Mikon said firmly that it was not wise to make a young girl aware of her beauty.
Krinippos cackled. “If it were a question of a more stupid girl you would be right, but Kydippe is not only fair but intelligent. I myself have taught her. Don’t believe in the gentleness of her eyes and the shyness of her smile, for she has already weighed you and decided how best to benefit by you. Haven’t you, Kydippe?”
Kydippe placed a rosy palm before his toothless mouth, blushed and said, “Oh, grandfather, why are you always so cruel? I couldn’t be calculating if I tried. I probably am not even beautiful in their opinion. You make me ashamed.”
Mikon and I cried out with one voice that she was the fairest maiden we had ever seen, and Mikon expressed his gratitude that he was already married and so could not be tempted to yearn for the moon in the sky.
“Not the moon,” I corrected him, “but the brightest, most dazzling sunrise. Seeing you, Kydippe, I wish that I were a king so that I might win you for my own.”
She tilted her head and looked at me through long lashes. “I am not yet of an age to think of men. But if I should think of someone, it would be of a handsome man whose hearth I would tend and for whom I would weave cloth from the wool of my own sheep. But I am sure that you are mocking me. My clothes are probably pleated in an old-fashioned manner and my shoes ridiculous.”
She was wearing a pair of soft leather shoes dyed red and bound with purple ribbons to her knees.
Krinippos said proudly, “I myself have walked half my life with bare feet and even yet I often take off my shoes lest they be worn needlessly. But this vain girl makes me poor with her demands. As she strokes my beard she whispers softly, ‘Grandfather, buy me some Etruscan shoes.’ As she kisses my forehead she murmurs, ‘Grandfather, today I saw a Phoenician comb that would look well in my hair.’ But if I become angry at her vanity she explains that she is not ornamenting herself for her own sake but for the sake of my position.”
Kydippe scolded him. “Oh, grandfather, how can you tease me so in the presence of strangers? You know well that I am not vain or demanding. But not everyone is like you. Even in a ragged robe and bare feet you are the autocrat of Himera. But my father must wear a golden wreath to distinguish himself from the people and I must ornament myself for sacrificial ceremonies and processions lest some drover or sailor mistakenly pinch me in passing.”
When we left Krinippos’ house Mikon said warningly, “That Kydippe is a heartless girl and just at the age when she wants to test her power over men. Don’t try to win her. In the first place you would not succeed, for her ambition is boundless. But even if you did, she would only cause you suffering, and finally Krinippos would have you killed like an annoying fly.”
But I could not think unkindly of such a wondrously fair maiden, and her innocent vanity was to me merely a childlike desire to charm. When I thought of her it was as though the sun shone on me and soon I ceased to think of anything else. I began to circle Krinippos’ house on the edge of the market place in the hope of catching a glimpse of her.
My only hope of meeting Kydippe was when she went to the marts with her servants and two scar-faced guards. She walked chastely with her eyes down, but she had a wreath on her head, rings in her ears, bracelets on her arms, and soft sandals on her feet.
When nothing else availed I turned to Lars Alsir. He consented to help me but said scornfully, “Are you really content with such worthless pastimes, Turms, when the miraculous games of the gods could be available to you? If you lust for that hard-hearted girl, why not use your powers over her? You will not win her heart with bribes.”
I told him that the very sight of Kydippe drained all my strength.
When she came to look at the Etruscan jewelry she admired a necklace of golden grains which Lars Alsir held against a black cloth so that the light from a hole in the ceiling fell on it. She ashed its price.
Lars Alsir shook his head in regret. “I have already sold it.” And when Kydippe asked the purchaser he mentioned my name, as we had agreed.
“Turms of Ephesus!” cried Kydippe. “I know him. What does he want with such jewelry? I thought he was a single man.”
Lars Alsir ventured to suppose that I had some friend to whom I wished to present it. He sent for me nevertheless, and of course I was not far away.
Kydippe smiled her most radiant smile, greeted me shyly and said, “Oh, Turms, I am so enchanted with this necklace. Won’t you give it up for my sake?”
I pretended to be embarrassed and said that I had already promised it to another. She laid her hand on my arm and breathed into my face. “I believed you to be a serious man,” she said. “It was that which attracted me to you so that I have been unable to forget your oval eyes. I am truly disappointed in you.”
I whispered that such matters could not be discussed before curious servant girls. Quickly she sent them into the yard and then we were three, she, Lars Alsir and I.
“Sell it to me,” pleaded Kydippe. “Otherwise I must consider you a frivolous man who pursues notorious women, for only a bad woman would accept such an expensive gift from a strange man.”
I pretended to hesitate. “How much will you pay for it?”
Lars Alsir considerately turned his back. Kydippe fingered her pouch and said unhappily, “Alas, I have perhaps only ten coins and grandfather already accuses me of wastefulness. Won’t you sell it to me cheaply?”
“That I will, Kydippe,” I said. “I will sell it to you for one silver coin if you will also allow me to kiss your mouth.”
She pretended to be deeply shocked. “You don’t know what you are asking. No man has yet kissed my mouth except my father and grandfather. Grandfather has warned me and said that a girl who allows a man to kiss her is lost. Don’t even suggest it, Turms.”
“It is true that I intended to give that necklace to a certain frivolous woman, but it would be easier for me to forget her if I could but kiss your innocent mouth.”
Kydippe hesitated. “Will you promise not to tell anyone? I want those beautiful golden beads so badly, but even more I would desire to rescue you from evil temptation if I could only believe that thereafter you would think only of me.”
I swore secrecy. Kydippe ascertained that Lars Alsir’s back was still turned, parted her lips for my kiss and even pushed her gown aside. Then suddenly she drew back, straightened her gown, took a silver coin from her purse and reached for the necklace.
“Take your drachma,” she said coldly. “Grandfather was right. But you did not affect me in any way, and, frankly, it was as though I had kissed the wet nose of a calf.”
She was shrewder than I and I had gained nothing with the kiss. Instead, I owed Lars Alsir for the expensive necklace. That should have served as a lesson, but I saved the silver coin and trembled each time I handled it.
I prayed in vain to Aphrodite. I was certain that she had rejected me but in truth the goddess was preparing an entirely different snare for me in which Kydippe was merely the bait.
When the spring winds began to blow Dorieus called me aside and said, “Turms, I have thought much during these months and my decision has been made. I intend to travel to Eryx, by land so that I may acquaint myself with the entire western region. Tanakil will accompany me, for the goldsmiths of Eryx know how to make teeth of ivory and gold. People will believe her if she says that she is on her way to sacrifice to Aphrodite because of her widowhood. Mikon and Aura likewise are going, and naturally I would want you also to see the grain city of Segesta and the land of Eryx.”
I barely noticed his grimness, for I was thinking of Kydippe. “Your plan is excellent,” I said eagerly. “I also have matters for Aphrodite of Eryx. After all, she is the most famous Aphrodite of the western sea. Let us leave immediately.”