Nepenthe

“ Surely there is nothing new under the sun.
This marvelous drug, often called Nepenthe from one of its attributes, has naturally aroused much curiosity among the many-minded readers of Homer down the ages. Some have held that it was an herb, which they have pointed out in the valley of the Nile. Others hold it to be opium literally, though it does not here put to sleep or silence the company. On the other hand allegory has tried its hand at the word. ”

“ Milton also alludes to a famous recipe for an invigorating draft, called Nepenthe, which the Egyptian queen gave to Helen:
Not that Nepenthes which the wife of Thone
In Egypt gave to Jove-born Helena,
Is of such power to stir up joy as this,
To life so friendly or so cool to thirst. [325]
At last, arriving in safety at Sparta, Menelaüs and Helen resumed their royal dignity, and lived and reigned in splendor; and when Telemachus, the son of Ulysses, in search of his father, arrived at Sparta, he found them celebrating the marriage of their daughter Hermione to Neoptolemus, son of Achilles. ”

“ Denis remarked, after a critical glance in the same direction:
"I notice that the Commissioner looks redder in the face than when I last saw him."
"That," said Keith, "is one of Mr. Parker's characteristics."
CHAPTER III Concerning the life and martyrdom of Saint Dodekanus, patron of Nepenthe, we possess hardly any information of a trustworthy nature. It is with his career as with that of other saints: they become overlaid—encrusted, as it were—with extraneous legendary material in the course of ages, even as a downward-rolling avalanche gathers snow. The nucleus is hard to find. ”

“ For Nepentheans are born politicians and courteous by nature. It is their heritage from the Good Duke Alfred to "keep smiling." A shout was expected of them under the circumstances; it costs nothing and may even do good, inasmuch as Saint Dodekanus could remove the ashes as easily as he had sent them. ”

“ Nephthys saith: "O Beautiful Prince, come to thy house. Let thy heart rejoice and be glad, for thine enemies have ceased to be. Thy two Sisters are nigh unto thee; they guard thy bier, they address thee with words [full of] tears as thou liest prone on thy bier. Look thou at the young women; speak to us, O our Sovereign Lord. Destroy thou all the misery that is in our hearts; the chiefs among gods and men look upon thee. Turn thou towards us thy face, O our Sovereign Lord. ”

“ IN THE second generation the Nephites began to grow numerous, and iniquity made its appearance among them. It was then that Jacob their priest, prophesied: The time speedily cometh, that except ye repent, they [the Lamanites] [Pg 311] shall possess the land of your inheritance, and the Lord God will lead away the righteous out from among you. This prophecy was completely fulfilled, if not on previous occasions, about 300 years or so afterwards, when Mosiah, by the command of God, led the righteous Nephites out of the land of their inheritance—the land of Nephi—down into the land of Zarahemla. ”

“ The ten Kings were no longer alone. The learned gentleman—no one had noticed how he got there—stood with them on the steps of an altar, on which lay the dead body of the black bull. All the rest of the courtyard was thick with people, seemingly of all classes, and all were shouting, 'The sea—the sea!'
'Be calm,' said the most kingly of the Kings, he who had lassoed the bull. 'Our town is strong against the thunders of the sea and of the sky!'
'I want to go home,' whined the Psammead.
'We can't go without him,' said Anthea firmly.
'Jimmy,' she called, 'Jimmy!' and waved to him. ”

“ Oh, Panther - I want to go home! I want to go home!'
'Hush, hush,' Anthea said. 'Don't, dear. It'll be all right, somehow. Don't, don't -'
'Let her cry,' said Robert desperately; 'if she howls loud enough, someone may hear and come and let us out.'
'And see the soda-water thing,' said Anthea swiftly. 'Robert, don't be a brute. Oh, Jane, do try to be a man! It's just the same for all of us.'
Jane did try to 'be a man' - and reduced her howls to sniffs.
There was a pause. Then Cyril said slowly, 'Look here. We must risk that syphon. ”

“ And it came to pass that the people of Nephi took their tents, and departed out of the valley of Gideon towards their city, which was the city of Zarahemla. And behold, as they were crossing the river Sidon, the Lamanites and the Amlicites
being as numerous almost, as it were, as the sands of the sea, came upon them to destroy them; nevertheless the Nephites being strengthened by the hand of the Lord, having prayed mightily to him that he would deliver them out of the hands of their enemies ”

“ And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the Lord am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty one of Jacob. [3]
1 Nephi 7 CHAPTER VII. And now it came to pass that after I, Nephi, after that I had read these things which were engraven upon the plates of brass, my brethren came unto me and said unto me, What meaneth these things which ye have read? Behold, are they to be understood according to the spirit and not the flesh? ”

“ The glad dance of the leaves in the green wood paled before the father, full of glad questionings and comments, his trembling hands stirring deep drifts of rustling leaves—notes for the new book, on all sorts of odd scraps of paper—it was good to be at home where one was so loved, so desired. And he told himself that he must have fallen asleep in the wood. Certainly the girl from the Museum could never have fallen asleep there.
Tea was served under the copper-beech.
"Are you expecting any one?" Neville asked, for the cups were four.
"Only Phil—your father's secretary, I mean," said the aunt. ”

“ But I count upon the coward's part, and I say that a man will think twice about dying for such as Czerny and his ambitions. Let that be in all your minds, and remember—for God's sake remember—what you are fighting for."
"For women's honour and good men's lives," said Captain Nepeen, quietly. "Yes; that's the stake, gentlemen. I don't think we need say any more to nerve our arms and clear our eyes. We fight for all that is most dear to honest men. If we fail, let us at least fail like true seamen who answer 'Here' when duty has called." ”

“ Neville heard the aunt speak kindly to the girl, heard his name and another name, and found himself bowing to the girl whose lips—— But he heard nothing distinctly, because of the horrible new certainty that sprang at him. It was true. It was no vision. This girl whose eyes had haunted him among the Egyptian tombs more than once and more than twice—this demure girl who was his father's secretary, this girl had really of her own free will drawn down the head of a perfect stranger with that arm now reached out for her tea cup, had drawn it down till the stranger's lips lay on hers. ”

“ As I, Jacob, now grow old, I finish my record on the small plates that Nephi gave me. The Nephite history is kept on Nephi's larger plates.
The best way I can describe our lives is by saying that they passed like a dream. We were a lonesome and solemn people--wandering outcasts from Jerusalem, born in tribulation in the wilderness and hated by our brethren, who caused wars and contentions. And so we mourned out our days.
When I, Jacob, realized I would soon die, I told my son Enos to take charge of all the plates. ”

“ Alma was a remarkable character. He was the son of the Nephite High Priest of the same name. In his youthful days he had been exceedingly wayward, and had united with the sons of King Mosiah II, in their efforts to overthrow what they called the superstition of their fathers. Being young men of marked abilities and pleasing address, the mischief they did was appalling. The very pillars of the Church seem to be shaken by their audacious boldness of declamation against it. ”

“ Sundry efforts were made by the benevolent Nephites "to reclaim and restore the Lamanites to the knowledge of the truth." But it was all to no purpose. They continued to delight in wars and bloodshed, and cherished an eternal hatred against their brethren. To ward off their incursions, the people of Nephi had to fortify and protect their land with a strong military force.
Jacob, who had brought up his son Enos "in the nurture and admonition of the Lord," when he saw his own decease approaching, gave him the plates and left him successor in office over the people of Nephi. ”

“ The poet was dear in the sight of Nebsecht, and he loved Pentaur, who possessed all the gifts he lacked; manly beauty, childlike lightness of heart, the frankest openness, artistic power, and the gift of expressing in word and song every emotion that stirred his soul. ”

“ It was a foretaste of the Millennium to the whole people of half the world, and when Nephi died (A. C. 110) this inexpressibly happy, heavenly state still continued in undiminished warmth of Divine and brotherly love and strength of abiding faith. All the generation to which Nephi belonged entered in at the straight gate, and walked the narrow way to the Eternal City of God, not one of them was lost. ”

“ When the Nephites perceived them coming they bowed before the Lord in prayer. The robbers, seeing their action, counted it as a sign of fear, and set up a horrible shout and rushed upon them. The slaughter was terrible; never had there been so much blood shed in a single fight since the day that Lehi's children first inhabited the land. At last the Nephites were victorious, and pursued their foes to the borders of the wilderness, giving no quarter. ”

“ But from the dates which are given, it is very evident they lived to a great age. Correct habits of living, with pure lives and the blessing of God upon them, promoted longevity. We think it is apparent from the record that, immediately after leaving Jerusalem, there was a remarkable increase in the duration of life among those who were called Nephites.
Jacob, who was born in the wilderness of Arabia, took charge of the plates after the death of his brother Nephi, and he bequeathed them to his son Enos. ”

“ Horrible. But she had not been able to help blushing. It was that deep, slow-fading blush that had enlightened him—had shown him that it was no vision, that she also remembered. A burning crimson blush, over face and ears and neck; and the aunt had said:
"I hope you haven't hurried, dear, in this heat."
And she had said: "I didn't want to be late for tea."
He handed bread and butter to her. She was not blushing now.
"Oh, bother," said Neville to himself, "now all the peace and pleasure is gone. It won't be like home with a wicked little cat like that about the place." ”

“ You shall not make me like you."
But he stayed talking with her in the little wood of orange-trees till the aunt had laid away the jingling housekeeping keys and joined them on the terrace. Then she went to her work in the library. He strolled in presently, to talk over the book with his father.
"You won't mind Miss Grantham staying with us?" said the father. "She can take down everything you say in shorthand—and as she'll have the whole transcribing of the book to do——"
"Of course—of course," said Neville. ”

“ It was indeed of that Venetian tint so much admired by artists.
'Well, it's no use finding fault with each other,' said Anthea; 'let's get the Lamb and lug it home to dinner. The servants will admire us most awfully, you'll see.'
Baby was just waking when they got to him, and not one of the children but was relieved to find that he at least was not as beautiful as the day, but just the same as usual.
'I suppose he's too young to have wishes naturally,' said Jane.
'We shall have to mention him specially next time.'
Anthea ran forward and held out her arms. ”

“ The Nephites enjoyed continual peace and great prosperity in the church, for they had diligently obeyed God's word that had been declared to them by Alma's sons, Helaman, Shiblon, and Corianton, by Ammon and his brethren, and by all who had been ordained by the holy order of God, who had been baptized unto repentance and sent forth to preach among them. ”

“ They considered him to be a great prophet, a man of God, with great power and authority given to him from God.
And Nephi's brother, Lehi, was just as righteous.
The Nephites started to prosper in the land again and to rebuilt their cities. They multiplied and spread out, covering the whole face of the land from the north to the south, and from the western to the eastern seas. Throughout the year 16 BC, there was peace.
Fifteen BC was also a peaceful year, and the church spread throughout the land. Most of the people, both Nephites and Lamanites, belonged to the church and enjoyed great peace. ”

“ The poet laid his cool hand on his friend’s brow, and spoke to him encouragingly; but Nebsecht smiled at his words with the peculiar expression of a man who knows that his end is near, and said in a low voice and with a visible effort:
“A few breaths more and here, and here, will be peace.” He laid his hand on his head and on his heart.
“We all attain to peace,” said Pentaur. “But perhaps only to labor more earnestly and unweariedly in the land beyond the grave. If the Gods reward any thing it is the honest struggle, the earnest seeking after truth ”

“ For us initiated there remains only the choice between lying and silence.”
“The old error!” said Pentaur, “we know that the Godhead is One, we name it, ‘The All,’ ‘The Veil of the All,’ or simply ‘Ra.’ But under the name Ra we understand something different than is known to the common herd; for to us, the Universe is God, and in each of its parts we recognize a manifestation of that highest being without whom nothing is, in the heights above or in the depths below.”
“To me you can say everything, for I also am initiated,” interrupted Nebsecht. ”