Ancient Greek Text Part 2

The robbers decided to wait a couple of days before selling Anthia. They settled in a forest area. The robbers cared for Anthia here. One particular robber had been captivated by her after being in sight of her for several days. His name was Cirilis. He did not know why she was so distressed, for she had not told the robbers who she was. He felt pity for her and wanted her to be happy. Cirilis told Anthia that he loved her and offered her riches and abundance of all things. Anthia fell to her knees and told Cirilis about Habrocomes and that she was in love with him forever. She begged him to keep her chastity. Cirilis agreed to keep her chaste, and said he would help her find Habrocomes’ body if she would stay with him after they found it. Anthia wanted to find Habrocomes’ body and so she agreed.

Cirilis first thought was that he should help her escape from the other robbers. One night when all the other robbers were sleeping, he took Anthia and escaped to a nearby forest. There, Cirilis took care of her and gave her food. When the robbers awoke the next morning they saw that Anthia and Cirilis were gone. Anthia would have brought them a lot of money, but now they had nothing. They were angered by this and started looking for them. They first thought they should search all the nearby forests, for they did not know when Cirilis and Anthia had left. After a long search, the robbers found them. Angered that Cirilis had taken her from them, they stole back Anthia and hit Cirilis over the head with a sword. Then they dug a deep pit and threw Cirilis in there. They thought that was the best way to punish him for what he had done.

When Cirilis awoke, he realized what had happened and started trying to get out of the pit. It was useless, for the pit was too deep. Meanwhile, a certain traveler walked by and noticed Cirilis in the pit. Cirilis begged the man to help him out, which he did. Cirilis quickly thanked the man and ran to the city, where he might find Anthia once again.

It so happened that the robbers were showing Anthia to the people in the town. All the men marveled at her beauty and were willing to pay any amount for her. Cirilis happened upon this sight and wanted to buy her back, but he did not have any money, and would have been recognized by the robbers. Cirilis distressed over this for a while, but then he saw the traveler who had helped him out of the pit. He told the man his story and explained why he should have Anthia back. The man said that he would be happy to buy her. The traveler offered the highest price. Anthia was then given to the man. Cirilis had been hiding behind the bushes, and after the other robbers left, Cirilis asked the man how he happened upon so much money. To this the man replied, “I am a wealthy merchant and have been looking for a girl to sell.” With that, the traveler ran away with Anthia, and Cirilis realized he had been tricked. Angered by this, Cirilis rushed to get Anthia back. The traveler pulled out a knife and stabbed Cirilis. As Cirilis fell to the ground he said, “Anthia, I have always loved you, I am sorry I could not help you.” At that, he died. Anthia was so frightened by this. She did not want to be hurt and she kept quiet. The traveler then said that Cirilis was a foolish man and deserved to die. Anthia said, “That is a horrible thing to say, he was a good man.” The man struck her, and she said that he should just kill her because she had nothing more to live for. He did not kill her, and carried her on to where his merchant friends were.