{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_20009/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_20009","id":"gutenberg_20009","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/20009","summary":null,"tags":["Category: British Literature","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Novels","Gods, Roman -- Fiction","Ixion (Greek mythology) -- Fiction","Short stories"],"text":"Produced by David Widger\n\n\n\n\n\nIXION IN HEAVEN\n\nBy Benjamin Disraeli\n\n\n\n\n     _ADVERTISEMENT_\n\n     _\u2018IXION, King of Thessaly, famous for its horses, married\n     Dia, daughter of Deioneus, who, in consequence of his son-\n     in-law\u2019s non-fulfilment of his engagements, stole away some\n     of the monarch\u2019s steeds. Ixion concealed his resentment\n     under the mask of friendship. He invited his father-in-law\n     to a feast at Larissa, the capital of his kingdom; and when\n     Deioneus arrived according to his appointment, he threw him\n     into a pit which he had previously filled with burning\n     coals. This treachery so irritated the neighbouring princes,\n     that all of them refused to perform the usual ceremony, by\n     which a man was then purified of murder, and Ixion was\n     shunned and despised by all mankind. Jupiter had compassion\n     upon him, carried him to Heaven, and introduced him to the\n     Father of the Gods. Such a favour, which ought to have\n     awakened gratitude in Ixion, only served to inflame his bad\n     passions; he became enamoured of Juno, and attempted to\n     seduce her. Juno was willing to gratify the passion of\n     Ixion, though, according to others,\u2019 &c.--Classical\n     Dictionary, art. \u2018Ixion.\u2019_\n\n\n\n\nIXION IN HEAVEN\n\n\n\n\nPART I.\n\n     _An Errant King_\n\nTHE thunder groaned, the wind howled, the rain fell in hissing torrents,\nimpenetrable darkness covered the earth. A blue and forky flash darted a\nmomentary light over the landscape. A Doric temple rose in the centre of\na small and verdant plain, surrounded on all sides by green and hanging\nwoods.\n\n\u2018Jove is my only friend,\u2019 exclaimed a wanderer, as he muffled himself up\nin his mantle; \u2018and were it not for the porch of his temple, this night,\nmethinks, would complete the work of my loving wife and my dutiful\nsubjects.\u2019\n\nThe thunder died away, the wind sank into silence, the rain ceased, and\nthe parting clouds exhibited the glittering crescent of the young moon.\nA sonorous and majestic voice sounded from the skies:--\n\n\u2018Who art thou that hast no other friend than Jove?\u2019 \u2018One whom all\nmankind unite in calling a wretch.\u2019 \u2018Art thou a philosopher?\u2019\n\n\u2018If philosophy be endurance. But for the rest, I was sometime a king,\nand am now a scatterling.\u2019 \u2018How do they call thee? \u2018Ixion of Thessaly.\u2019\n\n\u2018Ixion of Thessaly! I thought he was a happy man. I heard that he was\njust married.\u2019\n\n\u2018Father of Gods and men! for I deem thee such, Thessaly is not Olympus.\nConjugal felicity is only the portion of the immortals!\u2019\n\n\u2018Hem! What! was Dia jealous, which is common; or false, which is\ncommoner; or both, which is commonest?\u2019\n\n\u2018It may be neither. We quarrelled about nothing. Where there is little\nsympathy, or too much, the splitting of a straw is plot enough for a\ndomestic tragedy. I was careless, her friends stigmatised me as callous;\nshe cold, her friends styled her magnanimous. Public opinion was all\non her side, merely because I did not choose that the world should\ninterfere between me and my wife. Dia took the world\u2019s advice upon every\npoint, and the world decided that she always acted rightly. However,\nlife is life, either in a palace or a cave. I am glad you ordered it to\nleave off thundering.\u2019\n\n\u2018A cool dog this. And Dia left thee? \u2018No; I left her.\u2019 \u2018What, craven?\u2019\n\n\u2018Not exactly. The truth is-----\u2018tis a long story.\n\nI was over head and ears in debt.\u2019\n\n\u2018Ah! that accounts for everything. Nothing so harassing as a want of\nmoney! But what lucky fellows you mortals are with your _post-obits!_\nWe Immortals are deprived of this resource. I was obliged to get up a\nrebellion against my father, because he kept me so short, and could not\ndie.\u2019\n\n\u2018You could have married for money. I did.\u2019 \u2018I had no opportunity, there\nwas so little female society in those days. When I came out, there were\nno heiresses except the Parcae, confirmed old maids; and no very rich\ndowager, except my grandmother, old Terra.\u2019\n\n\u2018Just the thing; the older the better. However, I married Dia, the\ndaughter of Deioneus, with a prodigious portion; but after the ceremony\nthe old gentleman would not fulfil his part of the contract without\nmy giving up my stud. Can you conceive anything more unreasonable? I\nsmothered my resentment at the time; for the truth is, my tradesmen all\nrenewed my credit on the strength of the match, and so we went on\nvery well for a year; but at last they began to smell a rat, and grew\nimportunate. I entreated Dia to interfere; but she was a paragon of\ndaughters, and always took the side of her father. If she had only been\ndutiful to her husband, she would have been a perfect woman. At last\nI invited Deioneus to the Larissa races, with the intention of\nconciliating him. The unprincipled old man bought the horse that I\nhad backed, and by which I intended to have redeemed my fortunes, and\nwithdrew it. My book was ruined. I dissembled my rage. I dug a pit in\nour garden, and filled it with burning coals. As my father-in-law and\nmyself were taking a stroll after dinner, the worthy Deioneus fell in,\nmerely by accident. Dia proclaimed me the murderer of her father, and,\nas a satisfaction to her wounded feelings, earnestly requested her\nsubjects to decapitate her husband. She certainly was the best of\ndaughters. There was no withstanding public opinion, an infuriated\nrabble, and a magnanimous wife at the same time. They surrounded my\npalace: I cut my way through the greasy-capped multitude, sword in hand,\nand gained a neighbouring Court, where I solicited my brother princes\nto purify me from the supposed murder. If I had only murdered a subject,\nthey would have supported me against the people; but Deioneus being a\ncrowned head, like themselves, they declared they would not countenance\nso immoral a being as his son-in-law. And so, at length, after much\nwandering, and shunned by all my species, I am here, Jove, in much\nhigher society than I ever expected to mingle.\u2019\n\n\u2018Well, thou art a frank dog, and in a sufficiently severe scrape. The\nGods must have pity on those for whom men have none. It is evident that\nEarth is too hot for thee at present, so I think thou hadst better come\nand stay a few weeks with us in Heaven.\u2019 \u2018Take my thanks for hecatombs,\ngreat Jove. Thou art, indeed, a God!\u2019\n\n\u2018I hardly know whether our life will suit you. We dine at sunset; for\nApollo is so much engaged that he cannot join us sooner, and no dinner\ngoes off well without him. In the morning you are your own master, and\nmust find amusement where you can. Diana will show you some tolerable\nsport. Do you shoot?\u2019\n\n\u2018No arrow surer. Fear not for me, \u00c6giochus: I am always at home. But\nhow am I to get to you?\u2019 \u2018I will send Mercury; he is the best travelling\ncompanion in the world. What ho! my Eagle!\u2019\n\nThe clouds joined, and darkness again fell over the earth.\n\n\u2018So! tread softly. Don\u2019t be nervous. Are you sick?\u2019\n\n\u2018A little nausea; \u2018tis nothing.\u2019\n\n\u2018The novelty of the motion. The best thing is a beefsteak. We will stop\nat Taurus and take one.\u2019\n\n\u2018You have been a great traveller, Mercury?\u2019\n\n\u2018I have seen the world.\u2019\n\n\u2018Ah! a wondrous spectacle. I long to travel.\u2019\n\n\u2018The same thing over and over again. Little novelty and much change. I\nam wearied with exertion, and if I could get a pension would retire.\u2019\n\n\u2018And yet travel brings wisdom.\u2019\n\n\u2018It cures us of care. Seeing much we feel little, and learn how very\npetty are all those great affairs which cost us such anxiety.\u2019\n\n\u2018I feel that already myself. Floating in this blue aether, what the\ndevil is my wife to me, and her dirty Earth! My persecuting enemies seem\nso many pismires; and as for my debts, which have occasioned me so many\nbrooding moments, honour and infamy, credit and beggary, seem to me\nalike ridiculous.\u2019\n\n\u2018Your mind is opening, Ixion. You will soon be a man of the world. To\nthe left, and keep clear of that star.\u2019\n\n\u2018Who lives there?\u2019\n\n\u2018The Fates know, not I. Some low people who are trying to shine into\nnotice. \u2018Tis a parvenu planet, and only sprung into space within this\ncentury. We do not visit them.\u2019\n\n\u2018Poor devils! I feel hungry.\u2019\n\n\u2018All right. We shall get into Heaven by the first dinner bolt. You\ncannot arrive at a strange house at a better moment. We shall just have\ntime to dress. I would not spoil my appetite by luncheon. Jupiter keeps\na capital cook.\u2019\n\n\u2018I have heard of Nectar and Ambrosia.\u2019 \u2018Poh! nobody touches them.\nThey are regular old-fashioned celestial food, and merely put upon the\nside-table. Nothing goes down in Heaven now but infernal cookery. We\ntook our chef from Proserpine.\u2019\n\n\u2018Were you ever in Hell?\u2019\n\n\u2018Several times. \u2018Tis the fashion now among the Olympians to pass the\nwinter there.\u2019 \u2018Is this the season in Heaven?\u2019 \u2018Yes; you are lucky.\nOlympus is quite full.\u2019 \u2018It was kind of Jupiter to invite me.\u2019 \u2018Ay! he\nhas his good points. And, no doubt, he has taken a liking to you, which\nis all very well. But be upon your guard. He has no heart, and is as\ncapricious as he is tyrannical.\u2019\n\n\u2018Gods cannot be more unkind to me than men have been.\u2019\n\n\u2018All those who have suffered think they have seen the worst. A great\nmistake. However, you are now in the high road to preferment, so we will\nnot be dull. There are some good fellows enough amongst us. You will\nlike old Neptune.\u2019 \u2018Is he there now?\u2019\n\n\u2018Yes, he generally passes his summer with us. There is little stirring\nin the ocean at that season.\u2019 \u2018I am anxious to see Mars.\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh! a brute, more a bully than a hero. Not at all in the best set.\nThese mustachioed gentry are by no means the rage at present in Olympus.\nThe women are all literary now, and Minerva has quite eclipsed Venus.\nApollo is our hero. You must read his last work.\u2019\n\n\u2018I hate reading.\u2019\n\n\u2018So do I. I have no time, and seldom do anything in that way but glance\nat a newspaper. Study and action will not combine.\u2019\n\n\u2018I suppose I shall find the Goddesses very proud?\u2019\n\n\u2018You will find them as you find women below, of different dispositions\nwith the same object. Venus is a flirt; Minerva a prude, who fancies she\nhas a correct taste and a strong mind; and Juno a politician. As for the\nrest, faint heart never won fair lady; take a friendly hint, and do not\nbe alarmed.\u2019\n\n\u2018I fear nothing. My mind mounts with my fortunes. We are above the\nclouds. They form beneath us a vast and snowy region, dim and irregular,\nas I have sometimes seen them clustering upon the horizon\u2019s ridge at\nsunset, like a raging sea stilled by some sudden supernatural frost\nand frozen into form! How bright the air above us, and how delicate\nits fragrant breath! I scarcely breathe, and yet my pulses beat like\nmy first youth. I hardly feel my being. A splendour falls upon your\npresence. You seem, indeed, a God! Am I so glorious? This, this is\nHeaven!\u2019\n\nThe travellers landed on a vast flight of sparkling steps of\nlapis-lazuli. Ascending, they entered beautiful gardens; winding\nwalks that yielded to the feet, and accelerated your passage by their\nrebounding pressure; fragrant shrubs covered with dazzling flowers, the\nfleeting tints of which changed every moment; groups of tall trees, with\nstrange birds of brilliant and variegated plumage, singing and reposing\nin their sheeny foliage, and fountains of perfumes.\n\nBefore them rose an illimitable and golden palace, with high spreading\ndomes of pearl, and long windows of crystal. Around the huge portal of\nruby was ranged a company of winged genii, who smiled on Mercury as he\npassed them with his charge.\n\n\u2018The Father of Gods and men is dressing,\u2019 said the son of Maia. \u2018I shall\nattend his toilet and inform him of your arrival. These are your rooms.\nDinner will be ready in half an hour. I will call for you as I go down.\nYou can be formally presented in the evening. At that time, inspired by\nliqueurs and his matchless band of wind instruments, you will agree with\nthe world that \u00c6giochus is the most finished God in existence.\u2019\n\n\u2018Now, Ixion, are you ready?\u2019 \u2018Even so. What says Jove?\u2019 \u2018He smiled, but\nsaid nothing. He was trying on a new robe. By this time he is seated.\nHark! the thunder. Come on!\u2019\n\nThey entered a cupolaed hall. Seats of ivory and gold were ranged round\na circular table of cedar, inlaid with the campaigns against the Titans,\nin silver exquisitely worked, a nuptial present of Vulcan. The service\nof gold plate threw all the ideas of the King of Thessaly as to royal\nmagnificence into the darkest shade. The enormous plateau represented\nthe constellations. Ixion viewed the Father of Gods and men with great\ninterest, who, however, did not notice him. He acknowledged the majesty\nof that countenance whose nod shook Olympus. Majestically robust and\nluxuriantly lusty, his tapering waist was evidently immortal, for it\ndefied Time, and his splendid auburn curls, parted on his forehead\nwith celestial precision, descended over cheeks glowing with the purple\nradiancy of perpetual manhood.\n\nThe haughty Juno was seated on his left hand and Ceres on his right. For\nthe rest of the company there was Neptune, Latona, Minerva, and Apollo,\nand when Mercury and Ixion had taken their places, one seat was still\nvacant.\n\n\u2018Where is Diana?\u2019 inquired Jupiter, with a frown.\n\n\u2018My sister is hunting,\u2019 said Apollo.\n\n\u2018She is always too late for dinner,\u2019 said Jupiter. \u2018No habit is less\nGoddess-like.\u2019\n\n\u2018Godlike pursuits cannot be expected to induce Goddess-like manners,\u2019\nsaid Juno, with a sneer.\n\n\u2018I have no doubt Diana will be here directly,\u2019 said Latona, mildly.\n\nJupiter seemed pacified, and at that instant the absent guest returned.\n\n\u2018Good sport, Di?\u2019 inquired Neptune.\n\n\u2018Very fair, uncle. Mamma,\u2019 continued the sister of Apollo, addressing\nherself to Juno, whom she ever thus styled when she wished to conciliate\nher, \u2018I have brought you a new peacock.\u2019\n\nJuno was fond of pets, and was conciliated by the present.\n\n\u2018Bacchus made a great noise about this wine, Mercury,\u2019 said Jupiter,\u2019\nbut I think with little cause. What think you?\u2019\n\n\u2018It pleases me, but I am fatigued, and then all wine is agreeable.\u2019\n\n\u2018You have had a long journey,\u2019 replied the Thunderer. \u2018Ixion, I am glad\nto see you in Heaven.\u2019\n\n\u2018Your Majesty arrived to-day?\u2019 inquired Minerva, to whom the King of\nThessaly sat next.\n\n\u2018Within this hour.\u2019\n\n\u2018You must leave off talking of Time now,\u2019 said Minerva, with a severe\nsmile. \u2018Pray is there anything new in Greece?\u2019\n\n\u2018I have not been at all in society lately.\u2019\n\n\u2018No new edition of Homer? I admire him exceedingly.\u2019\n\n\u2018All about Greece interests me,\u2019 said Apollo, who, although handsome,\nwas a somewhat melancholy lack-a-daisical looking personage, with his\nshirt collar thrown open, and his long curls theatrically arranged.\n\u2018All about Greece interests me. I always consider Greece my peculiar\nproperty. My best poems were written at Delphi. I travelled in Greece\nwhen I was young. I envy mankind.\u2019\n\n\u2018Indeed!\u2019 said Ixion.\n\n\u2018Yes: they at least can look forward to a termination of the ennui of\nexistence, but for us Celestials there is no prospect. Say what they\nlike, immortality is a bore.\u2019\n\n\u2018You eat nothing, Apollo,\u2019 said Ceres.\n\n\u2018Nor drink,\u2019 said Neptune.\n\n\u2018To eat, to drink, what is it but to live; and what is life but death,\nif death be that which all men deem it, a thing insufferable, and to\nbe shunned. I refresh myself now only with soda-water and biscuits.\nGanymede, bring some.\u2019\n\nNow, although the _cuisine_ of Olympus was considered perfect, the\nforlorn poet had unfortunately fixed upon the only two articles which\nwere not comprised in its cellar or larder. In Heaven, there was neither\nsoda-water nor biscuits. A great confusion consequently ensued; but at\nlength the bard, whose love of fame was only equalled by his horror of\ngetting fat, consoled himself with a swan stuffed with truffles, and a\nbottle of strong Tenedos wine.\n\n\u2018What do you think of Homer?\u2019 inquired Minerva of Apollo. \u2018Is he not\ndelightful?\u2019\n\n\u2018If you think so.\u2019\n\n\u2018Nay, I am desirous of your opinion.\u2019\n\n\u2018Then you should not have given me yours, for your taste is too fine for\nme to dare to differ with it.\u2019\n\n\u2018I have suspected, for some time, that you are rather a heretic\u2019\n\n\u2018Why, the truth is,\u2019 replied Apollo, playing with his rings, \u2018I do not\nthink much of Homer. Homer was not esteemed in his own age, and our\ncontemporaries are generally our best judges. The fact is, there are\nvery few people who are qualified to decide upon matters of taste. A\ncertain set, for certain reasons, resolve to cry up a certain writer,\nand the great mass soon join in. All is cant. And the present admiration\nof Homer is not less so. They say I have borrowed a great deal from him.\nThe truth is, I never read Homer since I was a child, and I thought of\nhim then what I think of him now, a writer of some wild irregular power,\ntotally deficient in taste. Depend upon it, our contemporaries are our\nbest judges, and his contemporaries decided that Homer was nothing.\nA great poet cannot be kept down. Look at my case. Marsyas said of my\nfirst volume that it was pretty good poetry for a God, and in answer I\nwrote a satire, and flayed Marsyas alive. But what is poetry, and what\nis criticism, and what is life? Air. And what is air? Do you know? I\ndon\u2019t. All is mystery, and all is gloom, and ever and anon from out the\nclouds a star breaks forth, and glitters, and that star is Poetry.\u2019\n\n\u2018Splendid!\u2019 exclaimed Minerva.\n\n\u2018I do not exactly understand you,\u2019 said Neptune.\n\n\u2018Have you heard from Proserpine, lately?\u2019 inquired Jupiter of Ceres.\n\n\u2018Yesterday,\u2019 said the domestic mother. \u2018They talk of soon joining us.\nBut Pluto is at present so busy, owing to the amazing quantity of\nwars going on now, that I am almost afraid he will scarcely be able to\naccompany her.\u2019\n\nJuno exchanged a telegraphic nod with Ceres. The Goddesses rose, and\nretired.\n\n\u2018Come, old boy,\u2019 said Jupiter to Ixion, instantly throwing off all his\nchivalric majesty, \u2018I drink your welcome in a magnum of Maraschino.\nDamn your poetry, Apollo, and, Mercury, give us one of your good\nstories.\u2019\n\n\u2018Well! what do you think of him?\u2019 asked Juno.\n\n\u2018He appears to have a fine mind,\u2019 said Minerva.\n\n\u2018Poh! he has very fine eyes,\u2019 said Juno.\n\n\u2018He seems a very nice, quiet young gentleman,\u2019 said Ceres.\n\n\u2018I have no doubt he is very amiable,\u2019 said Latona.\n\n\u2018He must have felt very strange,\u2019 said Diana.\n\nHercules arrived with his bride Hebe; soon after the Graces dropped in,\nthe most delightful personages in the world for a _soiree_, so useful\nand ready for anything. Afterwards came a few of the Muses, Thalia,\nMelpomene, and Terpsichore, famous for a charade or a proverb. Jupiter\nliked to be amused in the evening. Bacchus also came, but finding that\nthe Gods had not yet left their wine, retired to pay them a visit.\n\nGanymede announced coffee in the saloon of Juno. Jupiter was in superb\ngood humour. He was amused by his mortal guest. He had condescended\nto tell one of his best stories in his best style, about Leda, not too\nscandalous, but gay.\n\n\u2018Those were bright days,\u2019 said Neptune.\n\n\u2018We can remember,\u2019 said the Thunderer, with a twinkling eye. \u2018These\nyouths have fallen upon duller times. There are no fine women now.\nIxion, I drink to the health of your wife.\u2019\n\n\u2018With all my heart, and may we never be nearer than we are at present.\u2019\n\n\u2018Good! i\u2019faith; Apollo, your arm. Now for the ladies. La, la, la, la!\nla, la, la, la!\u2019\n\nThe Thunderer entered the saloon of Juno with that bow which no God\ncould rival; all rose, and the King of Heaven seated himself between\nCeres and Latona. The melancholy Apollo stood apart, and was soon\ncarried off by Minerva to an assembly at the house of Mnemosyne.\nMercury chatted with the Graces, and Bacchus with Diana. The three Muses\nfavoured the company with singing, and the Queen of Heaven approached\nIxion.\n\n\u2018Does your Majesty dance?\u2019 she haughtily inquired.\n\n\u2018On earth; I have few accomplishments even there, and none in Heaven.\u2019\n\n\u2018You have led a strange life! I have heard of your adventures.\u2019\n\n\u2018A king who has lost his crown may generally gain at least experience.\u2019\n\n\u2018Your courage is firm.\u2019\n\n\u2018I have felt too much to care for much. Yesterday I was a vagabond\nexposed to every pitiless storm, and now I am the guest of Jove. While\nthere is life there is hope, and he who laughs at Destiny will gain\nFortune. I would go through the past again to enjoy the present, and\nfeel that, after all, I am my wife\u2019s debtor, since, through her conduct,\nI can gaze upon you.\u2019\n\n\u2018No great spectacle. If that be all. I wish you better fortune.\u2019\n\n\u2018I desire no greater.\u2019\n\n\u2018You are moderate.\u2019\n\n\u2018I am perhaps more unreasonable than you imagine.\u2019\n\n\u2018Indeed!\u2019\n\nTheir eyes met; the dark orbs of the Thessalian did not quail before the\nflashing vision of the Goddess. Juno grew pale. Juno turned away.\n\n\n\n\nPART II.\n\n     _\u2018Others say it was only a cloud.\u2019_\n\n     _A Mortal Among the Gods._\n\nMERCURY and Ganymede were each lolling on an opposite couch in the\nantechamber of Olympus.\n\n\u2018It is wonderful,\u2019 said the son of Maia, yawning. \u2018It is incredible,\u2019\nrejoined the cupbearer of Jove, stretching his legs.\n\n\u2018A miserable mortal!\u2019 exclaimed the God, elevating his eyebrows.\n\n\u2018A vile Thessalian!\u2019 said the beautiful Phrygian, shrugging his\nshoulders.\n\n\u2018Not three days back an outcast among his own wretched species!\u2019\n\n\u2018And now commanding everybody in Heaven.\u2019 \u2018He shall not command me,\nthough,\u2019 said Mercury.\n\n\u2018Will he not?\u2019 replied Ganymede. \u2018Why, what do you think? only last\nnight; hark! here he comes.\u2019\n\nThe companions jumped up from their couches; a light laugh was heard.\nThe cedar portal was flung open, and Ixion lounged in, habited in a\nloose morning robe, and kicking before him one of his slippers. \u2018Ah!\u2019\nexclaimed the King of Thessaly, \u2018the very fellows I wanted to see!\nGanymede, bring me some nectar; and, Mercury, run and tell Jove that I\nshall not dine at home to-day.\u2019\n\nThe messenger and the page exchanged looks of indignant consternation.\n\n\u2018Well! what are you waiting for?\u2019 continued Ixion, looking round from\nthe mirror in which he was arranging his locks. The messenger and the\npage disappeared.\n\n\u2018So! this is Heaven,\u2019 exclaimed the husband of Dia, flinging himself\nupon one of the couches; \u2018and a very pleasant place too. These worthy\nImmortals required their minds to be opened, and I trust I have\neffectually performed the necessary operation. They wanted to keep me\ndown with their dull old-fashioned celestial airs, but I fancy I have\ngiven them change for their talent. To make your way in Heaven you\nmust command. These exclusives sink under the audacious invention of\nan aspiring mind. Jove himself is really a fine old fellow, with some\nnotions too. I am a prime favourite, and no one is greater authority\nwith \u00c6giochus on all subjects, from the character of the fair sex or\nthe pedigree of a courser, down to the cut of a robe or the flavour of a\ndish. Thanks, Ganymede,\u2019 continued the Thessalian, as he took the goblet\nfrom his returning attendant.\n\n\u2018I drink to your _bonnes fortunes_. Splendid! This nectar makes me feel\nquite immortal. By-the-bye, I hear sweet sounds. Who is in the Hall of\nMusic?\u2019\n\n\u2018The Goddesses, royal sir, practise a new air of Euterpe, the words by\nApollo. \u2018Tis pretty, and will doubtless be very popular, for it is all\nabout moonlight and the misery of existence.\u2019\n\n\u2018I warrant it.\u2019\n\n\u2018You have a taste for poetry yourself?\u2019 inquired Ganymede.\n\n\u2018Not the least,\u2019 replied Ixion.\n\n\u2018Apollo,\u2019 continued the heavenly page, \u2018is a great genius, though\nMarsyas said that he never would be a poet because he was a God, and had\nno heart. But do you think, sir, that a poet does indeed need a heart?\u2019\n\n\u2018I really cannot say. I know my wife always said I had a bad heart\nand worse head; but what she meant, upon my honour I never could\nunderstand.\u2019\n\n\u2018Minerva will ask you to write in her album.\u2019\n\n\u2018Will she indeed! I am sorry to hear it, for I can scarcely scrawl my\nsignature. I should think that Jove himself cared little for all this\nnonsense.\u2019\n\n\u2018Jove loves an epigram. He does not esteem Apollo\u2019s works at all. Jove\nis of the classical school, and admires satire, provided there be no\nallusions to Gods and kings.\u2019\n\n\u2018Of course; I quite agree with him. I remember we had a confounded poet\nat Larissa who proved my family lived before the deluge, and asked me\nfor a pension. I refused him, and then he wrote an epigram asserting\nthat I sprang from the veritable stones thrown by Deucalion and Pyrrha\nat the re-peopling of the earth, and retained all the properties of my\nancestors.\u2019\n\n\u2018Ha, ha! Hark! there\u2019s a thunderbolt! I must run to Jove.\u2019\n\n\u2018And I will look in on the musicians. This way, I think?\u2019\n\n\u2018Up the ruby staircase, turn to your right, down the amethyst gallery.\nFarewell!\u2019\n\n\u2018Good-bye; a lively lad that!\u2019\n\nThe King of Thessaly entered the Hall of Music with its golden walls\nand crystal dome. The Queen of Heaven was reclining in an easy chair,\ncutting out peacocks in small sheets of note paper. Minerva was making\na pencil observation on a manuscript copy of the song: Apollo listened\nwith deference to her laudatory criticisms. Another divine dame,\nstanding by the side of Euterpe, who was seated by the harp, looked\nup as Ixion entered. The wild liquid glance of her soft but radiant\ncountenance denoted the famed Goddess of Beauty.\n\nJuno just acknowledged the entrance of Ixion by a slight and haughty\ninclination of the head, and then resumed her employment. Minerva asked\nhim his opinion of her amendment, of which he greatly approved. Apollo\ngreeted him with a melancholy smile, and congratulated him on being\nmortal. Venus complimented him on his visit to Olympus, and expressed\nthe pleasure that she experienced in making his acquaintance.\n\n\u2018What do you think of Heaven?\u2019 inquired Venus, in a soft still voice,\nand with a smile like summer lightning.\n\n\u2018I never found it so enchanting as at this moment,\u2019 replied Ixion.\n\n\u2018A little dull? For myself, I pass my time chiefly at Cnidos: you must\ncome and visit me there. \u2018Tis the most charming place in the world. \u2018Tis\nsaid, you know, that our onions are like other people\u2019s roses. We will\ntake care of you, if your wife come.\u2019\n\n\u2018No fear of that. She always remains at home and piques herself on\nher domestic virtues, which means pickling, and quarrelling with her\nhusband.\u2019\n\n\u2018Ah! I see you are a droll. Very good indeed. Well, for my part, I like\na watering-place existence. Cnidos, Paphos, Cythera; you will usually\nfind me at one of these places. I like the easy distraction of a career\nwithout any visible result. At these fascinating spots your gloomy race,\nto whom, by-the-bye, I am exceedingly partial, appear emancipated from\nthe wearing fetters of their regular, dull, orderly, methodical, moral,\npolitical, toiling existence. I pride myself upon being the Goddess of\nwatering-places. You really must pay me a visit at Cnidos.\u2019\n\n\u2018Such an invitation requires no repetition. And Cnidos is your favourite\nspot?\u2019\n\n\u2018Why, it was so; but of late it has become so inundated with invalid\nAsiatics and valetudinarian Persians, that the simultaneous influx of\nthe handsome heroes who swarm in from the islands to look after their\ndaughters, scarcely compensates for the annoying presence of their\nyellow faces and shaking limbs. No, I think, on the whole, Paphos is my\nfavourite.\u2019\n\n\u2018I have heard of its magnificent luxury.\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh! \u2018tis lovely! Quite my idea of country life. Not a single tree! When\nCyprus is very hot, you run to Paphos for a sea-breeze, and are sure to\nmeet every one whose presence is in the least desirable. All the bores\nremain behind, as if by instinct.\u2019\n\n\u2018I remember when we married, we talked of passing the honeymoon at\nCythera, but Dia would have her waiting-maid and a bandbox stuffed\nbetween us in the chariot, so I got sulky after the first stage, and\nreturned by myself.\u2019\n\n\u2018You were quite right. I hate bandboxes: they are always in the way.\nYou would have liked Cythera if you had been in the least in love.\nHigh rocks and green knolls, bowery woods, winding walks, and delicious\nsunsets. I have not been there much of late,\u2019 continued the Goddess,\nlooking somewhat sad and serious, \u2018since--but I will not talk\nsentiment to Ixion.\u2019\n\n\u2018Do you think, then, I am insensible?\u2019\n\n\u2018Yes.\u2019\n\n\u2018Perhaps you are right. We mortals grow callous.\u2019\n\n\u2018So I have heard. How very odd!\u2019 So saying, the Goddess glided away and\nsaluted Mars, who at that moment entered the hall. Ixion was presented\nto the military hero, who looked fierce and bowed stiffly. The King of\nThessaly turned upon his heel. Minerva opened her album, and invited him\nto inscribe a stanza.\n\n\u2018Goddess of Wisdom,\u2019 replied the King, \u2018unless you inspire me, the\nvirgin page must remain pure as thyself. I can scarcely sign a decree.\u2019\n\n\u2018Is it Ixion of Thessaly who says this; one who has seen so much,\nand, if I am not mistaken, has felt and thought so much? I can easily\nconceive why such a mind may desire to veil its movements from the\ncommon herd, but pray concede to Minerva the gratifying compliment\nof assuring her that she is the exception for whom this rule has been\nestablished.\u2019\n\n\u2018I seem to listen to the inspired music of an oracle. Give me a pen!\n\n\u2018Here is one, plucked from a sacred owl.\u2019 \u2018So! I write. There! Will it\ndo?\u2019 Minerva read the inscription:--\n\n     _I HAVE SEEN THE WORLD, AND MORE THAN THE WORLD:\n     I HAVE STUDIED THE HEART OF MAN,\n     AND NOW I CONSORT WITH IMMORTALS.\n     THE FRUIT OF MY TREE OF   KNOWLEDGE   IS   PLUCKED,\n      AND  IT  IS  THIS,\n     \u2018Adventures are to the Adventurous.\u2019\n     Written in the Album of Minerva, by\n     Ixion in Heaven._\n\n\u2018\u2019Tis brief,\u2019 said the Goddess, with a musing air, \u2018but full of meaning.\nYou have a daring soul and pregnant mind.\u2019\n\n\u2018I have dared much: what I may produce we have yet to see.\u2019\n\n\u2018I must to Jove,\u2019 said Minerva, \u2018to council. We shall meet again.\nFarewell, Ixion.\u2019\n\n\u2018Farewell, Glaucopis.\u2019\n\nThe King of Thessaly stood away from the remaining guests, and leant\nwith folded arms and pensive brow against a wreathed column. Mars\nlistened to Venus with an air of deep devotion. Euterpe played an\ninspiring accompaniment to their conversation. The Queen of Heaven\nseemed engrossed in the creation of her paper peacocks.\n\nIxion advanced and seated himself on a couch near Juno. His manner was\ndivested of that reckless bearing and careless coolness by which it was\nin general distinguished. He was, perhaps, even a little embarrassed.\nHis ready tongue deserted him. At length he spoke.\n\n\u2018Has your Majesty ever heard of the peacock of the Queen of\nMesopotamia?\u2019\n\n\u2018No,\u2019 replied Juno, with stately reserve; and then she added with an air\nof indifferent curiosity, \u2018Is it in any way remarkable?\u2019\n\n\u2018Its breast is of silver, its wings of gold, its eyes of carbuncle, its\nclaws of amethyst.\u2019\n\n\u2018And its tail?\u2019 eagerly inquired Juno.\n\n\u2018That is a secret,\u2019 replied Ixion. \u2018The tail is the most wonderful part\nof all.\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh! tell me, pray tell me!\u2019\n\n\u2018I forget.\u2019\n\n\u2018No, no, no; it is impossible!\u2019 exclaimed the animated Juno.\n\u2018Provoking mortal!\u2019 continued the Goddess. \u2018Let me entreat you; tell me\nimmediately.\u2019\n\n\u2018There is a reason which prevents me.\u2019\n\n\u2018What can it be? How very odd! What reason can it possibly be? Now tell\nme; as a particular, a personal favour, I request you, do tell me.\u2019\n\n\u2018What! The tail or the reason? The tail is wonderful, but the reason is\nmuch more so. I can only tell one. Now choose.\u2019\n\n\u2018What provoking things these human beings are! The tail is wonderful,\nbut the reason is much more so. Well then, the reason; no, the tail.\nStop, now, as a particular favour, pray tell me both. What can the\ntail be made of and what can the reason be? I am literally dying of\ncuriosity.\u2019\n\n\u2018Your Majesty has cut out that peacock wrong,\u2019 remarked Ixion. \u2018It is\nmore like one of Minerva\u2019s owls.\u2019\n\n\u2018Who cares about paper peacocks, when the Queen of Mesopotamia has got\nsuch a miracle!\u2019 exclaimed Juno; and she tore the labours of the morning\nto pieces, and threw away the fragments with vexation. \u2018Now tell me\ninstantly; if you have the slightest regard for me, tell me instantly.\nWhat was the tail made of?\u2019\n\n\u2018And you do not wish to hear the reason?\u2019\n\n\u2018That afterwards. Now! I am all ears.\u2019 At this moment Ganymede entered,\nand whispered the Goddess, who rose in evident vexation, and retired to\nthe presence of Jove.\n\nThe King of Thessaly quitted the Hall of Music. Moody, yet not\nuninfluenced by a degree of wild excitement, he wandered forth into the\ngardens of Olympus. He came to a beautiful green retreat surrounded by\nenormous cedars, so vast that it seemed they must have been coeval with\nthe creation; so fresh and brilliant, you would have deemed them wet\nwith the dew of their first spring. The turf, softer than down, and\nexhaling, as you pressed it, an exquisite perfume, invited him to\nrecline himself upon this natural couch. He threw himself upon the\naromatic herbage, and leaning on his arm, fell into a deep reverie.\n\nHours flew away; the sunshiny glades that opened in the distance had\nsoftened into shade.\n\n\u2018Ixion, how do you do?\u2019 inquired a voice, wild, sweet, and thrilling as\na bird. The King of Thessaly started and looked up with the distracted\nair of a man roused from a dream, or from complacent meditation over\nsome strange, sweet secret. His cheek was flushed, his dark eyes flashed\nfire; his brow trembled, his dishevelled hair played in the fitful\nbreeze. The King of Thessaly looked up, and beheld a most beautiful\nyouth.\n\nApparently, he had attained about the age of puberty. His stature,\nhowever, was rather tall for his age, but exquisitely moulded and\nproportioned. Very fair, his somewhat round cheeks were tinted with\na rich but delicate glow, like the rose of twilight, and lighted by\ndimples that twinkled like stars. His large and deep-blue eyes sparkled\nwith exultation, and an air of ill-suppressed mockery quivered round\nhis pouting lips. His light auburn hair, braided off his white forehead,\nclustered in massy curls on each side of his face, and fell in sunny\ntorrents down his neck. And from the back of the beautiful youth there\nfluttered forth two wings, the tremulous plumage of which seemed to have\nbeen bathed in a sunset: so various, so radiant, and so novel were its\nshifting and wondrous tints; purple, and crimson, and gold; streaks of\nazure, dashes of orange and glossy black; now a single feather,\nwhiter than light, and sparkling like the frost, stars of emerald and\ncarbuncle, and then the prismatic blaze of an enormous brilliant! A\nquiver hung at the side of the beautiful youth, and he leant upon a bow.\n\n\u2018Oh! God, for God thou must be!\u2019 at length exclaimed Ixion. \u2018Do I behold\nthe bright divinity of Love?\u2019\n\n\u2018I am indeed Cupid,\u2019 replied the youth; \u2018and am curious to know what\nIxion is thinking about.\u2019 \u2018Thought is often bolder than speech.\u2019\n\u2018Oracular, though a mortal! You need not be afraid to trust me. My aid\nI am sure you must need. Who ever was found in a reverie on the\ngreen turf, under the shade of spreading trees, without requiring the\nassistance of Cupid? Come! be frank, who is the heroine? Some love-sick\nnymph deserted on the far earth; or worse, some treacherous mistress,\nwhose frailty is more easily forgotten than her charms? \u2018Tis a miserable\nsituation, no doubt. It cannot be your wife?\u2019\n\n\u2018Assuredly not,\u2019 replied Ixion, with energy.\n\n\u2018Another man\u2019s?\u2019\n\n\u2018No.\u2019\n\n\u2018What! an obdurate maiden?\u2019\n\nIxion shook his head.\n\n\u2018It must be a widow, then,\u2019 continued Cupid. \u2018Who ever heard before of\nsuch a piece of work about a widow!\u2019\n\n\u2018Have pity upon me, dread Cupid!\u2019 exclaimed the King of Thessaly, rising\nsuddenly from the ground, and falling on his knee before the God.\n\u2018Thou art the universal friend of man, and all nations alike throw their\nincense on thy altars. Thy divine discrimination has not deceived thee.\nI _am_ in love; desperately, madly, fatally enamoured. The object of my\npassion is neither my own wife nor another man\u2019s. In spite of all they\nhave said and sworn, I am a moral member of society. She is neither a\nmaid nor a widow. She is------\u2019\n\n\u2018What? what?\u2019 exclaimed the impatient deity.\n\n\u2018A Goddess!\u2019 replied the King.\n\n\u2018Wheugh!\u2019 whistled Cupid. \u2018What! has my mischievous mother been\nindulging you with an innocent flirtation?\u2019\n\n\u2018Yes; but it produced no effect upon me.\u2019\n\n\u2018You have a stout heart, then. Perhaps you have been reading poetry with\nMinerva, and are caught in one of her Platonic man-traps.\u2019\n\n\u2018She set one, but I broke away.\u2019\n\n\u2018You have a stout leg, then. But where are you, where are you? Is it\nHebe? It can hardly be Diana, she is so cold. Is it a Muse, or is it one\nof the Graces?\u2019\n\nIxion again shook his head.\n\n\u2018Come, my dear fellow,\u2019 said Cupid, quite in a confidential tone, \u2018you\nhave told enough to make further reserve mere affectation. Ease your\nheart at once, and if I can assist you, depend upon my exertions.\u2019\n\n\u2018Beneficent God!\u2019 exclaimed Ixion, \u2018if I ever return to Larissa, the\nbrightest temple in Greece shall hail thee for its inspiring deity. I\naddress thee with all the confiding frankness of a devoted votary. Know,\nthen, the heroine of my reverie was no less a personage than the Queen\nof Heaven herself!\u2019\n\n\u2018Juno! by all that is sacred!\u2019 shouted Cupid. \u2018I am here,\u2019 responded\na voice of majestic melody. The stately form of the Queen of Heaven\nadvanced from a neighbouring bower. Ixion stood with his eyes fixed\nupon the ground, with a throbbing heart and burning cheeks. Juno stood\nmotionless, pale, and astounded. The God of Love burst into excessive\nlaughter.\n\n[Illustration: page28]\n\n\u2018A pretty pair!\u2019 he exclaimed, fluttering between both, and laughing\nin their faces. \u2018Truly a pretty pair! Well! I see I am in your way.\nGood-bye!\u2019 And so saying, the God pulled a couple of arrows from his\nquiver, and with the rapidity of lightning shot one in the respective\nbreasts of the Queen of Heaven and the King of Thessaly.\n\nThe amethystine twilight of Olympus died away. The stars blazed with\ntints of every hue. Ixion and Juno returned to the palace. She leant\nupon his arm; her eyes were fixed upon the ground; they were in sight of\nthe gorgeous pile, and yet she had not spoken. Ixion, too, was silent,\nand gazed with abstraction upon the glowing sky.\n\nSuddenly, when within a hundred yards of the portal, Juno stopped, and\nlooking up into the face of Ixion with an irresistible smile, she\nsaid, \u2018I am sure you cannot now refuse to tell me what the Queen of\nMesopotamia\u2019s peacock\u2019s tail was made of!\u2019\n\n\u2018It is impossible now,\u2019 said Ixion. \u2018Know, then, beautiful Goddess, that\nthe tail of the Queen of Mesopotamia\u2019s peacock was made of some plumage\nshe had stolen from the wings of Cupid.\u2019\n\n\u2018And what was the reason that prevented you from telling me before?\u2019\n\n\u2018Because, beautiful Juno, I am the most discreet of men, and respect the\nsecret of a lady, however trifling.\u2019\n\n\u2018I am glad to hear that,\u2019 replied Juno, and they re-entered the palace.\n\nMercury met Juno and Ixion in the gallery leading to the grand\nbanqueting hall.\n\n\u2018I was looking for you,\u2019 said the God, shaking his head. \u2018Jove is in a\nsublime rage. Dinner has been ready this hour.\u2019\n\nThe King of Thessaly and the Queen of Heaven exchanged a glance and\nentered the saloon. Jove looked up with a brow of thunder, but did not\ncondescend to send forth a single flash of anger. Jove looked up and\nJove looked down. All Olympus trembled as the Father of Gods and men\nresumed his soup. The rest of the guests seemed nervous and reserved,\nexcept Cupid, who said immediately to Juno, \u2018Your Majesty has been\ndetained?\u2019\n\n\u2018I fell asleep in a bower reading Apollo\u2019s last poem,\u2019 replied Juno. \u2018I\nam lucky, however, in finding a companion in my negligence. Ixion, where\nhave you been?\u2019\n\n\u2018Take a glass of nectar, Juno,\u2019 said Cupid, with eyes twinkling with\nmischief; \u2018and perhaps Ixion will join us.\u2019\n\nThis was the most solemn banquet ever celebrated in Olympus. Everyone\nseemed out of humour or out of spirits. Jupiter spoke only in\nmonosyllables of suppressed rage, that sounded like distant thunder.\nApollo whispered to Minerva. Mercury never opened his lips, but\noccasionally exchanged significant glances with Ganymede. Mars\ncompensated, by his attentions to Venus, for his want of conversation.\nCupid employed himself in asking disagreeable questions. At length\nthe Goddesses retired. Mercury exerted himself to amuse Jove, but the\nThunderer scarcely deigned to smile at his best stories. Mars picked\nhis teeth, Apollo played with his rings, Ixion was buried in a profound\nreverie.\n\nIt was a great relief to all when Ganymede summoned them to the presence\nof their late companions.\n\n\u2018I have written a comment upon your inscription,\u2019 said Minerva to Ixion,\n\u2018and am anxious for your opinion of it.\u2019\n\n\u2018I am a wretched critic,\u2019 said the King, breaking away from her. Juno\nsmiled upon him in the distance.\n\n\u2018Ixion,\u2019 said Venus, as he passed by, \u2018come and talk to me.\u2019\n\nThe bold Thessalian blushed, he stammered out an unmeaning excuse, he\nquitted the astonished but good-natured Goddess, and seated himself by\nJuno, and as he seated himself his moody brow seemed suddenly illumined\nwith brilliant light.\n\n\u2018Is it so?\u2019 said Venus.\n\n\u2018Hem!\u2019 said Minerva.\n\n\u2018Ha, ha!\u2019 said Cupid.\n\nJupiter played piquette with Mercury.\n\n\u2018Everything goes wrong to-day,\u2019 said the King of Heaven; \u2018cards\nwretched, and kept waiting for dinner, and by-----a mortal!\u2019\n\n\u2018Your Majesty must not be surprised,\u2019 said the good-natured Mercury,\nwith whom Ixion was no favourite. \u2018Your Majesty must not be very much\nsurprised at the conduct of this creature. Considering what he is, and\nwhere he is, I am only astonished that his head is not more turned than\nit appears to be. A man, a thing made of mud, and in Heaven! Only think,\nsire! Is it not enough to inflame the brain of any child of clay? To be\nsure, keeping your Majesty from dinner is little short of celestial high\ntreason. I hardly expected that, indeed. To order me about, to treat\nGanymede as his own lacquey, and, in short, to command the whole\nhousehold; all this might be expected from such a person in such a\nsituation, but I confess I did think he had some little respect left for\nyour Majesty.\u2019\n\n\u2018And he does order you about, eh?\u2019 inquired Jove. \u2018I have the spades.\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh! \u2018tis quite ludicrous,\u2019 responded the son of Maia. \u2018Your Majesty\nwould not expect from me the offices that this upstart daily requires.\u2019\n\n\u2018Eternal destiny! is\u2019t possible? That is my trick. And Ganymede, too?\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh! quite shocking, I assure you, sire,\u2019 said the beautiful cupbearer,\nleaning over the chair of Jove with all the easy insolence of a\nprivileged favourite. \u2018Really, sire, if Ixion is to go on in the way he\ndoes, either he or I must quit.\u2019\n\n\u2018Is it possible?\u2019 exclaimed Jupiter. \u2018But I can believe anything of a\nman who keeps me waiting for dinner. Two and three make five.\u2019\n\n\u2018It is Juno that encourages him so,\u2019 said Ganymede.\n\n\u2018Does she encourage him?\u2019 inquired Jove.\n\n\u2018Everybody notices it,\u2019 protested Ganymede.\n\n\u2018It is indeed a little noticed,\u2019 observed Mercury.\n\n\u2018What business has such a fellow to speak to Juno?\u2019 exclaimed Jove. \u2018A\nmere mortal, a mere miserable mortal! You have the point. How I have\nbeen deceived in this fellow! Who ever could have supposed that,\nafter all my generosity to him, he would ever have kept me waiting for\ndinner?\u2019\n\n\u2018He was walking with Juno,\u2019 said Ganymede. \u2018It was all a sham about\ntheir having met by accident. Cupid saw them.\u2019\n\n\u2018Ha!\u2019 said Jupiter, turning pale; \u2018you don\u2019t say so! Repiqued, as I am a\nGod. That is mine. Where is the Queen?\u2019\n\n\u2018Talking to Ixion, sire,\u2019 said Mercury. \u2018Oh, I beg your pardon, sire; I\ndid not know you meant the queen of diamonds.\u2019\n\n\u2018Never mind. I am repiqued, and I have been kept waiting for dinner.\nAccursed be this day! Is Ixion really talking to Juno? We will not\nendure this.\u2019\n\n\u2018Where is Juno?\u2019 demanded Jupiter.\n\n\u2018I am sure I cannot say,\u2019 said Venus, with a smile.\n\n\u2018I am sure I do not know,\u2019 said Minerva, with a sneer.\n\n\u2018Where is Ixion?\u2019 said Cupid, laughing outright.\n\n\u2018Mercury, Ganymede, find the Queen of Heaven instantly,\u2019 thundered the\nFather of Gods and men.\n\nThe celestial messenger and the heavenly page flew away out of different\ndoors. There was a terrible, an immortal silence. Sublime rage lowered\non the brow of Jove like a storm upon the mountain-top. Minerva seated\nherself at the card-table and played at Patience. Venus and Cupid\ntittered in the background. Shortly returned the envoys, Mercury looking\nsolemn, Ganymede malignant.\n\n\u2018Well?\u2019 inquired Jove; and all Olympus trembled at the monosyllable.\n\nMercury shook his head.\n\n\u2018Her Majesty has been walking on the terrace with the King of Thessaly,\u2019\nreplied Ganymede.\n\n\u2018Where is she now, sir?\u2019 demanded Jupiter.\n\nMercury shrugged his shoulders.\n\n\u2018Her Majesty is resting herself in the pavilion of Cupid, with the King\nof Thessaly,\u2019 replied Ganymede.\n\n\u2018Confusion!\u2019 exclaimed the Father of Gods and men; and he rose and\nseized a candle from the table, scattering the cards in all directions.\nEvery one present, Minerva and Venus, and Mars and Apollo, and Mercury\nand Ganymede, and the Muses, and the Graces, and all the winged\ngenii--each seized a candle; rifling the chandeliers, each followed Jove.\n\n\u2018This way,\u2019 said Mercury.\n\n\u2018This way,\u2019 said Ganymede.\n\n\u2018This way, this way!\u2019 echoed the celestial crowd.\n\n\u2018Mischief!\u2019 cried Cupid; \u2018I must save my victims.\u2019\n\nThey were all upon the terrace. The Father of Gods and men, though both\nin a passion and a hurry, moved with dignity. It was, as customary in\nHeaven, a clear and starry night; but this eve Diana was indisposed, or\notherwise engaged, and there was no moonlight. They were in sight of the\npavilion.\n\n\u2018What are you?\u2019 inquired Cupid of one of the genii, who accidentally\nextinguished his candle.\n\n\u2018I am a cloud,\u2019 answered the winged genius.\n\n\u2018A cloud! Just the thing. Now do me a shrewd turn, and Cupid is ever\nyour debtor. Fly, fly, pretty cloud, and encompass yon pavilion with\nyour form. Away! ask no questions; swift as my word.\u2019\n\n\u2018I declare there is a fog,\u2019 said Venus.\n\n\u2018An evening mist in Heaven!\u2019 said Minerva.\n\n\u2018Where is Nox?\u2019 said Jove. \u2018Everything goes wrong. Who ever heard of a\nmist in Heaven?\u2019\n\n\u2018My candle is out,\u2019 said Apollo.\n\n\u2018And mine, too,\u2019 said Mars.\n\n\u2018And mine, and mine, and mine,\u2019 said Mercury and Ganymede, and the Muses\nand the Graces.\n\n\u2018All the candles are out!\u2019 said Cupid; \u2018a regular fog. I cannot even see\nthe pavilion: it must be hereabouts, though,\u2019 said the God to himself.\n\u2018So, so; I should be at home in my own pavilion, and am tolerably\naccustomed to stealing about in the dark. There is a step; and here,\nsurely, is the lock. The door opens, but the cloud enters before me.\nJuno, Juno,\u2019 whispered the God of Love, \u2018we are all here. Be contented\nto escape, like many other innocent dames, with your reputation only\nunder a cloud: it will soon disperse; and lo! the heaven is clearing.\u2019\n\n\u2018It must have been the heat of our flambeaux,\u2019 said Venus; \u2018for see, the\nmist is vanished; here is the pavilion.\u2019\n\nGanymede ran forward, and dashed open the door. Ixion was alone.\n\n\u2018Seize him!\u2019 said Jove.\n\n\u2018Juno is not here,\u2019 said Mercury, with an air of blended congratulation\nand disappointment.\n\n\u2018Never mind,\u2019 said Jove; \u2018seize him! He kept me waiting for dinner.\u2019\n\n\u2018Is this your hospitality, \u00c6giochus?\u2019 exclaimed Ixion, in a tone of\nbullying innocence. \u2018I shall defend myself.\u2019\n\n\u2018Seize him, seize him!\u2019 exclaimed Jupiter. \u2018What! do you all falter? Are\nyou afraid of a mortal?\u2019\n\n\u2018And a Thessalian?\u2019 added Ganymede.\n\nNo one advanced.\n\n\u2018Send for Hercules,\u2019 said Jove.\n\n\u2018I will fetch him in an instant,\u2019 said Ganymede.\n\n\u2018I protest,\u2019 said the King of Thessaly, \u2018against this violation of the\nmost sacred rights.\u2019\n\n\u2018The marriage tie?\u2019 said Mercury.\n\n\u2018The dinner-hour?\u2019 said Jove.\n\n\u2018It is no use talking sentiment to Ixion,\u2019 said Venus; \u2018all mortals are\ncallous.\u2019\n\n\u2018Adventures are to the adventurous,\u2019 said Minerva.\n\n\u2018Here is Hercules! here is Hercules!\u2019\n\n\u2018Seize him!\u2019 said Jove; \u2018seize that man.\u2019\n\nIn vain the mortal struggled with the irresistible demigod.\n\n\u2018Shall I fetch your thunderbolt, Jove?\u2019 inquired Ganymede.\n\n\u2018Anything short of eternal punishment is unworthy of a God,\u2019 answered\nJupiter, with great dignity. \u2018Apollo, bring me a wheel of your\nchariot.\u2019\n\n\u2018What shall I do to-morrow morning?\u2019 inquired the God of Light.\n\n\u2018Order an eclipse,\u2019 replied Jove. \u2018Bind the insolent wretch to the\nwheel; hurl him to Hades; its motion shall be perpetual.\u2019\n\n\u2018What am I to bind him with?\u2019 inquired Hercules.\n\n\u2018The girdle of Venus,\u2019 replied the Thunderer.\n\n\u2018What is all this?\u2019 inquired Juno, advancing, pale and agitated.\n\n\u2018Come along; you shall see,\u2019 answered Jupiter. \u2018Follow me, follow me.\u2019\n\nThey all followed the leader, all the Gods, all the genii; in the midst,\nthe brawny husband of Hebe bearing Ixion aloft, bound to the fatal\nwheel. They reached the terrace; they descended the sparkling steps of\nlapis-lazuli. Hercules held his burthen on high, ready, at a nod, to\nplunge the hapless but presumptuous mortal through space into Hades. The\nheavenly group surrounded him, and peeped over the starry abyss. It was\na fine moral, and demonstrated the usual infelicity that attends unequal\nconnection.\n\n\u2018Celestial despot!\u2019 said Ixion.\n\nIn a moment all sounds were hushed, as they listened to the last words\nof the unrivalled victim. Juno, in despair, leant upon the respective\narms of Venus and Minerva.\n\n\u2018Celestial despot!\u2019 said Ixion, \u2018I defy the immortal ingenuity of thy\ncruelty. My memory must be as eternal as thy torture: that will support\nme.\u2019","title":"Ixion In Heaven","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":8540}