CHAPTER LII
The guard in the antechamber announced Pentuer. The priest prostratedhimself before the pharaoh, and said that he was waiting for commands.
"I do not wish to command," said Rameses, "but to beg thee. Thouknowest that in Egypt there are riots of laborers, artisans, evenconvicts. There are riots from the sea to the quarries. The only thinglacking is that my warriors should rebel and proclaim aspharaoh--Herhor, for example."
"Live through eternity, holiness!" replied the priest. "There is not aman in Egypt who would not sacrifice himself for thee, and not blessthy name."
"Aha, if they knew," said the ruler, with anger, "how helpless thepharaoh is, and how poor he is, each nomarch would like to be the lordof his province. I thought that on inheriting the double crown Ishould signify something. But I have convinced myself during the firstday that I am merely a shadow of the former rulers of Egypt; for whatcan a pharaoh be without wealth, without an array, and, above all,without faithful subjects? I am like the statues of the gods whichthey incense, and before which they place offerings. The statues arepowerless and the offerings serve to fatten the priests. But, true,thou art on their side."
"It is painful to me," answered Pentuer, "that thou speakest thus,holiness, on the first day of thy reign. If news of this were to goover Egypt!"
"To whom can I tell what pains me?" interrupted Rameses. "Thou art mycounsellor; I was saved by thee, or at least thou hadst the wish tosave my life, not of course to publish to the world that which ishappening in the ruler's heart, which heart I open before thee. Butthou art right."
He walked up and down in the chamber, and said after a while in a toneconsiderably calmer,--
"I have appointed thee chief of a council which is to investigate thecauses of those ever-recurring riots in Egypt. I wish that only theguilty be punished, and that justice be done those who are injured."
"May the god support thee with his favor," whispered the priest. "Iwill do what thou commandest. But the causes of the riots I knowalready."
"What are they?"
"More than once have I spoken of them to thee, holiness. The toilingpeople are hungry; they have too much work, and they pay too manytaxes. He who worked formerly from sunrise till sunset must begin nowan hour before sunrise and finish an hour after sunset. It is not longsince a common man might go every tenth day to visit the graves of hismother and father, speak with their shades, and make them offerings.But to-day no one goes, for no one has time to go.
"Formerly a working man ate three wheat cakes in the course of theday; at present he has not even barley bread. Formerly labor on thecanals, dams, and roads was deducted from the taxes; now the taxes arepaid independently while public works are carried on without wages.These are the causes of riots."
"I am the poorest noble in the kingdom!" cried the pharaoh, while hetugged at his own hair. "Any landowner gives his cattle proper foodand rest; but all men who work for me are tired and hungry.
"What am I to do, then, tell thou who hast begged me to improve thelot of the workers?"
"Wilt thou command me to tell, lord?"
"I will beg, I will command, as thou wishest. Only speak wisely."
"Blessed be thy rule, O true son of Osiris," answered the priest."This is what it is proper to do: Command, lord, first of all, thatpay be given for labor on public works, as was the case formerly--"
"Of course."
"Next command that field labor last only from sunrise till sunset.Then direct, as during the divine dynasties, that people rest everyseventh day; not every tenth, but every seventh day. Then command thatlandowners shall not have the right to mortgage earth-tillers, orscribes the right to beat and torture them according to fancy.
"And finally, give the tenth part, or even the twentieth part of theland as property to the workers, so that no one may take it away ormortgage it. Let each family have as much land in extent as thepavement of this room, and it will not be hungry. Give the peopledesert sands as property, and in a few years gardens will be growingon them."
"Thou speakest beautifully," interrupted the pharaoh; "but what thousayest is what thou seest in thy heart, not in the world. Men's plans,though the best, are not always in accord with the natural course ofthings."
"I have seen such changes and their result, holiness," answeredPentuer.
"At certain temples various trials have been made at curing the sick,teaching children, rearing cattle, cultivating plants, and reformingmen, and the following has happened: When they gave a lean and lazyman good food, and rest every seventh day, the man became sturdy,willing to work, and he dug more land than before. A laborer whoreceives wages is more cheerful and does more work than a slave, eventhough beaten with whips of iron. Well-nourished people have morechildren than hungry and overworked ones; the children of free men arehealthy and strong; those of slaves are fragile, gloomy, inclined tostealing and to lying. Men have convinced themselves that land tilledby its owner gives one half more grain and vegetables than land tilledby captives.
"I will tell a most curious thing to thee, holiness: When they play onmusical instruments to ploughmen, the men and the oxen work better,more quickly, and tire themselves less than when there is no music.All this has been verified at our temples."
The pharaoh smiled.
"I must," said he, "have music on my lands and in the quarries. But ifthe priests convince themselves of such wonders as thou art relating,why act as they do on their own estates?"
Pentuer dropped his head.
"Because," replied he, sighing, "not all priests are sages, not allhave noble hearts."
"That is it!" exclaimed the pharaoh.
"And now tell me, thou who art a son of earth-tillers, and knowestthat among priests there are fools and rioters, tell me, why thou artunwilling to serve me in a struggle against the priesthood? Thouknowest that I cannot improve the lot of the working man unless firstI teach the priests obedience to my orders."
Pentuer wrung his hands.
"O lord," replied he, "a struggle with the priesthood is godless anddangerous. More than one pharaoh began it, and was unable to finish."
"Because he was not supported by sages like thee!" burst out Rameses."And, indeed, I shall never understand why wise and honest priestsbind themselves to a band of rogues, such as the majority of thisclass are."
Pentuer shook his head and began slowly,--
"During thirty thousand years the sacred order of priests has nursedEgypt and made the country the wonder of the world, which it is atpresent. And how have the priests, in spite of their faults, been ableto do this? Because they are the lamp in which burns the light ofwisdom.
"This lamp may be foul, even malodorous; still it preserves the divinefire, without which darkness and savagery would prevail among people.
"Thou speakest, lord, of a struggle with the priesthood," continuedPentuer. "How can that profit me? If thou lose I shall be unhappy, forthou wilt not improve the lot of the worker. And if thou win? May Inot live to that! for shouldst thou break the lamp, who knows whetherthou wouldst not put out the fire of wisdom which for thousands ofyears has illuminated Egypt and mankind.
"These, lord, are the reasons why I will not take part in thystruggle with the sacred order of priests. I feel that the struggle isapproaching, and I suffer because such a worm as I am unable toprevent it. But I will not participate, for I should have to betrayeither thee, or the God, the creator of wisdom."
While hearing these words the pharaoh walked up and down the chamberin thought.
"Aa!" said he, without anger, "do as may please thee. Thou art not awarrior, hence I cannot reproach thee with lack of valor. But thoucanst not be my adviser, though I beg thee to form a council toinvestigate the riots of working men, and, when I summon thee, declarewhat thy wisdom enjoins."
Pentuer knelt down in taking farewell of his lord.
"In every case," added the pharaoh, "know this, that I have no desireto quench the divine light. Let the priests guard wisdom in theirtem
ples, but--let them not make my army useless, let them not concludeshameful treaties, and--let them not steal,"--he said thisexcitedly,--"the treasures of the pharaohs.
"Can they think that I will stand at their gates, like a beggar,asking that they deign to give me funds to restore the state which isruined by their stupid and villanous management? Ha, ha! Pentuer, Ishould not ask the gods for that which is my power and my right-- Thoumayst go."
The priest, withdrawing with his face toward the pharaoh, went outbackward with obeisance, and when in the doorway he fell with his faceon the pavement.
The pharaoh remained alone.
"Mortal men," thought he, "are like children. Herhor is wise: he knowsthat Egypt in case of war would need half a million of warriors; heknows that those troops need training, and still he has decreased thenumber of the regiments.
"The chief treasurer also is wise, but it seems to him quite in orderthat all the treasure of the pharaohs should go to the labyrinth.
"Finally here is Pentuer. What a strange person he is! He wants me togive earth-tillers food, land, and ever-recurring holidays. All thiswould decrease my income, which even now is insufficient. But if Isay to him: help me to take the pharaoh's treasures from thepriesthood, he calls that godlessness and the quenching of light inEgypt. Strange man, he would be glad to turn the state bottom upwards,so far as relates to the good of earth-tillers, but he would notventure to seize a high priest and lead him forth to prison. With theutmost composure he commands me to renounce half my income, but I amsure that he would not dare to take a copper uten out of thelabyrinth."
The pharaoh smiled, and again he meditated.
"Each man wants to be happy himself; but if thou wish to givehappiness to all men, each one will seize thy hand as he would if thouwert drawing an aching tooth from him.
"Therefore a pharaoh must have decision. Therefore my divine fatherdid ill when he neglected the workers and trusted beyond bounds in thepriesthood. He left me a grievous inheritance, but--I will improve it.
"At the Soda Lakes there was also a difficult question, more difficultthan this one. Here are only gabblers and timid cowards; there stoodarmed men ready to go to death.
"One battle will open our eyes more widely than tens of years inpeaceful management. Whoso says to himself, 'I will burst through thishindrance,' will burst through it. But he who hesitates must yield."
Darkness came. In the palace the watches were changed, and in theremoter halls torches were lighted. But no one dared enter thesovereign's chamber unless commanded.
Rameses, wearied by sleeplessness, by the journey of the day previous,by the occupations of that day, dropped into an armchair. It seemed tohim that he had been pharaoh for centuries, and he could not believethat one day had not passed since he had been at the pyramids.
"One day? Impossible!"
Then he thought that perhaps the spirits of the former pharaohs hadsettled in the heart of their heir. It must be so, for otherwisewhence could such a feeling of age or remoteness settle down in him?And why did governing the state seem to-day a simple thing, while twomonths before he was alarmed when he thought that he could not govern.
"One day?" repeated he, in spirit. "But I am a thousand years in thispalace!"
Suddenly he heard a repressed voice,--
"My son! O son!"
The pharaoh sprang up from his chair.
"Who art thou?" exclaimed he.
"I am, I-- Hast thou forgotten me already?"
"O my son," said the voice again, "respect the will of the gods ifthou wish to receive their blessed assistance--O respect the gods, forwithout their assistance the greatest power on earth is as dust andshadows--O respect the gods if thou wish that the bitterness of thyfaults should not poison my existence in the happy region of theWest."
The voice ceased, Rameses ordered to bring a light. One door of theroom was closed, at the other a guard stood. No stranger could enterthere.
Anger and alarm tore the pharaoh's heart. "What was that? Had theshade of his father spoken indeed to him, or was that voice only a newpriestly trick?"
But if the priests, notwithstanding thick walls, could speak to himfrom a distance, they could overhear him. And then he, the lord of theworld, was like a wild beast caged in on all sides.
It is true that in the palace of the pharaoh secret listening wascommon. Rameses had thought, however, that his cabinet was safe, andthat the insolence of priests had stopped at the threshold of thesupreme ruler.
"But if that was a spirit?"
He did not wish to sup, but betook himself to rest. It seemed to himthat he could not sleep; but weariness won the victory overirritation.
In a few hours bells and a light woke him. It was midnight and theastrologer priest came to make a report on the position of theheavenly bodies. The pharaoh heard the report, and said at the end ofit,--
"Couldst thou, revered prophet, make thy report to the worthy Semhereafter? He is my substitute in matters touching religion."
The astrologer wondered greatly at the indifference of his lord toaffairs of the heavens.
"Art thou pleased, holiness," inquired he, "to refuse thoseindications which the stars give to rulers?"
"Do they give them?" asked the pharaoh. "Tell what they promise me."
Clearly the astrologer had looked for the question, so he answereddirectly,--
"The horizon is darkened for the moment. The lord of light has notcome yet to the road of truth which leads to knowledge of the divinewill. But sooner or later he will find both long life and a happyreign filled with glory."
"Aha! I thank thee, holy man. And as soon as I know what to seek Iwill accommodate myself to the indication. But again I beg thee tocommunicate henceforth with the holy Sem. He is my substitute, butshouldst thou read anything in the stars thou wilt tell me of it inthe morning."
The priest left the bedchamber shaking his head.
"They have roused me from sleep!" said Rameses, dissatisfied.
"An hour ago Queen Nikotris, most greatly to be revered, commanded me,holiness, to ask of thee an interview," said an adjutant, suddenly.
"Now? At midnight?" asked the pharaoh.
"Her exact words were that at midnight thou wouldst wake, holiness."
The pharaoh meditated, then answered the adjutant that he would waitfor the queen in the golden hall. He thought that there no one couldoverhear them.
Rameses threw a mantle over his shoulders, put on sandals unfastenedand commanded to light the golden hall brightly. Then he went out,directing the servants not to go with him.
He found Nikotris in the hall; she was wearing coarse linen garmentsin sign that she was mourning. When she saw the pharaoh she wished todrop on her knees, but her son raised the queen and embraced her.
"Has something important happened, mother, that thou art working atthis hour?" inquired Rameses.
"I was not asleep--I was praying," replied the queen. "O my son, thouhast divined wisely that the affair is important. I have heard thesacred voice of thy father."
"Indeed!" said the pharaoh, feeling that anger was filling him.
"Thy ever-living father," continued the queen, "told me, full ofsadness, that thou wert entering on a way of error. Thou refusest withcontempt the ordination of high priest, and treatest badly theservants of divinity."
"'Who will remain with Rameses,' said thy father, 'if he angers thegods and the priests desert him? Tell him--tell him,' repeated therevered shade, 'that in this way he will ruin Egypt, himself, and thedynasty.'"
"Oho!" said the pharaoh, "then they threaten me thus from the firstday of my reign. My mother, a dog barks loudest when he is afraid; sothreats are of evil omen, but only for the priesthood."
"But thy father said this," repeated the anxious lady.
"My immortal father and my holy grandfather," said the pharaoh, "beingpure spirits know my heart, and see the woful condition of Egypt. Butsince my heart wishes to raise the state by stopping abuses they wouldnot prevent me from car
rying out my measures."
"Then dost thou not believe that the spirit of thy father gives theecounsel?" asked the queen, with rising terror.
"I know not. But I have the right to suppose that those voices ofspirits, which are heard in various corners of our palace, are sometrick of the priesthood. Only priests can fear me, never the gods, andspirits. Therefore it is not spirits which are frightening us,mother."
The queen fell to thinking; it was clear that her son's wordsimpressed her. She had seen many miracles in her life and some of themhad seemed to her suspicious.
"In that case," said she, with a sigh, "thou art not cautious, my son.This afternoon Herhor visited me; he was very much dissatisfied withthe audience. He said that it was thy wish to remove the priests fromthy court."
"But of what use are priests to me? Are they to cause great outgo inmy kitchen and cellar? Or, perhaps, to hear what I say, and see what Ido?"
"The whole country will revolt," interrupted the queen, "if thepriests declare that thou art an unbeliever."
"The country is in revolt now. But the priests are the cause of it,"replied the pharaoh. "And touching the devotion of the Egyptian peopleI begin to have another idea. If thou knew, mother, how many lawsuitsthere are in Lower Egypt for insults to the gods, and in Upper Egyptfor robbing the dead, thou wouldst be convinced that for our peoplethe cause of the priests has ceased to be holy."
"This is through the influence of foreigners, especially Phoenicians,who are flooding Egypt," cried the lady.
"All one through whose influence; enough that Egypt no longerconsiders either statues or priests as superhuman. And wert thou,mother, to hear the nobility, the officers, the warriors talk, thouwouldst understand that the time has come to put the power of thepharaoh in the place of priestly power, unless all power is to fall inthis country."
"Egypt is thine," sighed the queen. "Thy wisdom is uncommon, so do asmay please thee. But act thou with caution--oh, with caution! Ascorpion even when killed may still wound an unwary conqueror."
They embraced and the pharaoh returned to his bedchamber. But, intruth, he could not sleep that time.
He understood clearly that between him and the priesthood a strugglehad begun, or rather something repulsive which did not even deservethe name struggle, and which at the first moment he, the leader, couldnot manage. For where was the enemy? Against whom was his faithfularmy to show itself? Was it against the priests who fell on theirfaces before him? Or against the stars which said that the pharaoh hadnot entered yet on the true way? What and whom was he to vanquish? Wasit, perhaps, those voices of spirits which were raised amid darkness?Or was it his own mother, who begged him in terror not to dismisspriests from state offices?
The pharaoh writhed on his bed while feeling his helplessness.Suddenly the thought came to him: "What care I for an enemy whichyields like mud in a hand grasp? Let them talk in empty halls, letthem be angry at my godlessness. I will issue orders, and whoso willnot carry them out is my enemy; against him I will turn courts,police, and warriors."
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