how rutilio, being enamoured of polycarpa, and clodio of auristella, wrote letters declaring their love; rutilio, perceiving he has done wrong, burns his letter without showing it, but clodio determines to present his to auristella.
rutilio and clodio, the pair who were disposed to try and mend their fortunes; one, trusting to his abilities, and the other to his impudence; thought themselves worthy of aspiring, one to polycarpa, the other to auristella. the sweet voice and lively air of polycarpa pleased rutilio infinitely, and the peerless charms of auristella no less delighted clodio.
they sought an opportunity to unfold their wishes without getting into any scrape by the declaration, for assuredly it was a bold thing for a low-born man to give utterance to that which it was daring even to think of. however, it does sometimes happen that the inclinations of a high-born, though not virtuous lady, may embolden a low-born man to declare his wishes; but certainly in the present case, the boldness of these two gentlemen did not spring from any encouragement or want of reserve on the part of their ladies, spring whence they might. rutilio at last wrote a letter to polycarpa, and clodio to auristella, as follows:—
rutilio to polycarpa.
"i am, lady, a foreigner; and, although i should tell you my birth was illustrious, as i can bring no witnesses to confirm it, possibly it might find no belief in your mind; but as a proof that my family is noble, suffice it that i am bold enough to tell you i adore you; ask what proofs you please, to show the truth of this. it is for you to ask, for me to give them. and since i desire to obtain you for my wife, imagine that i desire according to what i am, and that i deserve that which i desire; for noble minds aspire to noble things. let your eyes give an answer to this letter; and by the mildness or severity of their glance, i shall judge whether it is the sentence of death or life."
rutilio put up this letter, intending to give it to polycarpa the first opportunity. he showed it, however first to clodio, and clodio gave him the letter he had written to auristella, which ran thus:—
clodio to auristella.
"some persons are entangled in the chains of love by the bait of beauty; others, by that of lively and pleasing manners. some, by the merit they discover in her who has subdued them; but i have put my neck into the yoke, and lost my freedom through compassion. it must indeed have been a heart of stone, o beauteous lady, that felt not pity in seeing you bought and sold and placed in such sad circumstances that your last moment often seemed at hand. the pitiless steel has threatened your throat; the flames have reached even your very garment. the cold snow has frozen you, and hunger has enfeebled and faded the bloom upon your cheeks, and lastly the sea engulphed and then cast you forth. what aid in all these sufferings have you had unless it be the slight assistance of a wandering prince, who follows you only for his own ends, or that afforded by your brother, (if indeed he is such,) that can relieve you from your miseries. trust not lady, to distant promises, but cling to succour which is near at hand, and accept a means of safety which heaven offers to you. i am a bachelor; i have abilities that will avail me even in the most remote corners of the world. i will form a plan to remove you from this land, and the importunities of prince arnoldo, and taking you from this egyptian bondage, will bring you into a land of promise—spain, france, or italy (as i cannot live in england, my own dear and beloved country). i here then offer to be your husband; and from this moment i accept you as my bride."
rutilio having read this letter, said, "truly, i think we have both lost our wits to suppose we can fly without wings, our own pretensions being to crawl like the emmet. in my opinion, clodio, it will be best to destroy these letters, for we are neither of us really in love, and only an idle and absurd fancy has urged us to write in this way. love must have some foundation to rest upon, or it cannot exist; failing this, it fails entirely. now what have we to expect for our pains but the rope to our necks, or the knife to our throats, the more, because in this declaration of love we are traitors as well as ingrates. dost thou not see the immense distance that exists between a dancing-master, who mended his means by becoming apprentice to a silversmith, and the daughter of a king? and that which exists between a banished backbiter and one who refuses and scorns a crown? let us forget our folly, and repent that necessity should have brought us to such a pass. at any rate, this letter of mine shall go into the fire, or be cast to the winds ere it reaches polycarpa."
"you may do as you please with your's," answered clodio; "as for mine, whether i give it to auristella or not, i intend to keep it as a sample of my cleverness; but i doubt if i do not give it to her that i shall find my conscience reproach me during the rest of my life for having repented; it does not always follow that when one makes an attempt one is to be punished for it."
this conversation passed between our two pretended lovers, but in fact impudent knaves. in the meantime periander had succeeded in having a private interview with his auristella. he entered her room intending to give her the letter he had written, but when he saw her, forgetting all the discourses and exculpations, which he had prepared, he said, "lady, look at me, am not i periander, who was persiles; and am i not that periander whom you loved? can anything untie the knot that binds us two together but death? and if it be so, what can you mean by giving me advice so much against truth? by the bright heaven above us, and by thine own brighter self, i implore thee to name sinforosa no more, nor imagine that either her beauty or her riches can avail to make me forget thee and thy incomparable charms both of body and soul. this body of mine, which only breathes for thee, i once again offer to thee, although not possessing more advantages now than when i first offered it to thy acceptance. try to recover your health, dearest lady, that we may quit this country, and i will try to contrive that we may pursue our journey; for although rome is the heaven upon earth, still it is not in the skies; and neither danger nor suffering shall prevent us from reaching it at last, however we may be delayed in doing so."
whilst periander was speaking, auristella was regarding him with tenderness, and with tears of mingled compassion and jealous feeling; but, finally, his lover-like pleading and the truth that shone through every word, had their effect upon her jealous spirit, and she answered in a few words, thus; "i do believe thee, beloved one, and have nothing to desire but that thou wilt as speedily as may be take me from this place. in another land i may hope to recover from the fever of jealousy that has confined me to this bed."
"if," said periander, "i had given the smallest cause for your thus suffering, i would patiently hear your complaints, and you would find in my exculpations a remedy for your sorrows; but as i have never offended you in anything, i know not how to excuse myself. but i will hasten to do as you require, and we will leave this country as soon as possible."
"would you know something that concerns you nearly?" she replied. "then hear the flattering offers which i have just received, the least of which is a kingdom. polycarp, the king, wishes to have me for a wife; he sent to tell me this by his daughter, sinforosa, and she hopes through my good offices (i being her mother-in-law) to obtain you as a husband. you know best whether this can be. if we are in any danger, think well over it, and take what remedies you think proper for the case: and pardon me for those doubts and suspicions whereby i have offended you; love will excuse such faults as these."
"it is said," answered periander, "that love cannot exist without jealousy, and jealousy is often caused by the most trivial things. all i ask of you, and which you owe to an understanding like yours, is, that henceforth you should view my conduct with more candid and less punctilious eyes, (with eyes more beautiful would be impossible,) but not making of any small fault of mine, small as a grain of mustard-seed, a mountain which reaches the skies, from which jealous fancies spring; and for the rest, use your own judgment in dealing with the king and sinforosa, and do not offend her, but feign to give hopes that may lead them to expect what they desire. and now i will leave you, that our long interview may not lead to any suspicion." so saying, periander departed, and in leaving the room he met clodio and rutilio. rutilio had just torn up the letter he had written to polycarpa, and clodio had folded up his and put it into his breast. rutilio had repented of his folly, but clodio was satisfied with his own cleverness and proud of his boldness: however, the time will come when he would gladly give half his life (supposing a life to be divideable) not to have written that letter.
