The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1907-04-18
ssDIOCLES.''
An enlan Fable by enk Senklew Translated From the French
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pus or Ida, loftier than Pelion and
Ossa. On its bald summit Diocles
perceived the vague outlines of
female form shrouded in numerous
tightly drawn wells. A mystic efful-
gence, different from any terrestrial
light, emanated from ner, feebly.
"Behold Truth" said Athena. "Her
rays, you see, intercepted by many
wrappings, pierce through neverthe-
less and give light. Their feeble
radiance, gathered, on earth by the
eyeball of the philosopher, is all that
saves men from stumbling about
blindly in the gloom of perpetual
night, like those who dwell in the
land of the Cimmerians.
Celestial guide" asked Diocles,
"when 1 shall have torn off the first
veil will not Truth appear dazzling to
my eyes?"
Tear 1t off, " said the goddess.
He caught at the border of the
shroud and pulled 1t away sharply.
The light burst forth with increased
intensity. Half blinded, Diocles failed
to perceive that the veil as 1t dropped
from his hands had changed into a
white swan which winged its way into
the distant twilight. For long
time he remained in the presence of
Truth, ravished, raised out of life,
transported into superterrestrial
spaces, emancipated from mortal
thoughts, quaffing of inexperienced
existence, of an unknown force, tast-
ing the delights of inward peace.
"Oh, Luminous One," he breathed.
AOh, Eternal Onel oh, Soul of the
Universe!
Diocles kept the VOW he had made
before the goddess. People knew
that he was rich and as he strolled
with his companions In the gardens
of Academus, or in the road leading
to the Acropolis, or In the olive
groves that lie between the city and
the port, they did not hesitate to ex-
press their astonishment and dissat-
isfaction.
'Come now, Diocles, your father
has amassed vast fortune of which
you have complete enjoyment. What
keeps you from bringing off a mag
nifcent feast like those our godlike
Alcibiades has rendered to the youth
of Athens? What makes you despise
the pleasures of the banquet table,
the dance. and the sweet sound of the
phorminx and the cithara? Have
you east your lot with the Cynics that
you refuse to care for your mansion
| or adorn your chambers in manner
! suitable to your work? Remember
\ that wealth is gift of the gods which
one has not the right to reject" But
Diocles only replied with a question:
Tell me, with all the treasures of
the Persian King, may one purchase
! TRUTH"
And so he continued to live IN pow
| erty. while men began to say that
] some day he would surpass in wisdom
the divine Plato, and honored him
accordingly. In the meanwhile on
another night of moonlight, a second
veil escaped from his hands and flew
1 on into the darkness in the form of
a swan, while more brilliant than
ever the Truth of Truths shone upon
him.
Diocles was a very charming youth,
and the greatest men of Athens, phil
osophers, rhetors and poets, sued for
his friendship, hoping through the
contemplation of his beauty to gain
insight into the beauty of the Eternal
idea; but he rejected their gifts and
their offers of friendship. The young
girls who gather at the fountains in
the Stoa and the Ceramicus wrapped
him in their tresses and enveloped
him in the circle of their dance. The
wondrously beautiful Companions
like so many nymphs. cast at his
feet branches of fennel dedicated tc
Adonis, or whispered into his ear
over the dropping chalices of lilies
words as gentle and insinuating al
the tones of the Arcadian flute.
4 But all in vain.
Like clouds shredded by ThraciaI
, mountain peaks which clustering
Boreas drives each winter over Ath
ems out to the open sea. the year.
} passed over Diocles. He attained ma
turity And though he rarely min
gled in the disputes OF the philoso
piers or the debates of the publi
: assembly, his reputation for elo
quence and wisdom grew. More thai
once his fellow-citizens proffered hir
: the highest political offices. Not onl
$ friends, but mere acquaintances
would beseech him to seize the helr
r of State and guide the ship out O
{ the breakers and quicksands int
r calm waters, but he only saw the SC
u cial life, stepped in corruption, Low
of country stified by personal hatred
i and strife OF parties, and his own ad
II monitions falling like seed In steril
|. ground. The day finally came whe
> the Athenians called upon him /
place himself at their head. He re
y piled; "Men Of Athens. you have n
y enemies but yourselves. AS a mar
my tears flow for you; but were
= God. / could not govern you" Wa
!. having broken out, Diocles went I
|, the front like every one else and n
n turned covered with wounds. BIZ
8 when the crowns of valor were dil
10 tributed on the Acropolis he did ne
& march with the procession OF We
Is Grams and he would not consent |
. have his name engraved on the tabls
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