Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiewicz (detective books to read .TXT) 📖

of

prayer, I inquired concerning him, and those who knew him declared that

he was the man who had been betrayed by his comrade on the journey from

Naples. Otherwise I should not have known that he gives out such a

story.”

 

“How does this concern me? Tell what thou sawest in the house of

prayer.”

 

“It does not concern thee, lord, but it concerns me just as much as my

life. Since I wish that my wisdom should survive me, I would rather

renounce the reward which thou hast offered, than expose my life for

empty lucre; without which, I as a true philosopher shall be able to

live and seek divine wisdom.”

 

But Vinicius approached him with an ominous countenance, and began in a

suppressed voice,—“Who told thee that death would meet thee sooner at

the hands of Glaucus than at mine? Whence knowest thou, dog, that I

will not have thee buried right away in my garden?”

 

Chilo, who was a coward, looked at Vinicius, and in the twinkle of an

eye understood that one more unguarded word and he was lost beyond

redemption.

 

“I will search for her, lord, and I will find her!” cried he, hurriedly.

 

Silence followed, during which were heard the quick breathing of

Vinicius, and the distant song of slaves at work in the garden.

 

Only after a while did the Greek resume his speech, when he noticed that

the young patrician was somewhat pacified.

 

“Death passed me, but I looked on it with the calmness of Socrates. No,

lord, I have not said that I refuse to search for the maiden; I desired

merely to tell thee that search for her is connected now with great

peril to me. On a time thou didst doubt that there was a certain

Euricius in the world, and though thou wert convinced by thine own eyes

that the son of my father told the truth to thee, thou hast suspicions

now that I have invented Glaucus. Ah! would that he were only a

fiction, that I might go among the Christians with perfect safety, as I

went some time since; I would give up for that the poor old slave woman

whom I bought, three days since, to care for my advanced age and maimed

condition. But Glaucus is living, lord; and if he had seen me once,

thou wouldst not have seen me again, and in that case who would find the

maiden?”

 

Here he was silent again, and began to dry his tears.

 

“But while Glaucus lives,” continued he, “how can I search for her?—for

I may meet him at any step; and if I meet him I shall perish, and with

me will cease all my searching.”

 

“What art thou aiming at? What help is there? What dost thou wish to

undertake?” inquired Vinicius.

 

“Aristotle teaches us, lord, that less things should be sacrificed for

greater, and King Priam said frequently that old age was a grievous

burden. Indeed, the burden of old age and misfortune weighs upon

Glaucus this long time, and so heavily that death would be to him a

benefit. For what is death, according to Seneca, but liberation?”

 

“Play the fool with Petronius, not with me! Tell what thy desire is.”

 

“If virtue is folly, may the gods permit me to be a fool all my life. I

desire, lord, to set aside Glaucus, for while he is living my life and

searches are in continual peril.”

 

“Hire men to beat him to death with clubs; I will pay them.”

 

“They will rob thee, lord, and afterward make profit of the secret.

There are as many ruffians in Rome as grains of sand in the arena, but

thou wilt not believe how dear they are when an honest man needs to

employ their villainy. No, worthy tribune! But if watchmen catch the

murderers in the act? They would tell, beyond doubt, who hired them,

and then thou wouldst have trouble. They will not point to me, for I

shall not give my name. Thou art doing ill not to trust in me, for,

setting aside my keenness, remember that there is a question of two

other things,—of my life, and the reward which thou has promised me.”

 

“How much dost thou need?”

 

“A thousand sestertia, for turn attention to this, that I must find

honest ruffians, men who when they have received earnest money, will not

take it off without a trace. For good work there must be good pay!

Something might be added, too, for my sake, to wipe away the tears which

I shall shed out of pity for Glaucus. I take the gods to witness how I

love him. If I receive a thousand sestertia to-day, two days hence his

soul will be in Hades; and then, if souls preserve memory and the gift

of thought, he will know for the first time how I loved him. I will

find people this very day, and tell them that for each day of the life

of Glaucus I will withhold one hundred sestertia. I have, besides, a

certain idea, which seems to me infallible.”

 

Vinicius promised him once more the desired sum, forbidding him to

mention Glaucus again; but asked what other news he brought, where he

had been all the time, what he had seen, and what he had discovered.

But Chilo was not able to tell much. He had been in two more houses of

prayer,—had observed each person carefully, especially the women,—but

had seen no one who resembled Lygia: the Christians, however, looked on

him as one of their own sect, and, since he redeemed the son of

Euricius, they honored him as a man following in the steps of “Christ.”

He had learned from them, also, that a great lawgiver of theirs, a

certain Paul of Tarsus, was in Rome, imprisoned because of charges

preferred by the Jews, and with this man he had resolved to become

acquainted. But most of all was he pleased by this,—that the supreme

priest of the whole sect, who had been Christ’s disciple, and to whom

Christ had confided government over the whole world of Christians, might

arrive in Rome any moment. All the Christians desired evidently to see

him, and hear his teachings. Some great meetings would follow, at which

he, Chilo, would be present; and what is more, since it is easy to hide

in the crowd, he would take Vinicius to those meetings. Then they would

find Lygia certainly. If Glaucus were once set aside, it would not be

connected even with great danger. As to revenge, the Christians, too,

would revenge but in general they were peaceful people.

 

Here Chilo began to relate, with a certain surprise, that he had never

seen that they gave themselves up to debauchery, that they poisoned

wells or fountains, that they were enemies of the human race, worshipped

an ass, or ate the flesh of children. No; he had seen nothing of that

sort. Certainly he would find among them even people who would hide

away Glaucus for money; but their religion, as far as he knew, did not

incite to crime,—on the contrary, it enjoined forgiveness of offences.

 

Vinicius remembered what Pomponia had said to him at Acte’s, and in

general he listened to Chilo’s words with pleasure. Though his feeling

for Lygia assumed at times the seeming of hatred, he felt a relief when

he heard that the religion which she and Pomponia confessed was neither

criminal nor repulsive. But a species of undefined feeling rose in him

that it was just that reverence for Christ, unknown and mysterious,

which created the difference between himself and Lygia; hence he began

at once to fear that religion and to hate it.