Quo Vadis: A Narrative of the Time of Nero by Henryk Sienkiewicz (nonfiction book recommendations .txt) ๐
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- Author: Henryk Sienkiewicz
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โSons of consuls or their wives are not given to lions yet in the arenas,โ said Petronius, laughing. โAny other death may meet thee but that. Who knows, besides, that they were lions? German bisons roar with no less gentleness than lions. As to me, I ridicule omens and fates. Last night was warm and I saw stars falling like rain. Many a man has an evil foreboding at such a sight; but I thought, โIf among these is my star too, I shall not lack society at least!โโ Then he was silent, but added after a momentโs thought,โโIf your Christ has risen from the dead, He may perhaps protect you both from death.โ
โHe may,โ answered Vinicius, looking at the heavens filled with stars.
Chapter XLI
NERO played and sang, in honor of the โLady of Cyprus,โ a hymn the verses and music of which were composed by himself. That day he was in voice, and felt that his music really captivated those present. That feeling added such power to the sounds produced and roused his own soul so much that he seemed inspired. At last he grew pale from genuine emotion. This was surely the first time that he had no desire to hear praises from others. He sat for a time with his hands on the cithara and with bowed head; then, rising suddenly, he said,โ
โI am tired and need air, Meanwhile ye will tune the citharรฆ.โ
He covered his throat then with a silk kerchief.
โYe will go with me,โ said he, turning to Petronius and Vinicius, who were sitting in a corner of the hall. โGive me thy arm, Vinicius, for strength fails me; Petronius will talk to me of music.โ
They went out on the terrace, which was paved with alabaster and sprinkled with saffron.
โHere one can breathe more freely,โ said Nero. โMy soul is moved and sad, though I see that with what I have sung to thee on trial just now I may appear in public, and my triumph will be such as no Roman has ever achieved.โ
โThou mayst appear here, in Rome, in Achรฆa. I admire thee with my whole heart and mind, divinity,โ answered Petronius.
โI know. Thou art too slothful to force thyself to flattery, and thou art as sincere as Tullius Senecio, but thou hast more knowledge than he. Tell me, what is thy judgment on music?โ
โWhen I listen to poetry, when I look at a quadriga directed by thee in the Circus, when I look at a beautiful statue, temple, or picture, I feel that I comprehend perfectly what I see, that my enthusiasm takes in all that these can give. But when I listen to music, especially thy music, new delights and beauties open before me every instant. I pursue them, I try to seize them; but before I can take them to myself, new and newer ones flow in, just like waves of the sea, which roll on from infinity. Hence I tell thee that music is like the sea. We stand on one shore and gaze at remoteness, but we cannot see the other shore.โ
โAh, what deep knowledge thou hast!โ said Nero; and they walked on for a moment, only the slight sound of the saffron leaves under their feet being heard.
โThou hast expressed my idea,โ said Nero at last; โhence I say now, as ever, in all Rome thou art the only man able to understand me. Thus it is, my judgment of music is the same as thine. When I play and sing, I see things which I did not know as existing in my dominions or in the world. I am Cรฆsar, and the world is mine. I can do everything. But music opens new kingdoms to me, new mountains, new seas, new delights unknown before. Most frequently I cannot name them or grasp them; I only feel them. I feel the gods, I see Olympus. Some kind of breeze from beyond the earth blows in on me; I behold, as in a mist, certain immeasurable greatnesses, but calm and bright as sunshine. The whole Spheros plays around me; and I declare to theeโ (here Neroโs voice quivered with genuine wonder) โthat I, Cรฆsar and god, feel at such times as diminutive as dust. Wilt thou believe this?โ
โI will. Only great artists have power to feel small in the presence of art.โ
โThis is a night of sincerity; hence I open my soul to thee as to a friend, and I will say more: dost thou consider that I am blind or deprived of reason? Dost thou think that I am ignorant of this, that people in Rome write insults on the walls against me, call me a matricide, a wife-murderer, hold me a monster and a tyrant, because Tigellinus obtained a few sentences of death against my enemies? Yes, my dear, they hold me a monster, and I know it. They have talked cruelty on me to that degree that at times I put the question to myself, โAm I not cruel?โ But they do not understand this, that a manโs deeds may be cruel at times while he himself is not cruel. Ah, no one will believe, and perhaps even thou, my dear, wilt not believe, that at moments when music caresses my soul I feel as kind as a child in the cradle. I swear by those stars which shine above us, that I speak the pure truth to thee. People do not know how much goodness lies in this heart, and what treasures I see in it when music opens the door to them.โ
Petronius, who had not the least doubt that Nero was speaking sincerely at that moment, and that music might bring out various more noble inclinations of his soul, which were overwhelmed by mountains of egotism, profligacy, and crime, said,โโMen should know thee as nearly as I do; Rome has never been able to appreciate thee.โ
Cรฆsar leaned more heavily on Viniciusโs arm, as if he were bending under the weight of injustice, and answered,โ
โTigellinus has told me that in the Senate they whisper into one anotherโs ears that Diodorus and Terpnos play on the cithara better than I. They refuse me even that! But tell me, thou who art truthful always, do they play better, or as well?โ
โBy no means. Thy touch is finer, and has greater power. In thee the artist is evident, in them the expert. The man who hears their music first understands better what thou art.โ
โIf that be true, let them live. They will never imagine what a service thou hast rendered
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