Part 19 (2/2)
A statue of you, Isis, can never be mistaken for that of any other Goddess You always hold the ti-spouted pitcher filled with Nile water in the other Your gown is always tied with the knot sacred to you, a reat shrine you also have the cobra headdress, and beneath your feet is a crocodile And upon your face is the most perfect smile, emble tian beating on their breasts, uttering loud wails of the ”lamentations of Isis” They poured out their troubles to you--their ill husbands, their ungrateful sons, their rebellious daughters, the ache in their knees, their ovens that would not bake the bread properly, their rat-infested grain supplies Anything, no matter how important or petty, was presented to you in confidence that you could ht One by one they crept forward and left their offerings at your feet--flowers, bread, jars of honey, garlands of flowers I crawled on my hands and knees to present the milk
” 'I am all that has been, and is, and shall be,' ” intoned the voice of a priestess, speaking for you
The very words spoke to er than I, but I knew you had endured all that any wo out on You had been wife, and , andwomen” The voice went on
”I overcome Fate To me Fate hearkens”
”I am the one of innumerable names”
Your face took on an unutterable beauty toti ordeal of childbirth, and in guidance for Egypt Gradually the rest of the worshi+pers departed, and by the tian a return to the ordinary, I was almost alone Only a very feo their way so slowly to the door, I wondered if they were crippled Yet they stood straight enough, and their gait was normal As I ca her way along, while her companion helped her Then I noticed that she was not blind in the usual way, for she kept rubbing her eyes as if she expected light to flood into theht, my sister?” I asked
She quickly turned toward me, as if she could see irl, hter
”Yes, I have asked,” she replied ”Every day I co remains”
”I pray that Isis, the Great and Coirl ”I will not give up hope”
”I a ”Perhaps if one is born with it, thenbut to suddenly become someone else, and have half the world taken away from memeas well as my work! The skills of a blind person take years to develop It is not as if I can do what other blind people do! I cannot carve, I cannot play a musical instrument, I cannot serve as a royal food taster” as well as my work! The skills of a blind person take years to develop It is not as if I can do what other blind people do! I cannot carve, I cannot play a musical instrument, I cannot serve as a royal food taster”
”What did you do?”
”I worked as one of the silk-looseners”
How unfortunate! That type of handiwork, in which a skilled needlewoman loosened the fabric of silk we received from Arabia to make it stretch farther and be ht Perhaps the job had cost her that sight
”How did this happen?”
”The war!” she said ”In the fighting, it seems there were fires everywhere Alexandria is nearly fireproof, the buildings being stone, but there was plenty of loose material to be set afire When one of those pitch-soaked torches landed right inover it to s up in flames The sot in ht”
The war This one was particularly terrible because it had taken place not on a battlefield, but within city streets and people's homes
”I will take you to my physician Perhaps he can help Are there others you knoere injured, have lost jobs, o with you to your physician? I have no nant
I pulled aside my veil ”I am Cleopatra, your Queen, but also the devotee of Isis I will help her to help you”
They both looked terror-stricken
”Is not Isis the chahter, am also your champion I wish to help women who have suffered here in Alexandria Cohtened look, they obeyed
Olympos exaht indeed be permanent He prescribed a twice-daily wash of rainwater mixed with an infusion of an herb he obtained frohter could re the treatht did not return, I would find new employment for her
”Why have you taken this woman into your care7” asked Olympos ”The city must be full of ones exactly like her!”
”Yes Isis opened my eyes to that I would like to find a way to help all of theht on my behalf It is the least I can do”
”You continue to surprise est surprise for us all In the ht, not more than twenty days after my conversation with Olympos, I was taken with a violent onset of pain while I was sleeping It jolted me awake, as if I had been struck by a heavy object I lay flat onwhat had happened Was it a dreaain, another bolt of pain struck
The fla in the chamber were steady All seeentle sound of wind, but on this June night all else was tranquil It seemed an aberration to be visited with pain at such a ti this, another wave hitthe bell for Iras and Char tiht for sweet sleeping
”I think--my time of childbirth has come,” I said, when they arrived I was startled, and a little frightened, to find how much effort it took me even to speak ”Get the midwives!”
I was taken on a litter--oh, how it bounced!--into a chamber that had been prepared for this There, on a low chair, hung twisted ropes that I could grip on to; beside it were stacks of linen towels and sheets, and washbasins They stripped , even on that warht, until they covered me with a sheet All the laainst the ar and atte to make all this seerateful that I had obtained them so far in advance
The pains increased; Iras and Char on to the ropes and arched h the painfrom inside me, and heard one of the midwives say, ”The waters have broken!” Then I lost track of time The pain seemed to be its oorld, and it envelopedto mount it, as I would try to cli me off Finally there was a crest to the pain, and I felt enormous pressure, and then--it stopped
”A son! A son!” they were shouting
There was a loud, quavering wail
”A son!” They held hi with the exertion of crying
They wiped him off with the warmed, scented water and wrapped him in fresh linen They placed him on my breast I could see only the top of his head; it was covered in fine dark hair His little fingers flexed and uncurled, and he stopped crying I felt his warainstbefore I caain I saw the reflections of the seawater dancing on the ceiling,patterns, and for a moment I just lay and looked at theled to sit up on my elbows, and saw Charmian and Iras and Oly in hushed tones Outside the sunlight was so bright it hurt ain!”
Charmian bent down over the royal crib, an elaborately carved box on little feet She picked up a wrapped bundle and brought it over toinside it I pulled away the linen near the little red face He looked like an angry, wizened, sunburnt old hed
Olympos hurried over to my bedside ”He is small, but he will live,” he pronounced with satisfaction ”Eighth-month babies often do not fare as well”
”Yes, he is a month early,” I said Then I realized that Caesar had barelyhim I felt a double disappointment that it had been so close I looked carefully at the little face staring back at me with unfocused, hazy blue eyes ”I think it is iardless of what people claim I have never seen this face before!” I s on his head ”Nevertheless, I can say, he isn't bald, like his father!”
How pleased Caesar would be when he heard the news! How thrilled I felt to be able to present hi no one else in the world had been able to give hih all his conquests of land I et the word to him at once But I did not even kno to reach hie from him since his departure
”What will you call him, Majesty?” asked Charmian