FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   407   408   409   410   411   412   413   414   415   416   417   418   419   420   421   422   423   424   425   426   427   428   429   430   431  
432   433   434   435   436   437   438   439   440   441   442   443   444   445   446   447   448   449   450   451   452   453   454   455   456   >>   >|  
ow came forward, emboldened by her agitation, into the midst of the tent, and took the jewel from the child's hand to show it to the Greek king; for while she stood gazing at Praxilla it seemed to her that she was looking at herself in a mirror, and the idea had rapidly grown to conviction that her mother had been a daughter of the Danaids. Her heart beat violently as she went up to the king with a modest demeanor, her head bent down, but holding her jewel up for him to see. The bystanders all gazed in astonishment at the veteran chief, for he staggered as she came up to him, stretched out his hands as if in terror towards the girl, and drew back crying out: "Xanthe, Xanthe! Is your spirit freed from Hades? Are you come to summon me?" Praxilla looked at her father in alarm, but suddenly she, too, gave a piercing cry, snatched a chain from her neck, hurried towards Uarda, and seizing the jewel she held, exclaimed: "Here is the other half of the ornament, it belonged to my poor sister Xanthe!" The old Greek was a pathetic sight, he struggled hard to collect himself, looking with tender delight at Uarda, his sinewy hands trembled as he compared the two pieces of the necklet; they matched precisely--each represented the wing of an eagle which was attached to half an oval covered with an inscription; when they were laid together they formed the complete figure of a bird with out-spread wings, on whose breast the lines exactly matched of the following oracular verse: "Alone each is a trifling thing, a woman's useless toy But with its counterpart behold! the favorite bird of Zeus." A glance at the inscription convinced the king that he held in his hand the very jewel which he had put with his own hands round the neck of his daughter Xanthe on her marriage-day, and of which the other half had been preserved by her mother, from whom it had descended to Praxilla. It had originally been made for his wife and her twin sister who had died young. Before he made any enquiries, or asked for any explanations, he took Uarda's head between his hands, and turning her face close to his he gazed at her features, as if he were reading a book in which he expected to find a memorial of all the blissful hours of his youth, and the girl felt no fear; nor did she shrink when he pressed his lips to her forehead, for she felt that this man's blood ran in her own veins. At last the king signed to the interpreter; Uarda was asked to
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   407   408   409   410   411   412   413   414   415   416   417   418   419   420   421   422   423   424   425   426   427   428   429   430   431  
432   433   434   435   436   437   438   439   440   441   442   443   444   445   446   447   448   449   450   451   452   453   454   455   456   >>   >|  



Top keywords:
Xanthe
 

Praxilla

 

sister

 

inscription

 

matched

 

daughter

 
mother
 
convinced
 

glance

 
counterpart

behold

 

favorite

 
figure
 

spread

 

complete

 

formed

 

covered

 

breast

 
trifling
 
oracular

useless

 

enquiries

 
shrink
 
expected
 

memorial

 

blissful

 

pressed

 
signed
 

interpreter

 

forehead


reading

 

originally

 

descended

 

marriage

 
preserved
 

turning

 
features
 

explanations

 
Before
 

ornament


holding

 

bystanders

 

demeanor

 
violently
 

modest

 

astonishment

 

veteran

 

crying

 

terror

 
staggered