Mitchell Starrett Buck

“ As she was beautiful and much desired, she had selected her lovers daintily, choosing only those who were fair and who pleased her, refusing herself to the others. And her fame had spread for a day, even over Alexandria where beauty was seen on every hand and over which the perfume of love hovered like a luminous cloud, as the poets had said.
Even the philosophers had come to her, and she had received them with a little laugh, proud of her triumph over them, and had pulled their grey beards and ruffled their hair, mimicking their ponderous attempts to retain a profound dignity. ”

“ The tremble of a step upon the earth roused her. Languidly, she raised her head and saw a man, one of the poor Egyptians, standing near her.
Two days before, she would have welcomed one of these men who sometimes entered the wood, paying a few oboli for the favors of the poor courtesans. But, this night, she felt that her life was over; she felt that she was going to die. The thought of love sickened her.
She shook her head wearily and dropped it once more upon her arms. But the man, with a rough laugh, bent down and clasped her. She struggled weakly for a moment, but had no strength. ”

“ If these, even, are not all thou wishest, then I will sing thee other songs. Voluptuousness will overwhelm thee; thou wilt forget the purpled night; even the wine cup will fall unheeded to the ground. ”