The augur covered his head, changed the staff to his left hand, raised his right to the crown of his head and waited. At that moment a gentle breeze rustled the treetops and a fresh oak leaf fell to the ground between my feet while somewhere in the distance, from another hill, I heard the muted cackle of geese. A dog came from nowhere, circled us, muzzle to the ground, and disappeared again as though eagerly following a scent. The gods seemed to be vying with one another in proving their presence, for farther away the thud of a fallen apple sounded in the stillness, and a lizard scampered over my foot, disappearing into the grass. Presumably the other seven gods were also present although they had not given clear indications of themselves. When I had waited yet a while I called to the gods who had revealed themselves.
“Master of the clouds, I know you. Gentle-eyed one, I know you. Fleet-footed one, I know you. Foam-born, I know you. You of the underworld, I know you.”
The augur repeated the true and holy names of these five gods and then came the omens.
From the reeds in the river a flock of water birds rose, flying northward with extended necks, and disappeared from sight.
“Your lake,” said the augur.
A high-circling hawk struck at the ground and again rose. A fluttering flock of doves rose from the mists and flew swiftly to the northeast.
“Your mountain,” said the augur.
Then came the black ravens, circling lazily over our heads. The augur counted their number.
“Nine years,” he said.
That marked the end of the omens, but onto my foot climbed a black and yellow beetle. The augur again covered his head, changed his staff into the right hand and said, “Your tomb.”
In that manner did the gods remind me jealously of my body’s mortality and try to frighten me. But I kicked away the beetle, rose and spoke. “The act is ended, old man, and I will not thank you for the omens since one does not express thanks for them. There were five gods, and of them only the ruler of thunderbolts was male. There were three omens, two of which concerned places and the third the period of my imprisonment. But the gods were only earthly gods and their omens concerned only this life. They reminded me of death because they know that a human’s fate is death, but they themselves are bound to the earth as men are and thus, even as immortals, they are like men. I myself worship the veiled deities.”
“Speak not of them,” the augur said warningly. “The knowledge of them suffices. No one can know them, not even the gods.”
I replied, “The earth does not restrain them. Time and place do not restrain them. They rule the gods, as the gods rule men.”
“Don’t talk,” said the augur once more. “They exist. That is enough.”
2.
We returned to the streets of the Etruscans and stepped into the inn so that I might give the augur his gift. There the host met us, wringing his hands.
“It’s good that you returned, stranger, for things are happening here that I don’t understand. I don’t know whether I can let you and your family remain in my house. My trade will suffer if people begin to fear this place.”
The slaves bustled about, shouting that objects had fallen from the walls and the household god had turned its back on the hearth. Quickly I went into the room in which we had eaten. Arsinoe was sitting on the edge of the couch with a guilty look, munching on an apple, and on a bronze-legged chair beside her sat a withered old man propping the drooping lid of his right eye with a finger. He wore a bleached robe bordered in purple and on his thumb was a gold ring. When he noticed me he began painfully to explain something in Latin, but the host urged him not to exert himself.
“He is one of the city fathers,” explained the innkeeper. “Tertius Valerius, the brother of the plebeian’s friend, Publius Valerius. The events of the past years have touched him deeply ever since he had to permit both his sons to be killed in accordance with a law which his brother introduced and the Senate ratified. A short while ago he was in the Senate when the tribune was impeaching Caius Marcius, conqueror of the Volsci, and the people rioted. He lost consciousness and was carried into my house since the slaves were afraid to take him to his own house lest he die on the way. When he regained consciousness he claims he saw his wife although she died of sorrow after the loss of her sons.”
The old man began to speak in Etruscan and declared, “I saw my wife, touched her and discussed matters that only we two know. I don’t know what it means, for finally everything darkened and my wife changed into the woman before me.”
“The most amazing thing is that shortly before that I also saw my wife,” said the host, “although I know that she is visiting relatives in Veii and Veil is a full day’s journey from here. But with my own eyes I saw her walking in the court. In the name of my guardian spirit I swear that I saw her and touched her, for I ran to embrace her, asking, ‘When did you return from Veii and why so soon?’ Only then did I realize that I had touched this woman who had awakened from a sleep and was walking about the house.”
“He is lying,” declared Arsinoe. “They are both lying. I awakened only now and can remember nothing unusual. The old man was just staring at me. He hasn’t tried to lie with me nor would he be capable of it.”
I said angrily, “You could turn any house upside down with your pranks, but perhaps the goddess entered you as you slept and you really don’t know what happened.”
Tertius Valerius was sufficiently educated to stammer a few words in Greek. Turning to him I said, “You saw the vision in a twilight condition. Undoubtedly a blood-vessel in your brain burst from the shock you experienced at the market place, as I can see that from your drooping eyelid. Your wife appeared to you in the guise of my wife to warn you to take care of yourself and not to become involved in disputes that only injure your health. The vision signified no more than that.”
“Are you a physician?” asked Tertius Valerius.
“No, but I was friend to one of the renowned physicians of the island of Cos. He knew that a certain Alcmaeon has proved that disturbances in the head affect various parts of the body. Your injury is within your skull and the paralysis of your body is an indication of that and not an illness in itself. So we are told.”
The old man thought for a moment, made his decision and said, “Clearly the gods sent me to this house to meet your wife and you and to find peace of heart. I believe my wife. Had I believed her in time, both my sons would still be alive. Ambition blinded me and I thought I was the equal of my brothers and was not content to remain silent on public matters. Now my hearth is cold, my old age cheerless and the Furies whisper in my ears as I sit alone in the dark.”
He clutched Arsinoe’s hand and continued, “Both of you must accompany me to my house as my guests.”
The innkeeper took me aside. “He is a respected man and owns thousands of jugera of land. But he has been muddled for a long time and the illness has hardly improved his reason. I would doubt his vision had I myself not seen a similar one. You will be hated by his relatives if you remain in his house as his guest.”
I pondered the matter and said finally, “It is not up to me to doubt events. I thank you for your hospitality, for which I will pay you when you have counted on your tablet how much I owe you. I shall accompany this old man, my wife will put him to bed and our own servant will care for him. That is my decision.”
Face flushed, the host pulled the tablet from his belt and began to write eagerly with the stylus. He glanced at me apologetically and said, “You must realize, stranger, that I would much rather offer you my hospitality without a price on it. I would even, for certain reasons, worship you on my knees, but this is my trade and we are in Rome.”