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196 pages

English

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With his masterwork Madame Bovary, Gustave Flaubert blazed new trails in literary realism with a gripping tale of a disenchanted wife entangled in an extramarital affair. After that, Flaubert took a completely different tack and dove into the extensive historical research that would form the basis of the novel Salammbo, an action-packed account of the series of wars that devastated Carthage in the 3rd century BC.

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Historical fiction

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Publié par	The Floating Press
Date de parution	01 mai 2016
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781776670673
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0134€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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SALAMMBO
* * *
GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

*
Salammbo First published in 1862 Epub ISBN 978-1-77667-067-3 Also available: PDF ISBN 978-1-77667-068-0 © 2014 The Floating Press and its licensors. All rights reserved. While every effort has been used to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the information contained in The Floating Press edition of this book, The Floating Press does not assume liability or responsibility for any errors or omissions in this book. The Floating Press does not accept responsibility for loss suffered as a result of reliance upon the accuracy or currency of information contained in this book. Do not use while operating a motor vehicle or heavy equipment. Many suitcases look alike. Visit www.thefloatingpress.com
Contents
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Chapter I - The Feast Chapter II - At Sicca Chapter III - Salammbo Chapter IV - Beneath the Walls of Carthage Chapter V - Tanith Chapter VI - Hanno Chapter VII - Hamilcar Barca Chapter VIII - The Battle of the Macaras Chapter IX - In the Field Chapter X - The Serpent Chapter XI - In the Tent Chapter XII - The Aqueduct Chapter XIII - Moloch Chapter XIV - The Pass of the Hatchet Chapter XV - Matho
Chapter I - The Feast
*
It was at Megara, a suburb of Carthage, in the gardens of Hamilcar. Thesoldiers whom he had commanded in Sicily were having a great feast tocelebrate the anniversary of the battle of Eryx, and as the master wasaway, and they were numerous, they ate and drank with perfect freedom.
The captains, who wore bronze cothurni, had placed themselves in thecentral path, beneath a gold-fringed purple awning, which reached fromthe wall of the stables to the first terrace of the palace; the commonsoldiers were scattered beneath the trees, where numerous flat-roofedbuildings might be seen, wine-presses, cellars, storehouses, bakeries,and arsenals, with a court for elephants, dens for wild beasts, and aprison for slaves.
Fig-trees surrounded the kitchens; a wood of sycamores stretched away tomeet masses of verdure, where the pomegranate shone amid the white tuftsof the cotton-plant; vines, grape-laden, grew up into the branches ofthe pines; a field of roses bloomed beneath the plane-trees; here andthere lilies rocked upon the turf; the paths were strewn with black sandmingled with powdered coral, and in the centre the avenue of cypressformed, as it were, a double colonnade of green obelisks from oneextremity to the other.
Far in the background stood the palace, built of yellow mottled Numidianmarble, broad courses supporting its four terraced stories. With itslarge, straight, ebony staircase, bearing the prow of a vanquishedgalley at the corners of every step, its red doors quartered with blackcrosses, its brass gratings protecting it from scorpions below, and itstrellises of gilded rods closing the apertures above, it seemed to thesoldiers in its haughty opulence as solemn and impenetrable as the faceof Hamilcar.
The Council had appointed his house for the holding of this feast; theconvalescents lying in the temple of Eschmoun had set out at daybreakand dragged themselves thither on their crutches. Every minute otherswere arriving. They poured in ceaselessly by every path like torrentsrushing into a lake; through the trees the slaves of the kitchens mightbe seen running scared and half-naked; the gazelles fled bleating on thelawns; the sun was setting, and the perfume of citron trees rendered theexhalation from the perspiring crowd heavier still.
Men of all nations were there, Ligurians, Lusitanians, Balearians,Negroes, and fugitives from Rome. Beside the heavy Dorian dialect wereaudible the resonant Celtic syllables rattling like chariots of war,while Ionian terminations conflicted with consonants of the desert asharsh as the jackal's cry. The Greek might be recognised by his slenderfigure, the Egyptian by his elevated shoulders, the Cantabrian by hisbroad calves. There were Carians proudly nodding their helmet plumes,Cappadocian archers displaying large flowers painted on their bodieswith the juice of herbs, and a few Lydians in women's robes, dining inslippers and earrings. Others were ostentatiously daubed with vermilion,and resembled coral statues.
They stretched themselves on the cushions, they ate squatting roundlarge trays, or lying face downwards they drew out the pieces of meatand sated themselves, leaning on their elbows in the peaceful postureof lions tearing their prey. The last comers stood leaning against thetrees watching the low tables half hidden beneath the scarlet coverings,and awaiting their turn.
Hamilcar's kitchens being insufficient, the Council had sent themslaves, ware, and beds, and in the middle of the garden, as on abattle-field when they burn the dead, large bright fires might be seen,at which oxen were roasting. Anise-sprinkled loaves alternated withgreat cheeses heavier than discuses, crateras filled with wine,and cantharuses filled with water, together with baskets of goldfiligree-work containing flowers. Every eye was dilated with the joy ofbeing able at last to gorge at pleasure, and songs were beginning hereand there.
First they were served with birds and green sauce in plates of red clayrelieved by drawings in black, then with every kind of shell-fish thatis gathered on the Punic coasts, wheaten porridge, beans and barley, andsnails dressed with cumin on dishes of yellow amber.
Afterwards the tables were covered with meats, antelopes with theirhorns, peacocks with their feathers, whole sheep cooked in sweet wine,haunches of she-camels and buffaloes, hedgehogs with garum, friedgrasshoppers, and preserved dormice. Large pieces of fat floated in themidst of saffron in bowls of Tamrapanni wood. Everything was runningover with wine, truffles, and asafoetida. Pyramids of fruit werecrumbling upon honeycombs, and they had not forgotten a few of thoseplump little dogs with pink silky hair and fattened on olive lees,—aCarthaginian dish held in abhorrence among other nations. Surprise atthe novel fare excited the greed of the stomach. The Gauls withtheir long hair drawn up on the crown of the head, snatched at thewater-melons and lemons, and crunched them up with the rind. TheNegroes, who had never seen a lobster, tore their faces with its redprickles. But the shaven Greeks, whiter than marble, threw the leavingsof their plates behind them, while the herdsmen from Brutium, in theirwolf-skin garments, devoured in silence with their faces in theirportions.
Night fell. The velarium, spread over the cypress avenue, was drawnback, and torches were brought.
The apes, sacred to the moon, were terrified on the cedar tops by thewavering lights of the petroleum as it burned in the porphyry vases.They uttered screams which afforded mirth to the soldiers.
Oblong flames trembled in cuirasses of brass. Every kind ofscintillation flashed from the gem-incrusted dishes. The crateras withtheir borders of convex mirrors multiplied and enlarged the images ofthings; the soldiers thronged around, looking at their reflections withamazement, and grimacing to make themselves laugh. They tossed the ivorystools and golden spatulas to one another across the tables. They gulpeddown all the Greek wines in their leathern bottles, the Campanian wineenclosed in amphoras, the Cantabrian wines brought in casks, with thewines of the jujube, cinnamomum and lotus. There were pools of these onthe ground that made the foot slip. The smoke of the meats ascended intothe foliage with the vapour of the breath. Simultaneously were heardthe snapping of jaws, the noise of speech, songs, and cups, the crash ofCampanian vases shivering into a thousand pieces, or the limpid sound ofa large silver dish.
In proportion as their intoxication increased they more and morerecalled the injustice of Carthage. The Republic, in fact, exhausted bythe war, had allowed all the returning bands to accumulate in the town.Gisco, their general, had however been prudent enough to send them backseverally in order to facilitate the liquidation of their pay, andthe Council had believed that they would in the end consent to somereduction. But at present ill-will was caused by the inability to paythem. This debt was confused in the minds of the people with the 3200Euboic talents exacted by Lutatius, and equally with Rome they wereregarded as enemies to Carthage. The Mercenaries understood this, andtheir indignation found vent in threats and outbreaks. At last theydemanded permission to assemble to celebrate one of their victories,and the peace party yielded, at the same time revenging themselves onHamilcar who had so strongly upheld the war. It had been terminatednotwithstanding all his efforts, so that, despairing of Carthage, hehad entrusted the government of the Mercenaries to Gisco. To appoint hispalace for their reception was to draw upon him something of the hatredwhich was borne to them. Moreover, the expense must be excessive, and hewould incur nearly the whole.
Proud of having brought the Republic to submit, the Mercenaries thoughtthat they were at last about to return to their homes with the paymentfor their blood in the hoods of their cloaks. But as seen through themists of intoxication, their fatigues seemed to them prodigious and butill-rewarded. They showed one another their wounds, they told of theircombats, their travels and the hunting in their native lands. Theyimitated the cries and the leaps of wild beasts. Then came uncleanwagers; they buried their heads in the amphoras and drank on withoutinterruption, like thirsty dromedaries. A Lusitanian of gigantic statureran over the tables, carrying a man in each hand at arm's length, andspitting out fire through his nostrils. Some Lacedaemonians, who had nottaken off their cuirasses, were leaping with a heavy step. Some advancedlike women, making obscene gestures; others stripped naked to fight amidthe cups after the fashion of gladiators, and a company of Greeks dancedaround a vase whereon nymphs were to be seen, while a Negro tapped w