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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/5451.txt b/5451.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..76da543 --- /dev/null +++ b/5451.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2033 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook An Egyptian Princess, by Georg Ebers, v2 +#13 in our series by Georg Ebers + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**EBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These EBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers***** + + +Title: An Egyptian Princess, Volume 2. + +Author: Georg Ebers + +Release Date: April, 2004 [EBook #5451] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on May 7, 2002] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + + + + + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AN EGYPTIAN PRINCESS, BY EBERS, V2 *** + + + +This eBook was produced by David Widger <widger@cecomet.net> + + + +[NOTE: There is a short list of bookmarks, or pointers, at the end of the +file for those who may wish to sample the author's ideas before making an +entire meal of them. D.W.] + + + + + +AN EGYPTIAN PRINCESS, Part 1. + +By Georg Ebers + +Volume 2. + + +CHAPTER III. + +The guests were all gone. Their departing mirth and joy had been smitten +down by the drunkard's abusive words, like fresh young corn beneath a +hail storm. Rhodopis was left standing alone in the empty, brightly +decorated (supper-room). Knakias extinguished the colored lamps on the +walls, and a dull, mysterious half-light took the place of their +brilliant rays, falling scantily and gloomily on the piled-up plates and +dishes, the remnants of the meal, and the seats and cushions, pushed out +of their places by the retiring guests. A cold breeze came through the +open door, for the dawn was at hand, and just before sunrise, the air is +generally unpleasantly cool in Egypt. A cold chill struck the limbs of +the aged woman through her light garments. She stood gazing tearlessly +and fixedly into the desolate room, whose walls but a few minutes before +had been echoing with joy and gladness, and it seemed to her that the +deserted guest-chamber must be like her own heart. She felt as if a worm +were gnawing there, and the warm blood congealing into ice. + +Lost in these thoughts, she remained standing till at last her old female +slave appeared to light her to her sleeping apartment. + +Silently Rhodopis allowed herself to be undressed, and then, as silently, +lifted the curtain which separated a second sleeping apartment from her +own. In the middle of this second room stood a bedstead of maplewood, +and there, on white sheets spread over a mattress of fine sheep's wool, +and protected from the cold by bright blue coverlets's, lay a graceful, +lovely girl asleep; this was Rhodopis' granddaughter, Sappho. The +rounded form and delicate figure seemed to denote one already in opening +maidenhood, but the peaceful, blissful smile could only belong to a +harmless, happy child. + +One hand lay under her head, hidden among the thick dark brown hair, the +other clasped unconsciously a little amulet of green stone, which hung +round her neck. Over her closed eyes the long lashes trembled almost +imperceptibly, and a delicate pink flush came and went on the cheek of +the slumberer. The finely-cut nostrils rose and fell with her regular +breathing, and she lay there, a picture of innocence, of peace, smiling +in dreams, and of the slumber that the gods bestow on early youth, when +care has not yet come. + +Softly and carefully, crossing the thick carpets on tiptoe, the grey- +haired woman approached, looked with unutterable tenderness into the +smiling, childish face, and, kneeling down silently by the side of the +bed, buried her face in its soft coverings, so that the girl's hand just +came in contact with her hair. Then she wept, and without intermission; +as though she hoped with this flood of tears to wash away not only her +recent humiliation, but with it all other sorrow from her mind. + +At length she rose, breathed a light kiss on the sleeping girl's +forehead, raised her hands in prayer towards heaven, and returned to her +own room, gently and carefully as she had come. + +At her own bedside she found the old slave-woman, still waiting for her. + +"What do you want so late, Melitta?" said Rhodopis, kindly, under her +breath. "Go to bed; at your age it is not good to remain up late, and +you know that I do not require you any longer. Good night! and do not +come to-morrow until I send for you. I shall not be able to sleep much +to-night, and shall be thankful if the morning brings me a short repose." + +The woman hesitated; it seemed that she had some thing on her mind which +she feared to utter. + +"There is something you want to ask me?" said Rhodopis. + +Still the old slave hesitated. + +"Speak!" said Rhodopis, "speak at once, and quickly." + +"I saw you weeping," said the slave-woman, "you seem ill or sad; let me +watch this night by your bedside. Will you not tell me what ails you? +You have often found that to tell a sorrow lightens the heart and lessens +the pain. Then tell me your grief to-day too; it will do you good, it +will bring back peace to your mind." + +"No," answered the other, "I cannot utter it." And then she continued, +smiling bitterly: "I have once more experienced that no one, not even a +god, has power to cancel the past of any human being, and that, in this +world, misfortune and disgrace are one and the same. Good night, leave +me; Melitta!" + +At noon on the following day, the same boat, which, the evening before, +had carried the Athenian and the Spartan, stopped once more before +Rhodopis' garden. + +The sun was shining so brightly, so warmly and genially in the dark blue +Egyptian sky, the air was so pure and light, the beetles were humming so +merrily, the boatmen singing so lustily and happily, the shores of the +Nile bloomed in such gay, variegated beauty, and were so thickly peopled, +the palm-trees, sycamores, bananas and acacias were so luxuriant in +foliage and blossom, and over the whole landscape the rarest and most +glorious gifts seemed to have been poured out with such divine +munificence, that a passer-by must have pronounced it the very home of +joy and gladness, a place from which sadness and sorrow had been forever +banished. + +How often we fancy, in passing a quiet village hidden among its orchards, +that this at least must be the abode of peace, and unambitious +contentment! But alas! when we enter the cottages, what do we find? +there, as everywhere else, distress and need, passion and unsatisfied +longing, fear and remorse, pain and misery; and by the side of these, Ah! +how few joys! Who would have imagined on coming to Egypt, that this +luxuriant, laughing sunny land, whose sky is always unclouded, could +possibly produce and nourish men given to bitterness and severity? that +within the charming, hospitable house of the fortunate Rhodopis, covered +and surrounded, as it was, with sweet flowers, a heart could have been +beating in the deepest sadness? And, still more, who among all the +guests of that honored, admired Thracian woman, would have believed that +this sad heart belonged to her? to the gracious, smiling matron, Rhodopis +herself? + +She was sitting with Phanes in a shady arbor near the cooling spray of a +fountain. One could see that she had been weeping again, but her face +was beautiful and kind as ever. The Athenian was holding her hand and +trying to comfort her. + +Rhodopis listened patiently, and smiled the while; at times her smile was +bitter, at others it gave assent to his words. At last however she +interrupted her well-intentioned friend, by saying: + +"Phanes, I thank you. Sooner or later this last disgrace must be +forgotten too. Time is clever in the healing art. If I were weak I +should leave Naukratis and live in retirement for my grandchild alone; a +whole world, believe me, lies slumbering in that young creature. Many +and many a time already I have longed to leave Egypt, and as often have +conquered the wish. Not because I cannot live without the homage of your +sex; of that I have already had more than enough in my life, but because +I feel that I, the slave-girl and the despised woman once, am now useful, +necessary, almost indispensable indeed, to many free and noble men. +Accustomed as I am, to an extended sphere of work, in its nature +resembling a man's, I could not content myself in living for one being +alone, however dear. I should dry up like a plant removed from a rich +soil into the desert, and should leave my grandchild desolate indeed, +three times orphaned, and alone in the world. No! I shall remain in +Egypt. + +"Now that you are leaving, I shall be really indispensable to our friends +here. Amasis is old; when Psamtik comes to the throne we shall have +infinitely greater difficulties to contend with than heretofore. I must +remain and fight on in the fore-front of our battle for the freedom and +welfare of the Hellenic race. Let them call my efforts unwomanly if they +will. This is, and shall be, the purpose of my life, a purpose to which +I will remain all the more faithful, because it is one of those to which +a woman rarely dares devote her life. During this last night of tears I +have felt that much, very much of that womanly weakness still lingers in +me which forms at once the happiness and misery of our sex. To preserve +this feminine weakness in my granddaughter, united with perfect womanly +delicacy, has been my first duty; my second to free myself entirely from +it. But a war against one's own nature cannot be carried on without +occasional defeat, even if ultimately successful. When grief and pain +are gaining the upperhand and I am well nigh in despair, my only help +lies in remembering my friend Pythagoras, that noblest among men, and his +words: 'Observe a due proportion in all things, avoid excessive joy as +well as complaining grief, and seek to keep thy soul in tune and harmony +like a well-toned harp.'" + + [There is no question that Pythagoras visited Egypt during the reign + of Amasis, probably towards the middle of the 6th century (according + to our reckoning, about 536 B. C.) Herod. II. 81-123. Diod. I. 98. + Rich information about Pythagoras is to be found in the works of the + very learned scholar Roeth, who is however occasionally much too + bold in his conjectures. Pythagoras was the first among Greek + thinkers (speculators). He would not take the name of a wise man or + "sage," but called himself "Philosophos," or a "friend of wisdom."] + +"This Pythagorean inward peace, this deep, untroubled calm, I see daily +before me in my Sappho; and struggle to attain it myself, though many a +stroke of fate untunes the chords of my poor heart. I am calm now! You +would hardly believe what power the mere thought of that first of all +thinkers, that calm, deliberate man, whose life acted on mine like sweet, +soft music, has over me. You knew him, you can understand what I mean. +Now, mention your wish; my heart is as calmly quiet as the Nile waters +which are flowing by so quietly, and I am ready to hear it, be it good or +evil." + +"I am glad to see you thus," said the Athenian. "If you had remembered +the noble friend of wisdom, as Pythagoras was wont to call himself a +little sooner, your soul would have regained its balance yesterday. The +master enjoins us to look back every evening on the events, feelings and +actions of the day just past. + +"Now had you done this, you would have felt that the unfeigned admiration +of all your guests, among whom were men of distinguished merit, +outweighed a thousandfold the injurious words of a drunken libertine; +you would have felt too that you were a friend of the gods, for was it +not in your house that the immortals gave that noble old man at last, +after his long years of misfortune, the greatest joy that can fall to the +lot of any human being? and did they not take from you one friend only in +order to replace him in the same moment, by another and a better? Come, +I will hear no contradiction. Now for my request. + +"You know that people sometimes call me an Athenian, sometimes a +Halikarnassian. Now, as the Ionian, AEolian and Dorian mercenaries have +never been on good terms with the Karians, my almost triple descent (if I +may call it so) has proved very useful to me as commander of both these +divisions. Well qualified as Aristomachus may be for the command, yet +in this one point Amasis will miss me; for I found it an easy matter to +settle the differences among the troops and keep them at peace, while he, +as a Spartan, will find it very difficult to keep right with the Karian +soldiers. + +"This double nationality of mine arises from the fact that my father +married a Halikarnassian wife out of a noble Dorian family, and, at the +time of my birth, was staying with her in Halikarnassus, having come +thither in order to take possession of her parental inheritance. So, +though I was taken back to Athens before I was three months old, I must +still be called a Karian, as a man's native land is decided by his +birthplace. + +"In Athens, as a young nobleman, belonging to that most aristocratic and +ancient family, the Philaidae, I was reared and educated in all the pride +of an Attic noble. Pisistratus, brave and clever, and though of equal, +yet by no means of higher birth, than ourselves, for there exists no +family more aristocratic than my father's, gained possession of the +supreme authority. Twice, the nobles, by uniting all their strength, +succeeded in overthrowing him, and when, the third time, assisted by +Lygdamis of Naxos, the Argives and Eretrians, he attempted to return, we +opposed him again. We had encamped by the temple of Minerva at Pallene, +and were engaged in sacrificing to the goddess, early, before our first +meal, when we were suddenly surprised by the clever tyrant, who gained an +easy, bloodless victory over our unarmed troops. As half of the entire +army opposed to the tyrant was under my command, I determined rather to +die than yield, fought with my whole strength, implored the soldiers to +remain steadfast, resisted without yielding a point, but fell at last +with a spear in my shoulder. + +"The Pisistratidae became lords of Athens. I fled to Halikarnassus, my +second home, accompanied by my wife and children. There, my name being +known through some daring military exploits, and, through my having once +conquered in the Pythian games, I was appointed to a command in the +mercenary troops of the King of Egypt; accompanied the expedition to +Cyprus, shared with Aristomachus the renown of having conquered the +birthplace of Aphrodite for Amasis, and finally was named commander-in- +chief of all the mercenaries in Egypt. + +"Last summer my wife died; our children, a boy of eleven and a girl of +ten years, remained with an aunt in Halikarnassus. But she too has +followed to the inexorable Hades, and so, only a few days ago I sent for +the little ones here. They cannot, however, possibly reach Naukratis in +less than three weeks, and yet they will already have set out on their +journey before a letter to countermand my first order could reach them. + +"I must leave Egypt in fourteen days, and cannot therefore receive them +myself. + +"My own intentions are to go to the Thracian Chersonese, where my uncle, +as you know, has been called to fill a high office among the Dolonki. +The children shall follow me thither; my faithful old slave Korax will +remain in Naukratis on purpose to bring them to me. + +"Now, if you will show to me that you are in deed and truth my friend, +will you receive the little ones and take care of them till the next ship +sails for Thrace? But above all, will you carefully conceal them from +the eyes of the crown-prince's spies? You know that Psamtik hates me +mortally, and he could easily revenge himself on the father through the +children. I ask you for this great favor, first, because I know your +kindness by experience; and secondly, because your house has been made +secure by the king's letter of guarantee, and they will therefore be safe +here from the inquiries of the police; notwithstanding that, by the laws +of this most formal country, all strangers, children not excepted, must +give up their names to the officer of the district. + +"You can now judge of the depth of my esteem, Rhodopis; I am committing +into your hands all that makes life precious to me; for even my native +land has ceased to be dear while she submits so ignominiously to her +tyrants. Will you then restore tranquillity to an anxious father's +heart, will you--?" + +"I will, Phanes, I will!" cried the aged woman in undisguised delight. +"You are not asking me for any thing, you are presenting me with a gift. +Oh, how I look forward already to their arrival! And how glad Sappho +will be, when the little creatures come and enliven her solitude! But +this I can assure you, Phanes, I shall not let my little guests depart +with the first Thracian ship. You can surely afford to be separated from +them one short half-year longer, and I promise you they shall receive the +best lessons, and be guided to all that is good and beautiful." + +"On that head I have no fear," answered Phanes, with a thankful smile. +"But still you must send off the two little plagues by the first ship; my +anxiety as to Psamtik's revenge is only too well grounded. Take my most +heartfelt thanks beforehand for all the love and kindness which you will +show to my children. I too hope and believe, that the merry little +creatures will be an amusement and pleasure to Sappho in her lonely +life." + +"And more," interrupted Rhodopis looking down; "this proof of confidence +repays a thousand-fold the disgrace inflicted on me last night in a +moment of intoxication.--But here comes Sappho!" + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +Five days after the evening we have just described at Rhodopis' house, an +immense multitude was to be seen assembled at the harbor of Sais. + +Egyptians of both sexes, and of every age and class were thronging to the +water's edge. + +Soldiers and merchants, whose various ranks in society were betokened by +the length of their white garments, bordered with colored fringes, were +interspersed among the crowd of half-naked, sinewy men, whose only +clothing consisted of an apron, the costume of the lower classes. Naked +children crowded, pushed and fought to get the best places. Mothers in +short cloaks were holding their little ones up to see the sight, which by +this means they entirely lost themselves; and a troop of dogs and cats +were playing and fighting at the feet of these eager sight-seers, who +took the greatest pains not to tread on, or in any way injure the sacred +animals. + + [According to various pictures on the Egyptian monuments. The + mothers are from Wilkinson III. 363. Isis and Hathor, with the + child Horus in her lap or at her breast, are found in a thousand + representations, dating both from more modern times and in the Greek + style. The latter seem to have served as a model for the earliest + pictures of the Madonna holding the infant Christ.] + +The police kept order among this huge crowd with long staves, on the +metal heads of which the king's name was inscribed. Their care was +especially needed to prevent any of the people from being pushed into the +swollen Nile, an arm of which, in the season of the inundations, washes +the walls of Sais. + +On the broad flight of steps which led between two rows of sphinxes down +to the landing-place of the royal boats, was a very different kind of +assembly. + +The priests of the highest rank were seated there on stone benches. Many +wore long, white robes, others were clad in aprons, broad jewelled +collars, and garments of panther skins. Some had fillets adorned with +plumes that waved around brows, temples, and the stiff structures of +false curls that floated over their shoulders; others displayed the +glistening bareness of their smoothly-shaven skulls. The supreme judge +was distinguished by the possession of the longest and handsomest plume +in his head-dress, and a costly sapphire amulet, which, suspended by a +gold chain, hung on his breast. + +The highest officers of the Egyptian army wore uniforms of gay colors,97 +and carried short swords in their girdles. On the right side of the +steps a division of the body-guard was stationed, armed with battleaxes, +daggers, bows, and large shields; on the left, were the Greek +mercenaries, armed in Ionian fashion. Their new leader, our friend +Aristomachus, stood with a few of his own officers apart from the +Egyptians, by the colossal statues of Psamtik I., which had been erected +on the space above the steps, their faces towards the river. + +In front of these statues, on a silver chair, sat Psamtik, the heir to +the throne: He wore a close-fitting garment of many colors, interwoven +with gold, and was surrounded by the most distinguished among the king's +courtiers, chamberlains, counsellors, and friends, all bearing staves +with ostrich feathers and lotus-flowers. + +The multitude gave vent to their impatience by shouting, singing, and +quarrelling; but the priests and magnates on the steps preserved a +dignified and solemn silence. Each, with his steady, unmoved gaze, his +stiffly-curled false wig and beard, and his solemn, deliberate manner, +resembled the two huge statues, which, the one precisely similar to the +other, stood also motionless in their respective places, gazing calmly +into the stream. + +At last silken sails, chequered with purple and blue, appeared in sight. + +The crowd shouted with delight. Cries of, "They are coming! Here they +are!" "Take care, or you'll tread on that kitten," "Nurse, hold the +child higher that she may see something of the sight." "You are pushing +me into the water, Sebak!" "Have a care Phoenician, the boys are +throwing burs into your long beard." "Now, now, you Greek fellow, don't +fancy that all Egypt belongs to you, because Amasis allows you to live on +the shores of the sacred river!" "Shameless set, these Greeks, down with +them!" shouted a priest, and the cry was at once echoed from many mouths. +"Down with the eaters of swine's flesh and despisers of the gods!" + + [The Egyptians, like the Jews, were forbidden to eat swine's flesh. + This prohibition is mentioned in the Ritual of the Dead, found in a + grave in Abd-el-Qurnah, and also in other places. Porphyr. de + Abstin. IV. The swine was considered an especially unclean animal + pertaining to Typhon (Egyptian, Set) as the boar to Ares, and + swineherds were an especially despised race. Animals with bristles + were only sacrificed at the feasts of Osiris and Eileithyia. Herod. + I. 2. 47. It is probable that Moses borrowed his prohibition of + swine's flesh from the Egyptian laws with regard to unclean + animals.] + +From words they were proceeding to deeds, but the police were not to be +trifled with, and by a vigorous use of their staves, the tumult was soon +stilled. The large, gay sails, easily to be distinguished among the +brown, white and blue ones of the smaller Nile-boats which swarmed around +them, came nearer and nearer to the expectant throng. Then at last the +crown-prince and the dignitaries arose from their seats. The royal band +of trumpeters blew a shrill and piercing blast of welcome, and the first +of the expected boats stopped at the landing-place. + +It was a rather long, richly-gilded vessel, and bore a silver sparrow- +hawk as figure-head. In its midst rose a golden canopy with a purple +covering, beneath which cushions were conveniently arranged. On each +deck in the forepart of the ship sat twelve rowers, their aprons attached +by costly fastenings. + + [Splendid Nile-boats were possessed, in greater or less numbers, by + all the men of high rank. Even in the tomb of Ti at Sakkara, which + dates from the time of the Pyramids, we meet with a chief overseer + of the vessels belonging to a wealthy Egyptian.] + +Beneath the canopy lay six fine-looking men in glorious apparel; and +before the ship had touched the shore the youngest of these, a beautiful +fair-haired youth, sprang on to the steps. + +Many an Egyptian girl's mouth uttered a lengthened "Ah" at this glorious +sight, and even the grave faces of some of the dignitaries brightened +into a friendly smile. + +The name of this much-admired youth was Bartja. + + [This Bartja is better known under the name of Smerdis, but on what + account the Greeks gave him this name is not clear. In the + cuneiform inscriptions of Bisitun or Behistun, he is called Bartja, + or, according to Spiegel, Bardiya. We have chosen, for the sake of + the easy pronunciation, the former, which is Rawlinson's simplified + reading of the name.] + +He was the son of the late, and brother of the reigning king of Persia, +and had been endowed by nature with every gift that a youth of twenty +years could desire for himself. + +Around his tiara was wound a blue and white turban, beneath which hung +fair, golden curls of beautiful, abundant hair; his blue eyes sparkled +with life and joy, kindness and high spirits, almost with sauciness; his +noble features, around which the down of a manly beard was already +visible, were worthy of a Grecian sculptor's chisel, and his slender but +muscular figure told of strength and activity. The splendor of his +apparel was proportioned to his personal beauty. A brilliant star of +diamonds and turquoises glittered in the front of his tiara. An upper +garment of rich white and gold brocade reaching just below the knees, was +fastened round the waist with a girdle of blue and white, the royal +colors of Persia. In this girdle gleamed a short, golden sword, its hilt +and scabbard thickly studded with opals and sky-blue turquoises. The +trousers were of the same rich material as the robe, fitting closely at +the ankle, and ending within a pair of short boots of light-blue leather. + +The long, wide sleeves of his robe displayed a pair of vigorous arms, +adorned with many costly bracelets of gold and jewels; round his slender +neck and on his broad chest lay a golden chain. + +Such was the youth who first sprang on shore. He was followed by Darius, +the son of Hystaspes, a young Persian of the blood royal, similar in +person to Bartja, and scarcely less gorgeously apparelled than he. The +third to disembark was an aged man with snow-white hair, in whose face +the gentle and kind expression of childhood was united, with the +intellect of a man, and the experience of old age. His dress consisted +of a long purple robe with sleeves, and the yellow boots worn by the +Lydians;--his whole appearance produced an impression of the greatest +modesty and a total absence of pretension. + + [On account of these boots, which are constantly mentioned, Croesus + was named by the oracle "soft-footed."] + +Yet this simple old man had been, but a few years before, the most envied +of his race and age; and even in our day at two thousand years' interval, +his name is used as a synonyme for the highest point of worldly riches +attainable by mankind. The old man to whom we are now introduced is no +other than Croesus, the dethroned king of Lydia, who was then living at +the court of Cambyses, as his friend and counsellor, and had accompanied +the young Bartja to Egypt, in the capacity of Mentor. + +Croesus was followed by Prexaspes, the king's Ambassador, Zopyrus, the +son of Megabyzus, a Persian noble, the friend of Bartja and Darius; and, +lastly, by his own son, the slender, pale Gyges, who after having become +dumb in his fourth year through the fearful anguish he had suffered on +his father's account at the taking of Sardis, had now recovered the power +of speech. + +Psamtik descended the steps to welcome the strangers. His austere, +sallow face endeavored to assume a smile. The high officials in his +train bowed down nearly to the ground, allowing their arms to hang +loosely at their sides. The Persians, crossing their hands on their +breasts, cast themselves on the earth before the heir to the Egyptian +throne. When the first formalities were over, Bartja, according to the +custom of his native country, but greatly to the astonishment of the +populace, who were totally unaccustomed to such a sight, kissed the +sallow cheek of the Egyptian prince; who shuddered at the touch of a +stranger's unclean lips, then took his way to the litters waiting to +convey him and his escort to the dwelling designed for them by the king, +in the palace at Sais. + +A portion of the crowd streamed after the strangers, but the larger +number remained at their places, knowing that many a new and wonderful +sight yet awaited them. + +"Are you going to run after those dressed-up monkeys and children of +Typhon, too?" asked an angry priest of his neighbor, a respectable +tailor of Sais. "I tell you, Puhor, and the high-priest says so too, +that these strangers can bring no good to the black land! I am for the +good old times, when no one who cared for his life dared set foot on +Egyptian soil. Now our streets are literally swarming with cheating +Hebrews, and above all with those insolent Greeks whom may the gods +destroy! + + [The Jews were called Hebrews (Apuriu) by the Egyptians; as brought + to light by Chabas. See Ebers, Aegypten I. p. 316. H. Brugsch + opposes this opinion.] + +"Only look, there is the third boat full of strangers! And do you know +what kind of people these Persians are? The high-priest says that in the +whole of their kingdom, which is as large as half the world, there is not +a single temple to the gods; and that instead of giving decent burial to +the dead, they leave them to be torn in pieces by dogs and vultures." + + [These statements are correct, as the Persians, at the time of the + dynasty of the Achaemenidae, had no temples, but used fire-altars + and exposed their dead to the dogs and vultures. An impure corpse + was not permitted to defile the pure earth by its decay; nor might + it be committed to the fire or water for destruction, as their + purity would be equally polluted by such an act. But as it was + impossible to cause the dead bodies to vanish, Dakhmas or burying- + places were laid out, which had to be covered with pavement and + cement not less than four inches thick, and surrounded by cords to + denote that the whole structure was as it were suspended in the air, + and did not come in contact with the pure earth. Spiegel, Avesta + II.] + +"The tailor's indignation at hearing this was even greater than his +astonishment, and pointing to the landing-steps, he cried: + +"It is really too bad; see, there is the sixth boat full of these +foreigners!" + +"Yes, it is hard indeed!" sighed the priest, "one might fancy a whole +army arriving. Amasis will go on in this manner until the strangers +drive him from his throne and country, and plunder and make slaves of us +poor creatures, as the evil Hyksos, those scourges of Egypt, and the +black Ethiopians did, in the days of old." + +"The seventh boat!" shouted the tailor. + +"May my protectress Neith, the great goddess of Sais, destroy me, if I +can understand the king," complained the priest. "He sent three barks to +Naukratis, that poisonous nest hated of the gods, to fetch the servants +and baggage of these Persians; but instead of three, eight had to be +procured, for these despisers of the gods and profaners of dead bodies +have not only brought kitchen utensils, dogs, horses, carriages, chests, +baskets and bales, but have dragged with them, thousands of miles, a +whole host of servants. They tell me that some of them have no other +work than twining of garlands and preparing ointments. Their priests +too, whom they call Magi, are here with them. I should like to know what +they are for? of what use is a priest where there is no temple?" + + +The old King Amasis received the Persian embassy shortly after their +arrival with all the amiability and kindness peculiar to him. + +Four days later, after having attended to the affairs of state, a duty +punctually fulfilled by him every morning without exception, he went +forth to walk with Croesus in the royal gardens. The remaining members +of the embassy, accompanied by the crown-prince, were engaged in an +excursion up the Nile to the city of Memphis. + +The palace-gardens, of a royal magnificence, yet similar in their +arrangement to those of Rhodopis, lay in the north-west part of Sais, +near the royal citadel. + +Here, under the shadow of a spreading plane-tree, and near a gigantic +basin of red granite, into which an abundance of clear water flowed +perpetually through the jaws of black basalt crocodiles, the two old men +seated themselves. + +The dethroned king, though in reality some years the elder of the two, +looked far fresher and more vigorous than the powerful monarch at his +side. Amasis was tall, but his neck was bent; his corpulent body was +supported by weak and slender legs: and his face, though well-formed, was +lined and furrowed. But a vigorous spirit sparkled in the small, +flashing eyes, and an expression of raillery, sly banter, and at times, +even of irony, played around his remarkably full lips. The low, broad +brow, the large and beautifully-arched head bespoke great mental power, +and in the changing color of his eyes one seemed to read that neither wit +nor passion were wanting in the man, who, from his simple place as +soldier in the ranks, had worked his way up to the throne of the +Pharaohs. His voice was sharp and hard, and his movements, in comparison +with the deliberation of the other members of the Egyptian court, +appeared almost morbidly active. + +The attitude and bearing of his neighbor Croesus were graceful, and in +every way worthy of a king. His whole manner showed that he had lived in +frequent intercourse with the highest and noblest minds of Greece. +Thales, Anaximander and Anaximenes of Miletus, Bias of Priene, Solon of +Athens, Pittakus of Lesbos, the most celebrated Hellenic philosophers, +had in former and happier days been guests at the court of Croesus in +Sardis. His full clear voice sounded like pure song when compared with +the shrill tones of Amasis. + + [Bias, a philosopher of Ionian origin, flourished about 560 B. C. + and was especially celebrated for his wise maxims on morals and law. + After his death, which took place during his defence of a friend in + the public court, a temple was erected to him by his countrymen. + Laert. Diog. I. 88.] + +"Now tell me openly," began king Pharaoh--[In English "great house," the +high gate or "sublime porte.']--in tolerably fluent Greek, "what opinion +hast thou formed of Egypt? Thy judgment possesses for me more worth than +that of any other man, for three reasons: thou art better acquainted with +most of the countries and nations of this earth; the gods have not only +allowed thee to ascend the ladder of fortune to its utmost summit, but +also to descend it, and thirdly, thou hast long been the first counsellor +to the mightiest of kings. Would that my kingdom might please thee so +well that thou wouldst remain here and become to me a brother. Verily, +Croesus, my friend hast thou long been, though my eyes beheld thee +yesterday for the first time!" + +"And thou mine," interrupted the Lydian. "I admire the courage with +which thou hast accomplished that which seemed right and good in thine +eyes, in spite of opposition near and around thee. I am thankful for the +favor shown to the Hellenes, my friends, and I regard thee as related to +me by fortune, for hast thou not also passed through all the extremes of +good and evil that this life can offer?" + +"With this difference," said Amasis smiling, "that we started from +opposite points; in thy lot the good came first, the evil later; whereas +in my own this order has been reversed. In saying this, however," he +added, "I am supposing that my present fortune is a good for me, and that +I enjoy it." + +"And I, in that case," answered Croesus, "must be assuming that I am +unhappy in what men call my present ill-fortune." + +"How can it possibly be otherwise after the loss of such enormous +possessions?" + +"Does happiness consist then in possession?" asked Croesus. "Is +happiness itself a thing to be possessed? Nay, by no means! It is +nothing but a feeling, a sensation, which the envious gods vouchsafe more +often to the needy than to the mighty. The clear sight of the latter +becomes dazzled by the glittering treasure, and they cannot but suffer +continual humiliation, because, conscious of possessing power to obtain +much, they wage an eager war for all, and therein are continually +defeated." + +Amasis sighed, and answered: "I would I could prove thee in the wrong; +but in looking back on my past life I am fain to confess that its cares +began with that very hour which brought me what men call my good +fortune."--"And I," interrupted Croesus, "can assure thee that I am +thankful thou delayedst to come to my help, inasmuch as the hour of my +overthrow was the beginning of true, unsullied happiness. When I beheld +the first Persians scale the walls of Sardis, I execrated myself and the +gods, life appeared odious to me, existence a curse. Fighting on, but in +heart despairing, I and my people were forced to yield. A Persian raised +his sword to cleave my skull--in an instant my poor dumb son had thrown +himself between his father and the murderer, and for the first time after +long years of silence, I heard him speak. Terror had loosened his +tongue; in that dreadful hour Gyges learnt once more to speak, and I, who +but the moment before had been cursing the gods, bowed down before their +power. I had commanded a slave to kill me the moment I should be taken +prisoner by the Persians, but now I deprived him of his sword. I was a +changed man, and by degrees learnt ever more and more to subdue the rage +and indignation which yet from time to time would boil up again within my +soul, rebellious against my fate and my noble enemies. Thou knowest that +at last I became the friend of Cyrus, and that my son grew up at his +court, a free man at my side, having entirely regained the use of his +speech. Everything beautiful and good that I had heard, seen or thought +during my long life I treasured up now for him; he was my kingdom, my +crown, my treasure. Cyrus's days of care, his nights so reft of sleep, +reminded me with horror of my own former greatness, and from day to day +it became more evident to me that happiness has nothing to do with +our outward circumstances. Each man possesses the hidden germ in his own +heart. A contented, patient mind, rejoicing much in all that is great +and beautiful and yet despising not the day of small things; bearing +sorrow without a murmur and sweetening it by calling to remembrance +former joy; moderation in all things; a firm trust in the favor of the +gods and a conviction that, all things being subject to change, so with +us too the worst must pass in due season; all this helps to mature the +germ of happiness, and gives us power to smile, where the man +undisciplined by fate might yield to despair and fear." + +Amasis listened attentively, drawing figures the while in the sand with +the golden flower on his staff. At last he spoke: + +"Verily, Croesus, I the great god, the 'sun of righteousness,' 'the son +of Neith,' 'the lord of warlike glory,' as the Egyptians call me, am +tempted to envy thee, dethroned and plundered as thou art. I have been +as happy as thou art now. Once I was known through all Egypt, though +only the poor son of a captain, for my light heart, happy temper, fun and +high spirits. The common soldiers would do anything for me, my superior +officers could have found much fault, but in the mad Amasis, as they +called me, all was overlooked, and among my equals, (the other under- +officers) there could be no fun or merry-making unless I took a share in +it. My predecessor king Hophra sent us against Cyrene. Seized with +thirst in the desert, we refused to go on; and a suspicion that the king +intended to sacrifice us to the Greek mercenaries drove the army to open +mutiny. In my usual joking manner I called out to my friends: 'You can +never get on without a king, take me for your ruler; a merrier you will +never find!' The soldiers caught the words. 'Amasis will be our king,' +ran through the ranks from man to man, and, in a few hours more, they +came to me with shouts, and acclamations of 'The good, jovial Amasis for +our King!' One of my boon companions set a field-marshal's helmet on my +head: I made the joke earnest, and we defeated Hophra at Momempliis. +The people joined in the conspiracy, I ascended the throne, and men +pronounced me fortunate. Up to that time I had been every Egyptian's +friend, and now I was the enemy of the best men in the nation. + +"The priests swore allegiance to me, and accepted me as a member of their +caste, but only in the hope of guiding me at their will. My former +superiors in command either envied me, or wished to remain on the same +terms of intercourse as formerly. But this would have been inconsistent +with my new position, and have undermined my authority. One day, +therefore, when the officers of the host were at one of my banquets and +attempting, as usual, to maintain their old convivial footing, I showed +them the golden basin in which their feet had been washed before sitting +down to meat; five days later, as they were again drinking at one of my +revels, I caused a golden image of the great god Ra be placed upon the +richly-ornamented banqueting-table. + + [Ra, with the masculine article Phra, must be regarded as the + central point of the sun-worship of the Egyptians, which we consider + to have been the foundation of their entire religion. He was more + especially worshipped at Heliopolis. Plato, Eudoxus, and probably + Pythagoras also, profited by the teaching of his priests. The + obelisks, serving also as memorial monuments on which the names and + deeds of great kings were recorded, were sacred to him, and Pliny + remarks of them that they represented the rays of the sun. He was + regarded as the god of light, the director of the entire visible + creation, over which he reigned, as Osiris over the world of + spirits.] + +"On perceiving it, they fell down to worship. As they rose from their +knees, I took the sceptre, and holding it up on high with much solemnity, +exclaimed: 'In five days an artificer has transformed the despised vessel +into which ye spat and in which men washed your feet, into this divine +image. Such a vessel was I, but the Deity, which can fashion better and +more quickly than a goldsmith, has made me your king. Bow down then +before me and worship. He who henceforth refuses to obey, or is +unmindful of the reverence due to the king, is guilty of death!' + +"They fell down before me, every one, and I saved my authority, but lost +my friends. As I now stood in need of some other prop, I fixed on the +Hellenes, knowing that in all military qualifications one Greek is worth +more than five Egyptians, and that with this assistance I should be able +to carry out those measures which I thought beneficial. + +"I kept the Greek mercenaries always round me, I learnt their language, +and it was they who brought to me the noblest human being I ever met, +Pythagoras. I endeavored to introduce Greek art and manners among +ourselves, seeing what folly lay in a self-willed adherence to that which +has been handed down to us, when it is in itself bad and unworthy, while +the good seed lay on our Egyptian soil, only waiting to be sown. + +"I portioned out the whole land to suit my purposes, appointed the best +police in the world, and accomplished much; but my highest aim, namely: +to infuse into this country, at once so gay and so gloomy, the spirit and +intellect of the Greeks, their sense of beauty in form, their love of +life and joy in it, this all was shivered on the same rock which +threatens me with overthrow and ruin whenever I attempt to accomplish +anything new. The priests are my opponents, my masters, they hang like a +dead weight upon me. Clinging with superstitious awe to all that is old +and traditionary, abominating everything foreign, and regarding every +stranger as the natural enemy of their authority and their teaching, they +can lead the most devout and religious of all nations with a power that +has scarcely any limits. For this I am forced to sacrifice all my plans, +for this I see my life passing away in bondage to their severe +ordinances, this will rob my death-bed of peace, and I cannot be secure +that this host of proud mediators between god and man will allow me to +rest even in my grave!" + +"By Zeus our saviour, with all thy good fortune, thou art to be pitied!" +interrupted Croesus sympathetically, "I understand thy misery; for though +I have met with many an individual who passed through life darkly and +gloomily, I could not have believed that an entire race of human beings +existed, to whom a gloomy, sullen heart was as natural as a poisonous +tooth to the serpent. Yet it is true, that on my journey hither and +during my residence at this court I have seen none but morose and gloomy +countenances among the priesthood. Even the youths, thy immediate +attendants, are never seen to smile; though cheerfulness, that sweet gift +of the gods, usually belongs to the young, as flowers to spring." + +"Thou errest," answered Amasis, "in believing this gloom to be a +universal characteristic of the Egyptians. It is true that our religion +requires much serious thought. There are few nations, however, who have +so largely the gift of bantering fun and joke: or who on the occasion of +a festival, can so entirely forget themselves and everything else but the +enjoyments of the moment; but the very sight of a stranger is odious to +the priests, and the moroseness which thou observest is intended as +retaliation on me for my alliance with the strangers. Those very boys, +of whom thou spakest, are the greatest torment of my life. They perform +for me the service of slaves, and obey my slightest nod. One might +imagine that the parents who devote their children to this service, and +who are the highest in rank among the priesthood, would be the most +obedient and reverential servants of the king whom they profess to honor +as divine; but believe me, Croesus, just in this very act of devotion, +which no ruler can refuse to accept without giving offence, lies the most +crafty, scandalous calculation. Each of these youths is my keeper, my +spy. They watch my smallest actions and report them at once to the +priests." + +"But how canst thou endure such an existence? Why not banish these spies +and select servants from the military caste, for instance? They would be +quite as useful as the priests." + +"Ah! if I only could, if I dared!" exclaimed Amasis loudly. And then, +as if frightened at his own rashness, he continued in a low voice, "I +believe that even here I am being watched. To-morrow I will have that +grove of fig-trees yonder uprooted. The young priest there, who seems so +fond of gardening, has other fruit in his mind besides the half-ripe figs +that he is so slowly dropping into his basket. While his hand is +plucking the figs, his ear gathers the words that fall from the mouth of +his king." + +"But, by our father Zeus, and by Apollo--" + +"Yes, I understand thy indignation and I share it; but every position has +its duties, and as a king of a people who venerate tradition as the +highest divinity, I must submit, at least in the main, to the ceremonies +handed down through thousands of years. Were I to burst these fetters, +I know positively that at my death my body would remain unburied; for, +know that the priests sit in judgment over every corpse, and deprive the +condemned of rest, even in the grave." + + [This well-known custom among the ancient Egyptians is confirmed, + not only by many Greek narrators, but by the laboriously erased + inscriptions discovered in the chambers of some tombs.] + +"Why care about the grave?" cried Croesus, becoming angry. "We live for +life, not for death!" + +"Say rather," answered Amasis rising from his seat, "we, with our Greek +minds, believe a beautiful life to be the highest good. But Croesus, I +was begotten and nursed by Egyptian parents, nourished on Egyptian food, +and though I have accepted much that is Greek, am still, in my innermost +being, an Egyptian. What has been sung to us in our childhood, and +praised as sacred in our youth, lingers on in the heart until the day +which sees us embalmed as mummies. I am an old man and have but a short +span yet to run, before I reach the landmark which separates us from that +farther country. For the sake of life's few remaining days, shall I +willingly mar Death's thousands of years? No, my friend, in this point +at least I have remained an Egyptian, in believing, like the rest of my +countrymen, that the happiness of a future life in the kingdom of +Osiris, depends on the preservation of my body, the habitation of the +soul. + + [Each human soul was considered as a part of the world-soul Osiris, + was united to him after the death of the body, and thenceforth took + the name of Osiris. The Egyptian Cosmos consisted of the three + great realms, the Heavens, the Earth and the Depths. Over the vast + ocean which girdles the vault of heaven, the sun moves in a boat or + car drawn by the planets and fixed stars. On this ocean too the + great constellations circle in their ships, and there is the kingdom + of the blissful gods, who sit enthroned above this heavenly ocean + under a canopy of stars. The mouth of this great stream is in the + East, where the sun-god rises from the mists and is born again as a + child every morning. The surface of the earth is inhabited by human + beings having a share in the three great cosmic kingdoms. They + receive their soul from the heights of heaven, the seat and source + of light; their material body is of the earth; and the appearance or + outward form by which one human being is distinguished from another + at sight--his phantom or shadow--belongs to the depths. At death, + soul, body, and shadow separate from one another. The soul to + return to the place from whence it came, to Heaven, for it is a part + of God (of Osiris); the body, to be committed to the earth from + which it was formed in the image of its creator; the phantom or + shadow, to descend into the depths, the kingdom of shadows. The + gate to this kingdom was placed in the West among the sunset hills, + where the sun goes down daily,--where he dies. Thence arise the + changeful and corresponding conceptions connected with rising and + setting, arriving and departing, being born and dying. The careful + preservation of the body after death from destruction, not only + through the process of inward decay, but also through violence or + accident, was in the religion of ancient Egypt a principal condition + (perhaps introduced by the priests on sanitary grounds) on which + depended the speedy deliverance of the soul, and with this her + early, appointed union with the source of Light and Good, which two + properties were, in idea, one and indivisible. In the Egyptian + conceptions the soul was supposed to remain, in a certain sense, + connected with the body during a long cycle of solar years. She + could, however, quit the body from time to time at will, and could + appear to mortals in various forms and places; these appearances + differed according to the hour, and were prescribed in exact words + and delineations.] + +"But enough of these matters; thou wilt find it difficult to enter into +such thoughts. Tell me rather what thou thinkest of our temples and +pyramids." + +Croesus, after reflecting a moment, answered with a smile: "Those huge +pyramidal masses of stone seem to me creations of the boundless desert, +the gaily painted temple colonnades to be the children of the Spring; but +though the sphinxes lead up to your temple gates, and seem to point the +way into the very shrines themselves, the sloping fortress-like walls of +the Pylons, those huge isolated portals, appear as if placed there to +repel entrance. Your many-colored hieroglyphics likewise attract the +gaze, but baffle the inquiring spirit by the mystery that lies within +their characters. The images of your manifold gods are everywhere to be +seen; they crowd on our gaze, and yet who knows not that their real is +not their apparent significance? that they are mere outward images of +thoughts accessible only to the few, and, as I have heard, almost +incomprehensible in their depth? My curiosity is excited everywhere, +and my interest awakened, but my warm love of the beautiful feels itself +in no way attracted. My intellect might strain to penetrate the secrets +of your sages, but my heart and mind can never be at home in a creed +which views life as a short pilgrimage to the grave, and death as the +only true life!" + +"And yet," said Amasis, "Death has for us too his terrors, and we do all +in our power to evade his grasp. Our physicians would not be celebrated +and esteemed as they are, if we did not believe that their skill could +prolong our earthly existence. This reminds me of the oculist Nebenchari +whom I sent to Susa, to the king. Does he maintain his reputation? is +the king content with him?" + +"Very much so," answered Croesus. "He has been of use to many of the +blind; but the king's mother is alas! still sightless. It was Nebenchari +who first spoke to Cambyses of the charms of thy daughter Tachot. But we +deplore that he understands diseases of the eye alone. When the Princess +Atossa lay ill of fever, he was not to be induced to bestow a word of +counsel." + +"That is very natural; our physicians are only permitted to treat one +part of the body. We have aurists, dentists and oculists, surgeons for +fractures of the bone, and others for internal diseases. By the ancient +priestly law a dentist is not allowed to treat a deaf man, nor a surgeon +for broken bones a patient who is suffering from a disease of the bowels, +even though he should have a first rate knowledge of internal complaints. +This law aims at securing a great degree of real and thorough knowledge; +an aim indeed, pursued by the priests (to whose caste the physicians +belong) with a most praiseworthy earnestness in all branches of science. +Yonder lies the house of the high-priest Neithotep, whose knowledge of +astronomy and geometry was so highly praised, even by Pythagoras. It +lies next to the porch leading into the temple of the goddess Neith, the +protectress of Sais. Would I could show thee the sacred grove with its +magnificent trees, the splendid pillars of the temple with capitals +modelled from the lotus-flower, and the colossal chapel which I caused to +be wrought from a single piece of granite, as an offering to the goddess; +but alas! entrance is strictly refused to strangers by the priests. +Come, let us seek my wife and daughter; they have conceived an affection +for thee, and indeed it is my wish that thou shouldst gain a friendly +feeling towards this poor maiden before she goes forth with thee to the +strange land, and to the strange nation whose princess she is to become. +Wilt thou not adopt and take her under thy care?" + +"On that thou may'st with fullest confidence rely," replied Croesus with +warmth, returning the pressure of Amasis' hand. "I will protect thy +Nitetis as if I were her father; and she will need my help, for the +apartments of the women in the Persian palaces are dangerous ground. +But she will meet with great consideration. Cambyses may be contented +with his choice, and will be highly gratified that thou hast entrusted +him with thy fairest child. Nebenchari had only spoken of Tachot, thy +second daughter." + +"Nevertheless I will send my beautiful Nitetis. Tachot is so tender, +that she could scarcely endure the fatigues of the journey and the pain +of separation. Indeed were I to follow the dictates of my own heart, +Nitetis should never leave us for Persia. But Egypt stands in need of +peace, and I was a king before I became a father!" + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +The other members of the Persian embassy had returned to Sais from their +excursion up the Nile to the pyramids. Prexaspes alone, the ambassador +from Cambyses, had already set out for Persia, in order to inform the +king of the successful issue of his suit. + +The palace of Amasis was full of life and stir. The huge building was +filled in all parts by the followers of the embassy, nearly three hundred +in number, and by the high guests themselves, to whom every possible +attention was paid. The courts of the palace swarmed with guards and +officials, with young priests and slaves, all in splendid festal raiment. + +On this day it was the king's intention to make an especial display of +the wealth and splendor of his court, at a festival arranged in honor of +his daughter's betrothal. + +The lofty reception-hall opening on to the gardens, with its ceiling sown +with thousands of golden stars and supported by gaily-painted columns, +presented a magic appearance. Lamps of colored papyrus hung against the +walls and threw a strange light on the scene, something like that when +the sun's rays strike through colored glass. The space between the +columns and the walls was filled with choice plants, palms, oleanders, +pomegranates, oranges and roses, behind which an invisible band of harp +and flute-players was stationed, who received the guests with strains of +monotonous, solemn music. + +The floor of this hall was paved in black and white, and in the middle +stood elegant tables covered with dishes of all kinds, cold roast meats, +sweets, well-arranged baskets of fruit and cake, golden jugs of wine, +glass drinking-cups and artistic flower-vases. + +A multitude of richly-dressed slaves under direction of the high-steward, +busied themselves in handing these dishes to the guests, who, either +standing around, or reclining on sumptuous seats, entertained themselves +in conversation with their friends. + +Both sexes and all ages were to be found in this assembly. As the women +entered, they received charming little nosegays from the young priests +in the personal service of the king, and many a youth of high degree +appeared in the hall with flowers, which he not only offered to her he +loved best, but held up for her to smell. + +The Egyptian men, who were dressed as we have already seen them at the +reception of the Persian embassy, behaved towards the women with a +politeness that might almost be termed submissive. Among the latter few +could pretend to remarkable beauty, though there were many bewitching +almond-shaped eyes, whose loveliness was heightened by having their lids +dyed with the eye-paint called "mestem." The majority wore their hair +arranged in the same manner; the wealth of waving brown locks floated +back over the shoulders and was brushed behind the ears, one braid being +left on each side to hang over the temples to the breast. A broad diadem +confined these locks, which as the maids knew, were quite as often the +wig-maker's work as Nature's. Many ladies of the court wore above their +foreheads a lotus-flower, whose stem drooped on the hair at the back. + +They carried fans of bright feathers in their delicate hands. These were +loaded with rings; the finger-nails were stained red, according to +Egyptian custom, and gold or silver bands were worn above the elbow, and +at the wrists and ankles. + + [This custom (of staining finger-nails) is still prevalent in the + East; the plant Shenna, Laosonia spinosa, called by Pliny XIII. + Cyprus, being used for the purpose. The Egyptian government has + prohibited the dye, but it will be difficult to uproot the ancient + custom. The pigment for coloring the eyelids, mentioned in the + text, is also still employed. The Papyrus Ebers alludes to the + Arabian kohl or antimony, which is frequently mentioned under the + name of "mestem" on monuments belonging to the time of the + Pharaohs.] + +Their robes were beautiful and costly, and in many cases so cut as to +leave the right breast uncovered. Bartja, the young Persian prince, +among the men, and Nitetis, the Pharaoh's daughter, among the women, were +equally conspicuous for their superior beauty, grace and charms. The +royal maiden wore a transparent rose-colored robe, in her black hair were +fresh roses, she walked by the side of her sister, the two robed alike, +but Nitetis pale as the lotus-flower in her mother's hair. + +Ladice, the queen, by birth a Greek, and daughter of Battus of Cyrene, +walked by the side of Amasis and presented the young Persians to her +children. A light lace robe was thrown over her garment of purple, +embroidered with gold; and on her beautiful Grecian head she wore the +Urmus serpent, the ornament peculiar to Egyptian queens. + +Her countenance was noble yet charming, and every movement betrayed the +grace only to be imparted by a Greek education. + +Amasis, in making choice of this queen, after the death of his second +wife, (the Egyptian Tentcheta, mother of Psamtik the heir to the throne,) +had followed his prepossession in favor of the Greek nation and defied +the wrath of the priests. + +The two girls at Ladice's side, Tachot and Nitetis, were called twin- +sisters, but showed no signs of that resemblance usually to be found in +twins. + +Tachot was a fair, blue-eyed girl, small, and delicately built; Nitetis, +on the other hand, tall and majestic, with black hair and eyes, evinced +in every action that she was of royal blood. + +"How pale thou look'st, my child!" said Ladice, kissing Nitetis' cheek. +"Be of good courage, and meet thy future bravely. Here is the noble +Bartja, the brother of thy future husband." + +Nitetis raised her dark, thoughtful eyes and fixed them long and +enquiringly on the beautiful youth. He bowed low before the blushing +maiden, kissed her garment, and said: + +"I salute thee, as my future queen and sister! I can believe that thy +heart is sore at parting from thy home, thy parents, brethren and +sisters; but be of good courage; thy husband is a great hero, and a +powerful king; our mother is the noblest of women, and among the Persians +the beauty and virtue of woman is as much revered as the life-giving +light of the sun. Of thee, thou sister of the lily Nitetis, whom, by her +side I might venture to call the rose, I beg forgiveness, for robbing +thee of thy dearest friend." + +As he said these words he looked eagerly into Tachot's beautiful blue +eyes; she bent low, pressing her hand upon her heart, and gazed on him +long after Amasis had drawn him away to a seat immediately opposite the +dancing-girls, who were just about to display their skill for the +entertainment of the guests. A thin petticoat was the only clothing of +these girls, who threw and wound their flexible limbs to a measure played +on harp and tambourine. After the dance appeared Egyptian singers and +buffoons for the further amusement of the company. + +At length some of the courtiers forsook the hall, their grave demeanor +being somewhat overcome by intoxication. + + [Unfortunately women, as well as men, are to be seen depicted on the + monuments in an intoxicated condition. One man is being carried + home, like a log of wood, on the heads of his servants. Wilkinson + II. 168. Another is standing on his head II. 169. and several + ladies are in the act of returning the excessive quantity which they + have drunk. Wilkinson II. 167. At the great Techu-festival at + Dendera intoxication seems to have been as much commanded as at the + festivals of Dionysus under the Ptolemies, one of whom (Ptolemy + Dionysus) threatened those who remained sober with the punishment of + death. But intoxication was in general looked upon by the Egyptians + as a forbidden and despicable vice. In the Papyrus Anastasi IV., + for instance, we read these words on a drunkard: "Thou art as a + sanctuary without a divinity, as a house without bread," and + further: "How careftilly should men avoid beer (hek)." A number of + passages in the Papyrus denounce drunkards.] + +The women were carried home in gay litters by slaves with torches; and +only the highest military commanders, the Persian ambassadors and a few +officials, especial friends of Amasis, remained behind. These were +retained by the master of the ceremonies, and conducted to a richly- +ornamented saloon, where a gigantic wine-bowl standing on a table adorned +in the Greek fashion, invited to a drinking-bout. + +Amasis was seated on a high arm-chair at the head of the table; at his +left the youthful Bartja, at his right the aged Croesus. Besides these +and the other Persians, Theodorus and Ibykus, the friends of Polykrates, +already known to us, and Aristomachus, now commander of the Greek body- +guard, were among the king's guests. + +Amasis, whom we have just heard in such grave discourse with Croesus, now +indulged in jest and satire. He seemed once more the wild officer, the +bold reveller of the olden days. + +His sparkling, clever jokes, at times playful, at times scornful, flew +round among the revellers. The guests responded in loud, perhaps often +artificial laughter, to their king's jokes, goblet after goblet was +emptied, and the rejoicings had reached their highest point, when +suddenly the master of the ceremonies appeared, bearing a small gilded +mummy; and displaying it to the gaze of the assembly, exclaimed. "Drink, +jest, and be merry, for all too soon ye shall become like unto this!" + + [Wilkinson gives drawings of these mummies (II. 410.) hundreds of + which were placed in the tombs, and have been preserved to us. + Lucian was present at a banquet, when they were handed round. The + Greeks seem to have adopted this custom, but with their usual talent + for beautifying all they touched, substituted a winged figure of + death for the mummy. Maxims similar to the following one are by no + means rare. "Cast off all care; be mindful only of pleasure until + the day cometh when then must depart on the journey, whose goal is + the realm of silence!" Copied from the tomb of Neferhotep to Abd- + el-Qurnah.] + +"Is it your custom thus to introduce death at all your banquets?" said +Bartja, becoming serious, "or is this only a jest devised for to-day by +your master of the ceremonies?" + +"Since the earliest ages," answered Amasis, "it has been our custom to +display these mummies at banquets, in order to increase the mirth of the +revellers, by reminding them that one must enjoy the time while it is +here. Thou, young butterfly, hast still many a long and joyful year +before thee; but we, Croesus, we old men, must hold by this firmly. Fill +the goblets, cup-bearer, let not one moment of our lives be wasted! Thou +canst drink well, thou golden-haired Persian! Truly the great gods have +endowed thee not only with beautiful eyes, and blooming beauty, but with +a good throat! Let me embrace thee, thou glorious youth, thou rogue! +What thinkest thou Croesus? my daughter Tachot can speak of nothing else +than of this beardless youth, who seems to have quite turned her little +head with his sweet looks and words. Thou needest not to blush, young +madcap! A man such as thou art, may well look at king's daughters; but +wert thou thy father Cyrus himself, I could not allow my Tachot to leave +me for Persia!" + +"Father!" whispered the crown-prince Psamtik, interrupting this +conversation. "Father, take care what you say, and remember Phanes." +The king turned a frowning glance on his son; but following his advice, +took much less part in the conversation, which now became more general. + +The seat at the banquet-table, occupied by Aristomachus, placed him +nearly opposite to Croesus, on whom, in total silence and without once +indulging in a smile at the king's jests, his eyes had been fixed from +the beginning of the revel. When the Pharaoh ceased to speak, he +accosted Croesus suddenly with the following question: "I would know, +Lydian, whether the snow still covered the mountains, when ye left +Persia." + +Smiling, and a little surprised at this strange speech, Croesus answered: +"Most of the Persian mountains were green when we started for Egypt four +months ago; but there are heights in the land of Cambyses on which, even +in the hottest seasons, the snow never melts, and the glimmer of their +white crests we could still perceive, as we descended into the plains." + +The Spartan's face brightened visibly, and Croesus, attracted by this +serious, earnest man, asked his name. "My name is Aristomachus." + +"That name seems known to me." + +"You were acquainted with many Hellenes, and my name is common among +them." + +"Your dialect would bespeak you my opinion a Spartan." + +"I was one once." + +"And now no more?" + +"He who forsakes his native land without permission, is worthy of death." + +"Have you forsaken it with your own free-will?" + +"Yes." + +"For what reason?" + +"To escape dishonor." + +"What was your crime?" + +"I had committed none." + +"You were accused unjustly?" + +"Yes." + +"Who was the author of your ill-fortune?" + +"Yourself." + +Croesus started from his seat. The serious tone and gloomy face of +the Spartan proved that this was no jest, and those who sat near the +speakers, and had been following this strange dialogue, were alarmed and +begged Aristomachus to explain his words. + +He hesitated and seemed unwilling to speak; at last, however, at the +king's summons, he began thus: + +"In obedience to the oracle, you, Croesus, had chosen us Lacedaemonians, +as the most powerful among the Hellenes, to be your allies against the +might of Persia; and you gave us gold for the statue of Apollo on Mount +Thornax. The ephori, on this, resolved to present you with a gigantic +bronze wine-bowl, richly wrought. I was chosen as bearer of this gift. +Before reaching Sardis our ship was wrecked in a storm. The wine-cup +sank with it, and we reached Samos with nothing but our lives. On +returning home I was accused by enemies, and those who grudged my good +fortune, of having sold both ship and wine-vessel to the Samians. As +they could not convict me of the crime, and had yet determined on my +ruin, I was sentenced to two days' and nights' exposure on the pillory. +My foot was chained to it during the night; but before the morning of +disgrace dawned, my brother brought me secretly a sword, that my honor +might he saved, though at the expense of my life. But I could not die +before revenging myself on the men who had worked my ruin; and therefore, +cutting the manacled foot from my leg, I escaped, and hid in the rushes +on the banks of the Furotas. My brother brought me food and drink in +secret; and after two months I was able to walk on the wooden leg you now +see. Apollo undertook my revenge; he never misses his mark, and my two +worst opponents died of the plague. Still I durst not return home, and +at length took ship from Gythium to fight against the Persians under you, +Croesus. On landing at Teos, I heard that you were king no longer, that +the mighty Cyrus, the father of yonder beautiful youth, had conquered the +powerful province of Lydia in a few weeks, and reduced the richest of +kings to beggary." + +Every guest gazed at Aristomachus in admiration. Croesus shook his hard +hand; and Bartja exclaimed: "Spartan, I would I could take you back with +me to Susa, that my friends there might see what I have seen myself, the +most courageous, the most honorable of men!" + +"Believe me, boy," returned Aristomachus smiling, every Spartan would +have done the same. In our country it needs more courage to be a coward +than a brave man." + +"And you, Bartja," cried Darius, the Persian king's cousin, "could you +have borne to stand at the pillory?" Bartja reddened, but it was easy to +see that he too preferred death to disgrace. + +"Zopyrus, what say you?" asked Darius of the third young Persian. + +"I could mutilate my own limbs for love of you two," answered he, +grasping unobserved the hands of his two friends. + +With an ironical smile Psamtik sat watching this scene--the pleased faces +of Amasis, Croesus and Gyges, the meaning glances of the Egyptians, and +the contented looks with which Aristomachus gazed on the young heroes. + +Ibykus now told of the oracle which had promised Aristomachus a return to +his native land, on the approach of the men from the snowy mountains, and +at the same time, mentioned the hospitable house of Rhodopis. + +On hearing this name Psamtik grew restless; Croesus expressed a wish to +form the acquaintance of the Thracian matron, of whom AEsop had related +so much that was praiseworthy; and, as the other guests, many of whom had +lost consciousness through excessive drinking, were leaving the hall, the +dethroned monarch, the poet, the sculptor and the Spartan hero made an +agreement to go to Naukratis the next day, and there enjoy the +conversation of Rhodopis. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +On the night following the banquet just described, Amasis allowed himself +only three hours' rest. On this, as on every other morning, the young +priests wakened him at the first cock-crow, conducted him as usual to the +bath, arrayed him in the royal vestments and led him to the altar in the +court of the palace, where in presence of the populace he offered +sacrifice. During the offering the priests sang prayers in a loud voice, +enumerated the virtues of their king, and, that blame might in no case +light on the head of their ruler, made his bad advisers responsible for +every deadly sin committed in ignorance. + +They exhorted him to the performance of good deeds, while extolling his +virtues; read aloud profitable portions of the holy writings, containing +the deeds and sayings of great men, and then conducted him to his +apartments, where letters and information from all parts of the kingdom +awaited him. + +Amasis was in the habit of observing most faithfully these daily-repeated +ceremonies and hours of work; the remaining portion of the day he spent +as it pleased him, and generally in cheerful society. + +The priests reproached him with this, alleging that such a life was not +suited to a monarch; and on one occasion he had thus replied to the +indignant high-priest: "Look at this bow! if always bent it must lose its +power, but, if used for half of each day and then allowed to rest, it +will remain strong and useful till the string breaks." + +Amasis had just signed his name to the last letter, granting the petition +of a Nornarch--[Administrator of a Province]--for money to carry on +different embankments rendered necessary by the last inundation, when a +servant entered, bringing a request from the crown-prince Psamtik for an +audience of a few minutes. + +Amasis, who till this moment had been smiling cheerfully at the cheering +reports from all parts of the country, now became suddenly serious and +thoughtful. After long delay he answered: "Go and inform the prince that +he may appear." + +Psamtik appeared, pale and gloomy as ever; he bowed low and +reverentially, on entering his father's presence. + +Amasis nodded silently in return, and then asked abruptly and sternly: +"What is thy desire? my time is limited." + +"For your son, more than for others," replied the prince with quivering +lips. "Seven times have I petitioned for the great favor, which thou +grantest for the first time to-day." + +"No reproaches! I suspect the reason of thy visit. Thou desirest an +answer to thy doubts as to the birth of thy sister Nitetis." + +"I have no curiosity; I come rather to warn thee, and to remind thee that +I am not the only one who is acquainted with this mystery." + +"Speakest thou of Phanes?" + +"Of whom else should I speak? He is banished from Egypt and from his own +country, and must leave Naukratis in a few days. What guarantee hast +thou, that he will not betray us to the Persians?" + +"The friendship and kindness which I have always shown him." + +"Dost thou believe in the gratitude of men?" + +"No! but I rely on my own discernment of character. Phanes will not +betray us! he is my friend, I repeat it!" + +"Thy friend perhaps, but my mortal enemy!" + +"Then stand on thy guard! I have nothing to fear from him." + +"For thyself perhaps nought, but for our country! O father, reflect that +though as thy son I may be hateful in thine eyes, yet as Egypt's future I +ought to be near thy heart. Remember, that at thy death, which may the +gods long avert, I shall represent the existence of this glorious land as +thou dost now; my fall will be the ruin of thine house, of Egypt!" + +Amasis became more and more serious, and Psamtik went on eagerly: "Thou +knowest that I am right! Phanes can betray our land to any foreign +enemy; he is as intimately acquainted with it as we are; and beside this, +he possesses a secret, the knowledge of which would convert our most +powerful ally into a most formidable enemy." + +"There thou art in error. Though not mine, Nitetis is a king's daughter +and will know how to win the love of her husband." + +"Were she the daughter of a god, she could not save thee from Cambyses' +wrath, if he discovers the treachery; lying is to a Persian the worst of +crimes, to be deceived the greatest disgrace; thou hast deceived the +highest and proudest of the nation, and what can one inexperienced girl +avail, when hundreds of women, deeply versed in intrigue and artifice, +are striving for the favor of their lord?" + +"Hatred and revenge are good masters in the art of rhetoric," said Amasis +in a cutting tone. "And think'st thou then, oh, foolish son, that I +should have undertaken such a dangerous game without due consideration? +Phanes may tell the Persians what he likes, he can never prove his point. +I, the father, Ladice the mother must know best whether Nitetis is our +child or not. We call her so, who dare aver the contrary? If it please +Phanes to betray our land to any other enemy beside the Persians, let +him; I fear nothing! Thou wouldst have me ruin a man who has been my +friend, to whom I owe much gratitude, who has served me long and +faithfully; and this without offence from his side. Rather will I +shelter him from thy revenge, knowing as I do the impure source from +which it springs." + +"My father!" + +"Thou desirest the ruin of this man, because he hindered thee from taking +forcible possession of the granddaughter of Rhodopis, and because thine +own incapacity moved me to place him in thy room as commander of the +troops. Ah! thou growest pale! Verily, I owe Phanes thanks for +confiding to me your vile intentions, and so enabling me to bind my +friends and supporters, to whom Rhodopis is precious, more firmly to my +throne." + +"And is it thus thou speakest of these strangers, my father? dost thou +thus forget the ancient glory of Egypt? Despise me, if thou wilt; I know +thou lovest me not; but say not that to be great we need the help of +strangers! Look back on our history! Were we not greatest when our +gates were closed to the stranger, when we depended on ourselves and our +own strength, and lived according to the ancient laws of our ancestors +and our gods? Those days beheld the most distant lands subjugated by +Rameses, and heard Egypt celebrated in the whole world as its first and +greatest nation. What are we now? The king himself calls beggars and +foreigners the supporters of his throne, and devises a petty stratagem to +secure the friendship of a power over whom we were victorious before the +Nile was infested by these strangers. Egypt was then a mighty Queen in +glorious apparel; she is now a painted woman decked out in tinsel!" + + + [Rameses the Great, son of Sethos, reigned over Egypt 1394-1328 B. + C. He was called Sesostris by the Greeks; see Lepsius (Chron. d. + Aegypter, p. 538.) on the manner in which this confusion of names + arose. Egypt attained the zenith of her power under this king, + whose army, according to Diodorus (I. 53-58). consisted of 600,000 + foot and 24,000 horsemen, 27,000 chariots and 400 ships of war. + With these hosts he subdued many of the Asiatic and African nations, + carving his name and likeness, as trophies of victory, on the rocks + of the conquered countries. Herodotus speaks of having seen two of + these inscriptions himself (II. 102-106.) and two are still to be + found not far from Bairut. His conquests brought vast sums of + tribute into Egypt. Tacitus annal. II. 60. and these enabled him to + erect magnificent buildings in the whole length of his land from + Nubia to Tanis, but more especially in Thebes, the city in which he + resided. One of the obelisks erected by Rameses at Heliopolis is + now standing in the Place de la Concorde at Paris, and has been + lately translated by E. Chabas. On the walls of the yet remaining + palaces and temples, built under this mighty king, we find, even to + this day, thousands of pictures representing himself, his armed + hosts, the many nations subdued by the power of his arms, and the + divinities to whose favor he believed these victories were owing. + Among the latter Ammon and Bast seem to have received his especial + veneration, and, on the other hand, we read in these inscriptions + that the gods were very willing to grant the wishes of their + favorite. A poetical description of the wars he waged with the + Cheta is to be found in long lines of hieroglyphics on the south + wall of the hall of columns of Rameses II. at Karnal, also at Luxor + and in the Sallier Papyrus, and an epic poem referring to his mighty + deeds in no less than six different places.] + +"Have a care what thou sayest!" shouted Amasis stamping on the floor. +"Egypt was never so great, so flourishing as now! Rameses carried our +arms into distant lands and earned blood; through my labors the products +of our industry have been carried to all parts of the world and instead +of blood, have brought us treasure and blessing. Rameses caused the +blood and sweat of his subjects to flow in streams for the honor of his +own great name; under my rule their blood flows rarely, and the sweat of +their brow only in works of usefulness. Every citizen can now end his +days in prosperity and comfort. Ten thousand populous cities rise on the +shores of the Nile, not a foot of the soil lies untilled, every child +enjoys the protection of law and justice, and every ill-doer shuns the +watchful eye of the authorities. + +"In case of attack from without, have we not, as defenders of those god- +given bulwarks, our cataracts, our sea and our deserts, the finest army +that ever bore arms? Thirty thousand Hellenes beside our entire Egyptian +military caste? such is the present condition of Egypt! Rameses +purchased the bright tinsel of empty fame with the blood and tears of his +people. To me they are indebted for the pure gold of a peaceful welfare +as citizens--to me and to my predecessors, the Saitic kings!" + + [The science of fortification was very fairly understood by the + ancient Egyptians. Walled and battlemented forts are to be seen + depicted on their monuments. We have already endeavored to show + (see our work on Egypt. I. 78 and following) that, on the northeast, + Egypt defended from Asiatic invasion by a line of forts extending + from Pelusium to the Red Sea.] + +"And yet I tell thee," cried the prince, "that a worm is gnawing at the +root of Egypt's greatness and her life. This struggle for riches and +splendor corrupts the hearts of the people, foreign luxury has given a +deadly blow to the simple manners of our citizens, and many an Egyptian +has been taught by the Greeks to scoff at the gods of his fathers. Every +day brings news of bloody strife between the Greek mercenaries and our +native soldiery, between our own people and the strangers. The shepherd +and his flock are at variance; the wheels of the state machinery are +grinding one another and thus the state itself, into total ruin. This +once, father, though never again, I must speak out clearly what is +weighing on my heart. While engaged in contending with the priests, thou +hast seen with calmness the young might of Persia roll on from the East, +consuming the nations on its way, and, like a devouring monster, growing +more and more formidable from every fresh prey. Thine aid was not, as +thou hadst intended, given to the Lydians and Babylonians against the +enemy, but to the Greeks in the building of temples to their false gods. +At last resistance seemed hopeless; a whole hemisphere with its rulers +lay in submission at the feet of Persia; but even then the gods willed +Egypt a chance of deliverance. Cambyses desired thy daughter in +marriage. Thou, however, too weak to sacrifice thine own flesh and blood +for the good of all, hast substituted another maiden, not thine own +child, as an offering to the mighty monarch; and at the same time, in thy +soft-heartedness, wilt spare the life of a stranger in whose hand he the +fortunes of this realm, and who will assuredly work its ruin; unless +indeed, worn out by internal dissension, it perish even sooner from its +own weakness!" + +Thus far Amasis had listened to these revilings of all he held dearest in +silence, though pale, and trembling with rage; but now he broke forth in +a voice, the trumpet-like sound of which pealed through the wide hall: +"Know'st thou not then, thou boasting and revengeful son of evil, thou +future destroyer of this ancient and glorious kingdom, know'st thou not +whose life must be the sacrifice, were not my children, and the dynasty +which I have founded, dearer to me than the welfare of the whole realm? +Thou, Psamtik, thou art the man, branded by the gods, feared by men--the +man to whose heart love and friendship are strangers, whose face is never +seen to smile, nor his soul known to feel compassion! It is not, +however, through thine own sin that thy nature is thus unblessed, that +all thine undertakings end unhappily. Give heed, for now I am forced to +relate what I had hoped long to keep secret from thine ears. After +dethroning my predecessor, I forced him to give me his sister Tentcheta +in marriage. She loved me; a year after marriage there was promise of a +child. During the night preceding thy birth I fell asleep at the bedside +of my wife. I dreamed that she was lying on the shores of the Nile, and +complained to me of pain in the breast. Bending down, I beheld a +cypress-tree springing from her heart. It grew larger and larger, black +and spreading, twined its roots around thy mother and strangled her. A +cold shiver seized me, and I was on the point of flying from the spot, +when a fierce hurricane came from the East, struck the tree and overthrew +it, so that its spreading branches were cast into the Nile. Then the +waters ceased to flow; they congealed, and, in place of the river, a +gigantic mummy lay before me. The towns on its banks dwindled into huge +funereal urns, surrounding the vast corpse of the Nile as in a tomb. At +this I awoke and caused the interpreters of dreams to be summoned. None +could explain the vision, till at last the priests of the Libyan Ammon +gave me the following interpretation 'Tentcheta will die in giving birth +to a son. The cypress, which strangled its mother, is this gloomy, +unhappy man. In his days a people shall come from the East and shall +make of the Nile, that is of the Egyptians, dead bodies, and of their +cities ruinous heaps; these are the urns for the dead, which thou +sawest." + +Psamtik listened as if turned into stone; his father continued; "Thy +mother died in giving birth to thee; fiery-red hair, the mark of the sons +of Typhon, grew around thy brow; thou becam'st a gloomy man. Misfortune +pursued thee and robbed thee of a beloved wife and four of thy children. +The astrologers computed that even as I had been born under the fortunate +sign of Amman, so thy birth had been watched over by the rise of the +awful planet Seb. Thou . . ." But here Amasis broke off, for Psamtik, +in the anguish produced by these fearful disclosures had given way, and +with sobs and groans, cried: + +"Cease, cruel father! spare me at least the bitter words, that I am the +only son in Egypt who is hated by his father without cause!" + +Amasis looked down on the wretched man who had sunk to the earth before +him, his face hidden in the folds of his robe, and the father's wrath was +changed to compassion. He thought of Psamtik's mother, dead forty years +before, and felt he had been cruel in inflicting this poisonous wound on +her son's soul. It was the first time for years, that he had been able +to feel towards this cold strange man, as a father and a comforter. For +the first time he saw tears in the cold eyes of his son, and could feel +the joy of wiping them away. He seized the opportunity at once, and +bending clown over the groaning form, kissed his forehead, raised him +from the ground and said gently: + +"Forgive my anger, my son! the words that have grieved thee came not from +my heart, but were spoken in the haste of wrath. Many years hast thou +angered me by thy coldness, hardness and obstinacy; to-day thou hast +wounded me again in my most sacred feelings; this hurried me into an +excess of wrath. But now all is right between us. Our natures are so +diverse that our innermost feelings will never be one, but at least we +can act in concert for the future, and show forbearance one towards the +other." + +In silence Psamtik bowed down and kissed his father's robe "Not so," +exclaimed the latter; "rather let my lips receive thy kiss, as is meet +and fitting between father and son! Thou needest not to think again of +the evil dream I have related. Dreams are phantoms, and even if sent by +the gods, the interpreters thereof are human and erring. Thy hand +trembles still, thy cheeks are white as thy robe. I was hard towards +thee, harder than a father. . . ." + +"Harder than a stranger to strangers," interrupted his son. "Thou hast +crushed and broken me, and if till now my face has seldom worn a smile, +from this day forward it can be naught but a mirror of my inward misery." + +"Not so," said Amasis, laying his hand on his son's shoulder. "If I +wound, I can also heal. Tell me the dearest wish of thy heart, it shall +be granted thee!" + +Psamtik's eyes flashed, his sallow cheeks glowed for a moment, and he +answered without consideration, though in a voice still trembling from +the shock he had just received: "Deliver Phanes, my enemy, into my +power!" + +The king remained a few moments in deep thought, then answered: "I knew +what thou wouldst ask, and will fulfil thy desire: but I would rather +thou hadst asked the half of my treasures. A thousand voices within warn +me that I am about to do an unworthy deed and a ruinous--ruinous for +myself, for thee, the kingdom and our house. Reflect before acting, and +remember, whatever thou mayst meditate against Phanes, not a hair of +Rhodopis' head shall be touched. Also, that the persecution of my poor +friend is to remain a secret from the Greeks. Where shall I find his +equal as a commander, an adviser and a companion? He is not yet in thy +power, however, and I advise thee to remember, that though thou mayst be +clever for an Egyptian, Phanes is a clever Greek. I will remind thee +too of thy solemn oath to renounce the grandchild of Rhodopis. Methinks +vengeance is dearer to thee than love, and the amends I offer will +therefore be acceptable! As to Egypt, I repeat once again, she was never +more flourishing than now; a fact which none dream of disputing, except +the priests, and those who retail their foolish words. And now give ear, +if thou wouldst know the origin of Nitetis. Self-interest will enjoin +secrecy." + +Psamtik listened eagerly to his father's communication, indicating his +gratitude at the conclusion by a warm pressure of the hand. + +"Now farewell," said Amasis. "Forget not my words, and above all shed +no blood! I will know nothing of what happens to Phanes, for I hate +cruelty and would not be forced to stand in horror of my own son. But +thou, thou rejoicest! My poor Athenian, better were it for thee, hadst +thou never entered Egypt!" + +Long after Psamtik had left, his father continued to pace the hall in +deep thought. He was sorry he had yielded; it already seemed as if he +saw the bleeding Phanes lying massacred by the side of the dethroned +Hophra. "It is true, he could have worked our ruin," was the plea he +offered to the accuser within his own breast, and with these words, he +raised his head, called his servants and left the apartment with a +smiling countenance. + +Had this sanguine man, this favorite of fortune, thus speedily quieted +the warning voice within, or was he strong enough to cloak his torture +with a smile? + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +Avoid excessive joy as well as complaining grief +Cast off all care; be mindful only of pleasure +Creed which views life as a short pilgrimage to the grave +Does happiness consist then in possession +Happiness has nothing to do with our outward circumstances +In our country it needs more courage to be a coward +Observe a due proportion in all things +One must enjoy the time while it is here +Pilgrimage to the grave, and death as the only true life +Robes cut as to leave the right breast uncovered +The priests are my opponents, my masters +Time is clever in the healing art +We live for life, not for death + + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AN EGYPTIAN PRINCESS, BY EBERS, V2 *** + +************This file should be named 5451.txt or 5451.zip ************ + +This eBook was produced by David Widger + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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