Cleopatra

by H. Rider Haggard

  CHAPTER VII

  OF THE AWAKING OF HARMACHIS; OF THE CEREMONY OF HIS CROWNING AS PHARAOHOF THE UPPER AND THE LOWER LAND; AND OF THE OFFERINGS MADE TO PHARAOH

  Once again I woke--to find myself stretched at length upon the stoneflooring of the Holy Place of Isis that is at Abouthis. By me stood theold Priest of the Mysteries, and in his hand was a lamp. He bent overme, and gazed earnestly upon my face.

  "It is day--the day of thy new birth, and thou hast lived to seeit, Harmachis!" he said at length. "I give thanks. Arise, royalHarmachis--nay, tell me naught of that which has befallen thee. Arise,beloved of the Holy Mother. Come forth, thou who hast passed the fireand learned what lies behind the darkness--come forth, O newly-born!"

  I rose and, walking faintly, went with him, and, passing out of thedarkness of the Shrines filled with thought and wonder, came once moreinto the pure light of the morning. And then I went to my own chamberand slept; nor did any dreams come to trouble me. But no man--not evenmy father--asked me aught of what I saw upon that dread night, or afterwhat fashion I had communed with the Goddess.

  After these things which have been written, I applied myself for aspace to the worship of the Mother Isis, and to the further study of theoutward forms of those mysteries to which I now held the key. Moreover,I was instructed in matters politic, for many great men of our followingcame secretly to see me from all quarters of Egypt, and told me muchof the hatred of the people towards Cleopatra, the Queen, and of otherthings. At last the hour drew nigh; it was three months and ten daysfrom the night when, for a while, I left the flesh, and yet living withour life, was gathered to the breast of Isis, on which it was agreedthat with due and customary rites, although in utter secrecy, I shouldbe called to the throne of the Upper and the Lower Land. So it cameabout that, as the solemn time drew nigh, great men of the party ofEgypt gathered to the number of thirty-seven from every nome, and eachgreat city of their nome, meeting together at Abouthis. They came inevery guise--some as priests, some as pilgrims to the Shrine, and someas beggars. Among them was my uncle, Sepa, who, though he clad himselfas a travelling doctor, had much ado to keep his loud voice frombetraying him. Indeed, I myself knew him by it, meeting him as I walkedin thought upon the banks of the canal, although it was then dusk andthe great cape, which, after the fashion of such doctors, he had thrownabout his head, half hid his face.

  "A pest on thee!" he cried, when I greeted him by his name. "Cannot aman cease to be himself for a single hour? Didst thou but know the painsthat it has cost me to learn to play this part--and now thou readest whoI am even in the dark!"

  And then, still talking in his loud voice, he told me how he hadtravelled hither on foot, the better to escape the spies who ply to andfro upon the river. But he said he should return by the water, or takeanother guise; for since he had come as a doctor he had been forced toplay a doctor's part, knowing but little of the arts of medicine; and,as he greatly feared, there were many between Annu and Abouthis who hadsuffered from it.[*] And he laughed loudly and embraced me, forgettinghis part. For he was too whole at heart to be an actor and other thanhimself, and would have entered Abouthis with me holding my hand, had Inot chid him for his folly.

  [*] In Ancient Egypt an unskilful or negligent physician was liable to very heavy penalties.--Editor.

  At length all were gathered.

  It was night, and the gates of the temple were shut. None were leftwithin them, except the thirty-seven; my father, the High PriestAmenemhat; that aged priest who had led me to the Shrine of Isis; theold wife, Atoua, who, according to ancient custom, was to prepare mefor the anointing; and some five other priests, sworn to secrecy by thatoath which none may break. They gathered in the second hall of the greattemple; but I remained alone, clad in my white robe, in the passagewhere are the names of six-and-seventy ancient Kings, who were beforethe day of the divine Sethi. There I rested in darkness, till at lengthmy father, Amenemhat, came, bearing a lamp, and, bowing low before me,led me by the hand forth into the great hall. Here and there, betweenits mighty pillars, lights were burning that dimly showed the sculpturedimages upon the walls, and dimly fell upon the long line of theseven-and-thirty Lords, Priests, and Princes, who, seated upon carvenchairs, awaited my coming in silence. Before them, facing away fromthe seven Sanctuaries, a throne was set, around which stood the priestsholding the sacred images and banners. As I came into the dim and holyplace, the Dignitaries rose, and bowed before me, speaking no word;while my father led me to the steps of the throne, and in a low voicebade me stand before it.

  Then he spoke:

  "Lords, Priests, and Princes of the ancient orders of the land ofKhem--Nobles from the Upper and the Lower Country, have gatheredin answer to my summons, hear me: I present to you, with such scantformality as the occasion can afford, the Prince Harmachis, by right andtrue descent of blood the descendant and heir of the ancient Pharaohsof our most unhappy land. He is priest of the inmost circle of theMysteries of the Divine Isis, Master of the Mysteries--Hereditary Priestof the Pyramids, which are by Memphis, Instructed in the Solemn Ritesof the Holy Osiris. Is there any among you who has aught to urge againstthe true line of his blood?"

  He paused, and my uncle Sepa, rising from his chair, spoke: "We havemade examination of the records and there is none, O Amenemhat. He is ofthe Royal blood, his descent is true."

  "Is there any among you," went on my father, "who can deny that thisroyal Harmachis, by sanction of the very Gods, has been gatheredto Isis, been shown the way of the Osiris, been admitted to be theHereditary High Priest of the Pyramids which are by Memphis, and of theTemples of the Pyramids?"

  Then that old priest rose who had been my guide in the Sanctuary of theMother and made answer: "There is none; O Amenemhat; I know these thingsof my own knowledge."

  Once more my father spoke: "Is there any among you who has aught to urgeagainst this royal Harmachis, in that by wickedness of heart or life, byuncleanliness or falsity, it is not fit or meet that we should crown himLord of all the Lands?"

  Then an aged Prince of Memphis arose and made answer:

  "We have inquired of these matters: there is none, O Amenemhat."

  "It is well," said my father; "then naught is wanting in the PrinceHarmachis, seed of Nekt-nebf, the Osirian. Let the woman Atoua standforth and tell this company those things that came to pass when, atthe hour of her death, she who was my wife prophesied over this Prince,being filled with the Spirit of the Hathors."

  Thereon old Atoua crept forward from the shadow of the columns, andearnestly told those things that have been written.

  "Ye have heard," said my father: "do you believe that the woman who wasmy wife spake with the Divine voice?"

  "We do," they answered.

  Now my uncle Sepa rose and spoke:

  "Royal Harmachis, thou hast heard. Know now that we are gathered hereto crown thee King of the Upper and the Lower Lands--thy holy father,Amenemhat, renouncing all his right on thy behalf. We are met, not,indeed, in that pomp and ceremony which is due to the occasion--for whatwe do must be done in secret, lest our lives, and the cause that is moredear to us than life, should pay the forfeit--but yet with such dignityand observance of the ancient rites as our circumstance may command.Learn, now, how this matter hangs, and if, after learning, thy mindconsents thereto, then mount thy throne, O Pharaoh--and swear the oath!

  "Long has Khemi groaned beneath the mailed heel of the Greek, andtrembled at the shadow of the Roman's spear; long has the ancientworship of its Gods been desecrated, and its people crushed withoppression. But we believe that the hour of deliverance is at hand,and with the solemn voice of Egypt and by the ancient Gods of Egypt, towhose cause thou art of all men bound, we call upon thee, Prince, to bethe sword of our deliverance. Hearken! Twenty thousand good and leal menare sworn to wait upon thy word, and at thy signal to rise as one, toput the Grecian to the sword, and with their blood and substance tobuild thee a throne set more surely on the soil of Khem than are itsancient pyramids--such a thr
one as shall even roll the Roman legionsback. And for the signal, it shall be the death of that bold harlot,Cleopatra. Thou must compass her death, Harmachis, in such fashion asshall be shown to thee, and with her blood anoint the Royal throne ofEgypt.

  "Canst thou refuse, O our Hope? Doth not the holy love of country swellwithin thy heart? Canst thou dash the cup of Freedom from thy lips andbear to drink the bitter draught of slaves? The emprise is great; maybeit shall fail, and thou with thy life, as we with ours, shalt pay theprice of our endeavour. But what of it, Harmachis? Is life, then,so sweet? Are we so softly cushioned on the stony bed of earth? Isbitterness and sorrow in its sum so small and scant a thing? Do we herebreathe so divine an air that we should fear to face the passage ofour breath? What have we here but hope and memory? What see we here butshadows? Shall we then fear to pass pure-handed where Fulfilment is andmemory is lost in its own source, and shadows die in the light whichcast them? O Harmachis, that man alone is truly blest who crowns hislife with Fame's most splendid wreath. For, since to all the Brood ofEarth Death hands his poppy-flowers, he indeed is happy to whom there isoccasion given to weave them in a crown of glory. And how can a man diebetter than in a great endeavour to strike the gyves from his Country'slimbs so that she again may stand in the face of Heaven and raise theshrill shout of Freedom, and, clad once more in a panoply of strength,trample under foot the fetters of her servitude, defying the tyrantnations of the earth to set their seal upon her brow?

  "Khem calls thee, Harmachis. Come then, thou Deliverer; leap like Horusfrom the firmament, break her chains, scatter her foes, and rule aPharaoh on Pharaoh's Throne----"

  "Enough, enough!" I cried, while the long murmur of applause swept aboutthe columns and up the massy walls. "Enough; is there any need to adjureme thus? Had I a hundred lives, would I not most gladly lay them downfor Egypt?"

  "Well said, well said!" answered Sepa. "Now go forth with the womanyonder, that she may make thy hands clean before they touch the sacredemblems, and anoint thy brow before it is encircled of the diadem."

  And so I went into a chamber apart with the old wife, Atoua. There,muttering prayers, she poured pure water over my hands into a ewer ofgold, and having dipped a fine cloth into oil wiped my brow with it.

  "O happy Egypt!" she said; "O happy Prince, that art come to rule inEgypt! O Royal youth!--too Royal to be a priest--so shall many a fairwoman think; but, perchance, for thee they will relax the priestly rule,else how shall the race of Pharaoh be carried on? O happy I, who dandledthee and gave my flesh and blood to save thee! O royal and beautifulHarmachis, born for splendour, happiness, and love!"

  "Cease, cease," I said, for her talk jarred upon me; "call me not happytill thou knowest my end, and speak not to me of love, for with lovecomes sorrow, and mine is another and a higher way."

  "Ay, ay, so thou sayest--and joy, too, that comes with love! Never talklightly of love, my King, for it brought thee here! _La! la!_ but it isalways the way--'The goose on the wing laughs at crocodiles,' so goestheir saying down at Alexandria; 'but when the goose is asleep on thewater, it is the crocodiles that laugh.' Not but what women are prettycrocodiles. Men worship the crocodiles at Anthribis--Crocodilopolis theycall it now, don't they?--but they worship women all the world over!_La!_ how my tongue runs on, and thou about to be crowned Pharaoh! Did Inot prophesy it to thee? Well, thou art clean, Lord of the Double Crown.Go forth!"

  So I went from the chamber with the old wife's foolish talk ringing inmy ears, though of a truth her folly had ever a grain of wit in it.

  As I came, the Dignitaries rose once more and bowed before me. Then myfather, without delay, drew near me, and placed in my hands a goldenimage of the divine Ma, the Goddess of Truth, and golden images of thearks of the God Amen-Ra, of the divine Mout, and the divine Khons, andspoke solemnly:

  "Thou swearest by the living majesty of Ma, by the majesty of Amen-Ra,of Mout, and of Khons?"

  "I swear," I said.

  "Thou swearest by the holy land of Khem, by Sihor's flood, by theTemples of the Gods and the eternal Pyramids?"

  "I swear."

  "Remembering thy hideous doom if thou shouldst fail therein, thouswearest that thou wilt in all things govern Egypt according to itsancient laws, that thou wilt preserve the worship of its Gods, that thouwilt do equal justice, that thou wilt not oppress, that thou wilt notbetray, that thou wilt make no alliance with the Roman or the Greek,that thou wilt cast out the foreign Idols, that thou wilt devote thylife to the liberty of the land of Khem?"

  "I swear."

  "It is well. Mount, then, the throne, that in the presence of these thysubjects, I may name thee Pharaoh."

  I mounted upon the throne, of which the footstool is a Sphinx, and thecanopy the overshadowing wings of Ma. Then Amenemhat drew nigh onceagain and placed the Pshent upon my brow, and on my head the DoubleCrown, and the Royal Robe about my shoulders, and in my hands theSceptre and the Scourge.

  "Royal Harmachis," he cried, "by these outward signs and tokens, I, theHigh Priest of the Temple of Ra-Men-Ma at Abouthis, crown thee Pharaohof the Upper and Lower Land. Reign and prosper, O Hope of Khemi!"

  "Reign and prosper, Pharaoh!" echoed the Dignitaries, bowing down beforeme.

  Then, one by one, they swore allegiance, till all had sworn. And, havingsworn, my father took me by the hand; he led me in solemn processioninto each of the seven Sanctuaries that are in this Temple of Ra-Men-Ma,and in each I made offerings, swung incense, and officiated as priest.Clad in the Royal robes I made offerings in the Shrine of Horus, in theShrine of Isis, in the Shrine of Osiris, in the Shrine of Amen-Ra, inthe Shrine of Horemku, in the Shrine of Ptah, till at length I reachedthe Shrine of the King's Chamber.

  Here they made their offering to me, as the Divine Pharaoh, and left mevery weary--but a King.

  [Here the first and smallest of the papyrus rolls comes to an end.]

  BOOK II--THE FALL OF HARMACHIS