The Pharaoh And The Priest Part 66

"But she cannot come," said he to himself, "for they would kill her."

He stopped and hesitated.

"Who would kill her,--Hiram, who believes in nothing, or Dagon, who knows not himself what he is? True, but there is a mult.i.tude of other Phnicians in Egypt, and hundreds of thousands of wild and fanatical pilgrims are prowling around here. In the eyes of those idiots Kama would commit sacrilege were she to visit me."

So he went toward the villa. He did not even think that danger might threaten him there,--him, who without drawing his sword might by a mere look bring the whole world to his feet; he, Rameses, and danger!

When the prince came out from among trees, he saw that Kama's house was more brightly lighted and more noisy than usual. In fact, the terrace and the rooms were filled with guests, and around the villa were throngs of people.

"What band is this?" thought Rameses.

It was an uncommon a.s.semblage. Not far from the house was an immense elephant, bearing on his back a gilded litter with purple curtains. At the side of the elephant, neighing and squealing, and, in general, acting impatiently, were horses with large necks and legs, with tails plaited, and with something on their heads like metal helmets.

Among these restless, almost wild animals, some tens of men were busied,--men such as Rameses had never seen elsewhere. They had s.h.a.ggy hair, great beards, pointed caps with ear-laps; some wore long robes of coa.r.s.e cloth reaching to their heels; others wore short coats and skirts, and some had boots on their feet. All carried swords, bows, and darts.

At sight of these foreigners, stalwart, awkward, laughing vulgarly, smelling of tallow, and speaking an unknown and harsh language, the prince was indignant. As a lion, though not hungry, prepares to spring when he sees a common animal, so Rameses, though they had offended him in no way, felt a terrible hatred toward those strangers. He was irritated by their language, their dress, the odor from their bodies, even their horses. The blood rushed to his head, and he reached for his sword to attack those men--slay them and their beasts also. But soon he recovered his senses.

"Set has cast a spell on me," thought Rameses.

At that moment a naked Egyptian, with a cap on his head and a girdle around his waist, pa.s.sed along the path slowly. The prince felt that the man was near to him, even precious at that moment, for he was an Egyptian. He took from his purse a gold ring worth from ten to twenty drachmas, and gave it to the bondman.

"Listen," said he; "who are those people?"

"a.s.syrians," whispered the Egyptian; and hatred glittered in his eyes as he answered.

"a.s.syrians," repeated the prince. "Are those a.s.syrians, then? And what are they doing here?"

"Their lord, Sargon, is paying court to the priestess, the sacred Kama, and they are guarding him. May leprosy devour them, the wretches, the swine sons!"

"Thou mayst go."

The naked man made a low obeisance and ran, surely to some kitchen.

"Are those a.s.syrians?" thought the prince, as he looked at their strange figures and heard their hated, though un-understood language.

"So already a.s.syrians are on the Nile, to become brothers to us, or to deceive us, and their dignitary, Sargon, is courting Kama?"

He returned home. His imaginings died before the light of a pa.s.sion felt then for the first time. He, a man mild and n.o.ble, felt a deadly hatred toward the ancient enemies of Egypt, whom he had never met till that evening.

When leaving the temple of Hator, and after his interview with Hiram, he began to think of war with Asia; that was merely thinking that Egypt needed population, and the pharaoh needed treasure; and since war gave the easiest means to win them, and since, besides, it agreed with his need of glory, Rameses conceived the plan of warfare. But now he was concerned neither with slaves, nor treasures, nor glory, for in him was sounding at that moment a voice mightier than every other,--the voice of hatred. The pharaohs had struggled so long with the a.s.syrians, both sides had shed so much blood, the struggle had fixed its roots in their hearts so profoundly, that the prince grasped for his sword at the very sight of a.s.syrian warriors. It seemed that the spirits of all the slain Egyptians, their toils and sufferings, had risen in the soul of this descendant of pharaohs and cried for retribution.

When Rameses reached the palace, he summoned Tutmosis. One of them had drunk too much, the other was raging.

"Dost thou know what I have seen just now?" asked the prince of his favorite.

"One of the priests, perhaps."

"I have seen a.s.syrians. O ye G.o.ds! what I felt! What a low people!

Their bodies from head to foot are covered with wool, as wild beasts are; the stench of old tallow comes from them; and what speech, what beard, what hair!"

The prince walked up and down the room quickly, panting, excited.

"I thought," said he, "that I despised the robberies of scribes, the deceit of nomarchs, that I hated the cunning and ambition of priests; I felt repulsion for Jews, and I feared the Phnicians; but I convinced myself to-night that those were all amus.e.m.e.nts. I know now, for the first time, what hate is, after I have seen and heard a.s.syrians. I understand now why a dog tears the cat which has crossed his path."

"Thou art accustomed to Jews and Phnicians, worthiness, thou hast met a.s.syrians now for the first time," put in Tutmosis.

"Stupidity! the Phnicians!" continued the prince, as if to himself.

"The Phnicians, the Philistines, the Arabs, the Libyans, even the Ethiopians seem, as it were, members of our own family. When they fail to pay tribute, we are angry; when they pay, we forget our feeling.

"But the a.s.syrians are something strange, something inimical, so that--I shall not be happy till I can count one hundred thousand of their hands cut off by us."

Never had Tutmosis seen the prince in such a state of feeling.

CHAPTER x.x.xIII

A couple of days later Rameses sent his favorite with a summons to Kama. She appeared soon in a tightly closed litter.

Rameses received her in a separate chamber.

"I was," said he, "outside thy house one evening."

"Oh, Astaroth!" cried the priestess. "To what must I attribute this high favor? And what hindered thee, worthy lord, from deigning to summon thy slave?"

"Some beasts were there,--a.s.syrians, I suppose."

"Then thou didst take the trouble, worthiness, in the evening? Never could I have dared to suppose that our ruler was under the open sky, a few steps from me."

The prince blushed. How she would be astounded could she know that he had pa.s.sed ten evenings near her windows!

But perhaps she knew it, judging by her half-smiling lips and her eyes cast down deceitfully.

"So, then, Kama," said the prince, "thou receivest a.s.syrians at thy villa?"

"That man is a great magnate,--Sargon,--a relative of King a.s.sar,"

answered Kama; "he has brought five talents to our G.o.ddess."

"And thou wilt repay him, Kama?" jeered the heir. "And since he is such a bountiful magnate, the Phnician G.o.ds will not send thee death in punishment."

"What dost thou say, lord?" exclaimed Kama, clasping her hands. "Dost thou not know that if an Asiatic found me in the desert he would not lay hands on me, even were I myself to yield to him? They fear the G.o.ds."

"Why, then, does he come to thee, this malodorous--no--this pious Asiatic?"

"Because he wants to persuade me to go to the temple of Astaroth in Babylon."

"And wilt thou go?"