First man.  I am sure she is the daughter of the Emperor.  Her nails are stained with henna.  They are like the petals of a rose.  She has come here to weep for Adonis.

Second man.  She is one of the gods.  I do not know why she has left her temple.  The gods should not leave their temples.  If she speaks to us let us not answer and she will pass by.

First man.  She will not speak to us.  She is the daughter of the Emperor.

Myrrhina.  Dwells he not here, the beautiful young hermit, he who will not look on the face of woman?

First man.  Of a truth it is here the hermit dwells.

Myrrhina.  Why will he not look on the face of woman?

Second man.  We do not know.

Myrrhina.  Why do ye yourselves not look at me?

First man.  You are covered with bright stones, and you dazzle our eyes.

Second man.  He who looks at the sun becomes blind.  You are too bright to look at.  It is not wise to look at things that are very bright.  Many of the priests in the temples are blind, and have slaves to lead them.

Myrrhina.  Where does he dwell, the beautiful young hermit who will not look on the face of woman?  Has he a house of reeds or a house of burnt clay or does he lie on the hillside?  Or does he make his bed in the rushes?

First man.  He dwells in that cavern yonder.

Myrrhina.  What a curious place to dwell in.

First man.  Of old a centaur lived there.  When the hermit came the centaur gave a shrill cry, wept and lamented, and galloped away.

Second man.  No.  It was a white unicorn who lived in the cave.  When it saw the hermit coming the unicorn knelt down and worshipped him.  Many people saw it worshipping him.

First man.  I have talked with people who saw it.

. . . . .

Second man.  Some say he was a hewer of wood and worked for hire.  But that may not be true.

. . . . .

Myrrhina.  What gods then do ye worship?  Or do ye worship any gods?  There are those who have no gods to worship.  The philosophers who wear long beards and brown cloaks have no gods to worship.  They wrangle with each other in the porticoes.  The [ ] laugh at them.

First man.  We worship seven gods.  We may not tell their names.  It is a very dangerous thing to tell the names of the gods.  No one should ever tell the name of his god.  Even the priests who praise the gods all day long, and eat of their food with them, do not call them by their right names.

Myrrhina.  Where are these gods ye worship?

First man.  We hide them in the folds of our tunics.  We do not show them to any one.  If we showed them to any one they might leave us.