Part 23 (2/2)
”Execute him!” I said What other instructions could there be?
”I am afraid we cannot do that, until he has been positively identified”
”Who knoho he is? Does it matter? He is not my brother, of that I a he is”
”Then you must come and look him in the face and say he is a pretender”
”What? Journey to Nubia? Let him make the journey! Send him here and I will deal with him,” I said
”We cannot,” he said ”Surely you can see why It is too dangerous; hethe route No uarded, there would doubtless be opportunities on the way The ot out--the moment there was a rumor--supporters would appear It is always thus People rally to any cause, just to have so to occupy them That is why I did not wish anyone in Alexandria to hear of this The merest whisper must not reach any ears Are you sure they do not understand Ethiopian?” He looked nervously over at the one re at the far end of the table, his eyes fastened on us
”I swear it,” I assured him
”Will you accoe you to come as soon as possible The less time between his capture and hissettleht Every day that passed, with the self-styled Ptoleuards, to his fellow prisoners--the roaned ”I can see that I have no choice But I must think of a reason why I suddenly must undertake this journey, which no Pharaoh and no Ptole to visit Canopus!” I realized I had to think of it before this interview ended, so I could pretend it was part of theto fathoo to Meroe? What possible reason? Think! I toldfor myselfwhat could it be? The trade routes to India? A lost city? Should I take a scientific expedition? I could take geographers and mathe experio? Surely the scientists could go by theht be interested in the trade route And the elephant and leopard hunters None of these excuses would serve
Mardian atching me as the ive the reason for this visit--the public reason Privately I would be able to tell Mardian the real reason But now, spies ht be in the outer chamber
”My sister queen, the renowned Kandake Amanishakheto, has extended her hand in friendshi+p to o in person to her fabulous court in Nubia and see what none of my ancestors has ever beheld On the way I willthe Nile Let ypt Perhaps our future lies southward, toward Africa, rather than eastward to Asia or ard to Gaul Rome has taken most of Asia and all of Gaul Our way is blocked What ain But other lands, other horizons beckon Can I do less than see for myself?”
I said this first in Ethiopian, then in Greek I saw Mardian's expression I knew it sounded implausible But what else could I say?
Chapter 19
The wide highway of water drew ypt that were old friends tolife alongside the riverbanks The weighted poles were lined up, dipping and swaying as their buckets hauled water; children ran on the dusty paths; donkeys and cae daughters, co curiously at ed sun pavilion as our sails filled with the north wind, sweeping us past
I could see the water dareen as the barley and eain--the Holy Island, with its sacred college of priests Again I did not go there and visit the little chamber where I had stood with Caesar My heart felt as if it had no power to beat as we sailed slowly by, seeing the white buildings turning gold in the afterglow of sunset It had not been holy to Caesar, had it?
”Sail on,” I said ”Sail on, and let us anchor out of sight of Philae”
We were approaching the First Cataract I could hear it--first just a lowchild Finally it turned into a roaring bull And suddenly I could see it ahead The Nile had widened into a lake, and in the lake a thousand islands gleaed, naked rocks The river is glassy there,reflecting the islands and trees,double I leaned over the side of the boat and saw ertips; only the sudden ripples showed ht fell, the surface turned from bronze to silver, but still it shone like polished ht, and then in thebe hauled up over the cataract by a team of men who, five months out of the year when the river was low and the rocks exposed,just that
The sun burst out of the horizon, rising hot thatthe boat was intense; they were strung together with long ropes, so, all under the direction of the foree a deadly hole in the bottom of the boat We were bumped and buffeted, and it took two days until we finally floated free of the vicious rocks
Beyond the cataract, the river changes as you enter Nubia On one side are black granite cliffs, and on the other golden sand There is little life on it; the Nile flows silently past valleys too narrow for cultivation The dogs, the villages, the fields of Egypt have vanished, and in their place is the quiet of desertion High in the bright, cloudless sky I could see an occasional hawk, but nothing else old to be mined in the wadis and ravines, and forts built to smelt and refine it--massive mud-brick structures at Kuban, which marked the extent of my jurisdiction We floated past it, on the drea off the water I was in alien territory now, under the hospitality of another ruler
Suddenly the river valley widened, and a huge plantation of date palms beckoned us They were the famous fields of Derr; we sent ashore for some of their renowned date pal together on this endless journey, although ere ood time with a steady wind Abu Siiant figures, but the darkness had fallen before we reached the the fiery yellow date palures dissolved into the dark We lit lanterns and continued to drink the wine; everything seee country this was
That night I noticed for the first time that no coolness ever ca to drape around the shoulders, and in thethere was no chill There were only two teht we set sail, so that we could see the great ht touched them The likenesses of Ramses the Great sat in serene conteht creep down over the his frontier, drifts of sand up to his massive knees, as he had for thousands of years, still warning the Nubians of hisby, and e sought His enig it, that it would do us no good and could not last Even statues were futile, and would cruround at his feet, staring up at the empty sky
We approached the Second Cataract, set like a plug in this land of scorching sun The bleak, hard terrain showed no pity to living creatures Several gigantic lared down at us froe
At this cataract, known as the Great Cataract, ould abandon our vessel; it was too arduous for our boat to withstand We transferred to another one waiting beyond the sixteen-mile stretch of hundreds of rocks and channels
Our new boat was a plain, stoutly built vessel of thick timbers that would serve us the rest of the way Immediately we embarked on the sixty-mile stretch called the ”belly of rocks” for its utter inhospitality The Nile pours through a channel of stone, bordered on each side by rocks, boulders, and sheets of granite The sun pierces down like a thousand javelins, transfixing you, blinding you The light screa creature moves, neither are there any clouds The heat radiates like an oven; the rocks shi+mmer
Then the Third Cataract comes, a baby after the others And all at once the landscape changes, the valley widens, and there are green fields The river spreads out with a sigh, and ees, and then ere passing Kerdoain I could see the ruins of a huge structure off on the horizon--a ht; it does not last A few chipped and half-buried ra forlornly at us, re towhat?
Noe passed the Dongola Reach, and the scenery stayed friendly-- green, palantic loop back toward the north as it approaches the Fourth Cataract, the farthest outpost of the Pharaohs There was the Holy Mountain of Jebel Barkal at Napata, still a site of pilgrie, steep-sided pyramids were barely visible on the plain
The Nile continued to go northward, like a son who has lost his way; at last he turned south again, and as he ain in our faces rather than at our backs--although ht overhead--I saw the last trace of direct Egyptian power: a boundary text inscribed by a Pharaoh on a boulder It had been wishful thinking; Egypt never truly controlled this portion of the Nile valley, although it had laid boastful claiain the river narrowed as we rushed toward the Fifth Cataract, were pulled and guided over it, and ca water frooal: Meroe, the rich city of fabled Kush: that is, Nubia
It lay on a fertile plain, waving with millet and barley, dotted with cattle A fresh breeze, sreen plants, blew across the bow of our boat Instantly I could understand why the Nubians had retreated to this area and held it They could not be reached here easily, and this place was a paradise
Ahead of us I saw an i far out into the shalloaters The palold pennants flying A royal welconia, and before we arrived the dock was thronged As we tied up, I saw soabout that it looked like a tumble of jewels
A tall man, even more ornately dressed than his fellows, approached and addressed us, but I could not understand hi Meroitic
”Can you speak Greek?” I asked
He shrugged, unable to respond Soyptian, then?”
He smiled ”Yes, Exalted One”
”Or Ethiopian?”
”Yes, that as well Which do you prefer?”
It seeyptian, but I could speak it ue you wish to use,” I said
”Egyptian suits er, standing beside me ”Kandake Amanishakheto will reward you for your speed and powers of persuasion” He turned to me ”Come, Exalted One I will take you to the palace”
As we , is: Some of the people were very tall and almost spindly, while others were like elephants from the waist doide haunches and enorht to transport me and my companions to the royal enclosure; the rest would walk I had brought Iras with ain But as we glided along, borne by six strong men, she leaned over and confided tolike this My faypt This is different so different!” She ide-eyed
”Can you understand any of this Meroitic?” I asked
”No Only a feords sound familiar, but they speak so fast, and the accent is difficult to follow”