[85] things of which a
collection was then forming, the "Florida" or Flowers, so to call them,
he was apt to let fall by the way--no impromptu ventures at random; but
rather elaborate, carved ivories of speech, drawn, at length, out of
the rich treasure-house of a memory stored with such, and as with a
fine savour of old musk about them. Certainly in this case, as Marius
thought, it was worth while to hear a charming writer speak.
Discussing, quite in our modern way, the peculiarities of those
suburban views, especially the sea-views, of which he was a professed
lover, he was also every inch a priest of Aesculapius, patronal god of
Carthage. There was a piquancy in his rococo, very African, and as it
were perfumed personality, though he was now well-nigh sixty years old,
a mixture there of that sort of Platonic spiritualism which can speak
of the soul of man as but a sojourner m the prison of the body--a
blending of that with such a relish for merely bodily graces as availed
to set the fashion in matters of dress, deportment, accent, and the
like, nay! with something also which reminded Marius of the vein of
coarseness he had found in the "Golden Book." All this made the total
impression he conveyed a very uncommon one. Marius did not wonder, as
he watched him speaking, that people freely attributed to him many of
the marvellous adventures he had recounted in that famous romance, [86]
over and above the wildest version of his own actual story--his
extraordinary marriage, his religious initiations, his acts of mad
generosity, his trial as a sorcerer.

But a sign came from the imperial prince that it was time for the
company to separate. He was entertaining his immediate neighbours at
the table with a trick from the streets; tossing his olives in rapid
succession into the air, and catching them, as they fell, between his
lips. His dexterity in this performance made the mirth around him
noisy, disturbing the sleep of the furry visitor: the learned party
broke up; and Marius withdrew, glad to escape into the open air. The
courtesans in their large wigs of false blond hair, were lurking for
the guests, with groups of curious idlers. A great conflagration was
visible in the distance. Was it in Rome; or in one of the villages of
the country? Pausing for a few minutes on the terrace to watch it,
Marius was for the first time able to converse intimately with
Apuleius; and in this moment of confidence the "illuminist,"