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His new ant steward he pulled this human tide
Up to the temple and locked them all inside.
These leaders made by local acclamation Were not allowed to leave till they
created An answer for the domestic situation. Thus: New girls and survivors
were equated, And every man of age to would be mated
To one of each, with this constraint: all three
Must live in mutual fidelity.
Because the tripling method must be fair To all, before anyone else could try,
The girls had organized a system where A weighted choice of mate could modify
That first informal rule of thumb, whereby
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A husband, if all three of them connived, Could have two town- or oak-born as
his wives.
The news was greeted with relief for here
Were rules for their sex ratio that seemed
Both equally (un)fair and not austere.
The plan was more complex than the king had dreamed, But /Eacus could grasp
this fact: the scheme
Required king and castle to be listed
Among potential grooms the girls insisted.
Alas for yEacus! He'd gotten heirs, And duty done, he wanted his delayed ease
In arms of well, in casual affairs; And now both he and his were given ladies
He'd rather not have that is he oh, Hades!
I see I'll have to tell you all the sordid Specifics of the household, clearly
worded.
I'd hoped to gloss this over, but such is fate. By now, the chance I'll get a
PG-rating Is slimmer than a draw for inside straight, What with the girls
promiscuously mating, So there's no point in prudish hesitating
Besides, a poet who won't tell what's true
Not only lies, but is a scoundrel too.
The king liked boys or young men, I should say. He'd married young at duty's
harsh direction But when his first wife died, without delay He indulged his
paedic predilection Learned from a mentor held in fond affection. That "valet"
was a pretty teen, well-bred, Who dressed him, yes, but also warmed his bed.
No more though no more sleeping in his arms; No more watching youth turn, with
the days, Into a man; no more his boyish charms Nor his hard body that led
thoughts astray; No more teaching a young protege
For Kallimorphos, when he could contrive, Abandoned yEacus for his twin wives.
These childhood friends together had planned his break From royal duties. The
king, not knowing this, In private cursed how Chance made him forsake His
chance for happiness exchanged for his Two ants.
At least his had good statuses: Two leaders, both negotiators, who'd Grown
fond of this old man who wasn't lewd.
The chief of huntresses, blonde Cyrene, Thought from her dawn encounter that
the king
Was as quick-witted as leaders need to be. Lampito knew, from daily stewarding
His castle, otherwise while valuing
That all he did he did with good intent, And, too, his pliancy to management.
When she'd arrived, the management was needed
Old steward dead of plague, staff disarrayed;
She'd started giving orders; they were heeded.
The king'd ignored his household while it frayed
To dodder round his country which dismayed An erstwhile ant who pined for
household order:
The queen's house and the state had shared one border.
Between his servicing two wives (while jealous Of his valet) the king could
hardly stay Upright. At least Lampito was less zealous Near Cyrene, who
balanced out her ways, But by first light, her co-wife went away
On hunts, which left him in Lampito's hands, Her energy, her strength, and her
demands.
The other men had no advice for him: The elders, even those remarried, all Had
older wives who cut their juniors' trim; The youngsters, on the other hand,
could call Upon their energy. These national
Small compromises they were fashioning
Were different for the commons than the king.
Which goes to show that every permutation Of bodies and of beds both can and
will
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Be tried through all the times and nations A marriage party usually is filled
Per balance of the sexes. It's hard, still, Because of claims from old
religious quarrels, To keep in mind conditions make our morals.
But such is life, distractible and local
Like fights that have become their own excuse.
The king retreated into bland but vocal
Pigheadedness, pretending to be obtuse
On issues they debated from the use Of palace funds, to plans for his domain:
Not dredge the channel repair the harbor chain.
"Without good trade, there'll be no revenue,"
She argued, "and defenses cost too much."
What can a wife (and former steward) do
When her good sense has been ignored? She clutched
Her righteousness, and upped demands a notch.
He thought he'd reached the depths of his dismay Then Cretan Minos rowed into
the bay.
This ruler soi-disant of all the seas Had wrested Crete from regent brothers,
all So he and his could do just as they please Wife's tastes were bestial,
son's beastial, Which worked, for his were architectural.
He'd heard of small Aegina's plague and flight And thought he'd conquer it
without a fight.
Alarms! Excursions! Mobilize our forces! War ships in harbor! Enemies have
come! King
/Eacus was filled with all remorses He'd let the stubborn fight distract him
from Those critical defenses. He felt numb, Especially when the ultimatum
came:
Immediate submission or the flame.
Lampito realized, as her husband claimed, Expensive walls and weapons were
really needed; The thought she'd weakened the nest left her shamed. As men's
and myrmidons' demands exceeded Her rationed swords and shields, her hopes
receded, But with her co-wife gone off hunting things ' Twas left to her
alone to aide the king.
Each side's commander soon received reports: Aegina's rocky shores were all
secure, With no place for a landing but the port But there, alas, defensive
works were poor.
The myrmidons were news, unknown before, But Minos didn't do a double-take.
"More women? Ha! They're nothing." Big mistake.
Formalities: Aegina spurned surrender.
Thus answered, Cretans landed on the quay
To find that they were fighting either gender:
The men were trained, but women meaner they
Threw all their strength and numbers in the fray, All weapons raised against
invading males:
Swords, brickbats, pointy sticks, teeth, fingernails.
At first they held their ground. Their viciousness
Unnerved the Cretans myrmidons fought hard, Ignoring danger, to protect their [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]