The Pharaoh and the Priest: An Historical Novel of Ancient Egypt

by Bolesław Prus

  CHAPTER LI

  The immense suite of his holiness had remained in the hall ofattendance, but as if split into two parts. On one side were Herhor,Mefres, and some high priests superior in years; on the other were allthe generals, civil officials, and a majority of the younger priests.

  The eagle glance of the pharaoh saw in one instant this division ofdignitaries, and in the heart of the young sovereign joyous pride waskindled.

  "And here I have gained a victory without drawing my sword," thoughtRameses.

  The dignitaries drew away farther and more distinctly from Herhor andMefres, for no one doubted that the two high priests, till then themost powerful persons in the state, had ceased to possess the favor ofthe new pharaoh.

  Now the sovereign went to the hall of refection, where he wasastonished first of all by the multitude of serving priests and thenumber of the dishes.

  "Have I to eat all this?" inquired he, without hiding his amazement.

  The priest who inspected the kitchen explained to the pharaoh thatthe dishes not used by his holiness went as offerings to the dynasty.And while speaking he indicated the statues placed in line along thehall.

  Rameses gazed at the statues, which looked as if no one had made theman offering; next at the priests, who were as fresh of complexion asif they had eaten everything presented; then he asked for beer, alsothe bread used by warriors, and garlic.

  The elder priest was astonished, but he repeated the order to theyounger one. The younger hesitated, but repeated the command to theserving men and women. The servants at the first moment did notbelieve their own ears, but a quarter of an hour later they returnedterrified, and whispered to the priests that there was no warriors'bread nor garlic.

  The pharaoh smiled and gave command that from that day forth thereshould not be a lack of simple food in his kitchen. Then he ate apigeon, a morsel of wheaten cake, and drank some wine.

  He confessed in spirit that the food was well prepared and the wineexquisite. He could not free himself from the thought, however, thatthe court kitchen must swallow immense sums of money.

  Having burnt incense to his ancestors, the pharaoh betook himself tohis cabinet to hear reports from ministers.

  Herhor came first. He bent down before his lord much lower than he hadwhen greeting him, and congratulated Rameses on his victory at theSoda Lakes with great enthusiasm.

  "Thou didst rush," said he, "holiness, on the Libyans like Typhon onthe miserable tents of wanderers through the desert. Thou hast won agreat battle with very small losses, and with one blow of thy divinesword hast finished a war, the end of which was unseen by us commonmen."

  The pharaoh felt his dislike toward the minister decreasing.

  "For this cause," continued the high priest, "the supreme councilimplores thee, holiness, to appoint ten talents' reward to the valiantregiments. Do thou, as supreme chief, permit that to thy name be added'The Victorious.'"

  Counting on the youth of the pharaoh, Herhor exaggerated in flattery.Rameses recovered from his delight and replied on a sudden,--

  "What wouldst thou add to my name had I destroyed the Assyrian armyand filled our temples with the riches of Nineveh and Babylon?"

  "So he is always dreaming of that?" thought the high priest.

  The pharaoh, as if to confirm Herhor's fears, changed the subject.

  "How many troops have we?" asked he.

  "Here in Memphis?"

  "No, in all Egypt."

  "Thou hadst ten regiments, holiness," answered Herhor. "The worthyNitager on the eastern boundary has fifteen. There are ten on thesouth, for Nubia begins to be disturbed; five are garrisonedthroughout the country."

  "Forty altogether," said Rameses, after some thought. "How manywarriors in all?"

  "About sixty thousand."

  Rameses sprang up from his chair.

  "Sixty thousand instead of one hundred and twenty thousand!" shoutedhe. "What does this mean? What have ye done with my army?"

  "There are no means to maintain more men."

  "O God!" said the Pharaoh, seizing his head. "But the Assyrians mayattack us a month hence. We are disarmed--"

  "We have a preliminary treaty with Assyria," put in Herhor.

  "A woman might give such an answer, but not a minister of war," saidRameses, with indignation. "What does a treaty mean when there is noarmy behind it: To-day one-half of the troops which King Assarcommands would crush us."

  "Deign to be at rest, holy lord. At the first news of Assyrian treasonwe should have half a million of warriors."

  The pharaoh laughed in his face.

  "What? How? Thou art mad, priest! Thou art groping among papyruses,but I have served seven years in the army, and there was almost no daywhich I did not pass in drill or manoeuvres. How couldst thou have anarmy of half a million in the course of a few months?"

  "All the nobility would rise."

  "What is thy nobility? Nobility is not an army. To form an army ofhalf a million, at least a hundred and fifty regiments are needed, andwe, as thou thyself sayest, have forty. How could those men who to-dayare herding cattle, ploughing land, making pots, or drinking andidling on their lands, learn the art of warfare? Egyptians are poormaterials for an army. I know that, for I see them daily. A Libyan, aGreek, a Hittite, in boyhood even uses a bow and arrows and a sling;he handles a club perfectly; in a year he learns to march passably.But only in three years will an Egyptian march in some fashion. It istrue that he grows accustomed to a sword and a spear in two years, butto cast missiles four years are too short a time for him. So in thecourse of a few months ye could put out not an army, but half amillion of a rabble which the Assyrians would break to pieces in thetwinkle of an eye. For, though the Assyrian regiments are poor andbadly trained, an Assyrian knows how to hurl stones and shoot arrows;he knows how to cut and thrust, and, above all, he has the onrush of awild beast, which is lacking in the mild Egyptians altogether. Webreak the enemy by this, that our trained and drilled regiments arelike a battering ram: it is necessary to beat down one-half of our menbefore the column is injured. But when the column is broken, there isno Egyptian army."

  "Thou speakest wisdom," said Herhor to the panting pharaoh. "Only thegods possess such acquaintance with things. I know that the forces ofEgypt are too weak; that to create new ones many years of labor areneeded. For this very reason I wish to conclude a treaty withAssyria."

  "But ye have concluded it already!"

  "For the moment. Sargon, in view of the sickness of thy father, andfearing thee, holiness, deferred the conclusion of a regular treatytill thou shouldst ascend the throne."

  The pharaoh fell into anger again.

  "What?" cried he. "Then they think really of seizing Phoenicia! And dothey suppose that I will sign the infamy of my reign? Evil spiritshave seized all of you!"

  The audience was ended. Herhor fell on his face this time, but whilereturning from his lord he considered in his heart,--

  "His holiness has heard the report, hence he does not reject myservices. I have told him that he must sign a treaty with Assyria,hence the most difficult question is finished. He will come to hismind before Sargon returns to us. But he is a lion, and not even alion, but a mad elephant. Still he became pharaoh only because he isthe grandson of a high priest. He does not understand yet that thosesame hands which raised him so high--"

  In the antechamber the worthy Herhor halted, thought over something;at last instead of going to his own dwelling he went to QueenNikotris.

  In the garden there were neither women nor children, but from thescattered villas came groans. Those were from women belonging to thehouse of the late pharaoh who were lamenting that sovereign who hadgone to the west. Their sorrow, it seemed, was sincere.

  Meanwhile the supreme judge entered the cabinet of the new pharaoh.

  "What hast thou to tell me, worthiness?" asked Rameses.

  "Some days ago an unusual thing happened near Thebes," replied thejudge. "A laborer killed his wife and three children and drown
edhimself in the sacred lake."

  "Had he gone mad?"

  "It seems that his act was caused by hunger."

  The pharaoh grew thoughtful.

  "A strange event," said he, "but I wish to hear of something else.What crimes happen most commonly in these days?"

  The supreme judge hesitated.

  "Speak boldly," said the pharaoh, now grown impatient, "and hidenothing from me. I know that Egypt has fallen into a morass; I wish todraw it out, hence I must know everything."

  "The most usual crimes are revolts. But only common people revolt,"added the judge, hastily.

  "I am listening," said the pharaoh.

  "In Kosem a regiment of masons and stone-cutters revolted recently;for some time needful supplies had been refused them. In Sechemearth-tillers killed a scribe who was collecting taxes. In Melcatisand Pi-Hebit also earth-tillers wrecked the houses of Phoeniciantenants. At Kasa they refused to repair the canal, declaring that payfrom the treasury was due them for that labor. Finally in the porphyryquarries the convicts killed their overseers and tried to escape in abody to the seacoast."

  "This news does not surprise me," replied the pharaoh. "But what dostthou think?"

  "It is necessary first of all to punish the guilty."

  "But I think it necessary first of all to give laborers what belongsto them. A hungry ox will lie down; a hungry horse will totter on hisfeet and pant. How, then, can we ask a hungry man to work and notdeclare that he is suffering?"

  "Then, holiness--"

  "Pentuer will open a council to investigate these matters,"interrupted the pharaoh. "Meanwhile I have no desire to punish."

  "In that case a general insurrection will break out," cried the judge,in alarm.

  The pharaoh rested his chin on his hands and considered,--

  "Well," said he, after a while, "let the courts do their work, but asmildly as possible. And this very day Pentuer will assemble hiscouncil."

  "In truth," added he, after a time, "it is easier to make a decisionin battle than in the disorder which has mastered Egypt."

  When the supreme judge had departed, the pharaoh summoned Tutmosis. Hedirected him to salute in the name of the sovereign the army returningfrom the Soda Lakes, and to distribute twenty talents among theofficers and warriors.

  Then he commanded Pentuer to come; meanwhile he received the chieftreasurer.

  "I wish to know," said he, "what the condition of the treasury is."

  "We have," replied the dignitary, "at this moment twenty thousandtalents of value in the granaries, stables, storehouses, and chests,while taxes are coming in daily."

  "But insurrections are breaking out daily," added the pharaoh. "Whatis our general income and outgo?"

  "On the army we expend yearly twenty thousand talents; on the courttwo to three thousand talents monthly."

  "Well, what further? And public works?"

  "At present they are carried on without expense," said the treasurer,dropping his head.

  "And the income?"

  "We have as much as we expend," whispered the official.

  "Then we have forty or fifty thousand talents yearly. And where is therest?"

  "Mortgaged to the Phoenicians, to certain bankers, to merchants, andto the temples."

  "Well, but there is besides the inviolable treasure of the pharaohs ingold, platinum, and jewels; how much is that worth?"

  "That was taken and distributed ten years ago."

  "For what purpose? To whom?"

  "For the needs of the court, in gifts to nomarchs and to temples."

  "The court had incomes from current taxes. But could presents exhaustthe treasury of my father?"

  "Osiris Rameses, thy father, holiness, was a bountiful lord and madegreat offerings."

  "Is it possible? Were they so great? I wish to know about this," saidthe pharaoh, impatiently.

  "Exact accounts are in the archives; I remember only general figures."

  "Speak!"

  "For example," answered the treasurer, hesitatingly, "Osiris Ramesesin the course of his happy reign gave to the temples about one hundredtowns, one hundred and twenty ships, two million head of cattle, twomillion bags of wheat, one hundred and twenty thousand horses, eightythousand slaves, two hundred thousand kegs of beer and wine, threemillion loaves of bread, thirty thousand garments, thirty thousandvessels of honey, olives, and incense. Besides that, one thousandtalents of gold, three thousand talents of silver, ten thousand ofbronze, five hundred talents of dark bronze, six million garlands offlowers, twelve hundred statues of gods, and thirty thousand preciousstones.[25] Other numbers I do not remember at the moment, but theyare all recorded."

  [25] The gifts of Rameses III. to the temples were incomparably greater.

  The pharaoh raised his hands with laughter, but after a time fellinto anger, and cried, while striking the table with his fist,--

  "It is an unheard of thing that a handful of priests should use somuch beer and bread, so many garlands and robes, while they have theirown income,--an immense income, which exceeds the wants of these holymen a hundred times."

  "Thou hast been pleased, holiness, to forget that the priests supporttens of thousands of poor; they cure an equal number of sick, andmaintain a number of regiments at the expense of the temples."

  "What do they want of regiments? Even the pharaohs use troops only inwartime. As to the sick, almost every man of them pays for himself, orworks out what he owes the temple for curing him. And the poor? Butthey work for the temple: they carry water for the gods, take part insolemnities, and, above all, are connected with the working ofmiracles. It is they who at the gates of the temples, recover reason,sight, hearing; their wounds are cured, their feet and hands regainstrength, while the people looking at these miracles pray all the moreeagerly and give offerings to gods the more bountiful.

  "The poor are like the oxen and sheep of the temples: they bring inpure profit--"

  "But," the treasurer made bold to put in, "the priests do not expendall the offerings; they lay them up, and increase the capital."

  "For what purpose?"

  "For some sudden need of the state."

  "Who has seen this capital?"

  "I have seen it myself," said the dignitary. "The treasuresaccumulated in the labyrinth do not decrease; they increase fromgeneration to generation, so that in case--"

  "So that the Assyrians might have something to take when they conquerEgypt, which is managed by priests so beautifully!" interrupted thepharaoh. "I thank thee, chief treasurer; I knew that the financialcondition of Egypt was bad, but I did not suppose the state ruined.There are rebellions, there is no army, the pharaoh is in poverty; butthe treasure in the labyrinth is increasing from generation togeneration."

  "If each dynasty, an entire dynasty, gave as many gifts to temples asmy father has given, the labyrinth would have nineteen thousandtalents of gold, about sixty thousand of silver, and so much wheat,and land, so many cattle, slaves, and towns, so many garments andprecious stones, that the best accountant could not reckon them."

  The chief treasurer was crushed when taking farewell of the sovereign.But the sovereign himself was not satisfied, for after a moment'sthought it seemed to him that he had spoken too plainly withofficials.