Cleopatra

Chapter 13

OF THE REPROACH OF HARMACHIS; OF THE STRUGGLE OF HARMACHIS WITH THE

GUARDS; OF THE BLOW OF BRENNUS; AND OF THE SECRET SPEECH OF CLEOPATRA

And at length, all being gone, I, too, turned to go, when a eunuch

struck me on the shoulder and roughly bade me wait on the presence of

the Queen. An hour past this fellow would have crawled to me on his

knees; but he had heard, and now he treated me--so brutish is the nature

of such slaves--as the world treats the fallen, with scorn. For to come

low after being great is to learn all shame. Unhappy, therefore, are the

Great, for they may fall!

I turned upon the slave with so fierce a word that, cur-like, he sprang

behind me; then I passed on to the Alabaster Hall, and was admitted by

the guards. In the centre of the hall, near the fountain, s