by Georg Ebers
CHAPTER VIII.
The moon was risen over the city of the living that lay opposite theNecropolis of Thebes.
The evening song had died away in the temples, that stood about a milefrom the Nile, connected with each other by avenues of sphinxes andpylons; but in the streets of the city life seemed only just reallyawake.
The coolness, which had succeeded the heat of the summer day, temptedthe citizens out into the air, in front of their doors or on theroofs and turrets of their houses; or at the tavern-tables, where theylistened to the tales of the story-tellers while they refreshed themselves with beer, wine, and the sweet juice of fruits. Many simple folkssquatted in circular groups on the ground, and joined in the burden ofsongs which were led by an appointed singer, to the sound of a tabor andflute.
To the south of the temple of Amon stood the king's palace, and near it,in more or less extensive gardens, rose the houses of the magnatesof the kingdom, among which, one was distinguished by it splendor andextent.
Paaker, the king's pioneer, had caused it to be erected after thedeath of his father, in the place of the more homely dwelling of hisancestors, when he hoped to bring home his cousin, and install her asits mistress. A few yards further to the east was another stately thougholder and less splendid house, which Mena, the king's charioteer, hadinherited from his father, and which was inhabited by his wife Nefertand her mother Isatuti, while he himself, in the distant Syrian land,shared the tent of the king, as being his body-guard. Before the doorof each house stood servants bearing torches, and awaiting the longdeferred return home of their masters.
The gate, which gave admission to Paaker's plot of ground through thewall which surrounded it, was disproportionately, almost ostentatiously,high and decorated with various paintings. On the right hand and on theleft, two cedar-trunks were erected as masts to carry standards; he hadhad them felled for the purpose on Lebanon, and forwarded by ship toPelusium on the north-east coast of Egypt. Thence they were conveyed bythe Nile to Thebes.
On passing through the gate one entered a wide, paved court-yard, atthe sides of which walks extended, closed in at the back, and with roofssupported on slender painted wooden columns. Here stood the pioneer'shorses and chariots, here dwelt his slaves, and here the necessary storeof produce for the month's requirements was kept.
In the farther wall of this store-court was a very high doorway, thatled into a large garden with rows of well-tended trees and trellisedvines, clumps of shrubs, flowers, and beds of vegetables. Palms,sycamores, and acacia-trees, figs, pomegranates, and jasmine throvehere particularly well--for Paaker's mother, Setchem, superintended thelabors of the gardeners; and in the large tank in the midst there wasnever any lack of water for watering the beds and the roots of thetrees, as it was always supplied by two canals, into which wheels turnedby oxen poured water day and night from the Nile-stream.
On the right side of this plot of ground rose the one-storied dwellinghouse, its length stretching into distant perspective, as it consistedof a single row of living and bedrooms. Almost every room had its owndoor, that opened into a veranda supported by colored wooden columns,and which extended the whole length of the garden side of the house.This building was joined at a right angle by a row of store-rooms, inwhich the garden-produce in fruits and vegetables, the wine-jars, andthe possessions of the house in woven stuffs, skins, leather, and otherproperty were kept.
In a chamber of strong masonry lay safely locked up the vast richesaccumulated by Paaker's father and by himself, in gold and silver rings,vessels and figures of beasts. Nor was there lack of bars of copper andof precious stones, particularly of lapis-lazuli and malachite.
In the middle of the garden stood a handsomely decorated kiosk, and achapel with images of the Gods; in the background stood the statues ofPaaker's ancestors in the form of Osiris wrapped in mummy-cloths.
[The justified dead became Osiris; that is to say, attained to the fullest union (Henosis) with the divinity.]
The faces, which were likenesses, alone distinguished these statues fromeach other.
The left side of the store-yard was veiled in gloom, yet the moonlightrevealed numerous dark figures clothed only with aprons, the slaves ofthe king's pioneer, who squatted on the ground in groups of five or six,or lay near each other on thin mats of palm-bast, their hard beds.
Not far from the gate, on the right side of the court, a few lampslighted up a group of dusky men, the officers of Paaker's household, whowore short, shirt-shaped, white garments, and who sat on a carpet rounda table hardly two feet high. They were eating their evening-meal,consisting of a roasted antelope, and large flat cakes of bread. Slaveswaited on them, and filled their earthen beakers with yellow beer. Thesteward cut up the great roast on the table, offered the intendant ofthe gardens a piece of antelope-leg, and said:
[The Greeks and Romans report that the Egyptians were so addicted to satire and pungent witticisms that they would hazard property and life to gratify their love of mockery. The scandalous pictures in the so-called kiosk of Medinet Habu, the caricatures in an indescribable papyrus at Turin, confirm these statements. There is a noteworthy passage in Flavius Vopiscus, that compares the Egyptians to the French.]
"My arms ache; the mob of slaves get more and more dirty andrefractory."
"I notice it in the palm-trees," said the gardener, "you want so manycudgels that their crowns will soon be as bare as a moulting bird."
"We should do as the master does," said the head-groom, "and get sticksof ebony--they last a hundred years."
"At any rate longer than men's bones," laughed the chief neat-herd, whohad come in to town from the pioneer's country estate, bringing with himanimals for sacrifices, butter and cheese. "If we were all to follow themaster's example, we should soon have none but cripples in the servant'shouse."
"Out there lies the lad whose collar-bone he broke yesterday," said thesteward, "it is a pity, for he was a clever mat-platter. The old lordhit softer."
"You ought to know!" cried a small voice, that sounded mockingly behindthe feasters.
They looked and laughed when they recognized the strange guest, who hadapproached them unobserved.
The new comer was a deformed little man about as big as a five-year-oldboy, with a big head and oldish but uncommonly sharply-cut features.
The noblest Egyptians kept house-dwarfs for sport, and this little wightserved the wife of Mena in this capacity. He was called Nemu, or "thedwarf," and his sharp tongue made him much feared, though he wasa favorite, for he passed for a very clever fellow and was a goodtale-teller.
"Make room for me, my lords," said the little man. "I take very littleroom, and your beer and roast is in little danger from me, for my maw isno bigger than a fly's head."
"But your gall is as big as that of a Nile-horse," cried the cook.
"It grows," said the dwarf laughing, "when a turn-spit and spoon-wielderlike you turns up. There--I will sit here."
"You are welcome," said the steward, "what do you bring?"
"Myself."
"Then you bring nothing great."
"Else I should not suit you either!" retorted the dwarf. "But seriously,my lady mother, the noble Katuti, and the Regent, who just now isvisiting us, sent me here to ask you whether Paaker is not yet returned.He accompanied the princess and Nefert to the City of the Dead, and theladies are not yet come in. We begin to be anxious, for it is alreadylate."
The steward looked up at the starry sky and said: "The moon is alreadytolerably high, and my lord meant to be home before sun-down."
"The meal was ready," sighed the cook. "I shall have to go to work againif he does not remain all night."
"How should he?" asked the steward. "He is with the princess Bent-Anat."
"And my mistress," added the dwarf.
"What will they say to each other," laughed gardener; "your chieflitter-bearer declared that yesterday on the way to the City of the Deadthey did not speak a word to each other."
"Can you blame the lord if he is angry with the lady who was betrothedto him, and then was wed to another? When I think of the moment when helearnt Nefert's breach of faith I turn hot and cold."
"Care the less for that," sneered the dwarf, "since you must be hot insummer and cold in winter."
"It is not evening all day," cried the head groom. "Paaker never forgetsan injury, and we shall live to see him pay Mena--high as he is--for theaffront he has offered him.
"My lady Katuti," interrupted Nemu, "stores up the arrears of herson-in-law."
"Besides, she has long wished to renew the old friendship with yourhouse, and the Regent too preaches peace. Give me a piece of bread,steward. I am hungry!"
"The sacks, into which Mena's arrears flow seem to be empty," laughedthe cook.
"Empty! empty! much like your wit!" answered the dwarf. "Give me a bitof roast meat, steward; and you slaves bring me a drink of beer."
"You just now said your maw was no bigger than a fly's head," cried thecook, "and now you devour meat like the crocodiles in the sacred tank ofSeeland. You must come from a world of upside-down, where the men are assmall as flies, and the flies as big as the giants of the past."
"Yet, I might be much bigger," mumbled the dwarf while he munched onunconcernedly, "perhaps as big as your spite which grudges me thethird bit of meat, which the steward--may Zefa bless him with greatpossessions--is cutting out of the back of the antelope."
"There, take it, you glutton, but let out your girdle," said the stewardlaughing, "I had cut the slice for myself, and admire your sharp nose."
"All noses," said the dwarf, "they teach the knowing better than anyharuspex what is inside a man."
"How is that?" cried the gardener.
"Only try to display your wisdom," laughed the steward; "for, if youwant to talk, you must at last leave off eating."
"The two may be combined," said the dwarf. "Listen then! A hooked nose,which I compare to a vulture's beak, is never found together with asubmissive spirit. Think of the Pharaoh and all his haughty race. TheRegent, on the contrary, has a straight, well-shaped, medium-sized nose,like the statue of Amon in the temple, and he is an upright soul, and asgood as the Gods. He is neither overbearing nor submissive beyond justwhat is right; he holds neither with the great nor yet with the mean,but with men of our stamp. There's the king for us!"
"A king of noses!" exclaimed the cook, "I prefer the eagle Rameses. Butwhat do you say to the nose of your mistress Nefert?"
"It is delicate and slender and moves with every thought like the leavesof flowers in a breath of wind, and her heart is exactly like it."
"And Paaker?" asked the head groom.
"He has a large short nose with wide open nostrils. When Seth whirls upthe sand, and a grain of it flies up his nose, he waxes angry--so itis Paaker's nose, and that only, which is answerable for all your bluebruises. His mother Setchem, the sister of my lady Katuti, has a littleroundish soft--"
"You pigmy," cried the steward interrupting the speaker, "we have fedyou and let you abuse people to your heart's content, but if you wagyour sharp tongue against our mistress, I will take you by the girdleand fling you to the sky, so that the stars may remain sticking to yourcrooked hump."
At these words the dwarf rose, turned to go, and said indifferently: "Iwould pick the stars carefully off my back, and send you the finest ofthe planets in return for your juicy bit of roast. But here come thechariots. Farewell! my lords, when the vulture's beak seizes one ofyou and carries you off to the war in Syria, remember the words of thelittle Nemu who knows men and noses."
The pioneer's chariot rattled through the high gates into the court ofhis house, the dogs in their leashes howled joyfully, the head groomhastened towards Paaker and took the reins in his charge, the stewardaccompanied him, and the head cook retired into the kitchen to makeready a fresh meal for his master.
Before Paaker had reached the garden-gate, from the pylon of theenormous temple of Amon, was heard first the far-sounding clang ofhard-struck plates of brass, and then the many-voiced chant of a solemnhymn.
The Mohar stood still, looked up to heaven, called to his servants--"Thedivine star Sothis is risen!" threw himself on the earth, and lifted hiswards the star in prayer.
The slaves and officers immediately followed his example.
No circumstance in nature remained unobserved by the priestly guides ofthe Egyptian people. Every phenomenon on earth or in the starry heavenswas greeted by them as the manifestation of a divinity, and theysurrounded the life of the inhabitants of the Nile-valley--frommorning to evening--from the beginning of the inundation to the daysof drought--with a web of chants and sacrifices, of processions andfestivals, which inseparably knit the human individual to the Divinityand its earthly representatives the priesthood.
For many minutes the lord and his servants remained on their knees insilence, their eyes fixed on the sacred star, and listening to the piouschant of the priests.
As it died away Paaker rose. All around him still lay on the earth;only one naked figure, strongly lighted by the clear moonlight, stoodmotionless by a pillar near the slaves' quarters.
The pioneer gave a sign, the attendants rose; but Paaker went with hastysteps to the man who had disdained the act of devotion, which he had soearnestly performed, and cried:
"Steward, a hundred strokes on the soles of the feet of this scoffer."
The officer thus addressed bowed and said: "My lord, the surgeoncommanded the mat-weaver not to move and he cannot lift his arm. He issuffering great pain. Thou didst break his collar-bone yesterday.
"It served him right!" said Paaker, raising his voice so much that theinjured man could not fail to hear it. Then he turned his back upon him,and entered the garden; here he called the chief butler, and said: "Givethe slaves beer for their night draught--to all of them, and plenty."
A few minutes later he stood before his mother, whom he found on theroof of the house, which was decorated with leafy plants, just as shegave her two-years'-old grand daughter, the child of her youngest son,into the arms of her nurse, that she might take her to bed.
Paaker greeted the worthy matron with reverence. She was a woman of afriendly, homely aspect; several little dogs were fawning at her feet.Her son put aside the leaping favorites of the widow, whom they amusedthrough many long hours of loneliness, and turned to take the child inhis arms from those of the attendant. But the little one struggled withsuch loud cries, and could not be pacified, that Paaker set it down onthe ground, and involuntarily exclaimed:
"The naughty little thing!"
"She has been sweet and good the whole afternoon," said his motherSetchem. "She sees you so seldom."
"May be," replied Paaker; "still I know this--the dogs love me, but nochild will come to me."
"You have such hard hands."
"Take the squalling brat away," said Paaker to the nurse. "Mother, Iwant to speak to you."
Setchem quieted the child, gave it many kisses, and sent it to bed; thenshe went up to her son, stroked his cheeks, and said:
"If the little one were your own, she would go to you at once, and teachyou that a child is the greatest blessing which the Gods bestow on usmortals." Paaker smiled and said: "I know what you are aiming at--butleave it for the present, for I have something important to communicateto you."
"Well?" asked Setchem.
"To-day for the first time since--you know when, I have spoken toNefert. The past may be forgotten. You long for your sister; go to her,I have nothing more to say against it."
Setchem looked at her son with undisguised astonishment; her eyes whicheasily filled with tears, now overflowed, and she hesitatingly asked:"Can I believe my ears; child, have you?--"
"I have a wish," said Paaker firmly, "that you should knit once more theold ties of affection with your relations; the estrangement has lastedlong enough."
"Much too long!" cried Setchem.
The pioneer looked in silence at the ground, and obeyed his mother'ssign to
sit down beside her.
"I knew," she said, taking his hand, "that this day would bring us joy;for I dreamt of your father in Osiris, and when I was being carriedto the temple, I was met, first by a white cow, and then by a weddingprocession. The white ram of Anion, too, touched the wheat-cakes thatI offered him."--[It boded death to Germanicus when the Apis refused toeat out of his hand.]
"Those are lucky presages," said Paaker in a tone of conviction.
"And let us hasten to seize with gratitude that which the Gods setbefore us," cried Setchem with joyful emotion. "I will go to-morrow tomy sister and tell her that we shall live together in our old affection,and share both good and evil; we are both of the same race, and I knowthat, as order and cleanliness preserve a house from ruin and rejoicethe stranger, so nothing but unity can keep up the happiness of thefamily and its appearance before people. What is bygone is bygone, andlet it be forgotten. There are many women in Thebes besides Nefert, anda hundred nobles in the land would esteem themselves happy to win youfor a son-in-law."
Paaker rose, and began thoughtfully pacing the broad space, whileSetchem went on speaking.
"I know," she said, "that I have touched a wound in thy heart; but itis already closing, and it will heal when you are happier even than thecharioteer Mena, and need no longer hate him. Nefert is good, but sheis delicate and not clever, and scarcely equal to the management ofso large a household as ours. Ere long I too shall be wrapped inmummy-cloths, and then if duty calls you into Syria some prudenthousewife must take my place. It is no small matter. Your grandfatherAssa often would say that a house well-conducted in every detail wasa mark of a family owning an unspotted name, and living with wiseliberality and secure solidity, in which each had his assigned place,his allotted duty to fulfil, and his fixed rights to demand. How oftenhave I prayed to the Hathors that they may send you a wife after my ownheart."
"A Setchem I shall never find!" said Paaker kissing his mother'sforehead, "women of your sort are dying out."
"Flatterer!" laughed Setchem, shaking her finger at her son. But it istrue. Those who are now growing up dress and smarten themselves withstuffs from Kaft,--[Phoenicia]--mix their language with Syrian words,and leave the steward and housekeeper free when they themselves ought tocommand. Even my sister Katuti, and Nefert--
"Nefert is different from other women," interrupted Paaker, "and if youhad brought her up she would know how to manage a house as well as howto ornament it."
Setchem looked at her son in surprise; then she said, half to herself:"Yes, yes, she is a sweet child; it is impossible for any one to beangry with her who looks into her eyes. And yet I was cruel to herbecause you were hurt by her, and because--but you know. But now youhave forgiven, I forgive her, willingly, her and her husband."
Paaker's brow clouded, and while he paused in front of his mother hesaid with all the peculiar harshness of his voice:
"He shall pine away in the desert, and the hyaenas of the North shalltear his unburied corpse."
At these words Setchem covered her face with her veil, and clasped herhands tightly over the amulets hanging round her neck. Then she saidsoftly:
"How terrible you can be! I know well that you hate the charioteer,for I have seen the seven arrows over your couch over which is written'Death to Mena.'
"That is a Syrian charm which a man turns against any one whom hedesires to destroy. How black you look! Yes, it is a charm that ishateful to the Gods, and that gives the evil one power over him thatuses it. Leave it to them to punish the criminal, for Osiris withdrawshis favor from those who choose the fiend for their ally."
"My sacrifices," replied Paaker, "secure me the favor of the Gods; butMena behaved to me like a vile robber, and I only return to him the evilthat belongs to him. Enough of this! and if you love me, never againutter the name of my enemy before me. I have forgiven Nefert and hermother--that may satisfy you."
Setchem shook her head, and said: "What will it lead to! The war cannotlast for ever, and if Mena returns the reconciliation of to-day willturn to all the more bitter enmity. I see only one remedy. Follow myadvice, and let me find you a wife worthy of you."
"Not now!" exclaimed Paaker impatiently. "In a few days I must go againinto the enemy's country, and do not wish to leave my wife, likeMena, to lead the life of a widow during my existence. Why urge it? mybrother's wife and children are with you--that might satisfy you."
"The Gods know how I love them," answered Setchem; "but your brotherHorns is the younger, and you the elder, to whom the inheritancebelongs. Your little niece is a delightful plaything, but in your son Ishould see at once the future stay of our race, the future head of thefamily; brought up to my mind and your father's; for all is sacred tome that my dead husband wished. He rejoiced in your early betrothal toNefert, and hoped that a son of his eldest son should continue the raceof Assa."
"It shall be by no fault of mine that any wish of his remainsunfulfilled. The stars are high, mother; sleep well, and if to-morrowyou visit Nefert and your sister, say to them that the doors of my houseare open to them. But stay! Katuti's steward has offered to sell a herdof cattle to ours, although the stock on Mena's land can be but small.What does this mean?"
"You know my sister," replied Setchem. "She manages Mena's possessions,has many requirements, tries to vie with the greatest in splendor, seesthe governor often in her house, her son is no doubt extravagant--and sothe most necessary things may often be wanting."
Paaker shrugged his shoulders, once more embraced his mother and lefther.
Soon after, he was standing in the spacious room in which he wasaccustomed to sit and to sleep when he was in Thebes. The walls of thisroom were whitewashed and decorated with pious glyphic writing, whichframed in the door and the windows opening into the garden.
In the middle of the farther wall was a couch in the form of a lion. Theupper end of it imitated a lion's head, and the foot, its curling tail;a finely dressed lion's skin was spread over the bell, and a headrest ofebony, decorated with pious texts, stood on a high foot-step, ready forthe sleeper.
Above the bed various costly weapons and whips were elegantly displayed,and below them the seven arrows over which Setchem had read the words"Death to Mena." They were written across a sentence which enjoinedfeeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, and clothing the naked;with loving-kindness, alike to the great and the humble.
A niche by the side of the bed-head was closed with a curtain of purplestuff.
In each corner of the room stood a statue; three of them symbolized thetriad of Thebes-Anion, Muth, and Chunsu--and the fourth the dead fatherof the pioneer. In front of each was a small altar for offerings, witha hollow in it, in which was an odoriferous essence. On a wooden standwere little images of the Gods and amulets in great number, and inseveral painted chests lay the clothes, the ornaments and the papersof the master. In the midst of the chamber stood a table and severalstool-shaped seats.
When Paaker entered the room he found it lighted with lamps, and a largedog sprang joyfully to meet him. He let him spring upon him, threw himto the ground, let him once more rush upon him, and then kissed hisclever head.
Before his bed an old negro of powerful build lay in deep sleep. Paakershoved him with his foot and called to him as he awoke--
"I am hungry."
The grey-headed black man rose slowly, and left the room.
As soon as he was alone Paaker drew the philter from his girdle, lookedat it tenderly, and put it in a box, in which there were several flasksof holy oils for sacrifice. He was accustomed every evening to fill thehollows in the altars with fresh essences, and to prostrate himself inprayer before the images of the Gods. To-day he stood before thestatue of his father, kissed its feet, and murmured: "Thy will shall bedone.--The woman whom thou didst intend for me shall indeed be mine--thyeldest son's."
Then he walked to and fro and thought over the events of the day.
At last he stood still, with his arms crossed, and looked defiantly atthe holy im
ages; like a traveller who drives away a false guide, andthinks to find the road by himself.
His eye fell on the arrows over his bed; he smiled, and striking hisbroad breast with his fist, he exclaimed, "I--I--I--"
His hound, who thought his master meant to call him, rushed up to him.He pushed him off and said--"If you meet a hyaena in the desert, youfall upon it without waiting till it is touched by my lance--and if theGods, my masters, delay, I myself will defend my right; but thou," hecontinued turning to the image of his father, "thou wilt support me."
This soliloquy was interrupted by the slaves who brought in his meal.
Paaker glanced at the various dishes which the cook had prepared forhim, and asked: "How often shall I command that not a variety, but onlyone large dish shall be dressed for me? And the wine?"
"Thou art used never to touch it?" answered the old negro.
"But to-day I wish for some," said the pioneer. "Bring one of the oldjars of red wine of Kakem."
The slaves looked at each other in astonishment; the wine was brought,and Paaker emptied beaker after beaker. When the servants had left him,the boldest among them said: "Usually the master eats like a lion, anddrinks like a midge, but to-day--"
"Hold your tongue!" cried his companion, "and come into the court, forPaaker has sent us out beer. The Hathors must have met him."
The occurrences of the day must indeed have taken deep hold on theinmost soul of the pioneer; for he, the most sober of all the warriorsof Rameses, to whom intoxication was unknown, and who avoided thebanquets of his associates--now sat at the midnight hours, alone at histable, and toped till his weary head grew heavy.
He collected himself, went towards his couch and drew the curtain whichconcealed the niche at the head of the bed. A female figure, withthe head-dress and attributes of the Goddess Hathor, made of paintedlimestone, revealed itself.
Her countenance had the features of the wife of Mena.
The king, four years since, had ordered a sculptor to execute a sacredimage with the lovely features of the newly-married bride of hischarioteer, and Paaker had succeeded in having a duplicate made.
He now knelt down on the couch, gazed on the image with moist eyes,looked cautiously around to see if he was alone, leaned forward, presseda kiss to the delicate, cold stone lips; laid down and went to sleepwithout undressing himself, and leaving the lamps to burn themselvesout.
Restless dreams disturbed his spirit, and when the dawn grew grey, hescreamed out, tormented by a hideous vision, so pitifully, that the oldnegro, who had laid himself near the dog at the foot of his bed, sprangup alarmed, and while the dog howled, called him by his name to wakehim.
Paaker awoke with a dull head-ache. The vision which had tormented himstood vividly before his mind, and he endeavored to retain it that hemight summon a haruspex to interpret it. After the morbid fancies of thepreceding evening he felt sad and depressed.
The morning-hymn rang into his room with a warning voice from the templeof Amon; he cast off evil thoughts, and resolved once more to resign theconduct of his fate to the Gods, and to renounce all the arts of magic.
As he was accustomed, he got into the bath that was ready for him. Whilesplashing in the tepid water he thought with ever increasing eagernessof Nefert and of the philter which at first he had meant not to offer toher, but which actually was given to her by his hand, and which might bythis time have begun to exercise its charm.
Love placed rosy pictures--hatred set blood-red images before his eyes.He strove to free himself from the temptations, which more and moretightly closed in upon him, but it was with him as with a man who hasfallen into a bog, who, the more vehemently he tries to escape from themire, sinks the deeper.
As the sun rose, so rose his vital energy and his self-confidence, andwhen he prepared to quit his dwelling, in his most costly clothing, hehad arrived once more at the decision of the night before, and had againresolved to fight for his purpose, without--and if need were--againstthe Gods.
The Mohar had chosen his road, and he never turned back when once he hadbegun a journey.
