The Pharaoh And The Priest Part 146

"And again to court?" laughed the old man. "Oh ye, ye courtiers! If ye knew what ye lose by deserting wisdom for palaces ye would be the saddest of mankind."

"Art thou alone, O my teacher?"

"As a palm in a desert, especially to-day when my deaf and dumb servant has gone with a basket to Memphis to beg something for the mother of Ra and her chaplain."

"And is it not disagreeable here?"

"For me!" exclaimed Menes. "Since I saw thee last I have s.n.a.t.c.hed from the G.o.ds some secrets which I would not give for the two crowns of Egypt."

"Are they secrets between thee and me?" inquired Pentuer.

"How, secrets? A year ago I completed all measures and calculations touching the size of the earth."

"What does that mean?"

Menes looked around and lowered his voice,--

"Of course it is known to thee that the earth is not flat like a table, but is an immense ball on the surface of which seas, countries, and cities are situated?"

"That is known," said Pentuer.

"Not to all," answered Menes. "And it was not known to any one how great that globe might be."

"But dost thou know?" inquired Pentuer, almost frightened.

"I know. Our infantry marches about thirteen Egyptian miles[44] daily.

The globe of the earth is so great that our armies would require five whole years to march around it."

[44] Three geographical miles.

"O G.o.ds!" exclaimed Pentuer. "Does it not frighten thee, father, to think of such subjects?"

Menes shrugged his shoulders.

"To measure size, what is there terrible in that? To measure the size of a pyramid, or the earth is the same kind of problem. I did a more difficult thing. I measured the distance of our temple from the palace of the pharaoh without crossing the river."

"Terror!" exclaimed Pentuer.

"What terror? I have discovered a thing which beyond doubt ye will all fear. But tell this to no one: in the month Paoni (June, July) there will be an eclipse of the sun; night will come in the daytime. And may I die a hunger death, if I have failed even three minutes in the reckoning."

Pentuer touched the amulet which he wore on his breast, and uttered a prayer.

"I have read," said he, "in sacred books that more than once to the suffering of people it became night at midday. But what is that? I do not understand."

"Dost thou see the pyramid?" asked Menes on a sudden, pointing toward the desert.

"I see it."

"Now put thy hand before thy eyes. Dost thou see the pyramid? Thou dost not. Well, the eclipse of the sun is the same kind of thing; the moon pa.s.ses between the sun and us, hides the father of light and makes night in the daytime."

"And will that happen here?" inquired Pentuer.

"In the month Paoni. I have written about this to the pharaoh, thinking that in return he would make some offering to the temple. But on reading the letter he laughed at me, and commanded my messenger to take the news to Herhor."

"Well, what did Herhor do?"

"Herhor gave us thirty measures of barley. He is the only man in Egypt who reveres science, but the young pharaoh is frivolous."

"Do not be severe on him, father," interrupted Pentuer. "Rameses XIII.

wishes to improve the lot of laborers and artisans, and give them every seventh day to rest; he forbids to beat them without trial, and perhaps he will find land for them."

"But I tell thee that he is light-minded," said the irritated Menes.

"Two months ago I sent him a great plan for lessening the toil of laborers, and he laughed at me. He is conceited and ignorant!"

"Thou art prejudiced, father. But tell me thy plan and perhaps I may a.s.sist in applying it."

"Plan?" repeated the old man. "It is not a plan, it is a great fact."

He rose from the bench and went then with Pentuer to a pond in the garden, at which was an arbor concealed altogether by plant growth. In this structure was a large wheel in perpendicular position with a number of buckets on the outer rim of it. Menes went into the centre and began to move his feet; the wheel turned and the buckets took water from the pond and poured it into a trough which stood somewhat higher.

"A curious instrument!" said Pentuer.

"But dost thou divine what it may do for the people of Egypt?"

"No."

"Then imagine this wheel to be five or ten times greater than it is, and that instead of a man a pair of bullocks are moving it."

"Something--something appears to me," said Pentuer, "but still I do not understand clearly."

"It is very simple," said Menes. "By means of this wheel oxen and horses might raise water from the Nile and pour it into higher channels. In that way half a million of men might have rest instead of working at buckets. Now thou seest that wisdom does more for the welfare of mankind than pharaohs."

Pentuer shook his head.

"How much timber would be needed for that change! How many oxen, how much pasture. It seems to me, father, that thy wheel would not take the place of the seventh day for rest."

"I see that office has not benefited thee," replied Menes, shrugging his shoulders. "But though thou hast lost that alertness which I admired in thee, I will show still another thing. Perhaps when thou hast returned to wisdom, and I am dead, thou wilt work at improving and spreading my inventions."

They went back to the pylon, and Menes put some fuel under a bra.s.s kettle. He blew the flame and soon the water was boiling. On the kettle was a perpendicular spout covered with a heavy stone. When the kettle began to hiss, Menes said,--

"Stand in this niche and look."

He touched a crank fastened to the spout; in one moment the heavy stone flew through the air and hot steam filled the chamber.

"Wonderful!" cried Pentuer. But soon he calmed himself and asked,--

"Well, but how will that stone improve the condition of people in Egypt?"

"The stone in no way. But," said the sage, now impatient, "I will say this to thee, and do thou remember it: the time will come when horses and oxen will take the place of people in labor, and also when boiling water will take the place of horses and oxen."