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âNay, nay!â she went on in another voiceâa shrill old wifeâs voiceâ âI willâbe not so foolish, boyâthe scratch of a lion is a venomous thing, a terrible thing; yea, as bad as the bite of an aspâit must be treated, else it will fester, and all thy days thou shalt dream of lions; ay, and snakes; and, also, it will break out in sores. But I know of itâI know. I am not crazed for nothing. For mark! everything has its balanceâin madness is much wisdom, and in wisdom much madness. La! la! la! Pharaoh himself canât say where the one begins and the other ends. Now, donât stand gazing there, looking as silly as a cat in a crocus-coloured robe, as they say in Alexandria; but just let me stick these green things on the place, and in six days youâll heal up as white as a three-year-child. Never mind the smart of it, lad. By Him who sleeps at Philïżœ, or at Abouthis, or at Abydusâas our divine masters have it nowâor wherever He does sleep, which is a thing we shall all find out before we want toâby Osiris, I say, youâll live to be as clean from scars as a sacrifice to Isis at the new moon, if youâll but let me put it on.
âIs it not so, good folk?ââand she turned to address some people who, while she prophesied, had assembled unseen by meââIâve been speaking a spell over him, just to make a way for the virtue of my medicineâ la! la! thereâs nothing like a spell. If you donât believe it, just you come to me next time your wives are barren; itâs better than scraping every pillar in the Temple of Osiris, Iâll warrant. Iâll make âem bear like a twenty-year-old palm. But then, you see, you must know what to sayâthatâs the pointâeverything comes to a point at last. La! la!â
Now, when I heard all this, I, Harmachis, put my hand to my head, not knowing if I dreamed. But presently looking up, I saw a grey-haired man among those who were gathered together, who watched us sharply, and afterwards I learned that this man was the spy of Ptolemy, the very man, indeed, who had wellnigh caused me to be slain of Pharaoh when I was in my cradle. Then I understood why Atoua spoke so foolishly.
âThine are strange spells, old wife,â the spy said. âThou didst speak of Pharaoh and the double crown and of the form fashioned by Ptah to bear it; is it not so?â
âYea, yeaâpart of the spell, thou fool; and what can one swear by better nowadays than by the Divine Pharaoh the Piper, whom, and whose music, may the Gods preserve to charm this happy land?âwhat better than by the double crown he wearsâgrace to great Alexander of Macedonia? By the way, you know about everything: have they got back his chlamys yet, which Mithridates took to Cos? Pompey wore it last, didnât he?âin his triumph, tooâjust fancy Pompey in the cloak of Alexander!âa puppy-dog in a lionâs skin! And talking of lionsâlook what this lad hath doneâslain a lion with his own spear; and right glad you village folks should be to see it, for it was a very fierce lionâjust see his teeth and his clawsâhis claws!âthey are enough to make a poor silly old woman like me shriek to look at them! And the body there, the dead bodyâthe lion slew it. Alack! heâs an Osiris[*] now, the bodyâand to think of it, but an hour ago he was an everyday mortal like you or me! Well, away with him to the embalmers. Heâll soon swell in the sun and burst, and that will save them the trouble of cutting him open. Not that they will spend a talent of silver over him anyway. Seventy days in natronâthatâs all heâs likely to get. La! la! how my tongue does run, and itâs getting dark. Come, arenât you going to take away the body of that poor lad, and the lion, too? There, my boy, you keep those herbs on, and youâll never feel your scratches. I know a thing or two for all Iâm crazy, and you, my own grandson! Dear, dear, Iâm glad his Holiness the High Priest adopted you when PharaohâOsiris bless his holy nameâmade an end of his son; you look so bonny. I warrant the real Harmachis could not have killed a lion like that. Give me the common blood, I sayâitâs so lusty.â
[*] The soul when it has been absorbed in the Godhead.âEditor.
âYou know too much and talk too fast,â grumbled the spy, now quite deceived. âWell, he is a brave youth. Here, you men, bear this body back to Abouthis, and some of you stop and help me skin the lion. Weâll send the skin to you, young man,â he went on; ânot that you deserve it: to attack a lion like that was the act of a fool, and a fool deserves what he getsâdestruction. Never attack the strong until you are stronger.â
But for my part I went home wondering.
OF THE REBUKE OF AMENEMHAT; OF THE PRAYER OF HARMACHIS; AND OF THE SIGN GIVEN BY THE HOLY GODS
For a while as I, Harmachis, went, the juice of the green herbs which the old wife, Atoua, had placed upon my wounds caused me much smart, but presently the pain ceased. And, of a truth, I believe that there was virtue in them, for within two days my flesh healed up, so that after a time no marks remained. But I bethought me that I had disobeyed the word of the old High Priest, Amenemhat, who was called my father. For till this day I knew not that he was in truth my father according to the flesh, having been taught that his own son was slain as I have written; and that he had been pleased, with the sanction of the Divine ones, to take me as an adopted son and rear me up, that I might in due season fulfil an office about the Temple. Therefore I was much troubled, for I feared the old man, who was very terrible in his anger, and ever spoke with the cold voice of Wisdom. Nevertheless, I determined to go in to him and confess my fault and bear such punishment as he should be pleased to put upon me. So with the red spear in my hand, and the red wounds on my breast, I passed through the outer court of the great temple and came to the door of the place where the High Priest dwelt. It is a great chamber, sculptured round about with the images of the solemn Gods, and the sunlight comes to it in the daytime by an opening cut through the stones of the massy roof. But at night it was lit by a swinging lamp of bronze. I passed in without noise, for the door was not altogether shut, and, pushing my way through the heavy curtains that were beyond, I stood with a beating heart within the chamber.
The lamp was lit, for the darkness had fallen, and by its light I saw the old man seated in a chair of ivory and ebony at a table of stone on which were spread mystic writings of the words of Life and Death. But he read no more, for he slept, and his long white beard rested upon the table like the beard of a dead man. The soft light from the lamp fell on him, on the papyri and the gold ring upon his hand, where were graven the symbols of the Invisible One, but all around was shadow. It fell on the shaven head, on the white robe, on the cedar staff of priesthood at his side, and on the ivory of the lion-footed chair; it showed the mighty brow of power, the features cut in kingly mould, the white eyebrows, and the dark hollows of the deep-set eyes. I looked and trembled, for there was about him that which was more than the dignity of man. He had lived so long with the Gods, and so long kept company with them and with thoughts divine, he was so deeply versed in all those mysteries which we do but faintly discern, here in this upper air, that even now, before his time, he partook of the nature of the Osiris, and was a thing to shake humanity with fear.
I stood and gazed, and as I stood he opened his dark eyes, but looked not on me, nor turned his head; and yet he saw me and spoke.
âWhy hast thou been disobedient to me, my son?â he said. âHow came it that thou wentest forth against the lion when I bade thee not?â
âHow knowest thou, my father, that I went forth?â I asked in fear.
âHow know I? Are there, then, no other ways of knowledge than by the senses? Ah, ignorant child! was not my Spirit with thee when the lion sprang upon thy companion? Did I not pray Those set about thee to protect thee, to make sure thy thrust when thou didst drive the spear into the lionâs throat! How came it that thou wentest forth, my son?â
âThe boaster taunted me,â I answered, âand I went.â
âYes, I know it; and, because of the hot blood of youth, I forgive thee, Harmachis. But now listen to me, and let my words sink into thy heart like the waters of Sihor into the thirsty sand at the rising of Sirius.[*] Listen to me. The boaster was sent to thee as a temptation, he was sent as a trial of thy strength, and see! it has not been equal to the burden. Therefore thy hour is put back. Hadst thou been strong in this matter, the path had been made plain to thee even now. But thou hast failed, and therefore thy hour is put back.â
[*] The dog-star, whose appearance marked the commencement of the overflow of the Nile.âEditor.
âI understand thee not, my father,â I answered.
âWhat was it, then, my son, that the old wife, Atoua, said to thee down by the bank of the canal?â
Then I told him all that the old wife had said.
âAnd thou believest, Harmachis, my son?â
âNay,â I answered; âhow should I believe such tales? Surely she is mad. All the people know her for mad.â
Now for the first time he looked towards me, who was standing in
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