Daphnis and Chloe

“ The rams chased the sheep which had not yet borne young, and mounted them. The he-goats also chased the she-goats with even greater heat, leaped amorously upon them, and fought for them. Each had his own mate, and jealously guarded her against the attacks of a wanton rival. At this sight even old men would have felt the fire of love rekindled within them: the more so Daphnis and Chloe, who were young and tortured by desire, and had long been in quest of the delights of love. ”

“ The love of a man for a girl is perhaps different from any other passion our souls on earth are tempered with. Daphnis and Chloe are pretty, natural, charming to paint and write vers de société about; but so simple as to be shallow, so natural as to be replaceable. To Daphnis, we know that any other Chloe will be Chloe too. And they are in reality selfish; they seek the consummation of their wishes: he his, she hers. It may be the same human energy ”

“ Every one kist him and hugg'd him in their arms, rejoycing, and weeping. But Daphnis embraced his Father and his Mother the most familiarly of all the rest, and cling'd to them as if he had known them long before, and would not part out of their arms. So quickly comes belief to joyn with nature. An oblivion of Chloe had now begun by little and little to steal upon him. ”

“ Daphnis collects the wandering sheep of Chloe, and Chloe drives from the rocks the goats of Daphnis. They make reeds in common, and share together their milk and their wine;—their youth, their beauty, the season of the year, everything tends to inspire them with a mutual passion: at length Daphnis having one day fallen into a covered pit which was dug for a wolf, and being considerably hurt, receives from Chloe a kiss, which serves as the first fuel to the flame of love. ”

“ An enchanted freshness breathes back to one from the mere memory of the scene, so magically pervaded with the spell of running waters in secret rocky places, to the awe of a boy's first revelation of the fay-like being that must be more than mere mortal girl. It is the eternal Daphnis and Chloe, unsophisticated by afterthought, unshadowed by experience.
Intolerably sentimental as St. Pierre's romance may seem to-day, yet how deathlessly flower-like is his picture of the little Paul and Virginia in their East Indian paradise! ”

“ Could Chloe have tasted some poison before she kissed me? If so, how is it that she survives? How sweetly the swallows twitter, whilst my pipe is mute! How gaily the kids skip and play, whilst I sink into listless repose! How beautifully the flowers shoot forth, but I am not weaving garlands! The violets and the lilies of the valley are blooming, but Daphnis droops and fades away. Dorcon will soon appear more comely than myself!"
Such were the sensations of poor Daphnis, and thus he vented his feelings; like one within whose heart the sparks of love have for the first time been kindled. ”

“ Daphnis swam in the rivers, Chloe bathed in the springs: he played on the pipe, in rivalry with the rustling of the pines, she emulated the nightingales in her song: they chased the noisy locusts, caught the chirping grasshoppers, plucked the flowers, shook the fruit from the trees and ate it: they even sometimes lay naked together side by side under the same goatskin. Then Chloe would have soon become a woman, had not Daphnis been deterred by his horror of blood. ”

“ I am not the child you take me to be. I look like a child; but I am older than Saturn, aye, older than Time himself. I knew you well, Philetas, when you were in the flower of your youth, and when you tended your wide-spread herds in yonder marsh. I was near you, when you sat beneath those beech-trees, and piped and sang the praises of your sweetheart Amaryllis: I was close to the damsel, but you could not discern me. I gave her to you, and some brave boys, who are now excellent husbandmen and herdsmen, are the pledges of your love. At the present time I have taken charge of Daphnis and Chloe ”

“ When noontide drew nigh they felt more ardently in love than ever; Chloe pined and languished at the sight of Daphnis's comeliness which seemed to be without flaw or blemish, and when Daphnis beheld Chloe in her fawn-skin and with the garland of pine-leaves about her brow holding out the bowl to him, he fancied that he beheld one of the Nymphs of the grotto, and drawing near he took the garland from her head and placed it on his own. ”

“ Do not complain of us, Daphnis; we take more interest in Chloe than you yourself do. We took compassion on her when she was an infant: when she was exposed in this grotto we adopted her and saw to her bringing up. She is no more the daughter of Dryas than you are the son of Lamon. We are even now watching over her, and the Methymnaeans shall not make her a slave, nor treat her as part of their spoil. ”

“ They each thought that they beheld the Nymphs of the grotto, where the fountain played and where Dryas had found the little girl, presenting Daphnis and Chloe to a young boy of very sprightly gait and beautiful mien, who had wings on his shoulders, and who carried a little bow and some arrows in his hand. The urchin lightly touched the young people with one of his shafts, and commanded them to devote themselves to a pastoral life. To Daphnis he gave the charge of goats, whilst to Chloe he committed the care of sheep. ”

“ Then Chloe hastened to the grotto, and swore by the Nymphs that she would live and die with Daphnis. After that, in the simplicity of her heart, she required that Daphnis should bind himself by a second oath.
"Pan," said she, "by whom you swore, is a fickle lover, on whom one can place no reliance. He loved Pitys, he loved Syrinx, he never ceases from pursuing the Epimelian Nymphs, he is always pestering the Dryads with his addresses. He who breaks his own vows will but laugh if you betray your faith to me, even should you attach yourself to more damsels than there are reeds in this pipe. ”

“ All these things he represented so aptly and clearly in his dancing, that they all thought, they verily was before their face, the Vines, the Grapes, the Must, the Butts, and that Dryas did drink indeed. This third old man when he had pleased them so well with his dance, embraced and kist Daphnis and Chloe. Therefore they two rising quickly, fell to dancing Lamo's Tale. Daphnis played Pan; and Chloe, Syrinx. He wooes, and prayes, to persuade, and win her; she shews her disdain, laughs at his love, and flies him. ”

“ Who can Daphnis be? He was suckled by a goat: the Gods themselves must have provided for him: — he is very handsome, and bears no resemblance to Lamon, whose nose is flat, or to Myrtale whose head is growing bald. He gave me three thousand drachmas — few goat-herds have as many nuts of their own! Was he exposed like Chloe? Was he found, as I found her, with tokens about his person? O Pan, O Nymphs, grant that it may be so. Peradventure the finding of his own parents may conduce to the discovery of those of Chloe. ”

“ Daphnis, in the course of this embrace, straining Chloe more tightly to his bosom, she falls upon her side, and he falls with her, and thus acting out the image of their dreams, they long lay locked in each other's arms. Their innocence knew nothing beyond this; they imagined that love had nothing farther to bestow; so after fruitlessly passing the greater portion of the day in this manner, they separated, and drove home their flocks, loathing the approach of night. ”

“ As the spring drew nigh the snow melted, the earth displayed itself, and the grass began to grow. Then the shepherds and herdsmen again led their flocks to pasture, and Daphnis and Chloe were earlier than all others, for they themselves were guided by the mightiest of shepherds, Love. ”

“ Dryas and his family arose and, having sacrificed a yearling ram to Bacchus, lighted a large fire to boil the meat. Whilst Nape made the bread, and Dryas attended to the meat, Daphnis and Chloe retired to the arbour, where they fixed snares and spread birdlime, and again caught a number of birds whilst exchanging kisses and delightful converse.
"Naught but the hope of seeing you brought me here, my Chloe," said the youth. "I know it, my dear Daphnis." "It is solely on your account that these poor birds perish. What place have I in your affections? ”

“ But Daphnis considering with himself what had been said, remitted much of that impetuous heat he had to Chloe. For he durst not venture to presse her beyond his former kissing and embracing: because he could not endure that she should make an outcry, as against an Enemy, or shed tears for any grief or anguish from him, and much lesse that she should bleed, as if she had bin slain by Daphnis. ”

“ At some emotional crisis the youngsters bemoan to themselves their lot. Chloe, falling in love with Daphnis when she sees him bathe in the cave of the Nymphs, laments the pain in her heart that is worse than a bee-sting. [241] After Daphnis has been recognized as the son of the great Dionysophanes, Chloe weeps at being forgotten, is sure Daphnis is breaking his oath of faithfulness and bids him farewell since she will surely die. [242] Daphnis makes moan more often. When the kiss of Chloe has set him on fire, he complains that his heart leaps up; his soul is weakened ”

“ When the robbers beheld the tall and handsome youth, a more valuable booty than any they could find in the fields, they paid no heed to the goats or the other fields, but carried him off to their ship, weeping and in great distress what to do, and calling the while for Chloe in a loud voice. No sooner had they loosed the cable, and begun to ply their oars, and put out to sea, than Chloe drove down her flock, bringing with her a new pipe as a present to Daphnis. ”

“ Daphnis and Chloe are variously affected. Daphnis tells the Tale of the Stock-dove. The Tyrian Pyrats plunder the fields, and carry away Daphnis. Chloe not knowing what to do, runs up to Dorco, whom she finds a dying of his wounds; he gives her a Pipe of wonderful powers; she playes on it, and the Oxen and Cowes, that were carried away, turn over the Vessell; They and Daphnis swim to the Land, while the armed Pyrats drown. Then they bury poor Dorco, and return to their wonted game. ”

“ As an analysis of feeling, Daphnis and Chloë makes a nearer approach to the modern novel than its chief rival among Greek erotic romances, the Aethiopica of Heliodorus, which is remarkable mainly for the ingenious succession of incidents. Daphnis and Chloë, two children found by shepherds, grow up together, nourishing a mutual love which neither suspects. The development of this simple passion forms the chief interest, and there are few incidents. Chloë is carried off by a pirate, and ultimately regains her family. Rivals alarm the peace of mind of Daphnis ”

“ Chloe would neglect her flock to roam in search of day-lilies, the stalks of which she twisted into traps for locusts; while Daphnis often played from morn till eve upon a pipe, which he had formed of slender reeds, perforating them between their joints, and securing them together with soft wax. The young folks now often shared their milk and wine, and made a common meal of the food which they had brought from home as provision for the day; and the sheep might sooner have been seen to disperse and browse apart, than Daphnis to separate himself from Chloe. ”

“ Here there is no fixed or formal posing, if we except the attitude adopted (after a preliminary and irrelevant twiddle) by certain Nymphs to indicate, appropriately enough, their grief over the inanimate form of Daphnis. The dances in which, to the mutual suspicion of the lovers, Chloë was circled by the men and Daphnis by the maidens, were a pure delight. There was one movement, when heads were tossed back and then brought swiftly forward over hollowed breasts and lifted knees that had in it an exquisite fleeting beauty. ”

“ It now became manifest that beauty is enhanced by adornment. Indeed Chloe, richly attired, with her hair braided and her face shining from the bath, looked far more beautiful than before, and Daphnis himself could barely recognise her. Any spectator, without even knowing her history, would have sworn that she could not be the daughter of Dryas. Nevertheless the latter was invited to the banquet at which he and Nape together with Lamon and Myrtale reclined upon the same couch. ”

“ After that, Daphnis and Chloe return to the fields. Philetas the Herdsman, entertains them with a discourse of Cupid, and Love. Love increases betwixt them. In the mean time, the young men of' Methymne, come into the fields of Mitylene, to hawk and hunt. Their Pinnace having lost her Cable, hey fasten her to the shore with a With. A Goat gnawes the with in pieces. The Ship with the Money, and other riches, is blown off to Sea. The Methymnæans madded at it, look about for him that did it: they light upon Daphnis, and pay him soundly. The Countrey Lads come in to help him. ”

“ Having beheld this vision and heard these words Daphnis sprang up, and, with his eyes full of tears, partly of grief and partly of delight, he paid his adorations to the Nymphs, and vowed that upon Chloe's safe return he would sacrifice the best she-goat of his herd to the protecting Deities. Then leaving the grotto he ran to the pine beneath the shade of which Pan's statue stood. The rural God had the legs and hoofs of a goat, and horns sprouted from his forehead. ”