Chapter IX

The old man took the golden coin:
Gazed steadfastly awhile,
If that could be the Sultaun
Whom from the banks of Nile
He guided o'er the desert path--
Then sighed and thus spake he--
"'Tis not _his_ eye--'tis not _his_ brow--
Another face is there:
I never saw this man before--
His head is like a pear!
Take back thy medal, Moor--'tis not
That which I hoped to see."

EPITAPH OF CONSTANTINE KANARIS

FROM THE GERMAN OF WILHELM MÜLLER

I am Constantine Kanaris:
I, who lie beneath this stone,
Twice into the air in thunder
Have the Turkish galleys blown.

In my bed I died--a Christian,
Hoping straight with Christ to be;
Yet one earthly wish is buried
Deep within the grave with me--

That upon the open ocean
When the third Armada came,
They and I had died together,
Whirled aloft on wings of flame.

Yet 'tis something that they've laid me
In a land without a stain:
Keep it thus, my God and Saviour,
Till I rise from earth again!

THE REFUSAL OF CHARON[4]

FROM THE ROMAIC

Why look the distant mountains
So gloomy and so drear?
Are rain-clouds passing o'er them,
Or is the tempest near?
No shadow of the temptest
Is there, nor wind nor rain--
'Tis Charon that is passing by,
With all his gloomy train.

The young men march before him,
In all their strength and pride;
The tender little infants,
They totter by his side;
The old men walk behind him,
And earnestly they pray--
Both old and young imploring him
To grant some brief delay.

"O Charon! halt, we pray thee,
Beside some little town,
Or near some sparkling fountain,
Where the waters wimple down!
The old will drink and be refreshed,
The young the disc will fling,
And the tender little children
Pluck flowers beside the spring."

"I will not stay my journey,
Nor halt by any town,
Near any sparkling fountain,
Where the waters wimple down:
The mothers coming to the well,
Would know the babes they bore,
The wives would clasp their husbands,
Nor could I part them more."

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 4: According to the superstition of the modern Greeks, Charon performs the function which their ancestors assigned to Hermes, of conducting the souls of the dead to the other world.]

THE END.