The Pharaoh And The Priest Part 114

"During the reign of the pharaoh Tutmosis I., Ethiopian amba.s.sadors came to negotiate touching the tribute to be paid by them. They were all arrogant people. They said that the loss of one war was nothing, that fate might favor them in a second; and for a couple of months they disputed about tribute.

"In vain did the wise pharaoh, in his wish to enlighten the men mildly, show our roads and ca.n.a.ls to them. They replied that in their country they had water for nothing wherever they wanted it. In vain he showed them the treasures of the temples; they said that their country concealed more gold and jewels by far than were possessed by all Egypt. In vain did the lord review his armies before them, for they a.s.serted that Ethiopia had incomparably more warriors than his holiness. The pharaoh brought those people at last to these places where we are standing and showed them those structures.

"The Ethiopian amba.s.sadors went around the pyramids, read the inscriptions, and next day they concluded the treaty required of them.

"Since I did not understand the heart of the matter," continued Rameses, "my holy father explained it.

"'My son,' said he, 'these pyramids are an eternal proof of superhuman power in Egypt. If any man wished to raise to himself a pyramid he would pile up a small heap of stones and abandon his labor after some hours had pa.s.sed, asking: "What good is this to me?" Ten, one hundred, one thousand men would pile up a few more stones. They would throw them down without order, and leave the work after a few days, for what good would it be to them?

"'But when a pharaoh of Egypt decides, when the Egyptian state has decided to rear a pile of stones, thousands of legions of men are sent out, and for a number of tens of years they build, till the work is completed. For the question is not this: Are the pyramids needed, but this is the will of the pharaoh to be accomplished, once it is uttered.' So, Pentuer, this pyramid is not the tomb of Cheops, but the _will_ of Cheops,--a will which had more men to carry it out than had any king on earth, and which was as orderly and enduring in action as the G.o.ds are.

"While I was yet at school they taught me that the will of the people was a great power, the greatest power under the sun. And still the will of the people can raise one stone barely. How great, then, must be the will of the pharaoh who has raised a mountain of stones only because it pleased him, only because he wished thus, even were it without an object."

"Wouldst thou, lord, wish to show thy power in such fas.h.i.+on?" inquired Pentuer, suddenly.

"No," answered the prince, without hesitation. "When the pharaohs have once shown their power, they may be merciful; unless some one should resist their orders."

"And still this young man is only twenty-three years of age!" thought the frightened priest.

They turned toward the river and walked some time in silence.

"Lie down, lord," said the priest, after a while; "sleep. We have made no small journey."

"But can I sleep?" answered the prince. "First I am surrounded by those legions of laborers who, according to thy view, perished in building the pyramids-- Just as if they could have lived forever had they not raised those structures! Then, again, I think of his holiness, my father, who is dying, perhaps, at this very moment.

Common men suffer, common men spill their blood! Who will prove to me that my divine father is not tortured more on his costly bed than thy toilers who are carrying heated stones to a building?

"Laborers, always laborers! For thee, O priest, only he deserves compa.s.sion who bites lice. A whole series of pharaohs have gone into their graves; some died in torments, some were killed. But thou thinkest not of them; thou thinkest only of those whose service is that they begot other toilers who dipped up muddy water from the Nile, or thrust barley b.a.l.l.s into the mouths of their milch cows.

"But my father--and I? Was not my son slain, and also a woman of my household? Was Typhon compa.s.sionate to me in the desert? Do not my bones ache after a long journey? Do not missiles from Libyan slings whistle over my head? Have I a treaty with sickness, with pain, or with death, that they should be kinder to me than to thy toilers?

"Look there: the Asiatics are sleeping, and quiet has taken possession of their b.r.e.a.s.t.s; but I, their lord, have a heart full of yesterday's cares, and of fears for the morrow. Ask a toiling man of a hundred years whether in all his life he had as much sorrow as I have had during my power of a few months as commander and viceroy."

Before them rose slowly from the depth of the night a wonderful shade.

It was an object fifty yards long and as high as a house of three stories, having at its side, as it were, a five-storied tower of uncommon structure.

"Here is the Sphinx," said the irritated prince, "purely priests'

work! Whenever I see this, in the day or the night time, the question always tortures me: What is this, and what is the use of it? The pyramids I understand: A mighty pharaoh wished to show his power, and, perhaps, which was wiser, wished to secure eternal life which no thief or enemy might take from him. But this Sphinx! Evidently that is our sacred priestly order, which has a very large, wise head and lion's claws beneath it.

"This repulsive statue, full of double meaning, which seems to exult because we appear like locusts when we stand near it,--it is neither a man nor a beast nor a rock-- What is it, then? What is its meaning? Or that smile which it has-- If thou admire the everlasting endurance of the pyramids, it smiles; if thou go past to converse with the tombs, it smiles. Whether the fields of Egypt are green, or Typhon lets loose his fiery steeds, or the slave seeks his freedom in the desert, or Rameses the Great drives conquered nations before him, it has for all one and the same changeless smile. Nineteen dynasties have pa.s.sed like shadows; but it smiles on and would smile even were the Nile to grow dry, and were Egypt to disappear under sand fields.

"Is not that monster the more dreadful that it has a mild human visage? Lasting itself throughout ages, it has never known grief over life, which is fleeting and filled with anguish."

"Dost thou not remember, lord, the faces of the G.o.ds," interrupted Pentuer, "or hast thou not seen mummies? All immortals look on transient things with the selfsame indifference. Even man does when nearing the end of his earth-life."

"The G.o.ds hear our prayers sometimes, but the Sphinx never moves. No compa.s.sion on that face, a mere gigantic jeering terror. If I knew that in its mouth were hidden some prophecy for me, or some means to elevate Egypt, I should not dare to put a question. It seems to me that I should hear some awful answer uttered with unpitying calmness.

This is the work and the image of the priesthood. It is worse than man, for it has a lion's body; it is worse than a beast, for it has a human head; it is worse than stone, for inexplicable life is contained in it."

At that moment groaning and m.u.f.fled voices reached them, the source of which they could not determine.

"Is the Sphinx singing?" inquired the astonished prince.

"That singing is in the underground temple," replied Pentuer. "But why are they praying at this night hour?"

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Great Sphinx]

"Ask rather why they pray at all, since no one hears them."

Pentuer took the direction at once and went toward the place of the singing. The prince found some stone for a support and sat down wearied. He put his hands behind him, leaned back, and looked into the immense face before him.

In spite of the lack of light, the superhuman features were clearly visible; just the shade added life and character. The more the prince gazed into that face, the more powerfully he felt that he had been prejudiced, that his dislike was unreasonable.

On the face of the Sphinx, there was no cruelty, but rather resignation. In its smile there was no jeering, but rather sadness. It did not feel the wretchedness and fleeting nature of mankind, for it did not see them. Its eyes, filled with expression, were fixed somewhere beyond the Nile, beyond the horizon, toward regions concealed from human sight beneath the vault of heaven. Was it watching the disturbing growth of the a.s.syrian monarchy? Or the impudent activity of Phnicia? Or the birth of Greece, or events, perhaps, which were preparing on the Jordan? Who could answer?

The prince was sure of one thing, that it was gazing, thinking, waiting for something with a calm smile worthy of supernatural existence. And, moreover, it seemed to him that if that _something_ appeared on the horizon, the Sphinx would rise up and go to meet it.

_What_ was that to be, and when would it come? This was a mystery the significance of which was depicted expressly on the face of that creature which had existed for ages. But it would of necessity take place on a sudden, since the Sphinx had not closed its eyes for one instant during millenniums, and was gazing, gazing, always.

Meanwhile Pentuer found a window through which came from the underground temple pensive hymns of the priestly chorus:

_Chorus I._ "Rise, as radiant as Isis, rise as Sothis rises on the firmament in the morning at the beginning of the established year."

_Chorus II._ "The G.o.d Amon-Ra was on my right and on my left. He himself gave into my hands dominion over all the world, thus causing the downfall of my enemies."

_Chorus I._ "Thou wert still young, thou wert wearing braided hair, but in Egypt naught was done save at thy command--no corner-stone was laid for an edifice unless thou wert present."

_Chorus II._ "I came to Thee, ruler of the G.o.ds, great G.o.d, lord of the sun. Tum promises that the sun will appear, and that I shall be like him, and the Nile; that I shall reach the throne of Osiris, and shall possess it forever."

_Chorus I._ "Thou hast returned in peace, respected by the G.o.ds, O ruler of both worlds, Ra-Mer-Amen-Rameses. I a.s.sure to thee unbroken rule; kings will come to thee to pay tribute."

_Chorus II._ "O thou, thou Osiris-Rameses! ever-living son of heaven, born of the G.o.ddess Nut, may thy mother surround thee with the mystery of heaven, and permit that thou become a G.o.d, O thou, O Osiris-Rameses."[23]

[23] Tomb inscriptions.

"So then the holy father is dead," said Pentuer to himself.

He left the window and approached the place where the heir was sitting, sunk in imaginings.

The priest knelt before him, fell on his face, and exclaimed:

"Be greeted, O pharaoh, ruler of the world!"

"What dost thou say?" cried the prince, springing up.

"May the One, the All-Powerful, pour down on thee wisdom and strength, and happiness on thy people."

"Rise, Pentuer! Then I--then I--"

Suddenly he took the arm of the priest and turned toward the Sphinx.