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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/5454.txt b/5454.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1a93c36 --- /dev/null +++ b/5454.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2185 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook An Egyptian Princess, by Georg Ebers, v5 +#16 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 5. + +Author: Georg Ebers + +Release Date: April, 2004 [EBook #5454] +[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, V5 *** + + + +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 5. + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +The next day Nitetis removed to the country-house in the hanging-gardens, +and began a monotonous, but happy and industrious life there, according +to the rules laid down by Croesus. Every day she was carried to +Kassandane and Atossa in a closely shut-up litter. Nitetis soon began to +look upon the blind queen as a beloved and loving mother, and the merry, +spirited Atossa nearly made up to her for the loss of her sister Tachot, +so far away on the distant Nile. She could not have desired a better +companion than this gay, cheerful girl, whose wit and merriment +effectually prevented homesickness or discontent from settling in her +friend's heart. The gravity and earnestness of Nitetis' character were +brightened by Atossa's gaiety, and Atossa's exuberant spirits calmed and +regulated by the thoughtful nature of Nitetis. + +Both Croesus and Kassandane were pleased and satisfied with their new +daughter and pupil, and Oropastes extolled her talents and industry daily +to Cambyses. She learnt the Persian language unusually well and quickly; +Cambyses only visited his mother when he hoped to find Nitetis there, and +presented her continually with rich dresses and costly jewels. But the +highest proof of his favor consisted in his abstaining from visiting her +at her house in the hanging-gardens, a line of conduct which proved that +he meant to include Nitetis in the small number of his real and lawful +wives, a privilege of which many a princess in his harem could not boast. + +The grave, beautiful girl threw a strange spell over this strong, +turbulent man. Her presence alone seemed enough to soften his stubborn +will, and he would watch their games for hours, his eyes fixed on her +graceful movements. Once, when the ball had fallen into the water, the +king sprang in after it, regardless of his costly apparel. Nitetis +screamed on seeing his intention, but Cambyses handed her the dripping +toy with the words: "Take care or I shall be obliged to frighten you +again." At the same time he drew from his neck a gold chain set with +jewels and gave it to the blushing girl, who thanked him with a look +which fully revealed her feelings for her future husband. + +Croesus, Kassandane and Atossa soon noticed that Nitetis loved the king. +Her former fear of this proud and powerful being had indeed changed into +a passionate admiration. She felt as if she must die if deprived of his +presence. He seemed to her like a, glorious and omnipotent divinity, and +her wish to possess him presumptuous and sacrilegious; but its fulfilment +shone before her as an idea more beautiful even than return to her native +land and reunion with those who, till now, had been her only loved ones. + +Nitetis herself was hardly conscious of the strength of her feelings, +and believed that when she trembled before the king's arrival it was from +fear, and not from her longing to behold him once more. Croesus, +however, had soon discovered the truth, and brought a deep blush to his +favorite's cheek by singing to her, old as he was, Anacreon's newest +song, which he had learnt at Sais from Ibykus + + "We read the flying courser's name + Upon his side in marks of flame; + And by their turban'd brows alone + The warriors of the East are known. + But in the lover's glowing eyes, + The inlet to his bosom lies; + Through them we see the tiny mark, + Where Love has dropp'd his burning spark" + --Paegnion 15 + +And thus, in work and amusement, jest, earnest, and mutual love, the +weeks and months passed with Nitetis. Cambyses' command that she was to +be happy in his land had fulfilled itself, and by the time the +Mesopotamian spring-tide (January, February and March), which succeeds +the rainy month of December, was over, and the principal festival of the +Asiatics, the New Year, had been solemnized at the equinox, and the May +sun had begun to glow in the heavens, Nitetis felt quite at home in +Babylon, and all the Persians knew that the young Egyptian princess had +quite displaced Phaedime, the daughter of Otanes, in the king's favor, +and would certainly become his first and favorite wife. + +Boges sank considerably in public estimation, for it was known that +Cambyses had ceased to visit the harem, and the chief of the eunuchs had +owed all his importance to the women, who were compelled to coax from +Cambyses whatever Boges desired for himself or others. Not a day passed +on which the mortified official did not consult with the supplanted +favorite Phaedime, as to the best means of ruining Nitetis, but their +most finely spun intrigues and artifices were baffled by the strength of +king's love and the blameless life of his royal bride. + +Phaedime, impatient, mortified, and thirsting for vengeance, was +perpetually urging Boges to some decided act; he, on the contrary, +advised patience. + +At last, however, after many weeks, he came to her full of joy, +exclaiming: "I have devised a little plan which must ruin the Egyptian +woman as surely as my name is Boges. When Bartja comes back, my +treasure, our hour will have arrived." + +While saying this the creature rubbed his fat, soft hands, and, with his +perpetual fulsome smile, looked as if he were feasting on some good deed +performed. He did not, however, give Phaedime the faintest idea of the +nature of his "little plan," and only answered her pressing questions +with the words: "Better lay your head in a lion's jaws, than your secret +in the ears of a woman. I fully acknowledge your courage, but at the +same time advise you to remember that, though a man proves his courage +in action, a woman's is shown in obedience. Obey my words and await the +issue in patience." Nebenchari, the oculist, continued to attend the +queen, but so carefully abstained from all intercourse with the Persians, +that he became a proverb among them for his gloomy, silent ways. During +the day he was to be found in the queen's apartments, silently examining +large rolls of papyri, which he called the book of Athotes and the sacred +Ambres; at night, by permission of the king and the satraps of Babylon, +he often ascended one of the high towers on the walls, called +Tritantaechmes, in order to observe the stars. + +The Chaldaean priests, the earliest astronomers, would have allowed him +to take his observations from the summit of the great temple of Bel, +their own observatory, but he refused this offer decidedly, and persisted +in his haughty reserve. When Oropastes attempted to explain to him the +celebrated Babylonian sun-dial, introduced by Anaximander of Miletus into +Greece, he turned from the Magian with a scornful laugh, saying: "We knew +all this, before you knew the meaning of an hour." + +Nitetis had shown Nebenchari much kindness, yet he took no interest in +her, seemed indeed to avoid her purposely, and on her asking whether she +had displeased or offended him, answered: "For me you are a stranger. +How can I reckon those my friends, who can so gladly and so quickly +forget those they loved best, their gods, and the customs of their native +land?" + +Boges quickly discovered this state of feeling on the part of Nebenchari, +and took much pains to secure him as an ally, but the physician rejected +the eunuch's flatteries, gifts, and attentions with dignity. + +No sooner did an Angare appear in the court of the palace with despatches +for the king, than Boges hastened to enquire whether news from the Tapuri +had arrived. + +At length the desired messenger appeared, bringing word that the rebels +were subdued, and Bartja on the point of returning. + +Three weeks passed--fresh messengers arrived from day to day announcing +the approach of the victorious prince; the streets glittered once more in +festal array, the army entered the gates of Babylon, Bartja thanked the +rejoicing multitude, and a short time after was in the arms of his blind +mother. + +Cambyses received his brother with undisguised warmth, and took him to +the queen's apartments, when he knew that Nitetis would be there. + +For he was sure the Egyptian girl loved him; his previous jealousy seemed +a silly fancy now, and he wished to give Bartja an opportunity of seeing +how entirely he trusted his bride. + +Cambyses' love had made him mild and gentle, unwearied in giving and in +doing good. His wrath slumbered for a season, and around the spot where +the heads of those who had suffered capital punishment were exhibited as +a warning to their fellow-men, the hungry, screeching crows now wheeled, +in vain. + +The influence of the insinuating eunuchs (a race who had never been seen +within the gates of Cyrus until the incorporation of Media, Lydia and +Babylon, in which countries they had filled many of the highest offices +at court and in the state), was now waning, and the importance of the +noble Achaemenidae increasing in proportion; for Cambyses applied oftener +to the latter than to the former for advice in matters relating to the +welfare of the country. + +The aged Hystaspes, father of Darius, governor of Persia proper and +cousin to the king; Pharnaspes, Cambyses' grandfather on the mother's +side; Otanes, his uncle and father-in-law. Intaphernes, Aspathines, +Gobryas, Hydarnes, the general Megabyzus, father of Zopyrus, the envoy +Prexaspes, the noble Croesus, and the old warrior Araspes; in short, the +flower of the ancient Persian aristocracy, were now at the court of +Cambyses. + +To this must be added that the entire nobility of the realm, the satraps +or governors of the provinces, and the chief priests from every town were +also assembled at Babylon to celebrate the king's birthday. + + [The king's birthday was the principal feast among the Persians, and + called "the perfect feast." Herod. I. 133. Birthdays were held in + much honor by the ancients, and more especially those of their + kings. Both the great bilingual Egyptian tablets, which we possess + (the Rosetta stone, line 10 of hieroglyphic text; Gr. text, line 46. + and the edict of Canopus ed. Lepsius, hieroglyphic text 1. 3. Gr. + text 1. 5.) mention the celebration of the birthday of one of the + Ptolemies; and even of Rameses II., so early as the 14th century B. + C. we read: "There was joy in heaven on his birthday."] + +The entire body of officials and deputies streamed from the provinces up +to the royal city, bringing presents to their ruler and good wishes; they +came also to take part in the great sacrifices at which horses, stags, +bulls and asses were slaughtered in thousands as offerings to the gods. + +At this festival all the Persians received gifts, every man was allowed +to ask a petition of the king, which seldom remained unfulfilled, and in +every city the people were feasted at the royal expense. Cambyses had +commanded that his marriage with Nitetis should be celebrated eight days +after the birthday, and all the magnates of the realms should be invited +to the ceremony. + +The streets of Babylon swarmed with strangers, the colossal palaces on +both shores of the Euphrates were overfilled, and all the houses stood +adorned in festal brightness. + +The zeal thus displayed by his people, this vast throng of human beings, +--representing and bringing around him, as it were, his entire kingdom, +contributed not a little to raise the king's spirits. + +His pride was gratified; and the only longing left in his heart had been +stilled by Nitetis' love. For the first time in his life he believed +himself completely happy, and bestowed his gifts, not only from a sense +of his duty as king of Persia, but because the act of giving was in +itself a pleasure. + +Megabyzus could not extol the deeds of Bartja and his friends too highly. +Cambyses embraced the young warriors, gave them horses and gold chains, +called them "brothers" and reminded Bartja, that he had promised to grant +him a petition if he returned victorious. + +At this Bartja cast down his eyes, not knowing at first in what form to +begin his request, and the king answered laughing: "Look, my friends; our +young hero is blushing like a girl! It seems I shall have to grant +something important; so he had better wait until my birthday, and then, +at supper, when the wine has given him courage, he shall whisper in my +ear what he is now afraid to utter. Ask much, Bartja, I am happy myself, +and wish all my friends to be happy too." Bartja only smiled in answer +and went to his mother; for he had not yet opened his heart to her on the +matter which lay so near it. + +He was afraid of meeting with decided opposition; but Croesus had cleared +the way far him by telling Kassandane so much in praise of Sappho, her +virtues and her graces, her talents and skill, that Nitetis and Atossa +maintained she must have given the old man a magic potion, and +Kassandane, after a short resistance, yielded to her darling's +entreaties. + +"A Greek woman the lawful wife of a Persian prince of the blood!" cried +the blind woman. "Unheard of! What will Cambyses say? How can we gain +his consent?" + +"On that matter you may be at ease, my mother," answered Bartja, "I am as +certain that my brother will give his consent, as I am that Sappho will +prove an ornament and honor to our house." + +"Croesus has already told me much in favor of this maiden," answered +Kassandane," and it pleases me that thou hast at last resolved to marry; +but never-the-less this alliance does not seem suitable for a son of +Cyrus. And have you forgotten that the Achaemenidae; will probably +refuse to recognize the child of a Greek mother as their future king, +if Cambyses should remain childless?" + +"Mother, I fear nothing; for my heart is not set upon the crown. And +indeed many a king of Persia has had a mother of far lower parentage than +my Sappho." I feel persuaded that when my relations see the precious +jewel I have won on the Nile, not one of them will chide me." + +"The gods grant that Sappho may be equal to our Nitetis!" answered +Kassandane, "I love her as if she were my own child, and bless the day +which brought her to Persia. The warm light of her eyes has melted your +brother's hard heart; her kindness and gentleness bring beauty into the +night of my blind old age, and her sweet earnestness and gravity have +changed your sister Atossa from an unruly child into a gentle maiden. +But now call them, (they are playing in the garden), and we will tell +them of the new friend they are to gain through you." + +"Pardon me, my mother," answered Bartja, "but I must beg you not to tell +my sister until we are sure of the king's consent." + +"You are right, my son. We must conceal your wish, to save Nitetis and +Atossa from a possible disappointment. A bright hope unfulfilled is +harder to bear than an unexpected sorrow. So let us wait for your +brother's consent, and may the gods give their blessing!" Early in the +morning of the king's birthday the Persians offered their sacrifices on +the shores of the Euphrates. A huge altar of silver had been raised on +an artificial hill. On this a mighty fire had been kindled, from which +flames and sweet odors rose towards heaven. White-robed magi fed the +fire with pieces of daintily-cut sandal-wood, and stirred it with bundles +of rods. + +A cloth, the Paiti-dhana, was bound round the heads of the priests, the +ends of which covered the mouth, and thus preserved the pure fire from +pollution by human breath. + + [The Persians were ordered to hold this little square piece of cloth + before their mouths when they prayed. It was from 2 to 7 fingers + broad. Anquetil gives a drawing of it in his Zend-Avesia. Strabo + speaks of the Paiti-dhana p. 733. He says the ends of the cloth + used as a covering for the head hung down over the mouth.] + +The victims had been slaughtered in a meadow near the river, the flesh +cut into pieces, sprinkled with salt, and laid out on tender grasses, +sprouts of clover, myrtle-blossoms, and laurel-leaves, that the beautiful +daughter of Ormuzd, the patient, sacred Earth, might not be touched by +aught that was dead or bleeding. + +Oropastes, the chief Destur,--[Priest]--now drew near the fire and cast +fresh butter into it. The flames leapt up into the air and all the +Persians fell on their knees and hid their faces, in the belief that the +fire was now ascending to their great god and father. The Magian then +took a mortar, laid some leaves and stalks of the sacred herb Haomas +within it, crushed them and poured the ruddy juice, the food of the gods, +into the flames. + +After this he raised his hands to heaven, and, while the other priests +continually fed the flames into a wilder blaze by casting in fresh +butter, sang a long prayer out of the sacred books. In this prayer the +blessing of the gods was called down on everything pure and good, but +principally on the king and his entire realm. The good spirits of light, +life and truth; of all noble deeds; of the Earth, the universal giver; of +the refreshing waters, the shining metals, the pastures, trees and +innocent creatures, were praised: the evil spirits of darkness; of lying, +the deceiver of mankind; of disease, death and sin; of the rigid cold; +the desolating heat; of all odious dirt and vermin, were cursed, together +with their father the malignant Ahriman. At the end all present joined +in singing the festival prayer: "Purity and glory are sown for them that +are pure and upright in heart." + +The sacrificial ceremony was concluded with the king's prayer, and then +Cambyses, arrayed in his richest robes, ascended a splendid chariot drawn +by four snow-white Nicoean horses, and studded with topazes, cornelian +and amber, and was conveyed to the great reception-hall, where the +deputies and officers from the provinces awaited him. + +As soon as the king and his retinue had departed, the priests selected, +for themselves, the best pieces of the flesh which had been offered in +sacrifice, and allowed the thronging crowd to take the rest. + +The Persian divinities disdained sacrifices in the light of food, +requiring only the souls of the slaughtered animals, and many a poor man, +especially among the priests, subsisted on the flesh of the abundant +royal sacrifices. + +The prayer offered up by the Magian was a model for those of the Persian +people. No man was allowed to ask anything of the gods for himself +alone. Every pious soul was rather to implore blessings for his nation; +for was not each only a part of the whole? and did not each man share in +the blessings granted to the whole kingdom? But especially they were +commanded to pray for the king, in whom the realm was embodied and +shadowed forth. It was this beautiful surrender of self for the public +weal, that had made the Persians great. The doctrines of the Egyptian +priesthood represented the Pharaohs as actual divinities, while the +Persian monarchs were only called "sons of the gods;" yet the power of +the latter was far more absolute and unfettered than that of the former; +the reason for this being that the Persians had been wise enough to free +themselves from priestly domination, while the Pharaohs, as we have seen, +if not entirely under the dominion of the priestly caste, were yet under +its influence in the most important matters. + +The Egyptian intolerance of all strange religions was unknown in Asia. +The conquered Babylonians were allowed by Cyrus to retain their own gods, +after their incorporation in the great Asiatic kingdom. The Jews, +Ionians and inhabitants of Asia Minor, in short, the entire mass of +nations subject to Cambyses remained unmolested in possession of their +hereditary religions and customs. + +Beside the great altar, therefore, might be seen many a smaller +sacrificial flame, kindled in honor of their own divinities, by the +envoys from the conquered provinces to this great birthday feast. + +Viewed from a distance, the immense city looked like a gigantic furnace. +Thick clouds of smoke hovered over its towers, obscuring the light of the +burning May sun. + +By the time the king had reached the palace, the multitude who had come +to take part in the festival had formed themselves into a procession of +interminable length, which wandered on through the straight streets of +Babylon towards the royal palace. + +Their road was strewn with myrtle and palm-branches, roses, poppy and +oleander-blossoms, and with leaves of the silver poplar, palm and laurel; +the air perfumed with incense, myrrh, and a thousand other sweet odors. +Carpets and flags waved and fluttered from the houses. + +Music too was there; the shrill peal of the Median trumpet, and soft tone +of the Phrygian flute; the Jewish cymbal and harp, Paphlagonian +tambourines and the stringed instruments of Ionia; Syrian kettle-drums +and cymbals, the shells and drums of the Arians from the mouth of the +Indus, and the loud notes of the Bactrian battle-trumpets. But above all +these resounded the rejoicing shouts of the Babylonian multitude, +subjugated by the Persians only a few short years before, and yet, like +all Asiatics, wearing their fetters with an air of gladness so long as +the fear of their tyrant was before their eyes. + +The fragrant odors, the blaze of color and sparkling of gold and jewels, +the neighing of the horses, and shouts and songs of human beings, all +united to produce a whole, at once bewildering and intoxicating to the +senses and the feelings. + +The messengers had not been sent up to Babylon empty-handed. Beautiful +horses, huge elephants and comical monkeys; rhinoceroses and buffaloes +adorned with housings and tassels; double-humped Bactrian camels with +gold collars on their shaggy necks; waggon-loads of rare woods and ivory, +woven goods of exquisite texture, casks of ingots and gold-dust, gold and +silver vessels, rare plants for the royal gardens, and foreign animals +for the preserves, the most remarkable of which were antelopes, zebras, +and rare monkeys and birds, these last being tethered to a tree in full +leaf and fluttering among the branches. Such were the offerings sent to +the great king of Persia. + +They were the tribute of the conquered nations and, after having been +shown to the king, were weighed and tested by treasurers and secretaries, +either declared satisfactory, or found wanting and returned, in which +case the niggardly givers were condemned to bring a double tribute later. + + [At the time of which we are writing, the kings of Persia taxed + their kingdom at whatever time and to whatever extent seemed good in + their own eyes. Cambyses' successor, Darius, was the first to + introduce a regular system of taxation, in consequence of which he + was nicknamed "the shopkeeper." Up to a much later period it still + remained the duty of certain districts to send natural products to + the court Herod. I. 192. Xenoph. Anab. IV. 5.] + +The palace-gates were reached without hindrance, the way being kept clear +by lines of soldiers and whipbearers stationed on either side of the +street. + +If the royal progress to the place of sacrifice, when five hundred +richly-caprisoned horses had been led behind the king's chariot, could be +called magnificent, and the march of the envoys a brilliant spectacle, +the great throne-room presented a vision of dazzling and magic beauty. + +In the background, raised on six steps, each of which was guarded, as it +were, by two golden clogs, stood the throne of gold; above it, supported +by four golden pillars studded with precious stones, was a purple canopy, +on which appeared two winged discs, the king's Feruer. + + [The Feruer or Ferwer is the spiritual part of every man-his soul + and reason. It was in existence before the man was horn, joins him + at his birth and departs at his death. The Ferwer keeps up a war + with the Diws or evil spirits, and is the element of man's + preservation in life. The moment he departs, the body returns to + its original elements. After death he becomes immortal if he has + done well, but if his deeds have been evil he is cast into hell. It + is right to call upon the Ferwer and entreat his help. He will + bring the prayer before God and on this account is represented as a + winged disc.] + +Fan-bearers, high in office at the court, stood behind the throne, and, +on either side, those who sat at the king's table, his relations and +friends, and the most important among the officers of state, the priestly +caste and the eunuchs. + +The walls and ceiling of the entire hall were covered with plates of +burnished gold, and the floor with purple carpets. + +Before the silver gates lay winged bulls, and the king's body-guard-their +dress consisting of a gold cuirass under a purple overcoat, and the high +Persian cap, their swords in golden scabbards glittering with jewels, and +their lances ornamented with gold and silver apples, were stationed in +the court of the palace. Among them the band of the "Immortals" was +easily to be distinguished by their stately forms and dauntless bearing. + +Officers, whose duty consisted in announcing and presenting strangers, +and who carried short ivory staves, led the deputies into the hall, and +up to the throne, where they cast themselves on the ground as though they +would kiss the earth, concealing their hands in the sleeves of their +robes. A cloth was bound over the mouth of every man before he was +allowed to answer the king's questions, lest the pure person of the king +should be polluted by the breath of common men. + +Cambyses' severity or mildness towards the deputations with whose chiefs +he spoke, was proportioned to the obedience of their province and the +munificence of their tribute-offerings. Near the end of the train +appeared an embassy from the Jews, led by two grave men with sharply-cut +features and long beards. Cambyses called on them in a friendly tone to +stop. + +The first of these men was dressed in the fashion of the Babylonian +aristocracy. The other wore a purple robe woven without seam, trimmed +with bells and tassels, and held in at the waist by a girdle of blue, red +and white. A blue garment was thrown over his shoulders and a little bag +suspended around his neck containing the sacred lots, the Urim and +Thummin, adorned with twelve precious stones set in gold, and bearing the +names of the tribes of Israel. The high-priest's brow was grave and +thoughtful. A white cloth was wound round his head, the ends of which +hung down to the shoulders. + +"I rejoice to behold you once more, Belteshazzar," exclaimed the king to +the former of the two men. "Since the death of my father you have not +been seen at my gate." + +The man thus addressed bowed humbly and answered: "The favor of the king +rejoices his servant! If it seem good unto thee, to cause the sun of thy +favor to shine on me, thine unworthy servant, so hearken unto my petition +for my nation, which thy great father caused to return unto the land of +their fathers' sepulchres. This old man at my side, Joshua, the high- +priest of our God, hath not feared the long journey to Babylon, that he +might bring his request before thy face. Let his speech be pleasing in +thine ears and his words bring forth fruit in thine heart." + +"I foresee what ye desire of me," cried the king. "Am I wrong, priest, +in supposing that your petition refers to the building of the temple in +your native land?" + +"Nothing can be hidden from the eyes of my lord," answered the priest, +bowing low. "Thy servants in Jerusalem desire to behold the face of +their ruler, and beseech thee by my mouth to visit the land of their +fathers, and to grant them permission to set forward the work of the +temple, concerning which thine illustrious father (the favor of our God +rest upon him), made a decree." + +The king answered with a smile: "You have the craft of your nation, and +understand how to choose the right time and words for your petition. On +my birthday it is difficult for me to refuse my faithful people even one +request. I promise you, therefore, so soon as possible to visit +Jerusalem and the land of your fathers." + +"By so doing thou wilt make glad the hearts of thy servants," answered +the priest; "our vines and olives will bear more fruit at thine approach, +our gates will lift up their heads to receive thee, and Israel rejoice +with shouts to meet his lord doubly blessed if as lord of the building--" + +"Enough, priest, enough!" cried Cambyses. "Your first petition, I have +said it, shall not remain unfulfilled; for I have long desired to visit +the wealthy city of Tyre, the golden Sidon, and Jerusalem with its +strange superstitions; but were I to give permission for the building +now, what would remain for me to grant you in the coming year?" + +"Thy servants will no more molest thee by their petitions, if thou grant +unto them this one, to finish the temple of the Lord their God," answered +the priest. + +"Strange beings, these men of Palestine!" exclaimed Cambyses. "I have +heard it said that ye believe in one God alone, who can be represented by +no likeness, and is a spirit. Think ye then that this omnipresent Being +requires a house? Verily, your great spirit can be but a weak and +miserable creature, if he need a covering from the wind and rain, and a +shelter from the heat which he himself has created. If your God be like +ours, omnipresent, fall down before him and worship as we do, in every +place, and feel certain that everywhere ye will be heard of him!" + +"The God of Israel hears his people in every place," exclaimed the high- +priest. "He heard us when we pined in captivity under the Pharaohs far +from our land; he heard us weeping by the rivers of Babylon. He chose +thy father to be the instrument of our deliverance, and will hear my +prayer this day and soften thine heart like wise. O mighty king, grant +unto thy servants a common place of sacrifice, whither our twelve tribes +may repair, an altar on the steps of which they can pray together, +a house in which to keep their holy feasts! For this permission we will +call down the blessing of God upon thine head and his curse upon thine +enemies." + +"Grant unto my brethren the permission to build their temple!" added +Belteshazzar, who was the richest and most honorable and respected of the +Jews yet remaining in Babylon; a man whom Cyrus had treated with much +consideration, and of whom he had even taken counsel from time to time. + +"Will ye then be peaceable, if I grant your petition?" asked the king. +"My father allowed you to begin the work and granted the means for its +completion. Of one mind, happy and content, ye returned to your native +land, but while pursuing your work strife and contention entered among +you. Cyrus was assailed by repeated letters, signed by the chief men of +Syria, entreating him to forbid the work, and I also have been lately +besought to do the same. Worship your God when and where ye will, but +just because I desire your welfare, I cannot consent to the prosecution +of a work which kindles discord among you." + +"And is it then thy pleasure on this day to take back a favor, which thy +father made sure unto us by a written decree?" asked Belteshazzar. + +"A written decree?" + +"Which will surely be found even to this day laid up in the archives of +thy kingdom." + +"Find this decree and show it me, and I will not only allow the building +to be continued, but will promote the same," answered the king; "for my +father's will is as sacred to me as the commands of the gods." + +"Wilt thou allow search to be made in the house of the rolls at +Ecbatana?" asked Belteshazzar. "The decree will surely be found there." + +"I consent, but I fear ye will find none. Tell thy nation, priest, that +I am content with the equipment of the men of war they have sent to take +the field against the Massagetae. My general Megabyzus commends their +looks and bearing. May thy people prove as valiant now as in the wars of +my father! You, Belteshazzar, I bid to my marriage feast, and charge you +to tell your fellows, Meshach and Abednego, next unto you the highest in +the city of Babylon, that I expect them this evening at my table." + +"The God of my people Israel grant thee blessing and happiness," answered +Belteshazzar bowing low before the king. + +"A wish which I accept!" answered the king, "for I do not despise the +power of your wonder-working great Spirit. But one word more, +Belteshazzar. Many Jews have lately been punished for reviling the gods +of the Babylonians. Warn your people! They bring down hatred on +themselves by their stiff-necked superstition, and the pride with which +they declare their own great spirit to be the only true God. Take +example by us; we are content with our own faith and leave others to +enjoy theirs in peace. Cease to look upon yourselves as better than the +rest of the world. I wish you well, for a pride founded on self-respect +is pleasing in mine eyes; but take heed lest pride degenerate into +vainglory. Farewell! rest assured of my favor." + +The Jews then departed. They were disappointed, but not hopeless; for +Belteshazzar knew well that the decree, relative to the building of the +temple, must be in the archives at Ecbatana. + +They were followed by a deputation from Syria, and by the Greeks of +Ionia; and then, winding up the long train, appeared a band of wild- +looking men, dressed in the skins of animals, whose features bespoke them +foreigners in Babylon. They wore girdles and shoulderbands of solid, +unwrought gold; and of the same precious metal were their bow-cases, +axes, lance-points, and the ornaments on their high fur caps. They were +preceded by a man in Persian dress, whose features proved him, however, +to be of the same race as his followers. + +The king gazed at first on these envoys with wonder; then his brow +darkened, and beckoning the officer whose duty it was to present +strangers, he exclaimed "What can these men have to crave of me? If I +mistake not they belong to the Massagetae, to that people who are so soon +to tremble before my vengeance. Tell them, Gobryas, that an armed host +is standing on the Median plains ready to answer their demands with the +sword." + +Gobryas answered, bowing low: "These men arrived this morning during the +sacrifice bringing huge burdens of the purest gold to purchase your +forbearance. When they heard that a great festival was being celebrated +in your honor, they urgently besought to be admitted into your presence, +that they might declare the message entrusted to them by their country." + +The king's brow cleared and, after sharply scrutinizing the tall, bearded +Massageta:, he said: "Let them come nearer. I am curious to know what +proposals my father's murderers are about to make me." + +Gobryas made a sign, and the tallest and eldest of the Massagetae came up +close to the throne and began to speak loudly in his native tongue. He +was accompanied by the man in a Persian dress, who, as one of Cyrus' +prisoners of war, had learnt the Persian language, and now interpreted +one by one the sentences uttered by the spokesman of this wandering +tribe. + +"We know," began the latter, "that thou, great king, art wroth with the +Massagetae because thy father fell in war with our tribe--a war which he +alone had provoked with a people who had done naught to offend him." + +"My father was justified in punishing your nation," interrupted the king. +"Your Queen Tomyris had dared to refuse him her hand in marriage." + +"Be not wroth, O King," answered the Massagetan, "when I tell thee that +our entire nation approved of that act. Even a child could see that the +great Cyrus only desired to add our queen to the number of his wives, +hoping, in his insatiable thirst for more territories, to gain our land +with her." + +Cambyses was silent and the envoy went on. "Cyrus caused a bridge to be +made over our boundary river, the Araxes. We were not dismayed at this, +and Tomyris sent word that he might save himself this trouble, for that +the Massagetae were willing either to await him quietly in their own +land, leaving the passage of the river free, or to meet him in his. +Cyrus decided, by the advice of the dethroned king of Lydia, (as we +learnt afterwards, through some prisoners of war) on meeting us in our +own land and defeating us by a stratagem. With this intention he sent +at first only a small body of troops, which could be easily dispersed and +destroyed by our arrows and lances, and allowed us to seize his camp +without striking a blow. Believing we had defeated this insatiable +conqueror, we feasted on his abundant stores, and, poisoned by the sweet +unknown drink which you call wine, fell into a stupefied slumber, during +which his soldiers fell upon us, murdered the greater number of our +warriors and took many captives. Among the latter was the brave, young +Spargapises, our queen's son. + +"Hearing in his captivity, that his mother was willing to conclude peace +with your nation as the price of his liberty, he asked to have his chains +taken off. The request was granted, and on obtaining the use of his +hands he seized a sword and stabbed himself, exclaiming: 'I sacrifice my +life for the freedom of my nation.'" + +"No sooner did we hear the news that the young prince we loved so well +had died thus, than we assembled all the forces yet left to us from your +swords and fetters. Even old men and boys flew to arms to revenge our +noble Spargapises, and sacrifice themselves, after his example, for +Massagetaen freedom. Our armies met; ye were worsted and Cyrus fell. +When Tomyris found his body lying in a pool of human blood, she cried: +'Methinks, insatiable conqueror, thou art at last sated with blood!' +The troop, composed of the flower of your nobility, which you call the +Immortals, drove us back and carried your father's dead body forth from +our closest ranks. You led them on, fighting like a lion. I know you +well, and that wound across your manly face, which adorns it like a +purple badge of honor, was made by the sword now hanging at my side." + +A movement passed through the listening crowd; they trembled for the bold +speaker's life. Cambyses, however, looked pleased, nodded approvingly to +the man and answered: "Yes, I recognize you too now; you rode a red horse +with golden trappings. You shall see that the Persians know how to honor +courage. Bow down before this man, my friends, for never did I see a +sharper sword nor a more unwearied arm than his; and such heroic courage +deserves honor from the brave, whether shown by friend or foe. As for +you, Massagetae, I would advise you to go home quickly and prepare for +war; the mere recollection of your strength and courage increases my +longing to test it once more. A brave foe, by Mithras, is far better +than a feeble friend. You shall be allowed to return home in peace; but +beware of remaining too long within my reach, lest the thought of the +vengeance I owe my father's soul should rouse my anger, and your end draw +suddenly nigh." + +A bitter smile played round the bearded mouth of the warrior as he made +answer to this speech. "The Massagetae deem your father's soul too well +avenged already. The only son of our queen, his people's pride, and in +no way inferior to Cyrus, has bled for him. The shores of the Araxes +have been fertilized by the bodies of fifty thousand of my countrymen, +slain as offerings for your dead king, while only thirty thousand fell +there on your own side. We fought as bravely as you, but your armor is +better able to resist the arrows which pierce our clothing of skins. And +lastly, as the most cruel blow of all, ye slew our queen." + +"Tomyris is dead?" exclaimed Cambyses interrupting him. "You mean to +tell me that the Persians have killed a woman? Answer at once, what has +happened to your queen?" + +"Tomyris died ten months ago of grief for the loss of her only son, and I +have therefore a right to say that she too fell a sacrifice to the war +with Persia and to your father's spirit." + +"She was a great woman," murmured Cambyses, his voice unsteady from +emotion. "Verily, I begin to think that the gods themselves have +undertaken to revenge my father's blood on your nation. Yet I tell you +that, heavy as your losses may seem, Spargapises, Tomyris and fifty +thousand Massagetae can never outweigh the spirit of one king of Persia, +least of all of a Cyrus." + +"In our country," answered the envoy, "death makes all men equal. The +spirits of the king and the slave are of equal worth. Your father was a +great man, but we have undergone awful sufferings for his sake. My tale +is not yet ended. After the death of Tomyris discord broke out among the +Massagetae. Two claimants for the crown appeared; half our nation fought +for the one, half for the other, and our hosts were thinned, first by +this fearful civil war and then by the pestilence which followed in its +track. We can no longer resist your power, and therefore come with heavy +loads of pure gold as the price of peace." + +"Ye submit then without striking a blow?" asked Cambyses. "Verily, I +had expected something else from such heroes; the numbers of my host, +which waits assembled on the plains of Media, will prove that. We cannot +go to battle without an enemy. I will dismiss my troops and send a +satrap. Be welcome as new subjects of my realm." + +The red blood mounted into the cheeks of the Massagetan warrior on +hearing these words, and he answered in a voice trembling with +excitement: "You err, O King, if you imagine that we have lost our old +courage, or learnt to long for slavery. But we know your strength; we +know that the small remnant of our nation, which war and pestilence have +spared, cannot resist your vast and well-armed hosts. This we admit, +freely and honestly as is the manner of the Massagetae, declaring however +at the same time, that we are determined to govern ourselves as of yore, +and will never receive laws or ordinances from a Persian satrap. You are +wroth, but I can bear your angry gaze and yet repeat my declaration." + +"And my answer," cried Cambyses, "is this: Ye have but one choice: either +to submit to my sceptre, become united to the kingdom of Persia under the +name of the Massagetan province, and receive a satrap as my +representative with due reverence, or to look upon yourselves as my +enemies, in which case you will be forced by arms to conform to those +conditions which I now offer you in good part. To-day you could secure +a ruler well-affected to your cause, later you will find in me only a +conqueror and avenger. Consider well before you answer." + +"We have already weighed and considered all," answered the warrior, "and, +as free sons of the desert, prefer death to bondage. Hear what the +council of our old men has sent me to declare to you:--The Massageta; +have become too weak to oppose the Persians, not through their own fault, +but through the heavy visitation of our god, the sun. We know that you +have armed a vast host against us, and we are ready to buy peace and +liberty by a yearly tribute. But if you persist in compelling us to +submit by force of arms, you can only bring great damage on yourselves. +The moment your army nears the Araxes, we shall depart with our wives and +children and seek another home, for we have no fixed dwellings like +yours, but are accustomed to rove at will on our swift horses, and to +rest in tents. Our gold we shall take with us, and shall fill up, +destroy, and conceal the pits in which you could find new treasures. We +know every spot where gold is to be found, and can give it in abundance, +if you grant us peace and leave us our liberty; but, if you venture to +invade our territory, you win nothing but an empty desert and an enemy +always beyond your reach,--an enemy who may become formidable, when he +has had time to recover from the heavy losses which have thinned his +ranks. Leave us in peace and freedom and we are ready to give every year +five thousand swift horses of the desert, besides the yearly tribute of +gold; we will also come to the help of the Persian nation when threatened +by any serious danger." + +The envoy ceased speaking. Cambyses did not answer at once; his eyes +were fixed on the ground in deep thought. At last he said, rising at the +same time from his throne: "We will take counsel on this matter over the +wine to-night, and to-morrow you shall hear what answer you can bring to +your people. Gobryas, see that these men are well cared for, and send +the Massagetan, who wounded me in battle, a portion of the best dishes +from my own table." + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +During these events Nitetis had been sitting alone in her house on the +hanging-gardens, absorbed in the saddest thoughts. To-day, for the first +time, she had taken part in the general sacrifice made by the king's +wives, and had tried to pray to her new gods in the open air, before the +fire-altars and amidst the sound of religious songs strange to her ears. + +Most of the inhabitants of the harem saw her to-day for the first time, +and instead of raising their eyes to heaven, had fixed them on her during +the ceremony. The inquisitive, malevolent gaze of her rivals, and the +loud music resounding from the city, disquieted and distracted her mind. +Her thoughts reverted painfully to the solemn, sultry stillness of the +gigantic temples in her native land where she had worshipped the gods of +her childhood so earnestly at the side of her mother and sister; and much +as she longed, just on this day, to pray for blessings on her beloved +king, all her efforts were in vain; she could arouse no devotional +feeling. Kassandane and Atossa knelt at her side, joining heartily in +the very hymns which to Nitetis were an empty sound. + +It cannot be denied, that many parts of these hymns contain true poetry; +but they become wearisome through the constant repetition and invocation +of the names of good and bad spirits. The Persian women had been taught +from childhood, to look upon these religious songs as higher and holier +than any other poetry. Their earliest prayers had been accompanied by +such hymns, and, like everything else which has come down to us from our +fathers, and which we have been told in the impressionable time of +childhood is divine and worthy of our reverence, they were still sacred +and dear to them and stirred their most devotional feelings. + +But for Nitetis, who had been spoilt for such things by an intimate +acquaintance with the best Greek poets, they could have but little charm. +What she had lately been learning in Persia with difficulty had not yet +become a part of herself, and so, while Kassandane and Atossa went +through all the outward rites as things of course and perfectly natural +to them, Nitetis could only prevent herself from forgetting the +prescribed ceremonials by a great mental effort, and dreaded lest she +should expose her ignorance to the jealous, watchful gaze of her rivals. + +And then, too, only a few minutes before the sacrifice, she had received +her first letter from Egypt. It lay unread on her dressing-table, and +came into her mind whenever she attempted to pray. She could not help +wondering what news it might bring her. How were her parents? and how +had Tachot borne the parting from herself, and from the prince she loved +so well? + +The ceremony over, Nitetis embraced Kassandane and Atossa, and drew a +long, deep breath, as if delivered from some threatening danger. Then +ordering her litter, she was carried back to her dwelling, and hastened +eagerly to the table where her letter lay. Her principal attendant, the +young girl who on the journey had dressed her in her first Persian robes, +received her with a smile full of meaning and promise, which changed +however, into a look of astonishment, on seeing her mistress seize the +letter, without even glancing at the articles of dress and jewelery which +lay on the table. + +Nitetis broke the seal quickly and was sitting down, in order to begin +the difficult work of reading her letter, when the girl came up, and with +clasped hands, exclaimed: "By Mithras, my mistress, I cannot understand +you. Either you are ill, or that ugly bit of grey stuff must contain +some magic which makes you blind to everything else. Put that roll away +and look at the splendid presents that the great king (Auramazda grant +him victory!) has sent while you were at the sacrifice. Look at this +wonderful purple robe with the white stripe and the rich silver +embroidery; and then the tiara with the royal diamonds! Do not you know +the high meaning of these gifts? Cambyses begs, (the messenger said +'begs,' not 'commands') you to wear these splendid ornaments at the +banquet to-day. How angry Phaedime will be! and how the others will +look, for they have never received such presents. Till now only +Kassandane has had a right to wear the purple and diamonds; so by sending +you these gifts, Cambyses places you on a level with his mother, and +chooses you to be his favorite wife before the whole world.' O pray +allow me to dress you in these new and beautiful things. How lovely you +will look! How angry and envious the others will feel! If I could only +be there when you enter the hall! Come, my mistress, let me take off +your simple dress, and array you, (only as a trial you know,) in the +robes that as the new queen you ought to wear." + +Nitetis listened in silence to the chattering girl, and admired the gifts +with a quiet smile. She was woman enough to rejoice at the sight, for +he, whom she loved better than life itself, had sent them; and they were +a proof that she was more to the king than all his other wives;--that +Cambyses really loved her. The long wished-for letter fell unread to the +ground, the girl's wish to dress her was granted without a word, and in a +short time the splendid toilette was completed. The royal purple added +to her beauty, the high flashing tiara made her slender, perfect figure +seem taller than it really was, and when, in the metal mirror which lay +on her dressing table, she beheld herself for the first time in the +glorious likeness of a queen, a new expression dawned on her features. +It seemed as if a portion of her lord's pride were reflected there. The +frivolous waiting-woman sank involuntarily on her knees, as her eyes, +full of smiling admiration, met the radiant glance of Nitetis,--of the +woman who was beloved by the most powerful of men. + +For a few moments Nitetis gazed on the girl, lying in the dust at her +feet; but soon shook her beautiful head, and blushing for shame, raised +her kindly, kissed her forehead, gave her a gold bracelet, and then, +perceiving her letter on the ground, told her she wished to be alone. +Mandane ran, rather than walked, out of the room in her eagerness to show +the splendid present she had just received to the inferior attendants and +slaves; and Nitetis, her eyes glistening and her heart beating with +excess of happiness, threw herself on to the ivory chair which stood +before her dressing-table, uttered a short prayer of thanksgiving to her +favorite Egyptian goddess, the beautiful Hathor, kissed the gold chain +which Cambyses had given her after plunging into the water for her ball, +then her letter from home, and rendered almost over-confident by her +great happiness, began to unroll it, slowly sinking back into the purple +cushions as she did so and murmuring: "How very, very happy I am! Poor +letter, I am sure your writer never thought Nitetis would leave you a +quarter of an hour on the ground unread." + +In this happy mood she began to read, but her face soon grew serious and +when she had finished, the letter fell once more to the ground. + +Her eyes, whose proud glance had brought the waiting-maid to her feet, +were dimmed by tears; her head, carried so proudly but a few minutes +before, now lay on the jewels which covered the table. Tears rolled down +among the pearls and diamonds, as strange a contrast as the proud tiara +and its unhappy, fainting wearer. + +The letter read as follows: + +"Ladice the wife of Amasis and Queen of Upper and Lower Egypt, to her +daughter Nitetis, consort of the great King of Persia. + +"It has not been our fault, my beloved daughter, that you have remained +so long without news from home. The trireme by which we sent our letters +for you to AEgae was detained by Samian ships of war, or rather pirate +vessels, and towed into the harbor of Astypalaea. + +"Polykrates' presumption increases with the continual success of his +undertakings, and since his victory over the Lesbians and Milesians, who +endeavored to put a stop to his depredations, not a ship is safe from the +attacks of his pirate vessels. + +"Pisistratus is dead," but his sons are friendly to Polykrates. Lygdamis +is under obligations to him, and cannot hold his own in Naxos without +Samian help. He has won over the Amphiktyonic council to his side by +presenting the Apollo of Delos with the neighboring island of Rhenea. +His fifty-oared vessels, requiring to be manned by twenty-thousand men, +do immense damage to all the seafaring nations; yet not one dares to +attack him, as the fortifications of his citadel and his splendid harbor +are almost impregnable, and he himself always surrounded by a well- +drilled body-guard. + +"Through the traders, who followed the fortunate Kolxus to the far west, +and these pirate ships, Samos will become the richest of islands and +Polykrates the most powerful of men, unless, as your father says, the +gods become envious of such unchanging good fortune and prepare him a +sudden and speedy downfall. + +"In this fear Amasis advised Polykrates as his old friend, to put away +from him the thing he held dearest, and in such a manner that he might be +sure of never receiving it again. Polykrates adopted this advice and +threw into the sea, from the top of the round tower on his citadel, his +most valuable signet-ring, an unusually large sardonyx held by two +dolphins. This ring was the work of Theodorus, and a lyre, the symbol of +the ruler, was exquisitely engraved on the stone." + +"Six days later, however, the ring was found by Polykrates' cooks in the +body of a fish. He sent us news at once of this strange occurrence, but +instead of rejoicing your father shook his grey head sadly, saying: 'he +saw now it was impossible for any one to avoid his destiny!' On the same +day he renounced the friendship of Polykrates and wrote him word, that he +should endeavor to forget him in order to avoid the grief of seeing his +friend in misfortune. + +"Polykrates laughed at this message and returned the letters his pirates +had taken from our trireme, with a derisive greeting. For the future all +your letters will be sent by Syria. + +"You will ask me perhaps, why I have told you this long story, which has +so much less interest for you than any other home news. I answer: to +prepare you for your father's state. Would you have recognized the +cheerful, happy, careless Amasis in that gloomy answer to his Samian +friend? + +"Alas, my husband has good reason to be sad, and since you left us, my +own eyes have seldom been free from tears. My time is passed either at +the sick-bed of your sister or in comforting your father and guiding his +steps; and though much in need of sleep I am now taking advantage of +night to write these lines. + +"Here I was interrupted by the nurses, calling me to your sister Tachot, +your own true friend. + +"How often the dear child has called you in her feverish delirium; and +how carefully she treasures your likeness in wax, that wonderful portrait +which bears evidence not only of the height to which Greek art has risen, +but of the master hand of the great Theodorus. To-morrow it will be sent +to AEgina, to be copied in gold, as the soft wax becomes injured from +frequent contact with your sister's burning hands and lips. + +"And now, my daughter, you must summon all your courage to hear what I +need all my strength of mind to tell-the sad story of the fate which the +gods have decreed for our house. + +"For three days after you left us Tachot wept incessantly. Neither our +comforting words nor your father's good advice--neither offerings nor +prayers--could avail to lessen her grief or divert her mind. At last on +the fourth day she ceased to weep and would answer our questions in a low +voice, as if resigned; but spent the greater part of every day sitting +silently at her wheel. Her fingers, however, which used to be so +skilful, either broke the threads they tried to spin, or lay for hours +idle in her lap, while she was lost in dreams. Your father's jokes, at +which she used to laugh so heartily, made no impression on her, and when +I endeavored to reason with her she listened in anxious suspense. + +"If I kissed her forehead and begged her to control herself, she would +spring up, blushing deeply, and throw herself into my arms, then sit down +again to her wheel and begin to pull at the threads with almost frantic +eagerness; but in half an hour her hands would be lying idle in her lap +again and her eyes dreamily fixed, either on the ground, or on some spot +in the air. If we forced her to take part in any entertainment, she +would wander among the guests totally uninterested in everything that was +passing. + +"We took her with us on the great pilgrimage to Bubastis, during which +the Egyptians forget their usual gravity, and the shores of the Nile look +like a great stage where the wild games of the satyrs are being performed +by choruses, hurried on in the unrestrained wantonness of intoxication. +When she saw thus for the first time an entire people given up to the +wildest and most unfettered mirth and enjoyment, she woke up from her +silent brooding thoughts and began to weep again, as in the first days +after you went away. + +"Sad and perplexed, we brought our poor child back to Sais. + +"Her looks were not those of a common mortal. She grew thinner, and we +all fancied, taller; her complexion was white, and almost transparent, +with a tender bloom on her cheek, which I can only liken to a young rose- +leaf or the first faint blush of sunrise. Her eyes are still wonderfully +clear and bright. It always seems to me as if they looked beyond the +heaven and earth which we see. + +"As she continued to suffer more and more from heat in the head and +hands, while her tender limbs often shivered with a slight chill, we sent +to Thebes for Thutmes, the most celebrated physician for inward +complaints. + +"The experienced priest shook his head on seeing your sister and foretold +a serious illness. He forbade her to spin or to speak much. Potions of +all kinds were given her to drink, her illness was discussed and +exorcised, the stars and oracles consulted, rich presents and sacrifices +made to the gods. The priest of Hathor from the island of Philae sent us +a consecrated amulet, the priest of Osiris in Abydos a lock of hair from +the god himself set in gold, and Neithotep, the high-priest of our own +guardian goddess, set on foot a great sacrifice, which was to restore +your sister to health. + +"But neither physicians nor charms were of any avail, and at last +Neithotep confessed that Tachot's stars gave but little ground for hope. +Just then, too, the sacred bull at Memphis died and the priests could +discover no heart in his entrails, which they interpreted as +prognosticating evil to our country. They have not yet succeeded in +finding a new Apis, and believe that the gods are wroth with your +father's kingdom. Indeed the oracle of Buto has declared that the +Immortals will show no favor to Egypt, until all the temples that have +been built in the black land for the worship of false gods are destroyed +and their worshippers banished. + + [Egypt was called by its ancient inhabitants Cham, the black, + or black-earthed.] + +"These evil omens have proved, alas, only too true. Tachot fell ill of a +dreadful fever and lay for nine days hovering between life and death; she +is still so weak that she must be carried, and can move neither hand nor +foot. + +"During the journey to Bubastis, Amasis' eyes, as so often happens here, +became inflamed. Instead of sparing them, he continued to work as usual +from sunrise until mid-day, and while your sister was so ill he never +left her bed, notwithstanding all our entreaties. But I will not enter +into particulars, my child. His eyes grew worse, and on the very day +which brought us the news of your safe arrival in Babylon, Amasis became +totally blind. + +"The cheerful, active man has become old, gloomy and decrepit since that +day. The death of Apis, and the unfavorable constellations and oracles +weigh on his mind; his happy temper is clouded by the unbroken night in +which he lives; and the consciousness that he cannot stir a step alone +causes indecision and uncertainty. The daring and independent ruler will +soon become a mere tool, by means of which the priests can work their +will. + +"He spends hours in the temple of Neith, praying and offering sacrifices; +a number of workmen are employed there in building a tomb for his mummy, +and the same number at Memphis in levelling the temple which the Greeks +have begun building to Apollo. He speaks of his own and Tachot's +misfortunes as a just punishment from the Immortals. + +"His visits to Tachot's sick-bed are not the least comfort to her, for +instead of encouraging her kindly, he endeavors to convince her that she +too deserves punishinent from the gods. He spends all his remarkable +eloquence in trying to persuade her, that she must forget this world +entirely and only try to gain the favor of Osiris and the judges of the +nether world by ceaseless prayers and sacrifices. In this manner he only +tortures our poor sick child, for she has not lost her love of life. +Perhaps I have still too much of the Greek left in me for a queen of +Egypt; but really, death is so long and life so short, that I cannot help +calling even wise men foolish, when they devote the half of even this +short term to a perpetual meditation on the gloomy Hades. + +"I have just been interrupted again. Our great physician, Thutmes, came +to enquire after his patient. He gives very little hope, and seems +surprised that her delicate frame has been able to resist death so long. +He said yesterday: 'She would have sunk long ago if not kept up by her +determined will, and a longing which gives her no rest. If she ceased to +care for life, she could allow death to take her, just as we dream +ourselves asleep. If, on the other hand, her wish could be gratified, +she might, (though this is hardly probable) live some years yet, but if +it remain but a short time longer unfulfilled, it will certainly wear her +to death. + +"Have you any idea for whom she longs so eagerly? Our Tachot has allowed +herself to be fascinated by the beautiful Bartja, the brother of your +future husband. I do not mean to say by this that he has employed magic, +as the priest Ameneman believes, to gain her love; for a youth might be +far less handsome and agreeable than Bartja, and yet take the heart of an +innocent girl, still half a child. But her passionate feeling is so +strong, and the change in her whole being so great, that sometimes I too +am tempted to believe in the use of supernatural influence. A short time +before you left I noticed that Tachot was fond of Bartja. Her distress +at first we thought could only be for you, but when she sank into that +dreamy state, Ibykus, who was still at our court, said she must have been +seized by some strong passion. + +"Once when she was sitting dreaming at her wheel, I heard him singing +softly Sappho's little love-song to her: + + "I cannot, my sweet mother, + Throw shuttle any more; + My heart is full of longing, + My spirit troubled sore, + All for a love of yesterday + A boy not seen before." + + [Sappho ed. Neue XXXII. Translation from Edwin Arnold's + Poets of Greece.] + +"She turned pale and asked him: 'Is that your own song?' + +"'No,' said he, 'Sappho wrote it fifty years ago.' + +"'Fifty years ago,' echoed Tachot musingly. + +"'Love is always the same,' interrupted the poet; 'women loved centuries +ago, and will love thousands of years to come, just as Sappho loved fifty +years back.' + +"The sick girl smiled in assent, and from that time I often heard her +humming the little song as she sat at her wheel. But we carefully +avoided every question, that could remind her of him she loved. In the +delirium of fever, however, Bartja's name was always on her burning lips. +When she recovered consciousness we told her what she had said in her +delirium; then she opened her heart to me, and raising her eyes to heaven +like a prophetess, exclaimed solemnly: 'I know, that I shall not die till +I have seen him again.' + +"A short time ago we had her carried into the temple, as she longed to +worship there again. When the service was over and we were crossing the +temple-court, we passed some children at play, and Tachot noticed a +little girl telling something very eagerly to her companions. She told +the bearers to put down the litter and call the child to her. + +"'What were you saying?' she asked the little one. + +"I was telling the others something about my eldest sister.' + +"'May I hear it too?' said Tachot so kindly, that the little girl began +at once without fear: "Batau, who is betrothed to my sister, came back +from Thebes quite unexpectedly yesterday evening. Just as the Isis-star +was rising, he came suddenly on to our roof where Kerimama was playing at +draughts with my father; and he brought her such a beutiful goldeng +bridal wreath.' + + [Among the Egyptians the planet Venus bore the name of the goddess + Isis. Pliny II. 6. Arist De mundo II. 7. Early monuments prove + that they were acquainted with the identity of the morning and + evening star. Lepsius, Chronologie p. 94.] + +"Tachot kissed the child and gave her her own costly fan. When we were +at home again she smiled archly at me and said: 'You know, mother dear, +that the words children say in the temple-courts are believed to be +oracles.' So, if the little one spoke the truth, he must come; and did +not you hear that he is to bring the bridal-wreath? O mother, I am sure, +quite sure, that I shall see him again.' + +"I asked her yesterday if she had any message for you, and she begged me +to say that she sent you thousands of kisses, and messages of love, and +that when she was stronger she meant to write, as she had a great deal to +tell you. She has just brought me the little note which I enclose; it is +for you alone, and has cost her much fatigue to write. + +"But now I must finish my letter, as the messenger has been waiting for +it some time. + +"I wish I could give you some joyful news, but sadness and sorrow meet me +whichever way I turn. Your brother yields more and more to the priests' +tyranny, and manages the affairs of state for your poor blind father +under Neithotep's guidance. + +"Amasis does not interfere, and says it matters little whether his place +be filled a few days sooner or later by his successor. + +"He did not attempt to prevent Psamtik from seizing the children of +Phanes in Rhodopis' house, and actually allowed his son to enter into a +negotiation with the descendants of those two hundred thousand soldiers, +who emigrated to Ethiopia in the reign of Psamtik I. on account of the +preference shown to the Greek mercenaries. In case they declared +themselves willing to return to their native land, the Greek mercenaries +were to have been dismissed. The negotiation failed entirely, but +Psamtik's treatment of the children of Phanes has given bitter offence to +the Greeks. Aristomachus threatened to leave Egypt, taking with him ten +thousand of his best troops, and on hearing that Phanes' son had been +murdered at Psamtik's command applied for his discharge. From that time +the Spartan disappeared, no one knows whither; but the Greek troops +allowed themselves to be bribed by immense sums and are still in Egypt. + +"Amasis said nothing to all this, and looked on silently from the midst +of his prayers and sacrifices, while your brother was either offending +every class of his subjects or attempting to pacify them by means beneath +the dignity of a ruler. The commanders of the Egyptian and Greek troops, +and the governors of different provinces have all alike assured me that +the present state of things is intolerable. No one knows what to expect +from this new ruler; he commands today the very thing, which he angrily +forbade the day before. Such a government must soon snap the beautiful +bond, which has hitherto united the Fgyptian people to their king. + +"Farewell, my child, think of your poor friend, your mother; and forgive +your parents when you hear what they have so long kept secret from you. +Pray for Tachot, and remember us to Croesus and the young Persians whom +we know. Give a special message too from Tachot to Bartja; I beg him to +think of it as the last legacy of one very near death. If you could only +send her some proof, that he has not forgotten her! Farewell, once more +farewell and be happy in your new and blooming home." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +Sad realities follow bright anticipations nearly as surely as a rainy day +succeeds a golden sunrise. Nitetis had been so happy in the thought of +reading the very letter, which poured such bitter drops of wormwood into +her cup of happiness. + +One beautiful element in her life, the remembrance of her dear home and +the companions of her happy childhood, had been destroyed in one moment, +as if by the touch of a magician's wand. + +She sat there in her royal purple, weeping, forgetful of everything but +her mother's grief, her father's misfortunes and her sister's illness. +The joyful future, full of love, joy, and happiness, which had been +beckoning her forward only a few minutes before, had vanished. Cambyses' +chosen bride forgot her waiting, longing lover, and the future queen of +Persia could think of nothing but the sorrows of Egypt's royal house. + +It was long past mid-day, when the attendant Mandane came to put a last +touch to Nitetis' dress and ornaments. + +"She is asleep," thought the girl. "I can let her rest another quarter +of an hour; the sacrifice this morning has tired her, and we must have +her fresh and beautiful for the evening banquet; then she will outshine +the others as the moon does the stars." + +Unnoticed by her mistress she slipped out of the room, the windows of +which commanded a splendid view over the hanging-gardens, the immense +city beneath, the river, and the rich and fruitful Babylonian plain, and +went into the garden. + +Without looking round she ran to a flower-bed, to pluck some roses. Her +eyes were fixed on her new bracelet, the stones of which sparkled in the +sun, and she did not notice a richly-dressed man peering in at one of the +windows of the room where Nitetis lay weeping. On being disturbed in his +watching and listening, he turned at once to the girl and greeted her in +a high treble voice. + +She started, and on recognizing the eunuch Boges, answered: "It is not +polite, sir, to frighten a poor girl in this way. By Mithras, if I had +seen you before I heard you, I think I should have fainted. A woman's +voice does not take me by surprise, but to see a man here is as rare as +to find a swan in the desert." + +Boges laughed good-humoredly, though he well understood her saucy +allusion to his high voice, and answered, rubbing his fat hands: "Yes, +it is very hard for a young and pretty bird like you, to have to live in +such a lonely corner, but be patient, sweetheart. Your mistress will +soon be queen, and then she will look out a handsome young husband for +you. Ah, ha! you will find it pleasanter to live here alone with him, +than with your beautiful Egyptian." + +"My mistress is too beautiful for some people's fancy, and I have never +asked any one to look out a husband for me," she answered pertly. "I can +find one without your help either." + +"Who could doubt it? Such a pretty face is as good a bait for a man, as +a worm for a fish." + +"But I am not trying to catch a husband, and least of all one like you." + +"That I can easily believe," he answered laughing. But tell me, my +treasure, why are you so hard on me? Have I done anything to vex you? +Wasn't it through me, that you obtained this good appointment, and are +not we both Medes?" + +"You might just as well say that we are both human beings, and have five +fingers on each hand and a nose in the middle of our faces. Half the +people here are Medes, and if I had as many friends as I have countrymen, +I might be queen to-morrow. And as to my situation here, it was not you, +but the high-priest Oropastes who recommended me to the great queen +Kassandane. Your will is not law here," + +"What are you talking about, my sweet one? don't you know, that not a +single waiting-woman can be engaged without my consent?" + +"Oh, yes, I know that as well as you do, but . . ." + +"But you women are an unthankful race, and don't deserve our kindness." + +"Please not to forget, that you are speaking to a girl of good family." + +"I know that very well, my little one. I know that your father was a +Magian and your mother a Magian's daughter; that they both died early and +you were placed under the care of the Destur Ixabates, the father of +Oropastes, and grew up with his children. I know too that when you had +received the ear-rings, Oropastes' brother Gaumata, (you need not blush, +Gaumata is a pretty name) fell in love with your rosy face, and wanted to +marry you, though he was only nineteen. Gaumata and Mandane, how well +the two names sound together! Mandane and Gaumata! If I were a poet I +should call my hero Gaumata and his lady-love Mandane." + +"I insist on your ceasing to jest in this way," cried Mandane, blushing +deeply and stamping her foot. + +"What, are you angry because I say the names sound well together? You +ought rather to be angry with the proud Oropastes, who sent his younger +brother to Rhagar and you to the court, that you might forget one +another." + +"That is a slander on my benefactor." + +"Let my tongue wither away, if I am not speaking the truth and nothing +but the truth! Oropastes separated you and his brother because he had +higher intentions for the handsome Gaumata, than a marriage with the +orphan daughter of an inferior Magian. He would have been satisfied with +Amytis or Menische for a sister-in-law, but a poor girl like you, who +owed everything to his bounty, would only have stood in the way of his +ambitious plans. Between ourselves, he would like to be appointed regent +of Persia while the king is away at the Massagetan war, and would +therefore give a great deal to connect himself by marriage in some way +or other with the Archemenidae. At his age a new wife is not to be +thought of; but his brother is young and handsome, indeed people go so +far as to say, that he is like the Prince Bartja." + +"That is true," exclaimed the girl. "Only think, when we went out to +meet my mistress, and I saw Bartja for the first time from the window of +the station-house, I thought he was Gaumata. They are so like one +another that they might be twins, and they are the handsomest men in the +kingdom." + +"How you are blushing, my pretty rose-bud! But the likeness between them +is not quite so great as all that. When I spoke to the high-priest's +brother this morning . . ." + +"Gaumata is here?" interrupted the girl passionately. "Have you really +seen him or are you trying to draw me out and make fun of me?" + +"By Mithras! my sweet one, I kissed his forehead this very morning, and +he made me tell him a great deal about his darling. Indeed his blue +eyes, his golden curls and his lovely complexion, like the bloom on a +peach, were so irresistible that I felt inclined to try and work +impossibilities for him. Spare your blushes, my little pomegranate- +blossom, till I have told you all; and then perhaps in future you will +not be so hard upon poor Boges; you will see that he has a good heart, +full of kindness for his beautiful, saucy little countrywoman." + +"I do not trust you," she answered, interrupting these assurances. +"I have been warned against your smooth tongue, and I do not know what I +have done to deserve this kind interest." + +"Do you know this?" he asked, showing her a white ribbon embroidered all +over with little golden flames. + +"It is the last present I worked for him," exclaimed Mandane. + +"I asked him for this token, because I knew you would not trust me. Who +ever heard of a prisoner loving his jailer?" + +"But tell me at once, quickly--what does my old playfellow want me to do? +Look, the-western sky is beginning to glow. Evening is coming on, and I +must arrange my mistress's dress and ornaments for the banquet." + +"Well, I will not keep you long," said the eunuch, becoming so serious +that Mandane was frightened. "If you do not choose to believe that I +would run into any risk out of friendship to you, then fancy that I +forward your love affair to humble the pride of Oropastes. He threatens +to supplant me in the king's favor, and I am determined, let him plot and +intrigue as he likes, that you shall marry Gaumata. To-morrow evening, +after the Tistar-star has risen, your lover shall come to see you. I +will see that all the guards are away, so that he can come without +danger, stay one hour and talk over the future with you; but remember, +only one hour. I see clearly that your mistress will be Cambyses' +favorite wife, and will then forward your marriage, for she is very fond +of you, and thinks no praise too high for your fidelity and skill. So +to-morrow evening," he continued, falling back into the jesting tone +peculiar to him, "when the Tistar-star rises, fortune will begin to shine +on you. Why do you look down? Why don't you answer? Gratitude stops +your pretty little mouth, eh? is that the reason? Well, my little bird, +I hope you won't be quite so silent, if you should ever have a chance of +praising poor Boges to your powerful mistress. And what message shall I +bring to the handsome Gaumata? May I say that you have not forgotten him +and will be delighted to see him again? You hesitate? Well, I am very +sorry, but it is getting dark and I must go. I have to inspect the +women's dresses for the birthday banquet. Ah! one thing I forgot to +mention. Gaumata must leave Babylon to-morrow. Oropastes is afraid, +that he may chance to see you, and told him to return to Rhage directly +the festival was over. What! still silent? Well then, I really cannot +help you or that poor fellow either. But I shall gain my ends quite as +well without you, and perhaps after all it is better that you should +forget one another. Good-bye." + +It was a hard struggle for the girl. She felt nearly sure that Boges was +deceiving her, and a voice within warned her that it would be better to +refuse her lover this meeting. Duty and prudence gained the upper hand, +and she was just going to exclaim: "Tell him I cannot see him," when her +eye caught the ribbon she had once embroidered for her handsome +playfellow. Bright pictures from her childhood flashed through her mind, +short moments of intoxicating happiness; love, recklessness and longing +gained the day in their turn over her sense of right, her misgivings and +her prudence, and before Boges could finish his farewell, she called out, +almost in spite of herself and flying towards the house like a frightened +fawn: "I shall expect him." + +Boges passed quickly through the flowery paths of the hanging-gardens. +He stopped at the parapet end cautiously opened a hidden trap-door, +admitting to a secret staircase which wound down through one of the huge +pillars supporting the hanging-gardens, and which had probably been +intended by their original designer as a means of reaching his wife's +apartments unobserved from the shores of the river. The door moved +easily on its hinges, and when Boges had shut it again and strewed a few +of the river-shells from the garden walks over it, it would have been +difficult to find, even for any one who had come with that purpose. The +eunuch rubbed his jeweled hands, smiling the while as was his custom, and +murmured: "It can't fail to succeed now; the girl is caught, her lover is +at my beck and call, the old secret flight of steps is in good order, +Nitetis has been weeping bitterly on a day of universal rejoicing, and +the blue lily opens to-morrow night. Ah, ha! my little plan can't +possibly fail now. And to-morrow, my pretty Egyptian kitten, your little +velvet paw will be fast in a trap set by the poor despised eunuch, who +was not allowed, forsooth, to give you any orders." + +His eyes gleamed maliciously as he said these words and hurried from the +garden. + +At the great flight of steps he met another eunuch, named Neriglissar, +who held the office of head-gardener, and lived at the hanging-gardens. + +"How is the blue lily going on?" asked Boges. + +"It is unfolding magnificently!" cried the gardener, in enthusiasm at +the mere mention of his cherished flower. "To-morrow, as I promised, +when the Tistar-star rises, it will be in all its beauty. My Egyptian +mistress will be delighted, for she is very fond of flowers, and may I +ask you to tell the king and the Achaemenidae, that under my care this +rare plant has at last flowered? It is to be seen in full beauty only +once in every ten years. Tell the noble Achaemenidae; this, and bring +them here." + +"Your wish shall be granted," said Boges smiling, "but I think you must +not reckon on the king, as I do not expect he will visit the hanging- +gardens before his marriage with the Egyptian. Some of the Archimenidae, +however, will be sure to come; they are such lovers of horticulture that +they would not like to miss this rare sight. Perhaps, too, I may succeed +in bringing Croesus. It is true that he does not understand flowers or +doat on them as the Persians do, but he makes amends for this by his +thorough appreciation of everything beautiful." + +"Yes, yes, bring him too," exclaimed the gardener. "He will really be +grateful to you, for my queen of the night is the most beautiful flower, +that has ever bloomed in a royal garden. You saw the bud in the clear +waters of the reservoir surrounded by its green leaves; that bud will +open into a gigantic rose, blue as the sky. My flower . . ." + +The enthusiastic gardener would have said much more in praise of his +flower, but Boges left him with a friendly nod, and went down the flight +of steps. A two-wheeled wooden carriage was waiting for him there; he +took his seat by the driver, the horses, decked out with bells and +tassels, were urged into a sharp trot and quickly brought him to the gate +of the harem-garden. + +That day was a busy, stirring one in Cambyses' harem. In order that the +women might look their very best, Boges had commanded that they should +all be taken to the bath before the banquet. He therefore went at once +to that wing of the palace, which contained the baths for the women. + +While he was still at some distance a confused noise of screaming, +laughing, chattering and tittering reached his ears. In the broad porch +of the large bathing-room, which had been almost overheated, more than +three hundred women were moving about in a dense cloud of steam. + + [We read in Diodorus XVII. 77. that the king of Persia had as many + wives as there are days in the year. At the battle of Issus, + Alexander the Great took 329 concubines, of the last Darius, + captive.] + +The half-naked forms floated over the warm pavement like a motley crowd +of phantoms. Their thin silken garments were wet through and clung to +their delicate figures, and a warm rain descended upon them from the roof +of the bath, rising up again in vapor when it reached the floor. + +Groups of handsome women, ten or twenty together, lay gossiping saucily +in one part of the room; in another two king's wives were quarrelling +like naughty children. One beauty was screaming at the top of her voice +because she had received a blow from her neighbor's dainty little +slipper, while another was lying in lazy contemplation, still as death, +on the damp, warm floor. Six Armenians were standing together, singing a +saucy love-song in their native language with clear-toned voices, and a +little knot of fair-haired Persians were slandering Nitetis so fearfully, +that a by-stander would have fancied our beautiful Egyptian was some +awful monster, like those nurses used to frighten children. + +Naked female slaves moved about through the crowd, carrying on their +heads well-warmed cloths to throw over their mistresses. The cries of +the eunuchs, who held the office of door-keepers, and were continually +urging the women to greater haste,--the screeching calls of those whose +slaves had not yet arrived,--the penetrating perfumes and the warm vapor +combined to produce a motley, strange and stupefying scene. + +A quarter of an hour later, however, the king's wives presented a very +different spectacle. + +They lay like roses steeped in dew, not asleep, but quite still and +dreaming, on soft cushions placed along the walls of an immense room. +The wet perfumes still lay on their undried and flowing hair, and nimble +female slaves were busied in carefully wiping away, with little bags made +of soft camels' hair, the slightest outward trace of the moisture which +penetrated deep into the pores of the skin. + +Silken coverlets were spread over their weary, beautiful limbs, and a +troop of eunuchs took good care that the dreamy repose of the entire body +should not be disturbed by quarrelsome or petulant individuals. Their +efforts, however, were seldom so successful as to-day, when every one +knew that a disturbance of the peace would be punished by exclusion from +the banquet. They had probably been lying a full hour in this dreamy +silence, when the sound of a gong produced another transformation. + +The reposing figures sprang from their cushions, a troop of female slaves +pressed into the hall, the beauties were annointed and perfumed, their +luxuriant hair ingeniously braided, plaited, and adorned with precious +stones. Costly ornaments and silken and woolen robes in all the colors +of the rainbow were brought in, shoes stiff with rich embroidery of +pearls and jewels were tied on to their tender feet, and golden girdles +fastened round their waists. + + [Some kings gave their wives the revenues of entire cities as + "girdle-money" (pin-money).] + +By the time Boges came in, the greater number of the women were already +fully adorned in their costly jewelry, which would have represented +probably, when taken together, the riches of a large kingdom. + +He was greeted by a shrill cry of joy from many voices. Twenty of the +women joined hands and danced round their smiling keeper, singing a +simple song which had been composed in the harem in praise of his +virtues. On this day it was customary for the king to grant each of his +wives one reasonable petition. So when the ring of dancers had loosed +hands, a troop of petitioners rushed in upon Boges, kissing his hands, +stroking his cheeks, whispering in his ear all kinds of requests, and +trying by flattery to gain his intercession with the king. The woman's +tyrant smiled at it all, stopped his ears and pushed them all back with +jests and laughter, promising Amytis the Median that Esther the +Phoenician should be punished, and Esther the same of Amytis,--that +Parmys should have a handsomer set of jewels than Parisatys, and +Parisatys a more costly one than Parmys, but finding it impossible to get +rid of these importunate petitioners, he blew a little golden whistle. +Its shrill tones acted like magic on the eager crowd; the raised hands +fell in a moment, the little tripping feet stood still, the opening lips +closed and the eager tumult was turned into a dead silence. + +Whoever disobeyed the sound of this little whistle, was certain of +punishment. It was as important as the words "Silence, in the king's +name!" or the reading of the riot-act. To-day it worked even more +effectually than usual. Boges' self-satisfied smile showed that he had +noticed this; he then favored the assembly with a look expressive of his +contentment with their conduct, promised in a flowery speech to exert all +his influence with the king in behalf of his dear little white doves, and +wound up by telling them to arrange themselves in two long rows. + +The women obeyed and submitted to his scrutiny like soldiers on drill, or +slaves being examined by their buyer. + +With the dress and ornaments of most he was satisfied, ordering, however, +to one a little more rouge, to another a little white powder to subdue a +too healthy color, here a different arrangement of the hair--there a +deeper tinge to the eyebrows, or more pains to be taken in anointing the +lips. + +When this was over he left the hall and went to Phaedime, who as one of +the king's lawful wives, had a private room, separated from those +allotted to the concubines. + +This former favorite,--this humbled daughter of the Achaemenidae, had +been expecting him already some time. + +She was magnificently dressed, and almost overloaded with jewels. A +thick veil of gauze inwrought with gold hung from her little tiara, and +interlaced with this was the blue and white band of the Achaemenidae. +There could be no question that she was beautiful, but her figure was +already too strongly developed, a frequent result of the lazy harem life +among Eastern women. Fair golden hair, interwoven with little silver +chains and gold pieces, welled out almost too abundantly from beneath her +tiara, and was smoothed over her white temples. + +She sprang forward to meet Boges, trembling with eagerness, caught a +hasty glance at herself in the looking-glass, and then, fixing her eyes +on the eunuch, asked impetuously: "Are you pleased with me? Will he +admire me?" + +Boges smiled his old, eternal smile and answered: "You always please me, +my golden peacock, and the king would admire you too if he could see you +as you were a moment ago. You were really beautiful when you called out, +'Will he admire me?' for passion had turned your blue eyes black as +night, and your lip was curled with hatred so as to show two rows of +teeth white as the snow on the Demawend!" + +Phaedime was flattered and forced her face once more into the admired +expression, saying: "Then take us at once to the banquet, for I know my +eyes will be darker and more brilliant, and my teeth will gleam more +brightly, when I see that Egyptian girl sitting where I ought to sit." + +"She will not be allowed to sit there long." + +"What! is your plan likely to succeed then? Oh, Boges, do not hide it +any longer from me--I will be as silent as the grave--I will help you--I +will--" + +"No, I cannot, I dare not tell you about it, but this much I will say in +order to sweeten this bitter evening: we have dug the pit for our enemy, +and if my golden Phaedime will only do what I tell her, I hope to give +her back her old place, and not only that, but even a higher one." + +"Tell me what I am to do; I am ready for anything and everything." + +"That was well and bravely spoken; like a true lioness. If you obey me +we must succeed; and the harder the task, the higher the reward. Don't +dispute what I am going to say, for we have not a minute to lose. Take +off all your useless ornaments and only wear the chain the king gave you +on your marriage. Put on a dark simple dress instead of this bright one; +and when you have prostrated yourself before Kassandane, bow down humbly +before the Egyptian Princess too." + +"Impossible!" + +"I will not be contradicted. Take off those ornaments at once, I entreat +you. There, that is right. We cannot succeed unless you obey me. How +white your neck is! The fair Peri would look dark by your side." + +"But--" + +"When your turn comes to ask a favor of the king, tell him you have no +wishes, now that the sun of your life has withdrawn his light." + +"Yes, that I will do." + +"When your father asks after your welfare, you must weep." + +"I will do that too." + +"And so that all the Achaemenidae can see that you are weeping." + +"That will be a fearful humiliation!" + +"Not at all; only a means by which to rise the more surely. Wash the red +color from your cheeks and put on white powder. Make yourself pale-- +paler still." + +"Yes, I shall need that to hide my blushes. Boges, you are asking +something fearful of me, but I will obey you if you will only give me a +reason." + +"Girl, bring your mistress's new dark green robe." + +"I shall look like a slave." + +"True grace is lovely even in rags." + +"The Egyptian will completely eclipse me." + +"Yes, every one must see that you have not the slightest intention of +comparing yourself with her. Then people will say: 'Would not Phaedime +be as beautiful as this proud woman, if she had taken the same pains to +make herself so?"' + +"But I cannot bow down to her." + +"You must." + +"You only want to humble and ruin me." + +"Short-sighted fool! listen to my reasons and obey. I want especially to +excite the Achaemenidae against our enemy. How it will enrage your +grandfather Intaphernes, and your father Otanes to see you in the dust +before a stranger! Their wounded pride will bring them over to our side, +and if they are too 'noble,' as they call it, to undertake anything +themselves against a woman, still they will be more likely to help than +to hinder us, if I should need their assistance. Then, when the Egyptian +is ruined, if you have done as I wish, the king will remember your sad +pale face, your humility and forgetfulness of self. The Achaemenidae, +and even the Magi, will beg him to take a queen from his own family; and +where in all Persia is there a woman who can boast of better birth than +you? Who else can wear the royal purple but my bright bird of Paradise, +my beautiful rose Phaedime? With such a prize in prospect we must no +more fear a little humiliation than a man who is learning to ride fears a +fall from his horse." + +And she, princess as she was, answered: "I will obey you." + +"Then we are certain of victory," said the eunuch. "There, now your eyes +are flashing darkly again as I like to see them, my queen. And so +Cambyses shall see you when the tender flesh of the Egyptian shall have +become food for dogs and the birds of the air, and when for the first +time after long months of absence, I bring him once more to the door of +your apartments. Here, Armorges! tell the rest of the women to get +ready and enter their litters. I will go on and be there to show them +their places." + + .......................... + +The great banqueting-hall was bright as day--even brighter, from the +light of thousands of candles whose rays were reflected in the gold +plates forming the panelling of the walls. A table of interminable +length stood in the middle of the hall, overloaded with gold and silver +cups, plates, dishes, bowls, jugs, goblets, ornaments and incense-altars, +and looked like a splendid scene from fairy-land. + +"The king will soon be here," called out the head-steward of the table, +of the great court-lords, to the king's cup-bearer, who was a member of +the royal family. "Are all the wine-jugs full, has the wine been tasted, +are the goblets ranged in order, and the skins sent by Polykrates, have +they been emptied?" + +"Yes," answered the cup-bearer, "everything is ready, and that Chian +wine is better than any I ever tasted; indeed, in my opinion, even the +Syrian is not to be compared to it. Only taste it." + +So saying he took a graceful little golden goblet from the table in one +hand, raised a wine-pitcher of the same costly metal with the other, +swung the latter high into the air and poured the wine so cleverly into +the narrow neck of the little vessel that not a drop was lost, though the +liquid formed a wide curve in its descent. He then presented the goblet +to the head-steward with the tips of his fingers, bowing gracefully as he +did so. + +The latter sipped the delicious wine, testing its flavor with great +deliberation, and said, on returning the cup: "I agree with you, it is +indeed a noble wine, and tastes twice as well when presented with such +inimitable grace. Strangers are quite right in saying that there are no +cupbearers like the Persian." + +"Thanks for this praise," replied the other, kissing his friend's +forehead. "Yes, I am proud of my office, and it is one which the king +only gives to his friends. Still it is a great plague to have to stay so +long in this hot, suffocating Babylon. Shall we ever be off for the +summer, to Ecbatana or Pasargada?" + +"I was talking to the king about it to-day. He had intended not to leave +before the Massagetan war, and to go straight from Babylon into the +field, but to-day's embassy has changed matters; it is probable that +there may be no war, and then we shall go to Susa three days after the +king's marriage--that is, in one week from the present time." + +"To Susa?" cried the cup-bearer. "It's very little cooler there than +here, and besides, the old Memnon's castle is being rebuilt." + +"The satrap of Susa has just brought word that the new palace is +finished, and that nothing so brilliant has ever been seen. Directly +Cambyses heard, it he said: Then we will start for Susa three days after +our marriage. I should like to show the Egyptian Princess that we +understand the art of building as well as her own ancestors. She is +accustomed to hot weather on the Nile, and will not find our beautiful +Susa too warm.' The king seems wonderfully fond of this woman." + +"He does indeed! All other women have become perfectly indifferent to +him, and he means soon to make her his queen." + +"That is unjust; Phaedime, as daughter of the Achaemenidae, has an older +and better right." + +"No doubt, but whatever the king wishes, must be right." + +"The ruler's will is the will of God." + +"Well said! A true Persian will kiss his king's hand, even when dripping +with the blood of his own child." + +"Cambyses ordered my brother's execution, but I bear him no more ill-will +for it than I should the gods for depriving me of my parents. Here, you +fellows! draw the curtains back; the guests are coming. Look sharp, you +dogs, and do your duty! Farewell, Artabazos, we shall have warm work +to-night." + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +Death is so long and life so short +No man was allowed to ask anything of the gods for himself +Take heed lest pride degenerate into vainglory + + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AN EGYPTIAN PRINCESS, BY EBERS, V5 *** + +************This file should be named 5454.txt or 5454.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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