wherein it is related who periander and auristella are.
good and evil seem to be so inseparable, that like two lines which form an angle, although they spring from different beginnings, yet both end in the same point.
periander lay beside the tranquil stream; the clear and beautiful night and the murmuring waters were soothing companions: the trees too were company to him, and a fresh and gentle breeze dried his tears. he forgot his woes for the moment, and auristella and the hope of finding a remedy for his sorrows, he dismissed to the winds—when suddenly a sound reached his ears; it was of a strange voice, but it caught his attention, for he heard the well-known accents of his native language, without being able to distinguish whether it was muttering or singing.
curiosity made him move nearer, and then he found that the voices proceeded from two persons, and that they were neither singing nor muttering, but engaged in deep conversation. what most surprised him was, that they talked in the norwegian tongue at so great a distance from that country.
he concealed himself behind a tree in such a manner that the tree's shadow and his own were mingled in one. he collected his breath, and the first words that met his ears were, "you have not to tell me, sir, that the whole year in norway is divided into two parts, for i have been there myself some time—where my misfortunes carried me—and i know that half the year it is night, and the other half day: i know that it is so; but why it is so, i am ignorant." to which the other answered, "if we reach rome, i will point out to you upon a globe the cause of this wonderful fact, as natural in that country as it is in this, for day and night to be four-and-twenty hours long. i have also told you that near the most northern part of norway, almost under the arctic pole, lies the island which is supposed to be the furthest end of the known world, at least of these northern parts. its name was tile (note 12), or as it is called by virgil thulé, in those lines that you will find in the georgics, book i:—
ac tua nautæ
numina sola colant: tibi serviat ultima thulé.
"for tile in greek is the same as thulé in latin. this island is nearly as large as england, rich and abundant in all things necessary for human life; still higher up is the island called friseland, which was four hundred years undiscovered by any one. it is so large that it is called a kingdom, and not a very small one. the king of tile is maximin, son of queen eustochia, whose father died not many months ago, and left two sons, one of whom is this maximin, of whom i spoke, the heir to his crown, and the other a noble youth, called persiles, rich in the gifts of nature beyond all description, and beloved by his mother beyond all expression. how to praise the virtues of persiles sufficiently i know not, and therefore i will not attempt it for fear my feeble efforts should impair their greatness; although the affection i have for him, having been his tutor from childhood, is such that i might rather be led to say too much, so it is best to be silent on that point."
periander, who heard all this, immediately knew that he who praised him could be no other than serafido, his tutor; and also in the other, who was listening to him, he recognized rutilio by his voice, as he made answers from time to time. whether or not he was astonished at this, i leave to your good consideration, and more still when serafido (for he it was,) said,—
"eusebia, the queen of friseland, had two daughters of exceeding great beauty, particularly the eldest, whose name is sigismunda (the youngest is called eusebia, after her mother). nature had bestowed beauty on them all. the queen, with what design i know not, taking the opportunity of a war with which she was threatened, sent sigismunda to tile, to the care of eustochia, to be brought up at that court, safe from the dangers of war, she said; but i myself believe that this was not the chief reason for sending her away, but that the prince maximin might fall in love with her, and make her his wife, which it was natural to suppose might happen from her extreme beauty, enough to melt a heart of marble, at least, if this suspicion of mine was a right one, for i cannot affirm that it was from experience. i know that prince maximin is dying for sigismunda, but he was not in the island at the time she arrived at tile; his mother sent him the picture of the lady, and told him of the embassy of the queen of friseland, and his answer was, that she should be very kindly treated, and that he would marry her. this answer was like an arrow shot through the heart of my son persiles (for by this tender name i called him, having brought him up). from the moment he heard of it, he could get nothing to please him; he lost the vivacity of youth, and one heard no more of the gallant deeds by which he won the admiration and love of every one.
"above all, he began to lose his health and give way to despair; the physicians, who were sent for, could make nothing of his ailment, for they were ignorant of its cause. the state of the pulse does not show the grief of the heart, and it is difficult and nearly impossible to comprehend the ailments which spring from that source. the mother, seeing her son dying, without being able to discover what was killing him, asked him again and again to reveal the cause of his suffering, since it was impossible that he should be ignorant of it himself, as he felt the effects: so powerful were the persuasions, so great the solicitude of the afflicted mother, that she conquered the obstinacy, or rather the firmness, of persiles, and forced him to confess that he was dying of love for sigismunda, and that he was determined to die rather than sin against the duty which he owed his brother. this declaration restored the queen to life, and she bade persiles hope, telling him that a remedy might be found, and that it would be quite possible to overlook the claims of maximin, and greater considerations even than a brother's anger, might be waved to effect this object. finally she went to sigismunda herself, and told her of her son's wishes, exaggerating all she should lose if she lost persiles, a creature in whom all the graces and all the virtues were united; whereas maximin was much the reverse, for the harshness of his manners made him somewhat unpopular, and she cried up the merits of persiles to the highest extent.
"sigismunda, who was very young, alone, and easily persuaded, replied that she had no will of her own, nor any counsellor but her own modesty; and so as she could preserve it, she left the queen to dispose of her as she pleased. the queen embraced her, and flew to carry her reply to persiles. it was then agreed between them that they should absent themselves from the island before his brother returned, and as an excuse for their disappearance, she would say that they had made a vow to go to rome, in order to get properly instructed in the catholic faith, which was somewhat impaired in these northern countries, persiles first having sworn that he would neither in word nor deed, offend against her modesty. so, loaded with jewels and advice, the queen dismissed them, and, when they were gone, she told me all that i have now related.
"it was two years and rather more before the prince maximin returned to his own dominions, for he was engaged in the war he was continually waging with his enemies.
"he enquired for sigismunda, and not finding her was a great vexation to him. as soon as he heard of the voyage she had gone upon, he set out in search of her. he had great confidence in his brother's virtue, but was not without suspicion, which a lover is never entirely free from. as his mother knew of his intentions, she called me aside, and committed to my charge the life, honour and safety of her younger son, giving me orders to set out in search of him, and, if possible, to let him know that his brother was gone to look for him and sigismunda. the prince maximin set sail with two large ships, and passing through the straits of hercules with various changes of weather and many storms, he reached at length the isle of trinacria, and from thence the fair city of parthenope. he was at the present moment not far from thence, in a place called terracina, where he had been taken ill, and had been at the point of death. i landed at lisbon, where i obtained news of persiles and sigismunda; for two pilgrims whose beauty was making a great noise there, could be no other than they, for unless they are persiles and sigismunda, they must be incarnate angels."
"if their names," answered the listener to whom serafido spoke, "were periander and auristella, instead of persiles and sigismunda, i could give you certain news of them, for i was some time in their company, and underwent with them many perils." he then related the adventures in the barbarous isle with some others.
meantime day advanced, and periander, that he might not be seen there, left them in order to return and give auristella notice of his brother's arrival, and to take counsel with her what was best to be done in order to avoid his indignation, deeming it a miracle that he should have gained this information in so retired a spot; and, full of new thoughts, he went to seek, once more, his penitent auristella, and the hopes which he had well nigh lost.
