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

by Bolesław Prus

  CHAPTER XIII

  The expedition of the heir to the throne, undertaken with the objectof discovering the priest who had saved Sarah and had given him legaladvice, had a result that was unexpected.

  The priest was not discovered, but among Egyptian earth-tillerslegends began to circulate which concerned Rameses.

  Some mysterious man sailed about from village to village and told thepeople that the heir to the throne freed the men who were in danger ofcondemnation to the quarries for attacking his dwelling. Besides, hehad beaten down an official who was extorting unjust rent fromtenants. Finally, the unknown person added that Prince Rameses wasunder the special guardianship of Amon, who was his father.

  Simple people listened to these tidings eagerly, first, because theyagreed with facts, second, because the man who told the story washimself like a spirit--it was not known whence he came nor whither hehad vanished.

  Prince Rameses made no mention whatever of his tenants to Dagon; hedid not even summon him. He felt ashamed in presence of the Phoenicianfrom whom he had taken money and might require money yet more than onetime.

  But a few days after the adventure with Dagon's scribe the banker camehimself to the heir, holding in his hand some covered object.

  On entering the prince's chamber he bent down, untied a whitekerchief, and drew forth from it a very beautiful gold goblet; thegoblet was set with stones of various colors, and covered with carvingin relief which on the lower part represented the gathering andpressing out of grapes and on the cup part a feast.

  "Accept this goblet, worthy lord, from thy slave," said the banker,"and use it for a hundred, a thousand years, to the end of ages."

  The prince understood what the Phoenician wanted; so, without touchingthe golden gift, he said with a stern expression,--

  "Dost thou see, Dagon, that purple reflection inside the goblet?"

  "I do, indeed," replied the banker; "why should I not see that whichshows the goblet to be the purest gold?"

  "But I declare that to be the blood of children seized away from theirparents," said the heir, angrily.

  And he turned and went to an interior chamber.

  "O Astoreth!" groaned the Phoenician.

  His lips grew blue, and his hands trembled so that he was hardly ableto wrap up the goblet.

  A couple of days later Dagon sailed down with his goblet to Sarah'shouse. He was arrayed in robes interwoven with gold; in his thickbeard were glass globulets from which issued perfumes, and he hadfastened two plumes to his head.

  "Beautiful Sarah," began he, "may Jehovah pour on thy family as manyblessings as there are waters in the Nile at present! We Phoeniciansand ye Jews are brethren and neighbors. I am inflamed with such ardorof love for thee that didst thou not belong to our most worthy lord Iwould give Gideon ten talents for thee, and would take thee for mylawful wife. So enamored am I."

  "May God preserve me," answered Sarah, "from wanting another lordbeyond the one who is mine at this moment. But whence, worthy Dagon,did the desire come to thee to-day of visiting our lord's servant?"

  "I will tell thee the truth, as if thou wert Tamara, my wife, who, areal daughter of Sidon, though she brought me a large dowry, is oldnow and not worthy to take off thy sandals."

  "In the honey flowing from thy lips there is much wormwood," put inSarah.

  "Let the honey," replied Dagon, sitting down, "be for thee and let thewormwood poison my heart. Our lord Prince Rameses--may he live througheternity!--has the mouth of a lion and the keenness of a vulture. Hehas seen fit to rent his estate to me. This has filled my stomach withdelight; but he does not trust me, so I lay awake whole nights fromanxiety, I only sigh and cover my bed with tears, in which bed wouldthat thou wert resting with me, O Sarah, instead of my wife Tamara,who cannot rouse desire in me any longer."

  "That is not what thou wishest to say," interrupted the blushingSarah.

  "I know not what I wish to say, since I have looked on thee, and sinceour lord, examining my activity on his estates, struck with a cane andtook health from my scribe who was collecting dues there from tenants.And these dues were not for me. Sarah, but for our lord. It is not Iwho will eat the figs and wheaten bread from those lands, but thou andour lord. I have given money to our lord and jewels to thee. Why thenshould the low Egyptian rabble impoverish our lord and thee, Sarah? Toshow how greatly thou rousest my desire and that from these estates Iwish nothing but reserve all for thee and our lord, I give this gobletof pure gold set with jewels and covered with carving at which thegods themselves would be astonished."

  Then Dagon drew forth from the cloth the goblet refused by PrinceRameses.

  "I do not even wish that thou shouldst have the goblet in the houseand give the prince to drink from it. Give this goblet of pure gold toGideon, whom I love as my own brother. And thou, Sarah, tell thyfather these words: 'Thy twin brother Dagon, the unfortunate tenant onthe lands of Prince Rameses, is ruined. Drink then, my father, fromthis goblet, think of thy twin brother, and beg Jehovah that our lord,Prince Rameses, may not beat his scribes, and bring to revolt tenantswho even now have no wish to pay tribute.' And know this, Sarah, thatif thou wouldst admit me to confidence I would give thee two talents,and thy father one talent, and, besides, I should be ashamed of givingthee so little, for thou deservest that the pharaoh himself shouldfondle thee, and the heir of the throne, and the worthy ministerHerhor, and the most valiant Nitager, and the richest bankers of thePhoenicians. There is such a taste in thee that I grow faint when Igaze at thee, and when I see thee not, I close my eyes and lick mylips. Thou art sweeter than figs, more fragrant than roses. I wouldgive thee five talents. Take this goblet, Sarah."

  Sarah drew back with drooping eyes.

  "I will not take the goblet," answered she; "my lord forbade me totake gifts from any one."

  Dagon was astonished, and looked with widely opened eyes at her.

  "Then it must be that thou knowest not, Sarah, the value of thisgoblet. But I give it to thy father, who is my brother."

  "I cannot take it," whispered Sarah.

  "Oh!" cried Dagon. "Then thou, Sarah, wilt pay me for this goblet inanother way, without speaking to thy lord. But a woman as beautiful asthou must have gold and jewels, and should have her own banker tobring her money when she pleases, not alone when her lord likes."

  "I cannot!" whispered Sarah, without concealing her repulsion for thebanker.

  The Phoenician changed his tone in the twinkle of an eye, and saidlaughing,--

  "Very good, Sarah! I only wished to convince myself that thou artfaithful to our lord. I see that thou art faithful, though foolish, aspeople say."

  "What?" burst out Sarah, rushing at Dagon with clinched fist.

  "Ha! ha!" laughed the Phoenician. "What a pity that our lord could nothear and see thee this moment! But I will tell him, when he is in goodhumor, that thou art not only as faithful as a dog to him, but eventhat thou wouldst not accept a gold goblet because he has notpermitted thee to take presents. And this goblet, believe me, Sarah,has tempted more than one woman, and women who were not of smallimportance."

  Dagon sat awhile admiring the virtue and obedience of Sarah; at lasthe took farewell of her with much feeling, sat down in his tentedboat, and sailed away toward Memphis. When the boat had pushed offfrom the country house, the smile vanished from the banker's face, andan expression of anger came out thereon. When Sarah's house was hiddenbehind the trees, Dagon stood up and raised his hands.

  "O Baal of Sidon, O Astoreth!" said he, "avenge my insult on thiscursed daughter of a Jew. Let her treacherous beauty perish as a dropof rain in the desert! May disease devour her body, and madness bindher soul! May her lord hunt her out of his house like a mangy swine!And as to-day she pushed my goblet aside, may the hour come whenpeople will push her withered hand aside, when in thirst she begs themfor a cup of dirty water."

  Then he spat and muttered words with hidden and dreadful meaning; ablack cloud covered the sun for a while, and the water near the sideof the
boat began to grow muddy and rise in a mighty wave. When hefinished, the sun had grown bright again; but the river was disturbed,as if a new inundation were moving it.

  Dagon's rowers were frightened, and ceased their singing; butseparated from their master by the side of the boat, they could notsee his ceremonies.

  Thenceforth the Phoenician did not appear before Prince Rameses. Buton a certain day when the prince came to his residence, he found inhis bedchamber a beautiful Phoenician dancer, sixteen years of age,whose entire dress was a golden circlet on her head, and a shawl, asdelicate as spider webs, thrown across her shoulders.

  "Who art thou?" asked the prince.

  "I am a priestess, and thy servant; the lord Dagon has sent me tofrighten away thy anger against him."

  "How wilt thou do that?"

  "Oh, in this way--sit down there," said she, seating him in anarmchair. "I will stand on tiptoe, so as to grow taller than thyanger, and with this shawl, which is sacred, I will drive evil spiritsfrom thee. A kish! a kish!" whispered she, dancing in a circle."Rameses, let my hands remove gloom from thy hair, let my kisses bringback to thy eyes their bright glances. Let the beating of my heartfill thy ears with music, lord of Egypt.--A kish! a kish! he is notyours, but mine.--Love demands such silence that in its presence evenanger must grow still."

  While dancing, she played with the prince's hair, put her arms aroundhis neck, kissed him on the eyes. At last she sat down wearied at hisfeet, and, resting her head on his knees, turned her face toward himquickly, panting with parted lips.

  "Thou art no longer angry with thy servant Dagon?" whispered she,stroking his face.

  Rameses wished to kiss her on the lips, but she sprang away from hisknees, crying,--

  "Oh, that is not possible!"

  "Why so?"

  "I am a virgin and priestess of the great goddess Astoreth. Thouwouldst have to love my guardian goddess greatly, and honor her beforethou couldst kiss me."

  "But is it permitted thee?"

  "All things are permitted me, for I am a priestess, and have sworn topreserve my virginity."

  "Why hast thou come hither, then?"

  "To drive out thy anger. I have done so, I depart. Be well and kindalways," added she, with a piercing glance.

  "Where dost thou dwell? What is thy name?" asked Rameses.

  "My name is Fondling, and I dwell-- Ei, why should I tell? Thou wiltnot come soon to me."

  She waved her hand and vanished. The prince, as if stunned, did notmove from his chair. When after a while he looked through the window,he saw a rich litter which four Nubians bore toward the Nile swiftly.

  Rameses was not sorry for the departing woman; she astonished, but didnot attract him.

  "Sarah is calmer," thought he, "and more beautiful. Moreover, it seemsto me that that Phoenician must be cold, and her fondlings arestudied."

  But from that time the prince ceased to be angry at Dagon, all themore since on a day when he was at Sarah's earth-tillers came to him,and thanking him for protection declared that the Phoenician forcedthem to pay new rents no longer.

  That was the case close to Memphis, but on other lands the prince'stenants made good Dagon's losses.