Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1870-09-15
IIFE AND CHARACTER OF CLEOPATRA.

Cleopatra is supposed by some to have
been native of Pennsylvania, because
she was born on the banks of Nile
stream. She was descended from Cheops
who was confectioner of great renown,
some of his pyramids being shown IN
Egypt even to the present day. Bony
part also came from Cheops, as all know
who have had chops for breakfast. He
always retained lively affection for the
land of his ancestors, and resolved to reign
over it. He was accustomed to gambol-
ing over the world, and wished to play
Pharaoh in Egypt. Previous to one of his
great fights, he sent forty men to the top
of one Of the pyramids, to look out for
stragglers, and notified his troops with the
Warming orty sentries look down upon
you from the tops of the pyramids" At
the next fight, not having soldiers to spare,
he had forty mummies placed there, with
the remark, 81 want to see how mummy
looks as a soldier" This gave rise to
the tradition that be had to fight kind of
soldiers called ''Mamelukes." The forty
centuries are still there, and are called by
travellers, as they get by them, "The Dead
| Past"
But now we must return to Cleopatra
as Anthony said at the battle of Actiumss
Her name was originally Cleo. Notwith-
standing her illustrious origin, she was
born in very humble circumstances, and
worked in the cotton-felds. She was re-
markable for her punctuallty in going toI
her work in the morning, and the sound of
her wooden shoes was as good as clock
to the people of Cairo. AS her pattering
steps were heard in the early morning,
they were accustomed to say "Here comes
the little patterer." Such was the origin
of the name by which she was familiarity
known, "Cleopatra." We have taken
great pains to ascertain this, as such phil
illogical facts are always interesting and
important. From sowing, she took toI
sewing as she grew older, and was so very
expert as a seamstress that her needle is
preserved to this day, and is a conspicuous
monument in Egypt 1t must have grown
enormously since she used it, as it is now
much too large to be conveniently handled
From sewing she took to being sued, and
many a suitor was soon On his knees to
her, each one going beyond the last in his
protestatiOns Of affection, giving rise to the
Latin proverb "Ne 8ut0r ultra crepjd0m."
Her first marriage was celebrated with
great Pomp. Some historians call him
Pompey the Great, for short. Something
soon happened to HIM and she was left a
disconsolate widow. AS she had laid her
head on Pompey's pillow first, she set
that up as monument beside her needle, |
memorials of her youthful industry and
earliest love. Next Julius Caesar, and as
soon as he sees her, he loves her. Her
cheeks were at that time very rosey, or as
the Romans expressed it "rubicund." This
gave rise to the story of Caesars coming
to something rubicund and plungng in,
hit or miss, liberty OR death, sink or swim,
survive or perish, and all that. We do
not recOllect the whole of the story, but
they say it was so. She led him dogs |
life by her extravaganza, with her mIlh- |
ner's and mantua-maker's bills. They |
rained in upon him by the hundreds. They
stuck themselves in bis face, crying Cash
US p till the poor man gave up the ghost
in perfect desperation. This originated
the story that he was killed by Cassius |
Her next lover was Antoninus Pie Gus, so |
called from his fondness for pastry. He was
also called Marcus Antonius Historians |
describe these as two different people, but |
their object in doing SO, was no doubt to
spin out their books. As "brevty is the |
soul Of wit" we think it much better to
cOndense them INTO one individual. This
Antoninus Pie-ous came over to Egypt to
deyour the pyramids, which, be made up
his mind, were composed of the most deli
cate macaroons incrusted with stone by
way of an icing. He had heard some one
coy that these pyramids would make a
ruin" that would be very picturesque.
He caught the words pyramid" and
''make a ruin" and thus originated his
idea. Arriving in Egypt, he was received
by Cleopatra with one OF her most ascin-
ating smiles. He was led captive at once
by her cOquetry, or her cookery, we can
not say which. She fed him on dissolved
pearls among other things, her object be-
ing to fill up his stomach with stones, so
that he could not find room there for her
beautiful pyramids. This was a great
Improvement on the old Hebrew method
Of stoning a man to death, and equally
efteCtual, for history records that Cleopatra
was the death Of him.
Finally, the time came for the beautiful
queen to die chair and alD. Some writers
affirm that approaching an old wall to
gather a bouquet, she was stung in the
breast by an asp. Others say that she
went to Asp,in-walI and caught Panama
fever, shook like an aspen leaf until she
shook off her moral coil p" and then coiled
herself up and died. This last description
is SO vivid and circumstantiAI that we are
much inclined to adopt it as true.
Thus ended the life Of Cleopatra. We
intended to write Of her character, but
after getting all ready, we found taat she
had lost it.-AIdine Press.