A Question | Page 3

few of
the old man's words; "people ought to be grateful for a warm fire; but
why, at your age, do you go out so early, dressed only in your chiton,
without cloak or sandals, at a season when the buds have scarcely
opened on the trees. You people yonder are different from others in
many respects, but you ought not to go without a hat, Jason; your hair
is as white as mine."
"And wholly gone from the crown," replied the old man, laughing. "It's
more faithful to you women; I suppose out of gratitude for the better
care you bestow. I need neither hat, cloak, nor sandals! An old
countryman doesn't fear the morning chill. When a boy, I was as white
as your master's little daughter, the fair-faced Xanthe, but now head,
neck, arms, legs, every part of me not covered by the woolen chiton, is
brown as a wine-skin before it's hung up in the smoke, and the dark hue
is like a protecting garment, nay better, for it helps me bear not only
cold, but heat. There's nothing white about me now, except the beard
on my chin, the scanty hair on my head, and, thank the gods, these two
rows of sound teeth."
Jason, as he spoke, passed his hard, brown finger over the upper and
then the under row of his teeth; but the housekeeper, puckering her
mouth in the attempt to hide many a blemish behind her own lips,
answered:

"Your teeth are as faithful to you as our hair is to us, for men know
how to use them more stoutly than women. Now show what you can do.
We have a nice curd porridge, seasoned with thyme, and some dried
lamb for breakfast. If the girl hurries, you needn't wait long. Every
guest, even the least friendly, is welcome to our house."
"I didn't come here to eat," replied the old man; "I've had my breakfast.
There's something on my mind I would like to discuss with the clever
house-keeper, nay, I ought to say the mistress of this house, and faithful
guardian of its only daughter."
Semestre turned her wrinkled face towards the old man, opened her
eyes to their widest extent, and then called eagerly to Dorippe, who was
busied about the hearth, "We want to be alone!"
The girl walked slowly toward the door, and tried to conceal herself
behind the projecting pillars to listen, but Semestre saw her, rose from
her seat, and drove her out of doors with her myrtle-staff, exclaiming:
"Let no one come in till I call. Even Xanthe must not interrupt us."
"You won't stay alone, for Aphrodite and all the Loves will soon join
such a pair," cried the girl, as she sprang across the threshold, banging
the door loudly behind her.
"What did she say?" asked Semestre, looking suspiciously after the
maiden. The vexations one has to endure from those girls, Jason, can't
be described, especially since they've grown deaf."
"Deaf?" asked the old man in astonishment.
"Yes, they scarcely understand a word correctly, and even Xanthe, who
has just reached her seventeenth year, is beginning to be hard of
hearing."
A smile flitted over Jason's face, and, raising his voice to a louder tone,
he said, flatteringly:

"Every one can't have senses as keen as yours, Semestre; have you time
to listen to me?"
The house-keeper nodded assent, leaned against the column nearest the
hearth, rested both hands on her staff, and bent forward to intimate that
she would listen attentively, and did not wish to lose a single word.
Jason stood directly opposite, and, while thus measuring each other
with their eyes, Semestre looked like a cautious cat awaiting the attack
of the less nimble but stronger shepherd's dog.
"You know," Jason began, that when, long ago, we two, you as nurse
and I as steward, came to this place, our present masters' fine estates
belonged undivided to their father. The gods gave the old man three
sons. The oldest, Alciphron, whom you nursed and watched through his
boyhood, went to a foreign land, became a great merchant in Messina,
and, after his father's death, received a large inheritance in gold, silver
and the city house at the port. The country estates were divided
between Protarch and Lysander. My master, as the elder of the two,
obtained the old house; yours built this new and elegant mansion. One
son, the handsome Phaon, has grown up under our roof, while yours
shelters the lovely Xanthe. My master has gone to Messina, not only to
sell our oil and yours, but to speak to the guardian of a wealthy heiress,
of whom his brother had written. He wants her for Phaon's wife; but I
think Phaon was created for Xanthe and Xanthe