The Egyptian

by Mika Waltari

  But she came to me and leaned against me, and her thin dress was wet with sweat. She leaned against me, and every muscle in her strong, slender body was quivering with weariness and pride. I said to her, “I have never seen anyone like you.” My heart was weighed down with grief, for now that I had seen her dance before the bulls, I knew that they had come between us like some evil sorcery.

  Soon after this a ship from Crete put into the harbor; she was neither too small nor too large, and the captain’s eyes were not evil. He spoke Minea’s own language; and she said to me, “This ship will take me safely home to my god, so now you will leave me gladly, because I have caused you much vexation and loss.”

  “You know very well, Minea, that I am coming to Crete with you.”

  She looked at me with eyes like the sea in moonlight; she had colored her lips, and her eyebrows were thin black lines.

  “I do not know why you would come with me, Sinuhe, since the ship will take me straight home in safety, and no further evil can befall me.”

  “You know as well as I do, Minea.”

  She laid her long, strong fingers in mine and sighed.

  “We have gone through much together, Sinuhe, and I have seen so many people that my mother country has grown dim in my memory like some fair dream, and I do not yearn after my god as I did formerly. Therefore, I have put off this voyage with empty excuses as you well know-but when I danced once more before the bulls, I knew that I must die if you were to possess me.”

  “Yes, yes, I know. We have been all through this before; it is a tedious, pointless, and oft-repeated tale. I do not mean to ravish you, for the matter is not worth the plaguing of your god. Any slave girl can give me what you refuse-there is no difference, as Kaptah says.”

  Then her eyes glistened green as a wild cat’s eyes in the dark; she drove her nails into my hand and hissed, “Make haste then and find your slave girl, for the sight of you revolts me. Run away now to the grimy girls in the harbor whom you so desire, but know that thereafter I shall not recognize you and will perhaps even shed your blood with your own knife. What I can forgo you also can forgo.”

  I smiled at her.

  “No god has forbidden me this thing!”

  “I forbid it-and dare you to come to me afterward!”

  “Be easy, Minea, for really I am weary of the matter. There is nothing more monotonous than taking pleasure with a woman, and having tried it, I feel no desire to repeat the experience.”

  But she flared up again and said, “Your talk wounds the woman in me, and I fancy you would not find-everyone-so monotonous.”

  I found I could say nothing to please her, though I did my best. That night she did not lie beside me as usual but took her mat into another room and covered her head to sleep.

  I called to her, “Minea! Why don’t you warm me? You are younger than I am; the nights are cold, and I shiver.”

  “That is not true, for my body burns as if I were in a fever, and I cannot breathe in this stifling heat. I would rather sleep alone-but if you are cold, have a brazier brought to your room, or take a cat to lie beside you, and trouble me no more.”

  I went and felt her, and her body was hot and shivery under the blanket. I said, “You are ill, perhaps. Let me tend you.”

  She kicked and pushed me away, saying angrily, “Be off now! I do not doubt that my god will heal this sickness.”

  But after a little while she said, “Give me something, Sinuhe, or my heart will break.”

  I gave her a soothing medicine, and at last she slept; but I watched until the harbor dogs began barking in the wan light of dawn.

  Then came the day of departure, and I said to Kaptah, “Pack up our belongings, for we are going aboard a ship bound for Keftiu’s island, which is also Minea’s.”

  “I guessed this, but I did not rend my clothes, for then I should have had to mend them-and it is not worth strewing ashes in my hair for such a false dealer as you! Didn’t you swear when we left Mitanni that we need not put to sea? Nevertheless, I have resigned myself and will say nothing; I will not even weep lest I lose the sight of my one remaining eye-so bitterly have I already wept on your account in the countries to which your folly has led us. I merely say at once, to avoid subsequent mistakes, that this is my last voyage-my stomach tells me so. But I shall not trouble even to reproach you, for the bare sight of you and the physician’s smell of you are revolting to me. I have put our things together and am ready to depart, for without the scarab you cannot venture forth in a ship, and without the scarab I cannot hope to travel the land route to Smyrna and preserve my life. Therefore, I go with the scarab and either die on board or drown in the sea with you.”

  I marveled at Kaptah’s reasonable attitude-until I learned that he had inquired among the seafarers in the harbor concerning remedies for seasickness and had bought magic talismans from them. Before we sailed, he tied these objects about his neck, drew his girdle tight, and drank an intoxicating herbal mixture so that when he stepped aboard his eye was staring like that of a boiled fish. He begged in a thick voice for fat pork, which the sailors had assured him was the best preventive of seasickness. He lay down on his bunk and fell asleep with a pig’s shoulder blade in one hand and the scarab gripped in the other. The harbor master took our clay tablet and bade us farewell; then the oarsmen unshipped their oars and rowed us out of the bay.

  Thus began the voyage to Crete. The captain made sacrifice in his cabin to the sea god and others, then gave the command to hoist sail; the vessel heeled over and began to cleave the water while my stomach rose to my throat-for ahead there was no shore line. Ahead was but the endless, rolling sea.

  BOOK 8

  The Dark House

  1

  Before us rolled the boundless waters, but I feared nothing for Minea was with me, Minea who breathed the sea air and was herself again, with moonlight in her eyes. She stood in the bows by the figurehead, leaning forward and drinking in the air as if with her own strength she would draw us more speedily along our course. The sky over us was blue, and the sun shone; the wind was not too boisterous but fresh and steady and blowing from the right quarter-or so the captain said. Having become accustomed to the motion of the vessel, I suffered no sickness, though fear of the unknown assailed my heart when on the second day out the last of the white-winged, circling sea birds forsook the ship. Instead, the dolphin team of the sea god attended us, their smooth backs Bashing as they tumbled in the water. Minea shouted aloud and hailed them in her own tongue, for they brought her greetings from her god.

  Nor were we alone on the waters; we sighted a Cretan warship whose hull was hung with copper shields and who dipped her pennant when she saw that ours was not a pirate vessel. Kaptah rose from his bunk when he found himself able to stand and talked to the sailors, boasting of his journeys in many lands. He told of his voyage from Egypt to Smyrna, of a storm that ripped the sail from the mast, and of how he and the captain were the only ones aboard who could eat, while the rest lay about the deck groaning and puking into the wind. He told also of most fearful sea monsters that haunted the Nile delta and would engulf any fishing boat which ventured too far out to sea. The sailors gave him as good again and described certain pillars at the farthest ends of the ocean, which supported the heavens, and of fish- tailed maidens who lay in wait for seafarers and put spells on them to seduce them. They told tales of sea monsters that made the hair rise on Kaptah’s head and sent him running to me with a gray face, to cling to my shoulder cloth.

  Minea grew daily more radiant. Her hair floated in the wind, her eyes were like moonlight on the waters, and she was so slender and beautiful to see that my heart melted within me as I beheld her and remembered how soon she would be gone. To return to Smyrna or to Egypt without her seemed an empty thing. Life was like ashes in my mouth at the thought of the time when she would not put her hands in mine or press against my side and when I should behold her no longer.

  The captain and his men held her in deep veneration
when they heard that she danced before bulls and that the lot had fallen to her to enter the god’s house at the full moon, although she had hitherto been prevented by shipwreck. When I tried to ask them about their god, they made no answer; some said, “We do not know” and others, “We do not understand your tongue, stranger.” I knew only that the Cretan god ruled the sea and that the islands in the sea sent their young men and their maidens to dance before his horned beasts.

  The day came when Crete rose like a blue cloud from the ocean and the seamen uttered cries of joy, while the captain made sacrifice to the god of the sea who had sent us fair weather and a following wind. The mountains of Crete and its steep, olive-clad shores rose before my eyes, and I saw a strange land of which I knew nothing, though I was to leave my heart buried there. But Minea saw in it her homeland and wept with joy at the bare hills and the tender green of the earth within the sea’s embrace. Then the sail was lowered; the oarsmen unshipped their oars and rowed the ship alongside the quay, past other craft from every land-both warships and merchantmen-which lay at anchor in the roads. There must have been a thousand vessels, and Kaptah surveying them said he could not have believed there were so many in the world. Here were neither towers nor walls nor any fortifications, and the city adjoined the port; so assured was Crete’s sovereignty of the seas-so powerful its god.

  2

  I shall now speak of Crete and of what I have seen there, but of what I think of the country and its god I shall say nothing; 1 shall seal my heart and let my eyes report. Nowhere in the world, then, have I beheld anything so strange and fair as Crete, though I have journeyed in all known lands. As glistening spume is blown ashore, as bubbles glow in all five colors of the rainbow, as mussel shells are bright with mother of pearl, so was Crete lucent to my eyes. Nowhere are human pleasures so immediate, so capricious, as here. No one acts but by the impulse of the moment, and the minds of the people veer from hour to hour. For this reason it is difficult to extract promises from them or make agreements. They are fair of speech. and of great charm, because they delight in the music of words; death is not acknowledged among them, nor do I believe they have named it. It is concealed, and when a man dies, he is removed in secret that others be not oppressed. I believe they burn the bodies of their dead, though of this I cannot be sure, for throughout my stay I saw not one dead person nor any graves save those of former kings. These had been built of huge stones in some bygone age, and today people go far out of their way to avoid them as if by turning their thoughts away from death they might escape it.

  Their art also is strange and wayward. Every painter paints as the fancy takes him, heedless of rules, and he paints only such things as in his own eyes are beautiful. Vases and bowls blaze with rich color; round their sides swim all the strange creatures of the sea. Flowers grow upon them, butterflies hover over them, so that a man accustomed to an art regulated by convention is disturbed when he sees the work and thinks himself in a dream.

  Buildings are not imposing like the temples and palaces of other countries, convenience and luxury being the aim rather than outward symmetry. Cretans love air and cleanliness; their lattice windows admit the breeze, and their houses contain many bathrooms where both hot and cold water runs from silver pipes into silver baths at the mere turn of a tap. In the privies, running water sluices out the pans with a rushing sound, and nowhere else have I seen such a refinement of luxury. Nor is it only the rich and eminent who live in this fashion, but all save those about the harbor, where foreigners and dock laborers have their dwellings.

  The women spend endless time in washing themselves, in plucking hairs from their bodies, and in tending, beautifying, and painting their faces, so they can never be ready at any stated time but arrive at receptions when it suits their convenience. Strangest of all are their clothes. They wear dresses woven of gold or silver, which cover all their bodies save for the arms and bosom-for they are proud of their lovely breasts. But the wide, pleated skirts are adorned with a thousand embroideries or with the paintings of artists. Also they have dresses put together of numberless pieces of beaten gold in the form of cuttlefish, butterflies, and palm leaves, and their skin gleams through between them. They dress their hair high and with complexity, devoting whole days to the task, and they wear small, light hats that they fasten to the hair with gold pins, so as to seem poised like butterflies. Their bodies are lithe and slim and their loins as narrow as a boy’s so that they have difficulty in bearing children and avoid this as far as they can, thinking it no shame to be childless or to have but one or two.

  The men wear ornamented boots to the knee, but their loincloths are’ simple, and they gird themselves tightly, being vain of their slender waists and broad shoulders. They have small, handsome heads and delicate limbs, and like the women they allow no hair upon their bodies. Only a few of them speak foreign tongues, for they prefer their own country to others, which do not offer the same ease and gaiety. Although they derive their wealth from seafaring and commerce, I met those who refused to visit the harbor because of its evil smells and who could not perform the simplest calculation but in all things relied upon their stewards. Able foreigners may, therefore, speedily acquire wealth if they are content to live in the harbor quarter.

  They have instruments that play without a musician, and they claim to be able to put music into writing so that one may learn to play without ever having heard the piece performed. The musicians of Babylon also declared that they could do this, and I will not contradict them or the Cretans since I know nothing of music and the instruments of many different lands have perplexed my ear. Nevertheless, I can well understand the saying current in other parts of the world: “He lies like a Cretan.”

  No temples are to be seen there, and they pay little heed to the gods but content themselves with serving their bulls. This they do, however, with great enthusiasm so that a day seldom passes without a visit to the field. I do not think this is to be attributed so much to their piety as to the excitement and pleasure afforded by the dancing.

  Nor can I say that they display much veneration for their king, for he is their equal save that he lives in a palace many times larger than those of his subjects. They are as much in his company as in anyone’s; they jest with him and tell stories, come to his receptions at whatever hour they please and leave when they are bored or in response to some fresh whim. They drink wine in moderation, for cheerfulness’ sake, and they are very free in their ways. They are never drunk, however, for they consider this barbarous, nor have I seen anyone vomit from excess of drinking at their banquets as often happens in Egypt and elsewhere. Nevertheless, desire for one another is readily kindled, and they enjoy each other’s wives or husbands how or when the fancy takes them. The youths who dance before the bulls stand highest in the women’s favor. Many distinguished men learn this art though not initiates; they do it for pleasure and at times attain a proficiency equal to that of the dedicated youths to whom women are forbidden, as men are forbidden to the girls. This last I cannot understand, for from their way of life one would not expect them to attach much importance to the matter.

  ***

  Upon our arrival in the harbor we put up at the foreigners’ inn, which was the most luxurious of any I have seen though not large. Ishtar’s House of Joy in Babylon, with all its dusty magnificence and its loutish servants, seemed in comparison a very barbarous place. At this inn we washed and dressed, and Minea put up her hair and bought new clothes that she might show herself to her friends.

  I was astonished to behold her-she wore on her head a tiny hat like a lamp and on her feet high-heeled shoes that were awkward to walk in. I would not vex her by any remark but gave her earrings and a necklace of different-colored stones, which the merchant told me was fashionable that day, though for the morrow he could not answer. I surveyed also with astonishment her bared breasts with nipples painted red, which swelled forth from the silver sheath about her body; she avoided my eyes, saying defiantly that her breasts were nothing
to be ashamed of but would stand comparison with those of any woman in Crete. After closer inspection I did not deny this, for she may well have been right.

  Next we were conveyed to the town itself. With its gardens and airy houses it was like another world after the crowds, noise, fish smells, and chaffering of the port. Minea took me to an elderly man of some distinction who was her special patron and friend; it had been his custom to stake money on her in the field of bulls, and Minea looked on his house as her own. He was studying the list of bulls when we came and noting the bets he would make on the following day.

  When he saw Minea, he forgot his papers in his joy, embraced her without reserve, and cried, “Where have you been hiding? I have not seen you for so long a time that I fancied you must already have entered the house of the god. Yet I have chosen no one to take your place, and your room stands empty-that is if my servants have remembered to keep it so and my wife has not had it. pulled down to make room for a pool; she has just now a fancy for breeding different kinds of fish and can think of nothing else.”

  “Helea-breeding fish?” exclaimed Minea in astonishment.

  Somewhat embarrassed the old man replied, “It is Helea no longer. I have a new wife, and she has with her just now an uninitiated youth to whom she is showing her fish; I do not think she would want to be disturbed. But present your friend to me that he may be my friend also and this house his.”