[NOTE: There is a short list of bookmarks, or pointers, at the end of thefile for those who may wish to sample the author's ideas before making anentire meal of them. D. W. ]

UARDA

Volume 1. 

By Georg Ebers

THE HISTORICAL ROMANCES OF GEORG EBERS

UARDA

A ROMANCE OF ANCIENT EGYPT

Translated from the German by Clara Bell

 DEDICATION. 

 Thou knowest well from what this book arose. When suffering seized and held me in its clasp Thy fostering hand released me from its grasp, And from amid the thorns there bloomed a rose. Air, dew, and sunshine were bestowed by Thee, And Thine it is; without these lines from me. 

PREFACE. 

In the winter of 1873 I spent some weeks in one of the tombs of theNecropolis of Thebes in order to study the monuments of that solemn cityof the dead; and during my long rides in the silent desert the germ wasdeveloped whence this book has since grown. The leisure of mind and bodyrequired to write it was given me through a long but not disablingillness. 

In the first instance I intended to elucidate this story--like my"Egyptian Princess"--with numerous and extensive notes placed at the end;but I was led to give up this plan from finding that it would lead me tothe repetition of much that I had written in the notes to that earlierwork. 

The numerous notes to the former novel had a threefold purpose. In thefirst place they served to explain the text; in the second they were aguarantee of the care with which I had striven to depict thearchaeological details in all their individuality from the records of themonuments and of Classic Authors; and thirdly I hoped to supply thereader who desired further knowledge of the period with some guide to hisstudies. 

In the present work I shall venture to content myself with the simplestatement that I have introduced nothing as proper to Egypt and to theperiod of Rameses that cannot be proved by some authority; the numerousmonuments which have descended to us from the time of the Rameses, infact enable the enquirer to understand much of the aspect and arrangementof Egyptian life, and to follow it step try step through the details ofreligious, public, and private life, even of particular individuals. Thesame remark cannot be made in regard to their mental life, and here manyan anachronism will slip in, many things will appear modern, and show thecoloring of the Christian mode of thought. 

Every part of this book is intelligible without the aid of notes; but, for the reader who seeks for further enlightenment, I have added somefoot-notes, and have not neglected to mention such works as afford moredetailed information on the subjects mentioned in the narrative. 

The reader who wishes to follow the mind of the author in this workshould not trouble himself with the notes as he reads, but merely at thebeginning of each chapter read over the notes which belong to theforegoing one. Every glance at the foot-notes must necessarily disturband injure the development of the tale as a work of art. The storystands here as it flowed from one fount, and was supplied with notes onlyafter its completion. 

A narrative of Herodotus combined with the Epos of Pentaur, of which somany copies have been handed down to us, forms the foundation of thestory. 

The treason of the Regent related by the Father of history is referableperhaps to the reign of the third and not of the second Rameses. But itis by no means certain that the Halicarnassian writer was in this casemisinformed; and in this fiction no history will be inculcated, only as abackground shall I offer a sketch of the time of Sesostris, from apicturesque point of view, but with the nearest possible approach totruth. It is true that to this end nothing has been neglected that couldbe learnt from the monuments or the papyri; still the book is only aromance, a poetic fiction, in which I wish all the facts derived fromhistory and all the costume drawn from the monuments to be regarded asincidental, and the emotions of the actors in the story as what I attachimportance to. 

But I must be allowed to make one observation. From studying theconventional mode of execution of ancient Egyptian art--which wasstrictly subject to the hieratic laws of type and proportion--we haveaccustomed ourselves to imagine the inhabitants of the Nile-valley in thetime of the Pharaohs as tall and haggard men with little distinction ofindividual physiognomy, and recently a great painter has sought torepresent them under this aspect in a modern picture. This is an error;the Egyptians, in spite of their aversion to foreigners and their strongattachment to their native soil, were one of the most intellectual andactive people of antiquity; and he who would represent them as theylived, and to that end copies the forms which remain painted on the wallsof the temples and sepulchres, is the accomplice of those priestlycorrupters of art who compelled the painters and sculptors of thePharaonic era to abandon truth to nature in favor of their sacred laws ofproportion. 

He who desires to paint the ancient Egyptians with truth and fidelity, must regard it in some sort as an act of enfranchisement; that is to say, he must release the conventional forms from those fetters which werepeculiar to their art and altogether foreign to their real life. Indeed, works of sculpture remain to us of the time of the first pyramid, whichrepresent men with the truth of nature, unfettered by the sacred canon. We can recall the so-called "Village Judge" of Bulaq, the "Scribe" now inParis, and a few figures in bronze in different museums, as well as thenoble and characteristic busts of all epochs, which amply prove how greatthe variety of individual physiognomy, and, with that, of individualcharacter was among the Egyptians. Alma Tadelna in London and GustavRichter in Berlin have, as painters, treated Egyptian subjects in amanner which the poet recognizes and accepts with delight. 

Many earlier witnesses than the late writer Flavius Vopiscus might bereferred to who show us the Egyptians as an industrious and peacefulpeople, passionately devoted it is true to all that pertains to the otherworld, but also enjoying the gifts of life to the fullest extent, naysometimes to excess. 

Real men, such as we see around us in actual life, not silhouettesconstructed to the old priestly scale such as the monuments show us--realliving men dwelt by the old Nile-stream; and the poet who would representthem must courageously seize on types out of the daily life of modern menthat surround him, without fear of deviating too far from reality, and, placing them in their own long past time, color them only and clothe themto correspond with it. 

I have discussed the authorities for the conception of love which I haveascribed to the ancients in the preface to the second edition of "AnEgyptian Princess. "

With these lines I send Uarda into the world; and in them I add my thanksto those dear friends in whose beautiful home, embowered in green, bird-haunted woods, I have so often refreshed my spirit and recovered mystrength, where I now write the last words of this book. 

 Rheinbollerhutte, September 22, 1876. GEORG EBERS. 

PREFACE

TO THE FIFTH GERMAN EDITION. 

The earlier editions of "Uarda" were published in such rapid succession, that no extensive changes in the stereotyped text could be made; but fromthe first issue, I have not ceased to correct it, and can now present tothe public this new fifth edition as a "revised" one. 

Having felt a constantly increasing affection for "Uarda" during the timeI was writing, the friendly and comprehensive attention bestowed upon itby our greatest critics and the favorable reception it met with in thevarious classes of society, afforded me the utmost pleasure. 

I owe the most sincere gratitude to the honored gentlemen, who called myattention to certain errors, and among them will name particularlyProfessor Paul Ascherson of Berlin, and Dr. C. Rohrbach of Gotha. Bothwill find their remarks regarding mistakes in the geographical locationof plants, heeded in this new edition. 

The notes, after mature deliberation, have been placed at the foot of thepages instead of at the end of the book. 

So many criticisms concerning the title "Uarda" have recently reached myears, that, rather by way of explanation than apology, I will here repeatwhat I said in the preface to the third edition. 

This title has its own history, and the more difficult it would be for meto defend it, the more ready I am to allow an advocate to speak for me, an advocate who bears a name no less distinguished than that of G. E. Lessing, who says:

"Nanine? (by Voltaire, 1749). What sort of title is that? Whatthoughts does it awake? Neither more nor less than a title shouldarouse. A title must not be a bill of fare. The less it betrays of thecontents, the better it is. Author and spectator are both satisfied, andthe ancients rarely gave their comedies anything but insignificantnames. "

This may be the case with "Uarda, " whose character is less prominent thansome others, it is true, but whose sorrows direct the destinies of myother heroes and heroines. 

Why should I conceal the fact? The character of "Uarda" and the presentstory have grown out of the memory of a Fellah girl, half child, halfmaiden, whom I saw suffer and die in a hut at Abu el Qurnah in theNecropolis of Thebes. 

I still persist in the conviction I have so frequently expressed, theconviction that the fundamental traits of the life of the soul haveundergone very trivial modifications among civilized nations in all timesand ages, but will endeavor to explain the contrary opinion, held by myopponents, by calling attention to the circumstance, that the expressionof these emotions show considerable variations among different peoples, and at different epochs. I believe that Juvenal, one of the ancientwriters who best understood human nature, was right in saying:

 "Nil erit ulterius, quod nostris moribus addat Posteritas: eadem cupient facientque minores. "

Leipsic, October 15th, 1877. 

U A R D A. 

CHAPTER I. 

By the walls of Thebes--the old city of a hundred gates--the Nile spreadsto a broad river; the heights, which follow the stream on both sides, here take a more decided outline; solitary, almost cone-shaped peaksstand out sharply from the level background of the many-colored. Limestone hills, on which no palm-tree flourishes and in which no humbledesert-plant can strike root. Rocky crevasses and gorges cut more orless deeply into the mountain range, and up to its ridge extends thedesert, destructive of all life, with sand and stones, with rocky cliffsand reef-like, desert hills. 

Behind the eastern range the desert spreads to the Red Sea; behind thewestern it stretches without limit, into infinity. In the belief of theEgyptians beyond it lay the region of the dead. 

Between these two ranges of hills, which serve as walls or ramparts tokeep back the desert-sand, flows the fresh and bounteous Nile, bestowingblessing and abundance; at once the father and the cradle of millions ofbeings. On each shore spreads the wide plain of black and fruitful soil, and in the depths many-shaped creatures, in coats of mail or scales, swarm and find subsistence. 

The lotos floats on the mirror of the waters, and among the papyrus reedsby the shore water-fowl innumerable build their nests. Between the riverand the mountain-range lie fields, which after the seed-time are of ashining blue-green, and towards the time of harvest glow like gold. Nearthe brooks and water-wheels here and there stands a shady sycamore; anddate-palms, carefully tended, group themselves in groves. The fruitfulplain, watered and manured every year by the inundation, lies at the footof the sandy desert-hills behind it, and stands out like a garden flower-bed from the gravel-path. 

In the fourteenth century before Christ--for to so remote a date we mustdirect the thoughts of the reader--impassable limits had been set by thehand of man, in many places in Thebes, to the inroads of the water; highdykes of stone and embankments protected the streets and squares, thetemples and the palaces, from the overflow. 

Canals that could be tightly closed up led from the dykes to the landwithin, and smaller branch-cuttings to the gardens of Thebes. 

On the right, the eastern bank of the Nile, rose the buildings of thefar-famed residence of the Pharaohs. Close by the river stood theimmense and gaudy Temples of the city of Amon; behind these and at ashort distance from the Eastern hills--indeed at their very foot andpartly even on the soil of the desert--were the palaces of the King andnobles, and the shady streets in which the high narrow houses of thecitizens stood in close rows. 

Life was gay and busy in the streets of the capital of the Pharaohs. 

The western shore of the Nile showed a quite different scene. Here toothere was no lack of stately buildings or thronging men; but while on thefarther side of the river there was a compact mass of houses, and thecitizens went cheerfully and openly about their day's work, on this sidethere were solitary splendid structures, round which little houses andhuts seemed to cling as children cling to the protection of a mother. And these buildings lay in detached groups. 

Any one climbing the hill and looking down would form the notion thatthere lay below him a number of neighboring villages, each with itslordly manor house. Looking from the plain up to the precipice of thewestern hills, hundreds of closed portals could be seen, some solitary, others closely ranged in rows; a great number of them towards the foot ofthe slope, yet more half-way up, and a few at a considerable height. 

And even more dissimilar were the slow-moving, solemn groups in theroadways on this side, and the cheerful, confused throng yonder. There, on the eastern shore, all were in eager pursuit of labor or recreation, stirred by pleasure or by grief, active in deed and speech; here, in thewest, little was spoken, a spell seemed to check the footstep of thewanderer, a pale hand to sadden the bright glance of every eye, and tobanish the smile from every lip. 

And yet many a gaily-dressed bark stopped at the shore, there was no lackof minstrel bands, grand processions passed on to the western heights;but the Nile boats bore the dead, the songs sung here were songs oflamentation, and the processions consisted of mourners following thesarcophagus. 

We are standing on the soil of the City of the Dead of Thebes. 

Nevertheless even here nothing is wanting for return and revival, for tothe Egyptian his dead died not. He closed his eyes, he bore him to theNecropolis, to the house of the embalmer, or Kolchytes, and then to thegrave; but he knew that the souls of the departed lived on; that thejustified absorbed into Osiris floated over the Heavens in the vessel ofthe Sun; that they appeared on earth in the form they choose to take uponthem, and that they might exert influence on the current of the lives ofthe survivors. So he took care to give a worthy interment to his dead, above all to have the body embalmed so as to endure long: and had fixedtimes to bring fresh offerings for the dead of flesh and fowl, withdrink-offerings and sweet-smelling essences, and vegetables and flowers. 

Neither at the obsequies nor at the offerings might the ministers of thegods be absent, and the silent City of the Dead was regarded as a favoredsanctuary in which to establish schools and dwellings for the learned. 

So it came to pass that in the temples and on the site Of the Necropolis, large communities of priests dwelt together, and close to the extensiveembalming houses lived numerous Kolchytes, who handed down the secrets oftheir art from father to son. 

Besides these there were other manufactories and shops. In the former, sarcophagi of stone and of wood, linen bands for enveloping mummies, andamulets for decorating them, were made; in the latter, merchants keptspices and essences, flowers, fruits, vegetables and pastry for sale. Calves, gazelles, goats, geese and other fowl, were fed on enclosedmeadow-plats, and the mourners betook themselves thither to select whatthey needed from among the beasts pronounced by the priests to be cleanfor sacrifice, and to have them sealed with the sacred seal. Many boughtonly part of a victim at the shambles--the poor could not even do this. They bought only colored cakes in the shape of beasts, which symbolicallytook the place of the calves and geese which their means were unable toprocure. In the handsomest shops sat servants of the priests, whoreceived forms written on rolls of papyrus which were filled up in thewriting room of the temple with those sacred verses which the departedspirit must know and repeat to ward off the evil genius of the deep, toopen the gate of the under world, and to be held righteous before Osirisand the forty-two assessors of the subterranean court of justice. 

What took place within the temples was concealed from view, for each wassurrounded by a high enclosing wall with lofty, carefully-closed portals, which were only opened when a chorus of priests came out to sing a pioushymn, in the morning to Horus the rising god, and in the evening to Tumthe descending god. 

 [The course of the Sun was compared to that of the life of Man. He rose as the child Horns, grew by midday to the hero Ra, who conquered the Uraeus snake for his diadem, and by evening was an old Man, Tum. Light had been born of darkness, hence Tum was regarded as older than Horns and the other gods of light. ]

As soon as the evening hymn of the priests was heard, the Necropolis wasdeserted, for the mourners and those who were visiting the graves wererequired by this time to return to their boats and to quit the City ofthe Dead. Crowds of men who had marched in the processions of the westbank hastened in disorder to the shore, driven on by the body of watchmenwho took it in turns to do this duty and to protect the graves againstrobbers. The merchants closed their booths, the embalmers and workmenended their day's work and retired to their houses, the priests returnedto the temples, and the inns were filled with guests, who had come hitheron long pilgrimages from a distance, and who preferred passing the nightin the vicinity of the dead whom they had come to visit, to going acrossto the bustling noisy city farther shore. 

The voices of the singers and of the wailing women were hushed, even thesong of the sailors on the numberless ferry boats from the western shoreto Thebes died away, its faint echo was now and then borne across on theevening air, and at last all was still. 

A cloudless sky spread over the silent City of the Dead, now and thendarkened for an instant by the swiftly passing shade of a bat returningto its home in a cave or cleft of the rock after flying the whole eveningnear the Nile to catch flies, to drink, and so prepare itself for thenext day's sleep. From time to time black forms with long shadowsglided over the still illuminated plain--the jackals, who at this hourfrequented the shore to slake their thirst, and often fearlessly showedthemselves in troops in the vicinity of the pens of geese and goats. 

It was forbidden to hunt these robbers, as they were accounted sacred tothe god Anubis, the tutelary of sepulchres; and indeed they did littlemischief, for they found abundant food in the tombs. 

 [The jackal-headed god Anubis was the son of Osiris and Nephthys, and the jackal was sacred to him. In the earliest ages even he is prominent in the nether world. He conducts the mummifying process, preserves the corpse, guards the Necropolis, and, as Hermes Psychopompos (Hermanubis), opens the way for the souls. According to Plutarch "He is the watch of the gods as the dog is the watch of men. "]

The remnants of the meat offerings from the altars were consumed by them;to the perfect satisfaction of the devotees, who, when they found that bythe following day the meat had disappeared, believed that it had beenaccepted and taken away by the spirits of the underworld. 

They also did the duty of trusty watchers, for they were a dangerous foefor any intruder who, under the shadow of the night, might attempt toviolate a grave. 

Thus--on that summer evening of the year 1352 B. C. , when we invite thereader to accompany us to the Necropolis of Thebes--after the priests'hymn had died away, all was still in the City of the Dead. 

The soldiers on guard were already returning from their first round whensuddenly, on the north side of the Necropolis, a dog barked loudly; soona second took up the cry, a third, a fourth. The captain of the watchcalled to his men to halt, and, as the cry of the dogs spread and grewlouder every minute, commanded them to march towards the north. 

The little troop had reached the high dyke which divided the west bank ofthe Nile from a branch canal, and looked from thence over the plain asfar as the river and to the north of the Necropolis. Once more the wordto "halt" was given, and as the guard perceived the glare of torches inthe direction where the dogs were barking loudest, they hurried forwardand came up with the author of the disturbance near the Pylon of thetemple erected by Seti I. , the deceased father of the reigning KingRameses II. 

 [The two pyramidal towers joined by a gateway which formed the entrance to an Egyptian temple were called the Pylon. ]

The moon was up, and her pale light flooded the stately structure, whilethe walls glowed with the ruddy smoky light of the torches which flaredin the hands of black attendants. 

A man of sturdy build, in sumptuous dress, was knocking at the brass-covered temple door with the metal handle of a whip, so violently thatthe blows rang far and loud through the night. Near him stood a litter, and a chariot, to which were harnessed two fine horses. In the littersat a young woman, and in the carriage, next to the driver, was the tallfigure of a lady. Several men of the upper classes and many servantsstood around the litter and the chariot. Few words were exchanged; thewhole attention of the strangely lighted groups seemed concentrated onthe temple-gate. The darkness concealed the features of individuals, butthe mingled light of the moon and the torches was enough to reveal to thegate-keeper, who looked down on the party from a tower of the Pylon, thatit was composed of persons of the highest rank; nay, perhaps of the royalfamily. 

He called aloud to the one who knocked, and asked him what was his will. 

He looked up, and in a voice so rough and imperious, that the lady in thelitter shrank in horror as its tones suddenly violated the place of thedead, he cried out--"How long are we to wait here for you--you dirtyhound? Come down and open the door and then ask questions. If thetorch-light is not bright enough to show you who is waiting, I will scoreour name on your shoulders with my whip, and teach you how to receiveprincely visitors. "

While the porter muttered an unintelligible answer and came down thesteps within to open the door, the lady in the chariot turned to herimpatient companion and said in a pleasant but yet decided voice, "Youforget, Paaker, that you are back again in Egypt, and that here you haveto deal not with the wild Schasu, --[A Semitic race of robbers in the castof Egypt. ]--but with friendly priests of whom we have to solicit a favor. We have always had to lament your roughness, which seems to me very ill-suited to the unusual circumstances under which we approach thissanctuary. "

Although these words were spoken in a tone rather of regret than ofblame, they wounded the sensibilities of the person addressed; his widenostrils began to twitch ominously, he clenched his right hand over thehandle of his whip, and, while he seemed to be bowing humbly, he strucksuch a heavy blow on the bare leg of a slave who was standing near tohim, an old Ethiopian, that he shuddered as if from sudden cold, though-knowing his lord only too well--he let no cry of pain escape him. Meanwhile the gate-keeper had opened the door, and with him a tall youngpriest stepped out into the open air to ask the will of the intruders. 

Paaker would have seized the opportunity of speaking, but the lady in thechariot interposed and said:

"I am Bent-Anat, the daughter of the King, and this lady in the litter isNefert, the wife of the noble Mena, the charioteer of my father. We weregoing in company with these gentlemen to the north-west valley of theNecropolis to see the new works there. You know the narrow pass in therocks which leads up the gorge. On the way home I myself held the reinsand I had the misfortune to drive over a girl who sat by the road with abasket full of flowers, and to hurt her--to hurt her very badly I amafraid. The wife of Mena with her own hands bound up the child, and thenshe carried her to her father's house--he is a paraschites--[One whoopened the bodies of the dead to prepare them for being embalmed. ]--Pinem is his name. I know not whether he is known to you. "

"Thou hast been into his house, Princess?"

"Indeed, I was obliged, holy father, " she replied, "I know of course thatI have defiled myself by crossing the threshold of these people, but--"

"But, " cried the wife of Mena, raising herself in her litter, "Bent-Anatcan in a day be purified by thee or by her house-priest, while she canhardly--or perhaps never--restore the child whole and sound again to theunhappy father. "

"Still, the den of a paraschites is above every thing unclean, " said thechamberlain Penbesa, master of the ceremonies to the princess, interrupting the wife of Mena, "and I did not conceal my opinion whenBent-Anat announced her intention of visiting the accursed hole inperson. I suggested, " he continued, turning to the priest, "that sheshould let the girl be taken home, and send a royal present to thefather. "

"And the princess?" asked the priest. 

"She acted, as she always does, on her own judgment, " replied the masterof the ceremonies. 

"And that always hits on the right course, " cried the wife of Mena. 

"Would to God it were so!" said the princess in a subdued voice. Thenshe continued, addressing the priest, "Thou knowest the will of the Godsand the hearts of men, holy father, and I myself know that I give almswillingly and help the poor even when there is none to plead for them buttheir poverty. But after what has occurred here, and to these unhappypeople, it is I who come as a suppliant. "

"Thou?" said the chamberlain. 

"I, " answered the princess with decision. The priest who up to thismoment had remained a silent witness of the scene raised his right handas in blessing and spoke. 

"Thou hast done well. The Hathors fashioned thy heart and the Lady ofTruth guides it. Thou hast broken in on our night-prayers to request usto send a doctor to the injured girl?"

 [Hathor was Isis under a substantial form. She is the goddess of the pure, light heaven, and bears the Sun-disk between cow-horns on a cow's head or on a human head with cow's ears. She was named the Fair, and all the pure joys of life are in her gift. Later she was regarded as a Muse who beautifies life with enjoyment, love, song, and the dance. She appears as a good fairy by the cradle of children and decides their lot in life. She bears many names: and several, generally seven, Hathors were represented, who personified the attributes and influence of the goddess. ]

"Thou hast said. "

"I will ask the high-priest to send the best leech for outward woundsimmediately to the child. But where is the house of the paraschitesPinem? I do not know it. "

"Northwards from the terrace of Hatasu, --[A great queen of the 18thdynasty and guardian of two Pharaohs]--close to--; but I will charge oneof my attendants to conduct the leech. Besides, I want to know early inthe morning how the child is doing. --Paaker. "

The rough visitor, whom we already know, thus called upon, bowed to theearth, his arms hanging by his sides, and asked:

"What dost thou command?"

"I appoint you guide to the physician, " said the princess. "It will beeasy to the king's pioneer to find the little half-hidden house again--

 [The title here rendered pioneer was that of an officer whose duties were those at once of a scout and of a Quarter-Master General. In unknown and comparatively savage countries it was an onerous post. --Translator. ]

besides, you share my guilt, for, " she added, turning to the priest, "I confess that the misfortune happened because I would try with myhorses to overtake Paaker's Syrian racers, which he declared to beswifter than the Egyptian horses. It was a mad race. "

"And Amon be praised that it ended as it did, " exclaimed the master ofthe ceremonies. "Packer's chariot lies dashed in pieces in the valley, and his best horse is badly hurt. "

"He will see to him when he has taken the physician to the house of theparaschites, " said the princess. "Dost thou know, Penbesa--thou anxiousguardian of a thoughtless girl--that to-day for the first time I am gladthat my father is at the war in distant Satiland?"--[Asia]. 

"He would not have welcomed us kindly!" said the master of theceremonies, laughing. 

"But the leech, the leech!" cried Bent-Anat. "Packer, it is settledthen. You will conduct him, and bring us to-morrow morning news of thewounded girl. "

Paaker bowed; the princess bowed her head; the priest and his companions, who meanwhile had come out of the temple and joined him, raised theirhands in blessing, and the belated procession moved towards the Nile. 

Paaker remained alone with his two slaves; the commission with which theprincess had charged him greatly displeased him. So long as themoonlight enabled him to distinguish the litter of Mena's wife, he gazedafter it; then he endeavored to recollect the position of the hut of theparaschites. The captain of the watch still stood with the guard at thegate of the temple. 

"Do you know the dwelling of Pinem the paraschites?" asked Paaker. 

"What do you want with him?"

"That is no concern of yours, " retorted Paaker. 

"Lout!" exclaimed the captain, "left face and forwards, my men. "

"Halt!" cried Paaker in a rage. "I am the king's chief pioneer. "

"Then you will all the more easily find the way back by which you came. March. "

The words were followed by a peal of many-voiced laughter: the re-echoinginsult so confounded Paaker that he dropped his whip on the ground. Theslave, whom a short time since he had struck with it, humbly picked it upand then followed his lord into the fore court of the temple. Bothattributed the titter, which they still could hear without being able todetect its origin, to wandering spirits. But the mocking tones had beenheard too by the old gate-keeper, and the laughers were better known tohim than to the king's pioneer; he strode with heavy steps to the door ofthe temple through the black shadow of the pylon, and striking blindlybefore him called out--

"Ah! you good-for-nothing brood of Seth. 

 [The Typhon of the Greeks. The enemy of Osiris, of truth, good and purity. Discord and strife in nature. Horns who fights against him for his father Osiris, can throw him and stun him, but never annihilate him. ]

"You gallows-birds and brood of hell--I am coming. "

The giggling ceased; a few youthful figures appeared in the moonlight, the old man pursued them panting, and, after a short chase, a troop ofyouths fled back through the temple gate. 

The door-keeper had succeeded in catching one miscreant, a boy ofthirteen, and held him so tight by the ear that his pretty head seemed tohave grown in a horizontal direction from his shoulders. 

"I will take you before the school-master, you plague-of-locusts, youswarm of bats!" cried the old man out of breath. But the dozen ofschool-boys, who had availed themselves of the opportunity to break outof bounds, gathered coaxing round him, with words of repentance, thoughevery eye sparkled with delight at the fun they had had, and of which noone could deprive them; and when the biggest of them took the old man'schin, and promised to give him the wine which his mother was to send himnext day for the week's use, the porter let go his prisoner--who tried torub the pain out of his burning ear--and cried out in harsher tones thanbefore:

"You will pay me, will you, to let you off! Do you think I will let yourtricks pass? You little know this old man. I will complain to the Gods, not to the school-master; and as for your wine, youngster, I will offerit as a libation, that heaven may forgive you. "

CHAPTER II. 

The temple where, in the fore-court, Paaker was waiting, and where thepriest had disappeared to call the leech, was called the "House of Seti"--[It is still standing and known as the temple of Qurnah. ]--and was oneof the largest in the City of the Dead. Only that magnificent buildingof the time of the deposed royal race of the reigning king's grandfather--that temple which had been founded by Thotmes III. , and whose gate-wayAmenophis III. Had adorned with immense colossal statues--[That whichstands to the north is the famous musical statue, or Pillar of Memmon]--exceeded it in the extent of its plan; in every other respect it held thepre-eminence among the sanctuaries of the Necropolis. Rameses I. Hadfounded it shortly after he succeeded in seizing the Egyptian throne; andhis yet greater son Seti carried on the erection, in which the service ofthe dead for the Manes of the members of the new royal family wasconducted, and the high festivals held in honor of the Gods of the under-world. Great sums had been expended for its establishment, for themaintenance of the priesthood of its sanctuary, and the support of theinstitutions connected with it. These were intended to be equal to thegreat original foundations of priestly learning at Heliopolis andMemphis; they were regulated on the same pattern, and with the object ofraising the new royal residence of Upper Egypt, namely Thebes, above thecapitals of Lower Egypt in regard to philosophical distinction. 

One of the most important of these foundations was a very celebratedschool of learning. 

 [Every detail of this description of an Egyptian school is derived from sources dating from the reign of Rameses II. And his successor, Merneptah. ]

First there was the high-school, in which priests, physicians, judges, mathematicians, astronomers, grammarians, and other learned men, not onlyhad the benefit of instruction, but, subsequently, when they had wonadmission to the highest ranks of learning, and attained the dignity of"Scribes, " were maintained at the cost of the king, and enabled to pursuetheir philosophical speculations and researches, in freedom from allcare, and in the society of fellow-workers of equal birth and identicalinterests. 

An extensive library, in which thousands of papyrus-rolls were preserved, and to which a manufactory of papyrus was attached, was at the disposalof the learned; and some of them were intrusted with the education of theyounger disciples, who had been prepared in the elementary school, whichwas also dependent on the House--or university--of Seti. The lowerschool was open to every son of a free citizen, and was often frequentedby several hundred boys, who also found night-quarters there. Theparents were of course required either to pay for their maintenance, orto send due supplies of provisions for the keep of their children atschool. 

In a separate building lived the temple-boarders, a few sons of thenoblest families, who were brought up by the priests at a great expenseto their parents. 

Seti I. , the founder of this establishment, had had his own sons, notexcepting Rameses, his successor, educated here. 

The elementary schools were strictly ruled, and the rod played so large apart in them, that a pedagogue could record this saying: "The scholar'sears are at his back: when he is flogged then he hears. "

Those youths who wished to pass up from the lower to the high-school hadto undergo an examination. The student, when he had passed it, couldchoose a master from among the learned of the higher grades, whoundertook to be his philosophical guide, and to whom he remained attachedall his life through, as a client to his patron. He could obtain thedegree of "Scribe" and qualify for public office by a second examination. 

Near to these schools of learning there stood also a school of art, inwhich instruction was given to students who desired to devote themselvesto architecture, sculpture, or painting; in these also the learner mightchoose his master. 

Every teacher in these institutions belonged to the priesthood of theHouse of Seti. It consisted of more than eight hundred members, dividedinto five classes, and conducted by three so-called Prophets. 

The first prophet was the high-priest of the House of Seti, and at thesame time the superior of all the thousands of upper and under servantsof the divinities which belonged to the City of the Dead of Thebes. 

The temple of Seti proper was a massive structure of limestone. A row ofSphinxes led from the Nile to the surrounding wall, and to the first vastpro-pylon, which formed the entrance to a broad fore-court, enclosed onthe two sides by colonnades, and beyond which stood a second gate-way. When he had passed through this door, which stood between two towers, inshape like truncated pyramids, the stranger came to a second courtresembling the first, closed at the farther end by a noble row ofpillars, which formed part of the central temple itself. 

The innermost and last was dimly lighted by a few lamps. 

Behind the temple of Seti stood large square structures of brick of theNile mud, which however had a handsome and decorative effect, as thehumble material of which they were constructed was plastered with lime, and that again was painted with colored pictures and hieroglyphicinscriptions. 

The internal arrangement of all these houses was the same. In the midstwas an open court, on to which opened the doors of the rooms of thepriests and philosophers. On each side of the court was a shady, coveredcolonnade of wood, and in the midst a tank with ornamental plants. Inthe upper story were the apartments for the scholars, and instruction wasusually given in the paved courtyard strewn with mats. 

The most imposing was the house of the chief prophets; it wasdistinguished by its waving standards and stood about a hundred pacesbehind the temple of Seti, between a well kept grove and a clear lake--the sacred tank of the temple; but they only occupied it while fulfillingtheir office, while the splendid houses which they lived in with theirwives and children, lay on the other side of the river, in Thebes proper. 

The untimely visit to the temple could not remain unobserved by thecolony of sages. Just as ants when a hand breaks in on their dwelling, hurry restlessly hither and thither, so an unwonted stir had agitated, not the school-boys only, but the teachers and the priests. Theycollected in groups near the outer walls, asking questions and hazardingguesses. A messenger from the king had arrived--the princess Bent-Anathad been attacked by the Kolchytes--and a wag among the school-boys whohad got out, declared that Paaker, the king's pioneer, had been broughtinto the temple by force to be made to learn to write better. As thesubject of the joke had formerly been a pupil of the House of Seti, andmany delectable stories of his errors in penmanship still survived in thememory of the later generation of scholars, this information was receivedwith joyful applause; and it seemed to have a glimmer of probability, inspite of the apparent contradiction that Paaker filled one of the highestoffices near the king, when a grave young priest declared that he hadseen the pioneer in the forecourt of the temple. 

The lively discussion, the laughter and shouting of the boys at such anunwonted hour, was not unobserved by the chief priest. 

This remarkable prelate, Ameni the son of Nebket, a scion of an old andnoble family, was far more than merely the independent head of thetemple-brotherhood, among whom he was prominent for his power and wisdom;for all the priesthood in the length and breadth of the land acknowledgedhis supremacy, asked his advice in difficult cases, and never resistedthe decisions in spiritual matters which emanated from the House of Seti--that is to say, from Ameni. He was the embodiment of the priestlyidea; and if at times he made heavy--nay extraordinary--demands onindividual fraternities, they were submitted to, for it was known byexperience that the indirect roads which he ordered them to follow allconverged on one goal, namely the exaltation of the power and dignity ofthe hierarchy. The king appreciated this remarkable man, and had longendeavored to attach him to the court, as keeper of the royal seal; butAmeni was not to be induced to give up his apparently modest position;for he contemned all outward show and ostentatious titles; he venturedsometimes to oppose a decided resistance to the measures of the Pharaoh, [Pharaoh is the Hebrew form of the Egyptian Peraa--or Phrah. "The great house, " "sublime house, " or "high gate" is the literal meaning. ]

and was not minded to give up his unlimited control of the priests forthe sake of a limited dominion over what seemed to him petty externalconcerns, in the service of a king who was only too independent and hardto influence. 

He regularly arranged his mode and habits of life in an exceptional way. 

Eight days out of ten he remained in the temple entrusted to his charge;two he devoted to his family, who lived on the other bank of the Nile;but he let no one, not even those nearest to him, know what portion ofthe ten days he gave up to recreation. He required only four hours ofsleep. This he usually took in a dark room which no sound could reach, and in the middle of the day; never at night, when the coolness and quietseemed to add to his powers of work, and when from time to time he couldgive himself up to the study of the starry heavens. 

All the ceremonials that his position required of him, the cleansing, purification, shaving, and fasting he fulfilled with painful exactitude, and the outer bespoke the inner man. 

Ameni was entering on his fiftieth year; his figure was tall, and hadescaped altogether the stoutness to which at that age the Oriental isliable. The shape of his smoothly-shaven head was symmetrical and of along oval; his forehead was neither broad nor high, but his profile wasunusually delicate, and his face striking; his lips were thin and dry, and his large and piercing eyes, though neither fiery nor brilliant, andusually cast down to the ground under his thick eyebrows, were raisedwith a full, clear, dispassionate gaze when it was necessary to see andto examine. 

The poet of the House of Seti, the young Pentaur, who knew these eyes, had celebrated them in song, and had likened them to a well-disciplinedarmy which the general allows to rest before and after the battle, sothat they may march in full strength to victory in the fight. 

The refined deliberateness of his nature had in it much that was royal aswell as priestly; it was partly intrinsic and born with him, partly theresult of his own mental self-control. He had many enemies, but calumnyseldom dared to attack the high character of Amemi. 

The high-priest looked up in astonishment, as the disturbance in thecourt of the temple broke in on his studies. 

The room in which he was sitting was spacious and cool; the lower part ofthe walls was lined with earthenware tiles, the upper half plastered andpainted. But little was visible of the masterpieces of the artists ofthe establishment, for almost everywhere they were concealed by woodenclosets and shelves, in which were papyrus-rolls and wax-tablets. Alarge table, a couch covered with a panther's skin, a footstool in frontof it, and on it a crescent-shaped support for the head, made of ivory, [A support of crescent form on which the Egyptians rested their heads. Many specimens were found in the catacombs, and similar objects are still used in Nubia]

several seats, a stand with beakers and jugs, and another with flasks ofall sizes, saucers, and boxes, composed the furniture of the room, whichwas lighted by three lamps, shaped like birds and filled with kiki oil. --[Castor oil, which was used in the lamps. ]

Ameni wore a fine pleated robe of snow-white linen, which reached to hisankles, round his hips was a scarf adorned with fringes, which in frontformed an apron, with broad, stiffened ends which fell to his knees; awide belt of white and silver brocade confined the drapery of his robe. Round his throat and far down on his bare breast hung a necklace morethan a span deep, composed of pearls and agates, and his upper arm wascovered with broad gold bracelets. He rose from the ebony seat withlion's feet, on which he sat, and beckoned to a servant who squatted byone of the walls of the sitting-room. He rose and without any word ofcommand from his master, he silently and carefully placed on the high-priest's bare head a long and thick curled wig, [Egyptians belonging to the higher classes wore wigs on their shaven heads. Several are preserved in museums. ]

and threw a leopard-skin, with its head and claws overlaid with gold-leaf, over his shoulders. A second servant held a metal mirror beforeAmeni, in which he cast a look as he settled the panther-skin and head-gear. 

A third servant was handing him the crosier, the insignia of his dignityas a prelate, when a priest entered and announced the scribe Pentaur. 

Ameni nodded, and the young priest who had talked with the princess Bent-Anat at the temple-gate came into the room. 

Pentaur knelt and kissed the hand of the prelate, who gave him hisblessing, and in a clear sweet voice, and rather formal and unfamiliarlanguage--as if he were reading rather than speaking, said:

"Rise, my son; your visit will save me a walk at this untimely hour, since you can inform me of what disturbs the disciples in our temple. Speak. "

"Little of consequence has occurred, holy father, " replied Pentaur. "Norwould I have disturbed thee at this hour, but that a quite unnecessarytumult has been raised by the youths; and that the princess Bent-Anatappeared in person to request the aid of a physician. The unusual hourand the retinue that followed her--"

"Is the daughter of Pharaoh sick?" asked the prelate. 

"No, father. She is well--even to wantonness, since--wishing to provethe swiftness of her horses--she ran over the daughter of the paraschitesPinem. Noble-hearted as she is, she herself carried the sorely-woundedgirl to her house. "

"She entered the dwelling of the unclean. "

"Thou hast said. "

"And she now asks to be purified?"

"I thought I might venture to absolve her, father, for the puresthumanity led her to the act, which was no doubt a breach of discipline, but--"

"But, " asked the high-priest in a grave voice and he raised his eyeswhich he had hitherto on the ground. 

"But, " said the young priest, and now his eyes fell, "which can surely beno crime. When Ra--[The Egyptian Sun-god. ]--in his golden bark sailsacross the heavens, his light falls as freely and as bountifully on thehut of the despised poor as on the Palace of the Pharaohs; and shall thetender human heart withhold its pure light--which is benevolence--fromthe wretched, only because they are base?"

"It is the poet Pentaur that speaks, " said the prelate, "and not thepriest to whom the privilege was given to be initiated into the highestgrade of the sages, and whom I call my brother and my equal. I have noadvantage over you, young man, but perishable learning, which the pasthas won for you as much as for me--nothing but certain perceptions andexperiences that offer nothing new, to the world, but teach us, indeed, that it is our part to maintain all that is ancient in living efficacyand practice. That which you promised a few weeks since, I many yearsago vowed to the Gods; to guard knowledge as the exclusive possession ofthe initiated. Like fire, it serves those who know its uses to thenoblest ends, but in the hands of children--and the people, the mob, cannever ripen into manhood--it is a destroying brand, raging andunextinguishable, devouring all around it, and destroying all that hasbeen built and beautified by the past. And how can we remain the Sagesand continue to develop and absorb all learning within the shelter of ourtemples, not only without endangering the weak, but for their benefit?You know and have sworn to act after that knowledge. To bind the crowdto the faith and the institutions of the fathers is your duty--is theduty of every priest. Times have changed, my son; under the old kingsthe fire, of which I spoke figuratively to you--the poet--was enclosed inbrazen walls which the people passed stupidly by. Now I see breaches inthe old fortifications; the eyes of the uninitiated have been sharpened, and one tells the other what he fancies he has spied, though half-blinded, through the glowing rifts. "

A slight emotion had given energy to the tones of the speaker, and whilehe held the poet spell-bound with his piercing glance he continued:

"We curse and expel any one of the initiated who enlarges these breaches;we punish even the friend who idly neglects to repair and close them withbeaten brass!"

"My father!" cried Pentaur, raising his head in astonishment while theblood mounted to his cheeks. The high-priest went up to him and laidboth hands on his shoulders. 

They were of equal height and of equally symmetrical build; even theoutline of their features was similar. Nevertheless no one would havetaken them to be even distantly related; their countenances were soinfinitely unlike in expression. 

On the face of one were stamped a strong will and the power of firmlyguiding his life and commanding himself; on the other, an amiable desireto overlook the faults and defects of the world, and to contemplate lifeas it painted itself in the transfiguring magic-mirror of his poet'ssoul. Frankness and enjoyment spoke in his sparkling eye, but the subtlesmile on his lips when he was engaged in a discussion, or when his soulwas stirred, betrayed that Pentaur, far from childlike carelessness, hadfought many a severe mental battle, and had tasted the dark waters ofdoubt. 

At this moment mingled feelings were struggling in his soul. He felt asif he must withstand the speaker; and yet the powerful presence of theother exercised so strong an influence over his mind, long trained tosubmission, that he was silent, and a pious thrill passed through himwhen Ameni's hands were laid on his shoulders. 

"I blame you, " said the high-priest, while he firmly held the young man, "nay, to my sorrow I must chastise you; and yet, " he said, stepping backand taking his right hand, "I rejoice in the necessity, for I love youand honor you, as one whom the Unnameable has blessed with high gifts anddestined to great things. Man leaves a weed to grow unheeded or roots itup but you are a noble tree, and I am like the gardener who has forgottento provide it with a prop, and who is now thankful to have detected abend that reminds him of his neglect. You look at me enquiringly, and Ican see in your eyes that I seem to you a severe judge. Of what are youaccused? You have suffered an institution of the past to be set aside. It does not matter--so the short-sighted and heedless think; but I say toyou, you have doubly transgressed, because the wrong-doer was the king'sdaughter, whom all look up to, great and small, and whose actions mayserve as an example to the people. On whom then must a breach of theancient institutions lie with the darkest stain if not on the highest inrank? In a few days it will be said the paraschites are men even as weare, and the old law to avoid them as unclean is folly. And will thereflections of the people, think you, end there, when it is so easy forthem to say that he who errs in one point may as well fail in all? Inquestions of faith, my son, nothing is insignificant. If we open onetower to the enemy he is master of the whole fortress. In theseunsettled times our sacred lore is like a chariot on the declivity of aprecipice, and under the wheels thereof a stone. A child takes away thestone, and the chariot rolls down into the abyss and is dashed to pieces. Imagine the princess to be that child, and the stone a loaf that shewould fain give to feed a beggar. Would you then give it to her if yourfather and your mother and all that is dear and precious to you were inthe chariot? Answer not! the princess will visit the paraschites againto-morrow. You must await her in the man's hut, and there inform herthat she has transgressed and must crave to be purified by us. For thistime you are excused from any further punishment. 

"Heaven has bestowed on you a gifted soul. Strive for that which iswanting to you--the strength to subdue, to crush for One--and you knowthat One--all things else--even the misguiding voice of your heart, thetreacherous voice of your judgment. --But stay! send leeches to the houseof the paraschites, and desire them to treat the injured girl as thoughshe were the queen herself. Who knows where the man dwells?"

"The princess, " replied Pentaur, "has left Paaker, the king's pioneer, behind in the temple to conduct the leeches to the house of Pinem. "

The grave high-priest smiled and said. "Paaker! to attend the daughterof a paraschites. "

Pentaur half beseechingly and half in fun raised his eyes which he hadkept cast down. "And Pentaur, " he murmured, "the gardener's son! who isto refuse absolution to the king's daughter!"

"Pentaur, the minister of the Gods--Pentaur, the priest--has not to dowith the daughter of the king, but with the transgressor of the sacredinstitutions, " replied Ameni gravely. "Let Paaker know I wish to speakwith him. "

The poet bowed low and quitted the room, the high priest muttered tohimself: "He is not yet what he should be, and speech is of no effectwith him. "

For a while lie was silent, walking to and fro in meditation; then hesaid half aloud, "And the boy is destined to great things. What gifts ofthe Gods doth he lack? He has the faculty of learning--of thinking--offeeling--of winning all hearts, even mine. He keeps himself undefiledand separate--"suddenly the prelate paused and struck his hand on theback of a chair that stood by him. "I have it; he has not yet felt thefire of ambition. We will light it for his profit and our own. "

CHAPTER III. 

Pentauer hastened to execute the commands of the high-priest. He sent aservant to escort Paaker, who was waiting in the forecourt, into thepresence of Ameni while he himself repaired to the physicians to impresson them the most watchful care of the unfortunate girl. 

Many proficients in the healing arts were brought up in the house ofSeti, but few used to remain after passing the examination for the degreeof Scribe. 

 [What is here stated with regard to the medical schools is principally derived from the medical writings of the Egyptians themselves, among which the "Ebers Papyrus" holds the first place, "Medical Papyrus I. " of Berlin the second, and a hieratic MS. In London which, like the first mentioned, has come down to us from the 18th dynasty, takes the third. Also see Herodotus II. 84. Diodorus I. 82. ]

The most gifted were sent to Heliopolis, where flourished, in the great"Hall of the Ancients, " the most celebrated medical faculty of the wholecountry, whence they returned to Thebes, endowed with the highest honorsin surgery, in ocular treatment, or in any other branch of theirprofession, and became physicians to the king or made a living byimparting their learning and by being called in to consult on seriouscases. 

Naturally most of the doctors lived on the east bank of the Nile, inThebes proper, and even in private houses with their families; but eachwas attached to a priestly college. 

Whoever required a physician sent for him, not to his own house, but to atemple. There a statement was required of the complaint from which thesick was suffering, and it was left to the principal medical staff of thesanctuary to select that of the healing art whose special knowledgeappeared to him to be suited for the treatment of the case. 

Like all priests, the physicians lived on the income which came to themfrom their landed property, from the gifts of the king, the contributionsof the laity, and the share which was given them of the state-revenues;they expected no honorarium from their patients, but the restored sickseldom neglected making a present to the sanctuary whence a physician hadcome to them, and it was not unusual for the priestly leech to make therecovery of the sufferer conditional on certain gifts to be offered tothe temple. 

The medical knowledge of the Egyptians was, according to everyindication, very considerable; but it was natural that physicians, whostood by the bed of sickness as "ordained servants of the Divinity, "should not be satisfied with a rational treatment of the sufferer, andshould rather think that they could not dispense with the mysticaleffects of prayers and vows. 

Among the professors of medicine in the House of Seti there were men ofthe most different gifts and bent of mind; but Pentaur was not for amoment in doubt as to which should be entrusted with the treatment of thegirl who had been run over, and for whom he felt the greatest sympathy. 

The one he chose was the grandson of a celebrated leech, long since dead, whose name of Nebsecht he had inherited, and a beloved school-friend andold comrade of Pentaur. 

This young man had from his earliest years shown high and hereditarytalent for the profession to which he had devoted himself; he hadselected surgery

 [Among the six hermetic books of medicine mentioned by Clement of Alexandria, was one devoted to surgical instruments: otherwise the very badly-set fractures found in some of the mummies do little honor to the Egyptian surgeons. ]

for his special province at Heliopolis, and would certainly have attainedthe dignity of teacher there if an impediment in his speech had notdebarred him from the viva voce recitation of formulas and prayers. 

This circumstance, which was deeply lamented by his parents and tutors, was in fact, in the best opinions, an advantage to him; for it oftenhappens that apparent superiority does us damage, and that from apparentdefect springs the saving of our life. 

Thus, while the companions of Nebsecht were employed in declaiming orin singing, he, thanks to his fettered tongue, could give himself up tohis inherited and almost passionate love of observing organic life; andhis teachers indulged up to a certain point his innate spirit ofinvestigation, and derived benefit from his knowledge of the humanand animal structures, and from the dexterity of his handling. 

His deep aversion for the magical part of his profession would havebrought him heavy punishment, nay very likely would have cost himexpulsion from the craft, if he had ever given it expression in any form. But Nebsecht's was the silent and reserved nature of the learned man, whofree from all desire of external recognition, finds a rich satisfactionin the delights of investigation; and he regarded every demand on him togive proof of his capacity, as a vexatious but unavoidable intrusion onhis unassuming but laborious and fruitful investigations. 

Nebsecht was dearer and nearer to Pentaur than any other of hisassociates. 

He admired his learning and skill; and when the slightly-built surgeon, who was indefatigable in his wanderings, roved through the thickets bythe Nile, the desert, or the mountain range, the young poet-priestaccompanied him with pleasure and with great benefit to himself, for hiscompanion observed a thousand things to which without him he would haveremained for ever blind; and the objects around him, which were known tohim only by their shapes, derived connection and significance from theexplanations of the naturalist, whose intractable tongue moved freelywhen it was required to expound to his friend the peculiarities oforganic beings whose development he had been the first to detect. 

The poet was dear in the sight of Nebsecht, and he loved Pentaur, whopossessed all the gifts he lacked; manly beauty, childlike lightness ofheart, the frankest openness, artistic power, and the gift of expressingin word and song every emotion that stirred his soul. The poet was as anovice in the order in which Nebsecht was master, but quite capable ofunderstanding its most difficult points; so it happened that Nebsechtattached greater value to his judgment than to that of his owncolleagues, who showed themselves fettered by prejudice, whilePentaur's decision always was free and unbiassed. 

The naturalist's room lay on the ground floor, and had no living-roomsabove it, being under one of the granaries attached to the temple. Itwas as large as a public hall, and yet Pentaur, making his way towardsthe silent owner of the room, found it everywhere strewed with thickbundles of every variety of plant, with cages of palm-twigs piled four orfive high, and a number of jars, large and small, covered with perforatedpaper. Within these prisons moved all sorts of living creatures, fromthe jerboa, the lizard of the Nile, and a light-colored species of owl, to numerous specimens of frogs, snakes, scorpions and beetles. 

On the solitary table in the middle of the room, near to a writing-stand, lay bones of animals, with various sharp flints and bronze knives. 

In a corner of this room lay a mat, on which stood a wooden head-prop, indicating that the naturalist was in the habit of sleeping on it. 

When Pentaur's step was heard on the threshold of this strange abode, itsowner pushed a rather large object under the table, threw a cover overit, and hid a sharp flint scalpel

 [The Egyptians seem to have preferred to use flint instruments for surgical purposes, at any rate for the opening of bodies and for circumcision. Many flint instruments have been found and preserved in museums. ]

fixed into a wooden handle, which he had just been using, in the folds ofhis robe-as a school-boy might hide some forbidden game from his master. Then he crossed his arms, to give himself the aspect of a man who isdreaming in harmless idleness. 

The solitary lamp, which was fixed on a high stand near his chair, shed ascanty light, which, however, sufficed to show him his trusted friendPentaur, who had disturbed Nebsecht in his prohibited occupations. Nebsecht nodded to him as he entered, and, when he had seen who it was, said:

"You need not have frightened me so!" Then he drew out from under thetable the object he had hidden--a living rabbit fastened down to a board-and continued his interrupted observations on the body, which he hadopened and fastened back with wooden pins while the heart continued tobeat. 

He took no further notice of Pentaur, who for some time silently watchedthe investigator; then he laid his hand on his shoulder and said:

"Lock your door more carefully, when you are busy with forbidden things. "

"They took--they took away the bar of the door lately, " stammered thenaturalist, "when they caught me dissecting the hand of the forgerPtahmes. "--[The law sentenced forgers to lose a hand. ]

"The mummy of the poor man will find its right hand wanting, " answeredthe poet. 

"He will not want it out there. "

"Did you bury the least bit of an image in his grave?"

 [Small statuettes, placed in graves to help the dead in the work performed in the under-world. They have axes and ploughs in their hands, and seed-bags on their backs. The sixth chapter of the Book of the Dead is inscribed on nearly all. ]

"Nonsense. "

"You go very far, Nebsecht, and are not foreseeing, 'He who needlesslyhurts an innocent animal shall be served in the same way by the spiritsof the netherworld, ' says the law; but I see what you will say. You holdit lawful to put a beast to pain, when you can thereby increase thatknowledge by which you alleviate the sufferings of man, and enrich--"

"And do not you?"

A gentle smile passed over Pentaur's face; leaned over the animal andsaid:

"How curious! the little beast still lives and breathes; a man would havelong been dead under such treatment. His organism is perhaps of a moreprecious, subtle, and so more fragile nature?"

Nebsecht shrugged his shoulders. 

"Perhaps!" he said. 

"I thought you must know. "

"I--how should I?" asked the leech. "I have told you--they would noteven let me try to find out how the hand of a forger moves. "

"Consider, the scripture tells us the passage of the soul depends on thepreservation of the body. "

Nebsecht looked up with his cunning little eyes and shrugging hisshoulders, said:

"Then no doubt it is so: however these things do not concern me. Do whatyou like with the souls of men; I seek to know something of their bodies, and patch them when they are damaged as well as may be. "

"Nay-Toth be praised, at least you need not deny that you are master inthat art. "

 [Toth is the god of the learned and of physicians. The Ibis was sacred to him, and he was usually represented as Ibis-headed. Ra created him "a beautiful light to show the name of his evil enemy. " Originally the Dfoon-god, he became the lord of time and measure. He is the weigher, the philosopher among the gods, the lord of writing, of art and of learning. The Greeks called him Hermes Trismegistus, i. E. Threefold or "very great" which was, in fact, in imitation of the Egyptians, whose name Toth or Techud signified twofold, in the same way "very great"]

"Who is master, " asked Nebsecht, "excepting God? I can do nothing, nothing at all, and guide my instruments with hardly more certainty thana sculptor condemned to work in the dark. "

"Something like the blind Resu then, " said Pentaur smiling, "whounderstood painting better than all the painters who could see. "

"In my operations there is a 'better' and a 'worse;'" said Nebsecht, "butthere is nothing 'good. '"

"Then we must be satisfied with the 'better, ' and I have come to claimit, " said Pentaur. 

"Are you ill?"

"Isis be praised, I feel so well that I could uproot a palm-tree, but Iwould ask you to visit a sick girl. The princess Bent-Anat--"

"The royal family has its own physicians. "

"Let me speak! the princess Bent-Anat has run over a young girl, and thepoor child is seriously hurt. "

"Indeed, " said the student reflectively. "Is she over there in the city, or here in the Necropolis?"

"Here. She is in fact the daughter of a paraschites. "

"Of a paraschites?" exclaimed Nebsecht, once more slipping the rabbitunder the table, then I will go. "

"You curious fellow. I believe you expect to find something strangeamong the unclean folk. "

"That is my affair; but I will go. What is the man's name?"

"Pinem. "

"There will be nothing to be done with him, " muttered the student, "however--who knows?"

With these words he rose, and opening a tightly closed flask he droppedsome strychnine on the nose and in the mouth of the rabbit, whichimmediately ceased to breathe. Then he laid it in a box and said, "I amready. "

"But you cannot go out of doors in this stained dress. "

The physician nodded assent, and took from a chest a clean robe, which hewas about to throw on over the other! but Pentaur hindered him. "Firsttake off your working dress, " he said laughing. "I will help you. But, by Besa, you have as many coats as an onion. "

 [Besa, the god of the toilet of the Egyptians. He was represented as a deformed pigmy. He led the women to conquest in love, and the men in war. He was probably of Arab origin. ]

Pentaur was known as a mighty laugher among his companions, and his loudvoice rung in the quiet room, when he discovered that his friend wasabout to put a third clean robe over two dirty ones, and wear no lessthan three dresses at once. 

Nebsecht laughed too, and said, "Now I know why my clothes were so heavy, and felt so intolerably hot at noon. While I get rid of my superfluousclothing, will you go and ask the high-priest if I have leave to quit thetemple. "

"He commissioned me to send a leech to the paraschites, and added thatthe girl was to be treated like a queen. "

"Ameni? and did he know that we have to do with a paraschites?"

"Certainly. "

"Then I shall begin to believe that broken limbs may be set with vows-aye, vows! You know I cannot go alone to the sick, because my leathertongue is unable to recite the sentences or to wring rich offerings forthe temple from the dying. Go, while I undress, to the prophet Gagabuand beg him to send the pastophorus Teta, who usually accompanies me. "

"I would seek a young assistant rather than that blind old man. "

"Not at all. I should be glad if he would stay at home, and only let histongue creep after me like an eel or a slug. Head and heart have nothingto do with his wordy operations, and they go on like an ox treading outcorn. "

 [In Egypt, as in Palestine, beasts trod out the corn, as we learn from many pictures m the catacombs, even in the remotest ages; often with the addition of a weighted sledge, to the runners of which rollers are attached. It is now called noreg. ]

"It is true, " said Pentaur; "just lately I saw the old man singing outhis litanies by a sick-bed, and all the time quietly counting the dates, of which they had given him a whole sack-full. "

"He will be unwilling to go to the paraschites, who is poor, and he wouldsooner seize the whole brood of scorpions yonder than take a piece ofbread from the hand of the unclean. Tell him to come and fetch me, anddrink some wine. There stands three days' allowance; in this hot weatherit dims my sight. 

"Does the paraschites live to the north or south of the Necropolis?"

"I think to the north. Paaker, the king's pioneer, will show you theway. "

"He!" exclaimed the student, laughing. "What day in the calendar isthis, then?

 [Calendars have been preserved, the completest is the papyrus Sallier IV. , which has been admirably treated by F. Chabas. Many days are noted as lucky, unlucky, etc. In the temples many Calendars of feasts have been found, the most perfect at Medinet Abu, deciphered by Dumich. ]

The child of a paraschites is to be tended like a princess, and a leechhave a noble to guide him, like the Pharaoh himself! I ought to havekept on my three robes!"

"The night is warm, " said Pentaur. 

"But Paaker has strange ways with him. Only the day before yesterday Iwas called to a poor boy whose collar bone he had simply smashed with hisstick. If I had been the princess's horse I would rather have troddenhim down than a poor little girl. "

"So would I, " said Pentaur laughing, and left the room to request Thesecond prophet Gagabu, who was also the head of the medical staff of theHouse of Seti, to send the blind pastophorus

 [The Pastophori were an order of priests to which the physicians belonged. ]

Teta, with his friend as singer of the litany. 

CHAPTER IV. 

Pentaur knew where to seek Gagabu, for he himself had been invited to thebanquet which the prophet had prepared in honor of two sages who hadlately come to the House of Seti from the university of Chennu. 

 [Chennu was situated on a bend of the Nile, not far from the Nubian frontier; it is now called Gebel Silsilch; it was in very ancient times the seat of a celebrated seminary. ]

In an open court, surrounded by gaily-painted wooden pillars, and lightedby many lamps, sat the feasting priests in two long rows on comfortablearmchairs. Before each stood a little table, and servants were occupiedin supplying them with the dishes and drinks, which were laid out on asplendid table in the middle of the court. Joints of gazelle, [Gazelles were tamed for domestic animals: we find them in the representations of the herds of the wealthy Egyptians and as slaughtered for food. The banquet is described from the pictures of feasts which have been found in the tombs. ]

roast geese and ducks, meat pasties, artichokes, asparagus and othervegetables, and various cakes and sweetmeats were carried to the guests, and their beakers well-filled with the choice wines of which there wasnever any lack in the lofts of the House of Seti. 

 [Cellars maintain the mean temperature of the climate, and in Egypt are hot Wine was best preserved in shady and airy lofts. ]

In the spaces between the guests stood servants with metal bowls, inwhich they might wash their hands, and towels of fine linen. 

When their hunger was appeased, the wine flowed more freely, and eachguest was decked with sweetly-smelling flowers, whose odor was supposedto add to the vivacity of the conversation. 

Many of the sharers in this feast wore long, snowwhite garments, and wereof the class of the Initiated into the mysteries of the faith, as well aschiefs of the different orders of priests of the House of Seti. 

The second prophet, Gagabu, who was to-day charged with the conduct ofthe feast by Ameni--who on such occasions only showed himself for a fewminutes--was a short, stout man with a bald and almost spherical head. His features were those of a man of advancing years, but well-formed, andhis smoothly-shaven, plump cheeks were well-rounded. His grey eyeslooked out cheerfully and observantly, but had a vivid sparkle when hewas excited and began to twitch his thick, sensual mouth. 

Close by him stood the vacant, highly-ornamented chair of the high-priest, and next to him sat the priests arrived from Chennu, two tall, dark-colored old men. The remainder of the company was arranged in theorder of precedency, which they held in the priests' colleges, and whichbore no relation to their respective ages. 

But strictly as the guests were divided with reference to their rank, they mixed without distinction in the conversation. 

"We know how to value our call to Thebes, " said the elder of thestrangers from Chennu, Tuauf, whose essays were frequently used in theschools, --[Some of them are still in existence]--"for while, on one hand, it brings us into the neighborhood of the Pharaoh, where life, happiness, and safety flourish, on the other it procures us the honor of countingourselves among your number; for, though the university of Chennu informer times was so happy as to bring up many great men, whom she couldcall her own, she can no longer compare with the House of Seti. EvenHeliopolis and Memphis are behind you; and if I, my humble self, nevertheless venture boldly among you, it is because I ascribe yoursuccess as much to the active influence of the Divinity in your temple, which may promote my acquirements and achievements, as to your greatgifts and your industry, in which I will not be behind you. I havealready seen your high-priest Ameni--what a man! And who does not knowthy name, Gagabu, or thine, Meriapu?"

"And which of you, " asked the other new-comer, may we greet as the authorof the most beautiful hymn to Amon, which was ever sung in the land ofthe Sycamore? Which of you is Pentaur?"

"The empty chair yonder, " answered Gagabu, pointing to a seat at thelower end of the table, "is his. He is the youngest of us all, but agreat future awaits him. "

"And his songs, " added the elder of the strangers. "Without doubt, "replied the chief of the haruspices, --[One of the orders of priests inthe Egyptian hierarchy]--an old man with a large grey curly head, thatseemed too heavy for his thin neck, which stretched forward--perhaps fromthe habit of constantly watching for signs--while his prominent eyesglowed with a fanatical gleam. "Without doubt the Gods have grantedgreat gifts to our young friend, but it remains to be proved how he willuse them. I perceive a certain freedom of thought in the youth, whichpains me deeply. Although in his poems his flexible style certainlyfollows the prescribed forms, his ideas transcend all tradition; and evenin the hymns intended for the ears of the people I find turns of thought, which might well be called treason to the mysteries which only a fewmonths ago he swore to keep secret. For instance he says--and we sing--and the laity hear--

 "One only art Thou, Thou Creator of beings; And Thou only makest all that is created. 

And again--

 He is one only, Alone, without equal; Dwelling alone in the holiest of holies. "

 [Hymn to Amon preserved in a papyrus roll at Bulaq, and deciphered by Grehaut and L. Stern. ]

Such passages as these ought not to be sung in public, at least in timeslike ours, when new ideas come in upon us from abroad, like the swarms oflocusts from the East. "

"Spoken to my very soul!" cried the treasurer of the temple, "Ameniinitiated this boy too early into the mysteries. "

"In my opinion, and I am his teacher, " said Gagabu, "our brotherhood maybe proud of a member who adds so brilliantly to the fame of our temple. The people hear the hymns without looking closely at the meaning of thewords. I never saw the congregation more devout, than when the beautifuland deeply-felt song of praise was sung at the feast of the stairs. "

 [A particularly solemn festival in honor of Amon-Chem, held in the temple of Medinet-Abu. ]

"Pentaur was always thy favorite, " said the former speaker. "Thouwouldst not permit in any one else many things that are allowed tohim. His hymns are nevertheless to me and to many others a dangerousperformance; and canst thou dispute the fact that we have grounds forgrave anxiety, and that things happen and circumstances grow up aroundus which hinder us, and at last may perhaps crush us, if we do not, while there is yet time, inflexibly oppose them?"

"Thou bringest sand to the desert, and sugar to sprinkle over honey, "exclaimed Gagabu, and his lips began to twitch. "Nothing is now as itought to be, and there will be a hard battle to fight; not with thesword, but with this--and this. " And the impatient man touched hisforehead and his lips. "And who is there more competent than mydisciple? There is the champion of our cause, a second cap of Hor, thatoverthrew the evil one with winged sunbeams, and you come and would cliphis wings and blunt his claws! Alas, alas, my lords! will you neverunderstand that a lion roars louder than a cat, and the sun shinesbrighter than an oil-lamp? Let Pentuar alone, I say; or you will do asthe man did, who, for fear of the toothache, had his sound teeth drawn. Alas, alas, in the years to come we shall have to bite deep into theflesh, till the blood flows, if we wish to escape being eaten upourselves!"

"The enemy is not unknown to us also, " said the elder priest from Chennu, "although we, on the remote southern frontier of the kingdom, haveescaped many evils that in the north have eaten into our body like acancer. Here foreigners are now hardly looked upon at all as unclean anddevilish. "--["Typhonisch, " belonging to Typhon or Seth. --Translator. ]

"Hardly?" exclaimed the chief of the haruspices; "they are invited, caressed, and honored. Like dust, when the simoon blows through thechinks of a wooden house, they crowd into the houses and temples, taintour manners and language;

 [At no period Egyptian writers use more Semitic words than during the reigns of Rameses II. And his son Mernephtah. ]

nay, on the throne of the successors of Ra sits a descendant--"

"Presumptuous man!" cried the voice of the high-priest, who at thisinstant entered the hall, "Hold your tongue, and be not so bold as to wagit against him who is our king, and wields the sceptre in this kingdom asthe Vicar of Ra. "

The speaker bowed and was silent, then he and all the company rose togreet Ameni, who bowed to them all with polite dignity, took his seat, and turning to Gagabu asked him carelessly:

"I find you all in most unpriestly excitement; what has disturbed yourequanimity?"

"We were discussing the overwhelming influx of foreigners into Egypt, andthe necessity of opposing some resistance to them. "

"You will find me one of the foremost in the attempt, " replied Ameni. "We have endured much already, and news has arrived from the north, whichgrieves me deeply. "

"Have our troops sustained a defeat?"

"They continue to be victorious, but thousands of our countrymen havefallen victims in the fight or on the march. Rameses demands freshreinforcements. The pioneer, Paaker, has brought me a letter from ourbrethren who accompany the king, and delivered a document from him to theRegent, which contains the order to send to him fifty thousand fightingmen: and as the whole of the soldier-caste and all the auxiliaries arealready under arms, the bondmen of the temple, who till our acres, are tobe levied, and sent into Asia. "

A murmur of disapproval arose at these words. The chief of theharuspices stamped his foot, and Gagabu asked:

"What do you mean to do?"

"To prepare to obey the commands of the king, " answered Ameni, "and tocall the heads of the temples of the city of Anion here without delay tohold a council. Each must first in his holy of holies seek good counselof the Celestials. When we have come to a conclusion, we must next winthe Viceroy over to our side. Who yesterday assisted at his prayers?"

"It was my turn, " said the chief of the haruspices. 

"Follow me to my abode, when the meal is over. " commanded Ameni. "Butwhy is our poet missing from our circle?"

At this moment Pentaur came into the hall, and while he bowed easily andwith dignity to the company and low before Ameni, he prayed him to grantthat the pastophorus Teta should accompany the leech Nebsecht to visitthe daughter of the paraschites. 

Ameni nodded consent and exclaimed: "They must make haste. Paaker waitsfor them at the great gate, and will accompany them in my chariot. "

As soon as Pentaur had left the party of feasters, the old priest fromChennu exclaimed, as he turned to Ameni:

"Indeed, holy father, just such a one and no other had I pictured yourpoet. He is like the Sun-god, and his demeanor is that of a prince. He is no doubt of noble birth. "

"His father is a homely gardener, " said the highpriest, "who indeed tillsthe land apportioned to him with industry and prudence, but is of humblebirth and rough exterior. He sent Pentaur to the school at an earlyage, and we have brought up the wonderfully gifted boy to be what he nowis. "

"What office does he fill here in the temple?"

"He instructs the elder pupils of the high-school in grammar andeloquence; he is also an excellent observer of the starry heavens, and amost skilled interpreter of dreams, " replied Gagabu. "But here he isagain. To whom is Paaker conducting our stammering physician and hisassistant?"

"To the daughter of the paraschites, who has been run over, " answeredPentaur. "But what a rough fellow this pioneer is. His voice hurts myears, and he spoke to our leeches as if they had been his slaves. "

"He was vexed with the commission the princess had devolved on him, " saidthe high-priest benevolently, "and his unamiable disposition is hardlymitigated by his real piety. "

"And yet, " said an old priest, "his brother, who left us some years ago, and who had chosen me for his guide and teacher, was a particularlyloveable and docile youth. "

"And his father, " said Ameni, was one of the most superior energetic, andwithal subtle-minded of men. "

"Then he has derived his bad peculiarities from his mother?"

"By no means. She is a timid, amiable, soft-hearted woman. "

"But must the child always resemble its parents?" asked Pentaur. "Amongthe sons of the sacred bull, sometimes not one bears the distinguishingmark of his father. "

"And if Paaker's father were indeed an Apis, " Gagabu laughing, "accordingto your view the pioneer himself belongs, alas! to the peasant's stable. "

Pentaur did not contradict him, but said with a smile:

"Since he left the school bench, where his school-fellows called him thewild ass on account of his unruliness, he has remained always the same. He was stronger than most of them, and yet they knew no greater pleasurethan putting him in a rage. "

"Children are so cruel!" said Ameni. "They judge only by appearances, and never enquire into the causes of them. The deficient are as guiltyin their eyes as the idle, and Paaker could put forward small claims totheir indulgence. I encourage freedom and merriment, " he continuedturning to the priests from Cheraw, "among our disciples, for infettering the fresh enjoyment of youth we lame our best assistant. Theexcrescences on the natural growth of boys cannot be more surely orpainlessly extirpated than in their wild games. The school-boy is theschool-boy's best tutor. "

"But Paaker, " said the priest Meriapu, "was not improved by theprovocations of his companions. Constant contests with them increasedthat roughness which now makes him the terror of his subordinates andalienates all affection. "

"He is the most unhappy of all the many youths, who were intrusted to mycare, " said Ameni, "and I believe I know why, --he never had a childlikedisposition, even when in years he was still a child, and the Gods haddenied him the heavenly gift of good humor. Youth should be modest, andhe was assertive from his childhood. He took the sport of his companionsfor earnest, and his father, who was unwise only as a tutor, encouragedhim to resistance instead of to forbearance, in the idea that he thuswould be steeled to the hard life of a Mohar. "

 [The severe duties of the Mohar are well known from the papyrus of Anastasi I. In the Brit. Mus. , which has been ably treated by F. Chabas, Voyage d'un Egyptien. ]

"I have often heard the deeds of the Mohar spoken of, " said the oldpriest from Chennu, "yet I do not exactly know what his office requiresof him. "

"He has to wander among the ignorant and insolent people of hostileprovinces, and to inform himself of the kind and number of thepopulation, to investigate the direction of the mountains, valleys, andrivers, to set forth his observations, and to deliver them to the houseof war, [Corresponding to our minister of war. A person of the highest importance even in the earliest times. ]

so that the march of the troops may be guided by them. "

"The Mohar then must be equally skilled as a warrior and as a Scribe. "

"As thou sayest; and Paaker's father was not a hero only, but at the sametime a writer, whose close and clear information depicted the countrythrough which he had travelled as plainly as if it were seen from amountain height. He was the first who took the title of Mohar. The kingheld him in such high esteem, that he was inferior to no one but the kinghimself, and the minister of the house of war. "

"Was he of noble race?"

"Of one of the oldest and noblest in the country. His father was thenoble warrior Assa, " answered the haruspex, "and he therefore, after hehimself had attained the highest consideration and vast wealth, escortedhome the niece of the King Hor-em-lieb, who would have had a claim to thethrone, as well as the Regent, if the grandfather of the present Rameseshad not seized it from the old family by violence. "

"Be careful of your words, " said Ameni, interrupting the rash old man. "Rameses I. Was and is the grandfather of our sovereign, and in theking's veins, from his mother's side, flows the blood of the legitimatedescendants of the Sun-god. "

"But fuller and purer in those of the Regent the haruspex ventured toretort. 

"But Rameses wears the crown, " cried Ameni, "and will continue to wear itso long as it pleases the Gods. Reflect--your hairs are grey, andseditious words are like sparks, which are borne by the wind, but which, if they fall, may set our home in a blaze. Continue your feasting, mylords; but I would request you to speak no more this evening of the kingand his new decree. You, Pentaur, fulfil my orders to-morrow morningwith energy and prudence. "

The high-priest bowed and left the feast. 

As soon as the door was shut behind him, the old priest from Chennuspoke. 

"What we have learned concerning the pioneer of the king, a man who holdsso high an office, surprises me. Does he distinguish himself by aspecial acuteness?"

"He was a steady learner, but of moderate ability. "

"Is the rank of Mohar then as high as that of a prince of the empire?"

"By no means. "

"How then is it--?"

"It is, as it is, " interrupted Gagabu. "The son of the vine-dresser hashis mouth full of grapes, and the child of the door-keeper opens the lockwith words. "

"Never mind, " said an old priest who had hitherto kept silence. "Paakerearned for himself the post of Mohar, and possesses many praiseworthyqualities. He is indefatigable and faithful, quails before no danger, and has always been earnestly devout from his boyhood. When the otherscholars carried their pocket-money to the fruit-sellers andconfectioners at the temple-gates, he would buy geese, and, when hismother sent him a handsome sum, young gazelles, to offer to the Gods onthe altars. No noble in the land owns a greater treasure of charms andimages of the Gods than he. To the present time he is the most pious ofmen, and the offerings for the dead, which he brings in the name of hislate father, may be said to be positively kingly. "

"We owe him gratitude for these gifts, " said the treasurer, "and the highhonor he pays his father, even after his death, is exceptional and far-famed. "

"He emulates him in every respect, " sneered Gagabu; "and though he doesnot resemble him in any feature, grows more and more like him. Butunfortunately, it is as the goose resembles the swan, or the owlresembles the eagle. For his father's noble pride he has overbearinghaughtiness; for kindly severity, rude harshness; for dignity, conceit;for perseverance, obstinacy. Devout he is, and we profit by his gifts. The treasurer may rejoice over them, and the dates off a crooked treetaste as well as those off a straight one. But if I were the Divinity Ishould prize them no higher than a hoopoe's crest; for He, who sees intothe heart of the giver-alas! what does he see! Storms and darkness areof the dominion of Seth, and in there--in there--" and the old man struckhis broad breast "all is wrath and tumult, and there is not a gleam ofthe calm blue heaven of Ra, that shines soft and pure in the soul of thepious; no, not a spot as large as this wheaten-cake. "

"Hast thou then sounded to the depths of his soul?" asked the haruspex. 

"As this beaker!" exclaimed Gagabu, and he touched the rim of an emptydrinking-vessel. "For fifteen years without ceasing. The man has beenof service to us, is so still, and will continue to be. Our leechesextract salves from bitter gall and deadly poisons; and folks likethese--"

"Hatred speaks in thee, " said the haruspex, interrupting the indignantold man. 

"Hatred!" he retorted, and his lips quivered. "Hatred?" and he struckhis breast with his clenched hand. "It is true, it is no stranger tothis old heart. But open thine ears, O haruspex, and all you others tooshall hear. I recognize two sorts of hatred. The one is between man andman; that I have gagged, smothered, killed, annihilated--with whatefforts, the Gods know. In past years I have certainly tasted itsbitterness, and served it like a wasp, which, though it knows that instinging it must die, yet uses its sting. But now I am old in years, that is in knowledge, and I know that of all the powerful impulses whichstir our hearts, one only comes solely from Seth, one only belongs whollyto the Evil one and that is hatred between man and man. Covetousness maylead to industry, sensual appetites may beget noble fruit, but hatred isa devastator, and in the soul that it occupies all that is noble growsnot upwards and towards the light, but downwards to the earth and todarkness. Everything may be forgiven by the Gods, save only hatredbetween man and man. But there is another sort of hatred that ispleasing to the Gods, and which you must cherish if you would not misstheir presence in your souls; that is, hatred for all that hinders thegrowth of light and goodness and purity--the hatred of Horus for Seth. The Gods would punish me if I hated Paaker whose father was dear to me;but the spirits of darkness would possess the old heart in my breast ifit were devoid of horror for the covetous and sordid devotee, who wouldfain buy earthly joys of the Gods with gifts of beasts and wine, as menexchange an ass for a robe, in whose soul seethe dark promptings. Paaker's gifts can no more be pleasing to the Celestials than a cask ofattar of roses would please thee, haruspex, in which scorpions, centipedes, and venomous snakes were swimming. I have long led thisman's prayers, and never have I heard him crave for noble gifts, but athousand times for the injury of the men he hates. "

"In the holiest prayers that come down to us from the past, " said theharuspex, "the Gods are entreated to throw our enemies under our feet;and, besides, I have often heard Paaker pray fervently for the bliss ofhis parents. "

"You are a priest and one of the initiated, " cried Gagabu, "and you knownot--or will not seem to know--that by the enemies for whose overthrow wepray, are meant only the demons of darkness and the outlandish peoples bywhom Egypt is endangered! Paaker prayed for his parents? Ay, and sowill he for his children, for they will be his future as his fore fathersare his past. If he had a wife, his offerings would be for her too, forshe would be the half of his own present. "

"In spite of all this, " said the haruspex Septah, "you are too hard inyour judgment of Paaker, for although lie was born under a lucky sign, the Hathors denied him all that makes youth happy. The enemy for whosedestruction he prays is Mena, the king's charioteer, and, indeed, he musthave been of superhuman magnanimity or of unmanly feebleness, if he couldhave wished well to the man who robbed him of the beautiful wife who wasdestined for him. "

"How could that happen?" asked the priest from Chennu. "A betrothal issacred. "

 [In the demotic papyrus preserved at Bulaq (novel by Setnau) first treated by H. Brugsch, the following words occur: "Is it not the law, which unites one to another?" Betrothed brides are mentioned, for instance on the sarcophagus of Unnefer at Bulaq. ]

"Paaker, " replied Septah, "was attached with all the strength of hisungoverned but passionate and faithful heart to his cousin Nefert, thesweetest maid in Thebes, the daughter of Katuti, his mother's sister; andshe was promised to him to wife. Then his father, whom he accompanied onhis marches, was mortally wounded in Syria. The king stood by his death-bed, and granting his last request, invested his son with his rank andoffice: Paaker brought the mummy of his father home to Thebes, gave himprincely interment, and then before the time of mourning was over, hastened back to Syria, where, while the king returned to Egypt, it washis duty to reconnoitre the new possessions. At last he could quit thescene of war with the hope of marrying Nefert. He rode his horse todeath the sooner to reach the goal of his desires; but when he reachedTanis, the city of Rameses, the news met him that his affianced cousinhad been given to another, the handsomest and bravest man in Thebes--thenoble Mena. The more precious a thing is that we hope to possess, themore we are justified in complaining of him who contests our claim, andcan win it from us. Paaker's blood must have been as cold as a frog's ifhe could have forgiven Mena instead of hating him, and the cattle he hasoffered to the Gods to bring down their wrath on the head of the traitormay be counted by hundreds. "

"And if you accept them, knowing why they are offered, you do unwiselyand wrongly, " exclaimed Gagabu. "If I were a layman, I would take goodcare not to worship a Divinity who condescends to serve the foulest humanfiends for a reward. But the omniscient Spirit, that rules the world inaccordance with eternal laws, knows nothing of these sacrifices, whichonly tickle the nostrils of the evil one. The treasurer rejoices when abeautiful spotless heifer is driven in among our herds. But Seth rubshis red hands

 [Red was the color of Seth and Typhon. The evil one is named the Red, as for instance in the papyrus of fibers. Red-haired men were typhonic. ]

with delight that he accepts it. My friends, I have heard the vows whichPaaker has poured out over our pure altars, like hogwash that men setbefore swine. Pestilence and boils has he called down on Mena, andbarrenness and heartache on the poor sweet woman; and I really cannotblame her for preferring a battle-horse to a hippopotamus--a Mena to aPaaker. "

"Yet the Immortals must have thought his remonstrances lessunjustifiable, and have stricter views as to the inviolable nature of abetrothal than you, " said the treasurer, "for Nefert, during four yearsof married life, has passed only a few weeks with her wandering husband, and remains childless. It is hard to me to understand how you, Gagabu, who so often absolve where we condemn, can so relentlessly judge so greata benefactor to our temple. "

"And I fail to comprehend, " exclaimed the old man, "how you--you who sowillingly condemn, can so weakly excuse this--this--call him what youwill. "

"He is indispensable to us at this time, " said the haruspex. 

"Granted, " said Gagabu, lowering his tone. "And I think still to makeuse of him, as the high-priest has done in past years with the besteffect when dangers have threatened us; and a dirty road serves when itmakes for the goal. The Gods themselves often permit safety to come fromwhat is evil, but shall we therefore call evil good--or say the hideousis beautiful? Make use of the king's pioneer as you will, but do not, because you are indebted to him for gifts, neglect to judge him accordingto his imaginings and deeds if you would deserve your title of theInitiated and the Enlightened. Let him bring his cattle into our templeand pour his gold into our treasury, but do not defile your souls withthe thought that the offerings of such a heart and such a hand arepleasing to the Divinity. Above all, " and the voice of the old man had aheart-felt impressiveness, "Above all, do not flatter the erring man--andthis is what you do, with the idea that he is walking in the right way;for your, for our first duty, O my friends, is always this--to guide thesouls of those who trust in us to goodness and truth. "

"Oh, my master!" cried Pentaur, "how tender is thy severity. "

"I have shown the hideous sores of this man's soul, " said the old man, ashe rose to quit the hall. "Your praise will aggravate them, your blamewill tend to heal them. Nay, if you are not content to do your duty, oldGagabu will come some day with his knife, and will throw the sick mandown and cut out the canker. "

During this speech the haruspex had frequently shrugged his shoulders. Now he said, turning to the priests from Chennu--

"Gagabu is a foolish, hot-headed old man, and you have heard from hislips just such a sermon as the young scribes keep by them when they enteron the duties of the care of souls. His sentiments are excellent, but heeasily overlooks small things for the sake of great ones. Ameni wouldtell you that ten souls, no, nor a hundred, do not matter when the safetyof the whole is in question. "

ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS:

A dirty road serves when it makes for the goalColored cakes in the shape of beastsDeficient are as guilty in their eyes as the idleFor fear of the toothache, had his sound teeth drawnHatred between man and manHatred for all that hinders the growth of lightHow tender is thy severityJudge only by appearances, and never enquire into the causesOften happens that apparent superiority does us damageSeditious words are like sparks, which are borne by the windThe scholar's ears are at his back: when he is floggedTitle must not be a bill of fareYouth should be modest, and he was assertive