Sulamith: A Romance of Antiquity Part 8

Two other priests joined their voices to those of the first two. These were Horus and Anubis lamenting for Osiris, and each time they concluded a stanza, the chorus, disposed upon the steps of the staircase, repeated it to a solemn and sad motif.

Then with the same chant the elder priests brought out of the sanctuary the statue of the G.o.ddess, no longer covered with the _naos_. A black mantle, strewn over with golden stars, now enveloped the G.o.ddess from head to foot, leaving visible only her silvern feet, entwined by a serpent, as well as, over her head, a silvern disc, confined within the horns of a cow. And slowly, to the tinkling of the censers and sistra, with mournful weeping, the procession of the G.o.ddess Isis set out from the steps of the altar, down into the temple, along its walls, and in and out between the columns.

Thus did the G.o.ddess gather up the scattered members of her spouse, that she might resuscitate him with the aid of Thoth and Anubis.

"Glory to the city of Abydos, that preserved thy fair head, Osiris.

"Glory to thee, city of Memphis, where we did find the right hand of the great G.o.d,--the hand of war and protection.

"And to thee also, O city of Sais, that didst harbour the left hand of the radiant G.o.d,--the hand of justice.

"And be thou blessed, city of Thebes, where the heart of On-Nefer-Hophra did repose."

Thus did the G.o.ddess make the round of the entire temple, coming back to the altar, and more and more pa.s.sionate and loud did the singing of the chorus become. A sacred exaltation was taking possession of the priests and those praying. All the parts of the body of Osiris had Isis found, save one,--the sacred Phallus, impregnating the maternal womb, creating new life eternal. Now was approaching the grandest act in the mystery of Osiris and Isis....

"Is it thou, Eliab?" the queen asked the youth, who had quietly entered the door.

In the darkness near the couch he noiselessly sank at her feet and pressed to his lips the hem of her raiment. And the queen felt him weeping with rapture, shame, and desire. Lowering her hand upon his curly, tousled head, the queen uttered:

"Tell me, Eliab, all that thou knowest of the king and this girl of the vineyard."

"How thou dost love him, O queen!" said Eliab with a bitter moan.

"Speak!..." commanded Astis.

"What can I tell thee, queen? My heart is rent by jealousy."

"Speak!"

"Never yet has the king loved any as he loveth her. He doth not part from her for an instant. His eyes shine with happiness. He lavishes favours and gifts all about him. He, the Abimelech[5] and sage,--he, like a slave, lieth at her feet and, like a dog, taketh not his eyes off her."

"Speak!"

"O, how thou dost torture me, queen! And she ... she is all love, all tenderness and caresses! She is meek and abashed, she sees and knows naught save her love. She arouses wrath, envy, or jealousy in none...."

"Speak!" furiously moaned out the queen, and, clutching with her pliant fingers the black curls of Eliab, she pressed his head against her body, scratching his face with the silver embroidery of her diaphanous chiton.

And in the meanwhile, at the altar, around the image of the G.o.ddess covered with its black pall, the priests and priestesses were careering in a holy frenzy, with shouts resembling barking, to the clashing of tympani and the jarring strum of sistrums.

Certain ones among them were flaying themselves with many-tailed whiplashes of rhinoceros hide; others were inflicting long, slashing wounds upon their own b.r.e.a.s.t.s and shoulders with short knives; others still were tearing their mouths with their fingers, tearing at their ears, and excoriating their faces with their nails. In the midst of this mad round-dance, at the very feet of the G.o.ddess, with inconceivable rapidity the anchorite from the mountains of Lebanon was whirling on one spot, in snowy-white, waving raiment. The head priest alone remained motionless. In his hand he was holding the sacred sacrificial knife of aethiopian obsidian, ready to pa.s.s it over at the ultimate, frightful moment.

"The Phallus! The Phallus! The Phallus!" the maddened priests were crying in an ecstasy. "Where is thy Phallus, O radiant G.o.d? Come, fecundate the G.o.ddess! Her bosom languishes with desire! Her womb is like a desert in the sultry months of summer!"

And now a fearful, insane, piercing scream for an instant drowned all sound of the chorus. The priests quickly parted, and all those in the temple beheld the anchorite of Lebanon, utterly nude, horrible with his tall, gaunt, yellow body. The high priest held out the knife to him. The temple grew unbearably still. And he, quickly stooping, made some motion, straightened up, and with a wail of pain and rapture suddenly cast at the feet of the G.o.ddess a formless, b.l.o.o.d.y piece of flesh.

He was tottering. The high priest carefully supported him, putting his arm around his back; led him up to the image of Isis, painstakingly covered him with the black pall, and left him thus for a few moments, in order that in secret, unseen of the others, he might imprint his kiss upon the lips of the impregnated G.o.ddess.

Immediately thereafter he was laid upon a stretcher and borne from the altar. The priest who kept the gates went outside the temple. He struck an enormous copper disc with a wooden mallet, proclaiming to all the universe that the great mystery of the fecundation of the G.o.ddess had been consummated. And the high, singing sound of the copper floated away over Jerusalem....

Queen Astis, her body still quivering without cease, threw back Eliab's head. Her eyes were aflame with an intense, red fire. And she spake slowly, word by word:

"Eliab, wouldst have me make thee king over Judaea and Israel? Wouldst thou be sovereign over all Syria and Mesopotamia, over Phoenicia and Babylon?"

"Nay, queen, I desire thee alone...."

"Yea, thou shalt be my lord. All my nights shall belong to thee. My every word, my every glance, my every breath shall be thine. Thou knowest the shibboleth. Thou shalt go this day into the palace and slay them. Thou shalt slay them both! Thou shalt slay them both!"

Eliab was fain to speak. But the queen drew him to her, and her burning lips and tongue clung to his mouth. This lasted excruciatingly long.

Then, suddenly tearing the youth away from her, she said curtly and imperiously:

"Go!"

"I go," answered Eliab, submissively.

CHAPTER TWELVE

XII.

And it was the seventh night of Solomon's great love.

Strangely quiet and deeply tender were the caresses of the king and Sulamith on this night. Some pensive melancholy, some cautious timidity, some distant premonition, seemed to have cast a slight shadow over their words, their kisses and embraces.

Gazing through the window at the sky, where night was already vanquishing the sinking flame of the evening, Sulamith let her eyes rest upon a bright, bluish star that trembled meekly and tenderly.

"What is that star called, my beloved?" she asked.

"That is the star Sopdit," answered the king. "It is a sacred star.

a.s.syrian magi tell us that the souls of all men dwell upon it after the death of the body."

"Dost thou believe it, my king?"

Solomon made no reply. His right hand was under Sulamith's head, and his left did embrace her; and she felt his aromatic breath upon her,--upon her hair, upon her temple.

"Mayhap we shall see each other there, my king, after we have died?"

asked Sulamith uneasily.

The king again kept silence.

"Give me some answer, beloved," timidly implored Sulamith.

Whereupon the king said: