Search -
The Historical Romances of Georg Ebers, Volume 9
The Historical Romances of Georg Ebers Volume 9 Author:Georg Ebers, Clara Bell, Eleanor Grove Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: "And tell us why you never married. It won't matter to you in the neit world, if we do let out your secret." "There's no secret; any of your own fathers could... more » tell you what you want to hear from me. Listen then. When I was young," I used to amuse myself with women, but I laughed at the idea of love. It occurred, however, that Panthea, the most beautiful of all women, fell into our hands, and Cyrus gave her into my charge, because I had always boasted that my heart was invulnerable. I saw her every day, and learnt, my friends, that love is stronger than a man's will. However, she refused all my offers, induced Cyrus to remove me from my office near her, and to accept her husband Abradatas as an ally. When her handsome husband went out to the war, this high-minded, faithful woman decked him out with all her own jewels and told him that the noble conduct of Cyrus, in treating her like a sister, when she was his captive, could only be repaid by the most devoted friendship and heroic courage. Abradatas agreed with her, fought for Cyrus like a lion, and fell. Panthea killed herself by his dead body. Her servants, on hearing of this, put an end to their own lives too at the grave of this best of mistresses. Cyrus shed tears over this noble pair, and had a stone set up to their memory, which you can see near Sardis. On it are the simple words: 'To Panthea, Abradatas, and the most faithful of servants.' You see, children, the man who had loved such a woman could never care for another." 22. The story of Panthea, Abradatas, and Araspes, is given by Xenophon in his Cyropaedia with a strong Greek coloring. He probablv invented this romance in honor of his hero; Cyrus. Xenoph. Cyrap. V. The young men listened in silence, and remained some time after Araspes had finished, without utter...« less