Here lay the Canopian harbour, here the suburb of Eleusis; and the canal split into two branches. The narrower channel led to Schedia, on the Nile; the broader led past Nicopolis to Canopus.
Beyond stretched the sea, wide and blue. Only a narrow strip of land separated it from the canal; and it lay boundless under a thousand twinkling stars.
"Lucius," said Thrasyllus, sitting spell-bound at the feet of the young Roman, who sat on a raised throne and gazed in front of him like a priest, full of longing for his dream of that night, "Lucius, my Lord Catullus, look! We have passed Nicopolis, with its amphitheatre and stadium; and yonder lies Taposiris, with Cape Zephyrium; and on a height I can see the temple of Aphrodite Arsinoe."
"I see," said Lucius, turning his eyes towards the temple, which was lit with lines of fire and rose above the water like a mansion in Olympus.
"I see," echoed Uncle Catullus, seated by Lucius' side.
"I was reading," Thrasyllus explained, "that at the same place where that temple now stands there once stood the city of Thonis, named after the king who hospitably entreated Menelaus and Helen. Homer mentions it and speaks of the secret herbs and precious balsams which Helen received from Queen Polydamna, Thonis' spouse."
"You know everything, Thrasyllus," said Uncle Catullus, warmly, "and it is a joy to travel with you."
"Tell the slave from Cos to sing the Hymn to Aphrodite as we row past the goddess' temple," said Lucius.
Thrasyllus went to Cora and communicated the master's order. Forthwith a group of singers and dancers rose to their feet. Cora herself struck the resounding chords. And she sang:
"Child of the foam, great goddess of love, Aphrodite, look down from above! Thou, who dost madden the gods with desire, Thou, who fulfillest men's hearts with thy fire, All but the heart of my lord that I crave, Hark to thy slave!"
She stood as one inspired while she sang, with her fingers on the chords, facing the temple. Around her the girls danced to the song. The movements of their lithe bodies, light as the ripple of a silken scarf in the breeze, met and dissolved in picture after picture with each word of the song. The singer's voice swelled crystal-clear. From the bank of the canal, from the open houses, on the temple-steps the people listened to her song. In the tall reeds lay smaller boats, wherein a man and woman embraced in love. Their hands thrust aside the yielding stems; and their smiles glanced at Cora.