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

by Bolesław Prus

  CHAPTER XX

  About nine in the evening Phut left the inn "Under the Ship" incompany with a negro who carried a torch. Half an hour earlierAsarhadon sent out a confidential servant, commanding him to observecarefully if the guest from Harran left the house of the "Green Star,"and if so to follow him.

  A second confidential servant went at a certain distance behind Phut;in the narrower streets he hid among the houses, on the broader oneshe feigned drunkenness.

  The streets were empty; carriers and hucksters were sleeping. Therewas light only in the houses of artisans who were at work, or in thoseof rich people who were feasting on the terraces. In various houseswere heard the sounds of harps and flutes, songs, laughter, the blowsof hammers, the sound of saws in the hands of cabinet makers; at timesthe cry of a drunken man, or a call for assistance.

  The streets along which Phut and the slave passed were narrow for thegreater part, crooked and full of holes. As they approached the end ofthe journey, the stone houses were lower and lower, those of one storymore frequent, and there were more gardens, or rather palms,fig-trees, and stunted acacias, which, inclining out from between thewalls, seemed to have the intention to escape from their places. Onthe Street of Tombs the view changed on a sudden. In place of stonebuildings there were broad gardens, and in the middle of them splendidvillas. The negro stopped before one of the gates and quenched historch.

  "Here is the 'Green Star,'" said he, and, making a low bow to Phut, heturned homeward.

  The man of Harran knocked at the gate. After a while the gatekeeperappeared. He looked attentively at the stranger, and muttered,--

  "Anael, Sachiel."

  "Amabiel, Abalidot," answered Phut.

  "Be greeted," said the gatekeeper; and he opened quickly to thevisitor.

  When he had passed some tens of steps between trees, Phut foundhimself in the antechamber of the villa, where the priestess whom heknew greeted him. Farther in stood some man with black beard and hair;so much like the man of Harran was he, that Phut could not hide hisastonishment.

  "He will take thy place in the eyes of those who are spying thee,"said the priestess, smiling.

  The man who was disguised as Phut put a garland of roses on his head,and in company with the priestess went to the first story, where thesound of flutes and the clatter of goblets were heard soon after.Meanwhile two inferior priests conducted Phut to a bath in the garden.After the bath they curled his hair and put white robes on him.

  From the bath all three went out again among the trees, passed anumber of gardens, and found themselves in an empty space finally.

  "There," said one of the priests, "are the ancient tombs; on that sideis the city, and here the temple. Go whithersoever thou wishest. Maywisdom point out the road to thee, and sacred words guard thee fromperils."

  The two priests went back to the garden, and Phut was in solitude. Themoonless night was rather clear. From afar, covered with mist,glittered the Nile; higher up gleamed the seven stars of the GreatBear. Over the head of the stranger was Orion, and above the darkpylons flamed the star Sirius.

  "The stars shine in our land more brightly," thought Phut.

  He began to whisper prayers in an unknown tongue, and turned towardthe temple.

  When he had gone a number of steps, from one of the gardens a manpushed out and followed him. But almost at that very moment such athick fog fell on the place that it was quite impossible to see aughtsave the roofs of the temple.

  After a certain time the man of Harran came to a high wall. He lookedup at the sky and began to go westward. From moment to moment nightbirds and great bats flew above him. The mist had become so densethat he was forced to touch the wall so as not to lose it. The journeyhad lasted rather long when all at once Phut found himself before alow door with a multitude of bronze nail heads. He fell to countingthese from the left side on the top; at the same time he pressed someof them powerfully, others he turned.

  When he had pressed the last nail at the bottom, the door opened. Theman of Harran advanced a few steps, and found himself in a narrowniche where there was utter darkness.

  He tried the ground carefully with his foot till he struck uponsomething like the brink of a well from which issued coolness. He satdown then and slipped fearlessly into the abyss, though he foundhimself in that place and in Egypt for the first time.

  The opening was not deep. Phut stood erect on a sloping pavement, andbegan to descend along a narrow corridor with as much confidence as ifhe had known the passage for a lifetime.

  At the end of the corridor was a door. By groping the stranger found aknocker, and struck three times with it. In answer came a voice, itwas unknown from what direction.

  "Hast thou, who art disturbing in a night hour the peace of a holyplace, the right to enter?"

  "I have done no wrong to man, child, or woman. Blood has not stainedmy hands. I have eaten no unclean food. I have not taken another'sproperty. I have not lied. I have not betrayed the great secret,"answered the man of Harran, calmly.

  "Art thou he for whom we are waiting, or he who in public thoudeclarest thyself to be?" inquired the voice, after a while.

  "I am he who was to come from brethren in the East; but that othername is mine also, and in the northern city I possess a house andland, as I have told other persons."

  The door opened, and Phut walked into a spacious cellar which waslighted by a lamp burning on a small table before a purple curtain. Onthe curtain was embroidered in gold a winged globe with two serpents.

  At one side stood an Egyptian priest in a white robe.

  "Dost thou who hast entered," asked the priest, pointing at Phut,"know what this sign on the curtain signifies?"

  "The globe," answered the stranger, "is an image of the world on whichwe live; the wings indicate that it is borne through space like aneagle."

  "And the serpents?" asked the priest.

  "The two serpents remind him who is wise that whoso betrays the greatsecret will die a double death,--he will die soul and body."

  After a moment of silence the priest continued,--

  "If thou art in real fact Beroes" (here he inclined his head), "thegreat prophet of Chaldea" (he inclined his head a second time), "forwhom there is no secret in heaven or on earth, be pleased to informthy servant which star is the most wonderful."

  "Wonderful is Hor-set,[7] which encircles heaven in the course oftwelve years; for four smaller stars go around it. But the mostwonderful is Horka,[8] which encircles heaven in thirty years; for ithas subject to it not only stars, but a great ring which vanishessometimes."

  [7] Jupiter.

  [8] Saturn.

  On hearing this, the Egyptian priest prostrated himself before theChaldean. Then he gave him a purple scarf and a muslin veil, indicatedwhere the incense was, and left the cave with low obeisances.

  The Chaldean remained alone. He put the scarf on his right shoulder,covered his face with the veil, and, taking a golden spoon sprinkledinto it incense, which he lighted at the lamp before the curtain.Whispering, he turned three times in a circle, and the smoke of theincense surrounded him with a triple ring, as it were.

  During this time a wonderful disturbance prevailed in the cave. Itseemed as if the top were rising and the sides spreading out. Thepurple curtain at the altar quivered, as if moved by hidden fingers.The air began to move in waves, as if flocks of unseen birds wereflying through it.

  The Chaldean opened the robe on his bosom, and drew forth a gold medalcovered with mysterious characters. The cave trembled, the sacredcurtain moved with violence, and little flames appeared in space atvarious points.

  Then the seer raised his hands and began,--

  "O Heavenly Father, gracious and merciful, purify my spirit. Send downon Thy unworthy servant a blessing, and extend Thy almighty armagainst rebellious spirits, so that I may manifest Thy power.

  "Here is the sign which I touch in thy presence. Here I am--I, leaningon the assistance of that God, the foreseeing and the fearless.
I ammighty, and summon and conjure thee. Come hither with obedience,--inthe name of Aye, Saraye, Aye, Saraye!"

  At that moment from various sides were heard voices as of distanttrumpets. Near the lamp some bird flew past, then a robe of ruddycolor, afterward a man with a tail, finally a crowned cock which stoodon the table before the curtain.

  The Chaldean spoke again,--

  "In the name of the Almighty and Eternal--Amorul, Taneha, Rabur,Latisten."

  Distant sounds of trumpets were heard for a second time.

  "In the name of the just and ever-living Eloy, Archima, Rabu, Iconjure and summon thee. In the name of the star, which is the sun, bythis its sign, by the glorious and awful name of the living God."

  The trumpets sounded again, and stopped on a sudden. Before the altarappeared a crowned vision with a sceptre in its hand, and sitting on alion.

  "Beroes! Beroes!" cried the vision, with a restrained voice. "Why dostthou summon me?"

  "I wish my brethren of this temple to receive me with sincere hearts,and incline their ears to the words which I bring them from brethrenin Babylon," said the Chaldean.

  "Be it so," said the vision, and vanished.

  The Chaldean stood as motionless as a statue, with his head thrownback, with hands lifted upward. He stood thus half an hour in aposition impossible for an ordinary person.

  During this time a part of the wall which formed one side of the cavepushed back, and three Egyptian priests entered. At sight of theChaldean, who seemed to lie in the air, resting his shoulders on aninvisible support, the priests looked at one another with amazement.The eldest said,--

  "Long ago there were men like this among us, but no one has such powerin our day."

  They walked around him on all sides, touched his stiffened members,and looked with fear at his face, which was bloodless and sallow, likethat of a corpse.

  "Is he dead?" asked the youngest.

  After these words the body of the Chaldean, which had been bentbackward, returned to a perpendicular position. On his face appeared aslight flush, and his upraised hands dropped. He sighed, rubbed hiseyes like a man roused from sleep, looked at the priests, and saidafter a while, turning to the eldest,--

  "Thou art Mefres, high priest of the temple of Ptah in Memphis. Thouart Herhor, high priest of Amon in Thebes, the first dignity in thisstate after the pharaoh. Thou," he indicated the youngest, "artPentuer, the second prophet in the temple of Amon, and the adviser ofHerhor."

  "Thou art undoubtedly Beroes, the high priest and sage of Babylon,whose coming was announced to us a year ago," answered Mefres.

  "Thou hast told truth," said the Chaldean.

  He embraced them in turn, and they inclined before him.

  "I bring you great words from our common fatherland, which is Wisdom,"said Beroes. "Be pleased to listen and act as is needful."

  At a sign from Herhor, Pentuer withdrew to the rear of the cave andbrought out three armchairs of light wood for his superiors, and a lowstool for his own use. He seated himself near the lamp, and took fromhis bosom a small dagger and wax-covered tablets.

  When all three had occupied their chairs, the Chaldean began,--

  "Mefres, the highest college of priests in Babylon addresses thee:'The sacred order of priests in Egypt is falling. Many priests collectmoney and women, and pass their lives amid pleasure. Wisdom isneglected. Ye have no power over the world which is invisible. Yehave no power over your own souls. Some of you have lost the highestfaith, and the future is concealed from you. Things worse than thiseven happen; for many priests, feeling that their spiritual power isexhausted, have entered the way of falsehood and deceive simple peopleby cunning devices.'

  "The highest college says this: 'If ye wish to return to the goodroad, Beroes will remain some years with you, so as to rouse truelight on the Nile by the aid of a spark brought from the high altar ofBabylon.'"

  "All is as thou sayest," answered Mefres, confused. "Remain with ustherefore a number of years, so that the youth growing up at presentmay remember thy wisdom."

  "And now, Herhor, to thee come words from the highest college."

  Herhor inclined his head.

  "Because ye neglect the great secrets, your priests have not notedthat evil years are approaching Egypt. Ye are threatened by internaldisasters from which only virtue and wisdom can save you. But theworst is that if in the course of the coming decade ye begin war withAssyria, she will defeat your forces. Her armies will come to the Nileand destroy all that has existed here for ages.

  "Such an ominous juncture of stars as is now weighing on Egypthappened first during the XIV. dynasty, when the Hyksos kings capturedand plundered this country. It will come for the third time in five orsix hundred years from Assyria and the people of Paras, who dwell tothe east of Chaldea."

  The priests listened in terror. Herhor was pale; the tablets fell fromPentuer's fingers; Mefres held the amulet hanging on his breast, andprayed while his lips were parching.

  "Be on your guard then against Assyria," continued the Chaldean, "forher hour is the present. The Assyrians are a dreadful people! Theydespise labor, they live by war. They conquer, they impale on stakesor flay living people, they destroy captured cities and lead awaytheir inhabitants to bondage. For them to kill savage beasts isrepose; to pierce prisoners with arrows or scoop out their eyes isamusement. Temples they turn into ruins, the vessels of the gods theyuse at their banquets, and make buffoons of priests and sages. Theyadorn their walls with skins torn from living people, and their tableswith the blood-stained skulls of their enemies."

  When the Chaldean ceased speaking, the worthy Mefres answered,--

  "Great prophet, thou hast cast fear on our souls, and dost notindicate a remedy. It may be true, and to a certainty is so, sincethou hast said it, that the fates for a certain time will be againstus, but how avoid this predicament? In the Nile there are dangerousplaces through which no boat can pass safely; so the wisdom of thehelmsmen avoids deadly whirlpools. It is the same with misfortunes ofnations. A nation is a boat, and an epoch is the river, which atcertain periods has whirlpools. If the frail boat of a fisherman canavoid peril, why should not millions of people escape under similarconditions?"

  "Thy words are wise," replied Beroes, "but I can answer in part only."

  "Dost thou not know all that will happen?" asked Herhor.

  "Ask me not touching that which I know, but which I may not discloseat this moment. Most important in your case is to keep peace for tenyears with Assyria. Ye have power to do that. Assyria still dreadsyou; she knows not the juncture of evil fates above Egypt, and desiresto wage war with northern and eastern nations who live near theseacoast. Ye might, therefore, conclude a treaty to-day with Assyria."

  "On what conditions?" asked Herhor.

  "On very good ones. Assyria will yield to you the land of Israel asfar as the city of Akko, and the land of Edom to the city of Elath. Soyour boundaries will be advanced ten days march toward the northwithout war, and ten days toward the east also."

  "But Phoenicia?" inquired Herhor.

  "Approach not temptation!" exclaimed Beroes. "If the pharaoh were tostretch his hand to-day toward Phoenicia, in a month Assyrian armiesintended for the north and east would turn southward, and a year henceor earlier their horses would be swimming in your sacred river."

  "Egypt cannot renounce influence over Phoenicia," interrupted Herhor,with an outburst.

  "Should she not renounce she would prepare her own ruin," said theChaldean. "Moreover, I repeat the words of the highest college: 'TellEgypt,' declared the brothers in Babylon, 'to cower to the earth forten years, like a partridge, for the falcon of evil fate is watchingher. Tell her that we Chaldeans hate Assyria more than do theEgyptians, for we endure the burden of its rule; but still werecommend to the Egyptians peace with that bloodthirsty nation. Tenyears is a short period; after that not only can ye regain yourancient place, but ye can save us.'"

  "That is true!" added Mefres.

  "Only consider," continu
ed the Chaldean, "should Assyria begin warwith you, she would involve also Babylon, which hates warfare. Warwill exhaust our wealth and stop the labor of wisdom. Even were ye notdefeated your country would be ruined for a long period. Ye would losenot only people, but the fertile soil, which would be buried by sandin the absence of earth-tillers."

  "We understand that," replied Herhor; "hence we have no thought ofattacking Assyria. But Phoenicia--"

  "What harm will it be to you," asked Beroes, "if the Assyrian robbersqueezes the Phoenician thief? Your merchants and ours will gain bysuch action. But if ye want Phoenicians, let them settle on yourshores. I am sure that the richest and most adroit of them would fleefrom Assyrian conquest."

  "What would happen to our fleet, if the Assyrians settled inPhoenicia?" inquired Herhor.

  "That is not your fleet, but the Phoenician," replied Beroes. "WhenTyrian and Sidonian ships are lost to you, ye will build your own, andexercise Egyptians in navigation. If ye have mind and a practicalcharacter, ye will drive out Phoenician commerce from westernregions."

  Herhor waved his hand.

  "I have told that which was commanded me," said Beroes, "and do yethat which pleaseth you. But remember that ten evil years areimpending."

  "It seems to me, holy father," said Pentuer, "that thou didst speakof internal troubles which threaten Egypt in the future. What willthey be, if it please thee to answer thy servant?"

  "Do not ask. Those are things which ye ought to know better than I,who am a stranger. Clear sight will discover the disease, andexperience will give the remedy."

  "Our working people are terribly oppressed by the great," whisperedPentuer.

  "Devotion has decreased," added Mefres.

  "There are many who sigh for a foreign war," began Herhor. "I haveseen this long time that we cannot carry on one, unless ten yearshence--"

  "Then will ye conclude a treaty with Assyria?" inquired the Chaldean.

  "Amon, who knows my heart," answered Herhor, "knows how repugnant thattreaty is to me. It is not so long since those vile Assyrians paid ustribute. But if thou, holy father, and the highest college say thatthe fates are against us, we must make the treaty."

  "We must indeed," added Mefres.

  "In that case inform the priests in Babylon of your decision, and theywill arrange that King Assar shall send an embassy to Egypt. Thistreaty, believe me, is of great advantage; without war ye willincrease your possessions. Indeed our priesthood have given deepthought to this question."

  "May all blessings fall on you, wealth, power, and wisdom," saidMefres. "Yes, we must raise our priestly order, and do thou, holyBeroes, assist us."

  "There is need, above all, to assuage the suffering of the people,"put in Pentuer.

  "The priests! the people!" said Herhor, as if to himself. "Above all,it is needful in this case to restrain those who wish war. It is truethat his holiness the pharaoh is with me, and I think I have gainedinfluence over the heir,--may he live through eternity! But Nitager,to whom war is as water to a fish; but the leaders of our mercenaryforces, who only in war have significance; but our aristocracy, whothink that war will pay Phoenician debts and give them property--"

  "Meanwhile earth-tillers are fainting beneath an avalanche of labor,and public workmen are revolting against demands of overseers," addedPentuer.

  "He is always expressing his thought!" said Herhor, in meditation."Think thou, Pentuer, of earth-tillers and laborers; thou, Mefres, ofthe priests. I know not what ye will effect, but I swear that if myown son favored war I would bind and destroy him."

  "Act in this way," said Beroes,--"let him carry on war who wishes, butnot in those regions where he can meet Assyria."

  With this the session ended. The Chaldean put his scarf on hisshoulder and the veil on his face; Mefres and Herhor, one on each sideof him, and behind him Pentuer, all turned toward the altar.

  When Beroes had crossed his hands on his breast, he whispered, andagain subterranean disturbance set in, and they heard as it were adistant uproar, which astonished the assistants.

  "Baralanensis, Baldachiensis, Paumachiae," said the seer, aloud, "Isummon thee to witness our stipulations and support our wishes."

  The sound of trumpets was heard so distinctly that Mefres bowed to theearth, Herhor looked around in astonishment, while Pentuer knelt, fellto trembling, and covered his ears.

  The purple curtain at the altar shook, and its folds took such a formas if a man were behind who wished to pass through it.

  "Be witnesses," cried the Chaldean, in a changed voice, "ye powersabove and ye powers beneath! And cursed be he who observes not thistreaty or betrays its secret."

  "Cursed!" repeated some voice.

  "And destroyed!"

  "And destroyed."

  "In this visible and in that invisible life. By the ineffable name ofJehovah, at the sound of which the earth trembles, the sea draws back,fire quenches, and the elements of nature become evident."

  A real tempest rose in the cave. The sound of trumpets was mingledwith voices, as it were, of distant thunders.

  The curtain of the altar rose almost horizontally, and behind it,amid glittering lightning, appeared wonderful creatures, half human,half plant and animal, crowded and mingled together.

  Suddenly all was silent, and Beroes rose slowly in the air, higherthan the heads of the priests there attending.

  * * * * *

  At eight o'clock next morning Phut of Harran returned to thePhoenician inn "Under the Ship" to which his bags and casket stolen bythieves had been returned safely. A few minutes later came Asarhadon'sconfidential servant, whom the innkeeper took to the cellar andexamined briefly,--

  "Well?"

  "I was all night on the square where the temple of Set is," answeredthe servant. "At ten in the evening out of the garden which lies aboutfour places farther than the house of the 'Green Star,' came threepriests. One of them, with black beard and hair, turned his stepsthrough the square toward the temple of Set. I ran after him, but mistfell, and he vanished from my eyes. Whether he returned to the 'GreenStar' or when, I know not."

  The innkeeper, when he had heard this account, struck his forehead andmuttered to himself,--

  "So my man from Harran, if he dresses as a priest and goes to atemple, must be a priest; and if he wears beard and hair, he must be aChaldean priest. But if he meets priests here in secret, there must besome rogue's tricks. I will not tell the police, for I might becaught. But I will inform some great man from Sidon, for there may beprofit in this, if not for me, for our people."

  Soon the other messenger returned. Asarhadon went down to the cellarwith this one also, and heard the following narrative,--

  "I stood all night in front of the 'Green Star.' The man of Harran wasthere; he got drunk and raised such shouts that the policeman warnedthe doorkeeper."

  "Did he?" inquired the innkeeper. "The man of Harran was at the 'GreenStar' all night, and thou didst see him?"

  "Not only I, but the policeman."

  Asarhadon brought down the first servant, and commanded each torepeat his story. They repeated the stories faithfully, with theutmost conviction. It appeared then that Phut of Harran had remainedall night at the "Green Star" without leaving the place for a moment;at the same time he went to the temple of Set, and did not return fromit.

  "Oh," muttered Asarhadon, "in all this there is some very greatvillany. I must inform the elders of the Phoenician society, asquickly as possible, that this Hittite knows how to be in two placesat once. I shall also beg him to move out of my inn. I do not takepeople who have two forms,--one their own, the other in supply. For aman of that kind is a great criminal, a wizard, or a conspirator."

  Asarhadon was afraid of such things; so he secured himself againstenchantment by prayers to all the gods which adorned his inn. Then hehurried to the city, where he notified the elder of the Phoeniciansociety and the elder of the guild of thieves of what had happened.Then, returning home, he summoned the decurion of
police, and informedhim that Phut might be a dangerous person. Finally he asked the man ofHarran to leave the inn, to which he brought no profit, nothing butloss and suspicion.

  Phut agreed to the proposition willingly, and informed the innkeeperthat he intended to sail for Thebes that same evening.

  "May thou never return!" thought the hospitable host. "May thou rot inthe quarries, or fall into the river to be eaten by crocodiles."