The Laughter of Aphrodite by Peter Green

Author:Peter Green [Green, Peter]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Historical Fiction

Strange and ironic prophecy.

“Thank you,” she said, with a white little smile. “But it is you who need our prayers now, Sappho.” Then, with a formality that matched my own: “May the Gods grant you a calm passage, safe landfall, a speedy return: all that your heart most desires.”

On a sudden impulse I asked: “Where is Atthis? I must say good-bye to Atthis—” And suddenly this became all-important, it was the one thread back to that lost, still, sunlit perfection, the timeless moment in the apple-orchard.

“I’m here, Sappho.” The voice from the doorway behind me was clear, sweet, a little sad. “I’m always here.”

“Don’t forget me when I’m gone,” I said, turning. She stood there in her black mourning robe, sharp-outlined against the white of the corridor: a slight, enchanted creature, neither child nor woman, with budding breasts now, but the same enormous grey eyes, the same neat-coiled hair, like dark burnished copper, the same brown skin and heartrending awkwardness of movement I remembered from that first meeting long ago.

“I shall never forget you,” she said; and there was something about her that brought all three of us up short, lifted the moment out of its half-teasing casualness onto quite a different plane.

All that your heart most desires.

I caught my breath, recovered myself, and said, laughing: “You will, you know.” But I had seen the sudden flash of prophetic sadness in Ismene’s eyes: so must Cassandra have looked during those early years in Troy, the years of bright unknowing.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.