The Pharaoh And The Priest Part 138

"This is what I am," said Eunana. "In a strange house I look not at women. I give my attendants to eat what is proper, but when my turn comes I dispute not about the division. I have a face which is satisfied at all times, and in presence of superiors I act respectfully. I never sit in the presence of an older man standing; I am not forward, and without invitation I go not into other men's houses. I am silent touching that which my eyes see, for I know that we are deaf to men who use many words.

"Wisdom teaches that the body of a man is like a granary full of various objects. Therefore, I choose at all times the good that is in me and express it. I keep the bad shut up in my person. The deceits of other men I repeat not, and as to that which is committed to me I always accomplish it in the best manner possible.

"And what is my reward?" finished Eunana, raising his voice; "I suffer cold, I go in rags, I am not able to lie on my back, it is so beaten.

I read in books that the priestly order rewards valor and prudence.

Indeed! that must have been at some other time, and very long ago. For the priests of to-day turn from men of ability and drive strength and valor out of the bones of officers."

"I shall fall asleep in presence of this man," said the pharaoh.

"Eunana," said Tutmosis, "his holiness is convinced that thou art expert in books, but tell now in as few words as possible what thy wish is."

"An arrow does not go so quickly to its mark as my request will fly to the divine feet of his holiness," replied Eunana. "The service of the shaven heads has so disgusted me, the priests have filled my heart with such bitterness, that if I am not transferred to the army of the pharaoh, I shall pierce myself with my own sword, before which the enemies of Egypt have trembled more than one time and more than a hundred times. I would rather be a decurion, nay a simple warrior of his holiness than a centurion in priestly regiments; a pig or a dog may serve them, but not a believing Egyptian!"

Eunana uttered the last words with such mad anger that the pharaoh said in Greek to Tutmosis,--

"Take him to the guard. An officer who does not like the priests may be of use to us."

"His holiness, the lord of both worlds has given command to receive thee into his guard," repeated Tutmosis.

"My health and life belong to our lord. May he live through eternity!"

exclaimed Eunana, and he kissed the footstool beneath the feet of the pharaoh.

Eunana, now made happy, moved backward, falling on his face after every couple of steps, and left the tent, blessing his sovereign.

"His garrulousness irritated me," said Rameses. "I must teach Egyptian soldiers and officers to speak briefly, not like learned scribes."

"May the G.o.ds grant that to be his only failing," whispered Tutmosis, on whom Eunana had made a bad impression.

Rameses summoned Samentu.

"Be at rest," said he to the priest. "That officer who came after thee was not following. He is too stupid for commissions of that sort. But a heavy hand may be used in case of necessity. Well, now, tell me what inclined thee to such cautiousness?"

"I know, almost, the road to the treasure chambers in the labyrinth,"

said Samentu.

The pharaoh shook his head.

"That is a difficult task," said he in a low voice. "I ran an hour through various halls and corridors, like a mouse chased by a cat. And I confess that, not merely did I not understand that road, but I could not have even escaped from the place unattended. Death in the sunlight may be pleasant, but death in those dens, where a mole would lose its way! Brr!"

"Still we must find that road and master it," said Samentu.

"But if the overseers themselves give the necessary part of the treasure," inquired the pharaoh.

"They will not do that while Mefres, Herhor, and their confederates are living. Believe me, sovereign, the question for those dignitaries is to roll thee in swaddling clothes, like an infant."

Rameses grew pale from anger.

"Unless I wind them in chains! How wilt thou discover the way?"

"Here in Abydos, in the grave of Osiris, I found the whole plan of the road to the treasure," said Samentu.

"But how didst thou learn that it was here?"

"Inscriptions in my temple of Set explained that to me."

"When didst thou find the plan?"

"When the mummy of thy eternally living father, O holiness, was in the temple of Osiris. I accompanied the revered relics and while on night service in the hall of 'repose' I entered the sanctuary."

"Thou shouldst be a general, not a high priest!" cried Rameses, laughing. "And now thou understandest the way of the labyrinth?"

"I have understood it this long time, now I have taken indications for guidance."

"Canst thou explain it to me?"

"Of course, at the right time, I will even show thee a plan, holiness.

That way," continued Samentu, "pa.s.ses in zigzags four times through the whole labyrinth; it begins on the upper story and ends in the lowest place underground, and has a number of other twists. That is why it is so long."

"And how couldst thou go from one hall to another when there is such a mult.i.tude of doors in them?"

"On every door leading to the object there is a portion of this sentence: 'Woe to the traitor who tries to penetrate the supreme secret of the state and to stretch forth a sacrilegious hand toward the treasure of the G.o.ds. His remains will be like offal, and his soul, torn by its sins, will wander without rest, through dark places.'"

"And that inscription does not terrify thee?"

"But, holiness, does the sight of a Libyan spear terrify thee? Threats are good against common people, but not against me, who am able myself to write curses still more dreadful."

The pharaoh fell to thinking.

"Thou art right," said he. "A spear will not harm him who knows how to ward it off, and a deceitful road will not lead astray the sage who knows the word of truth. But how wilt thou manage to make stones in the wall move apart before thee, and columns change into doors of entrance?"

Samentu shrugged his shoulders contemptuously.

"In my temple," replied he, "there are imperceptible entrances even more difficult to open than those in the labyrinth. Whoso knows the key to a mystery can go everywhere, as thou hast said justly, O holiness."

Rameses rested his head on his hand and continued thinking.

"I should be sorry," said he, "if misfortune were to meet thee on the way."

"In the worst event I shall meet death, and does not death threaten even a pharaoh. Besides, didst thou not march to the Soda Lakes boldly, though thou wert not sure of returning? And, lord, think not,"

continued the priest, "that I must pa.s.s over the same distance as other men who visit the labyrinth. I shall find nearer points, and in the course of one prayer to Osiris I can reach a place which thou wouldst only reach after thirty prayers."

"But are there other entrances?"

"There are, most a.s.suredly, and I must find them. I shall not enter as thou didst, by the main gate or in the daytime."

"How then?"

"There are external doors which I know and which the wise overseers of the labyrinth leave unguarded. In the court the watches are not numerous and they trust so much to the care of the G.o.ds, or to the fear of the people that they sleep in the night time most frequently.

Besides, the priests go to pray in the temple three times between sunset and sunrise, but the guards perform their devotions in the open air. Before one prayer is finished I shall be in the edifice."