I
THE PROPHETS OF THE APURA
"These things are not without the Gods," said the Wanderer, who wascalled Eperitus, when he had heard all the tale of Rei the Priest, sonof Pames, the Head Architect, the Commander of the Legion of Amen. Thenhe sat silent for a while, and at last raised his eyes and looked uponthe old man.
"Thou hast told a strange tale, Rei. Over many a sea have I wandered,and in many a land I have sojourned. I have seen the ways of manypeoples, and have heard the voices of the immortal Gods. Dreams havecome to me and marvels have compassed me about. It has been laid upon meto go down into Hades, that land which thou namest Amenti, and to lookon the tribes of the Dead; but never till now have I known so strangea thing. For mark thou, when first I beheld this fair Queen of thine Ithought she looked upon me strangely, as one who knew my face. And now,Rei, if thou speakest truth, _she_ deems that she has met me in theways of night and magic. Say, then, who was the man of the vision of theQueen, the man with dark and curling locks, clad in golden armour afterthe fashion of the Achaeans whom ye name the Aquaiusha, wearing on hishead a golden helm, wherein was fixed a broken spear?"
"Before me sits such a man," said Rei, "or perchance it is a God that myeyes behold."
"No God am I," quoth the Wanderer, smiling, "though the Sidonians deemedme nothing less when the black bow twanged and the swift shafts flew.Read me the riddle, thou that art instructed."
Now the aged Priest looked upon the ground, then turned his eyes upward,and with muttering lips prayed to Thoth, the God of Wisdom. And when hehad made an end of prayer he spoke.
"_Thou_ art the man," he said. "Out of the sea thou hast come to bringthe doom of love on the Lady Meriamun and on thyself the doom of death.This I knew, but of the rest I know nothing. Now, I pray thee, oh thouwho comest in the armour of the North, thou whose face is clothed inbeauty, and who art of all men the mightiest and hast of all men thesweetest and most guileful tongue, go back, go back into the sea whencethou camest, and the lands whence thou hast wandered."
"Not thus easily may men escape their doom," quoth the Wanderer. "Mydeath may come, as come it must; but know this, Rei, I do not seek thelove of Meriamun."
"Then it well may chance that thou shalt find it, for ever those whoseek love lose, and those who seek not find."
"I am come to seek another love," said the Wanderer, "and I seek hertill I die."
"Then I pray the Gods that thou mayest find her, and that Khem may thusbe saved from sorrow. But here in Egypt there is no woman so fair asMeriamun, and thou must seek farther as quickly as may be. And now,Eperitus, behold I must away to do service in the Temple of the HolyAmen, for I am his High Priest. But I am commanded by Pharaoh first tobring thee to the feast at the Palace."
Then he led the Wanderer from his chamber and brought him by a sideentrance to the great Palace of the Pharaoh at Tanis, near the Templeof Ptah. And first he took him to a chamber that had been made ready forhim in the Palace, a beautiful chamber, richly painted with beast-headedGods and furnished with ivory chairs, and couches of ebony and silver,and with a gilded bed.
Then the Wanderer went into the shining baths, and dark-eyed girlsbathed him and anointed him with fragrant oil, and crowned him withlotus flowers. When they had bathed him they bade him lay aside hisgolden armour and his bow and the quiver full of arrows, but this theWanderer would not do, for as he laid the black bow down it thrilledwith a thin sound of war. So Rei led him, armed as he was, to a certainantechamber, and there he left him, saying that he would return againwhen the feast was done. Trumpets blared as the Wanderer waited, drumsrolled, and through the wide thrown curtains swept the lovely Meriamunand the divine Pharaoh Meneptah, with many lords and ladies of theCourt, all crowned with roses and with lotus blooms.
The Queen was decked in Royal attire, her shining limbs were veiled inbroidered silk; about her shoulders was a purple robe, and round herneck and arms were rings of well-wrought gold. She was stately andsplendid to see, with pale brows and beautiful disdainful eyes wheredreams seemed to sleep beneath the shadow of her eyelashes. On she sweptin all her state and pride of beauty, and behind her came the Pharaoh.He was a tall man, but ill-made and heavy-browed, and to the Wanderer itseemed that he was heavy-hearted too, and that care and terror of evilto come were always in his mind.
Meriamun looked up swiftly.
"Greeting, Stranger," she said. "Thou comest in warlike guise to graceour feast."
"Methought, Royal Lady," he made answer, "that anon when I would havelaid it by, this bow of mine sang to me of present war. Therefore I amcome armed--even to thy feast."
"Has thy bow such foresight, Eperitus?" said the Queen. "I have heardbut once of such a weapon, and that in a minstrel's tale. He came toour Court with his lyre from the Northern Sea, and he sang of the Bow ofOdysseus."
"Minstrel or not, thou does well to come armed, Wanderer," said thePharaoh; "for if thy bow sings, my own heart mutters much to me of warto be."
"Follow me, Wanderer, however it fall out," said the Queen.
So he followed her and the Pharaoh till they came to a splendid hall,carven round with images of fighting and feasting. Here, on the paintedwalls, Rameses Miamun drove the thousands of the Khita before his singlevalour; here men hunted wild-fowl through the marshes with a great catfor their hound. Never had the Wanderer beheld such a hall since hesupped with the Sea King of the fairy isle. On the dais, raised abovethe rest, sat the Pharaoh, and by him sat Meriamun the Queen, and by theQueen sat the Wanderer in the golden armour of Paris, and he leaned theblack bow against his ivory chair.
Now the feast went on and men ate and drank. The Queen spoke little, butshe watched the Wanderer beneath the lids of her deep-fringed eyes.
Suddenly, as they feasted and grew merry, the doors at the end of thechamber were thrown wide, the Guards fell back in fear, and behold, atthe end of the hall, stood two men. Their faces were tawny, dry, wastedwith desert wandering; their noses were hooked like eagles' beaks, andtheir eyes were yellow as the eyes of lions. They were clad in roughskins of beasts, girdled about their waists with leathern thongs, andfiercely they lifted their naked arms, and waved their wands of cedar.Both men were old, one was white-bearded, the other was shaven smoothlike the priests of Egypt. As they lifted the rods on high the Guardsshrank like beaten hounds, and all the guests hid their faces, saveMeriamun and the Wanderer alone. Even Pharaoh dared not look on them,but he murmured angrily in his beard:
"By the name of Osiris," he said, "here be those Soothsayers of theApura once again. Now Death waits on those who let them pass the doors."
Then one of the two men, he who was shaven like a priest, cried with agreat voice:
"_Pharaoh! Pharaoh! Pharaoh!_ Hearken to the word of Jahveh. Wilt thoulet the people go?"
"I will not let them go," he answered.
"_Pharaoh! Pharaoh! Pharaoh!_ Hearken to the word of Jahveh. If thouwilt not let the people go, then shall all the firstborn of Khem, of thePrince and the slave, of the ox and the ass, be smitten of Jahveh. Wiltthou let the people go?"
Now Pharaoh hearkened, and those who were at the feast rose and criedwith a loud voice:
"O Pharaoh, let the people go! Great woes are fallen upon Khem becauseof the Apura. O Pharaoh, let the people go!"
Now Pharaoh's heart was softened and he was minded to let them go, butMeriamun turned to him and said:
"Thou shalt not let the people go. It is not these slaves, nor the Godof these slaves, who bring the plagues on Khem, but it is that strangeGoddess, the False Hathor, who dwells here in the city of Tanis. Benot so fearful--ever hadst thou a coward heart. Drive the False Hathorthence if thou wilt, but hold these slaves to their bondage. I stillhave cities that must be built, and yon slaves shall build them."
Then the Pharaoh cried: "Hence! I bid you. Hence, and to-morrow shallyour people be laden with a double burden and their backs shall be redwith stripes. I will not let the people go!"
Then the two men cried aloud, and po
inting upward with their staffs theyvanished from the hall, and none dared to lay hands on them, but thosewho sat at the feast murmured much.
Now the Wanderer marvelled why Pharaoh did not command the Guards to cutdown these unbidden guests, who spoiled his festival. The Queen Meriamunsaw the wonder in his eyes and turned to him.
"Know thou, Eperitus," she said, "that great plagues have come of lateon this land of ours--plagues of lice and frogs and flies and darkness,and the changing of pure waters to blood. And these things our Lordthe Pharaoh deems have been brought upon us by the curse of yondermagicians, conjurers and priests among certain slaves who work in theland at the building of our cities. But I know well that the curses comeon us from Hathor, the Lady of Love, because of that woman who hath setherself up here in Tanis, and is worshipped as the Hathor."
"Why then, O Queen," said the Wanderer, "is this false Goddess sufferedto abide in your fair city? for, as I know well, the immortal Godsare ever angered with those who turn from their worship to bow beforestrange altars."
"Why is she suffered? Nay, ask of Pharaoh my Lord. Methinks it isbecause her beauty is more than the beauty of women, so the men say whohave looked on it, but I have not seen it, for only those men see it whogo to worship at her shrine, and then from afar. It is not meet that theQueen of all the Lands should worship at the shrine of a strange woman,come--like thyself, Eperitus--from none knows where: if indeed she be awoman and not a fiend from the Under World. But if thou wouldest learnmore, ask my Lord the Pharaoh, for he knows the Shrine of the FalseHathor, and he knows who guard it, and what is it that bars the way."
Now the Wanderer turned to Pharaoh saying: "O Pharaoh, may I know thetruth of this mystery?"
Then Meneptah looked up, and there was doubt and trouble on his heavyface.
"I will tell thee readily, thou Wanderer, for perchance such a man asthou, who hast travelled in many lands and seen the faces of many Gods,may understand the tale, and may help me. In the days of my father,the holy Rameses Miamun, the keepers of the Temple of the Divine Hathorawoke, and lo! in the Sanctuary of the temple was a woman in the garbof the Aquaiusha, who was Beauty's self. But when they looked upon her,none could tell the semblance of her beauty, for to one she seemed darkand to the other fair, and to each man of them she showed a diverseloveliness. She smiled upon them, and sang most sweetly, and loveentered their hearts, so that it seemed to each man that she only washis Heart's Desire. But when any man would have come nearer and embracedher, there was that about her which drove him back, and if he stroveagain, behold, he fell down dead. So at last they subdued their hearts,and desired her no more, but worshipped her as the Hathor come to earth,and made offerings of food and drink to her, and prayers. So threeyears passed, and at the end of the third year the keepers of the templelooked and the Hathor was gone. Nothing remained of her but a memory.Yet there were some who said that this memory was dearer than all elsethat the world has to give.
"Twenty more seasons went by, and I sat upon the throne of my father,and was Lord of the Double Crown. And, on a day, a messenger camerunning and cried:
"'Now is Hathor come back to Khem, now is Hathor come back to Khem, and,as of old, none may draw near her beauty!' Then I went to see, and lo!before the Temple of Hathor a great multitude was gathered, and thereon the pylon brow stood the Hathor's self shining with changeful beautylike the Dawn. And as of old she sang sweet songs, and, to each man whoheard, her voice was the voice of his own beloved, living and lost tohim, or dead and lost. Now every man has such a grave in his heart asthat whence Hathor seems to rise in changeful beauty. Month by month shesings thus, one day in every month, and many a man has sought to win herand her favour, but in the doorways are they who meet him and press himback; and if he still struggles on, there comes a clang of swords and hefalls dead, but no wound is found on him. And, Wanderer, this is truth,for I myself have striven and have been pressed back by that whichguards her. But I alone of men who have looked on her and heard her,strove not a second time, and so saved myself alive."
"Thou alone of men lovest life more than the World's Desire!" said theQueen. "Thou hast ever sickened for the love of this strange Witch, butthy life thou lovest even better than her beauty, and thou dost not dareattempt again the adventure of her embrace. Know, Eperitus, that thissorrow is come upon the land, that all men love yonder witch and rave ofher, and to each she wears a different face and sings in another voice.When she stands upon the pylon tower, then thou wilt see the madnesswith which she has smitten them. For they will weep and pray and teartheir hair. Then they will rush through the temple courts and up to thetemple doors, and be thrust back again by that which guards her. Butsome will yet strive madly on, and thou wilt hear the clash of armsand they will fall dead before thee. Accursed is the land, I tell thee,Wanderer; because of that Phantom it is accursed. For it is she whobrings these woes on Khem; from her, not from our slaves and their madconjurers, come plagues, I say, and all evil things. And till a man befound who may pass her guard, and come face to face with the witch andslay her, plagues and woes and evil things shall be the daily bread ofKhem. Perchance, Wanderer, thou art such a man," and she looked on himstrangely. "Yet if so, this is my counsel, that thou go not up againsther, lest thou also be bewitched, and a great man be lost to us."
Now the Wanderer turned the matter over in his heart and made answer:
"Perchance, Lady, my strength and the favour of the Gods might serveme in such a quest. But methinks that this woman is meeter for words oflove and the kisses of men than to be slain with the sharp sword, if,indeed, she be not of the number of the immortals."
Now Meriamun flushed and frowned.
"It is not fitting so to talk before me," she said. "Of this be sure,that if the Witch may be come at, she shall be slain and given to Osirisfor a bride."
Now the Wanderer saw that the Lady Meriamun was jealous of the beautyand renown and love of her who dwelt in the temple, and was called theStrange Hathor, and he held his peace, for he knew when to be silent.