periander returns towards rome with the news of his brother maximin's arrival. serafido his tutor, and rutilio meet with him.
the pain and sensation of a fresh wound is hardly felt in the moment of anger and hot blood, which, after it becomes cold, causes an agony that is almost unendurable to the sufferer. it is the same with the passions of the mind; in allowing them time and space to be dwelt upon, and considered, they will often nearly vex you to death.
auristella said all she wanted to periander, and satisfied with having declared her desire, she expected its accomplishment, trusting to the perfect submission of periander, who, after as we have already narrated, listening to her in silence, and by silence only, replying, quitted rome, and the events we have related happened to him.
he recognized rutilio, who told the history of the barbarous isle to his former tutor, serafido, and added his suspicions that auristella and periander might prove to be sigismunda and persiles. he also said that they were sure to be found in rome, and that from the first beginning of his acquaintance, he had seen that they were travelling on some secret business, and were only pretending to be brother and sister. he then questioned serafido abundantly upon the condition and manners of the inhabitants of those distant isles, of which maximin and the peerless auristella were sovereigns; and serafido again repeated how this island of tile or thulé, which is now vulgarly called iceland, was the most northerly of all the islands in those seas, the other being a little further south, which, as he before said, was called friseland, and which nicholas temo (note 13), a venetian, discovered in the year one thousand three hundred and eighty. it was as large as sicily, and, until then, unknown by the ancients. eusebia is its queen, the mother of sigismunda, whom i seek. there is yet another island nearly as important, and almost always covered with snow, called greenland, at one corner of which there is a monastery, founded under the name of st. thomas (note 14), and where there are monks of four nations, spaniards, french, latin, and tuscan. they teach their different tongues to the principal people of the island, that when they leave it, they may be understood wherever they go. as i said before, the island is buried in snow; and at the top of a small mountain there is a fountain, a great wonder, and worthy to be known: it throws out and pours forth a quantity of water of such heat, that when it reaches the sea and mingles with its waves, it not only thaws the frozen water, but warms it so that in that part an incredible variety of fishes are found, which fish form the chief sustenance of the monastery and the island in general, which derives thence her revenues and profits (note 15). this fountain also engenders stones of a glutinous quality, of which an adhesive cement is made, with which they build houses, as if they were of the hardest marble.
"other things i could tell you," said serafido to rutilio, "of these isles, which you would scarcely believe, and yet which are quite true."
all this periander did not hear. rutilio told it to him afterwards, and he believed the truth of all that he related, from his own knowledge of so many of the facts stated.
the day was now come, and periander had just reached that magnificent temple and church, almost the largest in europe, of st. peter, when he saw coming towards him a little troop of persons on horseback and on foot; and as they came near he knew them to be auristella, felicia flora, constance, and antonio, and also hippolyta, who, having heard of periander's disappearance, would not leave the pleasure of finding him to others, and so followed auristella, taking the road pointed out by the jewess, zabulon's wife, much like one who is friendly with the evil one.
the fair squadron came up to periander, who saluted auristella, and looking closely at her, he fancied that her countenance was more gentle in its expression, and her eyes milder. he told them directly all that he had heard the night before between his old tutor and rutilio, and how his brother, prince maximin, was at terracina, laid up with an illness there; and how he intended coming to rome to be cured, and with a feigned name, and concealing his rank, to search for them.
he then asked advice from auristella and the others, as to what he should do, for he could not expect a very gentle reception from his brother.
auristella was thunderstruck at the unexpected tidings, and in an instant vanished alike the hopes of preserving her maiden freedom, and of retaining the company of her loved periander.
as for the rest of the party they were all busy thinking what advice it would be best to give periander. the first who offered any was the rich and enamoured hippolyta. she proposed to take periander and his sister with her to naples, and spend her hundred thousand and more of ducats with them there.
the calabrian pyrrhus heard this offer, for he was by, and to him it was like a death-blow; for in a ruffian soul like his, jealousy is engendered, not by disdain, but self-interest, and as his would suffer with the loss of hippolyta, despair for some moments took possession of him, during which he treasured up in his heart a mortal hatred against periander, whose grace and beauty, great as they were, seemed magnified yet greater in his eyes, for such is the natural effect of jealousy.
periander thanked hippolyta, but did not accept her liberal offers. the others had no time to advise anything, for at this instant serafido and rutilio came up, and scarcely had they both caught sight of periander than they ran and threw themselves at his feet, for his change of dress could not change his graceful figure. rutilio clasped his waist, serafido hung upon his neck, rutilio wept with delight, and serafido with joy and tenderness.
the bystanders watched this extraordinary and happy meeting with the warmest interest. pyrrhus alone stood gloomily apart, his secret fury preying upon his vitals; and at last, so great was his envy and rage, to see how periander was respected and beloved, that, impelled by blind passion, and hardly knowing what he did, he plunged his sword into periander's right shoulder with such force, that the point came out at his left, taking a slanting direction from side to side.
hippolyta was the first who saw the blow given, and her shriek was first heard crying out, "ah, traitor! ah, fatal enemy of my peace, hast thou slain him who deserved to live for ever?" serafido opened his arms, rutilio loosened his, all bathed in the warm blood of periander, who sank into those of auristella. she had no power to speak, to breathe, or even to weep. his head fell upon her breast, and his arms hung down on either side. this sudden stroke, which then appeared more fatal than it afterwards proved, filled all those who witnessed it with horror, and left them pale as death. the great flow of blood was what seemed to threaten periander's life, at least auristella looked as if it was about to depart. serafido and rutilio arrested the assassin, and in spite of his strength and savage ferocity, they secured him, and with the help of several persons, who had by this time come up, he was taken to prison, and the governor in a few days after sentenced him to the gallows, as an incorrigible villain and assassin. his death was a great relief to hippolyta, who henceforwards felt able to call her life her own.
