On the night following the banquet just described, Amasis allowed himself
only three hours' rest.  On this, as on every other morning, the young
priests wakened him at the first cock-crow, conducted him as usual to the
bath, arrayed him in the royal vestments and led him to the altar in the
court of the palace, where in presence of the populace he offered
sacrifice.  During the offering the priests sang prayers in a loud voice,
enumerated the virtues of their king, and, that blame might in no case
light on the head of their ruler, made his bad advisers responsible for
every deadly sin committed in ignorance.

They exhorted him to the performance of good deeds, while extolling his
virtues; read aloud profitable portions of the holy writings, containing
the deeds and sayings of great men, and then conducted him to his
apartments, where letters and information from all parts of the kingdom
awaited him.

Amasis was in the habit of observing most faithfully these daily-repeated
ceremonies and hours of work; the remaining portion of the day he spent
as it pleased him, and generally in cheerful society.

The priests reproached him with this, alleging that such a life was not
suited to a monarch; and on one occasion he had thus replied to the
indignant high-priest: "Look at this bow! if always bent it must lose its
power, but, if used for half of each day and then allowed to rest, it
will remain strong and useful till the string breaks."

Amasis had just signed his name to the last letter, granting the petition
of a Nornarch--[Administrator of a Province]--for money to carry on
different embankments rendered necessary by the last inundation, when a
servant entered, bringing a request from the crown-prince Psamtik for an
audience of a few minutes.

Amasis, who till this moment had been smiling cheerfully at the cheering
reports from all parts of the country, now became suddenly serious and
thoughtful.  After long delay he answered: "Go and inform the prince that
he may appear."

Psamtik appeared, pale and gloomy as ever; he bowed low and
reverentially, on entering his father's presence.

Amasis nodded silently in return, and then asked abruptly and sternly:
"What is thy desire? my time is limited."

"For your son, more than for others," replied the prince with quivering
lips.  "Seven times have I petitioned for the great favor, which thou
grantest for the first time to-day."

"No reproaches!  I suspect the reason of thy visit.  Thou desirest an
answer to thy doubts as to the birth of thy sister Nitetis."

"I have no curiosity; I come rather to warn thee, and to remind thee that
I am not the only one who is acquainted with this mystery."

"Speakest thou of Phanes?"

"Of whom else should I speak?  He is banished from Egypt and from his own
country, and must leave Naukratis in a few days.  What guarantee hast
thou, that he will not betray us to the Persians?"

"The friendship and kindness which I have always shown him."

"Dost thou believe in the gratitude of men?"

"No!  but I rely on my own discernment of character.  Phanes will not
betray us!  he is my friend, I repeat it!"

"Thy friend perhaps, but my mortal enemy!"

"Then stand on thy guard!  I have nothing to fear from him."

"For thyself perhaps nought, but for our country!  O father, reflect that
though as thy son I may be hateful in thine eyes, yet as Egypt's future I
ought to be near thy heart.  Remember, that at thy death, which may the
gods long avert, I shall represent the existence of this glorious land as
thou dost now; my fall will be the ruin of thine house, of Egypt!"

Amasis became more and more serious, and Psamtik went on eagerly: "Thou
knowest that I am right!  Phanes can betray our land to any foreign
enemy; he is as intimately acquainted with it as we are; and beside this,
he possesses a secret, the knowledge of which would convert our most
powerful ally into a most formidable enemy."

"There thou art in error.  Though not mine, Nitetis is a king's daughter
and will know how to win the love of her husband."

"Were she the daughter of a god, she could not save thee from Cambyses'
wrath, if he discovers the treachery; lying is to a Persian the worst of
crimes, to be deceived the greatest disgrace; thou hast deceived the
highest and proudest of the nation, and what can one inexperienced girl
avail, when hundreds of women, deeply versed in intrigue and artifice,
are striving for the favor of their lord?"

"Hatred and revenge are good masters in the art of rhetoric," said Amasis
in a cutting tone.  "And think'st thou then, oh, foolish son, that I
should have undertaken such a dangerous game without due consideration?
Phanes may tell the Persians what he likes, he can never prove his point.
I, the father, Ladice the mother must know best whether Nitetis is our
child or not.  We call her so, who dare aver the contrary?  If it please
Phanes to betray our land to any other enemy beside the Persians, let
him; I fear nothing!  Thou wouldst have me ruin a man who has been my
friend, to whom I owe much gratitude, who has served me long and
faithfully; and this without offence from his side.  Rather will I
shelter him from thy revenge, knowing as I do the impure source from
which it springs."

"My father!"

"Thou desirest the ruin of this man, because he hindered thee from taking
forcible possession of the granddaughter of Rhodopis, and because thine
own incapacity moved me to place him in thy room as commander of the
troops.  Ah! thou growest pale!  Verily, I owe Phanes thanks for
confiding to me your vile intentions, and so enabling me to bind my
friends and supporters, to whom Rhodopis is precious, more firmly to my
throne."

"And is it thus thou speakest of these strangers, my father?  dost thou
thus forget the ancient glory of Egypt?  Despise me, if thou wilt; I know
thou lovest me not; but say not that to be great we need the help of
strangers!  Look back on our history!  Were we not greatest when our
gates were closed to the stranger, when we depended on ourselves and our
own strength, and lived according to the ancient laws of our ancestors
and our gods?  Those days beheld the most distant lands subjugated by
Rameses, and heard Egypt celebrated in the whole world as its first and
greatest nation.  What are we now?  The king himself calls beggars and
foreigners the supporters of his throne, and devises a petty stratagem to
secure the friendship of a power over whom we were victorious before the
Nile was infested by these strangers.  Egypt was then a mighty Queen in
glorious apparel; she is now a painted woman decked out in tinsel!"


[Rameses the Great, son of Sethos, reigned over Egypt 1394-1328 B.
C.  He was called Sesostris by the Greeks; see Lepsius (Chron. d.
Aegypter, p.  538.) on the manner in which this confusion of names
arose.  Egypt attained the zenith of her power under this king,
whose army, according to Diodorus (I.  53-58).  consisted of 600,000
foot and 24,000 horsemen, 27,000 chariots and 400 ships of war.
With these hosts he subdued many of the Asiatic and African nations,
carving his name and likeness, as trophies of victory, on the rocks
of the conquered countries.  Herodotus speaks of having seen two of
these inscriptions himself (II. 102-106.) and two are still to be
found not far from Bairut.   His conquests brought vast sums of
tribute into Egypt.  Tacitus annal. II. 60. and these enabled him to
erect magnificent buildings in the whole length of his land from
Nubia to Tanis, but more especially in Thebes, the city in which he
resided.  One of the obelisks erected by Rameses at Heliopolis is
now standing in the Place de la Concorde at Paris, and has been
lately translated by E. Chabas.  On the walls of the yet remaining
palaces and temples, built under this mighty king, we find, even to
this day, thousands of pictures representing himself, his armed
hosts, the many nations subdued by the power of his arms, and the
divinities to whose favor he believed these victories were owing.
Among the latter Ammon and Bast seem to have received his especial
veneration, and, on the other hand, we read in these inscriptions
that the gods were very willing to grant the wishes of their
favorite.  A poetical description of the wars he waged with the
Cheta is to be found in long lines of hieroglyphics on the south
wall of the hall of columns of Rameses II. at Karnal, also at Luxor
and in the Sallier Papyrus, and an epic poem referring to his mighty
deeds in no less than six different places.]

"Have a care what thou sayest!"  shouted Amasis stamping on the floor.
"Egypt was never so great, so flourishing as now!  Rameses carried our
arms into distant lands and earned blood; through my labors the products
of our industry have been carried to all parts of the world and instead
of blood, have brought us treasure and blessing.  Rameses caused the
blood and sweat of his subjects to flow in streams for the honor of his
own great name; under my rule their blood flows rarely, and the sweat of
their brow only in works of usefulness.  Every citizen can now end his
days in prosperity and comfort.  Ten thousand populous cities rise on the
shores of the Nile, not a foot of the soil lies untilled, every child
enjoys the protection of law and justice, and every ill-doer shuns the
watchful eye of the authorities.

"In case of attack from without, have we not, as defenders of those god-
given bulwarks, our cataracts, our sea and our deserts, the finest army
that ever bore arms?  Thirty thousand Hellenes beside our entire Egyptian
military caste? such is the present condition of Egypt!  Rameses
purchased the bright tinsel of empty fame with the blood and tears of his
people.  To me they are indebted for the pure gold of a peaceful welfare
as citizens--to me and to my predecessors, the Saitic kings!"

[The science of fortification was very fairly understood by the
ancient Egyptians.  Walled and battlemented forts are to be seen
depicted on their monuments.  We have already endeavored to show
(see our work on Egypt. I. 78 and following) that, on the northeast,
Egypt  defended from Asiatic invasion by a line of forts extending
from Pelusium to the Red Sea.]

"And yet I tell thee," cried the prince, "that a worm is gnawing at the
root of Egypt's greatness and her life.  This struggle for riches and
splendor corrupts the hearts of the people, foreign luxury has given a
deadly blow to the simple manners of our citizens, and many an Egyptian
has been taught by the Greeks to scoff at the gods of his fathers.  Every
day brings news of bloody strife between the Greek mercenaries and our
native soldiery, between our own people and the strangers.  The shepherd
and his flock are at variance; the wheels of the state machinery are
grinding one another and thus the state itself, into total ruin.  This
once, father, though never again, I must speak out clearly what is
weighing on my heart.  While engaged in contending with the priests, thou
hast seen with calmness the young might of Persia roll on from the East,
consuming the nations on its way, and, like a devouring monster, growing
more and more formidable from every fresh prey.  Thine aid was not, as
thou hadst intended, given to the Lydians and Babylonians against the
enemy, but to the Greeks in the building of temples to their false gods.
At last resistance seemed hopeless; a whole hemisphere with its rulers
lay in submission at the feet of Persia; but even then the gods willed
Egypt a chance of deliverance.  Cambyses desired thy daughter in
marriage.  Thou, however, too weak to sacrifice thine own flesh and blood
for the good of all, hast substituted another maiden, not thine own
child, as an offering to the mighty monarch; and at the same time, in thy
soft-heartedness, wilt spare the life of a stranger in whose hand he the
fortunes of this realm, and who will assuredly work its ruin; unless
indeed, worn out by internal dissension, it perish even sooner from its
own weakness!"

Thus far Amasis had listened to these revilings of all he held dearest in
silence, though pale, and trembling with rage; but now he broke forth in
a voice, the trumpet-like sound of which pealed through the wide hall:
"Know'st thou not then, thou boasting and revengeful son of evil, thou
future destroyer of this ancient and glorious kingdom, know'st thou not
whose life must be the sacrifice, were not my children, and the dynasty
which I have founded, dearer to me than the welfare of the whole realm?
Thou, Psamtik, thou art the man, branded by the gods, feared by men--the
man to whose heart love and friendship are strangers, whose face is never
seen to smile, nor his soul known to feel compassion!  It is not,
however, through thine own sin that thy nature is thus unblessed, that
all thine undertakings end unhappily.  Give heed, for now I am forced to
relate what I had hoped long to keep secret from thine ears.  After
dethroning my predecessor, I forced him to give me his sister Tentcheta
in marriage.  She loved me; a year after marriage there was promise of a
child.  During the night preceding thy birth I fell asleep at the bedside
of my wife.  I dreamed that she was lying on the shores of the Nile, and
complained to me of pain in the breast.  Bending down, I beheld a
cypress-tree springing from her heart.  It grew larger and larger, black
and spreading, twined its roots around thy mother and strangled her.  A
cold shiver seized me, and I was on the point of flying from the spot,
when a fierce hurricane came from the East, struck the tree and overthrew
it, so that its spreading branches were cast into the Nile.  Then the
waters ceased to flow; they congealed, and, in place of the river, a
gigantic mummy lay before me.  The towns on its banks dwindled into huge
funereal urns, surrounding the vast corpse of the Nile as in a tomb.  At
this I awoke and caused the interpreters of dreams to be summoned.  None
could explain the vision, till at last the priests of the Libyan Ammon
gave me the following interpretation 'Tentcheta will die in giving birth
to a son.  The cypress, which strangled its mother, is this gloomy,
unhappy man.  In his days a people shall come from the East and shall
make of the Nile, that is of the Egyptians, dead bodies, and of their
cities ruinous heaps; these are the urns for the dead, which thou
sawest."

Psamtik listened as if turned into stone; his father continued; "Thy
mother died in giving birth to thee; fiery-red hair, the mark of the sons
of Typhon, grew around thy brow; thou becam'st a gloomy man.  Misfortune
pursued thee and robbed thee of a beloved wife and four of thy children.
The astrologers computed that even as I had been born under the fortunate
sign of Amman, so thy birth had been watched over by the rise of the
awful planet Seb.  Thou .  .  ."  But here Amasis broke off, for Psamtik,
in the anguish produced by these fearful disclosures had given way, and
with sobs and groans, cried:

"Cease, cruel father! spare me at least the bitter words, that I am the
only son in Egypt who is hated by his father without cause!"

Amasis looked down on the wretched man who had sunk to the earth before
him, his face hidden in the folds of his robe, and the father's wrath was
changed to compassion.  He thought of Psamtik's mother, dead forty years
before, and felt he had been cruel in inflicting this poisonous wound on
her son's soul.  It was the first time for years, that he had been able
to feel towards this cold strange man, as a father and a comforter.  For
the first time he saw tears in the cold eyes of his son, and could feel
the joy of wiping them away.  He seized the opportunity at once, and
bending clown over the groaning form, kissed his forehead, raised him
from the ground and said gently:

"Forgive my anger, my son! the words that have grieved thee came not from
my heart, but were spoken in the haste of wrath.  Many years hast thou
angered me by thy coldness, hardness and obstinacy; to-day thou hast
wounded me again in my most sacred feelings; this hurried me into an
excess of wrath.  But now all is right between us.  Our natures are so
diverse that our innermost feelings will never be one, but at least we
can act in concert for the future, and show forbearance one towards the
other."

In silence Psamtik bowed down and kissed his father's robe "Not so,"
exclaimed the latter; "rather let my lips receive thy kiss, as is meet
and fitting between father and son!  Thou needest not to think again of
the evil dream I have related.  Dreams are phantoms, and even if sent by
the gods, the interpreters thereof are human and erring.  Thy hand
trembles still, thy cheeks are white as thy robe.  I was hard towards
thee, harder than a father.  .  .  ."

"Harder than a stranger to strangers," interrupted his son.  "Thou hast
crushed and broken me, and if till now my face has seldom worn a smile,
from this day forward it can be naught but a mirror of my inward misery."

"Not so," said Amasis, laying his hand on his son's shoulder.  "If I
wound, I can also heal.  Tell me the dearest wish of thy heart, it shall
be granted thee!"

Psamtik's eyes flashed, his sallow cheeks glowed for a moment, and he
answered without consideration, though in a voice still trembling from
the shock he had just received: "Deliver Phanes, my enemy, into my
power!"

The king remained a few moments in deep thought, then answered: "I knew
what thou wouldst ask, and will fulfil thy desire: but I would rather
thou hadst asked the half of my treasures.  A thousand voices within warn
me that I am about to do an unworthy deed and a ruinous--ruinous for
myself, for thee, the kingdom and our house.  Reflect before acting, and
remember, whatever thou mayst meditate against Phanes, not a hair of
Rhodopis' head shall be touched.  Also, that the persecution of my poor
friend is to remain a secret from the Greeks.  Where shall I find his
equal as a commander, an adviser and a companion?  He is not yet in thy
power, however, and I advise thee to remember, that though thou mayst be
clever for an Egyptian, Phanes is a clever Greek.  I will remind thee
too of thy solemn oath to renounce the grandchild of Rhodopis.  Methinks
vengeance is dearer to thee than love, and the amends I offer will
therefore be acceptable!  As to Egypt, I repeat once again, she was never
more flourishing than now; a fact which none dream of disputing, except
the priests, and those who retail their foolish words.  And now give ear,
if thou wouldst know the origin of Nitetis.  Self-interest will enjoin
secrecy."

Psamtik listened eagerly to his father's communication, indicating his
gratitude at the conclusion by a warm pressure of the hand.

"Now farewell,"  said Amasis.  "Forget not my words, and above all shed
no blood!  I will know nothing of what happens to Phanes, for I hate
cruelty and would not be forced to stand in horror of my own son.  But
thou, thou rejoicest!  My poor Athenian, better were it for thee, hadst
thou never entered Egypt!"

Long after Psamtik had left, his father continued to pace the hall in
deep thought.  He was sorry he had yielded; it already seemed as if he
saw the bleeding Phanes lying massacred by the side of the dethroned
Hophra.  "It is true, he could have worked our ruin," was the plea he
offered to the accuser within his own breast, and with these words, he
raised his head, called his servants and left the apartment with a
smiling countenance.

Had this sanguine man, this favorite of fortune, thus speedily quieted
the warning voice within, or was he strong enough to cloak his torture
with a smile?




ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS:

Avoid excessive joy as well as complaining grief
Cast off all care; be mindful only of pleasure
Creed which views life as a short pilgrimage to the grave
Does happiness consist then in possession
Happiness has nothing to do with our outward circumstances
In our country it needs more courage to be a coward
Observe a due proportion in all things
One must enjoy the time while it is here
Pilgrimage to the grave, and death as the only true life
Robes cut as to leave the right breast uncovered
The priests are my opponents, my masters
Time is clever in the healing art
We live for life, not for death






AN EGYPTIAN PRINCESS.

By Georg Ebers

Volume 3.



CHAPTER VII.

Psamtik went at once from his father's apartments to the temple of the
goddess Neith.  At the entrance he asked for the high-priest and was
begged by one of the inferior priests to wait, as the great Neithotep
was at that moment praying in the holiest sanctuary of the exalted Queen
of Heaven.

[The temples of Egypt were so constructed as to intensify the
devotion of the worshipper by conducting him onward through a series
of halls or chambers gradually diminishing in size.  "The way
through these temples is clearly indicated, no digression is
allowed, no error possible.  We wander on through the huge and
massive gates of entrance, between the ranks of sacred animals.  The
worshipper is received into an ample court, but by degrees the walls
on either side approach one another, the halls become less lofty,
all is gradually tending towards one point.  And thus we wander on,
the sights and sounds of God's world without attract us no longer,
we see nothing but the sacred representations which encompass us so
closely, feel only the solemnity of the temple in which we stand.
And the consecrated walls embrace us ever more and more closely,
until at last we reach the lonely, resonant chamber occupied by the
divinity himself, and entered by no human being save his priest."
Schnaase, Kunstaeschirhtc I. 394.]

After a short time a young priest appeared with the intelligence that his
superior awaited the Prince's visit.  Psamtik had seated himself under
the shadow of the sacred grove of silver poplars bordering the shores of
the consecrated lake, holy to the great Neith.  He rose immediately,
crossed the temple-court, paved with stone and asphalte, on which the
sun's rays were darting like fiery arrows, and turned into one of the
long avenues of Sphinxes which led to the isolated Pylons before the
gigantic temple of the goddess.  He then passed through the principal
gate, ornamented, as were all Egyptian temple-entrances, with the winged
sun's disc.  Above its widely-opened folding doors arose on either side,
tower-like buildings, slender obelisks and waving flags.  The front of
the temple, rising from the earth in the form of an obtuse angle, had
somewhat the appearance of a fortress, and was covered with colored
pictures and inscriptions.  Through the porch Psamtik passed on into a
lofty entrance-chamber, and from thence into the great hall itself, the
ceiling of which was strewn with thousands of golden stars, and supported
by four rows of lofty pillars.  Their capitals were carved in imitation
of the lotus-flower, and these, the shafts of the columns, the walls of
this huge hall, and indeed every niche and corner that met the eye were
covered with brilliant colors and hieroglyphics.  The columns rose to a
gigantic height, the eye seemed to wander through immeasurable space, and
the air breathed by the worshippers was heavy with the fragrance of Kyphi
and incense, and the odors which arose from the laboratory attached to
the temple.  Strains of soft music, proceeding from invisible hands,
flowed on unceasingly, only occasionally interrupted by the deep lowing
of the sacred cows of Isis, or the shrill call of the sparrow-hawk of
Horus, whose habitations were in one of the adjoining halls.  No sooner
did the prolonged low of a cow break like distant thunder on the ear, or
the sharp cry of the sparrow-hawk shoot like a flash of lightning through
the nerves of the worshippers, than each crouching form bent lower still,
and touched the pavement with his forehead.  On a portion of this
pavement, raised above the rest, stood the priests, some wearing ostrich-
feathers on their bald and shining heads; others panther-skins over their
white-robed shoulders.  Muttering and singing, bowing low and rising
again, they swung the censers and poured libations of pure water to the
gods out of golden vessels.  In this immense temple man seemed a dwarf in
his own eyes.  All his senses even to the organs of respiration, were
occupied by objects far removed from daily life, objects that thrilled
and almost oppressed him.  Snatched from all that was familiar in his
daily existence, he seemed to grow dizzy and seek support beyond himself.
To this the voice of the priests directed him and the cries of the sacred
animals were believed to prove a divinity at hand.

Psamtik assumed the posture of a worshipper on the low, gilded and
cushioned couch set apart for him, but was unable to pay any real
devotion, and passed on to the adjoining apartment before mentioned,
where the sacred cows of Isis-Neith and the sparrow-hawk of Horus were
kept.  These creatures were concealed from the gaze of the worshippers by
a curtain of rich fabric embroidered with gold; the people were only
allowed an occasional and distant glimpse of the adorable animals.  When
Psamtik passed they were just being fed; cakes soaked in milk, salt and
clover-blossoms were placed in golden cribs for the cows, and small birds
of many-colored plumage in the beautifully-wrought and ornamented cage of
the sparrow-hawk.  But, in his present mood, the heir to the throne of
Egypt had no eye for these rare sights; but ascended at once, by means of
a hidden staircase, to the chambers lying near the observatory, where the
high-priest was accustomed to repose after the temple-service.

Neithotep, a man of seventy years, was seated in a splendid apartment.
Rich Babylonian carpets covered the floor and his chair was of gold,
cushioned with purple.  A tastefully-carved footstool supported his feet,
his hands held a roll covered with hieroglyphics, and a boy stood behind
him with a fan of ostrich-feathers to keep away the insects.

The face of the old man was deeply lined now, but it might once have been
handsome, and in the large blue eyes there still lay evidence of a quick
intellect and a dignified self-respect.

His artificial curls had been laid aside, and the bald, smooth head
formed a strange contrast to the furrowed countenance, giving an
appearance of unusual height to the forehead, generally so very low among
the Egyptians.  The brightly-colored walls of the room, on which numerous
sentences in hieroglyphic characters were painted, the different statues
of the goddess painted likewise in gay colors, and the snow-white
garments of the aged priest, were calculated to fill a stranger not
only with wonder, but with a species of awe.

The old man received the prince with much affection, and asked:

"What brings my illustrious son to the poor servant of the Deity?"

"I have much to report to thee, my father;" answered Psamtik with a
triumphant smile, "for I come in this moment from Amasis."

"Then he has at length granted thee an audience?"

"At length!"

"Thy countenance tells me that thou hast been favorably received by our
lord, thy father."

"After having first experienced his wrath.  For, when I laid before him
the petition with which thou hadst entrusted me, he was exceeding wroth
and nearly crushed me by his awful words."

"Thou hadst surely grieved him by thy language.  Didst thou approach him
as I advised thee, with lowliness, as a son humbly beseeching his
father?"

"No, my father, I was irritated and indignant."

"Then was Amasis right to be wrathful, for never should a son meet his
father in anger; still less when he hath a request to bring before him.
Thou know'st the promise, 'The days of him that honoreth his father shall
be many.'

[This Egyptian command hears a remarkable resemblance to the fifth
in the Hebrew decalogue, both having a promise annexed.  It occurs
in the Prisse Papyrus, the most ancient sacred writing extant.]

In this one thing, my scholar, thou errest always; to gain thine ends
thou usest violence and roughness, where good and gentle words would more
surely prevail.  A kind word hath far more power than an angry one, and
much may depend on the way in which a man ordereth his speech.  Hearken
to that which I will now relate.  In former years there was a king in
Egypt named Snefru, who ruled in Memphis.  And it came to pass that he
dreamed, and in his dream his teeth fell out of his mouth.  And he sent
for the soothsayers and told them the dream.  The first interpreter
answered: 'Woe unto thee, O king, all thy kinsmen shall die before thee!'
Then was Snefru wroth, caused this messenger of evil to be scourged, and
sent for a second interpreter.  He answered: 'O king, live for ever, thy
life shall be longer than the life of thy kinsmen and the men of thy
house!'  Then the king smiled and gave presents unto this interpreter,
for though the interpretations were one, yet he had understood to clothe
his message in a web of fair and pleasant words.  Apprehendest thou?
then hearken to my voice, and refrain from harsh words, remembering that
to the ear of a ruler the manner of a man's speech is weightier than its
matter."

"Oh my father, how often hast thou thus admonished me!  how often have I
been convinced of the evil consequences of my rough words and angry
gestures!  but I cannot change my nature, I cannot .  .  ."

"Say rather: I will not; for he that is indeed a man, dare never again
commit those sins of which he has once repented.  But I have admonished
sufficiently.  Tell me now how thou didst calm the wrath of Amasis."

"Thou knowest my father.  When he saw that he had wounded me in the
depths of my soul by his awful words, he repented him of his anger.  He
felt he had been too hard, and desired to make amends at any price."

"He hath a kindly heart, but his mind is blinded, and his senses taken
captive," cried the priest.  "What might not Amasis do for Egypt, would
he but hearken to our counsel, and to the commandments of the gods!"

"But hear me, my father! in his emotion he granted me the life of
Phanes!"

"Thine eyes flash, Psamtik! that pleaseth me not.  The Athenian must die,
for he has offended the gods; but though he that condemns must let
justice have her way, he should have no pleasure in the death of the
condemned; rather should he mourn.  Now speak; didst thou obtain aught
further?"

"The king declared unto me to what house Nitetis belongs."

"And further naught?"

"No, my father; but art thou not eager to learn ... ?"

"Curiosity is a woman's vice; moreover, I have long known all that thou
canst tell me."

"But didst thou not charge me but yesterday to ask my father this
question?"

"I did do so to prove thee, and know whether thou wert resigned to the
Divine will, and wert walking in those ways wherein alone thou canst
become worthy of initiation into the highest grade of knowledge.
Thou hast told us faithfully all that thou hast heard, and thereby
proved that thou canst obey--the first virtue of a priest."

"Thou knewest then the father of Nitetis?"

"I myself pronounced the prayer over king Hophra's tomb."

"But who imparted the secret to thee?"

"The eternal stars, my son, and my skill in reading them."

"And do these stars never deceive?"

"Never him that truly understands them."

Psamtik turned pale.  His father's dream and his own fearful horoscope
passed like awful visions through his mind.  The priest detected at once
the change in his features and said gently: "Thou deem'st thyself a lost
man because the heavens prognosticated evil at thy birth; but take
comfort, Psamtik; I observed another sign in the heavens at that moment,
which escaped the notice of the astrologers.  Thy horoscope was a
threatening, a very threatening one, but its omens may be averted, they
may .  .  ."

"O tell me, father, tell me how!"

"They must turn to good, if thou, forgetful of all else, canst live alone
to the gods, paying a ready obedience to the Divine voice audible to us
their priests alone in the innermost and holiest sanctuary."

"Father, I am ready to obey thy slightest word."

"The great goddess Neith, who rules in Sais, grant this, my son!"
answered the priest solemnly.  "But now leave me alone," he continued
kindly, "lengthened devotions and the weight of years bring weariness.
If possible, delay the death of Phanes, I wish to speak with him before
he dies.  Yet one more word.  A troop of Ethiopians arrived yesterday.
These men cannot speak a word of Greek, and under a faithful leader,
acquainted with the Athenians and the locality, they would be the best
agents for getting rid of the doomed man, as their ignorance of the
language and the circumstances render treachery or gossip impossible.
Before starting for Naukratis, they must know nothing of the design of
their journey; the deed once accomplished, we can send them back to
Kush.--[The Egyptian name for Ethiopia.]  Remember, a secret can never be
too carefully kept!  Farewell."  Psamtik had only left the room a few
moments, when a young priest entered, one of the king's attendants.

"Have I listened well, father?"  he enquired of the old man.

"Perfectly, my son.  Nothing of that which passed between Amasis and
Psamtik has escaped thine ears.  May Isis preserve them long to thee!"

"Ah, father, a deaf man could have heard every word in the ante-chamber
to-day, for Amasis bellowed like an ox."

"The great Neith has smitten him with the lack of prudence, yet I command
thee to speak of the Pharaoh with more reverence.  But now return, keep
thine eyes open and inform me at once if Amasis, as is possible, should
attempt to thwart the conspiracy against Phanes.  Thou wilt certainly
find me here.  Charge the attendants to admit no one, and to say I am at
my devotions in the Holy of holies.  May the ineffable One protect thy
footsteps!"

[Isis, the wife or sister of Osiris, is the phenomena of nature, by
means of which the god is able to reveal himself to human
contemplation.]

..................................

While Psamtik was making every preparation for the capture of Phanes,
Croesus, accompanied by his followers, had embarked on board a royal
bark, and was on his way down the Nile to spend the evening with
Rhodopis.

His son Gyges and the three young Persians remained in Sais, passing the
time in a manner most agreeable to them.

Amasis loaded them with civilities, allowed them, according to Egyptian
custom, the society of his queen and of the twin-sisters, as they were
called, taught Gyges the game of draughts, and looking on while the
strong, dexterous, young heroes joined his daughters in the game of
throwing balls and hoops, so popular among Egyptian maidens, enlivened
their amusements with an inexhaustible flow of wit and humor.

[The Pharaohs themselves, as well as their subjects, were in the
habit of playing at draughts and other similar games.  Rosellini
gives its Rameses playing with his daughter; see also two Egyptians
playing together, Wilkinson II.  419.  An especially beautiful
draught-board exists in the Egyptian collection at the Louvre
Museum.  The Egyptians hoped to be permitted to enjoy these
pleasures even in the other world.]

[Balls that have been found in the tombs are still to be seen; some,
for instance, in the Museum at Leyden.]

"Really," said Bartja, as he watched Nitetis catching the slight hoop,
ornamented with gay ribbons, for the hundredth time on her slender ivory
rod, "really we must introduce this game at home.  We Persians are so
different from you Egyptians.  Everything new has a special charm for us,
while to you it is just as hateful.  I shall describe the game to Our
mother Kassandane, and she will be delighted to allow my brother's wives
this new amusement."

"Yes, do, do!"  exclaimed the fair Tachot blushing deeply.  "Then Nitetis
can play too, and fancy herself back again at home and among those she
loves; and Bartja,"  she added in a low voice,  "whenever you watch the
hoops flying, you too must remember this hour."

"I shall never forget it," answered he with a smile, and then, turning to
his future sister-in-law, he called out cheerfully, "Be of good courage,
Nitetis, you will be happier than you fancy with us.  We Asiatics know
how to honor beauty; and prove it by taking many wives."