Part 7 (2/2)
The scene with which the story opens is clearly indicated by the introductory sentences, though actually it is not described. A large war-galley had come swinging down the Nile from the land of Wawat in the south, the oars flas.h.i.+ng in the Nubian sunlight. On the left the granite rocks of the island of Bigeh towered above the vessel; on the right the island of Philae, as yet devoid of buildings, rested placidly on the blue waters. Ahead were the docks of Shallal, where the cl.u.s.tered boats lay darkly against the yellow of the desert, and busy groups of figures, loading and unloading cargoes, moved to and fro over the sand. Away to the left, behind Bigeh, the distant roar of the First Cataract could be heard as the waters went rus.h.i.+ng down from Nubia across the frontier into Egypt.
[Ill.u.s.tration: PL. XIV. A sailor of Lower Nubia and his son.]
[_Photo by E. Bird._
The great vessel had just returned from the little-known country of Ethiopia, which bordered the Land of the Ghosts, having its frontiers upon the sh.o.r.es of the sea that encircled the world; and the sailors were all straining their eyes towards these docks which formed the southernmost outpost of Egypt, their home. The greatest excitement prevailed on deck; but in the cabin, erected of vari-coloured cloth in the stern of the vessel, the n.o.ble leader of the expedition which was now at its conclusion lay in a troubled sleep, tossing nervously upon his bed. His dreams were all of the terrible ordeal which was before him. He could take no pleasure in his home-coming, for he was driven nigh crazy by the thought of entering the presence of the great Pharaoh himself in order to make his report.
It is almost impossible to realise nowadays the agonies of mind that a man had to suffer who was obliged to approach the incarnation of the sun upon earth, and to crave the indulgence of this G.o.d in regard to any shortcomings in the conduct of the affairs intrusted to him. Of all the kings of the earth the Pharaoh was the most terrible, the most thoroughly frightening. Not only did he hold the lives of his subjects in his hand to do with them as he chose, but he also controlled the welfare of their immortal souls; for, being a G.o.d, he had dominion over the realms of the dead. To be censured by the Pharaoh was to be excommunicated from the pleasures of this earth and outlawed from the fair estate of heaven. A well-known Egyptian n.o.ble named Sinuhe, the hero of a fine tale of adventure, describes himself as petrified with terror when he entered the audience-chamber. ”I stretched myself on my stomach,” he writes, ”and became unconscious before him (the Pharaoh).
This G.o.d addressed me kindly, but I was as a man overtaken by the twilight: my soul departed, my flesh trembled; my heart was no more in my body that I should know life from death.”[1] Similarly another personage writes: ”Remember the day of bringing the tribute, when thou pa.s.sest into the Presence under the window, the n.o.bles on each side before his Majesty, the n.o.bles and amba.s.sadors (?) of all countries.
They stand and gaze at the tribute, while thou fearest and shrinkest back, and thy hand is weak, and thou knowest not whether it is death or life that is before thee; and thou art brave (only) in praying to thy G.o.ds: 'Save me, prosper me this one time.'”[2]
[Footnote 1: Sinuhe, 254-256.]
[Footnote 2: Papyrus Koller, 5, 1-4.]
Of the Pharaoh it is written--
”Thine eye is clearer than the stars of heaven; Thou seest farther than the sun.
If I speak afar off, thine ear hears; If I do a hidden deed, thine eye sees it.”[1]
[Footnote 1: Anastasi Papyri, 4, 5, 6 ff.]
Or again--
”The G.o.d of taste is in thy mouth, The G.o.d of knowledge is in thy heart; Thy tongue is enthroned in the temple of truth; G.o.d is seated upon thy lips.”[2]
[Footnote 2: Kubban stela.]
To meet face to face this all-knowing, all-seeing, celestial creature, from whom there could be no secrets hid nor any guilt concealed, was an ordeal to which a man might well look forward with utter horror. It was this terrible dread that, in the tale with which we are now concerned, held the captain of this Nubian vessel in agony upon his couch.
As he lay there, biting his finger-nails, one of the s.h.i.+p's officers, himself a former leader of expeditions, entered the cabin to announce their arrival at the Shallal docks.
”Good news, prince,” said he cheerfully to his writhing master. ”Look, we have reached home. They have taken the mallet and driven in the mooring-post; the s.h.i.+p's cable has been put on land. There is merrymaking and thanksgiving, and every man is embracing his fellow. Our crew has returned unscathed, without loss to our soldiers. We have reached the end of Wawat, we have pa.s.sed Bigeh. Yes, indeed, we have returned safely; we have reached our own land.”
At this the prince seems to have groaned anew, much to the distress of his friend, who could but urge him to pull himself together and to play the man.
”Listen to me, prince,” he begged, ”for I am one void of exaggeration.
Wash yourself, pour water on your fingers.”
The wretched, man replied, it would seem, with a repet.i.tion of his fears; whereupon the old sailor seems to have sat down by his side and to have given him a word of advice as to how he should behave in the king's presence. ”Make answer when you are addressed,” he said; ”speak to the king with a heart in you; answer without restraint. For it is a man's mouth that saves him.... But do as you will: to talk to you is wearisome (to you).”
Presently the old sailor was seized with an idea. He would tell a story, no matter whether it were strictly true or not, in which his own adventures should be set forth. He would describe how he was wrecked upon an unknown island, how he was saved from death, and how, on his return, he conducted into the Pharaoh's presence. A narration of his own experiences before his sovereign might give heart to his captain, and might effectually lift the intolerable burden of dread from the princely shoulders.
”I will relate to you,” he began, ”a similar thing which befell me my very self. I was making a journey to the mines of the sovereign ...”
The prince may here be supposed to have sat up and given gloomy attention to his friend's words, for Egyptians of all ages have loved a good story, and tales of adventures in the south were, in early times, most acceptable. The royal gold mines referred to were probably situated at the southern-most end of the eastern Egyptian desert. To reach them one would take s.h.i.+p from Kossair or some other Red Sea port, sail down the coast to the frontiers of Pount, the modern Somaliland, and then travel inland by caravan. It was a perilous undertaking, and, at the time when this story was written, the journey must have furnished material for amazing yarns.
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