Part 30 (1/2)
As the sun was sinking ere led at once to a very beautiful tent made of woven flax and ornamented as I have described, where we found food made ready for us in plenty, milk in bowls and the flesh of sheep and oxen boiled and roasted Bes, however, was taken to a place apart, which ry than she was before
Scarcely had we finished eating when a herald rushed into the tent crying, ”Prostrate yourselves! Yea, be prostrated, the Grasshopper comes! Karoon comes”
Here I must say that I found that the title of Karoon meant ”Great Grasshopper,” but Karenantly why she should prostrate herself to a grasshopper Indeed she refused to do so even when Bes entered the pavilion wonderfully attired in a gorgeous-coloured robe of which the train was held by two huge men So absurd did he look that hter while Karema said,
”It would be better, Husband, if you found children to carry your robe instead of two giants Moreover, if it is rasshopper, 'tis badly done, since grasshoppers are green and you are gold and scarlet Also they do not wear feathers set awry upon their heads”
Bes rolled his eyes as though in agony, then turning, bade his attendants be gone They obeyed, though doubtfully as though they did not like to leave him alone with us, whereon he let down the flap of the pavilion, threw off his gorgeous coverings and said,
”You must learn to understand, Wife, that our custoypt There I was happy as a slave and you were held to be beautiful as the Cup of the holy Tanofir, also learned Here I anorant as a stranger Oh! do not answer, I pray you, but learn that all goes well
For the time you are accepted as ed relatives of my family, ill decide e reach the City of the Grasshopper whether or not you shall be acknowledged as the Queen of the Ethiopians No, no, I pray you say nothing since Ito the law of the Ethiopians the time has come for the Grasshopper to sleep, alone, Kareed as my wife You also can sleep with the lady Tiu and for Shabaka a tent is provided Rest sweetly, Wife Hark! They fetch me”
”Now, if I hadback to Egypt What say you, lord Shabaka?”
But Iher to talk the matter over withto convey hi, saw theed the upon musical instruments After this soood bed in which I lay down to sleep This however I could not do for a long while because of hter and the noise of the dru Bes to his rest For now I understood why he had preferred to be a slave in Egypt rather than a king in Ethiopia
In theI rose before the dawn and went out to the river-bank to bathe While I wasready to wash myself, who should appear but Bes, followed, but at a distance, by a nuht, Master,” he said, ”at least not since you took o, since by law I may not stop those horns andto the law of the Ethiopians, I aather some of those blue lilies which she loves as a present for Karery and ry,” I said, ”or at least was so when I left her last night Oh! Bes, why did you let your people tell her that she was ugly?”
”How can I help it, Master? Have you not always heard that the Ethiopians are chiefly fa but the truth To thely
Therefore when they say that she is ugly, they speak the truth”
”If so, it is a truth that she does not like, Bes, as I have no doubt she will tell you by and by Do they think ly also?”
”Yes, they do, Master; but they think also that you look like a oes far with the Ethiopians
Of yourbecause she is old and they venerate the aged whoan to laugh again and ith Bes to gather the lilies These grew at the end of a ether by the pressure of the current and floating on the water Bes lay down upon his stomach while his people watched from a distance on the bank a arave way beneath hi at them, so that he fell into the river
Next instant I sairl in the broater and perceived a huge crocodile It rushed at Bes open-ood swimmer he twisted his body in order to avoid it, but I heard the great teeth close with a snap on the short leathern garment which he wore about his middle
”The devil has me! Farewell!” he cried and vanished beneath the water
Now, as I have said, I was al, but had not yet taken off irded round me by a belt In an instant I drew it and amidst the yells of horror of the Ethiopians who had seen all froed into the river There are few able to swi withbeneath the surface without drawing breath, for this I had practised fro to theBes with him to drown him there But here the river was very deep and with a feift strokes I was able to get under the crocodile Then with allthe sword far into the soft part of the throat Feeling the pain of the sharp iron the beast let go of Bes and turned on me How it happened I do not know but presently I foundat its eyes One thrust at least went ho ain
Thus we appeared, I riding the crocodile like a horse and stabbing furiously, while close by was Bes rolling his yellow eyes but helpless, for he had no weapon Still the devil was not dead although blood streae Nor could the shouting Ethiopians help me since they had only bows and dared not shoot lest their shafts should piercefuriously at ht me of a trick I had seen practised by natives on the Nile