CHAPTER V.

A strange story of a Lady and a Rose.

“Far remote, in the wide sea, named Archipelago, there lies an island well known through all the world, blooming and golden with rich harvests of corn, fruits, and wine. There, in old days of paganism, was born the enchanter, whom the heathens afterwards looked upon as a god. The island is called Crete, and the mighty enchanter’s name is Zeus.

“By his powerful spells it came to pass, that this island, whence he derived his birth, was ever adorned with the choicest flowers; and it is not very long since there was planted thereon a red rose of such unequalled beauty, that it was praised and renowned far and near as the richest and rarest of all nature’s blossoms. This flower came from the town of Damascus, and it was watched and tended by a fair and lovely damsel, who had been forced away from that city by wicked men, and brought to the enchanter’s island. At Damascus she had been in her flower-garden, and had the rose in her hand, when the wicked pirate came to disturb her innocent pleasures. She hid the plant under her mantle, and carried it with her into Crete. Here it had thriven well beneath her tender care,--the Damascene rose blooming the fairest of flowers, and she the fairest of damsels on the island.

“Oftentimes she had whispered in secret to the flower,--‘Here we are, both strangers in the land; therefore we must be friends to each other, and the bonds of affection may never be broken between us. If one return home, the other too must go thither; and if the rose be cropped from the stalk, the maiden will wither in her sadness.’--Then it seemed almost as if the flower had understood her words, and nodded thereto in silent sympathy.

“Not long thereafter the damsel was looking from her window on the waves of the stormy sea, and, lo! she beheld, amid the raging waters, a boat drawing near to the shore, and therein sat a graceful figure of a knight, beating the dark billows with his oars, as an angry master would chastise the slaves that rebelled against him. With eagle-eyes he beheld from afar the beautiful maiden, as she stood on her lofty veranda; he brought his bark to land, and made it fast by the golden chain to a tree, then looked up to the window, and called aloud,--‘Who art thou, most beautiful of ladies?’--The damsel answered,--‘I am a king’s daughter, and by violent men have been brought hither from Damascus.’--‘Then,’ said he, ‘thy life here is perchance sad and lonely?’--‘Nay,’ answered the damsel, ‘I have with me the beautiful rose that thou seest blooming in yonder garden; it has been my friend and solace since we both left our native land.’--Then said the knight,--‘Already have I won in battle a Damascene blade that is better, I ween, than any sword that was ever wielded by mortal arm. A maiden--a rose--and a sword from Damascus;--these are treasures above all price; and the sword will soon free the maiden and the flower from their bondage. Trust then to me; and if thou wilt but venture, thou shalt soon be free as the nightingale in the forest.’--‘Who art thou, mariner, that darest to speak thus boldly?’--‘Nay,’ said the knight, ‘I am a warrior, far and wide renowned, and wend my way where’er it is my pleasure, by land or sea; and here in Crete I am named the brave Hygies.’--‘Art thou indeed Hygies?’ said the damsel, ‘that wondrous hero whose deeds are sung through all the world, and who has won such victories among the Greeks, and in Persia, by land and by sea?--If this be so, then truly I shall soon be brought back to my wished-for home!’--‘Ay, fairest of damsels; and this night shall not pass till I have come to take you from your prison.’--‘But hast thou a ship that will bear us across the sea?’--‘Doubtless,’ answered the knight, ‘I have even a fleet of ships, but they will not come hither till another year has past away.’--‘For Heaven’s sake,’ cried the damsel, ‘tell me how I may be concealed in Crete till they arrive?’--‘Fear not,’ answered the knight; ‘for all that Hygies has planned, he knows also how to find the means of fulfilment.’--Thereupon she nodded kindly her parting salutation, and the warrior retired; but when the evening shades had settled on the island, he failed not to come again with a long ladder of ropes, which he fixed to her window. She ventured to descend, and was once more free.

“Deep in the recesses of the Cretan mountains there lies a cavern, covered at the entrance with heath and copsewood, but large and lofty, wherein no mortal dares enter, for terror of the supernatural powers that might assail him; for in ancient times this was the birth-place of Zeus, the far-famed enchanter. Here, in the secret depths of the cave, Hygies concealed the blooming and beautiful damsel,--coming oftentimes to caress her at the dead of night, and bringing with him food and wine, with costly carpets, to defend her from the cold and hard rocks. Meanwhile she often said to him with anxious sighs,--‘Thou wert my deliverer, and art now become my dear husband; but beware, I pray thee, beware lest my dearly-beloved rose should wither!--From Damascus thou hast obtained a maiden and a sword, but do not forget that there is, moreover, a Damascene rose under thy protection.’

“Far and wide, even for a whole year, the Cretans sought through the land, but in vain; they knew not whither the beautiful captive had retired; but the knight Hygies, he alone well knew where to find the object of his affections; and because the cave, though wide, was no fit habitation for his beloved, he used to cut and hew the rocks with his invincible Damascene blade, till he had made a habitation under ground such as any queen might have envied.

“But joy leads to sorrow, and pleasure to pain;--ere the year’s end the princess bore a son,--a bold, handsome boy, thus cradled among the rocks like the old enchanter Zeus, and the brave warrior Hygies took him in his arms with all a father’s love. So the mother’s pain was again changed to joy; and not long thereafter there was seen on the horizon a heart-enlivening shew of white sails all swelling in the breeze; and this was the fleet of the renowned Sir Hygies. That evening the ships cast anchor in a bay of the Cretan shore, and messengers came straightway to the noble owner, who rejoiced heartily at their arrival, and went, in the silence of the night, for his Damascene beauty,--brought her forth under the light of the moon and stars, with the child sleeping on his mother’s breast. Then, as they were proceeding on their way, the lady sighed deeply, and said,--‘Oh, Heaven!--how that thought comes irresistibly in the midst of all my joys!--Must I leave the dear rose-tree here on a foreign strand?--Have we not known each other so long in our affliction, and promised both, that if one of us should be set at liberty, the other should not be left in bondage?--See, yonder blooms the rose! dear husband, go and bring it to me!’--But the knight would not listen to her prayer, and urged her forward in rapid flight. The damsel sighed again, and would not go with him, but ran to the garden wherein she had planted her beloved flower. There a sudden noise from the castle alarmed her, and she would have fled, but the rose held her garments fast with its thorny fingers, and in her terror she shrieked and fell to the ground. The knight ran up to her, and took the child from her arms, while she yet lay motionless, and fainting in her grief and affright. But now every window and door was suddenly burst open;--the Cretan guards and soldiers came forth armed, and with torches in their hands. At the first glance they recognised the beautiful maid of Damascus, as she lay there beside her blooming rose-tree, and determined not only to make a captive of her, but also of the brave Sir Hygies. The knight, however, proved game not so easily to be caught. With his Damascene blade he dealt about him blows so rapid and so powerful, that whoever dared to approach him was felled to the ground; so that they all stood still, and their courage was broken. Thereafter they tried their javelins and arrows, and Hygies protected himself and the beautiful damsel as long as he could, till an arrow came whistling under his golden shield, and struck her to the heart. She fell lifeless, and the red rose-leaves mingled with the blood that streamed from her death-wound. The knight then must leave the lady and the rose behind him on the island; but the sword was still his own, and by its aid he rescued the child, and bore it with him to his fleet, and sailed for Arabia. Thereafter the child proved a valiant warrior,--an avenging sword, that was worth an hundred thousand blades of the best Damascene steel.”