This is a chapter of Evergreen Stories by W. M. L. Hutchinson. It includes the following stories: King Midas and His Strange Adventures — Alcestis, the Noble Wife — The Real Helen — Cupid and Psyche — The Vision of Er
Alcestis, the Noble Wife has the following chapters: 1. Admetus and Alcestis | 2. Admetus’s Godly Servant | 3. Alcestis’s Last Words | 4. Admetus and Alcestis Bid Each Other Farewell | 5. Heracles, an Unexpected Guest | 6. Alcestis’s Obsequies | 7. Heracles’s Unexpected Mission | 8. Admetus’s Mourning | 9. Heracles Saves Alcestis
Admetus had played his part in the ceremonies at the tomb with a mournful dignity which greatly impressed the beholders. The elders, especially, watched him admiringly as he led the prayers and invocations, and offered the customary sacrifice to the nether powers. No noisy outbursts of grief, no tremor of voice or hand, marred his exact performance of the appointed ritual. That was how a chief mourner should behave!
When all had been done, and the last farewell spoken to the dead, the funeral train went homeward in solemn silence. Filled with respectful sympathy, the elders escorted their king to his own gate — but there a painful shock awaited them. For as he reached it, Admetus suddenly started back, trembling from head to foot, and in tones of agony — “I cannot go in,” he cried, “I dare not. Oh, fool, what is this that I have done?” And broke into long and bitter weeping…
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For some time he could not be persuaded to enter the house. He met the elders’ attempts to soothe him by pouring out a flood of wild self-accusation and remorse. It was true what his father had said… he had killed Alcestis. She was at peace now… nothing could touch her further… but he must live on, in misery… his home made hell to him by torturing memories… yet where else could he go? Wherever he went he would see looks of scorn… hear men whisper, “There goes the coward.”
And at last, “Friends,” he said, “she that lies yonder… where I ought to be lying… has chosen the better part and is far, far happier than I. Though death be a fearful thing, shamed life is a worse. I see that now… too late.”