Cleopatra

by H. Rider Haggard

  Then at last came the moment of my pent-up vengeance, and of thevengeance of Egypt's outraged Gods, and of the falling of the curse ofMenkau-ra.

  "What's this?" she cried; "I grow cold, but I die not! Thou darkphysician, thou hast betrayed me!"

  "Peace, Cleopatra! Presently shalt thou die and know the fury of theGods! _The curse of Menkau-ra hath fallen!_ It is finished! Look uponme, woman! Look upon this marred face, this twisted form, this livingmass of sorrow! _Look! look!_ Who am I?"

  She stared upon me wildly.

  "Oh! oh!" she shrieked, throwing up her arms; "at last I know thee! Bythe Gods, thou art Harmachis!--Harmachis risen from the dead!"

  "Ay, Harmachis risen from the dead to drag thee down to death and agonyeternal! See, thou Cleopatra; _I_ have ruined thee as thou didst ruinme! I, working in the dark, and helped of the angry Gods, have been thysecret spring of woe! I filled thy heart with fear at Actium; I held theEgyptians from thy aid; I sapped the strength of Antony; I showed theportent of the Gods unto thy captains! By my hand at length thou diest,for I am the instrument of Vengeance! Ruin I pay thee back for ruin,Treachery for treachery, Death for death! Come hither, Charmion, partnerof my plots, who betrayed me, but, repenting, art the sharer of mytriumph, come watch this fallen wanton die!"

  Cleopatra heard, and sank back upon the golden bed, groaning "And thou,too, Charmion!"

  A moment so she sat, then her Imperial spirit burnt up glorious beforeshe died.

  She staggered from the bed, and, with arms outstretched, she cursed me.

  "Oh! for one hour of life!" she cried--"one short hour, that therein Imight make thee die in such fashion as thou canst not dream, thou andthat false paramour of thine, who betrayed both me and thee! And thoudidst love me! Ah, _there_ I have thee still! See, thou subtle, plottingpriest"--and with both hands she rent back the royal robes from herbosom--"see, on this fair breast once night by night thy head waspillowed, and thou didst sleep wrapped in these same arms. Now, put awaytheir memory _if thou canst!_ I read it in thine eyes--that mayst thounot! No torture which I bear can, in its sum, draw nigh to the rage ofthat deep soul of thine, rent with longings never, never to be reached!Harmachis, thou slave of slaves, from thy triumph-depths I snatch adeeper triumph, and conquered yet I conquer! I spit upon thee--I defythee--and, dying, doom thee to the torment of thy deathless love! OAntony! I come, my Antony!--I come to thy own dear arms! Soon I shallfind thee, and, wrapped in a love undying and divine, together we willfloat through all the depths of space, and, lips to lips and eyes toeyes, drink of desires grown more sweet with every draught! Or if I findthee not, then I shall sink in peace down the poppied ways of Sleep: andfor me the breast of Night, whereon I shall be softly cradled, will yetseem thy bosom, Antony! Oh, I die!--come, Antony--and give me peace!"

  Even in my fury I had quailed beneath her scorn, for home flew thearrows of her winged words. Alas! and alas! it was _true_--the shaft ofmy vengeance fell upon my own head; never had I loved her as I loved hernow. My soul was rent with jealous torture, and thus I swore she shouldnot die.

  "Peace!" I cried; "what peace is there for thee? Oh! ye Holy Three,hear now my prayer. Osiris, loosen Thou the bonds of Hell and sendforth those whom I shall summon! Come Ptolemy, poisoned of thy sisterCleopatra; come Arsinoe, murdered in the sanctuary by thy sisterCleopatra; come Sepa, tortured to death of Cleopatra; come DivineMenkau-ra, whose body Cleopatra tore and whose curse she braved forgreed; come one, come all who have died at the hands of Cleopatra! Rushfrom the breast of Nout and greet her who murdered you! By the link ofmystic union, by the symbol of the Life, Spirits, I summon you!"

  Thus I spoke the spell; while Charmion, affrighted, clung to my robe,and the dying Cleopatra, resting on her hands, swung slowly to and fro,gazing with vacant eyes.

  Then the answer came. The casement burst asunder, and on flitteringwings that great bat entered which last I had seen hanging to theeunuch's chin in the womb of the pyramid of _Her_. Thrice it circledround, once it hovered o'er dead Iras, then flew to where the dyingwoman stood. To her it flew, on her breast it settled, clinging to thatemerald which was dragged from the dead heart of Menkau-ra. Thrice thegrey Horror screamed aloud, thrice it beat its bony wings, and lo! itwas gone.

  Then suddenly within that chamber sprang up the Shapes of Death. Therewas Arsinoe, the beautiful, even as she had shrunk beneath the butcher'sknife. There was young Ptolemy, his features twisted by the poisonedcup. There was the majesty of Menkau-ra, crowned with the uraeus crown;there was grave Sepa, his flesh all torn by the torturer's hooks;there were those poisoned slaves; and there were others without number,shadowy and dreadful to behold! who, thronging that narrow chamber,stood silently fixing their glassy eyes upon the face of her who slewthem!

  "Behold! Cleopatra!" I said. "_Behold thy peace, and die!_"

  "Ay!" said Charmion. "Behold and die! thou who didst rob me of myhonour, and Egypt of her King!"

  She looked, she saw the awful Shapes--her Spirit, hurrying from theflesh, mayhap could hear words to which my ears were deaf. Then her facesank in with terror, her great eyes grew pale, and, shrieking, Cleopatrafell and died: passing, with that dread company, to her appointed place.

  Thus, then, I, Harmachis, fed my soul with vengeance, fulfilling thejustice of the Gods, and yet knew myself empty of all joy therein. Forthough that thing we worship doth bring us ruin, and Love being morepitiless than Death, we in turn do pay all our sorrow back; yet we mustworship on, yet stretch out our arms towards our lost Desire, and pourour heart's blood upon the shrine of our discrowned God.

  For Love is of the Spirit, and knows not Death.