"He may recover--"

"When he is dead, I must look out for another son. What do you think
now? Who is the being that every man, from a slave to a consul, would
soonest hear call him 'Father?"'

"Some one he tenderly loved."

"True--and particularly when that one clung to him with unchangeable
fidelity. I am a man like any other, and you, my good fellow, are always
nearest to my heart, and I shall bless the day when I may authorize
you, before all the world, to call me 'Father.' Do not interrupt me.
If you resolutely concentrate your will and show as keen a sense for
ruling men as you do for the chase, if you try to sharpen your wits and
take in what I teach you, it may some day happen that Antinous instead of
Verus--"

"Nay, not that, only not that!" cried the lad, turning very pale and
raising his hands beseechingly.

"The greatness with which Destiny surprises us seems terrible so long as
it is new to us," said Hadrian. "But the seaman is soon accustomed to
the storms, and we come to wear the purple as you do your chiton."

"Oh, Caesar, I entreat you," said Antinous, anxiously, "put aside these
ideas; I am not fit for great things."

"The smallest saplings grow to be palms."

"But I am only a wretched little herb that thrives awhile in your shadow.