Uarda: a Romance of Ancient Egypt

o the banquet which the prophet had prepared in honor of two sages w

n a bend of the Nile,

alled Gebel Silsilch;

t of a celebr

two long rows on comfortable armchairs. Before each stood a little table, and servants were occupied in supplying t

for domestic animal

he herds of the weal

The banquet is describ

ave been found

rious cakes and sweetmeats were carried to the guests, and their beakers well-filled wi

mean temperature of th

st preserved in sha

ants with metal bowls, in which they might

and each guest was decked with sweetly-smelling flowers, whos

ere of the class of the Initiated into the mysteries of the faith, as

t, stout man with a bald and almost spherical head. His features were those of a man of advancing years, but well-formed, and his smoothly-shaven, plump cheeks

rrived from Chennu, two tall, dark-colored old men. The remainder of the company was arranged in the order o

with reference to their rank, they mixed

nor of counting ourselves among your number; for, though the university of Chennu in former times was so happy as to bring up many great men, whom she could call her own, she can no longer compare with the House of Seti. Even Heliopolis and Memphis are behind you; and if I, my humble self, nevertheless venture boldly among you, it is b

as the author of the most beautiful hymn to Amon, which was e

a seat at the lower end of the table, "is his. He is

ng for signs-while his prominent eyes glowed with a fanatical gleam. "Without doubt the Gods have granted great gifts to our young friend, but it remains to be proved how he will use them. I perceive a certain freedom of thought in the youth, which pains me deeply. Although in his poems his flexible style cert

Thou, Thou Cre

makest all t

ag

ly, Alone, w

e in the holi

d in a papyrus roll at

ut and L

t least in times like ours, when new ideas come in upon

asurer of the temple, "Ameni initiated

o the fame of our temple. The people hear the hymns without looking closely at the meaning of the words. I never saw th

festival in honor of

of Medi

evertheless to me and to many others a dangerous performance; and canst thou dispute the fact that we have grounds for grave anxiety, and that things hap

who is there more competent than my disciple? There is the champion of our cause, a second cap of Hor, that overthrew the evil one with winged sunbeams, and you come and would clip his wings and blunt his claws! Alas, alas, my lords! will you never understand that a lion roars louder than a cat, and t

ier of the kingdom, have escaped many evils that in the north have eaten into our body like a cancer. Here foreigner

and honored. Like dust, when the simoon blows through the chinks of a wooden

n writers use more Se

meses II. and hi

f the successors of

ntered the hall, "Hold your tongue, and be not so bold as to wag it against h

rose to greet Ameni, who bowed to them all with polite digni

riestly excitement; what ha

ux of foreigners into Egypt, and the nece

replied Ameni. "We have endured much already, and new

oops sustain

s brought me a letter from our brethren who accompany the king, and delivered a document from him to the Regent, which contains the order to send to him fifty thousand fighting

se words. The chief of the haruspice

you mea

ion here without delay to hold a council. Each must first in his holy of holies seek good counsel of the Celestials. W

said the chief o

is over." commanded Ameni. "But why

ty to the company and low before Ameni, he prayed him to grant that the pastophorus

make haste. Paaker waits for them at the grea

of feasters, the old priest from Che

pictured your poet. He is like the Sun-god, and his dem

him with industry and prudence, but is of humble birth and rough exterior. He sent Pentaur to th

es he fill here

lent observer of the starry heavens, and a most skilled interpreter of dreams," replied Gagabu.

d Pentaur. "But what a rough fellow this pioneer is. His voice hurts

d on him," said the high-priest benevolently, "and his una

some years ago, and who had chosen me for his guide and

one of the most superior energeti

his bad peculiariti

s a timid, amiable,

d Pentaur. "Among the sons of the sacred bull, sometim

abu laughing, "according to your view the pioneer

ntradict him, but

on account of his unruliness, he has remained always the same. He was stronger tha

ard small claims to their indulgence. I encourage freedom and merriment," he continued turning to the priests from Cheraw, "among our disciples, for in fettering the fresh enjoyment of youth we

of his companions. Constant contests with them increased that roughness whi

still a child, and the Gods had denied him the heavenly gift of good humor. Youth should be modest, and he was assertive from his childhood. He took the sport of his companions for

the Mohar are well kno

it. Mus., which has b

yage d'un

of," said the old priest from Chennu, "yet I do

imself of the kind and number of the population, to investigate the direction of the mountains

r minister of war. A

en in the ear

of the troops may

equally skilled as a w

country through which he had travelled as plainly as if it were seen from a mountain height. He was the first who took the title of Mo

of nob

he himself had attained the highest consideration and vast wealth, escorted home the niece of the King Hor-em-lieb, who would have had a

I. was and is the grandfather of our sovereign, and in the king's veins, from

those of the Regent the h

ords are like sparks, which are borne by the wind, but which, if they fall, may set our home in a blaze. Continue your feasting, my lords; but I would

st bowed and

shut behind him, the old

ing, a man who holds so high an office, surprises me.

learner, but of m

hen as high as that of

no m

hen is

he vine-dresser has his mouth full of grapes, and th

from his boyhood. When the other scholars carried their pocket-money to the fruit-sellers and confectioners at the temple-gates, he would buy geese, and, when his mother sent him a handsome sum, young gazelles, to offer to the Gods on the altars. No

reasurer, "and the high honor he pays his father,

for dignity, conceit; for perseverance, obstinacy. Devout he is, and we profit by his gifts. The treasurer may rejoice over them, and the dates off a crooked tree taste as well as those off a straight one. But if I were the Divinity I should prize them no higher than a hoopoe's crest; for He, who sees into the heart of th

to the depths of his s

ifteen years without ceasing. The man has been of service to us, is so still, and will continu

aid the haruspex, interrup

Seth, one only belongs wholly to the Evil one and that is hatred between man and man. Covetousness may lead to industry, sensual appetites may beget noble fruit, but hatred is a devastator, and in the soul that it occupies all that is noble grows not upwards and towards the light, but downwards to the earth and to darkness. Everything may be forgiven by the Gods, save only hatred between man and man. But there is another sort of hatred that is pleasing to the Gods, and which you must cherish if you would not miss their presence in your souls; that is, hatred for all that hinders the growth of light and goodness and purity-the hatred of Horus for Seth. The Gods

pex, "the Gods are entreated to throw our enemies under our feet; and, besi

nt only the demons of darkness and the outlandish peoples by whom Egypt is endangered! Paaker prayed for his parents? Ay, and so will he for his children, for

rs denied him all that makes youth happy. The enemy for whose destruction he prays is Mena, the king's charioteer, and, indeed, he must have been of s

sked the priest from Chenn

s preserved at Bulaq (

, the following words

to another?" Betrothed

he sarcophagus of

y of his father home to Thebes, gave him princely interment, and then before the time of mourning was over, hastened back to Syria, where, while the king returned to Egypt, it was his duty to reconnoitre the new possessions. At last he could quit the scene of war with the hope of marrying Nefert. He rode his horse to death the sooner to reach the goal of his desires; but when he reached Tanis, the city of Rameses, the news met him that his affianced cousin

y who condescends to serve the foulest human fiends for a reward. But the omniscient Spirit, that rules the world in accordance with eternal laws, knows nothing of these s

Seth and Typhon. The

n the papyrus of fiber

hon

ke hogwash that men set before swine. Pestilence and boils has he called down on Mena, and barrenness and heartache on

," said the treasurer, "for Nefert, during four years of married life, has passed only a few weeks with her wandering husband, and remains childless.

n, "how you-you who so willingly condemn, can so

to us at this time,

use of the king's pioneer as you will, but do not, because you are indebted to him for gifts, neglect to judge him according to his imaginings and deeds if you would deserve your title of the Initiated and the Enlightened. Let him bring his cattle into our temple and pour his gold into our treasury, but do not defile your souls with the thought that the offerings of such

ed Pentaur, "how ten

praise will aggravate them, your blame will tend to heal them. Nay, if you are not content to do your du

quently shrugged his shoulders. Now he

en they enter on the duties of the care of souls. His sentiments are excellent, but he easily overlooks small things for the sake