Obediently Mikon took the girl in his arms but nothing happened. Then he flushed and kissed her with marked enthusiasm. When he released her the girl began chattering once more and laughing and crying. It was not her fault, she said, that she had fallen under a spell. Away from Mikon her throat swelled and her tongue became immovable, therefore she begged to be allowed to remain with him.
Mikon scolded her and said that it was impossible. Her parents also protested. Nothing hindered her from occasionally singing and dancing for strangers in order to increase her dowry, but it was unthinkable that she should move to a strange house to live with an alien. A respectable girl would lose her reputation and no honorable man would wish to marry her.
The girl screamed that she could not live without Mikon, suffered a fit and sank to the floor unconscious. Her father slapped her cheeks, Tanakil poured a jugful of cold water on her face, and her mother thrust a hairpin into her thigh, and still she did not move. But when Mikon stooped to rub her limbs her eyelids flickered, the color returned to her cheeks and she sat up, demanding to know what had happened.
Reluctantly Mikon began to be interested in the matter as a physician. He urged the parents to take the girl with them and to test her once more. They returned immediately from the street with the information that the girl had become dumb as soon as they had stepped through the gate.
Mikon became serious and drew Dorieus and me aside. “I have long suspected that unseen forces are leading us,” he said. “I should have mistrusted the feather that led us to this house. We have been caught in the meshes of Aphrodite and it is she who led this girl here to bind me. Having finally found the opportunity for undisturbed meditation I was just on the verge of divine comprehension, and that angered the golden-haired one for she cannot suffer any man to have thoughts other than those of her liking. If we send the girl away and she remains dumb the entire city will censure us and we will be brought before Krinippos. What shall we do?”
Dorieus and I said immediately that it was his problem, for it was he who had taken the girl into the garden and presumably done something that should not have been done to a sensitive girl.
“That is the simple reason,” I said in conclusion. “No divine explanations are required.”
“Don’t try to roll the guilt onto my shoulders,” protested Mikon. “You yourself thrust the white pebble into my hand and led me to this house. Aphrodite has flung her nets over us, as Dorieus likewise knows. Why else would he have fallen into the lap of an old hag?”
Dorieus gritted his teeth. “Tanakil is an intelligent and unprejudiced woman. You are exaggerating her age needlessly. For my part I don’t understand how you-yes, and Turms, too-could stoop to touch a low-born girl. You see now what the results are. Tanakil is a refined woman and would never even dream of asking for more than she can get.”
“Be that as it may,” said Mikon, “you are struggling in the golden net although you may not even realize it. I also am ensnared in it. But you, Turms, you are the one I pity. She is merely playing with us to prove her might, but I dare not even think of the dreadful trap that she has set for you who are her chosen one.”
“You are dreaming,” I said arrogantly. “You are exaggerating the power of the goddess. I accept her gifts willingly and enjoy her friendship but I have no intention of submitting to her. There is something wrong with both of you in permitting that frivolous goddess to break your will. In that respect I am stronger than you.”
As soon as the senseless words were spoken I covered my mouth in dismay, for they were a direct challenge to the foam-born.
Unable to advise Mikon, we returned to the others. The girl had become even more obstinate and was threatening to hang herself from the torch by the gate. Then we could explain that to the people and to Krinippos if we could.
Her threats placed us in an uncomfortable position. Finally, wearying of the fruitless discussion, Mikon said, “So be it. I shall take the girl and purchase her as my slave if you will be content with a reasonable price. I cannot pay exorbitantly for I am but a poor itinerant physician.”
The girl’s parents stared at each other in horror and then pounced on Mikon, beating him with their fists.
“Do you think we would sell our own child into slavery?” they cried. “We are free Siculi and the natives of this land!”
“Then what do you want?”
It is unlikely that the girl’s parents had known exactly what they did want upon their arrival, but their thoughts had been clarified by the conversation and the girl’s conduct.
“You must marry her,” they declared. “You have only yourself to blame, for you have bewitched her. We will give the girl the usual dowry and it is larger than you imagine, for we are not as poor as we seem.
Mikon tore his hair. “This is unbearable! It is but a trick of the goddess to keep my mind off supernatural matters. What man with a wife can think of anything but the problems of everyday life?”
The girl’s parents took her hand and thrust it into Mikon’s. “Her name is Ahura,” they said.
As they pronounced the girl’s name in their own language Mikon clutched his head.
“Aura-if that is your name-we can do nothing, for the gods are mocking us. Aura, you will remember, was a fleet-footed girl and one of Artemis’ hunting companions. Dionysus loved her but she did not submit until Aphrodite touched her with madness. The name is an omen, for Dionysus and Aphrodite both had their hand in leading me into this trap.”
I cannot say that the solution made us happy, but nothing else could be done. We celebrated the wedding with song and dance in the Siculian house among the cattle and goats. The dowry was on display for the neighbors to see and the parents had slaughtered, baked, cooked and roasted more than enough for everyone. After they had sacrificed a dove and smeared its blood on the clothes of the bride and groom, in accordance with the Siculian custom, music was played and wine was served. Under its influence I even danced the goat dance and won the deep admiration of those simple farmers.
Before the wedding Mikon had been depressed, saying that he probably would have to buy a house, hang his caduceus on the gate and remain in Himera to practice his profession. But Tanakil would not hear of it. During the wedding Mikon seemed considerably happier, perhaps due to the wine, and he was the first to remind us that it was time to return to Tanakil’s house. Nor did he speak to me of divine matters for a long time thereafter.
6.
When we had won her confidence, Aura took us outside the city to the woods and the mountains where she showed us the sacred springs, trees and rocks of the Siculi.
A stranger would not have been able to distinguish them but Aura explained, “When I touch this sacred stone my limbs prickle; when I place my hand on this tree my hand grows numb; and when I gaze into this spring I seem to fall into a trance.”
As we wandered together I realized that I likewise was beginning to sense our approach to these hallowed spots. If I held Aura’s hand I would suddenly exclaim, “This is the place! That tree, that spring.” How I knew it I cannot explain.
Soon it was no longer necessary for me to hold Aura’s hand, but a mere indication of the direction sufficed. Far ahead of the others I would stop and say, “Here is where I feel the power. This is a sacred place.”
Dionysius had asked me to make friends with the Tyrrhenians who sold iron goods and incomparably beautiful golden jewelry in their own mart. He was anxious to learn more about the sea across which we must sail in order to reach Massilia. But something made me shun those silent, odd-featured men who refused to bargain and chatter like the Greeks and instead competed with the excellence of their wares. Listening to their talk I had the feeling that I had heard the language long ago in a dream and could understand it if only I could cross some unfathomable threshold.