Uarda : a Romance of Ancient Egypt — Complete

by Georg Ebers

  CHAPTER XXXIII.

  An hour later, Ani, in rich attire, left his father's tomb, and drovehis brilliant chariot past the witch's cave, and the little cottage ofUarda's father.

  Nemu squatted on the step, the dwarf's usual place. The little manlooked down at the lately rebuilt hut, and ground his teeth, when,through an opening in the hedge, he saw the white robe of a man, who wassitting by Uarda.

  The pretty child's visitor was prince Rameri, who had crossed the Nilein the early morning, dressed as a young scribe of the treasury, toobtain news of Pentaur--and to stick a rose into Uarda's hair.

  This purpose was, indeed, the more important of the two, for the othermust, in point of time at any rate, be the second.

  He found it necessary to excuse himself to his own conscience witha variety of cogent reasons. In the first place the rose, which laycarefully secured in a fold of his robe, ran great danger of fadingif he first waited for his companions near the temple of Seti; next, ahasty return from thence to Thebes might prove necessary; and finally,it seemed to him not impossible that Bent-Anat might send a master ofthe ceremonies after him, and if that happened any delay might frustratehis purpose.

  His heart beat loud and violently, not for love of the maiden, butbecause he felt he was doing wrong. The spot that he must tread wasunclean, and he had, for the first time, told a lie. He had givenhimself out to Uarda to be a noble youth of Bent-Anat's train, and, asone falsehood usually entails another, in answer to her questions he hadgiven her false information as to his parents and his life.

  Had evil more power over him in this unclean spot than in the House ofSeti, and at his father's? It might very well be so, for all disturbancein nature and men was the work of Seth, and how wild was the storm inhis breast! And yet! He wished nothing but good to come of it to Uarda.She was so fair and sweet--like some child of the Gods: and certainlythe white maiden must have been stolen from some one, and could notpossibly belong to the unclean people.

  When the prince entered the court of the hut, Uarda was not to be seen,but he soon heard her voice singing out through the open door. She cameout into the air, for the dog barked furiously at Rameri. When she sawthe prince, she started, and said:

  "You are here already again, and yet I warned you. My grandmother inthere is the wife of a paraschites."

  "I am not come to visit her," retorted the prince, "but you only; andyou do not belong to them, of that I am convinced. No roses grow in thedesert."

  "And yet: am my father's child," said Uarda decidedly, "and my poor deadgrandfather's grandchild. Certainly I belong to them, and those that donot think me good enough for them may keep away."

  With these words she turned to re-enter the house; but Rameri seized herhand, and held her back, saying:

  "How cruel you are! I tried to save you, and came to see you before Ithought that you might--and, indeed, you are quite unlike the peoplewhom you call your relations. You must not misunderstand me; but itwould be horrible to me to believe that you, who are so beautiful, andas white as a lily, have any part in the hideous curse. You charm everyone, even my mistress, Bent-Anat, and it seems to me impossible--"

  "That I should belong to the unclean!--say it out," said Uarda softly,and casting down her eyes.

  Then she continued more excitedly: "But I tell you, the curse is unjust,for a better man never lived than my grandfather was."

  Tears sprang from her eyes, and Rameri said: "I fully believe it; andit must be very difficult to continue good when every one despises andscorns one; I at least can be brought to no good by blame, though Ican by praise. Certainly people are obliged to meet me and mine withrespect."

  "And us with contempt!" exclaimed Uarda. "But I will tell you something.If a man is sure that he is good, it is all the same to him whether hebe despised or honored by other people. Nay--we may be prouder than you;for you great folks must often say to yourselves that you are worth lessthan men value you at, and we know that we are worth more."

  "I have often thought that of you," exclaimed Rameri, "and there is onewho recognizes your worth; and that is I. Even if it were otherwise, Imust always--always think of you."

  "I have thought of you too," said Uarda. "Just now, when I was sittingwith my sick grandmother, it passed through my mind how nice it wouldbe if I had a brother just like you. Do you know what I should do if youwere my brother?"

  "Well?"

  "I should buy you a chariot and horse, and you should go away to theking's war."

  "Are you so rich?" asked Rameri smiling.

  "Oh yes!" answered Uarda. "To be sure, I have not been rich for morethan an hour. Can you read?"

  "Yes."

  "Only think, when I was ill they sent a doctor to me from the House ofSeti. He was very clever, but a strange man. He often looked into myeyes like a drunken man, and he stammered when he spoke."

  "Is his name Nebsecht?" asked the prince.

  "Yes, Nebsecht. He planned strange things with grandfather, andafter Pentaur and you had saved us in the frightful attack upon us heinterceded for us. Since then he has not come again, for I was alreadymuch better. Now to-day, about two hours ago, the dog barked, and an oldman, a stranger, came up to me, and said he was Nebsecht's brother, andhad a great deal of money in his charge for me. He gave me a ring too,and said that he would pay the money to him, who took the ring to himfrom me. Then he read this letter to me."

  Rameri took the letter and read. "Nebsecht to the fair Uarda."

  "Nebsecht greets Uarda, and informs her that he owed her grandfatherin Osiris, Pinem--whose body the kolchytes are embalming like that ofa noble--a sum of a thousand gold rings. These he has entrusted to hisbrother Teta to hold ready for her at any moment. She may trust Tetaentirely, for he is honest, and ask him for money whenever she needs it.It would be best that she should ask Teta to take care of the money forher, and to buy her a house and field; then she could remove into it,and live in it free from care with her grandmother. She may wait a year,and then she may choose a husband. Nebsecht loves Uarda much. If at theend of thirteen months he has not been to see her, she had better marrywhom she will; but not before she has shown the jewel left her by hermother to the king's interpreter."

  "How strange!" exclaimed Rameri. "Who would have given the singularphysician, who always wore such dirty clothes, credit for suchgenerosity? But what is this jewel that you have?"

  Uarda opened her shirt, and showed the prince the sparkling ornament.

  "Those are diamonds---it is very valuable!" cried the prince; "and therein the middle on the onyx there are sharply engraved signs. I cannotread them, but I will show them to the interpreter. Did your mother wearthat?"

  "My father found it on her when she died," said Uarda. "She came toEgypt as a prisoner of war, and was as white as I am, but dumb, so shecould not tell us the name of her home."

  "She belonged to some great house among the foreigners, and thechildren inherit from the mother," cried the prince joyfully. "You are aprincess, Uarda! Oh! how glad I am, and how much I love you!"

  The girl smiled and said, "Now you will not be afraid to touch thedaughter of the unclean."

  "You are cruel," replied the prince. "Shall I tell you what I determinedon yesterday,--what would not let me sleep last night,--and for what Icame here today?"

  "Well?"

  Rameri took a most beautiful white rose out of his robe and said:

  "It is very childish, but I thought how it would be if I might put thisflower with my own hands into your shining hair. May I?"

  "It is a splendid rose! I never saw such a fine one."

  "It is for my haughty princess. Do pray let me dress your hair! Itis like silk from Tyre, like a swan's breast, like goldenstar-beams--there, it is fixed safely! Nay, leave it so. If the sevenHathors could see you, they would be jealous, for you are fairer thanall of them."

  "How you flatter!" said Uarda, shyly blushing, and looking into hissparkling eyes.

  "Uarda," said the prince, pressing her hand to his h
eart. "I have nowbut one wish. Feel how my heart hammers and beats. I believe it willnever rest again till you--yes, Uarda--till you let me give you one,only one, kiss."

  The girl drew back.

  "Now," she said seriously. "Now I see what you want. Old Hekt knows men,and she warned me."

  "Who is Hekt, and what can she know of me?"

  "She told me that the time would come when a man would try to makefriends with me. He would look into my eyes, and if mine met his, thenhe would ask to kiss me. But I must refuse him, because if I likedhim to kiss me he would seize my soul, and take it from me, and I mustwander, like the restless ghosts, which the abyss rejects, and thestorm whirls before it, and the sea will not cover, and the sky will notreceive, soulless to the end of my days. Go away--for I cannot refuseyou the kiss, and yet I would not wander restless, and without a soul!"

  "Is the old woman who told you that a good woman?" asked Rameri.

  Uarda shook her head.

  "She cannot be good," cried the prince. "For she has spoken a falsehood.I will not seize your soul; I will give you mine to be yours, andyou shall give me yours to be mine, and so we shall neither of us bepoorer--but both richer!"

  "I should like to believe it," said Uarda thoughtfully, "and I havethought the same kind of thing. When I was strong, I often had to golate in the evening to fetch water from the landing-place where thegreat water-wheel stands. Thousands of drops fall from the earthenwarepails as it turns, and in each you can see the reflection of a moon, yetthere is only one in the sky. Then I thought to myself, so it must bewith the love in our hearts. We have but one heart, and yet we pour itout into other hearts without its losing in strength or in warmth. Ithought of my grandmother, of my father, of little Scherau, of the Gods,and of Pentaur. Now I should like to give you a part of it too."

  "Only a part?" asked Rameri.

  "Well, the whole will be reflected in you, you know," said Uarda, "asthe whole moon is reflected in each drop."

  "It shall!" cried the prince, clasping the trembling girl in his arms,and the two young souls were united in their first kiss.

  "Now do go!" Uarda entreated.

  "Let me stay a little while," said Rameri. "Sit down here by me on thebench in front of the house. The hedge shelters us, and besides thisvalley is now deserted, and there are no passers by."

  "We are doing what is not right," said Uarda. "If it were right weshould not want to hide ourselves."

  "Do you call that wrong which the priests perform in the Holy ofHolies?" asked the prince. "And yet it is concealed from all eyes."

  "How you can argue!" laughed Uarda. "That shows you can write, and areone of his disciples."

  "His, his!" exclaimed Rameri. "You mean Pentaur. He was always thedearest to me of all my teachers, but it vexes me when you speak of himas if he were more to you than I and every one else. The poet, yousaid, was one of the drops in which the moon of your soul finds areflection--and I will not divide it with many."

  "How you are talking!" said Uarda. "Do you not honor your father, andthe Gods? I love no one else as I do you--and what I felt when youkissed me--that was not like moon-light, but like this hot mid-day sun.When I thought of you I had no peace. I will confess to you now,that twenty times I looked out of the door, and asked whether mypreserver--the kind, curly-headed boy--would really come again, orwhether he despised a poor girl like me? You came, and I am so happy,and I could enjoy myself with you to my heart's content. Be kindagain--or I will pull your hair!"

  "You!" cried Rameri. "You cannot hurt with your little hands, though youcan with your tongue. Pentaur is much wiser and better than I, you owemuch to him, and nevertheless I--"

  "Let that rest," interrupted the girl, growing grave. "He is not a manlike other men. If he asked to kiss me, I should crumble into dust, asashes dried in the sun crumble if you touch them with a finger, andI should be as much afraid of his lips as of a lion's. Though you maylaugh at it, I shall always believe that he is one of the Immortals.His own father told me that a great wonder was shown to him the veryday after his birth. Old Hekt has often sent me to the gardener witha message to enquire after his son, and though the man is rough he iskind. At first he was not friendly, but when he saw how much I likedhis flowers he grew fond of me, and set me to work to tie wreaths andbunches, and to carry them to his customers. As we sat together, layingthe flowers side by side, he constantly told me something about his son,and his beauty and goodness and wisdom. When he was quite a little boyhe could write poems, and he learned to read before any one had shownhim how. The high-priest Ameni heard of it and took him to the House ofSeti, and there he improved, to the astonishment of the gardener;not long ago I went through the garden with the old man. He talked ofPentaur as usual, and then stood still before a noble shrub with broadleaves, and said, My son is like this plant, which has grown up close tome, and I know not how. I laid the seed in the soil, with others that Ibought over there in Thebes; no one knows where it came from, and yet itis my own. It certainly is not a native of Egypt; and is not Pentaur ashigh above me and his mother and his brothers, as this shrub is abovethe other flowers? We are all small and bony, and he is tall and slim;our skin is dark and his is rosy; our speech is hoarse, his as sweet asa song. I believe he is a child of the Gods that the Immortals havelaid in my homely house. Who knows their decrees?' And then I often sawPentaur at the festivals, and asked myself which of the other priestsof the temple came near him in height and dignity? I took him for aGod, and when I saw him who saved my life overcome a whole mob withsuperhuman strength must I not regard him as a superior Being? I look upto him as to one of them; but I could never look in his eyes as I do inyours. It would not make my blood flow faster, it would freeze it inmy veins. How can I say what I mean! my soul looks straight out, andit finds you; but to find him it must look up to the heavens. You are afresh rose-garland with which I crown myself--he is a sacred persea-treebefore which I bow."

  Rameri listened to her in silence, and then said, "I am still young, andhave done nothing yet, but the time shall come in which you shalllook up to me too as to a tree, not perhaps a sacred tree, but as to asycamore under whose shade we love to rest. I am no longer gay; I willleave you for I have a serious duty to fulfil. Pentaur is a completeman, and I will be one too. But you shall be the rose-garland to graceme. Men who can be compared to flowers disgust me!"

  The prince rose, and offered Uarda his hand.

  "You have a strong hand," said the girl. "You will be a noble man, andwork for good and great ends; only look, my fingers are quite red withbeing held so tightly. But they too are not quite useless. They havenever done anything very hard certainly, but what they tend flourishes,and grandmother says they are 'lucky.' Look at the lovely lilies and thepomegrenate bush in that corner. Grandfather brought the earth here fromthe Nile, Pentaur's father gave me the seeds, and each little plant thatventured to show a green shoot through the soil I sheltered and nursedand watered, though I had to fetch the water in my little pitcher, tillit was vigorous, and thanked me with flowers. Take this pomegranateflower. It is the first my tree has borne; and it is very strange, whenthe bud first began to lengthen and swell my grandmother said, 'Now yourheart will soon begin to bud and love.' I know now what she meant, andboth the first flowers belong to you--the red one here off the tree,and the other, which you cannot see, but which glows as brightly as thisdoes."

  Rameri pressed the scarlet blossom to his lips, and stretched out hishand toward Uarda; but she shrank back, for a little figure slippedthrough an opening in the hedge.

  It was Scherau.

  His pretty little face glowed with his quick run, and his breath wasgone. For a few minutes he tried in vain for words, and looked anxiouslyat the prince.

  Uarda saw that something unusual agitated him; she spoke to him kindly,saying that if he wished to speak to her alone he need not be afraid ofRameri, for he was her best friend.

  "But it does not concern you and me," replied the child, "but the good,holy father Pentaur,
who was so kind to me, and who saved your life."

  "I am a great friend of Pentaur," said the prince. "Is it not true,Uarda? He may speak with confidence before me."

  "I may?" said Scherau, "that is well. I have slipped away; Hekt may comeback at any moment, and if she sees that I have taken myself off I shallget a beating and nothing to eat."

  "Who is this horrible Hekt?" asked Rameri indignantly.

  "That Uarda can tell you by and by," said the little one hurriedly. "Nowonly listen. She laid me on my board in the cave, and threw a sack overme, and first came Nemu, and then another man, whom she spoke to asSteward. She talked to him a long time. At first I did not listen, butthen I caught the name of Pentaur, and I got my head out, and nowI understand it all. The steward declared that the good Pentaur waswicked, and stood in his way, and he said that Ameni was going tosend him to the quarries at Chennu, but that that was much too smalla punishment. Then Hekt advised him to give a secret commission tothe captain of the ship to go beyond Chennu, to the frightfulmountain-mines, of which she has often told me, for her father and herbrother were tormented to death there."

  "None ever return from thence," said the prince. "But go on."

  "What came next, I only half understood, but they spoke of some drinkthat makes people mad. Oh! what I see and hear!--I would he contentedlyon my board all my life long, but all else is too horrible--I wish thatI were dead."

  And the child began to cry bitterly.

  Uarda, whose cheeks had turned pale, patted him affectionately; butRameri exclaimed:

  "It is frightful! unheard of! But who was the steward? did you not hearhis name? Collect yourself, little man, and stop crying. It is a caseof life and death. Who was the scoundrel? Did she not name him? Try toremember."

  Scherau bit his red lips, and tried for composure. His tears ceased, andsuddenly he exclaimed, as he put his hand into the breast of his raggedlittle garment: "Stay, perhaps you will know him again--I made him!"

  "You did what?" asked the prince.

  "I made him," repeated the little artist, and he carefully brought outan object wrapped up in a scrap of rag, "I could just see his head quiteclearly from one side all the time he was speaking, and my clay lay byme. I always must model something when my mind is excited, and thistime I quickly made his face, and as the image was successful, I kept itabout me to show to the master when Hekt was out."

  While he spoke he had carefully unwrapped the figure with tremblingfingers, and had given it to Uarda.

  "Ani!" cried the prince. "He, and no other! Who could have thought it!What spite has he against Pentaur? What is the priest to him?"

  For a moment he reflected, then he struck his hand against his forehead.

  "Fool that I am!" he exclaimed vehemently. "Child that I am! of course,of course; I see it all. Ani asked for Bent-Anat's hand, and she--nowthat I love you, Uarda, I understand what ails her. Away with deceit! Iwill tell you no more lies, Uarda. I am no page of honor to Bent-Anat;I am her brother, and king Rameses' own son. Do not cover your face withyour hands, Uarda, for if I had not seen your mother's jewel, and if Iwere not only a prince, but Horus himself, the son of Isis, I must haveloved you, and would not have given you up. But now other things have tobe done besides lingering with you; now I will show you that I am a man,now that Pentaur is to be saved. Farewell, Uarda, and think of me!"

  He would have hurried off, but Scherau held him by the robe, and saidtimidly: "Thou sayst thou art Rameses' son. Hekt spoke of him too. Shecompared him to our moulting hawk."

  "She shall soon feel the talons of the royal eagle," cried Rameri. "Oncemore, farewell!"

  He gave Uarda his hand, she pressed it passionately to her lips, but hedrew it away, kissed her forehead, and was gone.

  The maiden looked after him pale and speechless. She saw another manhastening towards her, and recognizing him as her father, she wentquickly to meet him. The soldier had come to take leave of her, he hadto escort some prisoners.

  "To Chennu?" asked Uarda.

  "No, to the north," replied the man.

  His daughter now related what she had heard, and asked whether he couldhelp the priest, who had saved her.

  "If I had money, if I had money!" muttered the soldier to himself.

  "We have some," cried Uarda; she told him of Nebsecht's gift, and said:"Take me over the Nile, and in two hours you will have enough to make aman rich.

  [It may be observed that among the Egyptian women were qualified to own and dispose of property. For example a papyrus (vii) in the Louvre contains an agreement between Asklepias (called Semmuthis), the daughter or maid-servant of a corpse-dresser of Thebes, who is the debtor, and Arsiesis, the creditor, the son of a kolchytes; both therefore are of the same rank as Uarda.]

  But no; I cannot leave my sick grandmother. You yourself take the ring,and remember that Pentaur is being punished for having dared to protectus."

  "I remember it," said the soldier. "I have but one life, but I willwillingly give it to save his. I cannot devise schemes, but I knowsomething, and if it succeeds he need not go to the gold-mines. I willput the wine-flask aside--give me a drink of water, for the next fewhours I must keep a sober head."

  "There is the water, and I will pour in a mouthful of wine. Will youcome back and bring me news?"

  "That will not do, for we set sail at midnight, but if some one returnsto you with the ring you will know that what I propose has succeeded."

  Uarda went into the hut, her father followed her; he took leave of hissick mother and of his daughter. When they went out of doors again, hesaid: "You have to live on the princess's gift till I return, and I donot want half of the physician's present. But where is your pomegranateblossom?"

  "I have picked it and preserved it in a safe place."

  "Strange things are women!" muttered the bearded man; he tenderly kissedhis child's forehead, and returned to the Nile down the road by which hehad come.

  The prince meanwhile had hurried on, and enquired in the harbor of theNecropolis where the vessel destined for Chennu was lying--for the shipsloaded with prisoners were accustomed to sail from this side of theriver, starting at night. Then he was ferried over the river, andhastened to Bent-Anat. He found her and Nefert in unusual excitement,for the faithful chamberlain had learned--through some friends of theking in Ani's suite--that the Regent had kept back all the lettersintended for Syria, and among them those of the royal family.

  A lord in waiting, who was devoted to the king, had been encouraged bythe chamberlain to communicate to Bent-Anat other things, which hardlyallowed any doubts as to the ambitious projects of her uncle; she wasalso exhorted to be on her guard with Nefert, whose mother was theconfidential adviser of the Regent.

  Bent-Anat smiled at this warning, and sent at once a message to Anito inform him that she was ready to undertake the pilgrimage to the"Emerald-Hathor," and to be purified in the sanctuary of that Goddess.

  She purposed sending a message to her father from thence, and if hepermitted it, joining him at the camp.

  She imparted this plan to her friend, and Nefert thought any road bestthat would take her to her husband.

  Rameri was soon initiated into all this, and in return he told them allhe had learned, and let Bent-Anat guess that he had read her secret.

  So dignified, so grave, were the conduct and the speech of the boy whohad so lately been an overhearing mad-cap, that Bent-Anat thought toherself that the danger of their house had suddenly ripened a boy into aman.

  She had in fact no objection to raise to his arrangements. He proposedto travel after sunset, with a few faithful servants on swift horses asfar as Keft, and from thence ride fast across the desert to the Red Sea,where they could take a Phoenician ship, and sail to Aila. From thencethey would cross the peninsula of Sinai, and strive to reach theEgyptian army by forced marches, and make the king acquainted with Ani'scriminal attempts.

  To Bent-Anat was given the task of rescuing Pentaur, with the help ofthe faithful cha
mberlain.

  Money was fortunately not wanting, as the high treasurer was on theirside. All depended on their inducing the captain to stop at Chennu; thepoet's fate would there, at the worst, be endurable. At the same time,a trustworthy messenger was to be sent to the governor of Chennu,commanding him in the name of the king to detain every ship that mightpass the narrows of Chennu by night, and to prevent any of the prisonersthat had been condemned to the quarries from being smuggled on toEthiopia.

  Rameri took leave of the two women, and he succeeded in leaving Thebesunobserved.

  Bent-Anat knelt in prayer before the images of her mother in Osiris,of Hathor, and of the guardian Gods of her house, till the chamberlainreturned, and told her that he had persuaded the captain of the ship tostop at Chennu, and to conceal from Ani that he had betrayed his charge.

  The princess breathed more freely, for she had come to a resolution thatif the chamberlain had failed in his mission, she would cross overto the Necropolis forbid the departure of the vessel, and in the lastextremity rouse the people, who were devoted to her, against Ani.

  The following morning the Lady Katuti craved permission of the princessto see her daughter. Bent-Anat did not show herself to the widow, whoseefforts failed to keep her daughter from accompanying the princess onher journey, or to induce her to return home. Angry and uneasy, theindignant mother hastened to Ani, and implored him to keep Nefert athome by force; but the Regent wished to avoid attracting attention, andto let Bent-Anat set out with a feeling of complete security.

  "Do not be uneasy," he said. "I will give the ladies a trustworthyescort, who will keep them at the Sanctuary of the 'Emerald-Hathor' tillall is settled. There you can deliver Nefert to Paaker, if you stilllike to have him for a son-in-law after hearing several things that Ihave learned. As for me, in the end I may induce my haughty niece tolook up instead of down; I may be her second love, though for thatmatter she certainly is not my first."

  On the following day the princess set out.

  Ani took leave of her with kindly formality, which she returned withcoolness. The priesthood of the temple of Amon, with old Bek en Chunsuat their head, escorted her to the harbor. The people on the banksshouted Bent-Anat's name with a thousand blessings, but many insultingwords were to be heard also.

  The pilgrim's Nile-boat was followed by two others, full of soldiers,who accompanied the ladies "to protect them."

  The south-wind filled the sails, and carried the little processionswiftly down the stream. The princess looked now towards the palace ofher fathers, now towards the tombs and temples of the Necropolis. Atlast even the colossus of Anienophis disappeared, and the last housesof Thebes. The brave maiden sighed deeply, and tears rolled down herchecks. She felt as if she were flying after a lost battle, and yet notwholly discouraged, but hoping for future victory. As she turned to goto the cabin, a veiled girl stepped up to her, took the veil from herface, and said: "Pardon me, princess; I am Uarda, whom thou didst runover, and to whom thou hast since been so good. My grandmother is dead,and I am quite alone. I slipped in among thy maid-servants, for I wishto follow thee, and to obey all thy commands. Only do not send me away."

  "Stay, dear child," said the princess, laying her hand on her hair.

  Then, struck by its wonderful beauty, she remembered her brother, andhis wish to place a rose in Uarda's shining tresses.