The Sumter banner. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1846-1855, 1850-08-07
fPRryne.
c. G. RosENDERGs.

a newborn, but laughing bube the God
dess of Beauty paused by The living
cradle oftlie child The dazzle Of her
loveliness filled the coltuge of The pea
sanl with purple blush like ,hn, flung
upto the rising sun by tho opening rose;
and the mother lrernblcd under, yet
yearned toward the smiles which hung
like bees on the ruby lips and blushing
checks Of the Daughter Of Tho Wave.
w hat he child's namc?' asked the
Goddess, and The voice was sweet as lha,
ofPolyhymnia when joining in the cho-
rus Of her sisters to the song Of the
goldcn.hnircd Elcc,or.
sPhrync, murmurcd the loniun moth.
er. are
n adore her. said the Queen Of
Laughter bending over and kissing the
brow ofhe babe, which crowcd in its
sleep, 10 that warm and friendly kiss.
'And this is my dover. The rose~lrec
clustering round your cascmcn, shall
bloom but thrice more, and with the op.
cniDg Of each bud YOU may breathe
wish for the child.
Tie mother gazed, but the Queen
was. gone and The music which rang i'm
herearsw was but the echo Of The smiling
ones voice. The next morning, when
the Iouian looked on the rosctrcc. the
flowers Of the day before had shed their
leaves, and there wns but one new rose.
bud on the topmost spray. The promise
OF the Goddess recurrcd 10 the mother,
and as she gazed she whispered Beauty
While the leaves opened, the gift had
descended on tho babe, and the childish
face had doomed It's wrondrous lowell.
ness with the expanding flower. And
now for years the rosc-lrce offered no
further bud. However on the fifth
birthday ofihe young Phryne the pnren,
saw another on the topn,ost nesting
nmong The green leaves like living
Love. The mother had thought long
and loving over her second wish. She
hung over The rose bush and murmurcd
Talent AS tho leaves Of the bud
broke into sudden bloom, she heard the
voice of her child from the inner chnn,.
ber burs, into m cxlemporc hymn 10 the
Givcr of Life, Zeus tho Omnipolenl
Never had the Dorian flute or the lon.
ian Tyre warhlcd more swee,ly. The
wish had been heard. Phryne grew
on, both in talent and beauty.
Years rolled by, md The girl had
blossomcd gradually into The early wo.
manhood Of that sunny cline. Hers
was n wrondrous beauty and surpas.
sing genius. She had OWNED The Sc
crets of the antique wisdom as il by in
s'inct, and grace was as natural ,o every
movement Of her lovclincss as sunshine
is 10 the broad heaven orJunc. One
night as her mother lay sleeping, j,
seemed 10 her that the Goddess again
stood before her.
"Twice havc you choson,' seemed
the dream 10 smurmur. "Thcrc is yo,
one thing tamako beauty inyinciblc and
.tnlent otnnipotent. Earth is not all
morn, nor heaven all blue. Were this
SO, man would long since have wcarcd
ofthem.''
The visioncd iudcd, and the mother
slept and saw the twenty four hours
sweep round her s!umbcr-lhe one
dressed in rose like the dawn, Il second
in amber like sunrise, another in ruby
like the sunset, another in the soft grew
oftwilight, another in sable. yet all dill:
ering and all various. Then came the
Four Seasons, all lovely, bu, all unlike
from the Green. robcd and Laughing
Spring, 10 Dnrk-cyed and White. robed
Winter, and Naiad Dread and Drvad
y,H l,air dc cri., al 4
as the shining stars, ycl each one differ.
ing from the other. They were follows
ed by the Spirits ofthe Cloud and the
Wind, the Beam and the Bow, and nol
one had the same features, vet how
beauteous were each and either The
sleeper knew the secret which The God.
dess had not told hc.. 1t was The I.tcr.
nal Change whose parents are Caprice
and Unity. The morning after, the
long blossomless tree bore vet another
bud. "Vurlcty," murnurcd the moth
er. AS she did so, the flower boolncd
into its thousand lenvcd beauty and the
maiden Phryne bounded to her bosom
through the cottage door, weeping and
laughing in the same breath, like the
Heaven of a Northern April. She had
captured dove which had stravcd into
her chamber. and her fingers bcd with
the wounds inflicted by The hcaL Of The
captive, who preferred TO coo in freedom
rather than in the miikwhite chains
wrapped round its painting bosom by The
girl.
Seven years from that day The idol Of
loving Greece unveiled her bosom to the
judges who were about 10 condom her,
and the daZzled law FLUSHED its acquit-
tai Of the charms which had served as
the painters model for the beauty Of
their own Patron Goddess. The prudc
might rcpudate and the ma,ron condemn
the courteaan, hnt the youth the Genius,
and the Arl Of Ionin knelt at the shrine
Fashion had reared 10 the lovelincss of
Phryne.- The spell oflhosc three wish
es was upon every heart which beat IN
Greek bosom, snYe such as clavc 10
the black broth md chccrless steel Of