ay? O thou very lovely Queen, not at all. For I am just as good a
man among men, as thou art a woman among women: and if I am not to thy
taste, then, O thou fastidious beauty, neither art thou to mine. For
the essence of every lovely woman's charm is her caress, which springs
from her affection, and the desire to make herself nectar to her
lover, without which salt, even beauty is beautiful in vain. And I
care absolutely nothing for a beauty that does not take the trouble to
be sweet. And well I know, by experience, how sweet thou canst be,
aye! sweeter by far than any honey whatsoever, if it pleases thee to
try. So choose for thyself, whether I shall stay, and revel like a
great black bee in thy sweetness, as once I did before; or go away.
But let me tell thee, pending thy decision, that if thou dost not take
thy opportunity when it offers, it will never more return; for as I
said, I do not like coming where my coming is met with distaste. But
as I think, if thou wilt allow me to advise thee, and help thee to
decision, we may as well make the most of one another, now that we
are here, otherwise the moonlight will be wasted altogether, since
to-night at least, thy other lover will not come. For I have taken
care to exclude him, and we shall not be disturbed by any disagreeable
interruption. And so, either thou wilt have to do without a lover
altogether, or take me, for sheer want of something else. And the
first would be a pity, and all the delicious trouble thou hast taken
to deck thy beauty for its proper object, the delight of a lover,
would be lost. For in thy silver ashes and thy moony tire, thou
needest no third eye to destroy thy enemies, since thy divinity is so
overpowering that not to employ it as it was designed to be employed
would be a crime.

XXVI

And all the while I spoke, she stood, as curiously still as if she
were made of marble, looking at me quietly, with her head thrown just
a little back, and her left hand pressed very tight against her
breast, and eyes that I could not understand. For they rested on me
absolutely without anger, seeming as it were not to see me at all, but
filled with some strange perplexity, as if she were hunting for
something in her recollection that she could not find. And when I
ended, she continued to stand, exactly in the same position, for so
long, that I began to wonder what could possibly be passing in her
soul. And I said to myself, as I waited in terrible suspense: