Exuvia

“ A single portentous day brings forth varying fortunes. May the many misfortunes which thy home has endured strengthen thy mind. What is more cruel to thee than destiny, Octavia? Thou, a mother worthy of many sons, daughter of Agrippa, daughter-in-law of Augustus, and wife of Caesar [96] whose royal name is illustrious in the entire world, soon a barren wife, thou wilt endure exile, the scourge, cruel fetters, gloomy sights, sorrows, long continued torture, and finally death itself. [50] Livia, blessed in the couch and sons of Drusus, committed a great sin and received punishment. ”

“ She herself must be attacked by me. If I am properly called the supreme Juno, I will destroy her; if it becomes me to hold the sparkling sceptre in my right hand; if I am the queen, and both the sister and wife of Jupiter. The sister I am, no doubt. But I suppose she is content with a stolen embrace, and the injury to my bed is but trifling. She is now pregnant; that alone was wanting; and she bears the evidence of his crime in her swelling womb, and wishes to be made a mother by Jupiter, a thing which hardly fell to my lot alone. So great is her confidence in her beauty. ”

“ Just then Minerva appeared, and said to him, “Leave it alone, my friend; that which you see before you is the apple of discord: if you do not meddle with it, it remains small as it was at first, but if you resort to violence it swells into the thing you see.” ”

“ Soon thou wilt quietly win over thy husband with caressing obedience.
OCTAVIA: I could conquer the savage lion and the fierce tiger sooner than the merciless heart of a barbarous tyrant. He hates men of noble descent, he scorns both gods and men, and not yet does he meet the fate which his infamous mother by a dreadful crime bestowed upon him. Although he may be ashamed to have gained this unacknowledged empire by the kindness of his ill-omened mother, yet she will bear this title of honor [19] after death for endless generations. ”

“ When Octavius had brought his speech to a close, for some time we were struck into silence, and held our countenances fixed in attention and as for me, I was lost in the greatness of my admiration, that he had so adorned those things which it is easier to feel than to say, both by arguments and by examples, and by authorities derived from reading; and that he had repelled the malevolent objectors with the very weapons of the philosophers with which they are armed, and had moreover shown the truth not only as easy, but also as agreeable. ”

“ Though the new bride was descended from one of the most aristocratic and powerful families of Rome, her relatives were not especially prominent at that time; so it would seem that the triumvir's regard for her was not regulated by the calculations of expediency. Livia possessed not only beauty, but also the character of mind which was likely to charm a man with the disposition of Octavius. She was quick to understand and appreciate his intelligent purposes and far-reaching achievements. There was between the two that sympathy which is the absolute requisite of a happy marriage. ”

“ When this edict was published, the people went wild with joy. All loved Octavia. No base, no cruel action, no rapacity or folly, could be laid to her charge. If deadly crimes were committed, they knew that Octavia disapproved of them no less entirely than themselves. Every honest citizen who enjoyed but one gleam of happiness on his own domestic hearth pitied the pale and neglected daughter of Claudius, and felt inclined to protect her from further wrongs. Their enthusiasm communicated itself to the crowd. When Octavia re-entered Rome they surrounded her litter with tumults of delight. ”

“ I felt angry with Ottavia, and threw myself on the old sofa without speaking, in a fit of mingled sorrow and displeasure.
I had always been fond of Livia, and now all the repressed and pent-up tenderness of my heart was poured out on her. She seemed to be the only person in the world that still loved me—the only one that stood between me and what appeared like a great void. Yes, my mother was right in what she said about the great necessity of my nature. As a flower dies, deprived of the sun, so without affection I should soon cease to exist. ”

“ At least, the real Eugenia would certainly have preferred to become a nun. For how in the world can a monk's cowl and living among seventy monks be a merit and salvation for any woman, even the most learned and pious? No, I still hold to my opinion that you are a smooth-faced beardless fellow of an impostor, whom I don't trust in the slightest! Besides, Eugenia has been proclaimed as deified and dwelling among the stars; her image stands where it was dedicated in the temple, and it will go hard enough with you if you persist in your slanderous assertion. ”

“ When I consider and mentally review my remembrance of Octavius, my excellent and most faithful companion, the sweetness and charm of the man so clings to me, that I appear to myself in some sort as if I were returning to past times, and not merely recalling in my recollection things which have long since happened and gone by. ”

“ At times, again, Eustochia was dragged along the ground to the door of the convent as if her foe were bent upon casting her out from it into the street; and then she would be lifted up by an unseen power into the air, and let to fall, senseless and head downward, upon the stone floor with a crash—so that all wondered how it was that she escaped without a fractured skull. ”

“ In striking contrast to the many-sided Livia is the less dominating but more sympathetic Octavia, who lives through her virtues and her sufferings rather than her talents. This much-loved sister of Augustus represents the conservative element of the new age, with its amiable weaknesses and time-honored graces. The idol of her brother, who, nevertheless, did not hesitate to sacrifice her to his own interests and ambitions, she was the victim of lifelong misfortune. ”

“ Ah, Fable, my friend—how are you? You have come in time to meet—
EUCLID. A quiet family.
MRS. F. Sir, you are the murderer of—
EUCLID. Murderer—of what?
MRS. F. Of my happiness, sir.
EUCLID. Oh, that’s all, is it? Ha! ha! that’s nothing.
HOLD. Nay, Mr. Facile, you are going too far.
JULIA. He is getting a most horrid husband.
MRS. F. He’ll break my heart! (crying.)
FABLE. Crying, too! A charming family—and I seem to have called at a crisis.
EUCLID. (aside.) I have a thought! My dear, you know the gentleman whom I threw—ahem!
MRS. F. Sir!
EUCLID. You know—the gentleman in the basket I mean. ”

“ Thus pagan died old Penda as he lived:
Yet Penda's sons were Christian, kindlier none;
His daughters nuns; and lamb-like Mercia's House,
Lion one while, made end. King Oswy raised
His monasteries twelve: benigner life
Around them spread: wild waste, and robber bands
Vanished: the poor were housed, the hungry fed:
And Oswy sent his little new-born babe
Dewed with her mother's tear-drops, Eanfleda,
Like some young lamb with fillet decked and flower,
Yet dedicated not to death, but life,
To Hilda sent on Whitby's sea-washed hill,
Who made her Bride of Christ. ”

“ But Ecciva's momentary mood of passion passed as quickly as it came; and she answered her companions with a tantalizing, sparkling smile, rallying them on their seriousness, and flashing whimsicalities around the circle like some splendid, inconsequent fire-fly.
Her dark hair, woven with coins and trinkets, fell in innumerable long slender braids behind, from under a coronet of jessamine blossoms strung together upon strips of palm, which clasped the clustering waves of hair closer about her face—pure and colorless as old ivory. ”

“ For, indeed, a daughter of thine is not deserving of a ravisher for a husband, if now my own daughter is.” Jupiter replied, “Thy daughter is a pledge and charge, in common to me and thee; but, should it please thee only to give right names to things, this deed is not an injury, but it is a mark of affection, nor will he, as a son-in-law, be any disgrace to us, if thou only, Goddess, shouldst give thy consent. Although other recommendations were wanting, how great a thing is it to be the brother of Jupiter! ”

“ Thou hadst better conquer pitiless Nero by obedience.
[17]
OCTAVIA: For what purpose? That he may restore to me my brother whom he has murdered?
NURSE: That thou, thyself, mayst be safe; that thou by thy progeny, mayst keep from ruin the former home of thy father.
OCTAVIA: The home of the emperor desires another offspring. The dreadful death of my brother distracts me.
NURSE: Such great favor of the citizens toward him should soothe thy mind. [34]
OCTAVIA: It alleviates my sorrows but does not free me from them.
NURSE: The power of the people is great. ”

“ Here he sees the real woman whose shapely breast had preserved its form in the lava that killed her. She also sees him and loves him. Her slave leads him to her home. She is a Roman courtesan and her name is Arria Marcella. She tells him that she has come to life because of his desire at the museum to meet her in life. His wish in waking life is fulfilled in his dream. As a matter of fact, as the poet comments, art preserves as alive all the beauty of antiquity.
Octavius realises his wish and, soon, kisses and sighs are heard. ”

“ Unto the populace, who love thee well.
Octavia: That thought doth soothe, but cannot cure my grief.
Nurse: Their power availeth much.185
Octavia: The prince's more.
Nurse: He will regard his wife.
Octavia: My foe forbids.
Nurse: But she is scorned by all.
Octavia: Yet loved by him.
Nurse: She is not yet his wife.
Octavia: But soon will be,
And mother of his child, his kingdom's heir.
Nurse: The fire of youthful passion glows at first
With heat impetuous; but soon abates,190
And vanishes like flickering tongues of flame.
Unhallowed love cannot for long endure ”

“ Many youths and many maidens sought his love; but in that slender form was pride so cold that no youth, no maiden touched his heart. Once as he was driving the frightened deer into his nets, a certain nymph of strange speech beheld him, resoundng Echo, who could neither hold her peace when others spoke, nor yet begia to speak till others had addressed her. Up to this time Echo had form and was not a voice alone; and yet, though talkative, she had no other use of speech than now-only the power out of many words to repeat the last she heard. Juno had made her thus ”

“ Hardly does she restrain her tears, because she sees nothing to weep at. But after she has entered the chamber of the daughter of Cecrops, she executes her orders; and touches her breast with her hand stained with rust, and fills her heart with jagged thorns. She breathes into her as well the noxious venom, and spreads the poison black as pitch throughout her bones, and lodges it in the midst of her lungs. ”

“ This pleased Minerva much, and she changed her shape, becoming like a woman, tall and fair, and said to Ulysses—“Right cunning would he be who could cheat thee. Even now in thy native country ceasest thou not from cunning words and deceits! But let these things be; for thou art the wisest of mortal men, and I excel among the gods in counsel. I am Minerva, daughter of Jupiter, who am ever wont to stand by thee and help thee. And now we will hide these possessions of thine ”

“ Octavius nodded. He got into the surrey; the hands that took the reins shook visibly. He drove on in silence for a few minutes. He was struggling for control of his emotion; for the truth is Octavius wanted to cry; and when a man wants to cry and must not, the result is inarticulateness and a painful contortion of every feature. Father Honoré, recognizing this fact, waited. Octavius swallowed hard and many times before he could speak; even then his speech was broken:
"She's in there—all right—but Champney Googe is with her—"
"Thank God!" ”

“ The moment that the banquet ended, Octavia, still in her splendid apparel, hurried wildly to the chamber. It was a chamber of death. Already the incense was burning, already the cypress had been placed before the Propylæa of the Palatine. The boy lay there, silent, noble, beautiful, pale as a statue carved in alabaster; and Octavia disburdened the long-pent agony of repression in such a storm of weeping that her attendants tried to lead her away. But she tore off her jewels, and flung her arms round the corpse of her brother, and laid her head upon his breast, and sobbed aloud. ”

“ Estefania was her favourite, whom she petted above all the other servants, and made the confidant of many of her secrets. The girl's fawning and flattery had won her heart so completely that, without being aware of it, she had allowed a large part of her will to go with it. It was, in fact, Estefania who ruled the house, since she ruled its mistress. The servant who could not win her good graces might prepare sooner or later to lose his place. ”

“ Neva recognized her with a sudden horror. She knew in that instant that her visit to the Wilderness had been pre-arranged by her enemies—that her wildest suspicions of the falseness and perfidy of Octavia Black had fallen short of the truth—that she had been snared in a trap—that she was a prisoner! ”

“ M'Lennan. Exogamy is the prohibition of marriage within the supposed blood-kinship, as denoted by the family name. Such marriage, among many backward races, is reckoned incestuous, and is punishable by death. Certain peculiarities in connection with the family name have to be noted later. Now, Sir Henry Maine admits that exogamy, as thus defined, exists among the Hindoos. 'A Hindoo may not marry a woman belonging to the same gotra, all members of the gotra being theoretically supposed to have descended from the same ancestor.' The same rule prevails in China. ”