The Pharaoh And The Priest Part 81

"'Thy son and slave, Rameses, says this to thee,--he who all the time of his journey had his eyes open like a fish, and his ears set forward like an a.s.s which is watching.'"

The prince stopped. Tutmosis repeated the words mentally.

"If," continued the viceroy, "his holiness asks for my opinion of the a.s.syrians, fall on thy face and answer,--

"'Thy servant Rameses, if thou permit, makes bold to say that the a.s.syrians are strong and large men, and have perfect weapons; but it is evident that they have bad training. At the heels of Sargon marched the best a.s.syrian warriors, archers, axemen, spearmen, and still there were not six among them who could march in line warrior fas.h.i.+on.

Besides they carry their spears crookedly, their swords are badly hung, they bear their axes like carpenters or butchers. Their clothing is heavy, their rude sandals gall their feet, and their s.h.i.+elds, though strong, are of small use, for the men are awkward.'"

"Thou speakest truth," said Tutmosis. "I have noticed that, and I have heard the same from Egyptian officers who declare that a.s.syrian troops, like those which we saw here, would offer less resistance than the hordes of Libya."

"Say also to our lord, who gives us life, that all the n.o.bles and the Egyptian army are indignant at the mere report that a.s.syria might annex Phnicia. Why, Phnicia is the port of Egypt, and the Phnicians the best warriors in our navy.

"Say, besides, that I have heard from Phnicians (of this his holiness must know best of all) that a.s.syria is weak at the moment, for she has a war on her northern and eastern boundaries; all western Asia is arming against her. Should we attack to-day, we could win immense wealth, and take mult.i.tudes of captives who would help our slaves in their labor.

"But say, in conclusion, that the wisdom of my father excels that of all men, therefore I shall do whatsoever he commands, if only he gives not Phnicia to King a.s.sar; if he gives it, we are ruined. Phnicia is the bronze door of our treasure-house, and where is the man who would yield his door to a robber?"

Tutmosis went to Memphis in the month Paofi (July and August).

The Nile was increasing mightily; hence the influx of Asiatic pilgrims to the temple of Astaroth diminished. People of the place betook themselves to the fields to gather with the utmost speed grapes, flax, and a certain plant which furnished cotton.

In one word, the neighborhood grew quiet, and the gardens surrounding the temples were almost deserted.

At that time Prince Rameses, relieved from amus.e.m.e.nts and the duties of the state, turned to his love affair with Kama. On a certain day he had a secret consultation with Hiram, who at his command gave the temple of Astaroth twelve talents in gold, a statue of the G.o.ddess wonderfully carved out of malachite, fifty cows and of wheat one hundred and fifty measures. That was such a generous gift that the high priest of the temple himself came to Rameses to fall prostrate and thank him for the favor which, as he said, people who loved the G.o.ddess would remember during all the ages.

Having settled with the temple, the prince summoned the chief of police in Pi-Bast and pa.s.sed a long hour with him. Because of this the whole city was shaken some days later under the influence of extraordinary tidings: Kama, the priestess of Astaroth, had been seized, borne away and lost, like a grain of sand in a desert.

This unheard-of event occurred under the following conditions: The high priest of the temple sent Kama to the town Sabne-Chetam at Lake Menzaleh with offerings for the chapel of Astaroth in that place. To avoid summer heat and secure herself against curiosity and the homage of people, the priestess journeyed in a boat and during night hours.

Toward morning, when the three wearied rowers were dozing, boats manned by Greeks and Hitt.i.tes pushed out suddenly from among reeds at the sh.o.r.e, surrounded the boat bearing Kama, and carried off the priestess. The attack was so sudden that the Phnician rowers made no resistance. The strangers gagged Kama, evidently, for she remained silent. The Greeks and Hitt.i.tes after the sacrilege vanished in the reeds, to sail toward the sea afterward. To prevent pursuit they sank the boat which had borne the priestess.

Pi-Bast was as excited as a beehive. People talked of nothing else.

They even guessed who did the deed. Some suspected Sargon, who had offered Kama the t.i.tle of wife if she would leave the temple and remove to Nineveh. Others suspected Lykon, the temple singer, who long had burned with pa.s.sion for the priestess. He was moreover rich enough to hire Greek slaves, and so G.o.dless that he would not hesitate to s.n.a.t.c.h away a priestess.

A Phnician council of the richest and most faithful members was summoned to the temple. The council resolved, first of all, to free Kama from her duties as priestess and remove from her the curse against a virgin who lost her innocence in the service of the G.o.ddess.

That was a wise and pious resolution, for if some one had carried off the priestess and deprived her of sacredness against her will, it would have been unjust to punish her.

A couple of days later they announced, with sound of trumpet, to wors.h.i.+ppers in the temple that the priestess Kama was dead, and if any man should meet a woman seeming like her he would have no right to seek revenge or even make reproaches. The priestess had not left the G.o.ddess, but evil spirits had borne her off; for this they would be punished.

That same day the worthy Hiram visited Rameses and gave him in a gold tube a parchment furnished with a number of seals of priests and signatures of Phnician notables.

That was the decision of the spiritual court of Astaroth, which released Kama from her vows and freed her from the curse if she would renounce the name which she had borne while priestess.

The prince took this doc.u.ment and went after sundown to a certain lone villa in his garden. He opened the door in some unknown way and ascended one story to a room of medium dimensions, where by light from a carved lamp in which fragrant olive oil was burning, he saw Kama.

"At last!" cried he, giving her the gold tube. "Thou hast everything according to thy wishes."

The Phnician woman was feverish; her eyes flashed. She s.n.a.t.c.hed the tube, looked at it, and threw it on the floor.

"Dost think this gold?" asked she. "I will bet my necklace that that tube is copper, and only covered on both sides with thin strips of gold."

"Is that thy way of greeting me?" inquired the astonished Rameses.

"Yes, for I know my brethren," said she. "They counterfeit not only gold, but rubies and sapphires."

"Woman," said the heir, "in this tube is thy safety."

"What is safety to me? I am wearied in this place, and I am afraid. I have sat here four days as in prison."

"Dost thou lack anything?"

"I lack air, amus.e.m.e.nt, laughter, songs, people. O vengeful G.o.ddess, how harshly thou art punis.h.i.+ng!"

The prince listened with amazement. In that mad woman he could not recognize the Kama whom he had seen in the temple, that woman over whose person had floated the pa.s.sionate song of the Greek Lykon.

"To-morrow," said the prince, "thou canst go to the garden; and when we visit Memphis or Thebes, thou wilt amuse thyself as never in thy life before. Look at me. Do I not love thee, and is not the honor which belongs to me enough for a woman?"

"Yes," answered she, pouting, "but thou hadst four women before me."

"But if I love thee best?"

"If thou love me best, make me first, put me in the palace which that Jewess Sarah occupies, and give a guard to me, not to her. Before the statue of Astaroth I was first. Those who paid homage to the G.o.ddess, when kneeling before her, looked at me. But here what? Troops beat drums and sound flutes; officials cross their hands on their b.r.e.a.s.t.s, and incline their heads before the house of the Jewess--"

"Before my first-born son," interrupted the prince, now impatient, "and he is no Jew."

"He is a Jew!" screamed Kama.

Rameses sprang up.

"Art thou mad?" but quieting himself quickly, he added, "Dost thou not know that my son cannot be a Jew--"

"But I tell thee that he is a Jew!" cried Kama, beating the table with her fist. "He is a Jew, just as his grandfather is, just as his uncles are; and his name is Isaac."

"What hast thou said, Phnician woman? Dost wish that I should turn thee out?"

"Turn me out if a lie has gone from my lips. But if I have spoken truth, turn out that woman with her brat and give me her palace. I wish and deserve to be first in thy household. She deceives thee, reviles thee. But I, for thy sake, have deserted my G.o.ddess and exposed myself to her vengeance."

"Give me proofs and the palace will be thine. No, that is false!" said Rameses. "Sarah would not permit such a crime. My first-born son!"

"Isaac--Isaac!" cried Kama. "Go to her, and convince thyself."

Rameses, half unconscious, ran out from Kama's house and turned toward Sarah's villa. Though the night was starry, he lost his way and wandered a certain time through the garden. The cool air sobered him; he found the road to the villa and entered almost calmly.

Though the hour was late, they were awake there. Sarah with her own hands was was.h.i.+ng swaddling-clothes for her son, and the servants were pa.s.sing their time in eating, drinking, and music. When Rameses, pale from emotion, stood on the threshold, Sarah cried out, but soon calmed herself.

"Be greeted, lord," said she, wiping her wet hands and bending to his feet.

"Sarah, what is the name of thy son?" inquired he.