Quo Vadis: A Narrative of the Time of Nero Read online

  Chapter XLI

  NERO played and sang, in honor of the "Lady of Cyprus," a hymn theverses and music of which were composed by himself. That day he was invoice, and felt that his music really captivated those present. Thatfeeling added such power to the sounds produced and roused his ownsoul so much that he seemed inspired. At last he grew pale from genuineemotion. This was surely the first time that he had no desire to hearpraises from others. He sat for a time with his hands on the cithara andwith bowed head; then, rising suddenly, he said,--

  "I am tired and need air, Meanwhile ye will tune the citharae."

  He covered his throat then with a silk kerchief.

  "Ye will go with me," said he, turning to Petronius and Vinicius, whowere sitting in a corner of the hall. "Give me thy arm, Vinicius, forstrength fails me; Petronius will talk to me of music."

  They went out on the terrace, which was paved with alabaster andsprinkled with saffron.

  "Here one can breathe more freely," said Nero. "My soul is moved andsad, though I see that with what I have sung to thee on trial just nowI may appear in public, and my triumph will be such as no Roman has everachieved."

  "Thou mayst appear here, in Rome, in Achaea. I admire thee with my wholeheart and mind, divinity," answered Petronius.

  "I know. Thou art too slothful to force thyself to flattery, and thouart as sincere as Tullius Senecio, but thou hast more knowledge than he.Tell me, what is thy judgment on music?"

  "When I listen to poetry, when I look at a quadriga directed by theein the Circus, when I look at a beautiful statue, temple, or picture, Ifeel that I comprehend perfectly what I see, that my enthusiasm takesin all that these can give. But when I listen to music, especially thymusic, new delights and beauties open before me every instant. I pursuethem, I try to seize them; but before I can take them to myself, newand newer ones flow in, just like waves of the sea, which roll on frominfinity. Hence I tell thee that music is like the sea. We stand on oneshore and gaze at remoteness, but we cannot see the other shore."

  "Ah, what deep knowledge thou hast!" said Nero; and they walked on fora moment, only the slight sound of the saffron leaves under their feetbeing heard.

  "Thou hast expressed my idea," said Nero at last; "hence I say now, asever, in all Rome thou art the only man able to understand me. Thus itis, my judgment of music is the same as thine. When I play and sing, Isee things which I did not know as existing in my dominions or in theworld. I am Caesar, and the world is mine. I can do everything. But musicopens new kingdoms to me, new mountains, new seas, new delights unknownbefore. Most frequently I cannot name them or grasp them; I only feelthem. I feel the gods, I see Olympus. Some kind of breeze from beyondthe earth blows in on me; I behold, as in a mist, certain immeasurablegreatnesses, but calm and bright as sunshine. The whole Spheros playsaround me; and I declare to thee" (here Nero's voice quivered withgenuine wonder) "that I, Caesar and god, feel at such times as diminutiveas dust. Wilt thou believe this?"

  "I will. Only great artists have power to feel small in the presence ofart."

  "This is a night of sincerity; hence I open my soul to thee as to afriend, and I will say more: dost thou consider that I am blind ordeprived of reason? Dost thou think that I am ignorant of this,that people in Rome write insults on the walls against me, call me amatricide, a wife-murderer, hold me a monster and a tyrant, becauseTigellinus obtained a few sentences of death against my enemies? Yes, mydear, they hold me a monster, and I know it. They have talked cruelty onme to that degree that at times I put the question to myself, 'Am I notcruel?' But they do not understand this, that a man's deeds may be cruelat times while he himself is not cruel. Ah, no one will believe, andperhaps even thou, my dear, wilt not believe, that at moments when musiccaresses my soul I feel as kind as a child in the cradle. I swear bythose stars which shine above us, that I speak the pure truth to thee.People do not know how much goodness lies in this heart, and whattreasures I see in it when music opens the door to them."

  Petronius, who had not the least doubt that Nero was speaking sincerelyat that moment, and that music might bring out various more nobleinclinations of his soul, which were overwhelmed by mountains ofegotism, profligacy, and crime, said,--"Men should know thee as nearlyas I do; Rome has never been able to appreciate thee."

  Caesar leaned more heavily on Vinicius's arm, as if he were bending underthe weight of injustice, and answered,--

  "Tigellinus has told me that in the Senate they whisper into oneanother's ears that Diodorus and Terpnos play on the cithara better thanI. They refuse me even that! But tell me, thou who art truthful always,do they play better, or as well?"

  "By no means. Thy touch is finer, and has greater power. In thee theartist is evident, in them the expert. The man who hears their musicfirst understands better what thou art."

  "If that be true, let them live. They will never imagine what a servicethou hast rendered them in this moment. For that matter, if I hadcondemned those two, I should have had to take others in place of them."

  "And people would say, besides, that out of love for music thoudestroyest music in thy dominions. Never kill art for art's sake, Odivinity."

  "How different thou art from Tigellinus!" answered Nero. "But seestthou, I am an artist in everything; and since music opens for mespaces the existence of which I had not divined, regions which I donot possess, delight and happiness which I do not know, I cannot live acommon life. Music tells me that the uncommon exists, so I seek it withall the power of dominion which the gods have placed in my hands. Attimes it seems to me that to reach those Olympian worlds I must dosomething which no man has done hitherto,--I must surpass the statureof man in good or evil. I know that people declare me mad. But I am notmad, I am only seeking. And if I am going mad, it is out of disgust andimpatience that I cannot find. I am seeking! Dost understand me? Andtherefore I wish to be greater than man, for only in that way can I bethe greatest as an artist."

  Here he lowered his voice so that Vinicius could not hear him, and,putting his mouth to the ear of Petronius, he whispered,--"Dost knowthat I condemned my mother and wife to death mainly because I wishedto lay at the gate of an unknown world the greatest sacrifice that mancould put there? I thought that afterward something would happen, thatdoors would be opened beyond which I should see something unknown. Letit be wonderful or awful, surpassing human conception, if only great anduncommon. But that sacrifice was not sufficient. To open the empyreandoors it is evident that something greater is needed, and let it begiven as the Fates desire."

  "What dost thou intend to do?"

  "Thou shalt see sooner than thou thinkest. Meanwhile be assured thatthere are two Neros,--one such as people know, the other an artist, whomthou alone knowest, and if he slays as does death, or is in frenzylike Bacchus, it is only because the flatness and misery of common lifestifle him; and I should like to destroy them, though I had to use fireor iron. Oh, how flat this world will be when I am gone from it! No manhas suspected yet, not thou even, what an artist I am. But preciselybecause of this I suffer, and sincerely do I tell thee that the soul inme is as gloomy as those cypresses which stand dark there in front ofus. It is grievous for a man to bear at once the weight of supreme powerand the highest talents."

  "I sympathize with thee, O Caesar; and with me earth and sea, notcounting Vinicius, who deifies thee in his soul."

  "He, too, has always been dear to me," said Caesar, "though he servesMars, not the Muses."

  "He serves Aphrodite first of all," answered Petronius. And suddenly hedetermined to settle the affair of his nephew at a blow, and at the sametime to eliminate every danger which might threaten him. "He is in love,as was Troilus with Cressida. Permit him, lord, to visit Rome, for heis dying on my hands. Dost thou know that that Lygian hostage whom thougavest him has been found, and Vinicius, when leaving for Antium, lefther in care of a certain Linus? I did not mention this to thee, for thouwert composing thy hymn, and that was more important than all besides.Vinicius wanted her as a mistress; but whe
n she turned out to be asvirtuous as Lucretia, he fell in love with her virtue, and now hisdesire is to marry her. She is a king's daughter, hence she will causehim no detriment; but he is a real soldier: he sighs and withers andgroans, but he is waiting for the permission of his Imperator."

  "The Imperator does not choose wives for his soldiers. What good is mypermission to Vinicius?"

  "I have told thee, O lord, that he deifies thee."

  "All the more may he be certain of permission. That is a comely maiden,but too narrow in the hips. The Augusta Poppaea has complained to me thatshe enchanted our child in the gardens of the Palatine."

  "But I told Tigellinus that the gods are not subject to evil charms.Thou rememberest, divinity, his confusion and thy exclamation, 'Habet!'"

  "I remember."

  Here he turned to Vinicius,--"Dost thou love her, as Petronius says?"

  "I love her, lord," replied Vinicius.

  "Then I command thee to set out for Rome to-morrow, and marry her.Appear not again before my eyes without the marriage ring."

  "Thanks to thee, lord, from my heart and soul."

  "Oh, how pleasant it is to make people happy!" said Nero. "Would that Imight do nothing else all my life!"

  "Grant us one favor more, O divinity," said Petronius: "declare thy willin this matter before the Augusta. Vinicius would never venture to weda woman displeasing to the Augusta; thou wilt dissipate her prejudice, Olord, with a word, by declaring that thou hast commanded this marriage."

  "I am willing," said Caesar. "I could refuse nothing to thee orVinicius."

  He turned toward the villa, and they followed. Their hearts were filledwith delight over the victory; and Vinicius had to use self-restraint toavoid throwing himself on the neck of Petronius, for it seemed now thatall dangers and obstacles were removed.

  In the atrium of the villa young Nerva and Tullius Senecio wereentertaining the Augusta with conversation. Terpnos and Diodorus weretuning citharae.

  Nero entered, sat in an armchair inlaid with tortoise-shell, whisperedsomething in the ear of a Greek slave near his side, and waited.

  The page returned soon with a golden casket. Nero opened it and took outa necklace of great opals.

  "These are jewels worthy of this evening," said he.

  "The light of Aurora is playing in them," answered Poppaea, convincedthat the necklace was for her.

  Caesar, now raising, now lowering the rosy stones, said atlast,--"Vinicius, thou wilt give, from me, this necklace to her whom Icommand thee to marry, the youthful daughter of the Lygian king."

  Poppaea's glance, filled with anger and sudden amazement, passed fromCaesar to Vinicius. At last it rested on Petronius. But he, leaningcarelessly over the arm of the chair, passed his hand along the back ofthe harp as if to fix its form firmly in his mind.

  Vinicius gave thanks for the gift, approached Petronius, andasked,--"How shall I thank thee for what thou hast done this day forme?"

  "Sacrifice a pair of swans to Euterpe," replied Petronius, "praiseCaesar's songs, and laugh at omens. Henceforth the roaring of lions willnot disturb thy sleep, I trust, nor that of thy Lygian lily."

  "No," said Vinicius; "now I am perfectly at rest."

  "May Fortune favor thee! But be careful, for Caesar is taking his luteagain. Hold thy breath, listen, and shed tears."

  In fact Caesar had taken the lute and raised his eyes. In the hallconversation had stopped, and people were as still as if petrified.Terpnos and Diodorus, who had to accompany Caesar, were on the alert,looking now at each other and now at his lips, waiting for the firsttones of the song.

  Just then a movement and noise began in the entrance; and after a momentCaesar's freedman, Phaon, appeared from beyond the curtain. Close behindhim was the consul Lecanius.

  Nero frowned.

  "Pardon, divine Imperator," said Phaon, with panting voice, "there is aconflagration in Rome! The greater part of the city is in flames!"

  At this news all sprang from their seats.

  "O gods! I shall see a burning city and finish the Troyad," said Nero,setting aside his lute.

  Then he turned to the consul,--"If I go at once, shall I see the fire?"

  "Lord," answered Lecanius, as pale as a wall, "the whole city is onesea of flame; smoke is suffocating the inhabitants, and people faint, orcast themselves into the fire from delirium. Rome is perishing, lord."

  A moment of silence followed, which was broken by the cry of Vinicius,--

  "Vae misero mihi!"

  And the young man, casting his toga aside, rushed forth in his tunic.Nero raised his hands and exclaimed,--

  "Woe to thee, sacred city of Priam!"