"Where have I been all your life?"
Belle: "Why are you speaking to me?"
"I heard you orating before the philosophers. You know more than you let on. Also, you're wearing a fetching gown."
Belle: "This old sheet? It's just a little scrap of cloth I found in the agora at Thessaloniki when I travelled through there. What do you want with me? Who are you?"
Damon: "My name is Κάρολος but you can call me Damon Eudoxus Lysander. Some refer to me as Xenophon because I am recently come from Massalia, in Gaul. I'm Professor of the Humors."
Belle: "And why do you detain me?"
Damon: "I am offering you an invitation to join a forum group that I organize. We're philosophers who spend much of our time discussing the meaning of life and how the living of it can be improved. I’ve heard you speak to the crowd at the agora lately and I found your ideas to be novel and fascinating."
Belle: "Really? A man who heeds a woman's speech? That's unprecedented in the land of my birth. What does a Professor of Humors concern himself with, pray tell?"
Damon: " Ah, now that's a tale that calls for a shared beverage. Shall we rest a while and savor Ellinikós kafés together?"
Belle: "It's a fine idea but I must return to my father's house in time for the evening meal. Perhaps we can meet again on the morrow."
Damon: "As you wish, lady. Say, who are you? I don't know your name."
Belle: "I am called Belle... but I'm known to be a beast because of my fiery temper and easily roused rage. A man scorned me and, for that, my demeanour took a turn for the worst. Men fear my fury...and rightly so. I do not suffer fools gladly."
Damon: "Do you suffer fools at all?"
Belle: "Don't test my patience, there's precious little of it."
Damon (with a grin): "I will attempt to please you, Belle."
-----------------------------------------------------
When next they met, Damon laid out for Belle the theory of the Four Humors initially developed by Hippocrates in which it was proposed that health and temperament must have a balance of the four humors (fluids) in the body: blood, yellow bile, black bile, and phlegm. *
Belle was fascinated and asked Damon to become her mentor.
Damon: "Are you certain that this is a viable choice for you? After all, I am a man and you claim to despise men. Would I be endangered by maintaining propinquity with you?"
Belle: "Are you certain that you want to ride so close to the edge of the roof by teasing me, good sir? Don't you fear my scorching choler if I take offence?"
Damon: "Belle, I sense that you already know that my high regard for you is revealed by my harmless banter. I see no need to give you reason to cause a commotion. Come, let us dine and discuss the humors, now that you are to be my student."
-------------------------------------------------
They met to talk
and talk they did.
He taught her Humor.
Was spared her grit.
Belle learned to laugh
and trust
and learned that some
are not all.
Unlike other suitors,
he listened to her.
Unlike herself,
Belle was kind to him.
To be continued...
©Ellen Pepper 2025
*https://psychologyfor.com/the-theory-of-the-four-humors-by-hippocrates/
ref: https://ellenpepper.substack.com/p/ma-belle-dame-sans-merci
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