order to Rome. But no Lucumo was willing to rule so violent a city, hence its rulers were merely kings under the Tarquinian Lucumo.”
Although the Tyrrhenian’s tale was alarming I did not hesitate, for the signs were too clear to be misunderstood. The willow leaf meant a river, the wolf cub Rome, and the birds had flown northward with loud honkings. There I must flee with my family, nor would I have anything to fear in a city which, after banishing its king, welcomed even criminals and outlaws.
Xenodotos had been listening to our conversation impatiently and asked finally, “What are you talking about so busily, or have you already tired of conversing with me, you civilized Siccanian?”
“The merchant is telling me about his home town, although the Etruscans usually are not garrulous,” I replied. “But let us speak Greek again if you wish.”
The merchant said irritably, “I would certainly not have become talkative if you had not shown me the sacred sea horse. It is the work of the ancients and more valuable than my own bronze emblem.” Then regretting his candor, he went to rest and covered his head with his cloak. The servants also settled down to sleep.
When Xenodotos and I were alone I said to him, “I have a wife and two children, but because of the signs and omens that I have received I am compelled to leave the forest of the Siccani.”
“Come with me when I sail with Skythes back to lonia and from there to Susa,” he suggested. “The Great King will give you a place among his escorts as the Siccanian chief. Perhaps when you have learned the Persian language and customs the King may even make you the king of the Siccani.”
I shook my head. “My signs indicate the north and not the east. But if you will take me under your protection until I can sail from Sicily I will teach you all that I know about the Siccani and the land of Eryx, and that is not little.”
He protested and called me mad for not seizing an opportunity the like of which came but once in a lifetime to my kind.
I remained firm, however, and said, “As an Ionian you were born a scoffer and knowledge has deepened your skepticism. But even a skeptic must believe omens, if only in the same manner as Darius’ competitors when his horses were the first to whinny.”
We laughed together, but soon Xenodotos glanced toward the black forest, covered his mouth with his hand and said, “Still, I don’t reject heavenly or subterranean spirits. I know well that there are wanton shades which can chill a person’s blood.”
We talked of many other matters as well, while he cared for his beard, oiled his face and braided his hair for the night. He regretted not being able to serve wine because of the difficulties of transportation.
“But your friendship is more intoxicating to me than wine,” he said courteously. “You are a powerful man. I admire your strong muscles and your beautifully browned skin.” He began to caress my shoulders and cheeks with soft hands and insisted that I kiss him as a token of our friendship. Although he was a charming man and smelled sweet, I did not comply for I knew well what he wanted.
When he had returned to his senses we agreed that he would follow the Etruscan to the other trading places in order to sec as much as possible of the Siccanian territory and to mark on a map the rivers, springs, trading posts and mountains to the extent that it was possible in the bewildering forest. I said I would meet him at that same spot with my family when the merchant’s goods had been exhausted. Xenodotos wondered why I did not determine the day and moment of our meeting in advance. It was difficult for me to convince him that I would know of his coming anyway.
As I approached our home cave through the thickets, I heard the children’s merry voices, for Hiuls and Misme did not know how to play silently like the Siccanian children. In the Siccanian manner I entered without a greeting, seated myself on the ground and touched the warm hearthstones. The children hastened to clamber onto my shoulders and from the corner of my eye I noticed the dumb joy in Hanna’s dark face. But Arsinoe was angry, slapped the children and demanded to know where I had again been without leaving word of myself.
“I must talk to you, Turms,” she said and sent the children into the forest with Hanna.
I tried to embrace her but she thrust me away. “Turms, my patience is at an end. I can bear no more. Doesn’t the sight of your children growing into barbarians without proper companions make you suffer? Soon it will be time for Hiuls to receive instruction from an able teacher in some civilized city. I don’t care where we go so long as I can breathe city air, walk on paved streets, visit the shops and bathe in warm water. You have made me so poor, Turms, that I don’t demand much of you. But this much at least you owe me, and think also of the children’s good.”
She talked so fast that I had no chance to speak, and when I tried to put my arms around her she again pushed me away.
“Yes, that’s all you want of me and it makes no difference whether I am lying on coarse moss or on a triple mattress. But I have listened to your excuses long enough, and you will not touch me until you have promised to take us away from here. Otherwise I will leave with the first merchant who comes along and take the children with me. I think I am still enough of a woman to be able to entice a man although you have done your best to destroy my beauty and health.”
She paused for breath. I stared at her through new eyes and felt no desire to embrace her. Hatred had made her face hard as a rock, her voice was shrill and the strands of her black hair wriggled on her shoulders like snakes. An evil spell caught me in its grip as though I were staring at the face of Gorgon. I rubbed my eyes.
Thinking that I was searching for new excuses to remain with the Siccani, she stamped her foot and raged, “Cowardice makes you hide behind the trees and be content with a worthless life. If I had believed Dorieus I would be the queen of Segesta and the personification of the goddess for the entire land of Eryx. I don’t understand how I could ever have loved you and I don’t regret that I have had my own joys of which you are unaware.”
Realizing that she had said too much she corrected herself smoothly. “I mean that I have met the goddess and that she enters my body as before. Now that the goddess has forgiven me I no longer have any reason to avoid people.”
It was her turn to evade my glance. She softened, seized my arms and said, “Turms, remember that you can thank only me for your life when Dorieus planned to kill you.”
Having learned to lie to Arsinoe, it was easy to conceal my thoughts from her, although there was a roaring in my ears and comprehension came to me in a sudden flash as though a layer of dark clouds had been rent.
Controlling myself, I said to her, “If the goddess actually has appeared to you that is a sufficient sign. We shall leave within a few days, for I have already arranged everything. But the pleasure of my surprise is spoiled by your cruel words.”
At first she did not believe me, but when I told her about the Etruscan and Xenodotos she burst into tears of joy, came to me tenderly and would have embraced me in gratitude. For the first time she had to coax me before I consented to take her in my arms. When I had relented I jestingly told her about Xenodotos’ attempt to seduce me.
Arsinoe stared past me with eyes like dark pools and said, “He is much mistaken in believing that he can find greater joy in a man than in a woman. If you were not so ridiculously jealous, Turms, I could prove that to him with the aid of the goddess.”
She proved it to me in such an agonizingly rapturous manner that my joy was closer to torment than ever before, and I knew that I loved her no matter what she had done just because she was what she was and could be nothing else. Throwing her arms violently over her head, she breathed hotly into my mouth, stared at me through narrowed eyes and whispered, “Turms, Turms, in love-making you are like a god and there is no more wonderful man than you!”
She raised herself lazily onto her elbow and began to caress my. neck. “If I understood you correctly, that Xenodotos would take you safely to the court of the Persian king. We would see the big cities of the world and you would receive royal gifts in the name of the Siccani. I’m sure that I could win many friends for you among the eyes and ears of the King. Why then have you chosen barbaric Rome of which you know nothing?”
“Only a moment ago you said that you would be content with any city if only I took you away from here. Your appetite seems to grow as you eat, Arsinoe.”
She wound her arms around me, widened her eyes and breathed, “Yes, Turms, my appetite grows as you well know, or have you already tired of me?”
I did not resist although I realized with painful clarity that she tempted me only to bend me to her will. When she again began to talk of Susa and Persepolis I rose to stretch my limbs and went to the entrance of the
