VII
THE QUEEN'S VISION
There was silence without at last; the clamour and the tread of theApura were hushed in the distance, dying far away, and Rei grew calm,when he heard no longer the wild song, and the clashing of the timbrels.
"I must tell thee, Eperitus," he said, "how the matter ended between thedivine Prince and Meriamun. She bowed her pride before her father andher brother: her father's will was hers; she seemed to let her secretsleep, and she set her own price on her hand. In everything she must bethe equal of Pharaoh--that was her price; and in all the temples and allthe cities she was to be solemnly proclaimed joint heir with him of theUpper and Lower Land. The bargain was struck and the price waspaid. After that night over the game of pieces Meriamun was changed.Thenceforth she did not mock at the Prince, she made herself gentle andsubmissive to his will.
"So the time drew on till at length in the beginning of the rising ofthe waters came the day of her bridal. With a mighty pomp was Pharaoh'sdaughter wedded to Pharaoh's son. But her hand was cold as she stoodat the altar, cold as the hand of one who sleeps in Osiris. Proudly andcoldly she sat in the golden chariot passing in and out the great gatesof Tanis. Only when she listened and heard the acclaiming thousands cry_Meriamun_ so loudly that the cry of _Meneptah_ was lost in the echoesof her name--then only did she smile.
"Cold, too, she sat in her white robes at the feast that Pharaoh made,and she never looked at the husband by her side, though he looked kindlyon her.
"The feast was long, but it ended at last, and then came the music andthe singers, but Meriamun, making excuse, rose and went out, attended byher ladies. And I also, weary and sad at heart, passed thence to my ownchamber and busied myself with the instruments of my art, for, stranger,I build the houses of gods and kings.
"Presently, as I sat, there came a knocking at the door, and a womanentered wrapped in a heavy cloak. She put aside the cloak, and before mewas Meriamun in all her bridal robes.
"'Heed me not, Rei,' she said, 'I am yet free for an hour; and I wouldwatch thee at thy labour. Nay, it is my humour; gainsay me not, for Ilove well to look on that wrinkled face of thine, scored by the cunningchisel of thy knowledge and thy years. So from a child have I watchedthee tracing the shapes of mighty temples that shall endure whenourselves, and perchance the very Gods we worship, have long sinceceased to be. Ah, Rei, thou wise man, thine is the better part, for thoubuildest in cold enduring stone and attirest thy walls as thy fancy bidsthee. But I--I build in the dust of human hearts, and my will is writtenin their dust. When I am dead, raise me a tomb more beautiful than everhas been known, and write upon the portal, _Here, in the last temple ofher pride, dwells that tired builder, Meriamun, the Queen_.'
"Thus she talked wildly in words with little reason.
"'Nay, speak not so,' I said, 'for is it not thy bridal night? What dostthou here at such a time?'
"'What do I here? Surely I come to be a child again! See, Rei, in allwide Khem there is no woman so shamed, so lost, so utterly undone as isto-night the Royal Meriamun, whom thou lovest. I am lower than she whoplies the street for bread, for the loftier the spirit the greater isthe fall. I am sold into shame, and power is my price. Oh, cursed be thefate of woman who only by her beauty can be great. Oh, cursed be thatancient Counsellor thou wottest of, and cursed be I who wakened Thatwhich slept, and warmed That which was a-cold in my breath and in mybreast! And cursed be this sin to which he led me! Spurn me, Rei; strikeme on the cheek, spit upon me, on Meriamun, the Royal harlot who sellsherself to win a crown. Oh, I hate him, hate him, and I will pay him inshame for shame--him, the clown in king's attire. See here,'--and fromher robe she drew a white flower that was known to her and me--'twiceto-day have I been minded with this deadly blossom to make an end of me,and of all my shame, and all my empty greed of glory. But this thoughthas held my hand: I, Meriamun, will live to look across his grave andbreak his images, and beat out the writings of his name from everytemple wall in Khem, as they beat out the hated name of Hatshepu. I----'and suddenly she burst into a rain of tears; she who was not wont toweep.
"'Nay, touch me not,' she said. 'They were but tears of anger. Meriamunis mistress of her Fate, not Fate of Meriamun. And now, my lord awaitsme, and I must be gone. Kiss me on the brow, old friend, whilst yet Iam the Meriamun thou knewest, and then kiss me no more for ever. At theleast this is well for thee, for when Meriamun is Queen of Khem thoushalt be first in all the land, and stand on the footsteps of my throne.Farewell.' And she gathered up her raiment and cast her white flower ofdeath in the flame of the brazier, and was gone, leaving me yet sadderat heart. For now I knew that she was not as other women are, butgreater for good or evil.
"On the morrow night I sat again at my task, and again there came aknocking at the door, and again a woman entered and threw aside herwrappings. It was Meriamun. She was pale and stern, and as I rose shewaved me back.
"'Has, then, the Prince--thy husband----' I stammered.
"'Speak not to me of the Prince, Rei, my servant,' she made answer.'Yesterday I spoke to thee wildly, my mind was overwrought; let it beforgotten--a wife am I, a happy wife'; and she smiled so strangely thatI shrunk back from her.
"'Now to my errand. I have dreamed a dream, a troublous dream, and thouart wise and instructed, therefore I pray thee interpret my vision. Islept and dreamed of a man, and in my dream I loved him more than I cantell. For my heart beat to his heart, and in the light of him I lived,and all my soul was his, and I knew that I loved him for ever. AndPharaoh was my husband; but, in my dream, I loved him not. Now therecame a woman rising out of the sea, more beautiful than I, with a beautyfairer and more changeful than the dawn upon the mountains; and she,too, loved this godlike man, and he loved her. Then we strove togetherfor his love, matching beauty against beauty, and wit against wit, andmagic against magic. Now one conquered, and now the other; but in theend the victory was mine, and I went arrayed as for a marriage-bed--andI clasped a corpse.
"'I woke, and again I slept, and saw myself wearing another garb, andspeaking another tongue. Before me was the man I loved, and there, too,was the woman, wrapped about with beauty, and I was changed, and yetI was the very Meriamun thou seest. And once more we struggled for themastery and for this man's love, and in that day she conquered me.
"'I slept, and again I woke, and in another land than Khem--a strangeland, and yet methought I knew it from long ago. There I dwelt among thegraves, and dark faces were about me, and I wore That thou knowest for agirdle. And the tombs of the rock wherein we dwelt were scored with thewritings of a dead tongue--the tongue of that land whence our fatherscame. We were all changed, yet the same, and once more the woman and Istruggled for the mastery, and though I seemed to conquer, yet a sea offire came over me, and I woke and I slept again.
"'Then confusion was piled upon confusion, nor can my memory hold allthat came to pass. For this game played itself afresh in lands, andlives, and tongues without number. Only the last bout and the winnerwere not revealed to me.
"'And in my dream I cried aloud to the protecting Gods to escape out ofthe dream, and I sought for light that I might see whence these thingswere. Then, as in a vision, the Past opened up its gates. It seemed thatupon a time, thousand, thousand ages agone, I and this man of my dreamhad arisen from nothingness and looked in each other's eyes, and lovedwith a love unspeakable, and vowed a vow that shall endure from time totime and world to world. For we were not mortal then, but partook of thenature of the Gods, being more fair and great than any of human kind,and our happiness was the happiness of Heaven. But in our great joy wehearkened to the Voice of the That thou knowest, of that Thing, Rei,with which, against thy counsel, I have but lately dealt. The kiss ofour love awakened That which slept, the fire of our love warmed Thatwhich was a-cold! We defied the holy Gods, worshipping them not, butrather each the other, for we knew that as the Gods we were eternal. Andthe Gods were angered against us and drew us up into their presence. Andwhile we trembled they spake as with a voice:
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"'"Ye twain who are one life, each completing each, because with yourkisses ye have wakened That which slept, and with the fire of your lovehave warmed That which was a-cold: because ye have forgotten them thatgave you life and love and joy: hearken to your Doom!
"'"From Two be ye made _Three_, and through all Time strive ye to beTwain again. Pass from this Holy Place down to the Hell of Earth, andthough ye be immortal put on the garments of mortality. Pass on fromLife to Life, live and love and hate and seem to die: have acquaintancewith every lot, and in your blind forgetfulness, being one and beingequal, work each other's woe according to the law of Earth, and for yourlove's sake sin and be shamed, perish and re-arise, appear to conquerand be conquered, pursuing your threefold destiny, and, at the word ofFate, the unaltering circle meets, and the veil of blindness falls fromyour eyes, and, as a scroll, your folly is unrolled, and the hid purposeof your sorrow is accomplished and once more ye are Twain and One."
"'Then, as we trembled, clinging each to each, again the great Voicespoke:
"'"Ye twain who are One--let That to which ye have hearkened divide youand enfold you! Be ye Three!"
"'And as the Voice spoke I was torn with agony, and strength went out ofme, and there, by him I loved, stood the woman of my dream crowned withevery glory and adorned with the Star. And we were three. And betweenhim and me, yet enfolding him and me, writhed that Thing thou wottestof. And he whom I loved turned to look upon the fair woman, wondering,and she smiled and stretched out her arm towards him as one who wouldtake that which is her own, and Rei, in that hour, though it was but ina dream, I knew the mortal pain of jealousy, and awoke trembling.And now read thou this vision, Rei, thou who art learned in theinterpretation of dreams and in the ways of sleep.'
"'Oh, Lady,' I made answer, 'this thing is too high for me, I cannotinterpret it; but where thou art, there may I be to help thee.'
"'I know thy love,' she said, 'but in thy words is little light.So--so--let it pass! It was but a dream, and if indeed it came from theUnder World, why, it was from no helpful God, but rather from Set, theTormentor; or from Pasht, the Terrible, who throws the creeping shadowof her doom upon the mirror of my sleep. For that which is decreed willsurely come to pass! I am blown like the dust by the breath of Fate; nowto rest upon the Temple's loftiest tops, now to be trodden underfoot ofslaves, and now to be swallowed by the bitter deep, and in season thencerolled forth again. I love not this lord of mine, who shall be Pharaoh,and never may _he_ come whom I shall love. 'Tis well that I love himnot, for to love is to be a slave. When the heart is cold then the handis strong, and I am fain to be the Queen leading Pharaoh by the beard,the first of all the ancient land of Khem; for I was not born to serve.Nay, while I may, I rule, awaiting the end of rule. Look forth, Rei, andsee how the rays from Mother Isis' throne flood all the courts and allthe city's streets and break in light upon the water's breast. So shallthe Moon-child's flame flood all this land of Khem. What matters it, ifere the morn Isis must pass to her dominion of the Dead, and the voiceof Meriamun be hushed within a sepulchre?'
"So she spoke and went thence, and on her face was no bride's smile, butrather such a gaze as that with which the great sphinx, Horemku, looksout across the desert sands."
"A strange Queen, Rei," said the Wanderer, as he paused, "but what haveI to make in this tale of a bride and her mad dreams?"
"More than thou shalt desire," said Rei; "but let us come to the end,and thou shalt hear thy part in the Fate."