen. Six alabaster kids crowded 
 around its teats ; but raising its wild feet and 
 flat head it seemed impatient to scramble 
 among the rocks. The earth was covered with 
 Byzantine tapestry, pillows embroidered by 
 the yellow men of Cathay and the skins of 
 Lybian lions. Pans of perfume smoked im- 
 perceptibly. At the back of all, in the purple 
 shadow, shone golden nails on the shell of a 
 great Indian tortoise, which, reversed, served 
 as the great actress' bed. There each day, to 
 the murmur of the waters, among the perfume 
 and flowers, Thais reclined in comfort, and 
 while awaiting supper-time talked with her 
 friends or simply thought, either of the busi- 
 ness of the theatre, or the flight of years. 
 
 On this day she was resting after the theatre 
 in the Nymphs' grotto. She was looking in her 
 mirror for the first signs of her beauty's decline, 
 and thinking with fear that the time of white 
 hair and wrinkles would come. In vain she
 
 THE PAPYRUS 101 
 
 tried to reassure herself by saying that the 
 burning of certain herbs to the words of a 
 magic formula would be sufficient to bring 
 back her freshness. A pitiless voice cried 
 out : 
 
 " You will grow old, Thai's, you will grow 
 old ! " 
 
 The sweat of fear froze upon her forehead. 
 Then as she looked once more tenderly in 
 her mirror and found herself still beautiful 
 and worthy of love, smiling to herself, she 
 murmured : " There is not in Alexandria a 
 single woman who can compare with me in 
 suppleness of figure, grace of movement, and 
 magnificence of arms, and the arms, O my 
 mirror, are the true chains of love ! " 
 
 As she thought thus she saw an unknown 
 standing before her, with burning eyes and un- 
 kempt beard, and clad in a richly broidered 
 robe. Dropping her mirror, she screamed out 
 in affright. 
 
 Paphnutius stood motionless, and, seeing her 
 beauty, in the bottom of his soul offered up 
 this prayer : 
 
 " O God, grant that this woman's face, instead 
 of scandalising, may edify thy servant." 
 
 Then, forcing himself to speak, he said :
 
 102 THAIS 
 
 "Tha'fs, I dwell in a far-off land, and the re- 
 nown of your beauty has led me to you. Report 
 says that you are the most skilful of actresses 
 and the most irresistible of women. The tales 
 of your wealth and your loves seem fabulous, 
 and recall Rhodopis of old, whose wonderful 
 history all the boatmen of the Nile knew by 
 heart. Therefore I have been seized with a 
 desire to know you, and I see that the truth 
 even exceeds the report. You are a thousand 
 times wiser and more beautiful than you are 
 reported. And now that I see you, I say to 
 myself, ' It is impossible to approach her 
 without staggering like a drunken man.'" 
 
 These were mocking words ; but the monk, 
 animated with pious zeal, uttered them with real 
 ardour. But Thai's looked without displeasure 
 upon this strange being who had made her 
 afraid. Paphnutius astonished her by his rough 
 and savage appearance and his sombre glances 
 charged with fire. She was curious to know 
 the state and life of a man so different from all 
 she knew. She replied, gently mocking him : 
 
 " You seem quick to admire, stranger. Take 
 care my looks do not consume you to the bone ! 
 Take care to love me ! " 
 
 He said to her :
 
 THE PAPYRUS 103 
 
 " I love you, Tha'fs ! I love you more than 
 my life and more than myself. For you I have 
 left my dear desert ; for you my lips, vowed 
 to silence, have spoken profane words ; for you 
 I have seen what I ought not to have seen, I 
 have heard what I was forbidden to hear ; for 
 you my soul is troubled, my heart is open and 
 thoughts have gushed out from it, like the 
 running streams at which doves drink ; for you 
 I have walked day and night across the sands 
 of the desert peopled with worms and vam- 
 pires ; for you I have put my naked foot on 
 vipers and scorpions ! Yes, I love you, not 
 as those men who, inflamed with carnal desire, 
 come to you as devouring wolves or raging 
 bulls. You are dear to them as the gazelle 
 is to the lion. Their carnal love is devouring 
 your soul, woman ! I love you in spirit and 
 in truth, I love you in God for ever and ever ; 
 the feeling in my breast for you is called real 
 ardour and divine charity. I promise you some- 
 thing better than flowery drunkenness and the 
 dreams of a brief night. I promise you holy 
 love-feasts and celestial marriage. The felicity 
 I bring you will never end ; it is unthinkable ; 
 it is ineffable, and such that, if those who are 
 fortunate in this world could only see a shadow
 
 104 THAIS 
 
 of it, they would immediately die of astonish- 
 ment." 
 
 Thai's laughed with the air of an unbeliever. 
 
 " Friend," said she, " show me this marvellous 
 love. Hasten ; too long speeches injure my 
 beauty, do not lose a moment ! I am impatient 
 to know this happiness you announce ; but, to 
 tell you the truth, I am afraid that I shall never 
 know it, and that your promises will end in 
 mere words. It is easier to promise a great 
 happiness than to give it. Each has his talent. 
 I believe yours is discovery. You speak of an 
 unknown love. So long have kisses been ex- 
 changed that it would be very extraordinary 
 were there still any love-secrets. On this 
 subject lovers know more than magicians." 
 
 " Thai's, do not mock. I am bringing you 
 the unknown love." cu 
 
 " Friend, you are late. I know all love." 
 
 " The love I bring you is full of glory, while 
 the loves you know are born in shame." 
 
 Thai's looked at him with an angry expres- 
 sion, and a hard line across her little forehead. 
 
 " You are bold, stranger, to offend your 
 hostess. Look at me, and tell me if I resemble 
 a creature of shame. No ! I am not ashamed, 
 nor all those who live as I do, although they
 
 THE PAPYRUS 105 
 
 may be less beautiful and rich than I. I have 
 sown pleasure in all my steps, and for that I 
 am known throughout the world. I have more 
 power than the masters of the world. I have 
 seen them at my feet. Look at me, look at 
 these little feet ; thousands of men would pay 
 with their blood for the pleasure of kissing 
 them. I am not very great and do not hold 
 much of a place upon earth. To those who 
 see me from the top of the Serapeum when I 
 pass in the street, I resemble a grain of rice ; 
 but this grain of rice among men has caused 
 mourning, despair, hate and crimes enough to 
 fill Tartarus. Am I not mad to speak of 
 shame, when everything around me shouts of 
 glory?" 
 
 " Glory in men's eyes is infamy before God. 
 Woman, we have been nursed in countries so 
 different that it is not surprising that neither 
 our language nor our thoughts are the same. 
 But heaven is my witness that I desire to 
 agree with you, and my plan is not to leave 
 you until our sentiments are the same. Who 
 will inspire me with burning words, which shall 
 make you melt like wax at my breath, woman, 
 and allow the fingers of my desire to model 
 you according to their taste? What virtue
 
 106 THAIS 
 
 will deliver you to me, O dearest of souls, 
 so that the spirit animating me may create 
 you a second time, impress a new beauty upon 
 you, and make you cry in tears of joy : ' To- 
 day, indeed, is the day of my birth ! ' Who will 
 make a fountain of Siloe flow from my heart, 
 in which, after bathing, you shall find your 
 primal purity? Who will change me into a 
 Jordan, whose waters, overflowing you, shall 
 give you eternal life ? " 
 
 Thai's was angry no more. 
 
 " This man," she thought, " speaks of eternal 
 life, and all he says seems written upon a 
 talisman. There is no doubt that he is a 
 magician, and has secrets against old age and 
 death." 
 
 She resolved to offer herself to him ; so, 
 feigning to fear him, she stepped back 
 some paces, and, retiring to the back of the 
 grotto, sat down upon the edge of the bed, 
 skilfully replacing her tunic upon her breast, 
 and then, motionless and mute, she waited 
 with downcast eyes. Her long lashes cast a 
 gentle shadow on her cheeks. Her attitude 
 expressed shame ; her naked feet hung down, 
 and she resembled a dreaming child sitting 
 upon the bank of a river.
 
 THE PAPYRUS 107 
 
 But Paphnutius looked at her, and did not 
 move. His trembling knees could no longer 
 support him ; his tongue was parched in his 
 mouth ; a frightful tumult arose in his brain. 
 Suddenly his look was veiled, and he saw 
 before him nothing but a thick cloud. He 
 thought that the hand of Jesus had been 
 been placed before his eyes to conceal the 
 woman from him. Reassured by such aid as 
 this, made strong, and fortified, he said, with 
 a gravity worthy of a hermit of the desert : 
 
 " If you give yourself to me do you think 
 you will be concealed from God ? " 
 
 She shook her head. 
 
 " God ! who forces him always to have his 
 eye upon the Nymphs' grotto? Let him 
 retire if we offend him ! But why should we 
 offend him ? Since he has created us he can 
 be neither angry nor surprised to see us such 
 as he has made us, and acting according to 
 the nature he has given us. Too much is 
 often said for him, and ideas borrowed which 
 he has never had. Know his real character ? 
 Who are you to speak to me in his name ? " 
 
 At the question the monk, half opening his 
 borrowed garment, showed his robe and said : 
 
 " I am Paphnutius, priest of Antinoe, and I
 
 io8 THAIS 
 
 come from the holy desert. The hand which 
 took away Abraham from Chaldaea and Lot 
 from Sodom has separated me from the world. 
 I exist no more for men. But your image 
 appeared to me in my Jerusalem of sand, 
 and I knew that you were full of corruption, 
 and that in you was death. Here am I 
 before you, woman, as before a sepulchre, 
 and I cry : ' Thais, arise.' " 
 
 At the name of Paphnutius, and the words 
 monk and priest, she had paled in fear. Then, 
 her hair dishevelled, she crawled with clasped 
 hands to the holy man's feet, weeping and 
 groaning : 
 
 " Do me no ill ! Why have you come ? 
 What do you desire? Do me no ill! I 
 know that the holy men of the desert detest 
 the women who, like myself, are made to 
 please. I am afraid you hate me, and wish 
 to injure me. Go ! I do not doubt your 
 power ; but understand, Paphnutius, you must 
 neither despise nor hate me. I have never, 
 like so many men I know, laughed at your 
 willing poverty. In your turn do not make 
 my wealth a crime. I am beautiful, and a 
 clever actress. I have no more chosen my 
 condition than I have my nature. I was
 
 THE PAPYRUS 109 
 
 made for what I am. I was born to charm 
 men. But you just now said you loved me. 
 Do not use your science against me. Do 
 not pronounce magic words which will destroy 
 my beauty or change me into a pillar of salt. 
 Do not frighten me ! I am already very 
 much afraid. Do not make me die ! I fear 
 death so much." 
 
 He signed to her to rise, and said : 
 " Child, be reassured. I will not treat you 
 with hatred and contempt. I come to you 
 on behalf of him who, sitting on the borders 
 of the well, drank from the pitcher which the 
 Samaritan woman offered him, and who, when 
 he supped at Simon's house, received perfumes 
 from Mary. I am not sinless that I may 
 throw the first stone at you. I have often 
 ill employed the abundant graces God has 
 given me. It is not anger ; it is pity which 
 has taken me by the hand to lead me to 
 you. I have been able, without lying, to 
 approach you with words of love, for it is 
 the zeal of my heart which led me to you. 
 I am consumed with the fire of charity, and 
 if your eyes, accustomed to the gross spectacles 
 of the flesh, could see things in their mystic 
 aspect, I should appear to you as a branch
 
 no THAIS 
 
 torn from the burning bush, which God showed 
 on the mountain to Moses, to make him under- 
 stand true love that love which inflames 
 without consuming us, and which, far from 
 leaving behind it embers and ashes, embalms 
 and perfumes for ever all it penetrates." 
 
 " Monk, I believe you, and no longer fear 
 snare or hurt from you. I have often heard 
 tell of the hermits of the Thebaid. The 
 stories I have heard of the lives of Anthony 
 and Paul are marvellous. Your name was 
 not unknown to me, and I have been told 
 that, though still young, you equal in virtue 
 the oldest anchorite. From what I saw of 
 you, without knowing who you were, I felt 
 you were not an ordinary man. Tell me, 
 can you .do for me what neither the priests 
 of Isis, the priests of Hermes, the priests of 
 Celestial Juno, the Chaldean magicians, nor 
 the Babylonian sorcerers can do? Monk, if 
 you love me, can you prevent me from 
 dying ? " 
 
 " Woman, those will live who wish to live. 
 Shun the abominable delights in which are 
 eternal death. Snatch from the demons, who 
 would dreadfully burn it, the body which 
 God made and animated with his breath.
 
 THE PAPYRUS in 
 
 Consumed with fatigue as you are, come and 
 refresh yourself at the blessed springs of 
 solitude ; come and drink at those fountains 
 concealed in the desert, which flow from 
 heaven. Anxious soul, at last come and 
 possess your desire ! Heart, greedy of joy, 
 come arid taste real joy, poverty, renunciation, 
 self-oblivion, abandonment of the whole being 
 in God's breast. Enemy of the Christ, and 
 to-morrow his well-beloved, come to him. 
 Come, you who sought, and you shall say, 
 ' I have found love ! ' ' 
 
 But Thai's seemed to contemplate things 
 afar off: 
 
 " Monk," asked she, " if I renounce my 
 pleasures and do penitence, is it true that I 
 shall be born again in heaven, with my body 
 intact in all its beauty?" 
 
 " Thai's, I bring you eternal life. Believe 
 me, for what I announce is true." 
 
 "Who guarantees me that it is true?" 
 
 " David and the prophets, the Scriptures 
 and the marvels which you shall witness." 
 
 " Monk, I would believe you. For I admit 
 I have not found happiness in this world. 
 My lot was better than a queen's, and yet 
 life has brought me much sorrow and suffer-
 
 H2 THAIS 
 
 ing, and I am infinitely weary of it. All 
 women envy my destiny, and I sometimes 
 envy the lot of the old toothless woman 
 who, when I was little, sold honeycomb at the 
 City gate. The idea has come to me many 
 times that only the poor are good, happy, 
 and blessed, and that there is a great solace 
 in lowly and humble life. Monk, you have 
 removed the billows from my soul and made 
 rise to the surface that which slept at the 
 bottom. What am I to believe, alas ! and 
 what shall I become, and what is life ? " 
 
 While she spoke thus, Paphnutius was 
 transfigured ; a celestial joy spread over his 
 face. 
 
 " Listen," said he, " I have not entered your 
 dwelling alone. Another accompanied me, 
 another who is standing here at my side. 
 Him you cannot see, because your eyes are 
 still unworthy to contemplate him ; but soon 
 you will see him in his charming splendour 
 and say: 'he alone is lovable!' Just now, if 
 he had not placed his soft hand over my eyes, 
 Thai's, I should perhaps have committed sin 
 with you, for I am myself but weakness and 
 trouble. But he has saved both of us ; he is 
 as good as he is powerful, and his name is
 
 THE PAPYRUS 113 
 
 Saviour. He was promised to the world by 
 David and the Sybil, adored in his cradle by 
 the shepherds and magicians, crucified by the 
 Pharisees, buried by the holy women, revealed 
 to the world by the apostles, and attested by 
 the martyrs. Learning that you fear death, 
 woman, I am here in your house come to 
 prevent you from death ! Didst thou not, 
 Jesus, appear to me at that moment, as thou 
 appearedst to the men of Galilee in those days 
 of wonder, when the stars, descending with 
 thee from heaven, were so near the earth that 
 the holy innocents could seize them in their 
 hands as they played in their mothers' arms 
 upon the terraces of Bethlehem. Are we not, 
 Jesus, in thy company, and art thou not 
 showing us the reality of thy precious body ? 
 Is not thy face there and the tear running 
 down thy cheek a real tear? Yes, the angel 
 of eternal justice will receive it, and it shall 
 be the ransom for the soul of Thai's. Art 
 thou not there, Jesus ? Thy adorable lips are 
 open. Thou canst speak ; speak, I am listen- 
 ing. And you, Thai's, happy Thai's, listen to 
 what the Saviour himself says to you ; he 
 speaks, not I. He says : ' I have sought you 
 long, my wandering sheep ! I have found you 
 H
 
 ii 4 THAIS 
 
 at last. Fly from me no more. Take my hands, 
 poor little one, and I will bear you on my 
 shoulders to the heavenly fold. Come, Tha'i's, 
 come, my elect, come and weep with me!" 
 
 Paphnutius fell on his knees in ecstasy. 
 
 Then Thai's saw upon his face the reflection 
 of the living Jesus. 
 
 " O past days of my childhood ! " she said 
 through her sobs, " O my gentle father Ahmes, 
 good St Theodore, why had I not died in 
 your white robe while you carried me away 
 in the dawn, fresh from the baptismal water ! " 
 
 Paphnutius sprang towards her, saying : 
 
 " You are baptised ! . . . O divine wisdom ! 
 
 Providence ! O good God ! I now know 
 the power which attracted me towards you. 
 
 1 know what rendered you so dear and beautiful 
 in my eyes. It is the virtue of the baptismal 
 water, which made me leave the shadow of 
 God, where I lived, to seek you in the 
 poisoned atmosphere of the world. A drop, 
 doubtless, of the water which baptised your 
 body, splashed upon my forehead. Come, my 
 sister, and receive from your brother the kiss 
 of peace." 
 
 The monk placed his lips upon the courte- 
 san's forehead.
 
 THE PAPYRUS 115 
 
 Then he became silent, leaving God to speak, 
 and there was no sound in the Nymphs' grotto 
 but the sobs of Thai's mingled with the song 
 of the running water. 
 
 She wept without drying her tears, when 
 her black slave came in laden with stuffs, 
 perfumes, and garlands. 
 
 " It is scarcely right to weep," said she, 
 trying to smile. " Tears sodden the eyes and 
 spoil their tint. I must sup to-night with 
 friends, and I desire to be beautiful, for there 
 will be women there who will notice my tired 
 face. These slaves come to dress me. Retire, 
 my father, and let them do so. They are 
 skilled and adroit ; so I had to pay very dearly 
 for them. Look at this one who has large 
 golden rings and shows her white teeth. Her 
 I bought from the Proconsul's wife." 
 
 Paphnutius at first thought of opposing with 
 all his might the idea of Thai's going to this 
 supper. But, determined to act prudently, he 
 asked whom she would meet there. 
 
 She replied that she would see the host, old 
 Gotta, prefect of the fleet, Nicias, and several 
 other philosophers, the poet Callicrates, the 
 high priest of Serapis, rich young men especi- 
 ally interested in horse-breeding ; and, lastly,
 
 ii6 THAIS 
 
 women about whom nothing could be said, 
 and whose youth was their only virtue. 
 
 Then, by a supernatural inspiration : 
 
 " Go among them, Thais," said the monk ; 
 " go ! But I will not leave you. I will go 
 with you to this feast, and sit silently at 
 your side." 
 
 She burst out laughing. And while the 
 two slaves busied themselves around her, she 
 said : 
 
 " What will they say when they see that 
 I have a monk of the Thebaid for a lover?" 
 
 THE BANQUET 
 
 WHEN, followed by Paphnutius, Thai's entered 
 the banqueting hall, the guests were, for the 
 most part, already reclining upon couches before 
 the horseshoe - shaped table, covered with 
 glittering plate. In the centre of the table 
 was a silver basin, surmounted by four Satyrs 
 inclining leathern bottles, from which flowed 
 upon boiled fish the sauce in which they swam. 
 At the appearance of Thais acclamations arose 
 from all sides. 
 
 " Greeting to the sister of Charites ! "
 
 THE PAPYRUS 117 
 
 " Greeting to the silent Melpomene, whose 
 glances can express everything ! " 
 
 " Greeting to the well beloved of gods and 
 men ! " 
 
 " To the greatly desired one ! " 
 
 " To her, who gives suffering and its cure ! " 
 
 " To the pearl of Racotes ! " 
 
 " To the rose of Alexandria ! " 
 
 She waited impatiently till this torrent of 
 praise had ceased ; and then she said to Cotta, 
 her host : 
 
 " Lucius, I have brought you a monk of the 
 desert, Paphnutius, priest of Antinoe ; he is a 
 holy man, whose words burn like fire." 
 
 Lucius Aurelius Cotta, prefect of the fleet, 
 rose, saying : 
 
 " Welcome, Paphnutius, you who profess the 
 Christian faith. I have respect for a cult, hence- 
 forth imperial. The divine Constantine placed 
 your co-religionists in the front rank of the 
 Empire's friends. Latin wisdom, in fact, ought 
 to admit your Christ into our Pantheon. 
 There is a maxim of our fathers which says 
 that every god has something divine in him. 
 But let us leave that. Let us drink and be 
 glad while there is yet time." 
 
 Old Cotta said this with serenity. He had
 
 n8 THAIS 
 
 just been studying the model of a new galley 
 and completing the sixth volume of his history 
 of the Carthaginians. Sure that he had not 
 wasted the day, he was content with himself 
 and the gods. 
 
 " Paphnutius, you see here several men 
 worthy of love. Hermodorus, High Priest 
 of Serapis, the philosopher Dorion, Nicias 
 and Zenothemis, the poet Callicrates, young 
 Chaereas and Aristobulus, both sons of a dear 
 comrade of my youth ; and near them are 
 Philinna and Drosea, who must be greatly 
 admired for their beauty." 
 
 Nicias embraced Paphnutius, and said in his 
 ear : 
 
 " I warned you, my friend, that Venus was 
 powerful. Her gentle violence has brought you 
 here in spite of yourself. Listen, you are a 
 very pious man, but if you do not recognise 
 her as the mother of the gods, your ruin is 
 certain. The old mathematician Melanthus 
 used to say : ' I could not demonstrate the 
 properties of a triangle without the aid of 
 Venus.' " 
 
 Dorion, who for some minutes had been look- 
 ing at the new-comer, suddenly clapped his 
 hands and uttered cries of admiration.
 
 THE PAPYRUS 119 
 
 " It is he, friends ! His look, his beard, his 
 tunic : it is the man himself. I met him at 
 the theatre while Thais was displaying her 
 skilful arms. He was greatly moved, and I 
 can bear witness that he spake with vehe- 
 mence. He is an honourable man : he will 
 curse us ; his eloquence is terrible. If Marcus 
 is the Plato of the Christians, Paphnutius is 
 the Demosthenes. Epicurus, in his little 
 garden, never heard anything like it." 
 
 Philinna and Drosea, however, were devour- 
 ing Thai's with their eyes. She wore on her 
 blonde hair a crown of pale violets, each 
 flower of which revealed, in a feeble way, the 
 colour of her eyes, so much so, that the 
 flowers seemed half-hidden glances and the 
 eyes sparkling flowers. It was this woman's 
 gift : on her everything lived, everything was 
 soul and harmony. Her mauve robe, em- 
 broidered with silver wire, had in its long 
 folds a grace almost sad and unrelieved by 
 bracelets or necklace, and all the glory of her 
 attire was in her neck and arms. While ad- 
 miring, in spite of themselves, the robe and 
 coiffure of Thais, her two friends did not 
 speak to her of them. 
 
 " How beautiful you are," said Philinna.
 
 120 THAI'S 
 
 " You could not have been more beautiful 
 when you came to Alexandria. But, my 
 mother, who remembers seeing you then, said 
 that few women were worthy of comparison 
 with you." 
 
 " Who then," asked Drosea, " is this new 
 lover of yours ? He has a wild appearance. 
 If there were elephant keepers, surely they 
 would be made like him. Where did you 
 find, Thais, such a fierce friend ? Was it 
 not among the cave-dwellers, who live under 
 the earth and are tinged by the smoke of 
 Hades?" 
 
 But Philinna placing her finger upon Drosea's 
 mouth, said : 
 
 " Be quiet, the mysteries of love remain 
 secrets and their knowledge is forbidden. For 
 myself, I would rather be kissed by the mouth 
 of smoking Etna than by this man's lips. 
 But our sweet Thais, who is as beautiful 
 and adorable as a goddess, must, like a god- 
 dess, grant all prayers, and not, as we do, 
 only those of lovable men." 
 
 " Take care, both of you," replied Thais. 
 " He is a magician and enchanter. He 
 understands words spoken in a low voice, 
 and even thoughts. He will snatch your
 
 THE PAPYRUS 121 
 
 heart from you while you are asleep ; he 
 will replace it by a sponge, and on the 
 morrow, after drinking water, you will die 
 of suffocation." 
 
 " Friends, take your places ! Slaves, pour 
 out the honey-coloured wine ! " 
 
 Then the host, raising his cup, said : 
 
 " Drink first to the divine Constantius and 
 the Empire's genius. The father-land must 
 be placed first, even before the gods, for it 
 contains them." 
 
 All the guests raised their brimming cups 
 to their lips. Paphnutius alone did not drink, 
 because Constantius persecuted the faith of 
 Nicaea, and the Christian's father-land is not 
 of this world. 
 
 Dorion, after drinking, murmured : 
 
 " What is the father-land ? A flowing river. 
 Its banks change and waves are always upon it." 
 
 " I know, Dorion," replied the prefect of the 
 fleet, " that you take little account of civic 
 virtues, and that you think that the sage 
 should live a stranger to business. I think, 
 on the other hand, that an honourable man 
 should desire nothing so much as to fill high 
 offices in the State. What a beautiful thing 
 the State is ! "
 
 122 THAIS 
 
 Hermodorus, High Priest of Serapis, spoke : 
 
 " Dorion has just asked : ' What is the 
 father-land ? ' I will reply : The altars of the 
 gods and the tombs of ancestors compose the 
 father-land. One man is another man's fellow- 
 citizen through a community of souvenirs and 
 hopes." 
 
 Young Aristobulus interrupted Hermodorus : 
 
 " By Castor, I saw a fine horse, to-day. It 
 belongs to Demophon. It has a lean head 
 and fine shoulders. It carries its head high 
 and proud like a cock's." 
 
 But young Chereas shook his head. 
 
 " It is not as good a horse as you make 
 out, Aristobulus. It has thin hoofs. Its 
 pasterns are near the ground and the animal 
 will soon go lame." 
 
 They were continuing their dispute, when 
 Drosea uttered a piercing shriek. 
 
 " Oh ! I almost swallowed a fish - bone 
 longer and sharper than a dagger. By good 
 luck I drew it from my throat in time. The 
 gods love me." 
 
 ' Did you not say that the gods love 
 you?" asked Nicias, with a smile. "If so, 
 they share men's infirmity. Love supposes 
 with the person who feels it the sentiment
 
 THE PAPYRUS 123 
 
 of eternal misery. It is by it that the weak- 
 ness of beings is betrayed. The love which 
 the gods feel for Drosea is a great proof of 
 their imperfection." 
 
 At these words Drosea became very angry. 
 
 " Nicias, your words are silly and form no 
 answer. Besides, it is your character not to 
 understand what is said, and to reply in words 
 utterly without sense." 
 
 Nicias smiled again. 
 
 " Speak, speak, Drosea. No matter what you 
 say, we ought to return thanks every time you 
 open your mouth. Your teeth are so beautiful." 
 
 At this moment a grave old man, negligently 
 attired, entered the hall with a slow step and 
 haughty bearing, and walked towards the 
 guests. Cotta motioned to him to sit by his 
 side, upon his own couch. 
 
 "Welcome, Eucritus," said he. "Have you 
 written a new treatise this month? It should 
 be, if my calculation is correct, the ninety- 
 second which has flowed from the Nile reed, 
 which you guide with an Attic hand." 
 
 Eucritus replied as he caressed his silvery 
 beard : 
 
 " The nightingale is made to sing and I am 
 made to praise the immortal gods."
 
 i2 4 THAIS 
 
 Dorion. Let us respectfully salute in Eucritus 
 the last of the Stoics. Grave and white, he 
 rises in our midst like an ancestral image ! 
 He is alone in the crowd of men and pronounces 
 words which are not understood. 
 
 Eucritus. You are mistaken, Dorion. The 
 philosophy of virtue is not dead in this world. 
 I have numerous disciples in Alexandria, Rome, 
 and Constantinople. Many among the slaves 
 and nephews of the Caesars still know how to 
 govern themselves, to live free and taste in 
 abstinence illimitable felicity. Several revive 
 in themselves Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius. 
 But if it were true that virtue was forever 
 extinct upon the earth, in what way would its 
 loss concern my happiness, since its duration 
 or death does not depend on me ? Only fools, 
 Dorion, place their felicity beyond their own 
 power. I desire nothing the gods do not will, 
 and I desire all they will. By this means I 
 become like them and partake of their infallible 
 contentment. If virtue perish, I consent to its 
 death and the consent fills me with joy like the 
 supreme effort of my reason or my courage. In 
 all things my wisdom will imitate divine wisdom, 
 and the copy will be more precious than the 
 model ; it will have cost more care and labour.
 
 THE PAPYRUS 125 
 
 Nicias. I understand. You associate your- 
 self with celestial Providence. But if virtue 
 consists only in effort, Eucritus, and in that 
 tension by which the disciples of Zeno pre- 
 tended to render themselves like gods, the frog, 
 which swells out to become as large as the ox, 
 accomplishes the masterpiece of Stoicism. 
 
 Eucritus. Nicias, you joke, and as usual 
 excel in mockery. But if the ox you speak of 
 is really a god, as Apis and as the subterranean 
 bull, whose High Priest I see here, and if the 
 frog, wisely inspired, succeeds in equalling it, 
 will it not be in reality more virtuous than the 
 ox, and who will be able to stifle their admira- 
 tion for so generous a little animal ? 
 
 Four servants placed upon the table a wild 
 pig still covered with bristles. Young boars, 
 made of paste baked in an oven, surrounded 
 the animal and indicated that it was a sow. 
 
 Zenothemis, turning towards the monk, said : 
 
 " Friend, a guest is come of himself to join 
 us. The illustrious Paphnutius, who leads in 
 solitude a wondrous life, is our unexpected 
 guest." 
 
 Cotta. Say more, Zenothemis. The first 
 place is his due, since he has come un- 
 invited.
 
 126 THAI'S 
 
 Zenothemis. We ought, too, dear Lucius, to 
 receive him with particular kindness and find 
 out what is most agreeable to him. Now it 
 is certain that such a man is less sensible to 
 the flavour of viands, than to the perfume of 
 beautiful thoughts. We shall no doubt give 
 him pleasure by directing the conversation 
 upon the doctrine he professes, that of Jesus 
 crucified. For myself, I shall lend myself the 
 more willingly as that doctrine keenly interests 
 me on account of the number and diversity of 
 the allegories it includes. If the spirit beneath 
 the letter is understood, it is full of truths, and 
 and I think the books of the Christians abound 
 in divine revelations. But I could not set an 
 equal value, Paphnutius, on the books of the 
 Jews. They were inspired, not, as it has been 
 said, by the spirit of God, but a bad spirit. 
 Jehovah, who dictated them, was one of those 
 spirits which people the lower air and cause 
 the greater part of the ills we suffer ; but he 
 exceeds them all in ignorance and ferocity. 
 On the other hand, the serpent with golden 
 wings, which twisted round the tree of know- 
 ledge its azure coils, was formed of light and 
 love. Thus the struggle between these two 
 powers, one of light the other of darkness, was
 
 THE PAPYRUS 127 
 
 inevitable. It commenced in the world's early 
 days. God had hardly returned to rest, Adam 
 and Eve, the first man and woman, were living 
 naked and happy in the Garden of Eden when 
 Jehovah formed, unfortunately for them, the in- 
 tention of ruling them and all the generations 
 Eve already bore in her magnificent womb. As 
 he possessed neither compass nor lyre, and was 
 alike ignorant of science, which commands, 
 and art which persuades, he frightened these 
 two poor children by various apparitions, 
 capricious menaces and thunder-claps. Adam 
 and Eve, feeling his shadow upon them, 
 pressed close together and their love re- 
 doubled in fear. The serpent had pity on 
 them and resolved to teach them wisdom, so 
 that, possessing knowledge, they would be no 
 longer abused by lies. This enterprise required 
 rare prudence, and the weakness of the first 
 human pair rendered it almost desperate. The 
 well-intentioned demon, however, attempted it. 
 Unknown to Jehovah, who pretended to see 
 all, but whose sight in reality was not very 
 clear, he approached the two creatures, and 
 chained their eyes with the splendour of his 
 breast-plate and the glory of his wings. Then 
 he interested their minds by forming before
 
 128 THAI'S 
 
 them with his body, exact figures, such as the 
 circle, the ellipse, and the spiral, whose admir- 
 able qualities have been recognised since the 
 days of the Greeks. Adam, better than Eve, 
 meditated upon these figures. But when the 
 serpent began to speak, and teach them the 
 highest truths, those which do not demonstrate 
 themselves, he recognised that Adam, fashioned 
 from red earth, was of too dense a nature to 
 perceive these subtle forms of knowledge, and 
 that Eve, on the contrary, being tenderer and 
 more sensible, could easily understand them. 
 So he talked to her in her husband's absence, 
 to initiate his first . . ;fo 
 
 Dorion. Allow me, Zenothemis, to stop you 
 here. At first I recognised in the myth you are 
 expounding to us, an episode in the struggle of 
 Pallas Athenae and the giants. Jehovah very 
 much resembles Typhon, and Pallas is repre- 
 sented by the Athenians with a serpent by her 
 side. But what you have just said has made 
 me suddenly doubt the intelligence or good 
 faith of the serpent of whom you speak. If he 
 had really possessed wisdom, would he have 
 entrusted it to a little woman's head incapable 
 of containing it. I think that he was, like 
 Jehovah, ignorant and a liar, and that he chose
 
 THE PAPYRUS 129 
 
 Eve because she was most easy to seduce, and 
 because he gave Adam credit for more intel- 
 ligence and reflection. 
 
 Zenothemis. Understand, Dorion, that it is 
 not by reflection and intelligence, but by per- 
 ception, that the highest and purest truths are 
 attained. Thus, women, who are usually less 
 reflective but more sensible than men, rise more 
 easily to knowledge of divine matters. In them 
 is the gift of prophecy, and it is not unreason- 
 able for Apollo, Athenae and Jesus of Nazareth 
 to be sometimes represented clothed as women 
 in long flowing robes. The serpent teacher was 
 wise, whatever you may say to the contrary, 
 Dorion, in preferring for his work of light this 
 Eve, whiter than milk and the stars, to the more 
 gross and stupid Adam. She listened docilely 
 and allowed herself to be led to the tree of 
 knowledge, whose branches stretched up to the 
 sky, and upon which the Holy Spirit rested like 
 dew. This tree was covered with leaves, which 
 spake all the languages of future races, and 
 whose united voices formed perfect harmony. 
 Its abundant fruits gave to the initiated, who 
 fed upon them, the knowledge of metals, stones, 
 plants, as well as of physical and moral laws ; 
 but they were of flame, and those who feared 
 I
 
 130 THAIS 
 
 suffering and death dared not lift them to their 
 lips. Now, after listening to the serpent's teach- 
 ing, Eve rose above vain terrors and desired to 
 taste the fruits, which gave knowledge of God. 
 But in order that Adam, whom she loved, might 
 not become her inferior, she took him by the 
 hand and led him to the marvellous tree. 
 Plucking an apple of fire, she bit it, and 
 afterwards offered it to her companion. Un- 
 fortunately Jehovah, who was walking by 
 chance in the garden, surprised them, and seeing 
 that they had become wise, he became terribly 
 angry. He is specially to be feared when 
 jealous. Collecting his forces, he produced such 
 a tumult in the lower air that these two feeble 
 beings were frightened at it. The fruit fell 
 from the man's hand, and the woman, clinging 
 to his neck, said : " I desire to be ignorant and 
 suffer with you." Jehovah, in triumph, keeps 
 Adam and Eve and all their seed in stupor 
 and in fear. His art, which became reduced to 
 fashioning great meteors, placed him beyond 
 the power of the serpent's knowledge, though 
 he was a musician and mathematician. He 
 taught men injustice, ignorance, and cruelty, 
 and caused evil to reign on earth. He pursued 
 Cain and his sons because they were industrious ;
 
 THE PAPYRUS 131 
 
 he exterminated the Philistines because they 
 composed Orphic poems and fables like yEsop. 
 He was the implacable enemy of knowledge 
 and beauty, and mankind for long centuries 
 expiated in tears and blood the defeat of the 
 winged serpent. Fortunately learned men lived 
 among the Greeks, such as Pythagoras and 
 Plato, and they recovered by the power of 
 genius the figures and ideas which Jehovah's 
 enemy had vainly tried to teach the first woman. 
 The spirit of the serpent was in them ; for that 
 reason, as Dorion says, the serpent is honoured 
 among the Athenians. Lastly, in later days, 
 there appeared in human form three celestial 
 spirits, Jesus of Galilee, Basilides, and Valentine, 
 to whom it was given to pluck the finest fruits 
 of the tree of knowledge, the roots of which 
 traverse the earth and which rears its top to the 
 heights of heaven. This is my revenge for the 
 Christians, to whom the errors of the Jews are 
 often imputed. 
 
 Dorion. If I have understood you rightly, 
 Zenothemis, three admirable men, Jesus, 
 Basilides, and Valentine, have discovered 
 secrets which were hidden to Pythagoras, 
 Plato, all the philosophers of Greece, and 
 even the divine Epicurus, who, however,
 
 132 THAIS 
 
 freed men from all vain terrors. You will 
 oblige us by telling us by what means these 
 three mortals acquired knowledge which 
 escaped the meditation of the sages. 
 
 Zenothemis. Must I repeat for your benefit, 
 Dorion, that science and meditation are only 
 the first degrees of knowledge, and that 
 ecstasy alone leads to eternal truths? 
 
 Hermodorus. It is true, Zenothemis, that 
 the soul is nourished on ecstasy, as the grass- 
 hopper is on dew. But let us go further : 
 the spirit alone is capable of entire rapture. 
 For man is triple, composed of a material 
 body, a more subtle but equally material 
 soul, and an incorruptible spirit. After leav- 
 ing its body as a palace given up to silence 
 and solitude, then flying across the gardens 
 of its soul, the spirit is bestowed on God, it 
 tastes the delights of an anticipated death, or 
 rather of future life, for death is life, and in 
 this state, which partakes of divine purity, it 
 possesses at the same time infinite joy and 
 absolute knowledge. It enters into unity, 
 which is everything. It is perfect. 
 
 Nicias. This is admirable. But to tell 
 the truth, Hermodorus, I see no great 
 difference between everything and nothing.
 
 THE PAPYRUS 133 
 
 Words even seem to fail me to make the 
 distinction. The infinite resembles in a 
 terrible degree nothingness : they are both 
 inconceivable. In my opinion, perfection costs 
 very dear : a person pays for it with his 
 whole being, and to possess it one must 
 cease to exist. That is a disgrace which God 
 himself has not escaped, since philosophers 
 have gone about to perfect him. After that, 
 if we do not know what " not to be " is, we 
 are also ignorant of what " to be " is. We 
 know nothing. People say it is impossible 
 for men to understand each other. I should 
 think, in spite of our disputes, that, on the 
 contrary, it is impossible for them not to 
 finally agree, buried side by side under the 
 masses of contradiction which they have 
 heaped up, like Ossa upon Pelion. 
 
 Cotta. I love philosophy very much, and I 
 have studied it in my leisure hours. But 
 I only understand it well in Cicero's works. 
 Slaves, pour out the honey-coloured wine ! 
 
 Callicrates. That is a singular thing ! 
 When I am sober, I think of the time when 
 the tragic poets sat at the banquets of good 
 tyrants, and my mouth waters. But when I 
 have tasted the excellent wine you pour out
 
 134 THAIS 
 
 for us, generous Lucius, I dream only of 
 civil struggles and heroic combats. I blush 
 to live in inglorious days, I invoke liberty, 
 and in imagination shed my blood with the 
 last of the Romans on the fields of Philippi. 
 
 Cotta. At the decline of the Republic my 
 kinsmen died with Brutus for liberty. But 
 it is open to question whether, what they 
 called the liberty of the Roman people, was 
 not, in reality, the faculty of governing them 
 themselves. I do not deny that liberty may 
 be a nation's greatest good. But the longer I 
 live, the more I persuade myself that a strong 
 government alone can assure its citizens. I 
 have filled for forty years the highest State 
 office, and my long experience teaches me 
 that people are oppressed when power is 
 weak. So those who, as most rhetors do, 
 try to weaken the government commit a de- 
 testable crime. If one man's will is some- 
 times used in a fatal manner, popular consent 
 renders all resolution impossible. Before the 
 majesty of Roman peace covered the world 
 races were only happy under intelligent 
 despots. 
 
 Hermodorus. As for me, Lucius, I think 
 there is no good form of government, and one
 
 THE PAPYRUS 135 
 
 will not be discovered, since the ingenious 
 Greeks, who conceived so many happy forms, 
 sought it in vain. In this direction every 
 hope is henceforth forbidden us. We recog- 
 nise by certain signs that the world is near 
 sinking into ignorance and barbarity. It was 
 given us, Lucius, to assist at the terrible agony 
 of civilisation. Of all the satisfaction which 
 intelligence, science, and virtue procured, there 
 only remains to us the cruel joy of watching 
 ourselves die. 
 
 Cotta. It is certain that the people's hunger 
 and the audacity of the barbarians are scourges 
 to be feared. But, with a good fleet, a good 
 army, and good finances . . . 
 
 Hermodorus. What is the use of flattery? 
 The expiring Empire offers the barbarians an 
 easy prey. The cities, which were edified by 
 Hellenic genius and Latin patience, will soon 
 be sacked by drunken savages. There will be 
 on the earth no art or philosophy. The images 
 of the gods will be overturned in the temples 
 and in men's souls. It will be the night of the 
 spirit and the death of the world. How, in fact, 
 is it possible to believe that the Sarmatians will 
 ever undertake works of intelligence, that the 
 Quadi and Marcomanni will adore the immortal
 
 136 THAIS 
 
 gods. No ; everything is tottering and sinking. 
 This old Egypt, which has been the cradle of 
 the world, will be its hypogee ; Serapis, the god 
 of death, will receive the supreme adoration of 
 mortality, and I shall be the last priest of the 
 last god. 
 
 At this moment a strange figure lifted the 
 tapestry, and the guests saw before them a 
 little hunch-backed man, whose bald head rose 
 up to a point. He was dressed in the Asiatic 
 fashion with an azure tunic, and wore upon 
 his legs, like the barbarians, red breeches sewn 
 with golden stars. When he saw him, Paph- 
 nutius recognised Marcus the Aryan, and, fear- 
 ing a thunder-bolt would fall, he raised his 
 hands above his head and paled with fear. 
 The mere presence of this heretic stunned his 
 courage, a thing which, at the banquet of 
 demons, neither the blasphemies of the Pagans 
 nor the horrible errors of the philosophers had 
 succeeded in doing. He wished to flee, but 
 when his glance met the glance of Thai's, he 
 was suddenly reassured. He had read her soul 
 and understood that she, who was about to 
 become a saint, was already protecting him. 
 He seized part of her flowing robe and mentally 
 prayed to the Saviour Jesus.
 
 THE PAPYRUS 137 
 
 A flattering murmur accompanied the arrival 
 of the person, who was called the Plato of 
 the Christians. Hermodorus spoke to him 
 first: 
 
 " Most illustrious Marcus, we all rejoice to 
 see you among us, and your arrival is very 
 opportune. We know of the Christian doctrine 
 only what is publicly taught. Now it is certain 
 that a philosopher like you cannot think with 
 the vulgar, and we are anxious to know your 
 opinion of the principal mysteries of the 
 religion you profess. Our dear Zenothemis, 
 whom you know is very fond of symbols, was 
 just now asking Paphnutius about the books 
 of the Jews. But Paphnutius has not replied 
 to him, and we must not be surprised at this, 
 since our guest is vowed to silence and God 
 has sealed his tongue in the desert. But you, 
 Marcus, who have spoken in the Christian 
 synods, and even the councils of the divine 
 Constantine, you can, if you wish, satisfy our 
 curiosity by revealing to us the philosophic 
 truths which are hidden in the fables of the 
 Christians. Is not the first of these truths the 
 existence of an only God, in whom I, for my 
 part, firmly believe. 
 
 Marcus. Yes, venerable brothers, I believe
 
 138 THAIS 
 
 in an only God, not begotten, the one eternal, 
 the beginning of all things. 
 
 Nicias. We know, Marcus, that your God 
 created the world. It was indeed a great crisis 
 in his existence. He was existing for an 
 eternity before being able to resolve to do so. 
 But, in justice, I admit his situation was a very 
 awkward one. He had to remain inactive to 
 remain perfect, and he had to act if he desired 
 to prove to himself his own existence. You 
 assure me that he decided to act I will believe 
 you, Marcus, although it is on the part of a 
 perfect God an unpardonable imprudence. But 
 tell us, Marcus, how he set about creating the 
 world. 
 
 Marciis. Those who, without being Christians, 
 possess, as Hermodorus and Zenothemis do, 
 the principles of knowledge, know that God 
 did not create the world directly and without 
 intervention. He gave birth to an only son, 
 by whom all things were made. 
 
 Hermodorus. You are right, Marcus ; and 
 this son is adored under the names of Hermes, 
 Mithra, Adonis, Apollo, and Jesus. 
 
 Marcus. I should not be a Christian if I 
 gave him names other than Jesus Christ and 
 Saviour. He is the true son of God. But he
 
 THE PAPYRUS 139 
 
 is not eternal, since he had a beginning ; as for 
 thinking he existed before being begotten, that 
 is an absurdity which must be left to the mules 
 of Nicaea and the restive ass who too long ruled 
 the church of Alexandria under the cursed name 
 of Athanasius. 
 
 At these words, Paphnutius, who was pale, 
 and whose forehead was bathed in the sweat 
 of agony, made the sign of the cross and per- 
 severed in his sublime silence. 
 
 Marcus continued : 
 
 " It is clear that the inept symbol of Nicaea 
 makes an attempt on the majesty of the only 
 God by obliging him to divide his indivisible 
 attributes with its own emanation the mediator 
 by whom all things were made. Cease to rail 
 at the true God of the Christians, Nicias ; learn 
 that he works or spins no more than do the 
 lilies of the field. He was not the workman ; 
 it was Jesus who created the world and after- 
 wards came to repair his work. For the creation 
 could not be perfect, and evil was of necessity 
 mixed with good in it. 
 
 Nicias. What is good and what is evil? 
 
 There was a moment's silence, during which 
 Hermodorus, with his arms stretched upon the 
 table, displayed a little donkey of Corinthian
 
 140 THAIS 
 
 metal, carrying two baskets, one containing 
 white olives and the other black. 
 
 " Look at these olives," said he. " Our looks 
 are agreeably flattered by the contrast of their 
 tints, and we are satisfied that these are clear 
 and those dark. But if they were endowed 
 with thought and knowledge, the white ones 
 would say : ' It is well for an olive to be white, 
 ill for it to be black,' and the people of the 
 black olives would detest those of the white. 
 We judge better, for we are as much above 
 them as the gods are above us.- For man, 
 who sees only a part of everything, evil is a 
 blessing. Without doubt, ugliness is ugly and 
 not beautiful ; but if everything was beautiful, 
 everything would not be beautiful. It is then 
 well for there to be evil greater than the 
 first. 
 
 Eucritus. Let us speak more virtuously. 
 Evil is an evil, not to the world whose inde- 
 structible harmony it does not destroy, but 
 to the sinner who commits it and could not 
 do so. 
 
 Cotta. By Jupiter! that is fine reasoning! 
 
 Eucritus. The world is a tragedy by an 
 excellent poet. God, who composed it, has 
 designed each of us to play a part in it. If
 
 THE PAPYRUS 141 
 
 he desires you to be beggar, prince, or cripple, 
 do your best with the part assigned you. 
 
 Nicias. Assuredly it will be good for the 
 cripple of the tragedy to limp like Hephaistos ; 
 it will be good for the madman to abandon 
 himself to the furies of Ajax, for the incestuous 
 woman to renew the crimes of Phaedra, for 
 the traitor to betray, for the cheat to lie, for 
 the murderer to kill, and, when the piece is 
 played, all the actors, kings, the just, bloody 
 tyrants, pious virgins, shameless wives, mag- 
 nanimous citizens and cowardly assassins will 
 receive from the poet an equal share of praise. 
 
 Eucritus. You pervert my idea, Nicias, and 
 change a lovely girl into a hideous gorgon. 
 I feel sorry for your ignorance of the nature 
 of the gods, justice, and eternal laws. 
 
 Zenothemis. I myself, friends, believe in the 
 reality of good and evil. But I am persuaded 
 that it is not a single human action, were it 
 even the kiss of Judas, which bears a germ 
 of redemption. Evil co-operates in the final 
 salvation of men, and in that it proceeds from 
 the good, and participates in the merit at- 
 tached to it. That is what the Christians 
 have admirably expressed by the fable of the 
 red-haired man who, to betray his master,
 
 142 THAIS 
 
 gave him the kiss of peace, and assured by 
 that act men's safety. So nothing, in my 
 idea, is more unjust or vain than the hatred 
 with which certain of the disciples of Paul 
 pursue the most unfortunate of the apostles 
 of Jesus, without thinking that the kiss of 
 the Iscariot, prophesied by Jesus himself, was 
 necessary, according to their own doctrine, for 
 the redemption of men, and that, if Judas had 
 not accepted the purse of thirty shekels, divine 
 wisdom would have been belied, Providence 
 deceived, its designs overthrown, and the world 
 given over to evil, ignorance, and death. 
 
 Marcus. Divine wisdom had foreseen that 
 Judas, though at liberty not to give the traitor's 
 kiss, would, nevertheless, give it. Thus it em- 
 ployed the Iscariot's crime as a stone in the 
 marvellous edifice of redemption. 
 
 Zenothemis. I spoke to you just now, 
 Marcus, as if I believed that the redemption 
 of men had been accomplished by the crucified 
 Jesus, because I know that such is the Christian 
 belief; and I entered into their thoughts the 
 better to seize upon the failing of those who 
 believe in the eternal damnation of Jesus. 
 But in reality Jesus is, in my eyes, the har- 
 binger of Basilides and Valentine. As to the
 
 THE PAPYRUS 143 
 
 mystery of the redemption, I will tell you, 
 my dear friends, if you are at all curious to 
 hear it, the way in which it was truly accom- 
 plished on earth. 
 
 The guests made signs of assent. Just at 
 this moment twelve young girls, carrying on 
 their heads baskets of pomegranates and 
 apples, entered the hall with light steps, 
 keeping time to an invisible flute, like the 
 Athenian virgins with the sacred baskets of 
 Ceres. They placed the baskets upon the 
 table, the music of the flute ceased, and 
 Zenothemis spoke as follows : 
 
 " When Eunioa, the thought of God, had 
 created the world, the government of the 
 earth was entrusted to angels. They, how- 
 ever, did not preserve the calm proper to 
 masters. Seeing that the daughters of men 
 were beautiful, they surprised them in the 
 evening on the banks of the water tanks, 
 and were united to them. Of these hymens 
 there was born a ferocious race, which covered 
 the earth with injustice and cruelty, and the 
 dust of the wayside drank up innocent blood. 
 At this sight Eunoia was seized with infinite 
 sadness. 
 
 " This is my doing," she sighed, leaning
 
 144 THAIS 
 
 towards the world. " My poor children are 
 plunged, through my fault, into a life of 
 bitterness. Their suffering is my crime, and 
 I desire to expiate it. God himself, who 
 thinks only by me, would be powerless to 
 return to them their primal purity. What 
 is done is done, and the creation is for 
 ever spoiled. At least, I will not abandon 
 my creatures. If I cannot make them as 
 happy as myself, I can make myself as un- 
 happy as they are. Since I have made the 
 mistake of giving them bodies which humiliate 
 them, I myself will assume a body like unto 
 theirs, and go and live amongst them." 
 
 After saying this, Eunoia descended to 
 earth, and became incarnate in the womb of 
 an Argive woman. After birth she was weak, 
 and she received the name of Helen. She 
 soon, however, grew in grace and beauty, 
 and became the most greatly desired of 
 women, as she had resolved to commit in 
 her mortal body the most noble sins. The 
 inert prey of lewd and violent men, she de- 
 voted herself to rape and adultery, in expia- 
 tion of all adultery, violence, and iniquity, 
 and caused by her beauty the ruin of races, 
 in order that God might pardon the crimes of
 
 THE PAPYRUS 145 
 
 the universe. Never was the idea of heaven, 
 never was Eunoia so adorable as in the 
 days when, as a woman, she prostituted herself 
 to heroes and shepherds. Poets divined her 
 divinity, when they depicted her so peaceful, 
 superb, and so fatal, and when they made 
 this invocation to her : " Soul serene as the 
 calm upon the sea ! " 
 
 Thus was Eunoia dragged out of pity into 
 evil and suffering. She died, and the Argive 
 race still show her tornb, for she had to know 
 death after pleasure, and taste all the bitter 
 fruits she had sown. But, escaping from 
 Helen's decomposing flesh, she became in- 
 carnate in another woman's form, and again 
 submitted to every outrage. Thus, passing 
 from body to body, and traversing the ages 
 of evil among us, she takes upon her the sins 
 of the world. Her sacrifice will not be vain. 
 Attached to us by the bonds of the flesh, 
 loving and weeping with us, she will work 
 out her own and our redemption, and will de- 
 light us, suspended at her white breast, with 
 the peace of a conquered heaven. 
 
 Hermodorus. This myth is not unknown 
 to me. I remember that it is said that, in 
 one of her metamorphoses, this divine Helen 
 .K
 
 146 THAI'S 
 
 lived with Simon the .magician in the days 
 of the Emperor Tiberius. Still, I thought 
 that her downfall was involuntary, and that 
 the angels had involved her in their own ruin. 
 
 Zenothemis. Hermodorus, it is true that 
 men ill-informed in the mysteries have thought 
 that sorrowing Eunoia had not agreed to her 
 own destruction. But if it were as they pre- 
 tend, Eunoia would not be the atoning 
 courtesan, covered with all blemishes, the 
 bread soaked in the wine of our shame, the 
 meritorious sacrifice, the agreeable offering, 
 the holocaust whose smoke mounts to God. 
 Had -not her sins been voluntary, they would 
 have no virtue. 
 
 Callicrates. But is it not known, Zenothemis, 
 in what country, under what name, in what 
 adorable form, this ever re-born Helen lives 
 to-day ? 
 
 Zenothemis. A man must be very wise to 
 discover such a secret. And wisdom, Calli- 
 crates, is not given to poets, who live in the 
 vulgar world of forms and amuse themselves 
 like children with sounds and vain images. 
 
 Callicrates. Fear to offend the gods, im- 
 pious Zenothemis, poets are dear to them. 
 The first laws were dictated in verse by the
 
 THE PAPYRUS 147 
 
 immortals themselves, and the oracles of the 
 gods are poems. Hymns are agreeable in 
 sound to celestial ears. Who knows that . 
 poets are not seers, and nothing is hidden 
 from them. Being a poet myself, and crowned 
 with the laurels of Apollo, I will reveal to 
 all the last incarnation of Eunoia. Eternal 
 Helen is near you ; she looks at us, and we 
 look at her. Do you see that woman reclin- 
 ing on the cushions of her couch, so beautiful 
 and so thoughtful, in whose eyes are tears, 
 and on whose lips kisses. It is she ! charm- 
 ing as in the days of Priam, and Asia's glory, 
 to-day Eunoia is called Thais. 
 
 Philinna. What is that you are saying, 
 Callicrates ? Our dear Thais would have 
 known Paris, Menelaus, and the Achaeans who 
 fought before Ilium ! Was the horse of Troy 
 large, Thai's ? 
 
 Aristobulus. Who speaks of a horse? 
 
 " I have drunk like a Thracian ! " cried 
 Chereas, as he rolled under the table. 
 
 Callicrates, raising his cup, said : 
 
 " If we drink desperately, we shall die with- 
 out vengeance ! " 
 
 Old Cotta slept, his bald head balanced 
 upon his broad shoulders.
 
 148 THAIS 
 
 For some time Dorion seemed much dis- 
 turbed under his cloak of philosophy. He 
 approached the couch of Thais, murmuring : 
 
 " Thais, I love you, although it is unworthy 
 of me to love a woman." 
 
 Thais. Why did you not love me before? 
 
 Dorion. Because I was fasting. 
 
 Thais. I, poor friend, who have drunk only 
 water, permit me not to love you. 
 
 Dorion did not desire to hear more, and 
 glided towards Drosea, who ordered him with 
 a look to raise his friend. Zenothemis took 
 the vacant place, and kissed Thai's on the lips. 
 
 Thais. I thought you were more virtuous. 
 
 Zenothemis. I am perfect, and the perfect 
 are bound by no law. 
 
 Thais. But do you not fear to soil your 
 soul in a woman's arms? 
 
 Zenothemis. The body can yield to desire, 
 without the soul being affected. 
 
 Thais. Go away ! I want to be loved both 
 body and soul. All these philosophers are 
 goats ! 
 
 One by one the lamps went out. Pale dawn, 
 penetrating through the openings of the tapestry, 
 lit up the livid faces and swollen eyes of the 
 guests. Aristobulus, who had fallen by the
 
 THE PAPYRUS 149 
 
 side of Chereas with clenched hands, was send- 
 ing in his dream his grooms to the ravens. 
 Zenothemis was pressing in his arms pale 
 Philinna. Dorion was pouring upon Drosea's 
 bare throat drops of wine, which rolled like 
 rubies down her white breast heaving with 
 laughter, pursued by the philosopher's lips to 
 drink them from her flesh. Eucritus rose, and 
 placing his arms upon the shoulders of Nicias, 
 he led him to the back of the hall. 
 
 " Friend," he said, with a smile, " if you are 
 still thinking, of what are you thinking?" 
 
 " I am thinking that women's loves are the 
 gardens of Adonis." 
 
 " What do you mean ? " 
 
 " Don't you know, Eucritus, that women 
 construct every year little gardens upon their 
 terraces by planting palms for the lover of 
 Venus in vases of clay. These palms are 
 green for a short time and then fade." 
 
 " What does it matter, Nicias ? It is folly 
 to attach oneself to that which passes 
 away." 
 
 "If beauty is only a shadow, desire is only 
 a beam. What folly it is to desire beauty ? 
 Is it not reasonable, on the other hand, for 
 that which passes away to go to that which
 
 ISO THAIS 
 
 does not endure, and for the light to devour 
 the disappearing shadow ? " 
 
 " Nicias, you seem to me like a child playing 
 at huckle-bones. Believe me ; be free. That 
 is how to become a man." 
 
 " How can a person be free, Eucritus, when 
 he has a body ? " 
 
 " You shall see at once, my son. In a moment 
 you will say : Eucritus was free." The old man 
 as he spoke, was leaning upon a porphyry 
 column, his forehead lit up by the first rays 
 of dawn. Hermodorus and Marcus, having 
 approached, stood before him by the side of 
 Nicias, and all four, indifferent to the laughter 
 and cries of the drinkers, talked of divine 
 matters. Eucritus expressed himself so wisely 
 that Marcus said to him : 
 
 " You are worthy to know the true God." 
 
 Eucritus replied : 
 
 " The true God is in the wise man's heart." 
 
 Then they spoke of death. 
 
 " I desire it," said Eucritus, " to find me 
 occupied in self-correction and attentive to all 
 my duties. Before it I will raise my pure 
 hands to heaven and say to the gods : " Your 
 images, O gods, which you have placed in the 
 temple of my soul, I have not soiled. I have
 
 THE PAPYRUS 151 
 
 hung my thoughts there like garlands, bands, 
 and crowns. I have lived in conformity to 
 your providence. I have lived enough." 
 
 Speaking thus, he raised his arms to heaven 
 and his face shone with light. 
 
 He remained pensive for a moment. Then 
 he resumed, with cheerfulness : 
 
 " Detach yourself from life, Eucritus, like 
 the ripe olive which falls, returning thanks to 
 the tree that bore it, and blessing the earth, 
 its nurse ! " 
 
 At these words, drawing from the folds of 
 his robe a naked dagger, he plunged it into 
 his breast. 
 
 When his listeners seized his hand, the point 
 of the dagger had pierced the wise man's heart. 
 Eucritus had entered into rest. Hermodorus 
 and Nicias bore the pale bleeding body to 
 one of the couches, amid the piercing shrieks 
 of the women, the groans of the guests dis- 
 turbed from their sleep, and the stifled sighs 
 of pleasure from the shadow of the hangings. 
 Old Cotta, who had awakened from his light 
 sleep with a soldier's promptitude, was already 
 by the side of the corpse examining the wound, 
 and exclaiming : 
 
 " Call my doctor, Aristeus ! "
 
 152 THAI'S 
 
 Nicias shook his head : 
 
 " Eucritus is no more," said he. " He desired 
 death as others desire love. He has, like all 
 of us, obeyed ineffable desire. Now he is as 
 the gods who desire nothing." 
 
 Cotta beat his brow : 
 
 " Death, desire death, when a man can still 
 serve the State, what rubbish ! " 
 
 Paphnutius and Thai's had remained motion- 
 less side by side, their souls overflowing with 
 disgust, horror, and hope. 
 
 Suddenly the monk seized the actress by the 
 hand, stepped with her over drunken men lying 
 upon the floor, avoided men and women in each 
 other's embrace, and dragged her out through 
 the wine and blood. 
 
 Day was breaking on the city. Long colon- 
 nades stretched out on either side of the 
 deserted road, which was topped in the 
 distance by the gleaming pinnacle of Alex- 
 ander's tomb. Upon the pathway were 
 scattered here and there leafless crowns and 
 extinct torches. In the air was the fresh 
 breath of the sea. Paphnutius snatched off in 
 disgust his sumptuous robe and trampled the 
 shreds of it beneath his feet. 
 
 " You heard them, Thai's," he cried. " They
 
 THE PAPYRUS 153 
 
 spoke of every folly and every abomination. 
 They dragged the divine Creator of all things 
 to the Gemoniae of the demons of hell, shame- 
 lessly denied good and evil, blasphemed Jesus, 
 and boasted of Judas. And the most infamous 
 of all, the jackal of the darkness, the stinking 
 beast, the Aryan full of corruption and death, 
 opened his mouth like a sepulchre. My Thais, 
 you saw them creep towards you, those unclean 
 slugs, and soil you with their slimy sweat ; you 
 saw those brutes sleeping beneath the slaves' 
 feet ; you saw those beasts coupled on the floor 
 soiled by their own vomiting? You saw that 
 mad old man spill blood more vile than the 
 wine spilled in the debauch, and throw himself 
 after the orgy into the face of the Christ un- 
 expected by him ! Praise be to God ! You 
 have looked upon error and seen that it was 
 hideous. Thais, Thais, Thais, recall the folly 
 of the philosophers, and say whether you wish 
 to rave with them. Recall the looks, gestures, 
 and laughter of their worthy comrades, those 
 lascivious and malicious she-apes, and say 
 whether you desire to remain like them ! " 
 
 Thais, whose heart had revolted at the 
 disgust of that night, feeling the indiffer- 
 ence and brutality of men, the wickedness
 
 154 THAIS 
 
 of women, and the weight of the hours, 
 sighed : 
 
 " I am wearied to death, my father ! Where 
 can rest be found? I feel my forehead burning, 
 my head light, and my arms so weary, that I 
 should not have strength to seize happiness if 
 it were placed in my hands." 
 
 Paphnutius looked at her kindly : 
 
 " Courage, my sister," he said, " the hour of 
 rest is approaching for you, who will become 
 white and pure as the vapours which you can 
 see oozing from those lakes and gardens." 
 
 They approached the house of Thais, and 
 could see above the wall the heads of the 
 plane-trees and turpentine-trees, which sur- 
 rounded the Nymphs' grotto, quivering in the 
 dew at the breath of the morning. A de- 
 serted square was before them, surrounded 
 by columns and white statues, and having at 
 its extremities semicircular marble benches, 
 supporting chimeras. Thais dropped upon 
 one of these benches. Then, casting an 
 anxious glance at the monk, she asked : 
 "What must I do?" 
 
 " You must," replied the monk, " follow 
 him who has come to seek you. He is separ- 
 ating you from the world as the vintager
 
 THE PAPYRUS 155 
 
 gathers the bunch of grapes, which would rot 
 upon the vine, and takes it to the wine-press 
 to turn it into perfumed wine. Listen : there is, 
 twelve hours' journey from Alexandria towards 
 the Occident, and near the sea, a nunnery, 
 the regulations of which are masterpieces 
 of wisdom, and deserve to be written in lyric 
 verse and sung with an accompaniment of 
 theorbos and tambourines. It can be truly 
 said of the women who obey them that, with 
 their feet on earth, they have their faces in 
 heaven. In this world they live the lives of 
 angels. They desire to be poor for Jesus to 
 love them, modest for him to look at them, 
 and chaste for him to espouse them. He 
 visits them each day, dressed as a gardener, 
 with naked feet and open hands indeed, just 
 as he showed himself to Mary on her way 
 from the tomb. To-day I will take you to this 
 nunnery, Thai's, and soon after joining these 
 holy women, you shall partake of their holy 
 conversation. They are waiting for you like 
 sisters. At the convent door their mother, 
 pious Albina, will give you the kiss of peace, 
 and say : " Daughter, welcome ! " 
 
 The courtesan uttered an exclamation of 
 admiration.
 
 156 THAIS 
 
 " Albina, a daughter of the Caesars ! The 
 grand-niece of the Emperor Carus ! " 
 
 "Herself! Albina! who, born in the purple, 
 re-clad herself with sackcloth and, daughter of 
 the masters of the world, rose to the rank of 
 servant of Jesus Christ." 
 
 Thais got up and said : " Take me to 
 Albina's house." 
 
 Paphnutius, to complete his victory, said : " I 
 will indeed take you there ; and enclose you in 
 a cell, in which you shall weep for your sins ; 
 for it is not right for you to mix with Albina's 
 daughters before being washed from all your 
 stains. I will seal the door, and you shall wait, 
 a happy prisoner, till Jesus himself comes, and 
 as a sign of pardon breaks my seal. Do you 
 doubt that he will come, Thais, and what a 
 tremor will run through your flesh when you 
 feel the fingers of light placed upon your eyes 
 to dry your tears ! " 
 
 Thais said for the second time : " Take 
 me, father, to Albina's house." 
 
 With his heart full of joy, Paphnutius looked 
 round him, and tasted, almost without fear, 
 the pleasure of contemplating created things ; 
 his eyes drank in the light of God with 
 delight, and unknown breaths passed across
 
 THE PAPYRUS 157 
 
 his forehead. Suddenly, recognising in one 
 of the angles of the square the small door 
 leading to the house of Thais, and remember- 
 ing that these fine trees, whose tops he was 
 admiring, shaded the courtesan's garden, he 
 saw in thought the impurities which had there 
 soiled the air to-day so fresh and pure, and 
 his soul was so grieved that a flood of bitter 
 tears poured from his eyes. 
 
 " Thais," said he, " we will flee without 
 turning our heads. But we will not leave 
 behind us the instruments, the witnesses, the 
 accomplices of your past crimes, those thick 
 hangings, those beds, that tapestry, those urns 
 of perfume, and those lamps which would 
 proclaim your infamy. Do you desire this 
 furniture of crime, animated by demons, and 
 carried away by the cursed spirit that is in 
 it, to follow you to the desert? It is only too 
 true, that tables of scandal and seats of infamy 
 serve as instruments for devils, acting, speaking, 
 striking the earth and traversing the air. Let 
 everything which partook of your shame perish ! 
 Hasten, Thais, and while the city is still asleep, 
 order your slaves to build in the middle of this 
 square a wood-pile, upon which we will burn all 
 the abominable wealth your dwelling contains."
 
 158 THAI'S 
 
 Thafs consented to this. 
 
 " Do as you like, my father," said she. " I 
 know that sometimes inanimate objects serve as 
 places of sojourn for spirits. At night, certain 
 pieces of furniture speak, either by striking 
 blows at regular intervals, or by showing little 
 lights like signals. But still that is nothing. 
 Did you not see, father, when entering the 
 Nymphs' grotto, on the right, a statue of a 
 naked woman about to bathe? One day I 
 saw the statue turn its head, like a living 
 person, and immediately resume its ordinary 
 attitude. I was frozen with fear. Nicias, to 
 whom I told this marvel, laughed at me ; there 
 is, however, some magic in the statue, for it 
 inspired violent desire in a man named 
 Dalnatius, who was insensible to my beauty. 
 It is certain that I have been among enchant- 
 ments, and have been exposed to the greatest 
 dangers, for men have been stifled by the 
 embrace of a brazen statue. It is, however, 
 a pity to destroy precious things, made with 
 rare industry, and if my tapestry and hangings 
 are burnt the loss will be great. The beauty 
 of colour in some of them is really admirable, 
 and they cost the persons who gave them to 
 me a great sum. I possess cups, statues, and
 
 THE PAPYRUS 159 
 
 pictures, the value of which is very great. I 
 do not believe that it is necessary to destroy 
 them. But you, father, knowing as you do 
 what is necessary, do as you will." 
 
 Saying this, she followed the monk to the 
 little door, where so many crowns and garlands 
 had been hung, and opening it, ordered the 
 porter to call all the slaves in the house. Four 
 Indian cooks appeared ; they were yellow- 
 skinned, and all blind of one eye. Thais had 
 had great trouble and much amusement in 
 collecting these four slaves of the same race, 
 afflicted by the same disease. When they 
 served at table, they excited the curiosity of 
 the guests, and Thai's made them tell the story 
 of their lives. They approached in silence. 
 Their assistants followed them. Then came 
 the grooms, the huntsmen, the litter-bearers, 
 and the tireless couriers, two gardeners, hairy 
 as Priapus, six negroes of ferocious appear- 
 ance, and three Greek slaves, one a grammarian, 
 another a poet, and the third a singer. They 
 were all ranged in order in the square, when 
 the curious negresses arrived in haste, uneasily 
 rolling their large eyes and extending their 
 mouths as far as their earrings. Last of all, 
 adjusting their veils, and languidly moving
 
 160 THAIS 
 
 their feet, which were fettered with thin gold 
 chains, appeared six beautiful white slaves, 
 looking very disagreeable. When they were 
 all together, Thais said, as she pointed out 
 Paphnutius to them : 
 
 " Do as this man orders you, for the spirit 
 of God is in him, and if you disobey him, you 
 will fall dead." 
 
 She believed this, for she had heard that 
 the holy men of the desert had the power to 
 plunge the wicked, who struck them with their 
 rods, into the open and smoking earth. 
 
 Paphnutius sent away the women and the 
 Greek slaves, who were like women, and said 
 to the others : 
 
 " Bring wood into the middle of the square, 
 make a great fire, and throw upon it all the 
 contents of the house and grotto." 
 
 They stood motionless with surprise, and 
 interrogated their mistress with their eyes. As 
 she remained inert and silent, they crowded 
 together in a heap, shoulder to shoulder, un- 
 certain if it were a joke or not. 
 
 " Obey," said the monk. 
 
 Several were Christians. Understanding the 
 order given them, they went into the house to 
 find wood and torch'es. The others followed
 
 THE PAPYRUS 161 
 
 their example without feeling displeased, for, 
 being poor, they hated wealth, and instinctively 
 had a taste for destruction. As they built the 
 pile of wood, Paphnutius said to Thais : 
 
 " I thought for a moment of calling the 
 treasurer of some Alexandrian church (if there 
 is one worthy of the name of church, and 
 unsoiled by Aryan beasts), and giving him 
 your property, woman, to distribute to widows, 
 and thus change the gain of crime into the 
 treasury of justice. But this thought did not 
 come from God, so I repulsed it, and to offer 
 the well-beloved of Christ the spoils of luxury 
 would be a grave offence. Thai's, everything 
 you have touched must be devoured by fire 
 to the uttermost. Thanks be to heaven these 
 tunics and veils, which have received kisses 
 as countless as the waves of the sea, will now 
 feel but lips and tongues of flame. Slaves, 
 hasten ! Bring more wood and torches ! 
 Woman, enter the house, take off your in- 
 famous garments, and beg of the humblest 
 of your slaves, as a great favour, her oldest 
 tunic." 
 
 Thais obeyed. While kneeling Indians 
 blew upon the burning brands, negroes threw 
 upon the pile coffers of ivory, ebony, or cedar, 
 L
 
 1 62 THAIS 
 
 which, opening, threw out crowns, garlands, 
 and necklaces. The smoke rose in a dark 
 column, like the acceptable sacrifices of the 
 ancient law. Then the smouldering fire sud- 
 denly burst out, roared like a monster beast, 
 and with almost invisible flames began to 
 devour its precious fuel. Then the slaves 
 grew bold at their work ; they quickly dragged 
 out rich tapestry, veils embroidered in silver, 
 and flowered hangings. They bent beneath 
 the weight of tables, couches, thick cushions, 
 and beds with golden pins. Three strong 
 Ethiopians ran, carrying in their arms the 
 coloured statues of the nymphs one of which 
 had been loved as a mortal and they seemed 
 like great apes carrying off women. When 
 the beautiful naked forms fell from their 
 arms, and broke upon the stones, a groan 
 was heard. 
 
 At this moment Thai's appeared, with her 
 unbound hair hanging in long strands, her 
 feet bare, and clad in a coarse and shapeless 
 tunic, which, from simply touching her body, 
 became impregnated with divine voluptuous- 
 ness. Behind her came a gardener, bearing, 
 hidden in his flowing beard, an ivory Eros. 
 
 She signed to the man to stop, and, ap-
 
 THE PAPYRUS 163 
 
 preaching Paphnutius, showed him the little 
 god. 
 
 " Father," she asked, " must this, too, be 
 thrown into the flames. It is of old and 
 wonderful workmanship, and is worth a 
 hundred times its weight in gold. Its loss 
 will be irreparable, for there is no artist in 
 the world capable of making another Eros 
 so beautiful. Consider also, father, that this 
 little child is Love, and he must not be beaten 
 cruelly. Believe me, Love is a virtue, and if 
 I have sinned it is not by him, father, but 
 against him. Never shall I regret what he 
 has made me do, and I weep only for what 
 I have done in spite of his prohibition. He 
 does not allow women to give themselves to 
 those who do not come in his name. For 
 that he should be honoured. See, Paphnutius, 
 how pretty this little Eros is ! How grace- 
 fully he hides in the gardener's beard ! One 
 day Nicias, who loved me then, brought it 
 to me, saying : ' It will speak to you of me. 
 But the naughty child spoke to me of a 
 young man I had known at Antioch, and not 
 of Nicias. Enough wealth has perished on 
 this pile, father ! Keep this Eros, and place 
 it in some monastery. Those who see it will
 
 164 THAIS 
 
 turn their hearts to God, for Love knows by 
 nature how to rise to thoughts of heaven." 
 
 The gardener, thinking that the Eros was 
 saved, was smiling upon it as upon a child, 
 when Paphnutius, snatching the god from the 
 arms that held it, hurled it into the flames, 
 shouting : 
 
 "The fact of Nicias having touched it is 
 sufficient to make it spread every poison." 
 
 Then seizing handfuls of sparkling robes, 
 purple mantles, golden sandals, combs, mirrors, 
 lamps, theorbos and lyres, he threw them into 
 the brazier, which was more sumptuous than 
 the funeral pile of Sardanapalus, while the 
 slaves, drunk with the joy of destruction, 
 danced and shouted beneath a hail of sparks 
 and cinders. 
 
 One by one the neighbours, wakened by 
 the noise, opened their windows, and, rub- 
 bing their eyes, looked for the origin of the 
 smoke. Then they descended, half dressed, to 
 the square, and approached the pile : " What 
 is that?" they thought. 
 
 Among them were merchants from whom 
 Thais used to buy perfumes or stuffs, and 
 these uneasily craned their yellow withered 
 heads in an effort to understand. Young pro-
 
 THE PAPYRUS 165 
 
 fligates, passing by on the way home from 
 supper, preceded by their slaves, stopped with 
 flowers around their heads, and loosened tunics, 
 and uttered loud cries. The ever-increasing 
 crowd of the curious soon knew that Thai's, 
 at the inspiration of the priest of Antinoe, 
 was burning her wealth before retiring to a 
 nunnery. 
 
 The merchants thought : 
 
 " Thai's is leaving the city ; we shall sell 
 her nothing more ; that is frightful to con- 
 template. What will become of us without 
 her ? This monk has made her lose her reason. 
 He is ruining us. Why is he allowed to do 
 it? Of what use are the laws? Are there 
 no magistrates in Alexandria ? Thais has 
 neither thought of our wives or our poor 
 children. Her conduct is a public scandal. 
 She must be made to remain, in spite of her- 
 self, in the city." 
 
 The young men, on their side, thought : 
 
 "If Thai's renounces the games, and love, 
 our dearest amusements are gone. She was 
 the delicious glory and superb honour of the 
 theatre. She was the joy of those who did 
 not possess her. Women, whom a man loved, 
 were loved in her ; no kisses were exchanged
 
 166 THAIS 
 
 from which her influence was quite absent, for 
 she was the pleasure of pleasures, and the 
 mere thought that she breathed among us 
 excited us to pleasure." 
 
 So thought the young men, and one of them 
 named Cerons, who had held her in his arms, 
 cried out at the rape and blasphemed Christ. 
 In every group the conduct of Thais was 
 severely condemned. 
 
 "It's a shameful flight." 
 
 " A cowardly departure ! " 
 
 " She is taking the bread from our mouths." 
 
 " She is taking away the dowries of our 
 daughters." 
 
 "She will, at least, have to pay for the 
 crowns I have sold her." 
 
 " And the sixty robes she has ordered from 
 me." 
 
 " She is in debt to every one." 
 
 " Who will take the parts of Iphigenia, 
 Electra, and Polyxena after her? Beautiful 
 Polybius will not succeed as she has done." 
 
 " Life will be a sad thing when her door is 
 shut." 
 
 " She was the bright star, the soft moon in 
 the Alexandrian sky." 
 
 The most celebrated beggars of the city, the
 
 THE PAPYRUS 167 
 
 blind, cripples, and paralytics had now as- 
 sembled in the square ; and, dragging them- 
 selves into the shadow of the riches, they 
 groaned : 
 
 " How shall we live when Thais is not here 
 to feed us ? The meat from her table every 
 day satisfied two hundred of the unfortunate, 
 and her well - pleased lovers, on leaving her/* 
 used to throw us, as they passed, handfuls of 
 silver." 
 
 Thieves in the crowd uttered deafening 
 shouts, and hustled their neighbours to aug- 
 ment the disorder and profit by it by carry- 
 ing off some valuable booty. 
 
 Old Thaddeus, who sold wool from Miletus, 
 and flax from Tarentum, and to whom Thai's 
 owed a large sum of money, alone remained 
 calm and silent in the midst of the tumult 
 Looking straight before him, and straining his 
 ears, he caressed his goat's beard and seemed 
 pensive. At last, approaching young Cerons, 
 he plucked him by the sleeve and said to him 
 in a low voice : 
 
 "You, my lord, whom Thais prefers, show 
 yourself, and do not suffer her to be carried 
 off by this monk." 
 
 " By Pollux and his sister, he shall not do
 
 1 68 THAIS 
 
 it ! " cried Cerons. " I will speak to Thais, 
 and, without flattering myself, I think she will 
 hear me rather than this Lapithus daubed 
 with soot. Make way, ruffians ! " 
 
 After striking men with his fist, knocking 
 down old women, and trampling on little 
 children, he reached Thai's, and drawing her 
 aside : 
 
 " Lovely girl," said he, " look at me, recollect 
 yourself, and tell me whether you really re- 
 nounce love." 
 
 But Paphnutius, throwing himself between 
 Thai's and Cerons, cried : 
 
 " Wretch, prepare for death if you touch 
 hef ; she is sacred, she belongs to God." 
 
 "Go away, dog-headed monk," replied the 
 young man in a rage ; " let me speak to my 
 friend, or, if not, I will drag your obscene 
 carcass by the beard to the fire and grill you 
 alive upon it." 
 
 He stretched out his hand towards Thai's. 
 But, repulsed by the monk with unexpected 
 violence, he staggered and fell four paces 
 away at the foot of the pile among the 
 falling brands. 
 
 Old Thaddeus, however, went from one to 
 the other, pulling the slaves' ears, and kiss-
 
 THE PAPYRUS 169 
 
 ing the masters' hands, exciting all of them 
 against Paphnutius, and he soon formed a 
 little band which marched resolutely at the 
 ravisher monk. Cerons rose, with blackened 
 face, singed hair, and almost suffocated with 
 smoke and rage. He blasphemed the gods, 
 and rushed on among the assailants, behind 
 whom the beggars crawled, waving their 
 crutches. Paphnutius was soon enclosed in 
 a circle of outstretched hands, uplifted sticks, 
 and death-shouts. 
 
 " To the ravens with the monk ! " 
 
 " No, throw him on the fire ! Roast him 
 alive ! " 
 
 Seizing his beautiful prey, he pressed her 
 to his heart. 
 
 " Wretches," he cried in a voice of thunder, 
 "do not attempt to snatch away the dove 
 from the eagle of the Lord. Rather imitate 
 this woman, and, like her, change your mud 
 to gold. Renounce, following her example, 
 the false gods, your possessions, in which 
 you believe. Hasten, the days are near, and 
 divine patience begins to weary. Repent, 
 confess your shame, weep and pray. Walk 
 in the footsteps of Thai's. Detest your crimes, 
 which are as great as hers. Which of you,
 
 1 70 THAIS 
 
 poor or rich, merchants, soldiers, slaves, or 
 illustrious citizens, would dare to say before 
 God that you were better than a courtesan ? 
 You are all uncleanness personified, and it 
 is the miracle of heavenly goodness, that mud 
 does not flow from you in streams." 
 
 While he spake, flames flashed from his 
 eyes ; it seemed as if burning coals fell from 
 his lips, and those about listened against their 
 will. 
 
 But old Thaddeus did not remain idle. He 
 was collecting stones and oyster shells, which 
 he concealed in a fold of his tunic, and, not 
 daring to throw them himself, he slid them 
 into the hands of the beggars. Soon the 
 stones flew, and a well-aimed shell struck the 
 forehead of Paphnutius. The blood, which 
 flowed down the sombre martyr's face, dropped 
 as a new baptism upon the penitent's head, 
 and Thais, oppressed by the monk's embrace, 
 and her delicate flesh scratched by his rough 
 robe, felt tremors of horror and fear surge 
 through her limbs. 
 
 At this moment an elegantly dressed man, 
 crowned with small-age, opened a path for 
 himself to the middle of the surging mob, 
 and cried :
 
 THE PAPYRUS 171 
 
 " Stop, stop ! This monk is my brother ! " 
 It was Nicias, who, after closing the eyes of 
 the philosopher Eucritus, was passing through 
 the square on the way to his house, and had 
 seen, without very much surprise (for nothing 
 ever astonished him), the smoking pile, Thai's 
 clad in sackcloth, and the stoning of Paph- 
 nutius. 
 
 He repeated : 
 
 " Stop, I tell you ; spare my fellow-pupil ; 
 respect the dear head of Paphnutius." 
 
 But, being accustomed to the subtle dis- 
 courses of sages, he had not that imperious 
 energy which overawes the minds of the 
 people. They did not listen to him. A 
 shower of pebbles and shells fell upon the 
 monk who, covering Thai's with his body, 
 praised God whose goodness changed his 
 wounds into caresses. Despairing of making 
 himself heard, and well assured of his inability 
 to save his friend, either by force or per- 
 suasion, Nicias had already resigned his 
 safety to the gods, in whom he had little- 
 confidence, when it came into his head to 
 try a stratagem, which his contempt for men 
 had suddenly suggested to him. He took from 
 his girdle his purse which, as he was a man of
 
 i;2 THAIS 
 
 pleasure and charitable, was full of gold and 
 silver ; then he ran to all those who were 
 throwing stones and jingled the coins in their 
 ears. At first they took no notice, so great 
 was their fury ; but little by little their eyes 
 turned towards the jingling gold, and soon 
 their enervated arms ceased to menace their 
 victim. Seeing he had attracted their eyes 
 and attention, Nicias opened his purse and 
 began to throw among the crowd gold and 
 silver coins. The most greedy stooped down 
 to pick them up. The philosopher, happy at 
 his early success, cleverly threw the drachmae 
 and deniers here and there. At the sound of 
 the pieces of metal bounding on the stones, 
 the troop of persecutors went to earth. 
 Beggars, slaves, and merchants wallowed in 
 competition, while, grouped around Cerons, 
 the patricians roared with laughter as they 
 looked at the sight. Cerons himself for- 
 got his anger. His friends encouraged the 
 prostrate rivals, chose champions, made bets 
 upon them, and, when disputes arose, urged 
 on the wretches as if they were fighting 
 dogs. When a cripple succeeded in seizing a 
 drachma the shouting was loud. The young 
 men, too, began to throw coins, and the only
 
 THE PAPYRUS 173 
 
 thing to be seen in the square was an infinity 
 of backs which, beneath a rain of metal, beat 
 together like the waves of a rough sea. 
 Paphnutius was forgotten. 
 
 Nicias ran to him, covered him with his 
 cloak, and dragged him and Thais into lanes, 
 where they would not be pursued. They ran 
 for a time in silence, then, judging themselves 
 out of reach, they slackened their pace, and 
 Nicias said, a little sadly, in a mocking 
 tone : 
 
 " Then it is done ! Pluto ravished Proser- 
 pine, and Thais desires to follow my fierce 
 friend far from us." 
 
 " True, Nicias," Thai's replied, " I am tired 
 of living with men like you, smiling, perfumed, 
 and kindly egoists. I am weary of all I 
 know, and I am seeking the unknown. I 
 learned by experience that joy was not true 
 joy, and this man teaches me that grief is the 
 true joy. I believe him, for he possesses the 
 truth." 
 
 " I, beloved friend," Nicias replied, with a 
 smile, " possess the truths. He has only one 
 of them ; I have them all. I am richer than 
 he is, and, to tell the truth, neither prouder 
 nor happier."
 
 174 THAIS 
 
 Seeing the monk casting furious glances at 
 him, he said : 
 
 " Dear Paphnutius, do not think that I con- 
 sider you extremely ridiculous, or even quite 
 unreasonable. If I compare my life with 
 yours, I should be able to say which was the 
 more preferable in itself. I am now going 
 to have the bath Crobyle and Myrtale have 
 prepared for me ; I shall eat the wing of a 
 pheasant from the Phasis, then I shall read for 
 the hundredth time some fable fr6m Apuleus, 
 or some treatise by Porphyrius. You will 
 return to your hut, where, kneeling like a 
 docile camel, you will ruminate on some 
 formulae of incantation, which you have 
 digested many times before, and in the even- 
 ing you will eat radishes without oil. Ah, 
 well, dear friend, in doing these things, which 
 are totally different in appearance, we shall 
 both obey the same sentiment, the sole motive 
 of all human actions ; we shall both of us be 
 seeking our pleasure and be placing before 
 ourselves a common end : happiness, impos- 
 sible happiness! It would therefore be unkind 
 of me to make you out to be wrong, dear 
 friend, if I myself believe I am right. 
 
 " Thai's, go and rejoice, be happier still, if
 
 THE PAPYRUS 175 
 
 that is possible, in abstinence and austerity 
 than you have been in wealth and pleasure. 
 Taking everything into consideration, I think 
 you are to be envied. For if in our whole 
 existence, obeying our nature, Paphnutius and 
 I have pursued only one kind of satisfaction, 
 you will have tasted in life, dear Thai's, such 
 opposite pleasures as are rarely given to one 
 person to enjoy. In truth, I would like to be 
 for an hour a holy man of the kind our friend 
 Paphnutius is. But that is not permitted me. 
 Adieu then, Thais ! Go whither the secret 
 powers of your nature and destiny lead you. 
 Go, and take with you the good wishes of 
 Nicias, I know the inanity of it ; but can I 
 give you anything better than sterile regrets 
 and vain desires as the price of the delicious 
 illusions which formerly enveloped me in 
 your arms, the shadows of which still remain. 
 Adieu, my benefactress ! adieu, goodness, which 
 ignores itself, mysterious virtue, men's pleasure ! 
 Adieu, the most adorable image nature has 
 ever hurled to an unknown end upon the face 
 of this deceitful earth ! " 
 
 While he was speaking, anger was rising in 
 the monk's heart ; it showed itself in impre- 
 cations.
 
 1 76 THAIS 
 
 " Go away, wretch ! I despise and hate you ! 
 Go away, child of hell, a thousand times worse 
 than those poor sinners, who were just now 
 hurling abuse and stones at me. They knew 
 not what they did ; and the grace of God, 
 which I implore for them, may one day de- 
 scend into their hearts. But you, hateful 
 Nicias, are only perfidious venom and rank 
 poison. The breath of your mouth exhales 
 despair and death. One smile of yours con- 
 tains more blasphemies than the smoking lips 
 of Satan utter in a century ! " 
 
 Nicias looked at him tenderly. 
 
 " Adieu, brother," he said to him, " may 
 you keep till the final dissolution the treasures 
 of your faith hate and love ! Adieu, Thai's ! 
 It will be vain for you to forget me, since 
 I am keeping you in remembrance." 
 
 Leaving them, he went thoughtfully through 
 the tortuous streets near the great necropolis 
 of Alexandria, in which the funeral potters 
 dwelt. Their shops were full of clay figures, 
 painted bright colours, representing gods and 
 goddesses, pantomimes, women, and little 
 winged genii, which were usually buried with 
 the dead. He thought that perhaps some of 
 the images at which he was looking would
 
 THE PAPYRUS 177 
 
 be the companions of his eternal sleep ; and 
 it seemed to him that a little Eros, with 
 tucked-up tunic, was laughing a mocking 
 laugh. The idea of his obsequies, which he 
 pictured to himself, was painful to him. To 
 relieve his sadness, he tried philosophy, and 
 constructed a reason : 
 
 " Now," said he, " in truth, time has no reality. 
 It is purely an illusion of our minds. Now, 
 how can it, if it does not exist, bring me 
 death? Is that saying I shall live for ever? 
 No ; but by that I conclude that my death 
 is, and always was, as much as it will be. I 
 do not feel it yet, but still it exists, and 
 I must not fear it, for it would be folly to 
 fear the advent of that which has arrived. It 
 exists like the last page of a book which I 
 have read and not finished." 
 
 This reasoning occupied his walk without 
 cheering him ; he had a heavy heart when, 
 as he reached his door, he heard the clear 
 laughter of Crobyle and Myrtale, who were 
 playing tennis while waiting for him. 
 
 Paphnutius and Thai's left the city by the 
 gate of the Moon, and walked along the 
 sea-shore. 
 
 " Woman," said the monk, " the whole of 
 If
 
 i;8 THAIS 
 
 this great blue sea could not wash away your 
 stains." 
 
 He spoke to her in an^er and contempt. 
 
 " Uncleaner than the dogs and swine, you 
 have prostituted to the Pagans and unfaithful 
 a body which the Eternal had formed for a 
 tabernacle, and your impurities are such that, 
 now you know the truth, you can no more 
 close your lips or clasp your hands without 
 disgust of yourself rising in your heart." 
 
 She followed him gently along rough roads, 
 under a burning sun. Fatigue bent her knees, 
 and thirst inflamed her breath. But, far from 
 feeling that false pity which softens the hearts 
 of the profane, Paphnutius rejoiced at the 
 expiatory sufferings of this sinful flesh. In 
 the transports of holy zeal, he would have 
 liked to cut with rods this body, which re- 
 tained its beauty as a striking testimony of 
 its infamy. His meditations supported his 
 pious fervour, and, recalling to his mind the 
 fact that Thais had received Nicias into her 
 bed, his horror of this sin became so great, 
 that all his blood flowed back to his heart, 
 and his breast was ready to burst. His curses, 
 stifled in his throat, gave place to the grind- 
 ing of his teeth. He sprang up, and stood
 
 THE PAPYRUS 179 
 
 before her, pale, terrible, full of God. looked 
 down into her soul, and spat in her face. 
 
 She quietly wiped her face without halting 
 Then he followed her, looking down upon her 
 as if she were an abyss. He walked in holy 
 irritation. He thought of avenging Christ, so 
 that Christ could not avenge himself, when he 
 saw a spot of blood which had dropped upon 
 the sand from the foot of Thais. Then he felt 
 the freshness of an unknown breath enter his 
 open heart, sobs mounted to his lips in abund- 
 ance, he wept, he ran to prostrate himself 
 before her, he called her his sister, and kissed 
 her bleeding feet. He murmured a hundred 
 times : 
 
 " My sister, my sister, my mother, most 
 holy ! " 
 
 He prayed : 
 
 " Angels of heaven, take this precious drop 
 of blood, and bear it to the Saviour's throne. 
 May a miracle-working anemone flower in the 
 sand watered by the blood of Thais, so that all 
 those who see this flower may recover purity 
 of heart and mind ! O holy, holy, most holy 
 Thais!" 
 
 As he prayed and prophesied, a boy rode 
 by upon a donkey. Paphnutius ordered him
 
 i8o THAIS 
 
 to dismount, seated Thais upon the animal, 
 took the bridle, and resumed the journey. 
 Towards evening, coming upon a canal shaded 
 with beautiful trees, he fastened the donkey to 
 a tree, and, seating himself upon a mossy 
 stone, broke bread with Thais, and they ate it 
 seasoned with salt and hyssop. They d rank- 
 fresh water from the palms of their hands, and 
 conversed of things eternal. She said : 
 
 "I have never drunk such pure water, nor 
 breathed such light air, and I feel that God 
 floats in the passing breeze." 
 Paph'nutius replied : 
 
 " See, it is evening, my sister. The blue 
 shadows of the night cover the hills. But you 
 will soon see shining in the dawn the taber- 
 nacles of life ; you will soon see the rosy dawn 
 of the eternal morning." 
 
 They walked all night and, while the crescent 
 moon lit up the silver crests of the waves, sang 
 psalms and canticles. When the sun rose, the 
 desert stretched before them like an immense 
 lion's skin spread upon Lybian soil. On the 
 outskirts of the sand white huts stood out in 
 the light of the dawn, near some palm-trees. 
 
 " Father," asked Thai's, " are those the taber- 
 nacles of life ? "
 
 THE PAPYRUS 181 
 
 
 
 " You have said it, my daughter and sister," 
 Paphnutius replied. " That is the house of 
 refuge, in which I shall enclose you with my 
 own hands." 
 
 Soon they could see on all sides women be- 
 stirring themselves around the Asiatic dwellings 
 like bees around their hives. Some were baking 
 bread, while others were preparing vegetables ; 
 several were spinning wool, and the light of 
 heaven descended upon them like a smile from 
 God. Others were meditating in the shade of 
 the tamarisks ; their white hands hung at their 
 sides, for, being full of love, they had chosen 
 the part of Magdalen, and they performed no 
 duties except prayer and contemplation and 
 ecstasy. For that reason they were called 
 Marys, and were clothed in white. Those who 
 worked with their hands were called Marthas, 
 and wore blue robes. All were veiled, but the 
 youngest allowed curls to hang down upon their 
 foreheads, although it is possible that they did 
 so unwittingly, as this was contrary to the rules. 
 An ' extremely old lady, tall and white, was 
 going from hut to hut, leaning upon a hard 
 wood crutch, and Paphnutius approached her 
 respectfully, kissed the edge of her veil, and 
 said :
 
 182 THAIS 
 
 " The peace of God be with you, venerable 
 Albina ! I have brought to the hive, of which 
 you are queen, a bee which I found lost upon 
 a flowerless path. I have taken her in the 
 hollow of my hand and warmed her with my 
 breath. I give her to you." 
 
 He pointed with his finger to the actress, who 
 was kneeling before the daughter of the Caesars. 
 
 Albina fixed a piercing glance upon Thais 
 for a moment, ordered her to rise, kissed her 
 forehead, and then, turning to the monk, she 
 said : 
 
 " We will place her among the Marys." 
 
 Paphnutius then told her by what means 
 Thai's had been brought to the house of refuge, 
 and asked for her to be first confined alone in 
 a hut. The abbess consented ; and led her to 
 a hut left empty by the death of the virgin 
 Laeta, who had sanctified it. There was in the 
 narrow room only a bed, a table and a pitcher, 
 and Thais, when she put her foot upon the 
 threshold, was filled with infinite joy. 
 
 " I desire to close her door myself," said 
 Paphnutius, " and place a seal on it which 
 Jesus will come and break." 
 
 He went to the edge of the fountain, took a 
 handful of damp^clay, put one of his hairs upon
 
 THE PAPYRUS 183 
 
 it with a little saliva and applied it to one of 
 the cracks of the door. Then approaching the 
 window, near which Thai's stood peaceful and 
 contented, he fell on his knees, praised God 
 three times, and cried : 
 
 " How amiable is she who walks in the paths 
 of life! How lovely are her feet and re- 
 splendent her face ! " 
 
 He rose, lowered his hood over his eyes, and 
 slowly departed. 
 
 Albina called one of the virgins. 
 
 " Daughter," said she, " take Thai's all she 
 needs : bread, water, and a three-holed flute."
 
 Ill 
 THE EUPHORBIUM
 
 THE EUPHORBIUM 
 
 PAPHNUTIUS was on his way back to the holy 
 desert. He had embarked at Athribis, upon 
 the boat which ascended the Nile to carry 
 provisions to the monastery of the Abbot 
 Serapion. When he disembarked, his disciples 
 advanced to meet him with great demonstra- 
 tions of joy. Some raised their hands to 
 heaven, others, prostrate upon the earth, kissed 
 the priest's sandals. For they already knew 
 what he had accomplished in Alexandria. In 
 the same way the monks usually received 
 secretly and rapidly news concerning the safety 
 or glory of the Church. News spread through 
 the desert with the rapidity of a simoom. 
 
 While Paphnutius ploughed through the 
 sand, his disciples followed him, praising God. 
 Flavian, who was the eldest of the brethren, 
 was suddenly seized with pious delirium and 
 began to sing an inspired canticle. 
 
 When they reached the threshold of their 
 master's hut, they all knelt and said : 
 187
 
 1 88 THAIS 
 
 " Will our father bless us and give us each 
 a measure of oil to feast at his return ? " 
 
 Paul the Simple alone remained standing, 
 and asked : "Who is this man?" not recognising 
 Paphnutius. But no one noticed him, for he 
 was known to be without intelligence, though 
 full of piety. 
 
 The priest of Antinoe alone in his hut 
 thought : " I have at last regained the asylum 
 of my rest and felicity. I have returned to 
 the citadel of my content. Whence comes it 
 that this dear roof of reeds does not receive 
 me as a friend, and that the walls do not say : 
 ' Welcome ! ' Nothing, since my departure, 
 has changed in this my chosen dwelling. Here 
 is my table and bed. Here is the mummy's 
 head which so often inspired me with salutary 
 thoughts, and there is the book in which I have 
 often sought the images of God. Yet I can 
 find nothing of what I left. Things appear 
 despoiled of their customary grace, and I seem 
 to see them to-day for the first time. When 
 I look at this table and couch, which 1 years 
 ago made with my own hands, this black and 
 withered head, these rolls of papyrus covered 
 with the words of God, I seem to see the relics 
 of a dead man. After knowing them so well,
 
 THE EUPHORBIUM 189 
 
 I no longer recognise them. Alas, since nothing 
 around me is really changed, it is I who am 
 no longer what I was. I am another. The 
 dead man was myself. What has he become, 
 O God ? What has he carried away ? What 
 has he left me ? And who am I ? " 
 
 He was particularly uneasy at finding that 
 his hut was small, when, considering it with the 
 eyes of faith, it should have seemed immense, 
 since the infinite of God commenced there. 
 
 When he began to pray with his forehead 
 upon the earth, he partly recovered his joyful- 
 ness. Hardly an hour passed in prayer before 
 the image of Thai's stood before his eyes. He 
 returned thanks to God : 
 
 "Jesus, it is thou who sendeth her to 
 me. I recognise thy immense goodness : 
 thou wishest me to be pleased, assured, 
 and calmed by the sight of her whom I 
 have given thee. Thou presentest before mine 
 eyes her harmless smile, her innocent grace, 
 her beauty from which I have plucked the 
 sting. To flatter me, Lord, thou showest 
 her to me, such as I have adorned and puri- 
 fied in thy intent, as one friend recalls with 
 a smile to another the agreeable present he 
 has received. For this reason I see this woman
 
 190 THAI'S 
 
 with pleasure, sure that her vision comes from 
 thee. Thou desirest not to forget I have given 
 her thee, Jesus. Keep her, since she please 
 thee, and do not let her charms shine for others 
 as for thee." 
 
 During the whole night he could not sleep, 
 and saw Thais more distinctly than he had 
 seen her in the Nymphs' grotto. He bore 
 witness to himself, saying : 
 
 " What I did, I did for the glory of God." 
 
 But, to his great surprise, he had no peace 
 in his heart. He sighed : 
 
 " Why art thou sad, O my soul, and why 
 are thou disquieted within me ? " 
 
 His soul remained uneasy. He was thirty 
 days in the state of sadness, which to the 
 hermit presages horrible trials. The image of 
 Thai's did not leave him night or day. He 
 did not drive it away, because he still thought 
 it came from God and was the image of a 
 saint. But one morning she visited him in a 
 dream, with her hair crowned with violets, and 
 was so redoubtable in her sweetness, that he 
 cried out with fright and awoke covered with 
 cold sweat. While his eyes were still blinking 
 with sleep, he felt a warm damp breath upon 
 his face : a little jackal, with its two paws
 
 THE EUPHORBIUM 191 
 
 placed upon the head of the bed, blew its 
 stinking breath at him and laughed from the 
 bottom of its throat. 
 
 Paphnutius was greatly astonished at this, 
 and felt as if a tower was sinking beneath 
 his feet. In fact he fell from the summit of 
 his lost confidence. For some time he was 
 incapable of thought ; then, recovering his 
 senses, his meditations only served to increase 
 his uneasiness. 
 
 " There are two explanations," he said to 
 himself. " One is that this vision, like the 
 preceding ones, comes from God ; it was good, 
 and my natural perversity has spoiled it, as 
 wine turns sour in a dirty glass. I have, by 
 my unworthiness, changed edification into 
 scandal, and the devil's jackal has at once 
 obtained a great advantage. The other is, 
 that this vision did not come from God, but 
 from the devil, and was evil. In this case, I 
 doubt whether the preceding ones had, as 
 I believed them to have, a celestial origin. I 
 am, in that case, incapable of that kind of 
 discernment necessary to an ascetic. In both 
 cases, God shows his estrangement from me, 
 and I feel its effect, without being able to 
 explain the cause."
 
 192 THAIS 
 
 He reasoned in this way, and prayed in 
 anguish : 
 
 " O just God, for what trials dost thou reserve 
 thy servant, if the apparitions of thy saints are 
 a danger to them ? Make me to know, by an 
 intelligible sign, what comes from thee, and 
 what from the other." 
 
 As God, whose designs are impenetrable, 
 did not judge it necessary to enlighten his 
 servant, Paphnutius, plunged into doubt, re- 
 solved to think no more of Thai's. But his 
 resolution was barren. The absent one was 
 upon him. She looked at him while he was 
 reading, meditating, praying, or in contempla- 
 tion. Her ideal approach was preceded by 
 a slight noise, like the rustling of a woman's 
 robe, and these visions had an exactitude not 
 presented by realities, which are themselves 
 moving and confused, while phantoms pro- 
 ceeding from solitude bear their most marked 
 characteristics, and present an all-powerful 
 fixity. She came to him in various shapes ; 
 sometimes pensive, her forehead crowned with 
 her last perishable crown, clad, as at the ban- 
 quet of Alexandria, in a mauve-coloured robe, 
 embroidered with silver flowers ; sometimes 
 voluptuous, in a cloud of airy gauze, and bathed
 
 THE EUPHORBIUM 193 
 
 in the warm shadows of the Nymphs' grotto ; 
 sometimes pious and radiant in the sackcloth 
 of celestial joy ; sometimes tragic, her eyes 
 swimming with the horror of death, and show- 
 ing her naked breast, covered with the blood 
 of her broken heart. The most disturbing part 
 of these visions to him was the return of 
 crowns, tunics, and veils, which he had burnt 
 with his own hands ; it became evident to 
 him that these things had an indestructible 
 soul, and he cried : 
 
 " Here are the countless souls of the sins of 
 Thai's come to me ! " 
 
 When he turned his head he felt Thais 
 behind him, and was still more uneasy. His 
 misery was cruel. But as his soul and body 
 remained pure in the midst of temptation, he 
 hoped in God and reproached him tenderly. 
 
 " My God, if I went so far to seek her 
 among the Gentiles, it was for thee not for 
 myself. It would not be right for me to 
 suffer for what I did in thy interest. Protect 
 me, gentle Jesus ! My Saviour, rescue me ! 
 Do not permit the phantom to accomplish 
 that which the body has failed to do. Having 
 triumphed over the flesh, do not allow the 
 shadow to confound me. I know that I am 
 N
 
 194 THAIS 
 
 now exposed to greater dangers than ever 
 before. I know by experience that the dream 
 has more power than the reality. How could 
 it be otherwise, since it is itself a superior 
 reality? It is the soul. Plato himself, though 
 he was but an idolater, recognised the real 
 existence of ideas. At that banquet of demons, 
 to which thou accompanied me, Lord, I heard 
 men, it is true soiled with crime, but certainly 
 not void of intelligence, agree in recognising 
 that the things we perceive in solitude, medita- 
 tion, and ecstasy are real, and thy Scriptures, 
 O God, bear witness many times to the virtue 
 of dreams, and the power of visions formed 
 either by thyself, thou splendid God, or by 
 thine adversary." 
 
 A new man was in him now he reasoned 
 with God, and God did not hasten to enlighten 
 him. His nights were one long dream, and 
 his days were not distinguishable from his 
 nights. One morning he awoke uttering sighs 
 like those which, in the light of the moon, issue 
 from the tombs of the victims of crime. Thai's 
 had come displaying her bleeding feet, and 
 while he wept she had glided into his bed. 
 He remained no longer in doubt ; the image 
 of Thais was an impure one.
 
 THE EUPHORBIUM 195 
 
 His heart revolting with disgust, he rose 
 from his soiled couch, and hid his face in his 
 hands to shade it from the light of day. The 
 hours passed without removing his shame. In 
 his hut all was silent. For the first time for 
 many days Paphntitius was alone. The 
 phantom had at last left him ; but its absence 
 even was fearful to him. There was nothing 
 to distract his attention from the recollection 
 of the dream. He thought in horror : 
 
 " Why did I not repulse it? Why did I not 
 tear myself from its cold arms and burning 
 knees ? " 
 
 He dared not pronounce God's name near 
 that abominable couch, and he feared that, as 
 his hut was so profane, the demons would 
 enter it at all hours. His fears were not 
 without foundation. Seven little jackals, hardly 
 stopping at the door, entered in single file, and 
 squatted beneath his bed. At the hour of 
 vespers an eighth came, whose smell was 
 infectious. The next day a ninth joined the 
 others, and soon there were thirty, then sixty, 
 then eighty. They became smaller as they 
 multiplied, and though they were only the 
 size of rats they covered the floor, the bed, 
 and the stool. One of them leapt upon the
 
 196 THAIS 
 
 wooden shelf at the head of the bed, and, 
 putting its fore-paws upon the mummy's 
 head, looked at the monk with eyes of fire. 
 Each day fresh jackals appeared. 
 
 To expiate the abomination of his dream, 
 and rid himself of impure thoughts, Paphnutius 
 resolved to leave his hut, which was now un- 
 clean, and go into the heart of the desert, 
 and there give himself up to wonderful 
 austerities, singular labours, and new penance. 
 But before doing so he visited the old man 
 Palemon to ask his advice. 
 
 He found him in his garden watering his 
 lettuce. It was sunset. The blue Nile flowed 
 at the foot of the violet hills. The good man 
 was walking gently, so as not to disturb a 
 dove which had settled upon his shoulders. 
 
 "The Lord be with you," said he, "brother 
 Paphnutius. Admire his goodness. He sends 
 me beasts he has created, so that I may 
 talk to them of his works, and so that I may 
 glorify him in the birds of the air. Look 
 at this dove, notice the changing clouds of its 
 neck, and tell me if it is not a beautiful work 
 of God. But have you not, brother, to talk to 
 me upon some holy subject? If that is so, I 
 will put down my watering-pot and listen."
 
 THE EUPHORBIUM 197 
 
 Paphnutius told the old man of his journey, 
 his return, his visions in the day, and his 
 dreams at night, without omitting the criminal 
 dream and the host of jackals. 
 
 " Do you not think, father," added he, " that 
 I must hide in the desert, so as to accomplish 
 extraordinary labours and astonish the devil 
 by my austerity ? " 
 
 " I am only a poor sinner," Palemon replied, 
 "and I know men ill, having passed all my 
 life in this garden with gazelles, hares, and 
 pigeons. But it seems to me, brother, that 
 your malady arises from passing without 
 caution from the agitation of the world to 
 the calm of the desert. These quick changes 
 cannot but impair the health of your soul. 
 You are, brother, like a man who exposes 
 himself in a short time to great heat and 
 cold. A cough is wracking you and fever is 
 tormenting you. In your place, brother 
 Paphnutius, far from immediately withdraw- 
 ing to some frightful desert, I would have 
 the distractions suitable for a monk and holy 
 priest. I would visit the monasteries in the 
 neighbourhood. Some of them are admirable, 
 according to report. .That of Serapion contains, 
 I have been told, 1432 cells. Monks are there
 
 198 THAI'S 
 
 divided into as many legions as there are letters 
 in the Greek alphabet. I am assured, too, 
 that certain resemblance between the char- 
 acters of the monks and the figures of the 
 letters which designate them, are observed, 
 and that, as an example, those who are 
 placed under the letter ' z ' have uncertain 
 characters, while those ranged under the 
 letter 'i' have a perfectly upright mind. If 
 I were in your place, brother, I should go 
 and assure myself of this with my own eyes, 
 and I should have no rest till 1 had contem- 
 plated such a wonderful sight. I should not 
 fail to study the constitutions of the different 
 communities scattered on the banks of the 
 Nile, so as to be able to compare them. 
 Those are duties fit for a priest such as you. 
 You have heard that Ephrem the abbot has 
 drawn up spiritual rules of great beauty. With 
 his permission, you, who are a skilful scribe, 
 could copy them. I could not ; for my hands, 
 used to the spade, would not have the supple- 
 ness necessary to direct the writer's fine reed 
 over the papyrus. But, brother, you possess 
 a knowledge of letters, and you must thank 
 God for it, for good writing cannot be too 
 much admired. The work of copyist and
 
 THE EUPHORBIUM 199 
 
 reader is the greatest safeguard against evil 
 thoughts. Brother Paphnutius, why not write 
 down the words of our fathers Paul and 
 Anthony ? Little by little in these pious 
 labours you will recover your peace of soul 
 and mind ; solitude will become beautiful to 
 you once more, and you will soon be in a fit 
 state of mind to resume the ascetic labours you 
 performed before your voyage interrupted them. 
 In the days when our father Anthony was 
 among us he used to say : ' Excess of fasting 
 produces weakness, and weakness engenders 
 inertia. Some monks ruin their bodies by in- 
 discreetly prolonged fasting. Of them it might 
 be said, ' They plunge a dagger into their breast 
 and hand themselves over to the demon's power.' 
 Thus spake the holy man Anthony ; I am 
 but an ignorant man, but by God's grace I 
 have retained our father's words." 
 
 Paphnutius thanked Palemon, and promised 
 to meditate upon his advice. After crossing 
 the reed fence which surrounded the little 
 garden, he turned back and saw the gardener 
 watering his lettuce with the dove upon his 
 bent back. At this sight he felt a desire to 
 weep. 
 
 Returning to his hut, he found a strange
 
 200 THAIS 
 
 swarm there. It seemed like grains of sand 
 driven by a furious wind, but he recognised 
 it to be myriads of little jackals. This night 
 he saw in a dream a lofty stone column, sur- 
 mounted by a human figure, and he heard a 
 voice say : 
 
 " Mount this column ! " 
 
 On awakening, persuaded that the dream 
 came to him from heaven, he assembled his 
 disciples and spoke to them thus : 
 
 " Well - beloved sons, I leave you to go 
 whither God sends me. In my absence obey 
 Flavian as if he were myself, and take care 
 of our brother Paul. My blessing be upon 
 you all. Adieu." 
 
 While he walked away, they remained pros- 
 trate, and when they rose they could see his 
 great black form on the .horizon of sand. 
 
 He walked day and night, till he reached the 
 ruins of that temple built by idolaters, in which 
 he had slept, amid scorpions and sirens, when 
 on his wonderful voyage. The walls covered 
 with magic symbols were still standing. 
 Thirty gigantic shafts, terminating in human 
 heads or lotus flowers, still supported enormous 
 stones. Standing alone at the end of the 
 temple, one of these columns had shaken itself
 
 THE EUPHORBIUM 201 
 
 free from its former burden. It had as a 
 capital a woman's smiling head, with long 
 eyes, round cheeks, and on the forehead the 
 horns of a cow. 
 
 When Paphnutius saw it, he recognised it 
 as the column which had been shown him 
 in his dream, and guessed its height to be 
 thirty-two cubits. Entering the nearest village, 
 he had a ladder made of that height, and 
 when it was placed against the column he 
 mounted, knelt upon the capital, and said to 
 the Lord : 
 
 " Here then, O Lord, is the dwelling thou 
 hast chosen me. Can I remain here in thy 
 grace till the hour of my death ? " 
 
 He had taken no provisions, committing 
 himself to divine Providence, and counting 
 upon receiving from the charitable peasants 
 sufficient for life. On the morrow, towards the 
 hour of prayer, women and children came, 
 bringing dates and fresh water, which the 
 little boys took up to the top of the column. 
 
 The capital was not large enough for the 
 monk to extend his limbs, so he slept with 
 his legs crossed and his head upon his breast, 
 such sleep being more cruel fatigue to him 
 than watching. At dawn the hawks flapped
 
 202 THAIS 
 
 him with their wings, and he awoke full of 
 anguish and fear. 
 
 It happened that the carpenter who had 
 made the ladder, feared God. Moved at the 
 thought that the holy man was exposed to 
 sun and rain, and fearing that he would fall 
 from the column in his sleep, the pious man 
 built a roof and railing to it. 
 
 The fame, however, of such a marvellous 
 existence spread from village to village, and the 
 labourers of the valley came on the Sabbath, 
 with their wives and children, to contemplate 
 the Stylite. The disciples of Paphnutius, 
 learning the situation of his sublime retreat, 
 assembled near him, and obtained permission 
 from him to build huts at the foot of the 
 column. Each morning they came and stood 
 in a circle around their master, and listened 
 to his words of wisdom. 
 
 " My sons," he said to them, " remain like 
 the little children Jesus loved. In that is 
 salvation. The sin of the flesh is the source 
 and beginning of all sins ; they spring from 
 it as from a father. Pride, avarice, idleness, 
 anger, and envy are its beloved children. I 
 will tell you what I saw at Alexandria ; I saw 
 the rich carried away by the vice of luxury,
 
 THE EUPHORBIUM 203 
 
 which, like a muddy river, washed them into 
 the salt sea." 
 
 The abbots Ephrem and Serapion, when in- 
 formed of this new penance, wished to see it 
 with their own eyes. Sighting in the distance 
 the sail which was bringing them towards 
 him, Paphnutius could not help thinking that 
 God had placed him there as an example to 
 the hermits. At sight of him the two holy 
 abbots did not dissimulate their surprise ; after 
 consulting together they, with one accord, 
 began to blame so extraordinary a penance, 
 and exhorted Paphnutius to descend. 
 
 " Such a life," said they, " is contrary to all 
 custom ; it is singular, and beyond all 
 rules." 
 
 Paphnutius replied to them : 
 
 " What is monachal life but a life of wonders ? 
 Must not a monk's works be as singular as 
 himself? A sign from God has caused me 
 to ascend here ; a sign from God will make 
 me descend." 
 
 Every day monks came in troops to join 
 the disciples of Paphnutius, and built them- 
 selves shelters around the aerial hermitage. 
 Some of them, in imitation of the holy man, 
 ascended other parts of the ruins ; but when
 
 204 THAIS 
 
 chided by their brethren, and worn out with 
 fatigue, they soon descended. 
 
 Pilgrims flocked from all parts. Some came 
 from afar, and were hungry and thirsty. A 
 poor widow conceived the idea of selling fresh 
 water and melons to them. Leaning upon 
 the column with her red earthen jars, her cups 
 and fruit beneath a blue and white striped 
 awning behind her, she shouted : " Who desires 
 to drink?" Following her example, a baker 
 brought bricks and built an oven, hoping to 
 sell bread and cakes to the strangers. As the 
 crowd of visitors increased without ceasing, 
 and the inhabitants of the great cities of 
 Egypt began to arrive, a man, desiring to 
 make money, built a caravansary to lodge 
 masters and their servants, camels and mules. 
 Soon a market sprung up before the column, 
 to which the fishermen of the Nile brought 
 their fish, and the gardeners their vegetables. 
 A barber, who shaved in the open air, en- 
 livened the crowd by his cheery conversation. 
 The old temple, so long enveloped in silence 
 and peace, was full of motion and the countless 
 rumours of life. Innkeepers transformed caves 
 into subterranean halls, and nailed to their 
 ancient pillars notices surmounted by the
 
 THE EUPHORBIUM 205 
 
 image of the holy man Paphnutius, and bear- 
 ing the inscription in Greek and Egyptian : 
 " Pomegranate wine, fig wine, and the real 
 Cilician beer, sold here." Upon the walls, 
 sculptured with pure and slender profiles, 
 merchants hung ropes of onions, smoked fish, 
 dead hares, and skinned sheep. In the even- 
 ing the rats, ancient guests of the ruins, fled 
 in a long file towards the river, while the 
 uneasy ibis stretched their necks as they 
 placed uncertain feet upon the lofty cornices, 
 towards which rose the smoke of kitchens, 
 the shouts of the drinkers, and the cries of 
 the servants. 
 
 All around surveyors traced out streets, and 
 masons built convents, chapels, and churches. 
 At the end of six months a town had risen, 
 having a bodyguard, tribunal, prison, and 
 school kept by an old blind scribe. 
 
 The pilgrims were without number. Bishops 
 and church dignitaries hastened there full of 
 admiration. The Patriarch of Antioch, who 
 was then in Egypt, came with all his clergy. 
 He highly approved of the extraordinary 
 conduct of the Stylite, and the heads of the 
 churches of Lybia, in the absence of Atha- 
 nasius, agreed with the Patriarch. Learning
 
 206 THAIS 
 
 this, the abbots Ephrem and Serapion came 
 to excuse themselves for their former con- 
 demnation. Paphnutius replied to them : 
 
 " Brethren, understand that the penance I 
 endure is hardly equal to the temptations 
 which are sent me, the number and strength 
 of which astound me. A man viewed from 
 the outside is small, and from the top of the 
 socle, whither God has borne me, I see human 
 beings moving like mice. But, considered 
 internally, man is immense ; he is as great 
 as the world, for he contains it. All that 
 extends before me, these monasteries, hostelries, 
 barques upon the river, and villages, and the 
 fields, canals, sand, and mountains, which I 
 see in the distance, are as nothing compared 
 with what is in me. I bear in my heart in- 
 numerable cities and illimitable deserts. Evil 
 and death stretches over this immensity, cover 
 it as the night covers the earth. I am in 
 myself alone a universe of evil thoughts." 
 
 He spoke thus because the desire of women 
 was in him. 
 
 In the seventh month, there came from 
 Alexandria, Bubastis, and Sais, women who, 
 though long barren, hoped to obtain children 
 through the holy man's intercession, and the
 
 THE EUPHORBIUM 207 
 
 virtue of the column. They rubbed their 
 barren flanks against the stone. Then, as far 
 as the eye could reach, came chariots and 
 litters, which stopped and crowded beneath 
 the man of God. Out of them came sick 
 people frightful to look upon. Mothers pre- 
 sented to Paphnutius their young children, 
 whose limbs were curved, eyes blind, mouths 
 foaming, and voices harsh. He placed his 
 hands upon them. The blind approached 
 him with waving arms, and raised at hazard 
 towards him their faces pierced with two 
 bleeding holes. Paralytics showed him the 
 perfect immobility, the mortal withering, and 
 the hideous contraction of their members ; the 
 halt presented to his view their club - feet ; 
 women with cancers uncovered before him 
 breasts which were being devoured by the 
 invisible vulture. Dropsical women were 
 placed upon the earth at his feet. He blessed 
 them all. Nubians, attacked by elephantine 
 leprosy, advanced with heavy tread, and peered 
 at him with weeping eyes from an inanimate 
 face. He made the sign of the Cross upon 
 them. They brought him upon a litter a 
 young girl from Aphroditopolis, who, after 
 vomiting blood, slept for three days. She
 
 208 THAIS 
 
 seemed like a waxen image, and her parents, 
 who believed her to be dead, had placed a 
 palm upon her breast. Paphnutius prayed 
 to God, and the young girl raised her head, 
 and opened her eyes. 
 
 As the miracles worked by the holy man 
 were published abroad, the unfortunate people, 
 attacked by the disease which the Greeks call 
 the divine malady, hastened to him from all 
 parts of Egypt in countless legions. As soon 
 as they perceived the column they were seized 
 with convulsions, rolled upon the earth, went 
 into a frenzy ; curled themselves into a ball. 
 His disciples, and this is almost incredible, 
 agitated by violent delirium, imitated the con- 
 tortions of epileptics. Monks and pilgrims, 
 men and women, wallowed and writhed pell- 
 mell, with twisted limbs and foaming mouths, 
 swallowing handfuls of earth and prophesying. 
 Paphnutius from the top of his column felt a 
 tremor run through his limbs, and cried to 
 God: 
 
 " I am the scapegoat, and I take upon me 
 all the impurities of this people, and for that 
 reason, Lord, is my body filled with evil 
 spirits." 
 
 Each time a sick person went away cured,
 
 THE EUPHORBIUM 209 
 
 the disciples shouted, without ceasing, as they 
 bore him in triumph : 
 
 "We have just seen another fountain of 
 Siloe ! " 
 
 Already hundreds of crutches hung from 
 the miraculous column ; thankful women, too, 
 hung crowns and votive images upon it. 
 Greeks traced upon it ingenious distiches, and, 
 as each pilgrim engraved his name upon the 
 stone, it was soon covered to a man's height 
 with an infinity of Latin, Greek, Coptic, Punic, 
 Hebrew, Syriac and magic characters. 
 
 When the feast of Easter came, there was 
 in the city of miracles such a crowd of people 
 that the elderly believed themselves taken 
 back to the days of the ancient mysteries. 
 Upon a vast plain the speckled robes of the 
 Egyptians mingled with the burnus of the 
 Arabs, the white cotton of the Nubians, the 
 short cloak of the Greeks, the toga with long 
 folds of the Romans, and the scarlet robes of 
 the barbarians. Veiled women passed by on 
 their donkeys, preceded by black eunuchs, who 
 cleared a way for them with blows of their 
 staves. Acrobats, stretching a carpet upon 
 the ground, did feats of skill, and wriggled 
 elegantly before a circle of silent spectators. 
 O
 
 210 THAIS 
 
 Snake - charmers unrolled living girdles from 
 their outstretched arms. This mighty crowd 
 shone, glittered, made a dust, jingled, shouted, 
 and grumbled. The imprecations of camel- 
 drivers, as they struck their beasts, the cries 
 of merchants, who sold charms against leprosy 
 and evil eye, the chanting of verses from the 
 Scriptures by monks, the moaning of women in 
 the prophetic crises, the yelping of mendicants 
 as they repeated ancient harem -songs, the 
 bleating of sheep, and braying of donkeys, 
 the shouts of sailors to tardy passengers, all 
 mingled, made an immense hubbub, and this 
 dominated even the strident voices of little 
 naked negroes who were running here and 
 there offering fresh dates for sale. 
 
 All these diverse beings were stifling under 
 the white sky, in a thick atmosphere loaded 
 with the perfume of women, the odour of 
 negroes, the smoke of cooking, the vapours 
 of the gums, which the pious bought of 
 shepherds to burn before the holy man. 
 
 At night fires, torches, and lanterns were lit 
 on all sides, and everything was red shadow 
 and black form. Upright, in the midst of a 
 circle of crouching listeners, an old man, his 
 face lit up by a smoky lamp, told how once
 
 THE EUPHORBIUM 211 
 
 Bitiou enchanted his heart, snatched it from 
 his breast, put it in an acacia, and then 
 changed himself into a tree. He made 
 gestures, which his shadow repeated with 
 laughable deformations, and the wonder- 
 stricken audience uttered cries of admiration. 
 In the inns, the drinkers, reclining upon 
 divans, called for beer or wine. Dancers, 
 with painted eyes and naked breasts, per- 
 formed before them religious and lascivious 
 scenes. Young men played dice apart, and 
 old men pursued courtesans. Above these 
 moving forms the motionless column stood 
 alone ; the horned head looked into the 
 shadow, and above it Paphnutius watched 
 between heaven and earth. Suddenly the 
 moon arose above the Nile, like the naked 
 shoulder of a goddess. The hills streamed 
 with light and azure, and Paphnutius thought 
 he saw the flesh of Thais sparkling in the 
 light of the waters among the sapphires of 
 the night. 
 
 The days passed, but the holy man remained 
 upon the column. When the rainy season 
 came the water from heaven, passing through 
 the cracks of the roof, inundated his body ; 
 his benumbed limbs became still more in-
 
 212 THAIS 
 
 capable of motion. Burnt by the sun and 
 coloured by the dew, his skin began to crack ; 
 large ulcers ate up his arms and legs. But 
 the desire of Thais consumed him within, and 
 he cried : 
 
 "Is it not enough, O God of Power! More 
 temptations ! More unclean thoughts ! More 
 monstrous desires ! Lord, pass into me the 
 whole luxury of men, so that I may expiate 
 it all! If it is false that the bitch of Argos 
 has taken upon herself the sins of the world, 
 as I heard certain forgers of impostures say, 
 still this fable contains a hidden sense, the 
 exactness of which I recognise to-day. For 
 it is true that the infamies of the people enter 
 into the souls of the saints to be there en- 
 gulfed as in an abyss. So the souls of the 
 just are soiled with more mire than the souls 
 of sinners ever contain. Therefore I glorify 
 thee, my God, for making me the sink of 
 the universe." 
 
 But one day a great rumour spread in the 
 holy city, and even rose to the ears of the 
 ascetic : a great personage, a most illustrious 
 man, the prefect of the fleet of Alexandria, 
 Lucius Aurelius Cotta, was coming, is coming, 
 is approaching !
 
 THE EUPHORBIUM 213 
 
 The news was true. Old Cotta, who was 
 setting out to inspect the canals and the 
 navigation of the Nile, had several times 
 experienced a desire to see the Stylite and 
 the new city, which had received the name 
 of Stylopolis. One morning the Stylopolitans 
 saw the river covered with sails. Cotta 
 approached on board a gilded galley, hung 
 with purple, followed by his flotilla. He 
 landed, and advanced, accompanied by his 
 secretary, who bore his tablets, and Aristeus 
 his doctor, with whom he loved to converse. 
 
 A numerous suite followed him, and the 
 bank was bright with arms and military 
 uniforms. He stopped a few paces from the 
 column and began to examine the Stylite, 
 wiping his face with his toga. Of a naturally 
 curious disposition, he had in his long voyages 
 observed much. He loved to recall, and medi- 
 tated writing, after his Punic history, a book 
 upon the singular things he had seen. He 
 seemed much interested in the sight before him. 
 
 " How strange," said he, blowing and sweat- 
 ing. " And a circumstance worthy of note 
 is, that this man has been my guest. Yes, 
 this man came to sup with me a year ago ; 
 after that he carried off an actress."
 
 2i 4 THAIS 
 
 And, turning to his secretary, he said : 
 " Note that, child, upon my tablets ; as well 
 as the column's dimensions, without forgetting 
 the form of the capital." 
 
 Then wiping his forehead once more, he 
 said : 
 
 " Well-informed persons have told me that 
 since our monk mounted this column a year 
 ago, he has not left it for a moment. Aristeus, 
 is that possible ? " 
 
 " It is possible to a fool and a sick man," 
 replied Aristeus, " but would be impossible to 
 a man who was healthy in body and mind. 
 Do you not know, Lucius, that sometimes 
 maladies of the soul and body communicate 
 to those who are afflicted by them powers 
 which healthy men do not possess. To tell 
 the truth, neither good nor bad health really 
 exist. There is only different states of the 
 organs. From studying what are called 
 maladies, I have come to consider them as 
 necessary forms of life. I take more pleasure 
 in studying them than in combating them. 
 There are some which cannot be observed 
 without admiration, and which conceal under 
 apparent disorder profound harmonies, and 
 quartan ague is indeed a very beautiful thing !
 
 THE EUPHORBIUM 215 
 
 Sometimes certain maladies of the body de- 
 termine the exaltation of the faculties of the 
 mind. You know Creon. As a child he was 
 stupid, and stuttered. But after hurting his 
 head by falling down a staircase, he became 
 the skilful lawyer whom you know. This 
 monk must be afflicted in some concealed 
 organ. Besides, his kind of existence is not 
 quite as singular as it seems to you, Lucius. 
 Recall the gymnosophists of India, who can 
 remain entirely motionless not only for one 
 year, but for twenty, thirty, and even forty 
 years." 
 
 "By Jupiter," replied Cotta, "that is a great 
 aberration ! For man is born to act, and 
 inertia is an unpardonable crime, since it is 
 committed to the prejudice of the state. I 
 don't quite know to what belief to attach so 
 fatal a practice. It is likely that certain 
 Asiatic creeds are responsible for it. At the 
 time I was Governor of Syria, I saw the 
 phalli erected in the city of Hera. A man 
 mounted these twice a year, and remained 
 for seven days. The people are convinced 
 that this man obtains the prosperity of Syria 
 by thus conversing with the gods. This 
 custom seemed to me to be void of reason ;
 
 216 THAIS 
 
 but I did nothing to injure it. For I think 
 that a functionary ought not to abolish the 
 customs of the people, but, on the contrary, 
 ought to assure their observance. It is not 
 the duty of the government to impose creeds ; 
 its duty is to give satisfaction to those which 
 exist, and which, good or bad, have been 
 determined by the spirit of the times, places, 
 and races. If it undertakes to combat them, 
 it shows itself revolutionary in spirit, tyrannical 
 in action, and is rightly detested. Besides, 
 what other way is there to rise above vulgar 
 superstitions than to tolerate and understand 
 them ? Aristetis, my advice is to leave the 
 dreamer at peace in the air, exposed only to 
 the attacks of the birds. It is not by doing 
 violence to him that I will take advantage of 
 him, but by rendering account to myself of 
 his thoughts and creed." 
 
 He panted, coughed, and placing his hand 
 upon his secretary's shoulder, said : 
 
 " Child, note that in certain sects of the 
 Christians it is good to carry off courtesans and 
 to live upon columns. You can add that these 
 customs suppose the cult of lustful deities. 
 But in this particular we must ask the man 
 himself."
 
 THE EUPHORBIUM 217 
 
 Then, raising his head and shading his eyes 
 from the sun with his hand, he shouted : 
 
 " Paphnutius ! If you remember that you 
 were my guest, answer me. What are you 
 doing up there ? Why did you ascend, and why 
 do you remain there? Has this column phallic 
 significance in your mind?" 
 
 Paphnutius, considering Cotta to be an 
 idolater, did not deign to reply. But Flavian, 
 his disciple, approaching, said : 
 
 " Most noble lord, this holy man takes the 
 sins of the world upon him and cures its 
 maladies." 
 
 " By Jupiter, do you hear that, Aristeus," 
 cried Cotta. " The dreamer practises medicine 
 like you. What do you say of so exalted a 
 brother physician ? " 
 
 Aristeus shook his head, saying : 
 
 " It is possible that he cures better than I do 
 certain maladies, such as epilepsy, commonly 
 called the divine malady, although all maladies 
 are equally divine, for they all come from the 
 gods. But the. cause of this disease is partly in 
 the imagination, and you will see, Lucius, that 
 this monk thus perched upon the head of the 
 goddess appeals more forcibly to the imagina- 
 tion of the sick than I know how to do, bent as
 
 218 THAIS 
 
 I am, in my laboratory, over my mortars and 
 phials. There are, Lucius, certain forces in- 
 finitely more powerful than reason and science." 
 
 " Which ? " asked Cotta. 
 
 " Ignorance and folly," replied Aristeus. 
 
 " I have rarely seen anything more curious 
 than this sight," replied Cotta, " and I hope that 
 some day a clever writer will tell the story of 
 the founding of Stylopolis. But even the rarest 
 sights must not detain a grave and laborious 
 man longer than absolutely necessary. Let us 
 go and inspect the canals. Adieu, Paphnutius ! 
 or, rather, au revoir ! If ever you descend to 
 earth and return to Alexandria, do not fail, I 
 beg you, to come and sup with me." 
 
 These words which were heard by the 
 disciples, ran from mouth to mouth, and as 
 they were spread abroad by the faithful, 
 added imcomparable splendour to the glory of 
 Paphnutius. Pious imaginations adorned and 
 transformed them, and it was said that the 
 holy man had, from the top of the column, 
 converted the prefect of the fleet to the faith 
 of the apostles and fathers of Nicaea. The faith- 
 ful gave to the last words of Aurelius Cotta a 
 figurative meaning ; in their mouths the supper, 
 to which this personage had invited the ascetic,
 
 THE EUPHORBIUM 219 
 
 became a holy communion, a spiritual love-feast, 
 a celestial banquet. This story became em- 
 bellished with many marvellous circumstances, 
 which the inventors themselves were the first to 
 believe. They said that at the moment Cotta, 
 after a long argument, confessed the truth, an 
 angel came from heaven to wipe the sweat from 
 his forehead. They added that his secretary 
 and doctor were also converted. When the 
 miracle become notorious, the deacons of the 
 principal churches of Lybia wrote it down as 
 authentic. From that time it may be said, 
 without exaggeration, that the entire world was 
 seized with a desire to visit Paphnutius, and 
 that in the Occident, as well as in the Orient, 
 every Christian turned on him his dazzled eyes. 
 The most illustrious cities in Italy sent ambas- 
 sadors to him, and the Roman Caesar, the divine 
 Constans, who upheld Christian orthodoxy, 
 wrote him a letter which his ambassadors pre- 
 sented with great ceremony. Now one night, 
 while the city stretched at his feet slept in the 
 dew, he heard a voice saying : 
 
 " Paphnutius, you are famous for your works, 
 and powerful in your words. God has raised 
 you up for his glory. He has chosen you to 
 work miracles, cure the sick, convert Pagans,
 
 220 THAIS 
 
 enlighten the fishermen, confound the Aryans, 
 and re-establish the peace of the Church." 
 
 Paphnutius replied : 
 
 "God's will be done!" 
 
 The voice replied : 
 
 " Arise, go seek the impious Constantius in 
 his palace, for he, instead of imitating the 
 wisdom of his brother Constans, favours the 
 error of Arius and Marcus. Go ! The gates 
 of brass shall open before you, and your sandals 
 shall ring upon the golden pavement of the 
 basilicas, before the throne of the Caesars, and 
 your terrible voice shall change the heart of 
 the son of Constantine. You shall rule over 
 the pacified and powerful Church. And in the 
 same way that the soul directs the body, the 
 Church shall govern the Empire. You shall 
 be placed over senators, counts, and patricians. 
 You shall make the people's hunger and the 
 audacity of the barbarians cease. Old Cotta, 
 knowing you to be ruler, shall seek the honour 
 of washing your feet. At your death your 
 robe shall be taken to the Patriarch of Alex- 
 andria, and great Athanasius, grown grey in 
 his glory, shall kiss it as the relic of a saint. 
 Go!" 
 
 Paphnutius replied :
 
 THE EUPHORBIUM 221 
 
 " God's will be done ! " 
 
 Making an effort to stand upright, he pre- 
 pared to descend. But the voice, divining his 
 idea, said to him : 
 
 "Do not descend by the ladder. It would 
 be acting as an ordinary man, and disregard- 
 ing the gifts which are in you. Estimate your 
 power better, angelic Paphnutius. A saint as 
 holy as you should fly through the air. Leap ; 
 the angels are there to sustain you. Leap." 
 
 Paphnutius replied : 
 
 " May God's will reign on earth as in 
 heaven ! " 
 
 Balancing his long arms, outstretched like 
 the featherless wings of a great sick bird, he 
 was about to jump, when suddenly a hideous 
 sneering laugh sounded in his ear. In fear 
 he asked : 
 
 "Who is laughing like that?" 
 
 " Ah, ah," yelped the voice, " we are not 
 yet at the end of our friendship ; you will 
 some day become more intimately acquainted 
 with me. Dear friend, it was I who made you 
 mount here, and I must express my entire 
 satisfaction at the docility with which you 
 have obeyed my wishes. Paphnutius, I am 
 satisfied with you."
 
 222 THAIS 
 
 Paphnutius murmured, with a voice choking 
 with fear : 
 
 " Get thee behind me ! I recognise you : you 
 are he who bore Jesus to the pinnacle of the 
 Temple, and showed him all the realms of 
 this world." 
 
 He fell back upon the stone in despair. 
 "Why did I not recognise you before?" he 
 thought. " More miserable than those blind, 
 deaf, and paralytics who hope in me, I have 
 lost the sense of supernatural things, and, more 
 depraved than the maniacs, who eat the earth, 
 and approach corpses, I can no longer dis- 
 tinguish the clamours of hell from the voices 
 of heaven. I have lost even the discernment 
 of the new-born babe, who weeps when taken 
 from his nurse's breast, of the dog which 
 tracks its master by its scent, and of the 
 plant which turns towards the sun. I am the 
 plaything of the devils. So it was Satan who 
 brought me here. When he placed me upon 
 this pinnacle, luxury and pride mounted by 
 my side. It is not the magnitude of my 
 temptations which dismays me. Anthony 
 upon his mountain endured the like. I desire 
 their swords to pierce my flesh under the 
 angels' gaze. I have even succeeded in cher-
 
 THE EUPHORBIUM 223 
 
 ishing my tortures. But God is silent, and 
 his silence astounds me. He leaves me, who 
 have only him ; he leaves me alone in the 
 horror of his absence. He flies from me. I 
 desire to run after him. This stone burns my 
 feet. Quick, let me depart, let me overtake 
 God." 
 
 Immediately he seized the ladder which 
 remained leaning against the side of the 
 column, placed his foot upon it, and de- 
 scending a step, found himself face to face 
 with the beast's head : it smiled strangely. He 
 was certain that the place he had taken for 
 the seat of his repose and glory was only 
 the diabolical instrument of his trouble and 
 damnation. He hastily descended to the 
 ground. His feet had forgotten the earth ; 
 his legs trembled. But feeling the shadow 
 of the cursed column upon him he forced 
 himself to run. Everyone slept. He traversed, 
 without being seen, the great square sur- 
 rounded by inns, hostelries, and caravansaries, 
 and rushed down a lane leading towards the 
 Lybian hills. A dog, which pursued him, 
 barking, only stopped at the edge of the sand. 
 Paphnutius fled through a country whose 
 only roads are the tracks of wild beasts.
 
 224 THAIS 
 
 Leaving behind him huts abandoned by 
 coiners of bad money, he continued his 
 desolate flight all through the night and the 
 next day. 
 
 At last, almost dying of hunger, thirst, and 
 fatigue, and not yet knowing whether God was 
 afar, he discovered a mute city, which stretched 
 right and left, and was lost in the purple of the 
 horizon. The dwelling-places far apart, and all 
 alike, resembled pyramids cut down to half 
 their height. They were tombs. The gates 
 were broken down, and out of the shadow of 
 the halls shone the eyes of hyaenas and wolves 
 which were feeding their cubs, while upon 
 the threshold lay the bodies of the dead, 
 despoiled by brigands and gnawed by beasts. 
 Crossing this city of the dead, Paphnutius fell 
 exhausted before a tomb standing apart near 
 a spring crowned with palm-trees. This tomb 
 was very ornate, and, as there was no gate, 
 from without a chamber could be seen full 
 of coiled serpents. 
 
 " There is," he sighed, " my chosen dwell- 
 ing, the tabernacle of my repentance and 
 penitence." 
 
 He crawled inside, drove away the reptiles 
 with his foot, and remained prostrate upon the
 
 THE EUPHORBIUM 225 
 
 stones for eighteen hours, at the end of which 
 he went to the fountain and drank from the 
 palm of his hand. Then he gathered dates 
 and a few twigs of lotus, the seeds of which 
 he ate. Thinking that this kind of life was 
 good, he made it the rule of his existence. 
 From morning till evening he did not raise 
 his forehead from the stones. 
 
 One day, while he was thus prostrate, he 
 heard a voice saying : 
 
 " Gaze at those images and learn." 
 Then, raising his head, he saw upon the walls 
 of the chamber paintings representing laugh- 
 able and familiar scenes. It was a very ancient 
 work of marvellous exactitude. There were 
 cooks blowing the fire with inflated cheeks ; 
 others were plucking geese, or cooking joints 
 of mutton in pots. Further on, a huntsman was 
 carrying on his shoulders a gazelle, pierced with 
 arrows. Then there were peasants engaged in 
 sowing and harvesting. Elsewhere were women 
 dancing to the music of violins, flutes, and harps. 
 A young girl was playing the theorbo. A lotus 
 flower shone in her black and finely plaited hair. 
 Her transparent robe showed the pure outline 
 of her body. Her breasts and mouth were like 
 flowers. Her beautiful eyes looked out from an 
 p
 
 226 THAIS 
 
 exquisitely turned profile. Her figure was ex- 
 quisite. Paphnutius looked at her, lowered his 
 eyes, and replied to the voice : 
 
 " Why do you order me to look at those 
 images ? Without a doubt, they represent 
 the terrestrial days of the idolater whose 
 body reposes under my feet at the bottom 
 of a shaft in a grave of black basalt. They 
 recall the life of a dead man, and are, in 
 spite of their brilliant colours, the shades 
 of a shade. The life of a dead man ! O 
 vanity ! " 
 
 " He is dead, but he has lived," replied the 
 voice, "and you will die, and you will not 
 have lived." 
 
 From that day Paphnutius had not a 
 moment's rest. The voice spoke to him with- 
 out ceasing. The theorbo - player looked at 
 him fixedly from beneath her long lashes. 
 In her turn she spoke : 
 
 " See, I am mysterious and beautiful. Love 
 me ; exhaust in my arms the love which 
 torments you. Of what use will be your fear? 
 You cannot escape me ; I am the beauty of 
 woman. Whither do you think of fleeing, 
 madman ? You will find my image in the 
 beauty of flowers, in the grace of palms, in
 
 THE EUPHORBIUM 227 
 
 the flight of doves, in the bounds of gazelles, 
 in the undulating course of streams, in the 
 soft light of the moon, and, if you close your 
 eyes, you will find it in yourself. A thousand 
 years ago the man who sleeps here encircled 
 with bandages upon a bed of black stone 
 pressed me to his breast. A thousand years 
 ago he received his last kiss from my mouth, 
 and his sleep is still perfumed by it. You 
 know me well, Paphnutius. Why did you not 
 recognise me ? I am one of the countless 
 incarnations of Thais. You are a learned 
 monk, and well advanced in knowledge. You 
 have travelled, and travel teaches most. Often 
 a day passed abroad brings more novelties 
 than ten years spent at home. Now you 
 must have heard that Thais lived formerly 
 in Argos, under the name of Helen. She had 
 another existence in Thebes Hecatompylos. 
 Thais of Thebes was myself. Why did you 
 not divine that? I have in my lifetime 
 taken part in most of the sins of the world, 
 and now, though but a shade, I am stili capable 
 of being a partner in your sins, beloved monk. 
 Why were you surprised ? Everywhere you 
 go, you will be certain to find Thais." 
 
 He struck his forehead upon the stones
 
 228 THAIS 
 
 and cried out in fright. Each night the 
 theorbo-player quitted the wall, approached, 
 and spoke in a clear voice, which mingled 
 with her cool breath. As the holy man re- 
 sisted the temptations which she put before 
 him, she said to him : 
 
 " Love me ; yield, friend. As long as you 
 resist me I will torment you. You do not 
 know a dead woman's patience. I will wait, 
 if it is necessary, till you are dead. Being 
 a sorceress, I can put into your lifeless body 
 a spirit which will re-animate it and which 
 will not refuse me what I have asked of you 
 in vain. Think, Paphnutius, of the strangeness 
 of your situation, when your happy soul shall 
 see from heaven its own body give itself up 
 to sin. Even God, who has promised to return 
 you the body after the last judgment and the 
 consummation of the centuries, will be very 
 much embarrassed ! How will he be able 
 to install in celestial glory a human form 
 inhabited by a devil and in the power of a 
 sorceress ? You have not thought of this 
 difficulty. Nor, perhaps, has God. -Between 
 ourselves, he is not very subtle. The most 
 simple sorceress easily deceives him, and if 
 he had not his thunder and the cataracts of
 
 THE EUPHORBIUM 229 
 
 heaven the brats of the village would pull 
 his beard. He certainly is not so cunning as 
 the old serpent his adversary. The latter is 
 a marvellous artist. My beauty is due to his 
 work upon my attire. It was he who taught 
 me to plait my hair, and make myself rose 
 and agate nails. You have too long dis- 
 regarded him. When you came to live in 
 this tomb, you drove away the serpents which 
 dwelt here with your foot, without troubling 
 yourself to find out if they were of his family, 
 and you crushed their eggs. I am afraid, my 
 poor friend, that you are in great danger. 
 You had, however, been warned that he was 
 a musician and lover. What did you do? 
 You have fallen out with science and beauty. 
 You are quite miserable, and Jehovah is not 
 coming to your assistance. It is not likely 
 he will come. Being as large as all things, he 
 cannot move without space, and if, impossible 
 though it be, he made the least movement, 
 all creation would be overthrown. Beautiful 
 hermit, he will give me a kiss." 
 
 Paphnutius was not ignorant of the wonders 
 worked by the magic arts. He thought in 
 his dire distress : 
 
 " Perhaps the dead man buried at my feet
 
 230 THAIS 
 
 knows the words written in that mysterious 
 book which remains concealed not far from 
 here at the bottom of a royal tomb. By virtue 
 of those words the dead, resuming the form 
 which they had when on earth, see the light 
 of the sun and the smile of women." 
 
 His fear was that the theorbo-player and the 
 dead man would embrace, as in life, and that 
 he would see them. Sometimes he thought 
 he heard the light breath of kisses. 
 
 Trouble was all round him, and now, in God's 
 absence, he feared to think, as well as to look. 
 
 One evening, when he was prostrate, as his 
 custom was, an unknown voice said to him : 
 
 " Paphnutius, there are more people on earth 
 than you think, and if I showed you what 
 I have seen, you would die of fright. There 
 are men with only one eye, that being in 
 the middle of their forehead. There are men 
 with only one leg, who hop instead of walking. 
 There are men who change their sex, and 
 there are women who become men. There 
 are tree-men, whose roots grow into the earth. 
 There are headless men, too, who have two 
 eyes, a nose, and mouth in their chests. Do 
 you, in good faith, believe that Jesus Christ 
 died for the salvation of these men ? "
 
 THE EUPHORBIUM 231 
 
 On another occasion he had a vision. He 
 saw in a bright light a large causeway, streams, 
 and gardens. Along the causeway Aristobulus 
 and Chereas galloped their Syrian horses, with 
 the love of the chase burning on their cheeks. 
 Under a portico Callicrates declaimed verses ; 
 satisfied pride trembled in his voice, and shone 
 from his eyes. In a garden Zenothemis 
 gathered golden apples and caressed an azure- 
 winged serpent. Clad in white, and wearing a 
 sparkling mitre, Hermodorus meditated be- 
 neath a sacred persea, which bore instead of 
 flowers, little heads with pure profiles, coifed 
 like Egyptian goddesses, vultures, hawks, or the 
 moon's shining disc, while apart on the edge 
 of a fountain Nicias studied upon a millary 
 sphere the harmonious movement of the stars. 
 
 Then a veiled woman approached the monk, 
 holding in her hand a twig of myrtle. She 
 said to him : 
 
 " Look ! some seek eternal beauty, and put 
 the infinite into their ephemeral lives. Others 
 live without much care ; but by simply yield- 
 ing to their good nature they are happy and 
 beautiful, and in allowing themselves to live 
 they render glory to the sovereign artist of 
 all, for man is a beautiful hymn of God. They
 
 232 THAIS 
 
 all consider happiness innocent, and joy per- 
 missible. Paphnutius, if they were to be right, 
 what a dupe you would be!" 
 
 The vision faded. 
 
 Thus Paphnutius was tempted without 
 ceasing in body and mind. Satan did not 
 give him a moment's rest. The solitude of 
 this tomb was more thickly peopled than the 
 cross-roads of a large city. The demons 
 uttered loud bursts of laughter, and millions 
 of larvae and lemures performed there the 
 image of the works of life. In the evening 
 when he went to the fountain satyrs, mingled 
 with fauns, danced around him, and dragged 
 him into their lewd steps. The demons feared 
 him no more. They overwhelmed him with 
 jests, obscene taunts, and blows. One day 
 a devil, not taller than his arm, stole the 
 cord which he used as a girdle. 
 
 He murmured : 
 
 " Thought/ where hast thou led me ? " 
 
 He resolved to work with his hands, so as 
 to procure for his mind the rest it needed. 
 Near the fountain large-leaved bananas grew 
 in the shade of the palms. He cut off their 
 stalks and carried them into the tomb. There 
 he ground the stalks with a stone, and reduced
 
 THE EUPHORBIUM 233 
 
 them to fine filaments, as he had seen the 
 rope-makers do ; for he proposed to make 
 a cord in place of the one the devil had 
 stolen from him. The demons felt some 
 annoyance ; they ceased their noise, and the 
 theorbo - player herself, renouncing magic, 
 remained quiet upon the painted wall. 
 Paphnutius, while crushing the banana stalks, 
 confirmed his courage and faith. 
 
 "With the assistance of heaven," he said 
 to himself, " I will subdue the flesh. As for 
 the soul, it has retained hope. In vain would 
 the devils and this woman like to inspire me 
 with doubts as to God's nature. I will answer 
 them from the mouth of the apostle John : 
 ' In the beginning was the word, and the 
 word was God.' I firmly believe that, and 
 if it is absurd I then believe it more firmly 
 still. To go further, it must be absurd ; if 
 it were not I should not believe it, I should 
 know it. Now, knowledge does not give life ; 
 it is faith alone that saves." 
 
 He exposed the detached fibres to the sun 
 and dew, but each morning took care to bring 
 them into the tomb to prevent them from 
 rotting, and he rejoiced to feel in himself the 
 re-birth of infant simplicity. When he had
 
 234 THAI'S 
 
 woven his cord, he cut the rushes to make 
 mats and baskets. The sepulchral chamber 
 resembled the workshop of a basket-maker, 
 and Paphnutius passed easily from work to 
 prayer. God, however, was not favourable 
 to him, for one night he was awakened by 
 a voice which froze him with horror ; he 
 divined that it was the voice of the dead 
 man. 
 
 The voice uttered a rapid call, a light 
 whisper : 
 
 " Helen, Helen, come and bathe with me. 
 Come quickly ! " 
 
 A woman, whose mouth grazed the monk's 
 ear, replied : 
 
 " Friend, I cannot rise ; a man is upon me." 
 
 Suddenly Paphnutius perceived that his cheek 
 was resting upon a woman's breast. He recog- 
 nised the theorbo-player who, half freeing 
 herself, raised her breast. Then he embraced 
 desperately this wanton and perfumed flower 
 of the flesh, and consumed with the desire of 
 damnation, he cried : 
 
 " Remain, remain, my heaven ! " 
 ~ But she was already standing at the* door. 
 She laughed, and the rays of the moon silvered 
 her smile.
 
 THE EUPHORBIUM 235 
 
 " What good shall I do by remaining ? " she 
 said. " The shadow of a shadow suffices a 
 lover endowed with an imagination as vivid as 
 yours. Besides, you have sinned. What more 
 do you need ? " 
 
 Paphnutius wept throughout the night, and 
 when the dawn came he breathed a prayer 
 sweeter than a plaint : 
 
 " Jesus, my Jesus, why dost thou leave me ? 
 Thou seest the danger which threatens me. 
 Come to my aid, gentle Saviour. Since thy 
 father loves me no longer, since he hears me 
 not, consider that I have only thee. From him 
 to me nothing is possible. I cannot understand 
 him, and he cannot pity me. But thou art 
 born of a woman, that is why I hope in thee. 
 Remember thou art a man. I implore thee, 
 not because thou art God of God, light of light, 
 very God of very God, but because thou hast 
 lived poor and feeble upon this earth where I 
 suffer, because Satan wished to tempt thy flesh, 
 because the sweat of thy agony froze upon thy 
 brow. It is thy humanity I beseech, my Jesus, 
 my brother Jesus ! " 
 
 After praying thus, and wringing his hands, 
 a formidable burst of laughter shook the walls 
 of the tomb, and the voice which had sounded
 
 236 THAIS 
 
 on the summit of the column said, with a 
 sneer : 
 
 " That is a prayer worthy of the breviary 
 of Marcus the heretic. Paphnutius is an 
 Aryan. Paphnutius is an Aryan ! " 
 
 The priest fell lifeless, as if struck by 
 lightning. 
 
 When he opened his eyes, he saw around 
 him monks in black robes, pouring water on 
 his temples, and reciting exorcisms. Several 
 stood upright, holding palms. 
 
 " As we crossed the desert," one of them said, 
 " we heard cries in this tomb, and entering, 
 found you lying inert upon the stones. With- 
 out doubt, the demons had knocked you down 
 and fled at our approach." 
 
 Paphnutius, raising his head, asked in a weak 
 voice : 
 
 " Brethren, who are you ? Why are you 
 holding palms in your hands? Is not this 
 in view of my burial?" 
 
 They answered him : 
 
 " Brother, do you not know that our father 
 Anthony, at the age of 105 years, warned of 
 his approaching end, has descended from Mount 
 Colzin, whither he had retired, and has come
 
 THE EUPHORBIUM 237 
 
 to bless the countless children of his soul. We 
 are going with palms to meet our spiritual 
 father. But, brother, how is it that you are 
 ignorant of so great an event? Is it possible 
 that no angel has come to warn you in this 
 tomb." 
 
 " Alas," replied Paphnutius, " I do not de- 
 serve such goodness, and the sole guests of this 
 dwelling are demons and vampires. Pray for 
 me ! I am Paphnutius, priest of Antinoe, the 
 most miserable of God's servants." 
 
 At the name of Paphnutius all, waving their 
 palms, murmured praises. He who had already 
 spoken, cried with admiration : 
 
 " Is it possible that you are that holy man 
 Paphnutius, so celebrated in his works, that 
 people think he will some day equal the great 
 Anthony himself? O most venerable, you are 
 the man who converted the courtesan Thais, 
 and who, standing upon a lofty column, was 
 carried off by the seraphim. Those who 
 watched during the night at the foot of the 
 column saw your happy assumption. Angels' 
 wings surrounded you in a white cloud, and 
 your extended right hand blessed the dwellings 
 of men. On the morrow, when the people could 
 no longer see you, a long groan rose towards
 
 238 THAIS 
 
 the uncrowned column. But Flavian, your 
 disciple, published abroad the miracle, and 
 assumed the government of the monks in your 
 place. One simple man, named Paul, was the 
 only one who wished to contradict this unani- 
 mous sentiment. He was sure that he had seen 
 you in a dream carried off by devils ; the crowd 
 wished to stone him, and it is a wonder he 
 escaped death. I am Zozimos, abbot of those 
 hermits who are prostrate at your feet. Like 
 them I kneel before you so that you may bless 
 the father with the children. Then, you shall 
 tell us the wonders which God has deigned to 
 accomplish through your agency." 
 
 " Far from favouring me as you believe," re- 
 plied Paphnutius, " the Lord has tried me by 
 frightful temptations. I was not carried off by 
 angels. But a wall of shadow rose before my 
 eyes and walked before me. I lived in a dream. 
 Without God, everything is a dream. When I 
 made the voyage to Alexandria, I heard many 
 speeches in a few hours, and I knew that the 
 army of error was very numerous. It pursued 
 me, and I am surrounded by swords." 
 
 Zozimos replied : 
 
 " Venerable father, we must consider that 
 saints, and specially hermit- saints, undergo
 
 THE EUPHORBIUM 239 
 
 terrible temptations. If you were not carried 
 up to heaven in the arms of the seraphim, it 
 is certain that the Lord has granted this grace 
 to your image, since Flavian, monks and people, 
 were witness of your assumption." 
 
 Paphnutius resolved to go and receive 
 Anthony's benediction. 
 
 " Brother Zozimos," said he, " give me one 
 of those palms, and let us go to meet our 
 father." 
 
 " Let us go," replied Zozimos ; " military 
 order suits monks who are above all soldiers. 
 You and I, being abbots, will walk in front. 
 The others shall follow us singing psalms." 
 
 They began their march, and Paphnutius 
 said : 
 
 " God is unity, for he is the truth, which is 
 one. The world is diverse, because it is error. 
 A person must turn away from all the spectacles 
 of nature, even those most innocent in appear- 
 ance. Their diversity, which renders them 
 agreeable, is the sign that they are bad. For 
 that reason I cannot see a bunch of papyrus 
 under the sleeping waters, without my soul 
 being veiled in melancholy. Everything which 
 the senses perceive is detestable. The least 
 grain of sand brings a danger. Each thing
 
 240 THAIS 
 
 tempts us. Woman is simply composed of all 
 the temptations floating in the air, upon the 
 flowering earth, and in the clear waters. Happy 
 is he whose soul is a vast seal ! Happy he 
 who knows how to become mute, blind, and 
 deaf, and who understands nothing of the 
 world, as to understand God ! " 
 
 Zozimos, after meditating upon these words, 
 replied as follows : 
 
 " Venerable father, it is necessary for me 
 to avow my sins to you, since you have bared 
 your soul to me. So we will confess one 
 another, according to apostolic usage. Before 
 becoming a monk, I led an abominable life in 
 the world. At Madaura, a city celebrated for 
 its courtesans, I sought all sorts of love. Each 
 night I supped with young profligates and 
 flute-players, and I returned with the one who 
 pleased me most. A saint as yourself would 
 never imagine the fury of my desire. It will 
 suffice for me to say that it spared neither 
 matrons nor nuns, and spread into adultery 
 and sacrilege. I excited by wine the ardour 
 of my senses, and I was quoted rightly as the 
 hardest drinker in Madaura. I was a Christian, 
 however, and retained in my excesses faith in 
 Christ crucified. After wasting my substance
 
 THE EUPHORBIUM 241 
 
 in debauchery, I was beginning to feel the first 
 pangs of poverty, when I saw the most robust 
 of my companions in pleasure rapidly fade 
 away under the attacks of a most terrible 
 malady. His knees could no longer support 
 him ; his shaking hands refused to obey him ; 
 his darkening eyes closed. His throat gave 
 forth nothing but frightful groans. His mind, 
 more sluggish than his body, slept. For, to 
 punish him for living like a beast, God had 
 changed him into a beast. The loss of my 
 property had already inspired me with salutary 
 reflections ; but my friend's example was still 
 more precious ; it made such an impression 
 upon my heart that I left the world and 
 returned to the desert. I have enjoyed for 
 twenty years a peace which nothing has dis- 
 turbed. I follow with my monks the trade of 
 weaver, architect, carpenter, and even scribe, 
 though, to tell the truth, I have little taste 
 for writing, having always preferred action 
 to thought. My days are full of joy and my 
 nights are dreamless, and I think the grace of 
 the Lord is in me, because, in the midst of the 
 most horrible sins, I have always retained hope." 
 Hearing these words, Paphnutius raised his 
 eyes to heaven, and murmured : 
 Q
 
 242 THAIS 
 
 " Lord, thou look'st upon this man soiled 
 by so many crimes, adultery, sacrilege, with 
 gentleness, and thou turnest aside from me 
 who has always observed thy commandments ! 
 How obscure is thy justice, O my God ! How 
 impenetrable are thy ways ! " 
 
 Zozimos stretched out his arms : 
 
 " Look, venerable father : from the horizon 
 appears what seem to be black files of emigrant 
 ants. Those are our brethren, coming like 
 ourselves to meet Anthony." 
 
 When they reached the place of meeting 
 they discovered a magnificent spectacle. The 
 army of hermits extended in an immense semi- 
 circle of three rows. The first row was occupied 
 by the ancient inhabitants of the desert, cross 
 in hand, and their beards reached the ground. 
 The monks ruled by the abbots Ephrem and 
 Serapion, as well as all the Cenobites of the 
 Nile, formed the second row. Behind them 
 stood the ascetics, who had assembled from 
 far-distant rocks. Some wore upon their black 
 and withered bodies shapeless rags, others had 
 as clothing rushes bound together with viburnum. 
 Several were naked, but God had covered them 
 with hair as thick as a sheep's fleece. They 
 all held green palms in their hands, they might
 
 THE EUPHORBIUM 243 
 
 have been called an emerald rainbow, and they 
 were comparable to the choirs of the elect, or 
 the living walls of the city of God. 
 
 The assembly was so perfectly arranged that 
 Paphnutius found without difficulty the monks 
 who were under his rule. He placed himself 
 near them, after taking care to hide his face 
 in his hood, to remain unknown to them and 
 not disturb their religious expectancy. Sud- 
 denly a mighty shout arose : 
 
 " The Saint," was shouted on all sides. " The 
 Saint, there is the great Saint ! there is he, 
 against whom hell has not prevailed, the well- 
 beloved of God ! Our father Anthony ! " 
 
 Then silence reigned, and every forehead 
 was prostrate on the sand. 
 
 From the top of a hill in the mighty desert, 
 Anthony advanced, supported by his beloved 
 disciples Macairus and Amathas. He walked 
 slowly, but was upright, and in him could be 
 seen the remnant of superhuman strength. 
 His white beard covered his broad chest, his 
 polished skull reflected rays of light like the 
 forehead of Moses. His eyes were those of 
 an eagle ; a child-like smile hovered round his 
 mouth. He rose, to bless his people, though 
 his arms had been wearied by a century of
 
 244 THAIS 
 
 incredible toil, and his voice uttered at last 
 these words of love : 
 
 " How beautiful are thy pavilions, Jacob ! 
 How amiable are thy tents, Israel ! " 
 
 Immediately from end to end the living 
 wall resounded like a harmonious roll of thunder 
 with the psalm : " Happy is the man who fears 
 the Lord." 
 
 Accompanied by Macairus and Amathas, 
 Anthony traversed the ranks of the old men, 
 the Anchorites and the Cenobites. This man, 
 who had seen heaven and hell, this hermit 
 who, from the top of a rock, had ruled the 
 Christian Church, this saint who had sustained 
 the martyrs' faith in the days of supreme 
 trial, this doctor whose eloquence had battered 
 down heresy, spoke tenderly to each of his 
 sons, and wished them familiar adieus, on the 
 eve of his happy death, which God who loved 
 him had at length promised him. 
 
 He said to the abbots Ephrem and 
 Serapion : 
 
 "You command numerous armies, and you 
 are both illustrious strategists. So will you 
 in heaven be clad in golden armour, and the 
 archangel Michael will give you the title of 
 commanders of his forces."
 
 THE EUPHORBIUM 245 
 
 Seeing the old man Palemon, he kissed him, 
 and said : 
 
 " Here is the sweetest and best of my 
 children. His soul gives forth a perfume as 
 fragrant as the flower of the sweet-peas he 
 sows each year." 
 
 He spoke to the abbot Zozimos thus : 
 
 " You have not despaired of divine good- 
 ness, therefore the peace of the Lord is in 
 you. The lily of your virtues has flourished 
 upon the filth of your corruption." 
 
 His conversation to all of them showed 
 remarkable wisdom. 
 
 To the old men he said : 
 
 "The apostle saw seated around the throne 
 of God twenty - four old men, clad in white 
 robes, with crowns upon their heads." 
 
 To the young men he said : 
 
 "Be joyful; leave sorrow to those who are 
 happy in the world." 
 
 Thus traversing the front of his filial army, 
 he scattered exhortation broadcast. Paph- 
 nutius, seeing him approach, fell upon his 
 knees, torn between fear and hope. 
 
 " Father ! father ! " he cried in his anguish, 
 " come to my aid, for I perish. I gave to 
 God the soul of Thais. I have dwelt upon
 
 246 THAIS 
 
 the top of a column and in a tomb. My 
 forehead, always on the earth, has become as 
 hard as a camel's knee. But God has de- 
 parted from me. Bless me, father, and I shall 
 be saved ; shake the hyssop, and I shall be 
 washed and shine as the snow." 
 
 Anthony did not reply. He cast upon the 
 monks of Antinoe that glance which none 
 could withstand. Letting his eyes rest upon 
 Paul, called the Simple, he considered him 
 long, and then signed to him to approach. 
 As everyone was astounded at trie saint ad- 
 dressing a man deprived of his senses, Anthony 
 said : 
 
 " God has granted this man more grace 
 than any of you. Lift your eyes, my son 
 Paul, and tell us what you see in the sky." 
 
 Paul the Simple raised his eyes ; his face 
 shone, and his tongue was loosed. 
 
 " I see in the sky a bed adorned with 
 hangings of purple and gold. Around it three 
 virgins vigilantly watch, to see that no soul 
 approaches it, except the elect for whom it 
 is destined." 
 
 Believing this bed to be the symbol of his 
 glorification, Paphnutius was already returning 
 thanks to God. But Anthony signed to him
 
 THE EUPHORBIUM 247 
 
 to be silent and listen to Paul, who murmured 
 in ecstasy : 
 
 " The three virgins speak to me ; they say 
 to me : ' A saint is about to leave the earth ; 
 Thai's of Alexandria is about to die. We 
 have set up the bed of her glory, for we are 
 her virtues : Faith, Fear, and Love.' " 
 
 Anthony asked : 
 
 " Sweet child, what more do you see ? " Paul 
 vainly gazed from Zenith to Nadir, from sun- 
 set to sunrise, when suddenly his eyes met 
 the priest of Antinoe. A holy fear paled 
 his face, and his eyes reflected invisible 
 flames. 
 
 " I see," he murmured, " three demons who, 
 full of joy, prepare to seize this man. They 
 are like a tower, a woman, and a magician. 
 All three bear their names branded with red- 
 hot iron ; the first upon the forehead, the 
 second upon the belly, the third upon the 
 breast, and their names are Pride, Luxury, 
 and Doubt." 
 
 " I have seen all." 
 
 After saying this, Paul, with haggard eyes, 
 and drooping mouth, returned to his state 
 of simplicity. 
 
 As the monks of Antinoe looked uneasily
 
 248 THAIS 
 
 at Anthony, the saint pronounced these few 
 words : 
 
 " God has made known his righteous judg- 
 ment. We must adore him and be silent." 
 
 He passed, blessing as he went. The sun 
 reached the horizon, enveloping it in glory, 
 and his shadow, enormously increased by 
 the sky's favour, stretched out behind him 
 like an infinite carpet, as a sign of the long 
 souvenir this great saint would leave amongst 
 men. 
 
 Upright, but thunderstruck, Paphnutius saw 
 and heard nothing more. The words that 
 filled his ears were : " Thais is about to die ! " 
 Such a thought had never come to him. For 
 twenty years he had contemplated a mummy's 
 head, and yet the idea of death extinguishing 
 the eyes of Thais desperately astonished him. 
 
 " Thai's is about to die ! What a new and 
 horrible sense there is in these three words : 
 Thais is about to die! Then what need is 
 there for the sun, the flowers, the streams, 
 and all creation? Of what use is the uni- 
 verse ? " Suddenly he sprang up. " See her, 
 see her once more ! " He began to run. He 
 knew not where he was, but instinct led him 
 with entire certainty ; he went straight to the
 
 THE EUPHORBIUM 249 
 
 Nile. A swarm of sails covered the waters 
 of the river. He leapt into a boat, manned 
 by Nubians, and there, reclining in the bows, 
 devouring distance with his eyes, he cried in 
 grief and rage : 
 
 " Fool that I was not to possess Thai's while 
 there was yet time! Fool to believe that there 
 was anything in the world but her ! Madman ! 
 I have thought of God, of my soul's safety, 
 of eternal life, as if all that counted for any- 
 thing after seeing Thai's. Why did I not 
 perceive that eternal happiness was in one 
 alone of this woman's kisses, that without 
 her life has no sense, and is only a bad 
 dream ? Stupid, you saw her, and yet de- 
 sired possessions in another world ! Coward, 
 you saw her, and feared God ! God ! Heaven ! 
 What is that, and what have they to offer 
 worth the least part of what she would have 
 given you? O lamentable madman, who 
 sought divine goodness elsewhere than upon 
 the lips of Thais ! What hand was over your 
 eyes? Cursed be the man who blinded you 
 then ! You might have bought for the price 
 of damnation a moment of her love, and you 
 have not done so. She opened to you her 
 arms, formed of flesh and the perfume of
 
 250 THAIS 
 
 flowers, and you did not bury yourself in 
 the unutterable enchantments of her unveiled 
 breast ! You listened to the jealous voice 
 which said to you : ' Abstain.' Dupe, dupe, 
 sad dupe ! O regrets ! O remorse ! O de- 
 spair ! Not to have the joy of carrying into 
 hell the memory of an ineffaceable hour, and 
 crying to God : ' Burn my flesh, dry up all 
 the blood in my veins, shiver my bones 
 into fragments, but you cannot take from 
 me the recollection which will perfume and 
 refresh me throughout the centuries ! . q 
 Thais is about to die ! Ridiculous God, if 
 thou knew'st how I laugh at thy hell ! Thai's 
 is about to die ; she will never be mine, 
 never, never ! ' ' 
 
 While the boat drifted with the rapid current, 
 he remained whole days reclining on his belly, 
 repeating : 
 
 " Never ! Never ! Never ! " 
 
 Then at the idea that she had given herself, 
 and not to him, that s.he had scattered over 
 the world waves of love, and that he had not 
 moistened his lips in them, he stood fiercely 
 up, and howled with grief. He tore his breast 
 with his nails, and bit the flesh of his arms. 
 He thought :
 
 THE EUPHORBIUM 251 
 
 " Could I but kill all those she has loved." 
 The idea of this slaughter filled him with 
 delightful fury. He meditated devouring Nicias 
 slowly, leisurely, as he looked deep into his 
 eyes. Then his fury suddenly left him. He 
 wept and sobbed. He became weak and 
 gentle. An unknown tenderness softened his 
 soul. A desire seized him to throw himself 
 upon the neck of the companion of his youth 
 and say to him : " Nicias, I love you, as you 
 loved her. Speak to me of her ! Tell me 
 what she said to you." Without ceasing, the 
 iron of these words, " Thai's is about to die," 
 entered his soul. 
 
 " Light of day, silver shades of night, stars, 
 heavens, trees with trembling tops, wild beasts, 
 animals, men's anxious souls, do you not 
 understand : ' Thais is about to die ! ' Light, 
 breezes, and perfumes disappear. Forms and 
 thoughts of the universe, efface yourselves ! 
 ' Thais is about to die ! ' She was the 
 beauty of the world, and all who approached 
 her were adorned with the reflection of her 
 grace. How amiable were the old man and 
 the sages, who sat near her at the banquet 
 at Alexandria ! How harmonious was their 
 conversation ! The swarm of laughing smiles
 
 252 THAIS 
 
 hovered on their lips, and pleasure perfumed 
 all their thoughts. And because the breath 
 of Thais was upon them, all they said was 
 love, beauty, and truth. Charming impiety 
 lent its grace to their conversation. They 
 easily expressed human splendour. Alas, all 
 that is now only a dream ! Thais is about to 
 die ! Oh, how naturally I shall die of her 
 death ! But can you only die, withered 
 embryo, fetus macerated in gall and 'tears? 
 Miserable abortion, do you think you will 
 taste death, you who never knew life? Pro- 
 vided God exists and damns me ! I hope so, 
 I desire it, God, whom I hate, hear me. Cast 
 me into damnation. To compel you to do 
 I so spit in your face. I must find an eternal 
 hell, in which to exhale the eternity of rage 
 which is in me." 
 iv$" :w"I i>qqjs<ir> aamphaq bnR ,j aaad 
 
 At dawn, Albina received the priest of 
 Antinoe on the threshold of the huts. 
 
 " You are welcome to our tabernacle of peace, 
 venerable father ; for without a doubt you are 
 come to bless the saint you gave us. You 
 know that God in his clemency calls her to 
 him ; why should you not know news the 
 angels have borne from desert to desert? It
 
 THE EUPHORBIUM 253 
 
 is true that Thais approaches her happy end. 
 Her works are ended, and I must tell you in 
 a few words of her conduct while among us. 
 After your departure, as she was shut in the 
 hut marked with your seal, I sent her, with 
 her food, a flute like those the girls of her 
 profession play at feasts. I did this so that 
 she should not become melancholy, nor have 
 less grace and talent before God than she had 
 shown to men's eyes. I acted wisely ; for 
 Thais every day celebrated on the flute the 
 praises of the Saviour, and the virgins, whom 
 the sounds of the invisible flute attracted, said : 
 ' We hear the nightingale of the celestial 
 groves, the dying swan of Jesus crucified.' 
 Thus was Thais accomplishing her peni- 
 tence, when after sixty days the door you 
 had sealed opened by itself, and the seal of 
 clay broke without being touched by any 
 human hand. At this sign I recognised that 
 the trial you had imposed upon her must 
 cease, and that God pardoned the flute-player's 
 sins. From that time she shared the life of 
 my daughters, working and praying with 
 them. She edified them by the modesty of 
 her gestures and words, and she seemed to be 
 the statue of shame among them. Sometimes
 
 254 THAI'S 
 
 she was sad ; but these clouds passed. When 
 I saw she was attached to God by faith, hope, 
 and love, I did not fear to employ her art 
 and even her beauty for the edification of her 
 sisters. I invited her to represent before us 
 the actions of the brave women and wise 
 virgins of the Scriptures. She imitated 
 Esther, Deborah, Judith, Mary, the sister of 
 Lazurus, and Mary, the mother of Jesus. I 
 know, venerable father, that your austerity is 
 alarmed at the idea of these representations. 
 But you would yourself have been touched 
 if you had seen her, in those pious scenes, 
 burst into real tears and stretch forth her 
 arms like palms to heaven. I have for a 
 long period governed women, and one of my 
 rules is never to counteract their nature. All 
 seeds do not give the same flowers. All souls 
 are not sanctified in the same way. We must 
 also consider that Thais gave herself to God 
 when she was still beautiful, and such a sacri- 
 fice, if it is not unique, is very rare indeed. 
 This beauty, her robe of nature, has not left 
 her after three months of fever, of which she 
 is dying. As during her illness she cease- 
 lessly asks to see the sky, I have her brought 
 every morning into the courtyard near the
 
 THE EUPHORBIUM 255 
 
 well under the ancient fig-tree, in whose 
 shade the abbesses of this convent hold their 
 assemblies ; you will find her there, venerable 
 father ; but hasten, for God calls her, and 
 this evening a shroud will cover the face 
 which God made for the scandal and edifica- 
 of the world. 
 
 Paphnutius followed Albina into the court- 
 yard flooded with the morning light. Along 
 the brick roofs doves formed a string of pearls. 
 Upon a bed, in the shade of the fig-tree, Thais 
 lay quite white with her arms crossed. Stand- 
 ing by her side, veiled women recited the 
 prayer of the agony. 
 
 " Have pity on me, my God, according to 
 thy great loving kindness, and wipe out my 
 iniquity according to the multitude of thy 
 mercy ! " 
 
 He called to her : 
 
 " Thais." 
 
 She lifted her eyelids, and turned in the 
 direction of the voice her white eyeballs. 
 Albina signed to the veiled women to draw 
 back a few steps. 
 
 " Thais," repeated the monk. 
 
 She raised her head ; a light whisper came 
 from between her white lips :
 
 256 THAI'S 
 
 "Is it you, father? Do you recollect the 
 water of the fountain and the dates we 
 gathered ? That day, father, I was born to 
 love and life." 
 
 She ceased to speak, and her head fell back. 
 
 Death was upon her, and the sweat of agony 
 crowned her forehead. Breaking the dreadful 
 silence came the plaintive cry of a turtle-dove. 
 Then the monk's sobs mingled with the virgins' 
 psalms. 
 
 " Wash me from my wickedness and cleanse 
 me from my sin. For I know my wickedness 
 and my sin is ever before me." 
 
 Suddenly Thais rose up in her bed. Her 
 violet eyes opened wide ; and with far-off 
 looks, and arms outstretched toward the 
 distant hills, she said in a clear and fresh 
 voice : 
 
 " There is the rosy dawn of eternal morning." 
 
 Her eyes shone ; a gentle fervour coloured 
 her temples. She lived more sweet and beauti- 
 ful than ever. Paphnutius, kneeling before 
 her, clasped her in his brown arms. 
 
 " Do not die," he cried, in a voice so strange 
 that he did not recognise it himself. " I love 
 you, do not die ! Listen, my Thais. I have 
 deceived you, and I was but a miserable fool.
 
 THE EUPHORBIUM 257 
 
 God, heaven, both are nothing. Nothing is 
 true but life on earth, and carnal love. I love 
 you, do not die. That would be impossible ; 
 you are too precious. Come, come with me ; 
 I will carry you far in my arms. Come, let 
 us love. Hear me, my beloved, and say : ' I 
 will live, I desire to live.' Thais, Thais, 
 arise ! " 
 
 She did not hear him. Her eyes swam in 
 the infinite. 
 
 She murmured : 
 
 " Heaven is opening. I see angels, prophets, 
 and saints ; holy Theodore is among them, his 
 hands full of flowers ; he is smiling and call- 
 ing me. Two seraphim come to me. They 
 approach . . . how beautiful they are ! . . . I 
 see God." 
 
 She uttered a sigh of pleasure, and her head 
 fell back upon the pillow motionless. Thais 
 was dead. Paphnutius, in desperate embrace, 
 devoured her with desire, rage, and love. 
 
 Albina shouted to him : 
 
 " Go away, wretch ! " 
 
 She gently placed her fingers upon the 
 eyelids of the dead. Paphnutius recoiled, 
 trembling ; his eyes were burnt up by flames, 
 and he felt the earth open under his feet. 
 R
 
 258 THAIS 
 
 The virgins intoned the canticle of Zacharias : 
 "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel." 
 Suddenly their voices died in their throats. 
 
 They had seen the priest's face, and fled in 
 
 fear, crying : 
 
 " A vampire ! A vampire ! " 
 
 He had become so hideous that, passing his 
 
 hand across his face, he could feel his ugliness. 
 
 THE END 
 
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