Uarda: a Romance of Ancient Egypt

ty of the living that lay oppo

from the Nile, connected with each other by avenues of sphinxes and pyl

es; or at the tavern-tables, where they listened to the tales of the story-tellers while they refreshed them selves with beer, wine, and the sweet juice of fruits. Ma

in more or less extensive gardens, rose the houses of the magnates of t

few yards further to the east was another stately though older and less splendid house, which Mena, the king's charioteer, had inherited from his father, and which was inhabited by his wife Nefert and her mother Isatuti,

nd decorated with various paintings. On the right hand and on the left, two cedar-trunks were erected as masts to carry standards; he had had them fe

in at the back, and with roofs supported on slender painted wooden columns. Here stood the pioneer's horses and

sycamores, and acacia-trees, figs, pomegranates, and jasmine throve here particularly well-for Paaker's mother, Setchem, superintended the labors of the gardeners; and in the large tank in the midst the

room had its own door, that opened into a veranda supported by colored wooden columns, and which extended the whole length of the garden side of the house. This building was joined at a right a

father and by himself, in gold and silver rings, vessels and figures of beasts. Nor was ther

a chapel with images of the Gods; in the background stood the statue

came Osiris; that is t

(Henosis) with

sses, alone distinguished th

figures clothed only with aprons, the slaves of the king's pioneer, who squatted on the grou

s, and who sat on a carpet round a table hardly two feet high. They were eating their evening-meal, consisting of a roasted antelope, and large flat cakes of bread. Slaves waited

report that the Egypt

tticisms that they wo

love of mockery. The

of Medinet Habu, t

at Turin, confirm thes

e in Flavius Vopisc

s to the

f slaves get more and mo

dener, "you want so many cudgels that their c

aid the head-groom, "and get sticks

e pioneer's country estate, bringing with him animals for sacrifices, butter and cheese. "If we wer

yesterday," said the steward, "it is a pity, for he

small voice, that sounded m

recognized the strange guest, wh

as big as a five-year-old boy, with a big head

a in this capacity. He was called Nemu, or "the dwarf," and his sharp tongue made him much fear

e very little room, and your beer and roast is in little

ig as that of a Nile-h

when a turn-spit and spoon-wielder lik

said the steward, "

sel

bring noth

t, who just now is visiting us, sent me here to ask you whether Paaker is not yet returned. He accompanied the princess

said: "The moon is already tolerably high, a

ok. "I shall have to go to work aga

he steward. "He is with

tress," add

chief litter-bearer declared that yesterday on the way to th

othed to him, and then was wed to another? When I think of the mo

d the dwarf, "since you must be

r never forgets an injury, and we shall live to see him p

ted Nemu, "stores up the a

dship with your house, and the Regent too preaches p

a's arrears flow seem to b

the dwarf. "Give me a bit of roast meat, stew

our meat like the crocodiles in the sacred tank of Seeland. You must come from a world of upsi

erhaps as big as your spite which grudges me the third bit of meat, which the steward-

irdle," said the steward laughing, "I had cut th

y teach the knowing better than a

t?" cried t

hed the steward; "for, if you want to t

all his haughty race. The Regent, on the contrary, has a straight, well-shaped, medium-sized nose, like the statue of Amon in the temple, and he is an upright soul, and as good as th

prefer the eagle Rameses. But what do yo

ry thought like the leaves of flowers in a bre

?" asked th

flies up his nose, he waxes angry-so it is Paaker's nose, and that only, which is answerable for a

to your heart's content, but if you wag your sharp tongue against our mistress, I will take you b

the finest of the planets in return for your juicy bit of roast. But here come the chariots. Farewell! my lords, when the vulture

hes howled joyfully, the head groom hastened towards Paaker and took the reins in his charge, the stewar

mous temple of Amon, was heard first the far-sounding clang of hard-s

s servants-"The divine star Sothis is risen!" threw hims

cers immediately fo

festation of a divinity, and they surrounded the life of the inhabitants of the Nile-valley-from morning to evening-from the beginning of the inundation to the days of drought

their knees in silence, their eyes fixed on the sacre

arth; only one naked figure, strongly lighted by the clear moo

ent with hasty steps to the man who had disdained the act

okes on the soles of th

mmanded the mat-weaver not to move and he cannot lift his arm. He i

il to hear it. Then he turned his back upon him, and entered the garden; here he called the chi

hich was decorated with leafy plants, just as she gave her two-years'-old grand daughter,

ide the leaping favorites of the widow, whom they amused through many long hours of loneliness, and turned to take the child in his arms from those of the

hty littl

whole afternoon," said his mother

l I know this-the dogs love me,

such har

" said Paaker to the nurse. "M

sses, and sent it to bed; then she went up

greatest blessing which the Gods bestow on us mortals." Paaker smiled and said: "I know what you

asked

ken to Nefert. The past may be forgotten. You long for you

eyes which easily filled with tears, now overflowed, and she

d knit once more the old ties of affection with your

long!" cri

the ground, and obeyed his moth

s being carried to the temple, I was met, first by a white cow, and then by a wedding procession. The white ram of Anion, to

ages," said Paaker in

are both good and evil; we are both of the same race, and I know that, as order and cleanliness preserve a house from ruin and rejoice the stranger, so nothing but unity can keep up the happiness of the family and its

fully pacing the broad space,

f so large a household as ours. Ere long I too shall be wrapped in mummy-cloths, and then if duty calls you into Syria some prudent housewife must take my place. It is no small matter. Your grandfather Assa often would say that a house well-conducted in every detail was a mark

Paaker kissing his mother's forehea

ess and smarten themselves with stuffs from Kaft,-[Phoenicia]-mix their language with Syrian words, and leav

aaker, "and if you had brought her up she would know

possible for any one to be angry with her who looks into her eyes. And yet I was cruel to her because you were h

sed in front of his mother he said with

t, and the hyaenas of the North

veil, and clasped her hands tightly over the amul

the charioteer, for I have seen the seven arrows o

it is a charm that is hateful to the Gods, and that gives the evil one power over him that uses it. Leave it

obber, and I only return to him the evil that belongs to him. Enough of this! and if you love me, never

and if Mena returns the reconciliation of to-day will turn to all the more bitter enm

untry, and do not wish to leave my wife, like Mena, to lead the life of a widow during my e

delightful plaything, but in your son I should see at once the future stay of our race, the future head of the family; brought up to my mind and your father's; for al

o-morrow you visit Nefert and your sister, say to them that the doors of my house are open to them. But stay! Katuti's stew

ments, tries to vie with the greatest in splendor, sees the governor often in her house,

lders, once more embrace

o sleep when he was in Thebes. The walls of this room were whitewashed and decorated wit

lion's head, and the foot, its curling tail; a finely dressed lion's skin was spread over the bell,

ch Setchem had read the words "Death to Mena." They were written across a sentence which enjoined feeding the hun

bed-head was closed with

f each was a small altar for offerings, with a hollow in it, in which was an odoriferous essence. On a wooden stand were little images of the Gods and amulets in great n

og sprang joyfully to meet him. He let him spring upon him, threw him to t

ild lay in deep sleep. Paaker shoved him w

m hu

ck man rose slowly,

e. He was accustomed every evening to fill the hollows in the altars with fresh essences, and to prostrate himself in prayer before the images of the Gods. To-day he sto

fro and thought over

defiantly at the holy images; like a traveller who drives

; he smiled, and striking his broad bre

ena in the desert, you fall upon it without waiting till it is touched by my lance-and if the Gods, my masters, dela

rrupted by the slaves w

for him, and asked: "How often shall I command that not a variety

r to touch it?" ans

id the pioneer. "Bring one of th

emptied beaker after beaker. When the servants had left him, the boldest among the

nd come into the court, for Paaker has sent

most sober of all the warriors of Rameses, to whom intoxication was unknown, and who avoided the banquets o

led the niche at the head of the bed. A female figure, with the head-dress and

ad the features o

cred image with the lovely features of the newly-married bride of

o see if he was alone, leaned forward, pressed a kiss to the delicate, cold stone lips; laid d

y a hideous vision, so pitifully, that the old negro, who had laid himself near the dog at the

efore his mind, and he endeavored to retain it that he might summon a haruspex to inte

of Amon; he cast off evil thoughts, and resolved once more to resign th

t with ever increasing eagerness of Nefert and of the philter which at first he had meant not to offer to her,

the temptations, which more and more tightly closed in upon him, but it was with him as with a man w

is dwelling, in his most costly clothing, he had arrived once more at the decision of the night b

, and he never turned back wh