HEAD'S METAMORPHOSES OF APULEIIIS. * THE Golden Ass of Apuleius is
attractive in itself, for an inge- nious framework, variety of story, and a picture of rustic and urban everyday life, such as we scarcely meet elsewhere in ancient writers taken from the same level point of view. It is also diverting for its picture of popular superstitions in witchcraft and religion, and the quiet satire with which the latter are ex- • The Metamorphoses of Apuleius; a Romance of the Second Century. Trans- lated from the Latin, by Sir George Head, Author of " A Tour of Many Days in Rome," &e. &c. Published by Longman and Co. posed. The style, in addition to an " alloy of the silver age," may be said to be corrupt, being that of an African Greek writing in Latin, a language acquired in manhood and without a master. The manner, however, is quietly piquant and classical ; the com- position being for the most part close and terse, with no undue ex- pansion or enumeration of trifling particulars ; but it occasionally verges upon the modern descriptive mode, with passing glimpses of what has now burst upon us in full effulgence—the art of writing.
It is this combination of the ancient and the modern, as well in matter as in manner, which gives its curious and critical interest to The Golden Ass. Petronius, indeed, may be said to have pro- duced the form of the tales or fabliaux of the middle ages ; as Lu- cian attained a distinguished trait of modern manner in that mocking levity which for want of a better word must be called persiflage. But Petronius selected matter for his stories too licen- tious ever to form a fair representation of general life ; and the substance of Lucian's themes was mostly limited to the ancient world. Apuleius was more judicious or more lucky in a choice of subjects that reflected ancient society when its popular spirit, cor- rupted and transformed, was passion. into modern manners, and
t' antique fashions were no longer adapted to the altered state of things. Neither Petronius nor Apuleius can be considered to have invented the form or possibly the matter of their tales. They both drew front the old popular stories called " Milesian," which, des- pised in the times of pure classical literature, were afterwards read, though still professedly despised, till they eventually were praised as well as read. But Petronius contented himself with add- ing wit, keen observation, and elegance of style, to the original coarseness and profligacy of the tales, if he did not increase the latter. Apuleius took a broader view of his subjects : by presenting truer and more varied pictures of life and folly, he is entitled to be considered the originator of the modern novel of adventure ; not, as some people are prone to imagine, by "inventing" a clever contrivance, but by penetrating to the very marrow of the transition society about him, and perceiving the essence of fraud and trickery that prevails in "highly civilized" life. This representation is so complete, that many books and many parts of books have been traced to The Golden Ass ; but, though the fact is true, the resemblance is rather that of sequence than imitation. The scenes in the robbers' cave in The Golden Ass have a very curious resemblance to those in "Gil Bias," as Sir George Head re- marks ; but it seems to us because robbers both in Spain and Thes- saly plundered in regular bands and lived in fellowship. In like manner, the adventures with the debauched impostor priests of the Syrian goddess might seem to furnish the plan of any tale that was designed to represent the tricks or frauds of the Romish itinerant friars, where society is in a state to tolerate their semi- pagan arts of imposing upon the credulous. The story of The Golden Ass is simple in its outline. Lucius— as we should say, a young gentleman—being on his travels, is led. by an object into Thessaly, the region of witchcraft. There, at a town called Hypata, his journey comes to an unfortunate end, not- withstanding a celebrated Chaldean had been paid for predicting a prosperous issue. Lucius becomes the guest of Milo, to whom he has a letter of introduction. The wife of his host is a celebrated. witch, and has the power of transforming herself into a bird. By the favour of Fotis the maid, with whom Lucius has established a good understanding, he is a witness to one of these transforma- tions; after which, nothing will satisfy him but he too mot be transformed into a winged creature of the air. By mistake, a wrong box of ointment is given to him, and instead of a bird he becomes an ass.
"No sooner was I aware of the misfortune that had befallen me, than, before I was able to give utterance to lamentation, Fotis at that very moment returned into the apartment, while I, not only deprived of human form, but of human speech also, looked at her reproachfully with tearful eyes, and be- moaned my fate in silence. Perceiving what an animal I had become, she
beat her forehead with her hands in a paroxysm of grief, exclaiming, am undone ! I am for ever undone ! Through haste, trepidation, and the like- ness of one to the other, I took the wrong box of ointment !' Then, address- ing herself to me, she added, ''Tis fortunate that the remedy for thy trans- formation is not difficult; again once more, ere long, thou wilt be my Lucius: nought more host thou to do but eat roses in the morning, and then imme- diately thou wilt quit the form of an ass, and regain thy human figure. Would that this evening, as I am frequently used to do, I had plaited roses into chaplets ; then thou wouldst not, even for a single night, have re- mained in thy present condition. Now, alas ! ere I can be able to procure thee the floral remedy, another day must dawn.'
"Thus did Fotis continue for some time to express her sorrow, while I, a perfect ass and beast of burden, though no longer Lucius being nevertheless still in possession of human understanding, deliberated all the time with myself whether, in case she had intentionally deceived me, I ought not im- mediately to fall upon such a wicked creature, and bite her and kick her to death. But more mature reflection prevented my committing myself to such a rash enterprise, which, by inflicting the punishment of death upon Fotis, would have extinguished all chance of her assistance. Shaking my head therefore dejectedly, determining to bear in silence my temporary disgrace, and going to seek that very worthy horse of mine that I had ridden on my journey, I found him standing in the stable, together with another ass like myself, belonging to my host Milo."
Up to this time Lucius has played but a slender part in the story; the narrative of his journey chiefly serving to introduce the tales of other people relating to witchcraft. Henceforth the ass is more directly an actor in the incidents narrated, all of which are concerned with the broader features of society, such as it existed in provincial parts of the Roman empire in the second century. While the ass is waiting in the stable eagerly expecting the morn- ing, the house of Milo is attacked by a gang of banditti, who strip it of everything, and place their spoil upon the occupants of the stable. After various asinine troubles and adventures, including a sound cudgelling for trespassing in a garden in a search for roses,
the robbers arrive at their cave in the mountains. Here several incidents occur, including the abduction of a young lady on her bridal-day, with a view to ransom. In her final escape the ass takes a part, so far as bearino.r' her on his back ; and out of grati- tude is sent to the country estate, to lead a life of ease and plea- sure. The bailiffs wife, however, is a miserable wretch, and dooms him to labours of various kinds ; while a change of masters makes no difference in his burdens. As the drudge of a baker, a gardener, a soldier, and itinerant priests, he is doomed to hard work, hard usage, and hard fare, till he falls into the hands of two slaves, whose master, tickled with the idea of an ass eating pastry, adopts him as a favourite. To such a height does his folly and that of the people proceed, that the ass is about to be exhibited at the theatre : but the sagacious Lucius, terrified lest the -wild beast to whom a criminal was to be thrown should eat him as well, though he had committed no crime, takes an opportunity of escaping. Falling asleep by the sea-shore, he is visited in vision by the goddess Isis, and directed how to recover his human form, by eating certain roses that will be carried on the morrow in a reli- gious procession. The desired metamorphosis ensues, and hence- forth Lucius devotes himself to religion ; the specious gravity, trickery, and extortion of the priesthood, being indicated with covert but obvious satire.
The narrative of The Golden Ass exhibits throughout this fea- ture of classicality, that the essential nature of things is predomi- mint over their external forms. We recognize the country and the times by opinions, modes, and usages ; and so far we have a picture of society as it existed in Greece and Thessaly in the second century. In the opening of the story, there is life on the road; on the arrival at Hypata, life and manners in a well-sized provin- cial town ; the trial for murder exposes the arts of venal orators; the adventures with the robbers show the exposed state of property and person where no Imperial interest or wish induced a rigorous pursuit of the hordes of banditti ; rural life among slave cultivators or workmen and the poor is exhibited in the sojourn of Lucius at the farm, the bakehouse, and with the gardener ; the episode of the soldier seems designed to indicate the cowardice and tyranny of the troops ; while the sojourn of the favoured ass with his master paints the manner of living among the richer classes. But though these traits are indicated, it is by the 'way; to paint manners formed no part of the intention of Apuleius; the incidents and the persons are his first object, and the stories he tells might in their human part take place in any country where the same general state of society existed. The indifference to human suffering and the ab- sence of sentiment are perhaps the strongest trait of the times ; for although such absence of what we calf feeling is always found in rude countries, the Roman empire in the second century exhi- bited everywhere a high state of material civilization. Sir George Head has done a literary service in presenting The Golden Ass in an English dress, with such a typographical mode of arrangement as at once separates the numerous introduced tales from the body of the story. He has also scrupulously ex- purgated it of those grossnesses which are found in Apukius in common with most if not all comic writers until the present gene- ration. What is of equal consequence, he has avoided the stiff- ness which usually adheres to a translation that aims at closeness, and has infused into his work the ease and spirit of an original. Altogether, the "Romance of the Second Century" may be recom- mended to the English reader as a book diverting in itself and cu- rious for its literary suggestions, to the Latinist as furnishing an excellent help to an obscure and little-read author.
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