And yes, it's long overdue but their story is finally here! Enjoy!
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| Daphis and Chloe, directly from Eirini's imagination! |
Philetas caught the look on Chloe’s
face; curious, he followed her gaze and found her looking at Daphnis,
who was busy enjoying the attention of the winemakers’ wives.
He smiled; he was old enough to know
the meaning behind her glum face and reddened cheeks. He stood and
went to sit by her next to the fire.
“Why the long face lamp?” he
asked. “Aren’t you having fun?”
“I am just tired I suppose.” She
quickly lied. “I’ve been up since the crack of dawn and it’s
getting late; and it took forever to get my sheep back in their shed
today.”
“Can’t say I blame them; with
winter just around the corner, everyone wants to stay outside for as
long as possible, even animals.”
Chloe smiled at the old man’s
words. “True.”
“Did you and Daphnis have a fight?”
“No.” She replied, pursing her
lips together.
“No?” Philetas asked, feigning
surprise. “How come you haven’t talked all night then? You two
are usually inseparable.”
“Apparently my company is not
fascinating enough.” Chloe replied bitterly.
Philetas had to bite back a smile.
“Nonsense.”
Just then, one of the women leaned in
and planted a kiss on Daphnis’s lips; Chloe’s eyes nearly popped
out of her head.
She was torn between crying and
marching over to Daphnis and that woman and slapping them both.
Philetas, sensing Chloe’s internal turmoil, patted her knee in an
attempt to comfort her. When he felt she had calmed down, he stood
and walked over to Daphnis.
“It seems to me you’ve forgotten
your dear old friends.”
“Philetas!” Daphnis exclaimed. “I
haven’t seen you all night!”
“Were you looking for me then?”
Philetas teased. “It didn’t seem that way.”
Daphnis blushed and lowered his eyes
to the ground.
“I am not the only one who misses
your company.”
Daphnis huffed indignantly. “She
should have thought of that before she started talking and giggling
at the jokes of men twice her age!”
Philetas smiled at his words.
“Holding a grudge won’t do either of you any good; come and sit
with us.”
Daphnis nodded and followed him. When
they reached Chloe, the older man raised his eyebrows, silently
urging him to talk first.
“Hello.” He said awkwardly.
Chloe looked up and gave him a small
smile.
Philetas smiled and gently pushed
Daphnis forward, so he’d take the seat next to Chloe. He did so,
careful to leave some distance between them.
Philetas shook his head, amused at
their antiques. He took a seat opposite them and studied them for a
while.
“The most peculiar thing happened
to me today.” He started. “I was walking around my garden, when I
came across a young man, not much older than you Daphnis. I greeted
him and asked for his name, but he laughed and asked if I recognised
him. When I said I didn’t, he laughed again; he responded that it
was his arrows that got me a wife and children to carry my name.”
“Who was he?”
“He was Eros,
the god of Love, the most powerful of them
all. See everything around you? He’s responsible for it all. Men
and animals and plants, they all fall in love and life carries on
because of him. When I fell in love with my wife, I couldn’t think
of anything or anyone else but her; food, drink, sleep, none of it
mattered if I didn’t have Amaryllis. She
had many suitors back then; the thought of
her marrying anyone else but me, felt like a dagger through my chest.
But Eros had been merciful to me and made her my wife.”
“Love sounds like a terrible
decease.” Chloe said.
“Oh it is a decease all right; no
medicine, no charm can cure it but kissing and embracing and lying
side by side in the nude.” He replied meaningfully.
“Why are you telling us this?”
Daphnis asked suspiciously.
Philetas smiled and simply raised his
eyebrows in response.
As the feast was coming to its’
end, Daphnis and Chloe stood, said their goodbyes and took the way
home. That night, neither of them slept. They spent the night mulling
over the old man’s words.
His words seemed oddly
familiar; were they in love then?
Because if they were, they would have to seek they same remedies as
he had.
When they met in the morning, instead
of their usual greeting, they embraced and kissed, something they’ve
never done before.
They paid little attention to their
flocks that day; instead they spent the day kissing and smiling at
each other, exchanging words of endearment they’ve never used
before.
The few remaining days of autumn
passed too quickly for their liking though, and winter was already
making its presence known.
“Winter’s here.” Daphnis said
glumly. “How am I going to survive winter without seeing you?
I’ll
lose my mind.”
“You’ve survived last winter just
fine.”
“Last winter I wasn’t in love
with you.” He responded. “Or if I was, I had not realised it
yet.”
Chloe smiled, pleased with his words.
“I am going up to the Nymphs’ Cave; it’ll be so long before I
get to go there again.”
“I’ll go with you.”
They walked in companionable silence
for a while, until Chloe spoke again.
“Remember last summer, when we were
in the cave right after you had escaped those pirates and I was
washing your wounds?
“Yes.” Daphnis replied, urging
her to continue.
“That’s when I first saw you in a
different light, but I didn’t know what it meant.”
“Hah!” Daphnis exclaimed
triumphantly. “I knew before that!”
“When?” Chloe challenged.
“When Dorkon was begging for a kiss
of yours, but you decided to kiss me instead.”
Chloe blushed. “Will you be
thinking of me?”
“By Pan, I will.”
“Don’t swear by Pan; he was
unstable. He claimed he loved Pitys, but that didn’t stop him from
going after Syrinx too.”
“Then I’ll swear by the Nymphs we
both love so dearly; I shall not live another day without you.”
Daphnis said before leaving in and kissing her.
Winter passed with Daphnis seizing
every opportunity possible in order to see Chloe; he showed up at the
her doorstep, bearing ridiculous excuses most of the time, just to
see her and, if possible steal a kiss from her, while their parents
turned a blind eye at their behaviour.
The first day it was warm enough to
go out, nothing could hold them inside. When they saw each other,
they ran into each other’s arms, colliding with such force, that
Daphnis landed on his back, with Chloe landing directly on top of
him. They met halfway in a kiss, and kept on kissing for what seemed
like hours; reluctantly, they broke apart, for fear of prying eyes.
Spring proved to be quite challenging
though; with each passing day, their kisses grew bolder and their
embraces fiercer but they still did not dare try the third remedy
Philetas had suggested, despite wanting to.
Being both inexperienced, they had no
idea how to go about things, which resulted into reddened cheeks and
awkward moments between them; still, they could not spend a day
apart.
Every morning, on his way to meet
Chloe, Daphnis was passing in front of Chromis’s house; he was one
of the wealthiest people in the area, so his money had got him a
young and beautiful wife, Lycaenion. People in the area did not like
her. They said that she was far too delicate and frail for the
country life; that she had met Chromis in her days working in a
pleasure house, and that she married him seeking out a better life.
Being young and handsome, Daphnis had
caught Lycaenion’s eye; it was only natural since Chromis was quite
old, and not much to look at. She would very much like to lure
Daphnis in her bed, but, like everyone else, she was well aware of
his feelings towards Chloe.
One day though, she accidentally
became witness to one of their encounters; instantly, she felt sorry
for them; they were far too innocent for their years. The wheels
started turning in her head, trying to figure out a way to use their
ignorance in her favour. She didn’t hesitate at all; the next
morning, she was ready to put her plan into action.
She spotted them, sitting under a
sole oak tree, close to the edge of the forest, and hastily
approached them. “Good day,” she said, “An eagle just grabbed
one of my geese; Daphnis, would you be kind enough to help me look
for it?”
He nodded eagerly, unaware of
Lycaenion’s intentions. He stood and stretched a bit. “Chloe,
you’ll keep an eye on my goats, eh? I won’t be long.”
“Of course I will.” She responded
and offered him a smile. He smiled back, and followed Lycaenion
towards the forest.
After wandering in the woods for a
couple of hours, Daphnis and Lycaenion finally reached a clearing.
“I think we were too late.”
“Quite probably.” Lycaenion
answered. “Here, let’s rest for a bit before we head back.”
Daphnis nodded and took a seat under
a large oak tree; Lycaenion moved to sit next to him.
He jumped slightly; he couldn’t
wait to go back, that much she could tell. “I know what’s
troubling you.” She said mysteriously.
“Oh?”
“You want to learn more about the
matters of love.”
Daphnis blushed and lowered his eyes
to the ground. “How did you know?”
“The Nymphs visited me in my sleep
last night and told me so. They’ve even asked me to teach you
everything I know about it.”
“Would you?” Daphnis asked
eagerly.
She could not believe Daphnis was
still this innocent; any other boy his age would have already caught
on to her intentions.
“The Nymphs asked me, how can I
refuse?” Lycaenion said innocently and moved closer to him.
True to her word, she taught him
well, for she indeed had been working in a pleasure house before.
When the lesson was over, Daphnis was still in awe of his newfound
knowledge; he could not wait to share it with Chloe.
“You’re a man now.” Lycaenion
said, while arranging her clothes back into place. “But keep this
in mind; what we just did, could not harm me, for it was long ago
that I became a woman. Your Chloe is still a maiden though; she will
bleed and cry from pain, but that shouldn’t stop you; that’s the
way it’s supposed to be.”
Daphnis frowned.
“Shame the eagle already killed my
goose eh?” Lycaenion continued playfully and pressed a kiss to his
mouth.
Before Daphnis could respond though,
she had already started towards the village. He followed, keeping his
distance.
Chloe would never forgive him if
she ever found out what he did with Lycaenion.
He let out a sigh as he spotted her
in a distance. She was picking flowers, only a few meters away from
where he’d left her.
How could he be so stupid?
What would he tell her now?
She smiled upon seeing him. “Did
you find the goose?”
He shook his head negatively. “We
were too late.” He replied, careful to avoid eye contact.
“Shame.”
Daphnis simply shrugged and took her
in his arms. Pressing a kiss to her temple, he let out a sigh.
He wanted to do everything he’d
done with Lycaenion with Chloe, but he did not want to hurt her in
any way, ever; how was he supposed to do
that?
Summer came and Chloe had just turned
fifteen; many men were asking for her hand in marriage, but Dryas,
her father, refused them all, claiming they were not good enough for her.
And that was true, in a way. No one
knew of this, but Chloe was not his real daughter. He had found her
in the woods when she was only a baby. The clothes she was dressed in
indicated she came from a rich family; if she was meant to ever find
her real parents, he didn’t want them to say that he had not chosen
well for Chloe.
Daphnis was desperate. Dryas would
never accept his offer, since his family was just as poor as Chloe’s.
He prayed to the Nymphs to assist him, and they listened, like they
always did when he and Chloe asked for their help.
In a dream, they showed him the path
to a forgotten treasure, so he had more than enough money to offer to
Chloe’s father. Dryas could not refuse him; he agreed to give him
Chloe as his bride and even promised to convince Lamo, Daphnis’s
father, to consent to their union.
Little did he know that Lamo’s
reasons for not wanting Daphnis to marry anyone were similar to his
own. Daphnis too, was an exposed baby, coming from a family much
richer than his own.
In the end, Lamo reluctantly agreed,
since there was not a reason for him to refuse; still, the governor
would have to consent as well, so Lamo suggested they wait until
September, when the governor would visit their village. Daphnis and
Chloe were elated at the news; September could not come soon enough.
When Dionysophanes, the governor,
arrived in the village, Lamo decided that he should not keep
Daphnis’s story a secret anymore. He presented himself to him and
told him Daphnis’s story, presenting his baby clothes as evidence.
All colour drained from Dionysophanes’s face upon seeing them.
It turned out that Daphnis was
his lost son, who had been abducted all those years ago. Elated at
having found his son, he threw a grand feast
for everyone. Daphnis, still in shock from
all the revelations, didn’t notice that Chloe had slipped away from
the feast.
She couldn’t help but think how
things would change now that Daphnis turned out to be the governor’s
son. He’d never allow his son to marry a shepherd’s daughter.
She was so lost in her thoughts, that
she didn’t notice Lampis, one of her suitors, lurking in the
shadows; with Daphnis still at the feast, he seized the opportunity
and abducted Chloe.
News came back to Daphnis in no time;
he was devastated. None of this mattered, if it meant losing Chloe.
He explained the situation to his
father and immediately Dionysophanes sent a search party for Chloe;
it wasn’t long before she was returned to Daphnis, safe and sound.
Dryas, glad to have his daughter
rescued, decided that he no longer had the right to keep the truth
from her; he revealed Chloe’s story to Dionysophanes, who promised
to find her parents.
Not long afterwards Dionysophanes was
supposed to return to the city. Naturally, Daphnis was expected to go
with him, and, since Chloe would soon be his wife, she would join
them too. So they said goodbye to the people who raised them and set
out of for the city.
Once they were home,
Dionysophanes decided to threw a grand feast for all his friends, in
order to introduce them to son and his beautiful bride.
With everyone present, Dionysophanes was quick to share the
story of Daphnis and Chloe. Megakles, one of Dionysophanes’s oldest
friends, clearly agitated, asked to see Chloe’s baby clothes.
When he took them in his hands and
nearly dropped them. When Chloe was born, he was in no position to
support a child, so he had abandoned her in the woods, in hopes that
someone would find her and care for her. But the gods had punished
him for his actions; they didn’t grace him with another child
afterwards.
He begged for Chloe’s forgiveness,
which she granted. She was not angry at her father’s actions, for
she had had a happy childhood in the country.
He smiled gratefully and asked her to
go home with him for it was time to meet her mother; Daphnis stood,
stating that he would go with them, since he had taken a vow to never
leave Chloe alone. Megakles nodded in agreement, pleased to be giving
his daughter as a bride to such a noble young man.
Ever since their arrival, many
people, having heard their amazing story, kept visiting them, but
life in the city wasn’t for Daphnis and Chloe.
“I miss the country.” Chloe
admitted sadly.
“I miss it too.” Daphnis agreed
as he reached for her hand. “At least I’ve got you.”
Chloe smiled. “I miss my parents;
our cave too; I even miss my sheep.”
“I miss them too; and my goats.”
He replied. “Would you like to go back then?”
She nodded. “Very much so; but I
don’t think that’s possible.”
“We will make it possible then.”
“How-” Chloe started, but Daphnis
silenced her with a kiss.
He pushed some hair out of her eyes
and smiled. “We’ll return to the country and get married there, I
promise.”
She smiled back. “I can’t wait!”
