‘fat att retest , i i Miata tenth srsphoeter f 4 : ' . Hitt at e petatea ‘ : : : ; set hitae us sf + yerregahienes sree pstitgst Hi reeal ; I Fath) i vite : : : ar Siti : : 1 sieht : tears i ih i ; . iH rere ak ete ie _ ut ft nor re) ie ep tit. ea Brerer sf eter a sce a we ties Pr itieray Noltarrtet a Q 2 LL oO — B&W nn vt SG Os = UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN OAK STREET |_-BOYD | ao” RENEE KENNEDY mai | mM wm HUA * RTE IDG , : Ae : a ea re eae A » eS a hk e i * tN | | 7 ‘ ad | iar Moke Oe ae GILBo x a. r The EAP N),, Romance of a Mummy gY N ee 7 Portraits of the Day By THEOPHILE GAUTIER Translated and Edited by PROFESSOR F, C. DESUMICHRAST DEPARTMENT OF FRENCH, HARVARD UNIVERSITY Vouvume III, The €C. T. Brainard Publishing Co. Boston Rew Pork EDITION DE LOXE THIS EDITION OF THE WORKS OF ‘THEOPHILE GAUTIER, PRINTED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY, IS LIMITED TO ONE THOUSAND NUMBERED SETS, OF WHICH THIS IS 20. Copyright, Igor By Gerorcre D. Sprout: THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY DRA UMOTION eh ta 25. ees de) LPG 6) age 8 eos We NR a NOME Nel te lg Signy a LSE PPeErONOMANCE OF A MUMMY (os) ere oe 8 68 EAgs Val THe Unwraprinc or A Mummy ... . . £€ 299 PReUALEXANDRIA TO. CAIRG, 4 06 ek E308 ees eC CUARE My i ee le EBT RIEMIB CVT) Rue Runiw nts, sis sie) ee €*'-9 98 ive Jy a r i nM L ‘ howe coe , hen iL Waa , A Vey ss ee Bryan, ae By at i ny i) aban i ae ‘ +} ty i 4 Ag on cy De as fi a d { “a ha i aot ae 4 - ie. Ale vale Aru uh 4 1 AE lise au aaa Aialeh at ll 5 te Ame Ue j eh Ye \ s res j { aN: jt ee ‘ ; . he ‘ ‘ } wt / , | ek F ' \ * be Y ? ; ; x ” 4 « ‘ Be een. balan oh dma tainlten aks = leet sop ren dendesyh4y facta 5 i eC - fa ir, ee) va ihe { o E ¥ tes de bel beled thd ss me ie * site re Saag member hay ; fa ‘ fh ¥y Awl Ah een 4 ao iw Me ae ? “ 4 jew ae ot oo a Bae vs th Ve a A i ' oA { ; a | ty hie my) a i lame aa * : ® ‘ 1 \ i ¢ a y ‘ hy » ’ ’ ice Ay ay . ; i Ay Ie a, ‘ i, ' . MO ei ‘a J ; 1oGu er aA 4S { "i, + dite P : ? 3 Ria ar) ; + \ ; , F ‘ : 3 A , f iatah” — ) lay a ‘ a Me / bhat Wi i { uy ‘ ' : 4 5 4 ! 5 ’ \ F / ; ‘ y vf PY ie, : , ee , a if Aue vu hi vs ; ‘ ii a a List of Illustrations <<'Tahoser listened with inattention more apparent than real to the song of the musician’’ . . Frontispiece ‘ . ’ x ¥ eran eee The Romance of a Mummy ' ‘ = ir fe rest ice , o Dye ey t Main a? ee es ‘ Spread . ¥ fF aides ty Satie Heb bys Ai aR ering b= Bapatnens 6 eet or “4 wef Aye nde Sm aie the : ane ay he \ { ty \i ie ae . - ALEEAAAP ELL SALES LALA ALLS THE ROMANCE HE subject of “ The Romance of a Mummy” was possibly suggested to Théophile Gautier by Ernest Feydeau, the author of “ Fanny” and other works of purely light literature, who published in 1858 a ““General History of Funeral Customs and Burials among the Ancients.” . This book was reviewed by Gautier when it appeared, and it is most likely that he had been previously made acquainted with its contents and had discussed Egyptian funeral rites and modes of sepulture with the author, for it was to Feydeau that he dedicated his novel when it was published in book form by Hachette in 1858. An omnivorous reader, Gautier had no doubt also perused the far more important works of Champollion, the decipherer of the inscriptions on the Rosetta stone, who first gave the learned world the key to the mysterious Egyptian hieroglyphic alphabet. 3 dete cbe eos os ech chee tactcdecte ch obec cbecbe cd oe doo ve ate THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY Champollion’s “ Monuments of Egypt and Nubia” had appeared in four volumes from 1835 to 1845, and a continuation by himself and the Vicomte Emmanuel de Rougé was completed in 1872. Champollion- Figeac’s ‘Ancient Egypt” had been published in 1840, having been preceded by Lenormant’s ‘The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities in the Louvre,” in 1830, and followed by Prisse d’Avennes’ “ Monuments of Egypt”? in 1847. ‘The explorations and discoveries of Mariette, summed up in that writer’s ‘ Selected Monuments and Drawings,’ issued in 1856, and the steady growth of the Egyptian Museum in the Louvre, to which was added in 1852 the magnificent Clot-Bev collection, must have attracted the attention of Gautier, always keenly interested in art, literature, and erudition. The account he gives, in his novel, of the ancient city of Thebes, of the great necropolis in the valley of Biban el Molfik, of the subterranean tombs, of the pre- cautions taken by the designers to bafHle curiosity, of the form and ornamentation of the sarcophagi, of the mummy-cases, of the mummy itself, of the manners, customs, dress, and beliefs of the ancient Egyptians, are marvellously accurate. Nothing is easier than to 4 ch he oh obs he he che he che abe eect cba cba cle hed hecho ce he abet INTRODUCTION verify his descriptions by reference to the works of Champollion, Mariette, Wilkinson, Rawlinson, Er- man, Edwards, and Maspero. Scarcely here and there will the reader find a possible error in his statements. It is evident that he has not trusted alone to what Feydeau told him, or to what he read in his book or in the works of Egyptologists; he examined the antiqui- ties in the Louvre for himself; he noted carefully the scenes depicted on monuments and sarcophagi; he traced the ornamentation in all its details; he studied the poses, the attitudes, the expressions; he marked the costumes, the accessories; in a word, he mastered his subject, and then only did he, with that facility and certainty that amazed Balzac, write in swift succession the chapters of the novel which appeared in the num- bers of the “ Moniteur Universel”’ from March 11 to May 6, 1857. His remark on Feydeau’s book, ‘ Picturesqueness in no wise detracts from accuracy,” might well be applied to his own “ Romance,” which fascinates the reader with its evocation of a long vanished past and its representation of a civilisation buried for centuries in mystery. The weaving in of the wonders wrought by Moses and Aaron, of the overwhelming of the Pharaoh, 5 bbbbk bk ttbbbbbbbbh bbb THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY whether Thotmes or Rameses, is skilfully managed, and imparts to the portions of the Biblical narrative used by him a verisimilitude and a sensation of actuality highly artistic. “The purely erudite part of the work would probably not have interested the general public, indifferent to the discoveries of archeology, but the introduction of the human element of love at once cap- tivated it; the erudite appreciated the accuracy of the restoration of ancient times and manners; the merely curious were pleased with a well told story, cleverly set in a framework whose strangeness appealed to their love of exoticism and novelty. There have been added by the editor, as bearing upon the subject of the “Romance of a Mummy,” two or three chapters from the volume entitled ‘“ The Orient,” which is made up of a collection of sketches and letters of travel written at different times, and of reviews of books upon Eastern subjects, whether modern or ancient. The chapter describing a trip to Egypt was the result of a flying visit paid to that coun- try on the occasion of the official opening of the Suez Canal in November, 1869. Gautier embarked on board the steamship “ Moeris,” of the Messageries Impériales, at Marseilles. The very first night out he 6 deech skh hbk bh baba ecech cheb cb check ob deck INTRODUCTION slipped and fell down the companion steps, and broke his left arm above the elbow. This painful accident did not prevent his fulfilling his promise to keep the “¢ Journal Officiel,” with which he was then connected, fully supplied with accounts of the land and the inau- guration ceremonies. j 4 Hin ‘' ioe vi “qs eta ted onn ery | wnag Ah te iree op y ae I Si aie ae La ce do wre leat FR). Os Vi i Ae ee ley +'% " eu SF A 4 re | ¥ tN a ay ey aK Gu ra at on bled sey orl stohgcaros toeeere aed seas hee oeest ss cpm nA sai pula a Rea? Se 7. , ‘ ; r , Hue ' . Rete 2d Sete pet meaner ether Bh Aah ai rete Sr mpminntin tn nis i tres WA Ae hele ARE c pa ally se vee A Age ee HAVE a presentiment that we shall find in the valley of Biban el Molik a tomb intact,” said to a high-bred-looking young Englishman a much more humble personage who was wip- ing, with a big, blue-checked handkerchief, his bald head, on which stood drops of perspiration, just as if it had been made of porous clay and filled with water like a Theban water-yjar. “© May Osiris hear you!” replied the English noble- man to the German scholar. ‘One may be allowed such an invocation in the presence of the ancient Diospolis Magna. But we have been so often deceived hitherto; treasure-seekers have always forestalled us.” “©A tomb which neither the Shepherd Kings nor the Medes of Cambyses nor the Greeks nor the Romans nor the Arabs have explored, and which will give up to us its riches intact,” continued the perspiring scholar, with an enthusiasm which made his eyes gleam behind the lenses of his blue glasses. BLELAKALLALAELLEALALAL EAL ELL THE ROMANCE OF A MU Niki “And on which you will print a most learned dissertation which will give you a place by the side of Champollion, Rosellini, Wilkinson, Lepsius, and > Belzoni,” said the young nobleman. “¢T shall dedicate it to you, my lord, for had you not treated me with regal munificence, I could not have backed up my system by an examination of the monuments, and I should have died in my little town in Germany without having beheld the marvels of this ancient land,’ replied the scholar, with emotion. This conversation took place not far from the Nile, at the entrance to the valley of Biban el Molik, between Lord Evandale, who rode an Arab _ horse, and Dr. Rumphius, more modestly perched upon an ass, the lean hind-quarters of which a fellah was bela- bouring. The boat which had brought the two travel- lers, and which was to be their dwelling during their stay, was moored on the other side of the Nile in front of the village of Luxor. Its sweeps were shipped, its great lateen sails furled on the yards. After having devoted a few days to visiting and studying the amaz- ing ruins of Thebes, gigantic remains of a mighty world, they had crossed the river on a sandal, a light 10 $LECE¢ ee eee etettteseetes PROLOGUE native boat, and were proceeding towards the barren region which contains within its depths, far down mysterious hypogea, the former inhabitants of the palaces on the other bank. A few men of the crew accompanied Lord Evandale and Dr. Rumphius at a distance, while the others, stretched out on the deck in the shadow of the cabin, were peacefully smoking their pipes and watching the craft. Lord Evandale was one of those thoroughly irre- proachable young noblemen whom the upper classes of Britain give to civilisation. He bore everywhere with him the disdainful sense of security which comes from great hereditary wealth, a historic name _in- scribed in the ‘ Peerage and Baronetage’ — a book second only to the Bible in England —and a beauty against which nothing could be urged, save that it was too great for a man. His clear-cut and cold features seemed to be a wax copy of the head of Meleager or Antinous; his brilliant complexion seemed to be the result of rouge and powder, and his some- what reddish hair curled naturally as accurately as an expert hairdresser or clever valet could have made it curl. On the other hand, the firm glance of his steel-blue eyes and the slightly sneering expression Il dhe ob ol ob hh dee ch cb bh cbbch bb bob bobh THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY of his lower lip corrected whatever there might be of effeminate in his general appearance. As a member of the Royal Yacht Squadron, the young nobleman indulged occasionally in a cruise on his swift yacht Puck, built of teak, fitted like a boudoir, and manned by a small crew of picked sea- men. In the course of the preceding year he had visited Iceland; in the present year he was visiting Egypt, and his yacht awaited him in the roads of Alexandria. He had with him a scholar, a physician, a naturalist, an artist, and a photographer, in order that his trip might not be unfruitful. He was himself highly educated, and his society successes had not made him forget his triumphs at Cambridge Uni- versity. He was dressed with that accuracy and care- ful neatness characteristic of the English, who trav- erse the desert sands in the same costume which they would wear when walking on the pier at Rams- gate or on the pavements of the West End. A coat, vest, and trousers of white duck, intended to repel the sun’s rays, composed his costume, which was com- pleted by a narrow blue necktie with white spots, and an extremely fine Panama hat with a veil. Rumphius, the Egyptologist, preserved even in this 12 ebook cde che deh hb bebe ecb cb cb cbc bab PROLOGUE hot climate the traditional black coat of the scholar with its loose skirts, its curled up collar, its worn buttons, some of which had freed themselves of their silk covering. His black trousers shone in places and showed the warp. Near the right knee an attentive observer might have remarked upon the greyish ground of the stuff a systematic series of lines of richer tone which proved that he was in the habit of wiping his pen upon this portion of his clothes. His muslin cravat, rolled in the shape of a cord, hung loosely around his neck, on which stood out strongly the Adam’s apple. ‘Though he was dressed with scien- tific carelessness, Rumphius was not any the hand- somer on that account. A few reddish hairs, streaked with gray, were brushed back behind his protruding ears, and were puffed up by the high collar of his coat. His perfectly bald skull, shining like a bone, overhung a prodigiously long nose, spongy and _ bul- bous at the end, so that with the blue discs of his glasses he looked somewhat like an ibis, —a resem- blance increased by his head sunk between his shoul- ders. [his appearance was of course entirely suitable and most providential for one engaged in deciphering hieroglyphic inscriptions and scrolls. He looked like te ttteeetbttetetttettttttes Ay eo we Fes ee We VS THE ROMANCE OF (A MURERI a bird-headed god, such as are seen on funeral frescoes, who had transmigrated into the body of a scholar. The lord and the doctor were travelling towards the cliffs which encircle the sombre valley of Biban el Moltik, the royal necropolis of ancient Thebes, indulging in the conversation of which we have re- lated a part, when, rising like a Troglodyte from the black mouth of an empty sepulchre —the ordi- nary habitation of the fellahs — another person, dressed in somewhat theatrical fashion, abruptly entered on the scene, stood before the travellers, and saluted them with the graceful salute of the Orientals, which is at once humble, caressing, and noble. This man was a Greek who undertook to direct excavations, who manufactured and sold antiquities, selling new ones when the supply of the old happened to fail. Nothing about him, however, smacked of the vulgar exploiter of strangers. He wore a red felt fez from which hung a long blue silk tassel; under the narrow edge of an inner linen cap showed his temples, evidently recently shaved. His olive complexion, his black eyebrows, his hooked nose, his eyes like those of a bird of prey, his big moustaches, his chin almost divided into two parts by a mark which looked very 14 —— che che che oe abe abe he ake che che check bebe oh bach che abe be ob PROLOGUE iz much like a sabre-cut, would have made his face that of a brigand, had not the harshness of his features been tempered by the assumed amenity and the servile smile of a speculator who has many dealings with the public. He was dressed in very cleanly fashion in a cinnamon- coloured jacket embroidered with silk of the same colour, gaiters of the same stuff, a white vest adorned with buttons like chamomile flowers, a broad red belt, and vast bulging trousers with innumerable folds. He had long since noted.the boat at anchor before Luxor. Its size, the number of the oarsmen, the luxury of the fittings, and especially the English flag which floated from the stern, had led his mercantile instinct to expect a rich traveller whose scientific curiosity might be exploited, and who would not be satisfied with statuettes of blue or green enamelled ware, engraved scarabei, paper rubbings of hieroglyphic panels, and other such trifles of Egyptian art. He had followed the coming and going of the travel- lers among the ruins, and knowing that they would not fail, after having sated their curiosity, to cross the stream in order to visit the royal tombs, he awaited them on his own ground, certain of fleecing them to some extent. He looked upon the whole of this 15 bebbbhbbbeeteteebh dtd dee eds THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY funereal realm as his own property, and treated with “scant courtesy the little subaltern jackals who ventured to scratch in the tombs. With the swift perception characteristic of the Greeks, no sooner had he cast his eyes upon Lord Evandale than he quickly estimated the probable income of his lordship and resolved not to deceive him, reasoning that he would profit more by telling the truth than by lying. So he gave up his intention of leading the noble Englishman through hypogea traversed hundreds of times already, and disdained to allow him to begin excavations in places where he knew nothing would be found; for he himself had long since taken out and sold very dear the curiosities they had contained. Argyropoulos (such was the Greek’s name), while exploring the portion of the valley which had been less frequently sounded than others because hitherto the search had never been rewarded by any find, had come to the conclusion that in a certain spot, behind some rocks whose position seemed to be due to chance, there certainly existed the entrance to a passageway masked with peculiar care, which his great experience in this kind of search had enabled him to recognise by a thousand signs imperceptible to less clear-sighted 160 = = = = = ore PROLOGUE eyes than his own, which were as sharp and piercing as those of the vultures perched upon the entablature of the temples. Since he had made that discovery, two years before, he had bound himself never to walk or look in that direction lest he might give a hint to the violators of tombs. “Does your lordship intend to attempt excava- tions?’ said he in a sort of cosmopolitan dialect which those who have been in the ports of the Levant and have had recourse to the services of the polyglot drago- mans — who end by not knowing any language -— are well acquainted with. Fortunately, both Lord Evan- dale and his learned companion knew the various tongues from which Argyropoulos borrowed. ‘I can place at your disposal,” he went on, ‘some hundred energetic fellahs who, under the spur of whip and bakshish, would dig with their finger-nails to the very centre of the earth, We may try, if it pleases your lordship, to clear away a buried sphinx or a shrine, or to open up a hypogeum.” On seeing that his lordship remained unmoved by this tempting enumeration, and that a sceptical smile flitted across the doctor’s face, Argyropoulos understood that he had not to deal with easy dupes, and he was 2 17 eho hb ecb bee decheb ech bah boot dBW ia Wi oh ROMANCE OF A MUMMY confirmed in his intention to’sell to the Englishman the discovery on which he reckoned to complete his fortune and to give a dowry to his daughter. “TI can see that you are scholars, not ordinary tourists, and that vulgar curiosity does not bring you here,” he went on, speaking in English less mixed with Greek, Arabic, and Italian. ‘I will show you a tomb which has hitherto escaped all searchers, which no one knows of but myself. It is a treasure which I have carefully preserved for a person worthy of it.” “And for which you will have to be paid a high price,” said his lordship, smiling. ‘¢T am too honest to contradict your lordship; I do hope to get a good price for my discovery. Every one in this world lives by his trade. Mine is to exhume Pharaohs and sell them to strangers. Pharaohs are becoming scarce at the rate at which they are being dug up; there are not enough left for everybody. ‘They are very much in demand, and it is long since any have been manufactured.” ‘Quite right,” said the scholar; “it is some cen- turies since the undertakers, dissectors, and embalmers have shut up shop, and the Memnonia, peaceful dwell- ings of the dead, have been deserted by the living.” 18 ooh cbse che che chs ahs che hecho cbecbecdecbecbecbecdec eek eFe oo OF2 fe WO 1S VTE CIO Wie wie Vie PROLOGUE The Greek, as he heard these words, cast a side- long glance at the German, but fancying from his wretched dress that he had no voice in the matter, he continued to address himself exclusively to the young nobleman. “ Are a thousand guineas too much, my lord, for a tomb of the greatest antiquity, which no human hand has opened for more than three thousand years, since the priests rolled rocks before its mouth? Indeed, it is giving it away; for perhaps it contains quantities of gold, diamond, and pearl necklaces, carbuncle earrings, sapphire seals, ancient idols in precious metals, and coins which could be turned to account.” hey “You sly rascal!” said Rumphius, “ you are prais- ing up your wares, but you know better than any one that nothing of the sort is found in Egyptian tombs.” Argyropoulos, understanding that he had to do with clever men, ceased to boast, and turning to Lord Evan- dale, he said to him, ‘“‘ Well, my lord, does the price suit you?” 93 “ “¢Oh, he must be some great personage,” replied the doctor; “a king or a king’s son, at the very least. I g g ) y 39 ttpbbrbbttbbbthdtdbdttdd debt THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY shall tell you later when I have deciphered his car- touche. But first let us enter this hall, the finest, the most important, which the Egyptians called the Golden Hall.” Lord Evandale walked ahead, a few steps before the less agile scholar, though perhaps the latter deferen- tially wished to leave the pleasure of the discovery to the young nobleman. As he was about to step across the threshold, Lord Evandale bent forward as if something unexpected had struck him. ‘Though accustomed not to manifest his emotions, he was unable to repress a prolonged and thoroughly British “Oh!” On the fine gray powder which covered the ground showed very distinctly, with the imprint of the toes and the great bone of the heel, the shape of a human foot, —the foot of the last priest or the last friend who had withdrawn, fifteen hundred years before Christ, after having paid the last honours to the dead. The dust, which in Egypt is as eternal as granite, had moulded the print and preserved it for more than thirty centuries, just as the hardened diluvian mud has preserved the tracks of the animals which last traversed it. “‘See,” said Evandale to Rumphius, “that human 40 PROLOGUE footprint which is directed towards the exit from the hypogeum! In what narrow passage of the Libyan chain rests the mummified body that made it ?”’ “Who knows?” replied the scholar. “In any case, that light print, which a breath would have blown away, has lasted longer than empires, than religions and monuments believed eternal. The noble dust of Alexander was used perhaps to stop a bung-hole, as Hamlet says, but the footprint of this unknown Egyptian remains on the threshold of a tomb,” Urged bya curiosity which did not allow them much time for recollection, the nobleman and the doctor entered the hall, taking care, nevertheless, not to efface the wondrous footprint. On entering, the impassible Evandale felt a strange emotion; it seemed to him, as Shakespeare says, that the time was out of joint. The feeling of modern life vanished, he forgot Great Britain and his name inscribed on the rolls of the peerage, his seat in Lincolnshire, his mansion in the West End, Hyde Park, Piccadilly, the Queen’s Drawing-Room, the Yacht Squadron, and all that constituted his English existence. An invisible hand had turned upside down the sand-glass of eternity, and the centuries which had 41 ooh sabe ole oe bs che che abe cbc obec cb oe de coe oe doa COD VS OFS VES CHS OFS THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY fallen one by one, like the hours, in the solitude of the night, were falling once more. History was as if it were not: Moses was living, Pharaoh was reigning, and he, Lord Evandale, felt embarrassed because he did not wear his beard in ringlets, and had not an enam- elled neck-plate and a narrow vestment wrinkling in folds upon his hips, — the only suitable dress in which to be presented to a royal mummy. A sort of religious horror filled him, although there was nothing sinister about the place, as he violated this palace of death so carefully protected against profanation. His attempt seemed to him impious and sacrilegious, and he said to himself, ‘‘Suppose this Pharaoh were to rise on his couch and strike me with his sceptre.’’ For one mo- ment he thought of letting fall the shroud half lifted from the body of this antique, dead civilisation, but the doctor, carried away by scientific enthusiasm, and not a prey to such thoughts, shouted in a loud voice, “« My lord, my lord, the sarcophagus is intact ! ” These words recalled Lord Evandale to reality. By swift projection of his thought he traversed the thirty-five hundred years which he had gone back in his reverie, and he answered, “‘ Indeed, dear doctor, intact?” 42 check ache oe ce be che che abe de cleo obec abe cde oe eso PROLOGUE ‘¢ Oh, unexpected luck! oh, marvellous chance! oh, wondrous find!” continued the doctor, in the excite- ment of a scholarly joy. Argyropoulos, on beholding the doctor’s enthusiasm, felt a pang of remorse, —the only kind of remorse that he could feel, — at not having asked more than twenty- five thousand francs. ‘I wasa fool!” he said to him- self. “This shall not happen again. ‘That nobleman has robbed me.” In order to enable the strangers to enjoy the beauty of the spectacle, the fellahs had lighted all their torches. The sight was indeed strange and magnificent. ‘The galleries and halls which led to the sarcophagus hall were flat-ceiled and not more than eight or ten feet high; but the sanctuary, the one to which all these labyrinths led, was of much greater proportions. Lord Evandale and Dr. Rumphius remained dumb with ad- miration, although they were already familiar with the funereal splendours of Egyptian art. Thus lighted up, the Golden Hall flamed, and for the first time, perhaps, the colours of the paintings shone in all their brilliancy. Red and blue, green and white, of virginal purity, bril- liantly fresh and amazingly clear, stood out from the golden background of the figures and hieroglyphs, and 43 che cleo che oe oh a oe oe ob toad coc ch che ch cece ce oe cre we oe Ve ee THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY attracted the eye before the subjects which they formed could be discerned. At first glance it looked like a vast tapestry of the richest stuffs. The vault, some thirty feet high, formed a sort of azure velarium bor- dered with long yellow palm-leaves. On the walls the symbolical globe spread its mighty wings and the royal cartouches showed around. Farther on, Isis and Neph- thys waved their arms furnished with feathers like wings; the uraus swelled its blue throat, the scara- baus unfolded its wings, the animal-headed gods pricked up their jackal ears, sharpened their hawk’s- beaks, wrinkled their baboon faces, and drew into their shoulders their vulture or serpent necks as if they were endowed with life. Mystical consecrated boats (baris) passed by on their sledges drawn by figures in attitudes of sadness, with angular gestures, or propelled by half- naked oarsmen, they floated upon symbolical undulating waves. Mourners kneeling, their hand placed on their blue hair in token of grief, turned towards the cata- falques, while shaven priests, leopard-skin on shoulder, burned perfumes in a spatula terminating in a hand bearing a cup under the nose of the godlike dead. Other personages offered to the funeral genii lotus in bloom or in bud, bulbous plants, birds, pieces of ante- 44 tkbekkhebbedettttttbttdtdt db ttt PROLOGUE lope, and vases of liquors. Acephalous figures of Jus- tice brought souls before Osiris, whose arms were set in inflexible contour, and who was assisted by the forty- two judges of Amenti, seated in two rows and bearing an ostrich-plume on their heads, the forms of which were borrowed from every realm of zodlogy. All these figures, drawn in hollowed lines in the limestone and painted in the brightest colours, were endowed with that motionless life, that frozen motion, that mysterious intensity of Egyptian art, which was hemmed in by the priestly rule, and which resembles a gageed man trying to utter his secret. In the centre of the hall rose, massive and splendid, the sarcophagus, cut out of a solid block of black basalt and closed by a cover of the same material, carved in the shape of an arch. ‘The four sides of the funeral monolith were covered with figures and hiero- glyphs as carefully engraved as the intaglio of a gem, although the Egyptians did not know the use of iron, and the grain of basalt is hard enough to blunt the best- tempered steel. Imagination loses itself when it tries to discover the process by which that marvellous peo- ple wrought on porphyry and granite as with a style on wax tablets. 45 che sobs obs oy ce ote ce oho he decree look cb och ooo oe ho abe aie ate ote one ofe we vee ve THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY At the angles of the sarcophagus were set four vases of oriental alabaster, of most elegant and perfect out- line, the carved covers of which represented the man’s head of ’Amset, the monkey head of Hapi, the jackal head of —Tuamutef, and the hawk head of Kebhsnauf. The vases contained the viscere of the mummy enclosed in the sarcophagus. At the head of the tomb an effigy of Osiris with plaited beard seemed to watch over the dead. “Two coloured statues of women stood right and left of the tomb, supporting, with one hand a square box on their head, and holding in the other a vase for ablutions which they rested on their hip. The one was dressed in a simple white skirt clinging to the hips and held up by crossed braces; the other, more richly costumed, was wrapped in a sort of narrow shift, covered with scales alternately red and green. By the side of the first there were three water-jars, origi- nally filled with Nile water, which, as it evaporated, had left its mud, and a plate holding some alimentary paste, now dried up. By the side of the second, two small ships, like the model ships made in seaports, which reproduced accurately, the one the minutest details of the boats destined to bear the bodies from Diospolis to Memnonia, the other the symbolical boat in which the 46 decks tec ok ds ce ke obo betel cfecbe abe obec obec oh che hoch ed ere efe PROLOGUE soul is carried to the regions of the West. Nothing was forgotten,— neither the masts, nor the rudder formed of one long sweep, nor the pilot, nor the oarsmen, nor the mummy surrounded by mourners and lying under the shrine on a bed with feet formed of lion’s claws, nor the allegorical figures of the fune- ral divinities fulfilling their sacred functions, Both the boats and the figures were painted in brilliant colours, and on the two sides of the prow, beak-like as the poop, showed the great Osiris’ eye, made longer still by the use of antimony. The bones and skull of an ox scattered here and there showed that a victim had been offered up as a scapegoat to the Fate which might have disturbed the repose of the dead. Coffers painted and bedizened with hieroglyphs were placed on the tomb; reed tables yet bore the final offerings. Nothing had been touched in this palace of death since the day when the mummy in its cartonnage and its two coffins had been placed upon its basalt couch. The worm of the sepulchre, which can find a way through the closest biers, had itself retreated, driven back by the bitter scent of the bitumen and the aro- matic essences. “Shall I open the sarcophagus?” said Argyropou- 47 ah a ae baobab ee he do obec cece bea le chee ce ce eae eo we oFTe ere ere ows oe THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY los, after Lord Evandale and Doctor Rumphius had had time to admire the beauty of the Golden Hall. “¢ Unquestionably,” replied the nobleman; ‘‘ but take care not to chip the edges of the cover as you put in your crow-bars, for I propose to carry off the tomb and present it to the British Museum.” The whole company bent their efforts to displacing the monolith. Wooden wedges were carefully driven in, and presently the huge stone was moved and slid down the props prepared to receive it. [he sarcopha- gus having been opened, showed the first bier hermet- ically sealed. It was a coffer adorned with paintings and gilding, representing a sort of shrine with symmet- rical designs, lozenges, quadrilles, palm leaves, and lines of hieroglyphs. “Ihe cover was opened, and Rumphius, who was bending over the sarcophagus, uttered a cry of surprise when he discovered the contents of the coffin, having recognised the sex of the mummy by the absence of the Osiris beard and the shape of the car- tonnage. The Greek himself appeared amazed. His long experience in excavations enabled him to under- stand the strangeness of such a find. The valley of Biban el Moltik contains the tombs of kings only: the necropolis of the queens is situated farther away, in an- 48 pa sabe oe ce ects che ce oo ected acto afe oo ew oe wie 61O Wye vie whe Cie Vie Wie ate viv PROLOGUE other mountain gorge. [he tombs of the queens are very simple, and usually consist of two or three passage- ways and one or two rooms. Women in the East have always been considered as inferior to men, even in death. Most of these tombs, which were broken into at a very distant period, were used as receptacles for shapeless mummies carelessly embalmed, which still ex-~ hibit traces of leprosy and elephantiasis. How did this woman’s coffin come to occupy this royal sarcophagus, in the centre of this cryptic palace worthy of the most illustrious and most powerful of the Pharaohs? “ This,”’ said the doctor to Lord Evandale, “ upsets all my notions and all my theories. It overthrows the sys- tem most carefully built upon the Egyptian funeral rites, which nevertheless have been so carefully followed out during thousands of years. No doubt we have come upon some obscure point, some forgotten mystery of history. A woman did ascend the throne of the Pha- raohs and did govern Egypt. She was called Tahoser, as we learn from the cartouches engraved upon older inscriptions hammered away. She usurped the tomb as she usurped the throne. Or perhaps some other ambitious woman, of whom history has preserved no trace, renewed her attempt.” 4 ' 49 SELLE ASSESS etete tere THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY “No one is better able to solve this dificult problem than you,” said Lord Evandale. ‘ We will carry this box full of secrets to our boat, where you will, at your leisure, decipher this historic document and read the riddle set by these hawks, scarabzi, kneeling figures, serrated lines, winged urzeus, and spatula hands, which you read as readily as did the great Champollion.” The fellahs, under the orders of Argyropoulos, car- ried off the huge coffer on their shoulders, and the mummy, performing in an inverse direction the funeral travel it had accomplished in the days of Moses, in a painted and gilded bari preceded by a long procession, was embarked upon the sandal which had brought the travellers, soon reached the vessel moored on the Nile, and was placed in the cabin, which was not unlike, so little do forms change in Egypt, the shrine of the funeral boat. Argyropoulos, having arranged about the box all the objects which had been found near it, stood respect- fully at the cabin door and appeared to be waiting. Lord Evandale understood, and ordered his valet to pay him the twenty-five thousand francs. The open bier was placed upon rests in the centre of the cabin; it shone as brilliantly as if the colours 50 SLELEALAELAPAAEA ASE ALE ESS PROLOGUE had been put on the day before, and framed in the mummy, moulded within its cartonnage, the workman- ship of which was remarkably fine and rich. Never had ancient Egypt more carefully wrapped up one of her children for the eternal sleep. Although no shape was indicated by the funeral Hermes, ending in a sheath from which stood out alone the shoulders and the head, one could guess there was under that thick envelope a young and graceful form. The gilded mask, with its long eyes outlined with black and bright- ened with enamel, the nose with its delicate nostrils, the rounded cheek-bones, the half-open lips smiling with an indescribable, sphinx-like smile, the chin somewhat short in curve but of extreme beauty of contour, presented the purest type of the Egyptian ideal, and testified by a thousand small, characteristic details which art cannot invent, to the individual char- acter of the portrait. Numberless fine plaits of hair, tressed with cords and separated by bandeaux, fell in opulent masses on either side of the face. A lotus stem, springing from the back of the neck, bowed over the head and opened its azure calyx over the dead, cold brow, completing with a funeral cone this rich and elegant head-dress. 51 ae abe abs ole abe obs fe cls fe abe obs clo che cle ole ofr obs obs obo obs obs ofr ae obe THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY A broad necklace, composed of fine enamels cloi- sonnés with gold and formed of several rows, lay upon the lower portion of the neck, and allowed to be seen the clean, firm contour of two virgin breasts like two golden cups. The sacred ram-headed bird, bearing between its green horns the red disc of the setting sun and sup- ported by two serpents wearing the pschent and swell- ing out their hoods, showed on the bosom of the figure its monstrous form full of symbolic meaning. Lower down, in the spaces left free by the crossed zones, and rayed with brilliant colours representing bandages, the vulture of Phra, crowned with a globe, with out- spread wings, the body covered with symmetrically ar- ranged feathers, and the tail spread out fanwise, held in its talons the huge Tau, emblem of immortal- ity. The funeral gods, green-faced, with the mouths of monkeys or jackals, held out with a gesture hieratic in its stiffness the whip, the crook, and the sceptre. The eye of Osiris opened its red ball outlined with antimony. Celestial snakes swelled their hoods around the sacred discs; symbolical figures projected their feathered arms; and the two goddesses of the Begin- ning and the End, their hair powdered with blue dust, 52 LEELA AELELELELALLALALL LALLA PROLOGUE bare down to below the breasts and the rest of the body wrapped in a close-fitting skirt, knelt in Egyp- tian fashion on green and red cushions adorned with heavy tufts. A longitudinal band of hieroglyphs, springing from the belt and running down to the feet, contained no doubt some formal funeral ritual, or rather, the names and titles of the deceased, a problem which Dr. Rum~ phius promised himself to solve later. The character of the drawing, the boldness of the lines, the brilliancy of the colours in all these paintings denoted in the plainest manner to a practised eye that they belonged to the finest period of Egyptian art. When the English nobleman and his companion had sufficiently studied this outer case, they drew the cartonnage from the box and set it up against the side of the cabin, where the funeral form, with its gilded mask, presented a strange spectacle, standing upright like a materialised spectre and with a seeming attitude of life, after having preserved so long the horizontal attitude of death ona basalt bed in the heart of the mountain, opened up by impious curiosity. The soul of the deceased, which had reckoned on eternal rest and which had taken such care to preserve 53 ely obn obs ole by obs ob» obs olls ole obs bv che oly ofr ole abv obs oe oe be obo obs obs SOR CFS GS CHS CHS CFS CO UID WS WS GO CFO CTS WS THE ROMANCE OF A MUST he its remains from violation, must have been moved, beyond the worlds, in the circuit of its travels and transmigrations. Dr. Rumphius, armed with a chisel and a hammer, to separate the two parts of the cartonnage of the mummy, looked like one of those funeral genii which wear a bestial mask and which are seen in the paint- ings of the hypogea crowding around the dead in the performance of some frightful and mysterious rite ; the clean profile of Lord Evandale, calm and atten- tive, made him look like the divine Osiris awaiting the soul to be judged. The operation having been at length completed — for the doctor wished not to scale off the gilding, — the box, resting on the ground, was separated into two parts like the casing of a cast, and the mummy appeared in all the brilliancy of its death toilet, coquettishly adorned as if it had wished to charm the genii of the subterranean realms. On opening the case, a faint, delightful, aromatic odour of cedar liq- uor, of sandal powder, of myrrh and cinnamon spread through the cabin of the vessel; for the body had not been gummed up and hardened with the black bitumen used in embalming the bodies of ordinary persons, and a+ ——————$ ee dhecbe ecb ck ch hohe he che cc obecbe cde cde ede ob och PROLOGUE all the skill of the embalmers, the former inhabitants of Memnonia, seemed to have been directed to the preservation of these precious remains. The head was enveloped in a network of narrow bands of fine linen, through which the face showed faintly. “che essences in which they had been steeped had dyed the tissue a beautiful tawny tint. Over the breast a network of fine tubes of blue glass, very like the long jet beads which are used to embroider Spanish bodices, with little golden drops wherever the tubes crossed, fell down to. the feet and formed a pearly shroud worthy of a queen. ‘The statuettes of the four gods of Amenti in hammered gold shone bril- liantly, and were symmetrically arranged along the upper edge of the network, which ended below in a fringe of most tasteful ornaments. Between the statuettes of the funeral gods was a golden plate, above which a lapis-lazuli scarabzeus spread out its long golden wings. Under the mummy’s head was placed a rich mirror of polished metal, as if it had been desired to give the dead soul an opportunity of beholding the spectre of its beauty during the long night of the tomb. By the mirror lay a coffer of enamelled ware, of most precious workmanship, which 55 bebbtbb tet detttetdtttetetke THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY contained a necklace composed of ivory rings alter- nating with beads, gold, lapis-lazuli, and cornelian. By the side of the beauty had been placed also a narrow, square sandal-wood basin in which, during her lifetime, the dead woman had performed her perfumed ablutions. ‘Three vases of wavy alabaster fastened to the bier, as was also the mummy, by a layer of natron, contained, the first two, essences, the scent of which could still be noticed, and the third, antimony powder and a small spatula for the purpose of colouring the edge of the eyelids and extending the outer angle according to the antique Egyptian usage, still practised at the present time by Eastern women. “ What a touching custom!” said Dr. Rumphius, excited by the sight of these treasures; ‘what a touching custom it was to bury with a young woman all her pretty toilet articles! For it is a young woman unquestionably that’ these linen bands, yellow with time and with essences, envelop. Compared with the Egyptians, we are downright barbarians ; hurried on by our brutal way of living, we have lost the delicate sense of death. How much tenderness, how much regard, how much love do not these minute 56 LEAAA ALL ALLA AAAS ASAD LAA LSS PROLOGUE cares reveal, these infinite precautions, these useless caresses bestowed upon a senseless body, — that strug- gle to snatch from destruction an adored form and to restore it intact to the soul on the day of the supreme reunion ! ” “¢ Perhaps,” replied Lord Evandale, very thoughtful, “ our civilisation, which we think so highly developed, is, after all, but a great decadence which has lost even the historical remembrance of the gigantic societies which have disappeared. We are stupidly proud of a few ingenious pieces of mechanism which we have recently invented, and we forget the colossal splen- dours and the vast works impossible to any other nation, which are found in the ancient land of the Pharaohs. We have steam, but steam is less power- ful than the force which built the Pyramids, dug out hypogea, carved mountains into the shapes of sphinxes and obelisks, sealed halls with one great stone which all our engines could not move, cut out monolithic chapels, and saved frail human remains from anni- hilation, —so deep a sense of eternity did it already possess.” ‘Oh, the Egyptians,” said Dr. Rumphius, smiling, “©were wonderful architects, amazing artists, and great 57 LEALLALLAAPAA AAA SL etetets THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY scholars. A priest of Memphis and of Thebes could have taught even our German scholars; and as regards symbolism, they were greater than any sym- bolists of our day. But we shall succeed eventually in deciphering their hieroglyphs and penetrating their mysteries. “The great Champollion has made out their alphabet ; we shall easily read their granite books. Meanwhile, let us strip, as delicately as possible, this young beauty who is more than three thousand years of age.” ‘¢ Poor woman !”? murmured the young lord. Pro- fane eyes will now behold the mysterious charms which love itself perhaps never saw. ‘Truly, under the empty pretext of scientific pursuit, we are as barbarous as the Persians of Cambyses, and if I were not afraid of driving to despair this worthy scholar, I should enclose you again, without having stripped off your last veil, within the triple box of your bier.” Dr. Rumphius raised from the casing the mummy, which was no heavier than a child’s body, and began to unwrap it with motherly skill and lightness of touch. He first of all undid the outer envelope of linen, sewed together and impregnated with palm 58 che foots ale oe obs oboe abe abe abe choca ob a cba ol ab ba efe ae oft afr Ce Ate ale deo ee OP WIS Vie wie VIO Vie SHS GIS VTw WIV ca” PROLOGUE wine, and the broad bands which here and there girdled the body. ‘Then he took hold of the end of a thin, narrow band, the infinite windings of which enclosed the limbs of the young Egyptian. He rolled up the band on itself as cleverly as the most skilful embalmer of the City of the Dead, following it up in all its meanderings and circumvolutions. As he progressed in his work, the mummy, freed from its envelope, like a statue which a sculptor blocks out of the marble, appeared more slender and exquisite in form. ‘Ihe bandage having been unrolled, another Narrower one was seen, intended to bind the body more closely. It was of such fine linen, and so finely woven, that it was comparable to modern cambric and muslin. This bandage followed accurately every outline, imprisoning the fingers and the toes, mould- ing like a mask the features of the face, which was visible through the thin tissue. The aromatic balm in which it had been steeped had stiffened it, and as it came away under the fingers of the doctor, it gave out a little dry sound like that of paper that is being crushed or torn. There remained but one turn to be taken off, and familiar though he was with such work, Dr. Rumphius stopped for a moment, either 59 ded oboe ok ch deck ok ecbeche check oh ch ch check ok eho THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY through respect for the dead, or through that feeling which prevents a man from breaking open a letter, from opening a door, from raising a veil which hides a secret that he burns to learn. He ascribed his momentary pause to fatigue, and as a matter of fact, the perspiration was dripping from his forehead with- out his thinking of wiping it with his great blue- checked handkerchief; but fatigue had nothing to do with it Meanwhile the dead form showed through the fine, gauze-like stuff, and some gold work shone faintly through it as well. The last wrapping taken off, the young woman showed in the chaste nudity of her lovely form, pre- serving, in spite of so many centuries that had passed away, the fulness of her contours, and the easy grace of her pure lines. Her pose, an infrequent one in the case of mummies, was that of the Venus of Medici, as if the embalmers had wished to save this beautiful body from the set attitude of death and to soften the inflexible rigidity of the cadaver. | A cry of admiration was uttered at the same time by Rumphius and Evandale at the sight of the marvel. Never did a Greek or Roman statue present a more beautiful appearance. ‘The peculiar characteristics of 60 LEE ALEDLL SELL beh tbe PROLOGUE the Egyptian ideal gave indeed to this lovely body, so miraculously preserved, a slenderness and a grace lacking in antique marbles,—the long hands, the high-bred, narrow feet, the nails shining like agate, the slender waist, the shape of the breasts, small and turned up like a sandal beneath the veil which enveloped it, the slightly protruding contour of the hip, the roundness of the thigh, the somewhat long leg recalling the slender grace of the musicians and dancers represented on the frescoes of funeral repasts in the Thebes hypogea. It was a shape still childish in its gracefulness, yet possessing already all the per- fections of a woman which Egyptian art expresses with such tender suavity, whether it paints the walls of the passages with a brush, or whether it patiently carves the hard basalt. As a general rule mummies which have been filled with bitumen and natron resemble black simulacra carved in ebony; corruption cannot attack them, but the appearance of life is wholly lacking; the bodies have not returned to the dust whence they came, but they have been petrified in a hideous shape, which one cannot contemplate without disgust and terror. In this case, the body, carefully prepared by 61 HEELLEALLLLLALALALLA LAL LESS | THE ROMANCE?! OF FAY Vie surer, longer, and more costly processes, had pre- served the elasticity of the flesh, the grain of the skin, and almost its natural colour. ‘The skin, of a light brown, had the golden tint of a new Florentine bronze, and the amber, warm tone which is admired in the paintings of Giorgione and ‘Titian covered with a smoky varnish, was not very different from what must have been the complexion of the young Egyptian during her lifetime. She seemed to be asleep rather than dead. ‘The eyelids, still fringed with their long lashes, allowed eyes lustrous with the humid gleam of life to shine between their lines of antimony. One could have sworn they were about to shake off, as a light dream, their sleep of thirty centuries. The nose, delicate and fine, preserved its pure outline; no depression deformed the cheeks, which were as round as the side of a vase; the mouth, coloured with a faint blush, had preserved its imper- ceptible lines, and on the lips, voluptuously moulded, fluttered a melancholy and mysterious smile, full of gentleness, sadness, and charm,—that tender and resigned smile which pouts so prettily the lips of the adorable heads which surmount the Canopean vases in the Louvre. 62 decked eae oe ee oe be cdececbeclee bec ctele ch eet PROLOGUE Around the forehead, low and smooth in accordance with the laws of antique beauty, was massed jet-black hair divided and plaited into a multitude of fine tresses which fell on either shoulder. “Twenty golden pins stuck into the tresses, like flowers in a ball head-dress, studded with brilliant points the thick dark hair which might have been thought artificial, so abundant was it. “Iwo great earrings, round discs resembling small bucklers, shimmered with yellow light by the side of the brown cheeks. A magnificent necklace, composed of three rows of divinities and amulets in gold and precious stones, encircled the neck of thc coquettish mummy, and lower down upon her breast hung two other collars, the pearl, gold, lapis-lazuli, and cormelian rosettes of which alternated symmetrically with the most perfect taste. A girdle of nearly the same design enclosed her waist with a belt of gold and gems. A double bracelet of gold and cornelian beads adorned her left wrist, and on the index of the left hand shone a very small scarabzus of golden cloisonné enamel, which formed a seal ring and was held by a gold thread most marvellously plaited. Strange were the sensations of the two men as they found themselves face to face with a human being who 63 ch rosa obe ofa ho he oe abe abe cece obec ole abe eof ool ot toch ore ete THE ROMANCE (OF’ A) MURR had lived in the days when history was yet young and was collecting the stories told by tradition; face to face with a body contemporary with Moses, which yet pre- served the exquisite form of youth; as they touched the gentle little hand impregnated with perfumes, which a Pharaoh perhaps had kissed; as they fingered the hair, more durable than empire, more solid than granite monuments. At the sight of the lovely dead girl, the young nobleman felt the retrospective desire often in- spired by the sight of a statue or a painting represent- ing a woman of past days famous for her beauty. It seemed to him that he would have loved, had he lived three thousand years earlier, that beauty which nothingness had refused to destroy; and the sym- pathetic thought perhaps reached the restless soul that fluttered above its profaned frame. Far less poetic than the young nobleman, Dr. Rum- phius was making the inventory of the gems, without, however, taking them off; for Evandale had ordered that the mummy should not be deprived of this last frail consolation. ‘To take away gems from a woman, even dead, is to kill her a second time. Suddenly a papyrus roll concealed between the side and arm of the mummy caught the doctor’s eye. 64 deck cle ok oh decks ch oe decteche debra ded cb cheb oe deat “Oh!” said he, “this is no doubt a copy of the funeral ritual placed in the inner coffin and written with more or less care according to the wealth and rank of the person.” He unrolled the delicate band with infinite precau- tions. As soon as the first lines showed, he exhibited surprise, for he did not recognise the ordinary figures and signs of the ritual. In vain he sought in the usual places for the vignettes representing the funeral, which serve as a frontispiece to such papyri, nor did he find the Litany of the Hundred Names of Osiris, nor the soul’s passport, nor the petition to the gods of Amenti. Drawings of a peculiar kind illustrated entirely different scenes connected with human life, and not with the voyage of the shade to the world beyond. Chapters and paragraphs seemed to be indicated by characters written in red, evidently for the purpose of distinguish- ing them from the remainder of the text, which was in black, and of calling the attention of the reader to interesting points. An inscription placed at the head appeared to contain the title of the work, and the name of the grammat who had written or copied it, — so much, at least, did the sagacious intuition of the doctor make out at the first glance. 5 65 de che ae oe oe oe de he de ce eco ce oooh ooo oe be oho ere ee OS ate OTe ee ete oTe oe THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY “Undoubtedly, my lord, we have robbed Master b] Argyropoulos,” said he to Evandale, as he pointed out the differences between the papyrus and the usual rit- ual, ‘This is the first time that an Egyptian manu- script has been found to contain anything else than hieratic formule. I am bound to decipher it, even if it costs me my sight, even if my beard grows thrice around my desk. Yes, I shall ferret out your secret, mysterious Egypt! Yes, I shall learn your story, you lovely dead; for that papyrus pressed close to your heart by your lovely arm surely contains it. And I shall be covered with glory, become the equal of Champollion, and make Lepsius die of jealousy.” The nobleman and the doctor returned to Europe. The mummy, wrapped up again in all its bandages and replaced within its three cases, rests within Lord Evan- dale’s park in Lincolnshire, in the basalt sarcophagus which he brought at great expense from Biban el Molik and which he did not give to the British Museum. Sometimes Lord Evandale leans upon the sarcophagus, sinks into a deep reverie, and sighs. After three years of unflagging application, Dr. Rumphius succeeded in deciphering the mysterious 66 —— ee Se ane Gre WTO oFe on Nis papyrus, save in some damaged parts, and in others which contained unknown signs. And it is his trans~ lation into Latin — which we have turned into French — that you are about to read, under the name, “ ‘The Romance of a Mummy.” 67 PH (that is the name of the city which antiquity called Thebes of the Hundred Gates, or Diospolis Magna), seemed asleep under the burning beams of the blazing sun. It was noon. A white light fell from the pale sky upon the baked earth; the sand, shimmering and scintillat- ing, shone like burnished metal; shadows there were none, save a narrow, bluish line at the foot of build- ings, like the inky line with which an architect draws upon papyrus; the houses, whose walls sloped well inwards, glowed like bricks invan oven;. every door was closed, and no one showed at the windows, which were closed with blinds of reeds. At the end of the deserted streets and above the ter- races stood out in the hot, transparent air the tips of obelisks, the tops of pylons, the entablatures of palaces and temples, whose capitals, formed of human faces or lotus flowers, showed partially, breaking the horizontal lines of the roofs and rising like reefs amid the mass 68 of THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY sbedke oh che o ob of private buildings. Here and there above a garden wall shot up the scaly trunk of a palm tree ending in a plume of leaves, not one of which stirred, for never a breath blew. Acacias, mimosas, and Pharaoh fig-trees formed a cascade of foliage that cast a narrow blue shadow upon the dazzling brilliancy of the ground. These green spots refreshed and enlivened the solemn aridity of the picture, which but for them would have been that of a dead city, A few slaves of the Nahasi race, black complex. ioned, monkey-faced, with bestial gait, alone braving the heat of the day, were bearing to their masters’ homes the water drawn from the Nile in jars that were hung from a stick placed on their shoulder. Although they wore nothing but striped drawers wrinkling on their hips, their torsos, brilliant and polished like basalt, streamed with perspiration as they quickened their pace lest they should scorch the thick soles of their feet on the pavements, which were as hot as the floor of a vapour bath. The boatmen were asleep in the cabins of their boats moored to the brick wall of the river quay, sure that no one would waken them to cross to the other bank, where lay the Memnonia quarter. In the highest heaven wheeled vultures, whose shrill 69 LLAACAL ALL ALLEL ete tee THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY call, that at any other time would have been lost in the rumour of the city, could be plainly heard in the general silence. On the cornices of the monuments two or three ibises, one leg drawn up under their body, their long bill resting on their breast, seemed to be meditating deeply, and stood out against the calcined, whitish blue which formed the background. And yet all did not sleep. From the walls of a great palace whose entablature, adorned with palmet- toes, made a long, straight line against the flaming sky, there came a faint murmur of music. These bursts of harmony spread now and then through the diapha- nous shimmer of the atmosphere, and the eye might almost have followed their sonorous undulations. - Deadened by the thickness of the walls, the music was strangely sweet. It was a song voluptuously sad, wearily languorous, expressing bodily fatigue and the discouragement of passion. It was full of the eternal weariness of the luminous azure, of the indescribable helplessness of hot countries. As the slave passed by the wall, forgetting the master’s lash he would suspend his walk and stop to breathe in that song, impregnated. with all the secret homesick- ness of the soul, which made him think of his far 7O che ote obs aha che he he he che ale tcl oleh eles hecho oe oleake THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY distant country, of his lost love, and of the insur- mountable obstacles of fate. Whence came that song, that sigh softly breathed in the silence of the city? What restless soul was awake when all around was asleep? The straight lines and the monumental appearance of the fagade of the palace, which looked upon the face of the square, were typical of the civil and religious architecture of Egypt. The dwelling could belong to a princely or a priestly family only. So much was readily seen from the materials of which it was built, the careful construction, and the richness of the ornamentation. In the centre of the facade rose a great building flanked by two wings surmounted by a roof in the form of a truncated triangle. A broad, deeply cut moulding of striking profile ended the wall, in which was visible no opening other than a door placed, not symmetrically in the centre, but in the corner of the building, no doubt to allow ample space for the stair- case within. A cornice in the same style as the entablature surmounted this single door. The build- ing projected from a wall on which rested like balco- nies two stories of galleries, resembling open porticoes, 71 betetetetreed & ob betbbbhbtbhh bb THE ROMANCE OF AV MORES we composed of pillars singularly fantastic in style. The bases of these pillars represented huge lotus-buds, from the capsule of which, as it opened its dentelated rim, sprang the shaft like a giant pistil, swelling below, more slender at the top, girdled under the capital by a collar of mouldings, and ending in a half-blown flower. Between the broad bays were small windows with their sashes in two parts filled with stained glass. Above ran a terraced roof flagged with huge slabs of stone. On the outer galleries great clay vases, rubbed inside with bitter almonds and closed with leaves, resting upon wooden pedestals, cooled the Nile water in the draughts of air. ‘Tables bore pyramids of fruits, sheaves of flowers and drinking-cups of different shapes; for the Egyptians love to eat in the open air, and take their meals, so to speak, upon the public street. On either side of the main building stretched others rising to the height of one story only, formed of a row of pillars engaged half-way up in a wall divided into panels in such a manner as to form around the house a shelter closed to the sun and the gaze of the outer world. All these buildings, en- livened by ornamental paintings, —for the capitals, 72 ae bea te be hee oe oe ect tebe aa ce oe ae at we ore rr aN To eye we wre THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY the shafts, the cornices, and the panels were coloured, — produced a delightful and superb effect. The door opened into a vast court surrounded by a quadrilateral portico supported by pillars, the capitals of which showed on each face a woman’s head, with the ears of a cow, long, narrow eyes, slightly flattened noses, and a broad smile; each wore a thick red cushion and supported a cap of hard sandstone. Under the portico opened the doors of the apartments, into which the light came softened by the shade of the galleries. In the centre of the court sparkled in the sunshine a pool of water, edged with a margin of Syéné granite. On the surface of the pond spread the heart-shaped leaves of the lotus, the rose and blue flowers of which were half closed as if overcome by the heat in spite of the water in which they were plunged. In the flower-beds around the pool were planted flowers arranged fanlike upon small hillocks, and along the narrow walks laid out between the beds walked carefully two tame storks, which from time to time snapped their bills and fluttered their wings as if about to take flight. At the angles of the court the twisted trunks of four huge perszas exhibited a mass of metallic green foliage. At the end a sort 73 ob oh oof oe oh oe ode oe abe ae oele eb cbe ce bee oe ooo a elo of tanh — ld — Salah Slliadt — Soallin — Soci 4 ore ore THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY of pylon broke the portico, and its large bay, framing in the blue air, showed at the end of a long avenue a summer kiosk of rich and elegant design. In the compartments traced on the right and on the left of the arbour by dwarf trees cut into the shape of cones, bloomed pomegranates, sycamores, tamarinds, periplocas, mimosas, and acacias, the flowers of which shone like coloured lights on the deep green of the foliage which overhung the walls. The faint, sweet music of which we have spoken proceeded from one of the rooms which opened into the interior portico. Although the sun shone full into the court, the ground of which blazed in the flood of light, a blue, cool shadow, transparently intense, filled the apartment, in which the eye, blinded by the dazzling reverberation, sought to distinguish shapes and at last made them out when it had become accustomed to the semi-light. A tender lilac tone overspread the walls of the room, around which ran a cornice painted in brilliant tones and enriched with small golden palm- branches. Architectural designs skilfully combined formed on the plain spaces panels which framed in ornaments, sheaves of flowers, birds, diapers of con- trasted colours, and scenes of domestic life. /4 che oe ab ahah be abe che ob abe che coche che oe ch oe ce chee ce ae eto ene ee RIO MANC Eh OF } Ay MUM Mi At the back, near the wall, stood a strangely shaped bed, representing an ox wearing ostrich-feathers with a disc between its horns, broadening its back to receive the sleeper upon a thin red mattress, and stiffening by way of feet its black legs ending in green hoofs, while its curled-up tail was divided into two tufts. This quadruped bed, this piece of animal furniture, would have seemed strange in any other country than Egypt, where lions and jackals are also turned into beds by the fancy of the workmen. In front of the couch was placed a stool with four steps, which gave access to it: at the head, a pillow of Oriental alabaster, destined to support the neck without deranging the head-dress, was hollowed out in the shape of a half moon. In the centre a table of precious wood carved with exceeding care, stood upon a richly carved pedestal. A number of objects were placed upon it: a pot of lotus flowers, a mirror of polished bronze on an ivory stand,a vase of moss agate filled with antimony powder, a perfume spatula of sycamore wood in the shape of a woman bare to the waist stretching out as if she were swimming, and appearing to attempt to hold her box above the water. 75 che oe fe he oe oe oe abe be he obec be cdot abe cte ob boob oe ool ore eve CFO VTS CVE OTS OVE wre THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY Near the table, on an armchair of gilded wood picked out with red, with blue feet, and with lions for arms, covered with a thick cushion of purple stuff starred with gold and crossed with black, the end of which fell over the back, was seated a young woman, or rather, a young girl of marvellous beauty, in a graceful attitude of nonchalance and melancholy. Her features, of ideal delicacy, were of the purest Egyptian type, and sculptors must have often thought of her as they carved the images of Isis and Hathor, even at the risk of breaking the rigorous _hieratic laws. Golden and rosy reflections coloured her warm pallor, in which showed her long black eyes, made to appear larger by lines of antimony, and full of a languorous, inexpressible sadness. ‘Those great dark eyes, with the eyebrows strongly marked and the eyelids coloured, gave a strange expression to the dainty, almost childish face. The half-parted lips, somewhat thick, of the colour of a pomegranate flower, showed a gleam of polished white and pre- served the involuntary and almost painful smile which imparts so sympathetic a charm to the Egyptian face. The nose, slightly depressed at the root, where the eyebrows melted one into another in a velvety shadow, 76 cheb abe ohooh oe abe che oe abe cde cbecbe of cte oe bral ob boa oof ob THE ROMANCE OF A. MUMMY rose in such pure lines, such delicate outlines, and with such well-cut nostrils that any woman or goddess would have been satisfied with it in spite of its slightly African profile. “The chin was rounded with marvel- lous elegance and shone like polished ivory. The cheeks, rather rounder than those of the beauties of other nations, added to the face an expression of extreme sweetness and gracefulness. This lovely girl wore for head-dress a sort of helmet formed of a Guinea fowl, the half-closed wings of which fell upon her temples, and the pretty, small head of which came down to the centre of her brow, while the tail) marked with white spots, spread out on the back of her neck. A clever combination of enamel imitated to perfection the plumage of the bird. Ostrich-feathers, planted in the helmet like an aigrette, completed this head-dress, which was reserved for young virgins, as the vulture, the symbol of maternity, is worn only by women. The hair of the young girl, of a brilliant black, plaited into tresses, hung in masses on either side of her smooth, round cheeks, and fell down to her shoulders. In the shadowy masses of the hair shone, like suns in a cloud, great discs of gold worn as earrings. From the head-dress hung grace- pe chee che abe ae che che che ho be cde ctrcde choco le cba cbe oboe of fools THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY fully down the back two long bands of stuff with fringed ends. A broad pectoral ornament, composed of several rows of enamels, gold and cornelian beads, and fishes and lizards of stamped gold, covered her breast from the lower part of the neck to the upper part of the bosom, which showed pink and white through the thin warp of the calasiris. The dress, of a large checkered pattern, was fastened under the bosom with a girdle with long ends, and ended in a broader border of transverse stripes edged with a fringe. Triple bracelets of lapis-lazuli beads, divided here and there by golden balls, encircled her slender wrists, delicate as those of a child; and her lovely, narrow feet with long, supple toes, were shod with sandals of white kid stamped with designs in gold, and rested on a cedar stool incrusted with red and green enamel. Near ‘Tahoser (for this was the name of the young Egyptian) knelt, one leg drawn back under the thigh and the other forming an obtuse angle, in the attitude which the painters love to reproduce on the walls of hypogea, a female harpist placed upon a sort of low pedestal, destined no doubt to increase the resonance of the instrument. A piece of stuff striped with coloured bands, the ends of which, thrown back, hung 78 were ere er ee eT We Fe we ore We eve eT Pare RO MAN CE OF tA VEU MM Y in fluted lappets, bound her hair and framed in her face, smiling mysteriously like that of a sphinx. A narrow dress, or rather sheath, of transparent gauze outlined closely the youthful contours of her elegant, slender form. Her dress, cut below the breast, left her shoulders, chest, and arms free in their chaste nudity. A support, fixed to the pedestal on which was placed the player, and traversed by a bolt in the shape of a key, formed a rest for the harp, the weight of which, but for that, would have borne wholly upon the shoulders of the young woman. ‘The harp, which ended in a sort of keyboard, rounded like a shell and covered with ornamental paintings, bore at its upper end a sculptured head of Hathor surmounted by an ostrich-plume. ‘The nine cords were stretched diagonally and quivered under the long, slender hands of the harpist, who often, in order to reach the lower notes, bent with a sinuous motion as if she were about to float on the waves of music and accompany the vanishing harmony. : Behind her stood another musician, who might have been thought nude but for the faint white haze which toned the bronze colour of her body. She played on a sort of guitar with an exceedingly long handle, the 79 cheb ecb be hed de cbechcobdedhcb cb ch chobch check =e ow me ee tae THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY three cords of which were coquettishly adorned at their extremity with coloured tufts. One of her arms, slender yet round, grasped the top of the handle with a sculptural pose, while the other upheld the instrument and touched the strings. A third young woman, whose enormous mass of hair made her look all the more slender, beat time upon a tympanum formed of a wooden frame slightly curved inward, on which was stretched an onager- skin. The harpist sang a plaintive melody, accompanied in unison, inexpressibly sad. The words breathed vague aspirations, vague regrets, a hymn of love to the unknown, and timid plaints of the rigour of the gods and the cruelty of fate. “Tahoser, leaning upon one of the lions of her armchair, her hand under her cheek and her finger curved against her temple, listened with inattention more apparent than real, to the song of the musician. At times a sigh made her breast heave and raised the enamels of her necklace. Sometimes a moist light caused by a growing tear shone in her eye between the lines of antimony, and her tiny teeth bit her lower lip as if she were fighting her own emotion. 80 che che ake be ob che oho oh a decode hecho ch ode ofa alec otal THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY “‘Satou,” she said, clapping her delicate hands together to silence the musician, who at once deadened with her palm the vibrations of the harp, “ your song enervates me, makes me languid, and would make me giddy like overpowerful perfumes. The strings of your harp seem to be twisted with the vibrations of my heart and sound painfully within my breast. You make me almost ashamed, for it is my soul that mourns in your music. Who can have told you my secrets ? ”’ «“ Mistress,” replied the harpist, “the poet and the musician know everything; the gods reveal hidden things to them; they express in their rhythm what the thought scarcely conceives and what the tongue confusedly stammers. But if my song saddens you, I can, by changing its mode, bring brighter ideas to your mind.” And Satou struck the cords of her harp with joyous energy, and with a quick measure which the tympanum marked with more rapid strokes. After this prelude she began a song praising the charms of wine, the intoxication of perfumes, and the delight of the dance. Some of the women, who, seated upon folding-stools formed of the necks of blue swans, whose yellow bills clasped the frame of the seat, or 6 Si oh che eo oe abe ae oe do cde oe rade oe cece abc ce cece ole aoc wre THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY kneeling upon scarlet cushions filled with the down of thistles, had assumed under the influence of Satou’s music poses of utter languor, shivered; their nostrils swelled; they breathed in the magic rhythm; they rose to their feet, and, moved by an irresistible impulse, began to dance. A _head-dress, in the shape of a helmet cut out around the ear, enclosed their hair, some locks of which escaped and fell upon their brown cheeks, which the ardour of the dance soon turned rosy. Broad golden circles beat upon their necks, and through their long gauze shifts, embroidered at the top with pearls, showed their golden bronze bodies which moved with the ease of an adder. ‘They twisted, turned, swayed their hips, bound with a nar- row black girdle, threw themselves back, bowed down, inclined their heads to right and left as if they found a secret voluptuousness in touching their polished chins with their cold, bare shoulders, swelled out their breasts like doves, knelt and rose, pressed their hands to their bosom or voluptuously outspread their arms, which seemed to flutter as the wings of Iris or Nephthys, dragged their limbs, bent the knee, displayed their swift feet with little staccato movements, and followed every undulation of the music. “The maids, standing 82 sas abs obs obs obs abe obs obs abe abs abo ete obs che obs obs abe abe obs alle abe obs als = jie oe ene en in Fi —— oe Oe = = 4 — bitty ROMANGE -OFY Ai/MU MIM Y¥ against the wall to leave free space for the evolutions of the dancers, marked the rhythm by snapping their fingers or clapping their hands together. Some of these maids, absolutely nude, had no other raiment than a bracelet of enamelled ware; others wore a narrow cloth held by straps, and a few sprays of flowers twisted in their hair. It was a strange and graceful sight. The buds and the flowers, gently moving, shed their perfume through the hall, and these young women, thus wreathed, might have suggested fortunate comparisons to poets. But Satou had overestimated the power of her art. The joyous rhythm seemed to increase Tahoser’s melancholy. A tear rolled down her fair cheek like a drop of Nile water on a nympheea, and hiding her face in the breast of her favourite maid, who leaned upon the armchair of her mistress, she uttered with a sob, dovelike in its sadness, “Oh, my dear Nofré, ] am very sad and very unhappy!” ES ES LSE SET eet cho oe bea oh ob oe ot le dorado oe obec cde echo obe be afro THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY shoe oe feo abe oe oe oe oe fe cdecde eo cece eee che soot wwe ere ove oe Pe FO FO ove ere II I | OFRE, anticipating some confidence, made a sign, and the harpist, the two musicians, the dancers, and the maids silently with- drew one by one, like the figures painted on frescoes. When the last had gone, the favourite said to her mis- tress in a petting, sympathetic tone, like a young mother soothing her child’s tender grief,— “< What is the matter, dear mistress, that you are sad and unhappy? Are you not young, so fair that the loveliest envy you, and free to do what you please? And did not your father, the high-priest Petamounoph, whose mummy rests concealed within a rich tomb, — did he not leave you great wealth to do with as you please? Your palace is splendid, your gardens vast and watered by transparent streams, your coffers of enam- elled ware and sycamore wood are filled with necklaces, pectorals, neck-plates, anklets, finely wrought seal-rings. Your gowns, your calasiris, your head-dresses are greater in number than the days of the year. Hopi, the father of waters, regularly covers with his fertilising mud your domains, which a vulture flying at top speed could 84 shee cheb abe abe be be oe abe dr cbecke ecb cbe ole cb oo obr ce ef do oe THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY scarce traverse from sunrise to sunrise. And yet your heart, instead of opening joyously like a lotus bud in the month of Hathor or of Choeak, closes and con- tracts painfully.” Tahoser answered Nofré : — “Yes, indeed, the gods of the higher zones have treated me favourably. But what matter one’s pos- sessions if one lacks the one thing desired? An unsatisfied wish makes the rich as poor, in his gilded, brightly painted palace, in the midst of his heaps of grain, of perfumes and precious things, as the most wretched workman of the Memnonia, who sops up with sawdust the blood of the bodies, or the semi-nude negro driving on the Nile his frail papyrus-boat under the burning midday sun.” Nofré smiled, and said with a look of imperceptible raillery, — “Ts it possible, O mistress, that a single one of your fancies has not been fulfilled at once? If you want a jewel, you give the workman an ingot of pure gold, cornelians, lapis-lazuli, agates, and hematite, and he carries out the wished-for design. It is the same way with gowns, cars, perfumes, flowers, and musical instru- ments. From Philz to Heliopolis your slaves seek 85 alle be abe ols obs abe aby ole ol obs alls oflrcbe ole ole aby abe ole alle che obs ob alos THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY out for you what is most beautiful and most rare; and if Egypt does not hold what you want, caravans bring it to you from the ends of the world.” The lovely ‘Tahoser shook her pretty head and seemed annoyed at her confidante’s lack of intelligence. bP ‘¢ Forgive me, mistress,” said Nofré, changing her tone as she understood that she had made a mistake. ‘“¢ [ had forgotten that it will soon be four months since the Pharaoh left on his expedition to Upper Ethiopia, and that the handsome oéris (general), who never passed under the terrace without looking up and slow- ing his steps, accompanies His Majesty. How well he looked in his uniform, how handsome, young, and bold! ” Tahoser’s rosy lips half parted, as if she were about to speak, but a faint, rosy flush spread over her cheeks, she bowed her head, and the words ready to issue forth did not unfold their sonorous wings. The maid thought she had guessed right, and con- tinued, — ‘© In that case, mistress, your grief will soon end, for this morning a breathless runner arrived, announc- ing the triumphal return of the king before sundown. Have you not already heard innumerable rumours 86 ch bebe ae oe ah oboe he obo cbr ele cheba abe ooo che be obese ore ee oFe BEE ROMANGE “OR” Ai NEO MIM Y buzzing confusedly over the city, which is awakening from its midday torpor? List! The wheels of the cars sound upon the stone slabs of the streets, and already the people are hurrying in compact bodies to the river bank, to cross it and reach the parade ground. Throw off your languor and come also to see that wondrous spectacle. When one is sad, one ought to mingle with the crowd, for solitude feeds sombre thoughts. From his chariot Ahmosis will smile gra- ciously upon you, and you will return happier to your palace.” “ Ahmosis loves me, but I do not love him,” answered ‘Tahoser. “You speak as a maid,” replied Nofré, who was — very much smitten with the handsome officer, and who thought that the disdainful nonchalance of ‘Tahoser was assumed. In point of fact, Ahmosis was a very handsome fellow. His profile resembled that of the images of the gods carved by the most skilful sculptors. His proud, regular features equalled in beauty those of a woman; his slightly aquiline nose, his brilliant black eyes lengthened with antimony, his polished cheeks, smooth as Oriental alabaster, his well-shaped lips, his tall, handsome figure, his broad chest, his narrow hips, 87 tebbebettrttbttttbbhbhd dh tht THE ROMANCE (OF AL NEG his strong arms on which, however, no muscle stood out in coarse relief, were all that were needed to se- duce the most difficult to please; but Tahoser did not love him, whatever Nofre might think. Another idea, which she refrained from expressing, for she did not believe Nofré capable of understanding her, helped the young girl to make up her mind. She threw off her languor, and rose from her armchair with a vivacity quite unexpected after the broken-down atti- tude she had preserved during the singing and the dancing. } Nofré, kneeling before her, fastened on her feet sandals with turned-up ends, cast scented powder on her hair, drew from a box several bracelets in the shape of serpents, and a few rings with sacred scarabzi for gems, put on her cheeks a green powder which imme- diately turned rose-colour as it touched the skin, pol- ished her nails with a cosmetic, and adjusted the somewhat rumpled folds of her calasiris like a zealous maid who means that her mistress shall show to the greatest advantage. Then she called two or three ser- vants, and ordered them to make ready the boat and transport to the other side of the river the chariot and oxen. 88 cso de oe hs chee hea cece ecto che teche cece oe bec THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY The palace, or if this name seems too pompous, the dwelling of “‘Tahoser, rose close to the Nile, from which it was separated by gardens only. Petamou- noph’s daughter, her hand resting on Nofré’s shoulder, and preceded by her servants, walked down to the water-gate through the arbour, the broad leaves of which, softening the rays of the sun, flecked with light shadows her lovely face. She soon reached the wide brick quay, on which swarmed a mighty multitude, awaiting the departure or return of the boats. The vast city held now only the sick, the invalids, old people unable to move, and the slaves left in charge of the houses. ‘Through the streets, the squares, the dromos (temple avenues), down the sphinx avenues, through the pylons, along the quays, flowed streams of human beings all bound for the Nile. ‘The multitude exhibited the strangest variety. “he Egyptians were there in largest numbers, and were recognisable by their clean profile, their tall, slender figures, their fine linen robes or their carefully pleated calasiris. Some, their heads enveloped in striped green or blue cloth, with narrow drawers closely fitting to their loins, showed to the belt their bare torsos the colour of baked clay. Against this mass of natives stood out divers members 89 shake cb cb oe obs abe ce che che abe chocbe bead che cb cb cele ! cb eee THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY of exotic races: negroes from the Upper Nile, as black as basalt gods, their arms bound round with broad ivory rings, their ears adorned with barbaric ornaments ; bronzed Ethiopians, fierce-eyed, uneasy, and restless in the midst of this civilisation, like wild beasts in the glare of day; Asiatics with their pale-yellow com- plexion and their blue eyes, their beard curled in spirals, wearing a tiara fastened by a band, and draped in heay- ily embroidered, fringed robes; Pelasgi, dressed in wild beasts’ skins fastened on the shoulder, showing their curiously tattooed legs and arms, wearing feathers in their hair, with two long love-locks hanging down. Through the multitude gravely marched shaven-headed priests with a panther’s-skin twisted around their body in such a way that the head of the animal formed a sort of belt-buckle, byblos shoes on their feet, in their hand a tall acacia-stick on which were engraved hiero- elyphic characters ; soldiers, their silver-studded daggers by their side, their bucklers on their backs, their bronze axes in their hands; distinguished personages, their breasts adorned with neck-plates of honour, to whom the slaves bowed low, bringing their hands close to the ground; and sliding along the walls with humble and sad mien, poor, half-nude women travelling along go To of ere CTs CFO eyo Cte wie CFE VED VIO Re eon THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY shoot ob oe obo be echo che obec cbecke focde oe abe abe feeb be eee bowed under the weight of their children suspended from their neck in rags of stuff or baskets of espar- tero; while handsome girls, accompanied by three or four maids, passed proudly with their long, trans- parent dresses knotted under their breasts with long, floating scarfs, sparkling with enamels, pearls, and gold, and giving out a fragrance of flowers and aromatic essences. Among the foot-passengers went litters borne by Ethiopians running rapidly and rhythmically; light carts drawn by spirited horses with plumed headgear ; ox chariots moving slowly along and bearing a whole family. Scarcely did the crowd, careless of being run over, draw aside to make room, and often the drivers were forced to strike with their whips those who were slow or obstinate in moving away. The greatest animation reigned on the river, which, notwithstanding its breadth, was so covered with boats of all kinds that the water was invisible along the whole stretch of the city ; all manner of craft, from the bark with raised poop and prow and richly painted and gilded cabin to the light papyrus skiff, — everything had been called into use. Even the boats used to ferry cattle and to carry freight, and the reed rafts kept up gli ghbbhthbb ttt ee tht hth hhh tke THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY by skins, which generally carried loads of clay vessels, had not been disdained. “The waters of the Nile, beaten, lashed, and cut by oars, sweeps, and rudders, foamed like the sea, and formed many an eddy that broke the force of the current. The build of the boats was as varied as it was pic- turesque. Some were finished off at each end with a great lotus flower curving inwards, the stem adorned with fluttering flags; others were forked at the poop which rose to a point; others again were crescent- shaped, with horns at either end; others bore a sort of a castle or platform on which stood the pilots ; still others were composed of three strips of bark bound | with cords, and were driven by a paddle. ‘The boats for the transport of animals and chariots were moored side by side, supporting a platform on which rested a floating bridge to facilitate embarking and disembark- ing. The number of these was very great. ‘The horses, terrified, neighed and stamped with their sound- ing hoofs; the oxen turned restlessly towards the shore their shining noses whence hung filaments of saliva, but grew calmer under the caresses of their drivers. The boatswains marked time for the rowers by striking together the palms of their hands; the pilots, perched g2 the robe afe abe be to be he aby crabecdeofoabe cde oleae ooo of soot ove Tee ROMANCE OF AM MOU MM Y on the poop or walking about on the raised cabins, shouted their orders, indicating the manoeuvres neces- sary to make way through the moving labyrinth of vessels. Sometimes, in spite of all precautions, boats collided, and crews exchanged insults or struck at each other with their oars. “These countless crafts, most of them painted white and adorned with ornaments of green, blue, or red, laden with men and women dressed in many-coloured costumes, caused the Nile to disap- pear entirely over an extent of many miles, and pre- sented under the brilliant Egyptian sun a_ spectacle dazzling in its changefulness. The water, agitated in every direction, surged, sparkled, and gleamed like quicksilver, and resembled a sun shattered into millions of pieces. Tahoser entered her barge, which was decorated with wondrous richness. In the centre stood a cabin, its entablature surmounted with a row of uraus-snakes, the angles squared to the shape of pillars, and the walls adorned with designs. A binnacle with pointed roof stood on the poop, and was matched at the other end by a sort of altar enriched with paintings. The rudder consisted of two huge sweeps, ending in heads of Hathor, that were fastened with long YS THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY strips of stuff and worked upon hollow posts. On the mast shivered — for the east wind had just risen — an oblong sail fastened to two yards, the rich stuff of which was embroidered and painted with loz- enges, chevrons, birds, and chimerical animals in brilliant colours; from the lower yard hung a fringe of great tufts. The moorings cast off and the sail braced to the wind, the vessel left the bank, sheering with its sharp prow between the innumerable boats, the oars of which became entangled and moved about like the legs of a scarabzus thrown over on its back. It sailed on care- lessly amidst a stream of insults and shouts. Its greater power enabled it to disdain collisions which would have run down frailer vessels. Besides, Taho- ser’s crew were so skilful that their vessel seemed endowed with life, so swiftly did it obey the rudder and avoid in the nick of time serious obstacles. Soon it had left behind the heavily laden boats with their cabins filled with passengers inside, and on the roof three or four rows of men, women, and children crouching in the attitude so dear to the Egyptian people. ‘These individuals, so kneeling, might have been mistaken for the assistant judges of Osiris, had EE abe ob obs obs ober abe abe obs abe ob ob cbncle aba ols oleae ole ofr oboe ale ede ol THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY not their faces, instead of bearing the expression of med- itation suited to funeral councillors, expressed the most unmistakable delight. The fact was that the Pharaoh was returning victorious, bringing vast booty with him. Thebes was given up to joy, and its whole population was proceeding to welcome the favourite of Ammon Ra, Lord of the Diadem, the Emperor of the Pure Re- gion, the mighty Aroéris, the Sun God and the Subduer of Nations. Tahoser’s barge soon reached the opposite bank. The boat bearing her car came alongside almost at the same moment. ‘The oxen ascended the flying bridge, and in a few minutes were yoked by the alert servants who had been landed with them. | The oxen were white spotted with black, and bore on their heads a sort of tiara which partly covered the yoke; the latter was fastened by broad leather straps, one of which passed around the neck of the oxen, and the other, fastened to the first, passed under their belly. Their high withers, their broad dewlaps, their clean limbs, their small hoofs, shining like agate, their tails with the tuft carefully combed, showed that they were thorough-bred and that hard field-work had never de- formed them. They exhibited the majestic placidity 95 KEAELKE ALAS eA eetetttetese we ere AX THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY of Apis, the sacred bull, when it receives homage and offerings. The chariot, extremely light, could hold two or three persons standing. The semicircular body, covered with ornaments and gilding arranged in graceful curved lines, was supported by a sort of diagonal stay, which rose somewhat beyond the upper edge and to which the traveller clung with his hand when the road was rough or the speed of the oxen rapid. On the axle, placed at the back of the body in order to diminish the jolting, were two six-spoked wheels held by keyed bolts. On top of a staff planted at the back of the vehicle spread a parasol in the shape of palm leaves. Nofré, bending over the edge of the chariot, held the reins of the oxen, bridled like horses, and drove the car in the Egyptian fashion, while Tahoser, motion- less by her side, leaned a hand, studded with rings from the little finger to the thumb, on the gilded moulding of the shell. These two lovely maidens, the one brilliant with enamels and precious stones, the other scarcely veiled in a transparent tunic of gauze, formed a charming group on the brilliantly painted car. Eight or ten men-servants, dressed in tunics g6 sole obese oles feo becbecbecbecbecbsebeele obec of clocks THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY with transverse stripes, the folds of which were massed in front, accompanied the equipage, keeping step with the oxen. On this side of the river the crowd was not less great. ‘Ihe inhabitants of the Memnonia quarters and of the neighbouring villages were arriving in their turn, and every moment the boats, landing their pas- sengers on the brick quay wall, brought additional sight-seers to swell the multitude. The wheels of innumerable chariots, all driving towards the parade ground, flashed like suns in the golden dust which they raised. “Thebes at that moment must have been as deserted as if a conqueror had carried away its people into captivity. ‘The frame, too, was worthy of the picture. In the midst of green fields whence rose the aigrettes of the dom palms, showed in bright colours houses of pleas- aunce, palaces, and summer homes surrounded by syca- mores and mimosas. Pools of water sparkled in the sunshine, the festoons of vines climbed on the arched arbours, and in the background stood out the gigantic pylons of the palace of Rameses Meiamoun, with its huge pylons, its enormous walls, its gilded and painted flagstaffs from which the colours blew out in the wind; 7 97 abeobe oe obey abe oh oe oe oe fe cdecde aoe abe ote fossa abe THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY and further to the north the two colossi sitting in pos- tures of eternal immobility, mountains of granite in human shape, before the entrance to the Amenophium, showed through a bluish haze, half masking the still more distant Rhamesseium, and beyond it the tomb of the high-priest, but allowing the palace of Menephta to be seen at one of its angles. , Nearer the Lybian chain, from the Memnonian quarter inhabited by the undertakers, dissectors, and embalmers, went up into the blue air the red smoke of the natron boilers, for the work of death never ceased ; in vain did life spread tumultuously around, the band- ages were being prepared, the cases moulded, the coffins carved with hieroglyphs, and some cold body was stretched out upon the funeral bed, with feet of lion or jackal, waiting to have its toilet made for eternity. On the horizon, but, owing to the transparency of the air, seeming to be much nearer, the Libyan moun- tains showed against the clear sky their limestone crests and their barren slopes hollowed out into hypogea and passages. Looking towards the other bank the prospect was no less wondrous. Against the vaporous background of 98 dofeob the de ch de ce ch ch bchchebecteobel ch cb bebe ob fool CHO VVe WO VTS VTE CVE CTS eFu OFO jie wre wir THE ROMANCE. OF A MUMMY the Arabian chain, the gigantic pile of the Northern Palace, which distance itself could scarce diminish, reared above the flat-roofed dwellings its mountains of granite, its forest of giant pillars, rose-coloured in the rays of the sunshine. In front of the palace stretched a vast esplanade reaching down to the river by a staircase placed at the angles; in the centre an avenue of ram-headed sphinxes perpendicular to the Nile, led to a huge pylon, in front of which stood two colossal statues and a pair of obelisks, the pyramidions of which, rising above the cornice, showed their flesh-coloured points against the uniform blue of the sky. Beyond and above the boundary wall rose the side facade of the temple of Ammon. More to the right were the temples of Khons and Oph. A giant pylon, seen in profile and facing to the south, and two obelisks sixty cubits in height, marked the beginning of that marvellous avenue of two thousand sphinxes with lions’ bodies and rams’ heads, which reached from the Northern Palace to the Southern Palace. On the pedestals could be seen swelling the huge quarters of the first row of these monsters, that turned their backs to the Nile. Farther still, there showed faintly in the rosy light vied ch he oe oh oh ae he abe che of ote trade cba ele cle obec bebe abe bee ee CFS oe VE oTe Ve GO oO THE ROMANCE VOF AVM ie cornices on which the mystic globe outspread its vast wings, heads of placid-faced colossi, corners of mighty buildings, needles of granite, terraces rising above terraces, columns of palm trees growing like tufts of grass amid these vast constructions; and the Palace of the South uprose, with high painted walls, flag-adorned staffs, sloping doors, obelisks, and herds of sphinxes. Beyond, as far as the eye could reach, Oph stretched out with its palaces, its priests’ col- leges, its houses, and in the dimmest distance the crests of its walls and the summits of its gates showed as faint blue lines. Tahoser gazed upon the prospect which was so familiar to her, but her glance expressed no admira- tion; however, as she passed a house almost buried amid luxuriant vegetation, she lost her apathy, and seemed to seek on the terraces and on the outer gallery some well-known form. A handsome young man, carelessly leaning against one of the slender pillars of the building, appeared to be watching the crowd, but his dark eyes, with their dreamy look, did not rest on the chariot which bore Tahoser and Nofré. Meanwhile the hand of the daughter of Petamou- I0O shecke ead oe oh oe be che che check choc cf ee ocak abe doo THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY noph clung nervously to the edge of the car; her cheeks turned pale under the light touch of rouge which Nofré had put on, and as if she felt herself fainting, she breathed in rapidly and often the scent of her nosegay of lotus. PQE she cbe abe oe oe be ee che che ce deeb doco doce cleo ce obese THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY N spite of her usual perspicacity, Nofré had | not noticed the effect produced on her mistress by the sight of the careless stranger. She had observed neither her pallor, followed by a deep blush, nor the brighter gleam of her glance nor the rustling of the enamels and pearls of her necklace rising and falling with her bosom. It is true that her whole attention was given to the management of the equipage, which presented a good deal of difficulty in view of the ever denser masses of sight- seers crowding to be present at the triumphal entrance of the Pharaoh. At last the car reached the parade ground, a vast en- closure carefully levelled for military displays. Great banks, which must have cost thirty enslaved nations the labour of years, formed a bold framework for the immense parallelogram. Sloping revetment walls of unbaked bricks covered the banks, and the crests were lined many files deep by hundreds of thousands of Egyptians, whose white or brightly striped costumes fluttered in the sun with that constant motion character- 102 cb obr abe obe oe ob abe abe ofa abe coade obec aol cb foo ce fe of ob THES ROMANCE.OF Ai MUMMY istic of a multitude even when it seems to be motion- less. Behind this ring of spectators the cars, chariots, and litters watched by the coachmen, drivers, and slaves, seemed to be the camp of a migrating nation, so great was their number; for Thebes, the wonder of the ancient world, reckoned more inhabitants than do certain kingdoms. ‘The fine, smooth sand of the vast arena lined with a million people, sparkled under the light, falling from a sky as blue as the enamel of the Osiris statuettes. On the southern side of the parade ground the revet- ment wall was cut through by a road which ran towards Upper Egypt along the foot of the Libyan chain. At the opposite corner the revetment was again cut so that the road was prolonged to the palace of Rameses Meiamoun through the thick brick walls. Petamounoph’s daughter and Nofré, for whom the servants had made room, stood on this corner on the top of the wall, so that they could see the whole pro- cession pass at their feet. A mighty rumour, low, deep, and powerful, like that of an advancing ocean, was heard in the distance and drowned the innumerable noises arising from the crowd, as the roar of a lion silences the yelping of 103 BN i a naa IRE rae! cbr ate abe obs be abe abe ode abe abe abe cdecde clr ebe abe br ele cbr ele abe ole be fe we we sie CHO oie WHO cise oho VIO OFS VIS CHE Vie GIS ele eFe eye oie wie THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY a tribe of jackals. Soon the separate sounds of the instruments were heard amidst the thunderous noise produced by the driving of war chariots and the rhythmic marching of the soldiers. A sort of reddish mist like that raised by the desert wind filled the sky in that direction, and yet there was no breeze, — not a breath of air, and the most delicate branches of the palms were as motionless as if they had been carved on granite capitals. Not a hair moved on the wet temples of the women, and the fluted lappets of their head-dresses fell limp behind their backs. The dusty. mist was produced by the army on the march, and hovered above it like a dun- coloured cloud. The roar increased, the cloud of dust opened, and the first files of musicians debouched into the vast arena, to the intense delight of the multitude, which, notwithstanding its respect for the majesty of the Pharaoh, was beginning to weary of waiting under a sunshine which would have melted any but Egyptian skulls. The advance guard of musicians stopped for a few moments. Delegations of priests and deputations of the chief inhabitants of Thebes crossed the parade 104 shale cbedheoke oh deck ch dec cake dectecbe bec cfe obese eel ore eT THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY ground to meet the Pharaoh, and drew up in double line in attitudes of the deepest respect so as to leave a free passage for the procession. The music, which alone might have formed a small army, was composed of drums, tambourines, trumpets, and sistra. [he first squad passed, blowing a sound- ing blare of triumph through its short copper bugles that shone like gold. Every one of these musicians carried a second bugle under his arm, as if the instru- ment were likely to be worn out before the man. ‘The costume of the trumpeters consisted of a short tunic bound by a sash the broad ends of which fell in front. A narrow band upholding two ostrich-plumes fastened their thick hair. The plumes thus placed looked like the antennz of a scarabeus, and im- parted to those who wore them a quaint, insect-like | appearance. The drummers, clad in a mere pleated kilt and bare to the belt, struck with sycamore sticks the wild-ass- skin stretched over their kettledrums suspended from a leather baldric, keeping the time which the drum major marked by clapping his hands as he frequently turned towards them. Next to the drummers came the sistrum players, who shook their instruments with 105 LEELA AE eS LAEA ALAS sehtke THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY sharp, quick movements, and at regular intervals made the metal rings sound upon the four bronze bars. The tambourine players carried transversely before them their oblong instrument fastened by a_ scarf passed behind their neck, and struck with both fists the skin stretched on either end. Each band numbered not less than two hundred men, but the storm of sound produced by the bugles, drums, sistra, and tambourines, which would have been deafening within the palace, was in no wise too loud or too tremendous under the vast cupola of the heavens, in the centre of that immense space, amid buzzing multitudes, at the head of an army which baffles enumeration and which was advancing with the roar of great waters. Besides, were eight hundred musicians too many to precede the Pharaoh, beloved of Ammon Ra, represented by colossi of basalt and granite sixty cubits high, whose name was written on the cartouches of imperishable monuments, and whose story was carved and painted upon the walls. of the hypostyle halls, on the sides of pillars, in endless bassi-relievi and innumerable frescoes? Was it too much indeed for a king who dragged a hundred con- quered nations by their hair, and from the height of 106 Lobe eye e7S e7e e799 oe eTE eTE BE ROMANCE OF Ai MUMMY his throne ruled the nations with his whip? For the living Sun that flamed on dazzled eyes? For one who, save that he did not possess eternal life, was a god? Behind the music came the captive barbarians, strange to look at, with bestial faces, black skins, woolly hair, as much like monkeys as men, and dressed in the costume of their country, —a skirt just above the hips held by a single brace, embroidered with orna- ments in divers colours. An ingenious cruelty had directed the binding together of the prisoners. Some were bound by the elbows behind the back; others by their hands raised above their head, in the most uncomfortable position; others again had their wrists caught in stocks; others with their neck in an iron collar or held by a rope which fastened a whole file of them, with a loop for each victim. It seemed as if the object sought had been to thwart as much as pos- sible natural attitudes in the fettering of these poor wretches, who marched before their conqueror awk- wardly and with difficulty, rolling their big eyes and twisting and writhing in pain. Guards marched at their side, striking them with sticks to make them keep time. 107 THE: ROMANCE OF aN MUMMY Next came, bowed with shame, exposed in their wretched, deformed nudity, dark-complexioned women, with long hanging tresses, carrying their children in a piece of stuff fastened around their brow, —a vile herd intended for the meanest uses. Others, young, handsome and fairer, their arms adorned with broad bracelets of ivory, their ears pulled down by great ~metal discs, wrapped themselves in long, wide-sleeved tunics embroidered around the neck and falling in fine, close folds down to their ankles, on which rattled anklets, — poor girls, snatched from their country, their parents, their lovers perhaps; yet they smiled through their tears, for the power of beauty is bound- less, strangeness gives birth to caprice, and perhaps the royal favour awaited some of these barbaric cap- tives in the secret depths of the harem. Soldiers accompanied them and kept the multitude from crowd- ing upon them. The standard-bearers followed, bearing on high the golden staff of their ensigns, which represented mystic baris, sacred hawks, heads of Hathor surmounted by ostrich-plumes, winged ibex, cartouches bearing the king’s name, crocodiles, and other warlike or religious symbols. Long white streamers spotted with black 108 cho fea fe abso oe he abe ahead ce ob ob ob ob ob of eels Wo WHO eve ee ere THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY spots were tied to these standards, and fluttered grace- fully on the march. At the sight of the standards which announced the arrival of the Pharaoh, the deputations of priests and notables stretched out their hands in supplication ‘towards him, or let them fall on their knees, the palms turned up. Some even prostrated themselves, their knees close to the body, their faces in the dust, in an attitude of absolute submission and deep adora- tion, while the spectators waved great palm-branches. A herald or reader, holding in his hand a roll covered with hieroglyphic signs, marched along be- tween the standard-bearers and the incense-burners, who preceded the king’s litter. He shouted, in a loud voice as sonorous as a brazen trumpet, the victories of the Pharaoh; he related the fortunes of the Pharaoh’s battles, announced the number of cap- tives and of war chariots taken from the enemy, the amount of the booty, the measures of gold-dust, the elephants’ tusks, the ostrich-plumes, the quantities of balsamic gum, the giraffes, lions, panthers, and other rare animals. He named the barbaric chiefs who had been slain by the javelins of His Majesty the Almighty Aroéris, favourite of the gods. At each 109g ech eb oh bh of be ob oft cre ore abn obs ole obs obn obs obs ote obs ole of ob oln wo ee CFO ee eTe eve THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY proclamation the people uttered a mighty shout, and from the top of the revetment banks threw down upon the conqueror’s pathway long, green palm- branches. At last the Pharaoh appeared. Priests, who turned and faced him at regular intervals, swung their cen- sers, after having cast incense upon the coals lighted in a little bronze cup which was held by a hand at the end of a sort of sceptre topped by a sacred animal’s head. ‘They marched respectfully backwards while the scented blue smoke rose to the nostrils of the triumphant sovereign, apparently as indifferent to these honours as if he were a god of bronze or basalt. Twelve oéris, or military chiefs, their heads covered with a light helmet surmounted by an ostrich-plume, bare to the belt, their loins wrapped in a loin cloth of stiff folds, wearing their buckler hanging from their belt, supported a sort of dais on which rested the throne of the Pharaoh. ‘This was a chair with feet and arms formed of lions, with a high back pro- vided with a cushion that fell over it, and adorned on its sides with a network of rose and blue flowers. The feet, the arms, and the edges of the throne were gilded, while brilliant colours filled the places left IIo THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY empty. On either side of the litter four fan-bearers waved huge feather fans, semicircular in form, carried at the end of long, gilded handles. Two priests bore a huge cornucopia richly ornamented, whence fell quantities of giant lotus-flowers. The Pharaoh wore a helmet shaped like a mitre and cut out around the ears, where it fell over the neck by way of a protection. On the blue ground of the helmet sparkled innumerable dots like birds’ eyes, formed of three circles, black, white, and red. It was adorned with scarlet and yellow lines, and the symbolic uraus snake, twisting its golden scales on the fore part, rose and swelled above the royal brow. Two long, purple, fluted lappets fell upon his shoulders and completed this majestic head-dress. A broad necklace, of seven rows of enamels, gems, and golden beads, swelled on the Pharaoh’s breast and shone in the sun. His upper garment was a sort of close-fitting jacket, of rose and black checkers, the ends of which, shaped like narrow bands, were twisted tightly several times around the bust. ‘The sleeves, which came down to the biceps and were edged with transverse lines of gold, red, and blue, showed round, firm arms, the left provided with a broad wristlet of Iit abe boobs ae ob ob oh a abe ab cbecbe foc cb col cb eof feeb ee we ove eve PTS CTO VTE We ete eve THE ROMANCE OF AVM UMiT® metal intended to protect it from the switch of the cord when the Pharaoh shot an arrow from his trian- gular bow. His right arm was adorned with a brace- let formed of a serpent twisted several times on itself, and in his hand he held a long golden sceptre ending in a lotus-bud. ‘The rest of the body was enveloped in the finest linen cloth with innumerable folds, held to the hips by a girdle inlaid with plates of enamel and gold. Between the jacket and the belt, the torso showed, shining and polished like rose granite worked by a skilful workman. Sandals with pointed upturned toes protected his long narrow feet, which were held close to one another like the feet of the gods on the walls of the temples. His smooth, beardless face with its great, regular features, which it seemed impos- sible for any human emotion to alter, and which the blood of vulgar life did not colour, with its deathlike pallor, its closed lips, its great eyes made larger still by black lines, the eyelids of which never closed any more than did those of the sacred hawk,— inspired through its very immobility respect and awe. It seemed as though those fixed eyes gazed upon eternity and the infinite only; surrounding objects did not appear to be reflected in them. ‘The satiety of enjoy- PE? shoo o os able sob abe abe ale cba cae ate abe cds abe cde ebe aby cle oe ate cke THE ROMANCE OF AvMUMMY ment, of will satished the moment it was expressed, the isolation of a demigod who has no fellow among mortals, the disgust of worship, and the weariness of triumph had forever marked that face, implacably sweet and of granite-like serenity. Not even Osiris judging the ‘souls of the dead could look more majestic and more calm. A great tame lion, lying by his side upon the litter, stretched out its enormous paws like a sphinx upon a pedestal, and winked its yellow eyes. A rope fixed to the litter, fastened to the Pharaoh the chariots of the conquered chiefs. He dragged them behind him like animals in a leash. These vanquished chiefs, in gloomy, fierce attitudes, whose elbows, drawn together by their points, formed an ugly angle, staggered awkwardly as they were dragged by the cars driven by Egyptian coachmen. Next came the war chariots of the young princes of the royal family, drawn by pairs of thorough-bred horses of noble and elegant shape, with slender legs and muscular quarters, their manes cut close and short, shaking their heads adorned with red plumes, frontlets, and headgear of metal bosses. A curved pole, adorned with scarlet squares, pressed down on their withers, and supported two small saddles surmounted with balls 8 113 THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY of polished brass held together by a light yoke, with curved ends. Girths and breast-harnesses richly em- broidered, and superb housings rayed with blue or red and fringed with tufts, completed their strong, grace- ful, and light harness. The body of the car, painted red and green, and ornamented with plates and bosses of bronze like the boss on the bucklers, had on either side two great quivers placed diagonally in opposite directions, the one containing javelins, and the other arrows. On either side a carved and gilded lion, its face wrinkled with a dreadful grin, seemed to roar, and to be about to spring at the foe. The young princes wore for a head-dress a narrow band which bound their hair and in which twisted, as it swelled its hood, the royal asp. For dress they wore a tunic embroidered around the neck and the sleeves with brilliant embroidery and bound at the waist with a leather belt fastened with a metal plate on which were engraved hieroglyphs. ‘Through the belt was passed a long, triangular, brazen-bladed poniard, the handle of which, fluted transversely, ended in a hawk’s-head. On the car, by the side of each prince, stood the driver, whose business it was to 114 cho be oe ob obs co oe oe oe de wre oe THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY iP if i i> sh ie i > i - 1 - drive during the battle, and the equerry charged with warding off with a buckler the blows directed at the fighter, while he himself shot his arrows or hurled the javelins which he took from the quivers at the sides. Behind the princes came the chariots which formed the Egyptian cavalry, to the number of twenty thou- sand, each drawn by two horses and carrying three men. hese chariots came ten abreast, with wheels almost touching yet never meeting, so skilful were the drivers. Some lighter cars, intended for skir- mishes and reconnaissances came foremost, bearing a single warrior, who in order to have his hands free while fighting, passed the reins around his body. By leaning to the right, to the left or backwards, he di- rected and stopped his horses, and it was truly marvel- lous to see these noble animals, which seemed left to themselves, ouided by imperceptible movements and preserving an unchangingly regular gait. On one of these chariots the elegant Ahmosis, Nofré’s protégé, showed his tall figure and cast his glance over the multitude, trying to make out Tahoser. The trampling of the horses held in with difficulty, the thunder of the bronze-bound wheels, the metallic 115 checbe abe tools obs deals abe abe de cece cf cbo bao ch cf cee oe coe THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY justling of weapons, imparted to the procession an imposing and formidable character well calculated to strike terror into the bravest souls. Helmets, plumes, corselets covered with green, red, and yellow scales, gilded bows, brazen swords, flashed and gleamed fiercely in the sun shining in the heavens above the Libyan chain like a great Osiris eye, and one felt that the charge of such an army must necessarily sweep the nations before it even as the storm drives the light straw. Under these numberless wheels the earth resounded and trembled as if in the throes of an earthquake. Next to the chariots came the infantry battalions marching in order, the men carrying their shields on the left arm, and a lance, a javelin, a bow, a sling, or an axe in the right hand. ‘The soldiers wore helmets adorned with two horse-hair tails. Their bodies were protected by a cuirass of crocodile-skin ; their impas- sible look, the perfect regularity of their motions, their coppery complexion, deepened still more by the recent expedition to the burning regions of Upper Egypt, the desert dust which lay upon their clothes, inspired admiration for their discipline and courage. With such soldiers Egypt could conquer the world. 116 decked ok ob cede ch bbe bec hah obec hoot eye oF oe we wre eve Leh ROMANCE UOF /Al’MUMMY Then came the troops of the allies, easily known by the barbarous shape of their helmets, like mitres cut off, or else surmounted with a crescent stuck on a point. Their broad-bladed swords, their saw-edged axes, must have inflicted incurable wounds. Slaves carried the booty announced by the herald on their shoulders or on stretchers, and belluaria led pan- thers, wild-cats, crawling as if they sought to hide themselves, ostriches flapping their wings, giraffes over- topping the crowd with their long necks, and even brown bears taken, it was said, in the Mountains of the Moon. The King had long since entered his palace, yet the defile was still proceeding. As he passed the revet- ment on which stood Tahoser and Nofré, the Pharaoh, whose litter, borne upon the shoulders of o€ris, placed him above the crowd on a level with the young girl, had slowly fixed upon her his dark glance. He had not turned his head, not a muscle of his face had moved, and his features had remained as motionless as the golden mask of a mummy, yet his eyes had turned between his painted eyelids towards Tahoser, and a flash of desire had lighted up their sombre discs, an effect as terrific as if the granite eyes of a divine simulacrum, suddenly 117 kkkkbbhbeeetettet ttt tke tee THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY lighted up, were to express a human thought. He had half raised one of his hands from the arm of his throne, a gesture imperceptible to every one, but which one of the servants marching near the litter noticed, and at once looked towards the daughter of Petamounoph. Meanwhile night had suddenly fallen, for there is no twilight in Egypt, — night, or rather a blue day, tread- ing close upon the yellow day. In the azure of infinite transparency gleamed unnumbered stars, their twinkling light reflected confusedly in the waters of the Nile, which was stirred by the boats that brought back to the other shore the population of Thebes; and the last cohorts of the army were still tramping across the plain, like a gigantic serpent, when the barge landed Tahoser at the gate of her palace. 118 LEALLALLALLLALLL ALL ALLA LS ede 1 TRIO NCE OF A MUMMY che abe abe abe be obs oho abe be abs che crab obo abe che abe obs obo feeble oft af oft P “HE Pharaoh reached his palace, situated a short distance from the parade ground on the left bank of the Nile. In the bluish transparency of the night the mighty edifice loomed more colossal still, and its huge outlines stood out with terrifying and sombre vigour against the purple back- ground of the Libyan chain. ‘The feeling of absolute power was conveyed by that mighty, immovable mass, upon which eternity itself could make no more impres- sion than a drop of water on marble. A vast court surrounded by thick walls, adorned at their summits with deeply cut mouldings, lay in front of the palace. At the end of the court rose two high columns with palm-leaf capitals, marking the entrance to a second court. Behind these columns rose a giant pylon, con- sisting of two huge masses enclosing a monumental gate, intended rather for colossi of granite than for mere flesh and blood. Beyond these propylaa, and filing the end of a third court, the palace proper appeared in its formidable majesty. Two buildings projected squarely forward, like the bastions of a fortress, exhibit- r1g she fro obe abe abe abe ce be he ba ebece cleo ba oe oe abe fe chro ores OFS eFe CVO we THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY ing on their faces low bassi-relievi of vast size, which represented, in the consecrated manner, the victorious Pharaoh scourging his enemies and trampling them under foot; immense pages of history carved with a chisel on colossal stone books which the most distant posterity was yet to read. ‘These buildings rose much higher than the pylons. ‘The cornices, curving out- wards and topped with great stones so arranged as to form battlements, showed superbly against the crest of the Libyan Mountains, which formed the background of the picture. The facade of the palace connected these build- ings and filled up the whole of the intervening space. Above its giant gateway, flanked with sphinxes, showed three rows of square windows, through which streamed the light from the interior and which formed upon the dark wall a sort of luminous checker-board. From the first story projected balconies, supported by statues of crouching prisoners. The officers of the king’s household, the eunuchs, the servants, and the slaves, informed of the approach of His Majesty by the blare of the trumpets and the roll of the drums, had proceeded to meet him, and waited, kneeling and prostrate, in the court paved with great L220 See ee Oe Oe ee ae ee Oar) OO OS OSS OS OS? OSV CD THE ROMANCE. OF A MUMMY stone slabs. Captives, of the despised race of Scheto, bore urns filled with salt and olive oil, in which was dipped a wick, the fame of which crackled bright and clear. “These men stood ranged in line from the basalt gate to the entrance of the first court, motion- less like bronze lamp-bearers. Soon the head of the procession entered the pylon. and the bugles and the drums sounded with a din which, repeated by the echoes, drove the sleeping ibises from the entablatures. The bearers stopped at the gate in the facade between the two pavilions ; slaves brought a footstool with several steps and placed it by the side of the litter. “The Pharaoh rose with majestic slowness and stood for a few moments per- fectly motionless. Thus standing on a pedestal of shoulders, he soared above all heads and appeared to be twelve cubits high. Strangely lighted, half by the rising moon, half by the light of the lamps, in a cos- tume in which gold and enamels sparkled intermittently, he resembled Osiris, or Typhon rather. He descended the steps as if he were a statue, and at last entered the palace. A first inner court, framed in by a row of huge pillars covered with hieroglyphs, that bore a frieze I21 chelsea be che ce oh eke Lrcbeote bead obo ols feeble abe obec oe VE Ot Le obs obs of ebool wre THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY ending in -volutes, was slowly crossed by the Pha- raoh in the midst of a crowd of prostrate slaves and maids. Then appeared another court surrounded by a covered cloister, and short columns, the capitals of which were formed of a cube of hard sandstone, on which rested the massive architrave. The imprint of indestructibility marked the straight lines and the geo- metric forms of this architecture built with pieces of mountains. ‘The pillars and the columns seemed to strike firmly into the ground in order to upbear the weight of the mighty stones placed on the cubes of their capitals, the walls to slope inwards so as to have a firmer foundation, and the stones to join together so as to form but one block; but polychromous decora- tions and basst-relievi hollowed out and enriched with more brilliant tints added, in the daytime, lightness and richness to these vast masses, which when night had fallen, recovered all their imposing effect. Under the cornice, in the Egyptian style, the un- changing lines of which formed against the sky a vast parallelogram of deep azure, quivered, in the intermit- tent breath of the breeze, lighted lamps placed at short distances apart. [he fish-pond in the centre of the IZ? che feof a oe oe de oe oh ob dba cbe cde cbeche doce oe cece THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY court mingled, as it reflected them, their red flashes with the blue gleams of the moon. Rows of shrubs planted around the basin gave out a faint, sweet per- fume. At the back opened the gate of the harem and of the private apartments, which were decorated with peculiar magnificence. Below the ceiling ran a frieze of uraeus snakes, stand- ing on their tails and swelling their hoods. On the entablature of the door, in the hollow of the cornice, the mystic globe outspread its vast, imbricated wings ; pillars ranged in symmetrical lines supported heavy sandstone blocks forming soffits, the blue ground of which was studded with golden stars. On the walls vast pictures, carved in low, flat relief and coloured with the most brilliant tints, represented the usual scenes of the harem and of home life. “The Pharaoh was seen on his throne, gravely playing at draughts with one of his women who stood nude before him, her head bound with a broad band from which rose a mass of lotus flowers. In another the Pharaoh, without parting with any of his sovereign and sacerdotal impassibility, stretched out his hand and touched the chin of a young maid dressed in a collar and bracelet, who held out to him a bouquet of flowers. Elsewhere he was seen 123 we oFe ere eve eve THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY undecided and smiling, as if he had slyly put off mak- ing a choice, in the midst of the young queens, who strove to overcome his gravity by all sorts of caressing and graceful coquetries. Other panels represented female musicians and dancers, women bathing, flooded with perfumes and massaged by slaves, —the poses so elegant, the forms so youthfully suave, and the outlines so pure, that no art has ever surpassed them. Rich and complicated ornamental designs, admirably carried out in harmonious green, blue, red, yellow, and white, covered the spaces left empty. On cartouches and bands in the shape of stele were inscribed the titles of the Pharaoh and inscriptions in his honour. On the shafts of the huge columns were decorative or symbolical figures wearing the pschent, armed with the tau, following each other in procession, and whose eyes, showing full upon a side face, seemed to look inquisitively into the hall. Lines of perpendicular hieroglyphs separated the zones of personages. Among the green leaves carved on the drum of the capital, buds and lotus flowers stood out in their natural colours, imitating baskets of bloom. 124 Ee ee eT ee THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY Between each pair of columns an elegant table of cedar bore on its platform a bronze cup filled with scented oil, from which the cotton wicks drew an odoriferous light. Groups of tall vases, bound together with wreaths, alternated with the lamps and held at the foot of each pillar sheaves of golden grain mingled with field grasses and balsamic plants. In the centre of the hall a round porphyry table, the disc of which was supported by the statue of a cap- tive, disappeared under. heaped-up urns, vases, flagons, and pots, whence rose a forest of gigantic artificial flowers; for real flowers would have appeared mean in the centre of that vast hall, and nature had to be proportioned to the mighty work of man. These enormous calyxes were of the most brilliant golden yellow, azure, and purple. At the back rose the throne, or chair, of the Pharaoh, the feet of which, curiously crossed and bound by en- circling ribbing, had in their re-entering angles four statuettes of barbaric Asiatic or African prisoners recognisable by their beards and their dress. “These figures, their elbows tied behind their backs, and kneel- ing in constrained attitudes, their bodies bowed, bore upon their humbled heads the cushion, checkered with n25 che oe obs als ols ably ale als able als ale alee abr ele obs obo le ofa cb fe abe ebro OVS CTO Ore CVO ee Ore CTe WO WTO eve ove eFe ore THE ROMANCE OF ‘A(MARERtx gold, red, and black, on which sat their conqueror. Faces of chimerical animals from whose mouths fell, instead of a tongue, a long red tuft, adorned the cross- bars of the throne. On either side of it were ranged, for the princes, less splendid, though still extremely elegant and charm- ingly fanciful chairs; for the Egyptians are no less clever at carving cedar, cypress, and sycamore wood, in gilding, colouring, and inlaying it with enamels, than in cutting in the Philoe or Syéné quarries monstrous granite blocks for the palaces of the Pharaohs and the sanctuaries of the gods. The King crossed the hall with a slow, majestic step, without his painted eyelids having once moved; noth- ing indicated that he heard the cries of love that wel- comed him, or that he perceived the human beings kneeling or prostrate, whose brows were touched by the folds of the calasiris that fell around his feet. He sat down, placing his ankles close together and his hands on his knees in the solemn attitude of the gods. The young princes, handsome as women, took their seats to the right and left of their father. “The ser- vants took off their enamelled necklaces, their belts, and their swords, poured flagons of scent upon their 126 tKtetebeteetettetttdttbtt tts TEE ROMANCE: OF (An WOU MM Y hair, rubbed their arms with aromatic oils, and presented them with wreaths of flowers, cool, perfumed collars, odorous luxuries better suited to the festival than the heavy richness of gold, of precious stones and pearls, which, for the matter of that, harmonise admirably with flowers. Lovely nude slaves, whose slender forms showed the graceful transition from childhood to youth, their hips circled with a narrow belt that concealed none of their charms, lotus flowers in their hair, flagons of wavy alabaster in their hands, timidly pressed around the Pharaoh and poured palm oil over his shoulders, his arms, and his torso, polished like jasper. Other maids waved around his head broad fans of painted ostrich- feathers on long ivory or sandal-wood handles, that, as they were warmed by their small hands, gave forth a delightful odour. Others placed before the Pharaoh stalks of nymphoea that bloomed like the cup of the censers. All these attentions were rendered with a deep devotion, and a sort of respectful awe, as if to a divine, immortal personage, called down by pity from the superior zones to the vile tribe of men; for the king is the Son of the gods, the favoured of Phré, the protégé of Ammon Ra. 127 seo oe oe oe oe oe he oe oe abe ee che oe ce oe ob ob chee oh ook THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY The’women of the harem had risen from their pros- trate attitude, and seated themselves on superb, carved and gilded chairs, with red-leather cushions filled with thistle-down. ‘Tchus ranged, they formed a line of graceful, smiling heads which a painter would have loved to reproduce. Some were dressed in tunics of white gauze with stripes alternately opaque and trans- parent, the narrow sleeves of which left bare the deli- cate, round arms covered with bracelets from the wrist to the elbow: others, bare to the waist, wore a skirt of pale lilac rayed with darker stripes, and covered with a fillet of little rose beads which showed in the diaper the cartouche of the Pharaoh traced on the stuff; others wore red skirts with black-pearl fillets; others again, draped in a tissue as light as woven air, as transparent as glass, wound the folds around them, and managed to show off coquettishly the shape of their lovely bosoms; others were enclosed in a sheath covered with blue, green, or red scales which moulded their forms accurately ; and others again had their shoulders cov- ered with a sort of pleated cape, and their fringed skirts were fastened below the breast with a scarf with long, floating ends. The head-dresses were no less varied. Sometimes 128 chee be he oe oe ace code ead deca obec feck ceo feo THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY the plaited hair was spun out into curls; sometimes it was divided into three parts, one of which fell down the back and the other two on either side of the cheeks. Huge periwigs, closely curled, with numberless cords maintained transversely by golden threads, rows of enamels, or pearls, were put on like helmets over young and lovely faces, which sought of art an aid which their beauty did not need. All these women held in their hands a flower of the blue or white lotus, and breathed amorously, with a fluttering of their nostrils, the penetrating odour which the broad calyx exhaled. A stalk of the same flower, springing from the back of their necks, bowed over their heads and showed its bud between their eye- brows darkened with antimony. In front of them black or white slaves, with no other garment than a waist girdle, held out to them necklaces of flowers made of crocuses, the blooms of which, white outside, are yellow inside, purple saflowers, golden-yellow chrysanthemums, red-berried nightshade, myosotis whose flowers seemed made of blue enamel of the statues of Isis, and nepenthes whose intoxicating odour makes one forget everything, even the far-distant home. 9 129 obe abe abs abe ofp ae oc: abn ofp Ee O82? 080 of oe obs aby obs obs by obs obs obs obs cbr Ce ee oFe Che ote CO wie CVS CFS GIO CTS CHO CTO VIS Vie VIO ere Te SHO eve THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY These slaves were followed by others, who on the upturned palm of their right hands bore cups of silver or bronze full of wine, and in the left held napkins with which the guests wiped their lips. ‘The wines were drawn from amphore of clay, glass, or metal held in elegant woven baskets placed on four- footed pedestals made of a light, supple wood interlaced , in ingenious fashion. ‘The baskets contained seven sorts of wines: date wine, palm wine, and wine of the grape, white, red, and green wines, new wine, Phoenician and Greek wines, and white Mareotis wine with a bouquet of violets. The Pharaoh also took a cup from the hands of his cup-bearer standing near his throne, and put to his royal lips the strengthening drink. ‘Then sounded the harps, the lyres, the double flutes, the lutes, accompanying a song of triumph which choristers, ranged opposite the throne, one knee on the ground, accentuated as they beat time with the palms of their hands. The repast began. ‘The dishes, brought by Ethio- pians from the vast kitchens of the palace, where a thousand slaves were busy preparing the feast in a fiery atmosphere, were placed on tables close by the 130 shots -t obo abe ats le he of ee & checks oe obo ok oboe rw ots obs shock THE ROMANCE OF A MUMM guests. [he dishes, of scented wood admirably carved, of. bronze, of earthenware or porcelain enamelled in brilliant colours, held large pieces of beef, antelope legs, trussed geese, siluras from the Nile, dough drawn out into long tubes and rolled, cakes of sesamum and honey, green watermelons with rosy meat, pomegranates full of rubies, grapes the colour of amber or of amethyst. Wreaths of papyrus crowned these dishes with their green foliage. The cups were also wreathed in flowers, and in the centre of the table, amid a vast heap of golden- coloured bread stamped with designs and marked with hieroglyphs, rose a tall vase whence emerged, Spraying as it fell, a vast sheaf of persolutas, myrtles, pomegranates, convolvulus, chrysanthemums, heliotropes, seriphiums, and periplocas, a mingling of colours and of scents. Under the tables, around the supporting pillar, were arranged pots of lotus. Flowers, flowers everywhere, even under the seats of the guests! The women wore them on their arms, round their necks, on their heads in the shape of bracelets, necklaces, and crowns; the lamps burned amid huge bouquets, the dishes disappeared under leaves, the wines sparkled amid violets and _ roses. I31 dels ook oe oe oe oh deeded de cdecbecbebe eco clot THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY It was a most characteristic, gigantic debauch of flowers, a colossal orgy of scents, unknown to other nations. Slaves constantly brought from the gardens, which they plundered without diminishing their wealth, arm- fuls of rose laurel, of pomegranate, of lotus, to re- new the flowers which had faded, while servants cast grains of nard and cinnamon upon the red-hot coals of the censers. When the dishes and the boxes carved in the shape of birds, fishes, and chimeras, which held the sauces and condiments, had been cleared away, as well as the ivory, bronze, or wooden spatula, and the bronze and flint knives, the guests washed their hands, and cups of wine and fermented drinks kept on passing around. The cup-bearer drew with a long-handled ladle the dark wine and the transparent wine from two great, golden vases adorned with figures of horses and rams, which were held in equilibrium in front of the Pharaoh by means of tripods on which they were set. Female musicians appeared — for the orchestra of male musicians had withdrawn. A wide gauze tunic covered their slender, youthful bodies, veiling them no more than the pure water of a pool conceals the form 132 > HELLA SLES Att stsetes (iE! ROMANCE OF? Ay MU MIM Y of the bather who plunges into it. Papyrus wreaths bound their thick hair and fell to the ground in long tendrils; lotus flowers bloomed on top of their heads; great golden rings sparkled in their ears, necklaces of enamel and pearl encircled their necks, and bracelets clanked and rattled on their wrists. One played on the harp, another on the lute, a third on the double flute, crossing her arms and using the right for the left flute and the left for the right flute; a fourth placed horizontally against her breast a five-stringed lyre; a fifth struck the onager-skin of a square drum; and a little girl seven or eight years of age, with flowers in her hair and a belt drawn tight around her, beat time by clapping her hands. The dancers came in. ‘They were slight, slender, and as lithe as serpents; their great eyes shone be- tween the black lines of their lids, their pearly teeth between the red bars of their lips. Long curls floated | down on their cheeks. Some wore full tunics striped white and blue, which floated around them like a mist ; others wore mere pleated short skirts falling over the hips to the knees, which allowed their beautiful, slender legs and round muscular thighs to be easily seen. They first assumed poses of languid voluptuousness ue CRE OMS OTS CVS OTS OTS OTe CFO Oe OFS OFS STO OTS CFO OFS CFO OWE OTE THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY all abe bs ols obs abe alle abe abe ole able coos be ols ob ofr obs olla ob le ole ob of and indolent grace, then, waving branches of bloom and clinking castanets, shaped like the head of Hathor, striking tambourines with their little closed hands, or making the tanned skin of drums resound under their thumbs, they gave themselves up to swifter steps and — to bolder postures; they pirouetted, they whirled with ever-increasing ardour. But the Pharaoh, thoughtful and dreamy, did not condescend to bestow a glance of satisfaction upon them ; his fixed gaze did not even fall upon them. They withdrew, blushing and confused, pressing their palpitating breasts with their hands. Dwarfs with twisted feet, with swollen and deformed bodies, whose grimaces were fortunate enough at times to bring a smile to the majestic, stony face of the Pharaoh, were no more successful; their contortions did not bring a single smile to his lips, the corners of which remained obstinately fixed. To the sound of strange music produced by tri- angular harps, sistra, castanets, cymbals, and bugles, Egyptian clowns wearing high, white mitres of ridic- ulous shape advanced, closing two fingers of their hand and stretching out the other three, repeating their gro- tesque gestures with automatic accuracy, and singing 134 chal be cbe ts oho che oh ae etek tec oe chee che cece oe cheeks We ela es “ve ove ore Oe Te We vte evo THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY extravagant songs full of dissonances. His Majesty never changed countenance. Women wearing a small helmet from which de- pended three long cords ending in a tassel, their wrists and ankles bound with black leather bands, and wearing close fitting drawers suspended by a single brace passed over their shoulders, performed tricks of strength and contortions each more surprising than another; pos- turing, throwing themselves back, bending their supple bodies like willow branches, and touching the ground with their necks without displacing their heels, support- ing in that impossible attitude the weight of their com- panions; others juggled with a ball, two balls, three balls, before, behind, their arms crossed, astride of or standing upon the loins of one of the women of the company. One, indeed, the cleverest, put on blinkers like ‘mei, the goddess of justice, and caught the globes in her hands without letting a single one fall. The Pharaoh was not moved by these marvels. He cared no more either for the prowess of two combatants who, wearing a cestus on the left arm, fought with sticks. Men throwing at a block of wood knives which struck with miraculous accuracy the spot indicated did not interest him either. He 135 aeelan bo = THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY she oe obs ls obras elle ols obs ole ole ecb obn on ols ofa obs onan abe ols ole ol even refused the draught-board which the lovely “wea, whom he looked upon usually with favour, presented te him as she offered herself as an adversary. In vain Amense, Taia, Hont-Reché ventured upon timid caresses. He rose and withdrew to his apartments without having uttered a word. Motionless on the threshold stood the servant who, during the triumphal procession, had noticed the im- perceptible gesture of His Majesty. He said: “ O King, loved of the gods! I left the procession, crossed the Nile on a light papyrus-bark and followed the vessel of the woman on whom your hawk glance deigned to fall. She is Tahoser, the daughter of the priest Petamounoph.”’ The Pharaoh smiled and said: “It is well. I give thee a chariot and its horses, a pectoral ornament of beads of lapis-lazuli and cornelian, with a golden circle weighing as much as the green basalt weight.”’ Meanwhile the sorrowing women pulled the flowers from their hair, tore their gauze robes, and sobbed, stretched out upon the polished stone floors which re- flected, mirror-like, the image of their beautiful bodies, saying, ‘One of these accursed barbaric captives must have stolen our master’s heart.’’ 136 N the left bank of the Nile stood the villa of () Poéri, the young man who had filled Ta- hoser with such emotion when, proceeding to view the triumphal return of the Pharaoh, she had passed in her ox-drawn car under the balcony whereon leaned carelessly the handsome dreamer. It was a vast estate, having something of the farm and something of the house of pleasaunce, which stretched between the banks of the river and the foot- hills of the Libyan chain, over an immense extent of ground, covered during the inundation by the reddish waters laden with fertilising mud, and which during the rest of the year was irrigated by skilfully planned canals. A wall, built of limestone drawn from the neighbour- ing mountains, enclosed the garden, the store-houses, the cellars, and the dwelling. The walls sloped slightly inwards and were surmounted by an acroter with metal spikes, capable of stopping whosoever might attempt to climb over. Three doors, the leaves of which were hung on massive pillars, each adorned with a giant mens S——_——— et cheats ab ob ob oho oe che de de chcbecbe be deel oba cbc clo be oh shale THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY lotus-flower planted on top of the capital, were cut in the wall on three of the sides. In place of the fourth door rose a building which looked out into the garden from one of its facades, and on the road from the other. The building in no respect resembled the houses in Thebes. ‘The architect had not sought to reproduce either the heavy foundations, the great monumental lines, or the rich materials of city buildings, but had striven to attain elegant lightness, refreshing simplicity, and pastoral gracefulness in harmony with the verdure and the peacefulness of the country. The lower courses of the building, which the Nile reached in times of high flood, were of sandstone, and the rest of the building of sycamore wood. ‘Tall, fluted columns, extremely slender and resembling the staffs of the standards before the king’s palace, sprang from the ground and rose unbroken to the palm-leaved cornice, where swelled out, under a simple cube, their lotus-flowered capitals. The single story built above the ground-floor did not rise as high as the mouldings which bordered the terraced roof, and thus left an empty space between the ceiling and the flat roof of the villa. 138 THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY Short, small pillars, with flowery capitals, divided into groups of four by the tall columns, formed an open gallery around this aerial apartment open to every wind. Windows broader at the base than at the top of the opening, in accordance with the Egyptian style, and closed with double sashes, lighted the first story. “The ground-floor was lighted by narrower windows placed closer to each other. | Above the door, which was adorned with deep mouldings, was a cross planted in a heart and framed in a parallelogram cut in the lower part to allow the sign of favourable omen to pass; the meaning being, as every one knows, “ A good house.” The whole building was painted in soft, pleasant colours; the lotus of the capitals showed alternately red and blue in the green capsules; the gilded palm- leaves of the cornices stood out upon a blue back- ground; the white walls of the facades set off the painted framework of the windows, and lines of red and green outlined panels and imitated the joints of the stone. Outside the enclosing wall, which was built flush with the dwelling, stood a row of trees cut to a point, +39 che oe ode obo obs be che che cfr be of + tbbtttbbtbttthkbed THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY which formed a screen against the dusty southern wind, always laden with the desert heat. In front of the building grew a vast vineyard. Stone shafts with lotus capitals placed at symmetrical distances outlined, through the vineyard, walks cutting each other at right angles. Boughs of vine leaves joined one plant to another and formed a succession of leafy arches under which one could walk erect. The ground, carefully raked and heaped up at the foot of each plant, contrasted by its brown colour with the bright green of the leaves, amid which played the sun- beams and the breeze. On either side of the building two oblong pools bore upon their transparent surface aquatic birds and flow- ers. At the corners of these pools four great palm- trees spread out fanwise their green wreath of leaves at the top of their scaly trunks. Compartments, regularly traced by narrow paths, divided the garden around the vineyard, marking the place of each different crop. Along a sort of belt walk which ran entirely around the enclosure dém palms alternated with sycamores, squares of ground were planted with fig, peach, almond, olive, pome- granate and other fruit trees; others, again, were 140 BLLAEA ALE LASS tttsotetetettese THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY planted with ornamental trees only: the tamarisk, the cassia, the acacia, the myrtle, the mimosa, and some still rarer gum-trees found beyond the cataracts of the Nile, under the Tropic of Cancer, in the oases of the Libyan Desert, and upon the shores of the Erythrean Gulf; for the Egyptians are very fond of cultivating shrubs and flowers, and they exact new species as a tribute from the peoples they have conquered. Flowers of all kinds, and many varieties of water- melons, lupines, and onions adorned the beds. “Iwo other pools of greater size, fed by the covered canal leading from the Nile, each bore a small boat to enable the master of the estate to enjoy the pleasure of fish- ing. Fishes of divers forms and brilliant colours played in the limpid waters among the stalks and the broad leaves of the lotus. Banks of luxuriant vegeta- tion surrounded these pools and were reflected in their green mirror. Near each pool rose a kiosk formed of slender columns bearing a light roof and surrounded by an open balcony whence one could enjoy the sight of the waters and breathe the coolness of the morning and the evening while reclining on a rustic seat of wood and reeds. I4I i a abe abe abe ols obs obs obs abe che ole of alle che che obs obs abe obs ofr be obs obs oo obs Che YS Ve GTO WE VTE WO WE We WO Ce CVS UTS WTS CHS OWE THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY The garden, lighted by the rising sun, had a bright, happy, restful look. The green of the trees was so brilliant, the colours of the flowers so splendid, air and light filled so joyously the vast enclosure with breeze and sunbeams, the contrast of the rich greenness with the bare whiteness of the chalky sterility of the Libyan chain, the crest of which was seen above the walls cutting into the blue sky, was so marked that one felt the wishto stop and set up one’s tent there. It looked like a nest purposely built for a longed-for happiness. Along the walks travelled servants bearing on their shoulders a yoke of bent wood, from the ends of which hung by ropes two clay jars filled at the reser- voirs, the contents of which they poured into small basins dug at the foot of each plant. Others, handling a jar suspended from a pole working on a post, filled with water a wooden gutter which carried it to the parts of the garden that needed irrigating. Gardeners were clipping the trees to a point or into an elliptical shape. With the help of a hoe formed of two pieces of hard wood bound by a cord and thus making a hook, other workmen were preparing the ground for planting. 142 abe obs ols obs obs ale abe abs abr oboele ob cbr als obs obs abe ele ate ole alo ole We ete eve Ove ce MO CVO VFS OFS eTY ove OTE oF LHe abe obs « L THE ROMANCE “OF A MUMMY It was a delightful sight to see these men with their black, woolly hair, their bodies the colour of brick, dressed only in a pair of white drawers, going and coming amid the greenery with orderly activity, singing a rustic song to which their steps kept time. The birds perched on the trees seemed to know them, and scarcely to fly off when, as they passed, they rubbed against the branches. The door of the building opened, and Poéri appeared on the threshold. Though he was dressed in the Egyptian fashion, his features were not in accordance with the national type, and it took no long observation to see that he did not belong to the native race of the valley of the Nile. He was assuredly not a Rot’en’no. His thin aquiline nose, his flat cheeks, his serious-looking, closed lips, the perfect oval of his face, were essentially different from the African nose, the projecting cheek-bones, the thick lips, and broad face characteristic of the Egyptians. Nor was his complexion the same; the copper tint was replaced by an olive pallor, which the rich, pure blood flushed slightly ; his eyes, instead of showing black between their lines of antimony, were of a dark blue like the sky of night; his hair, silkier and softer, curled in 143 doce oe ode obs oh oe oe oe a abe cdocde oo lec clea a cla be abe bale THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY less crisp undulations, and his shoulders did not exhibit that rigid, transversal line which is the charac- teristic sign of the race as represented on the statues of the temples and the frescoes of the tombs. All these characteristics went to form a remarkable beauty, which Petamounoph’s daughter had been unable to resist. Since the day when Poéri had by chance appeared to her, leaning upon the gallery of the build- ing —which was his favourite place when he was not busy with the farm work —-she had returned many times under pretext of driving, and had made her chariot pass under the balcony of the villa; but although she had put on her handsomest tunics, fast- ened around her neck her richest necklaces and encir- cled her wrists with her most wondrously chased bracelets, wreathed her hair with the freshest lotus- flowers, drawn to the temples the black line of her eyes, and brightened her cheeks with rouge, Poéri had never seemed to pay the smallest attention to her. And yet ‘Tahoser was rarely beautiful, and the love which the pensive tenant of the villa disdained, the Pharoah would willingly have purchased at a great price. In exchange for the priest’s daughter he would have given Twea, Taia, Amense, Hont-Reché, 144 cele be ae che of co oe che ofr tocde lolol coos coals abe ook wwe ene ow ve wiv wo THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY nis Asiatic captives, his vases of gold and silver, his necklaces of gems, his war chariots, his invincible army, his sceptre, —all, in a word, even his tomb, on which since the beginning of his reign had been working in the darkness thousands upon thousands of workmen. Love is not the same in the hot regions swept by a fiery wind as on the icy shores where calm descends from heaven with the cold; it is not blood but fire that flows in the veins. So “‘Tahoser lan- guished and fainted, though she breathed perfumes, surrounded herself with flowers, and drank draughts that bring forgetfulness. Music wearied her or over- excited her feelings; she had ceased to take any pleasure in the dances of her companions; at night, sleep fled from her eyelids, and breathless, stifling, her breast heaving with sighs, she would leave her sumptuous couch and stretch herself out upon the broad slabs of the pavement, pressing her bosom against the hard granite as if she wished to breathe in its coolness. On the night which followed the triumphal entry of the Pharaoh, Tahoser felt so unhappy and life seemed so empty that she determined not to die without having made at least one last effort. 10 145 shod doo ch ace do cbe eecbectecdecle obec ooo oleae sec UNO Cho CVD CVS CHO CTO OVO CTS OFS OF OTE BTS STW OVO OVE OTe CTO THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY of, We She wrapped herself up in a piece of common stuff, kept on but a single bracelet of odoriferous wood, twisted a piece of striped gauze around her head, and with the first light of the dawn, without being heard by Nofré, who was dreaming of the handsome Ahmo- sis, she left her room, crossed the garden, drew the bolts of the water gate, proceeded to the quay, waked a waterman asleep in his papyrus boat, and had herself transported to the other bank of the stream. Staggering and pressing her little hand to her heart to still its beating, she drew near Poéri’s dwelling. It was now broad daylight, and the gates were opening to give passage to the ox teams going to work, and to the flocks going forth to pasture. Tahoser knelt on the threshold and placed her hand above her head with a supplicating gesture, more beau- tiful, perhaps, even in this humble attitude and in her mean dress. Her bosom rose and fell and tears streamed down her pale cheeks. Poéri saw her and took her for what she was, indeed, a most unhappy woman. “Enter,” said he; “‘ enter without fear. “This house is hospitable.” 146 see oe ake be ce aoe echo cbe cde docde cde obec cece oh check 5p 1 ap | ROMANCE OF A MUMMY he abe oe of ahs obs abe ole cfs fe obs ebooks abe ols olls of obe abn ofe obs obs obo obs AHOSER, encouraged by the friendly words of Poéri, abandoned her supplicating atti- tude and rose. A rich glow flushed her cheek but now so pale; shame came back to her with hope; she blushed at the strange action to which love had driven her; she hesitated to pass the threshold which she had crossed so often in her dreams. Her maidenly scruples, stifled for a time by passion, resumed their power in the presence of reality. The young man, thinking that timidity, the com- panion of misfortune, alone prevented T’ahoser from entering the house, said to her in a soft, musical voice marked by a foreign accent, — «« Enter, maiden, and do not tremble so. My home is large enough to shelter you. If you are weary, rest; if you are thirsty, my servants will bring you pure water cooled in porous clay-jars; if you are hungry, they will set before you wheaten bread, dates, and dried figs.” a 147 shoe obec ob ob of fad eve ere THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY Petamounoph’s daughter, encouraged by these hos- pitable words, entered the house, which justified the hieroglyph of welcome inscribed upon the gate. Poéri took her to a room on the ground-floor, the walls of which were painted with green vertical bands ending in lotus flowers, making the apartment pleasant to the eye. A fine mat of reeds woven in symmetri- cal designs covered the floor. At each corner of the room great sheaves of flowers filled tall vases, held in place by pedestals, and scattered their perfume through the cool shade of the hall. At the back a low sofa, the wood-work of which was ornamented with foliage and chimerical animals, tempted with its broad bed the fatigued or idle guest. “Two chairs, the seats made of Nile reeds, with sloping back, strength- ened by stays, a wooden foot-stool cut in the shape of a shell and resting upon three legs, an oblong table, also three-legged, bordered with inlaid work and orna- mented in the centre with urzus snakes, wreaths, and agricultural symbols, and on which was placed a vase of rose and blue lotus, — completed the furniture of the room, which was pastoral in its simplicity and gracefulness. Poéri sat down on the sofa. ‘Tahoser, bending one 148 THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY leg under her thigh and raising one knee, knelt before the young man who fixed upon her a glance full of kindly questioning. She was most lovely in that atti- tude. ‘The gauze veil in which she was enveloped exhibited, as it fell back, the rich mass of her hair bound with a narrow white ribbon, and revealed her gentle, sweet, sad face. Her sleeveless tunic showed her lovely arms bare to the shoulder and left them free. > “© am called Poéri,” said the young man; “I am steward of the royal estates, and have the right to wear the gilded ram’s-horns on my state head-dress.”’ “And I am called Hora,’ replied Tahoser, who had arranged her little story beforehand. ‘ My par- ents are dead, their goods were sold by their credi- tors, leaving me just enough to pay for their burial ; so I have been left alone and without means. But since you are kind enough to receive me, I shall repay you for your hospitality. I have been taught the work of women, although my condition did not oblige me to perform it. I can spin and weave linen with thread of various colours; I can imitate flowers and embroider ornaments on stuffs; I can even, when you are tired by your work and overcome 149 che boob ob ae abe ohooh ofc ob obo cbe fe obe cere obo faa feo ne OTS CFO ove OVS ee OFS OTe THE ROMANCE OF ACMA wi ae by the heat of the day, delight you with song, harp, orn lite: 7 ‘¢ Hora, you are welcome to my dwelling,” said the young man. “ You will find here, without taxing your strength, for you seem to me to be delicate, — occupation suitable for a maiden who has known better days; among my maids are gentle and good girls who will be pleasant companions for you, and who will show you how we live in this pastoral home. » So the days will pass, and perhaps brighter ones will dawn for you. If not, you can quietly grow old in my home in the midst of abundance and peace. The guest whom the gods send is sacred.” Having said these words, Poéri arose, as if to avoid the thanks of the supposed Hora, who had prostrated herself at his feet and was kissing them, as do wretches who have just been granted a favour; but the lover in her had taken the place of the suppliant, and her ripe, rosy lips found it hard to leave those beautiful, clean, white feet that resembled the jasper feet of the gods. Before going out to superintend the work of the farm, Poéri turned around on the threshold of the room and said, — 150 “© Hora, remain here until I have appointed a room for you. I shall send you some food by one of my servants.” And he walked away quietly, the whip which marked his rank hanging from his wrist. “The work- men saluted him, placing one hand on their head and the other to the ground, but by the cordiality of their salute it was easily seen that he was a kind master. Sometimes he stopped to give an order or a piece of advice, for he was greatly skilled in matters of agriculture and gardening. Then he resumed _ his walk, looking to the right and left and carefully in- specting everything. ‘Tahoser, who had humbly ac- companied him to the door, and had crouched on the threshold, her elbow on her knee and her chin on the palm of her hand, followed him with her glance until he disappeared under the leafy arches. She kept on looking long after he had passed out by the gate into the fields. A servant, in accordance with an order which Poéri had given when he went out, brought on a tray a goose-leg, onions baked in the ashes, wheaten bread and figs, and a jar of water closed with myrtle flowers. I51 cede ode de oe ok de oe ok oe obeadedb ooo oleae oe oo oe oe ook we Me he THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY ‘“'The master sends you this. Eat, maiden, and regain your strength.” ‘Tahoser was not very hungry, but her part required that she should exhibit some appetite; the poor must necessarily devour the food which pity throws them. So she ate, and drank a long draught of the cool water. The servant having gone, she resumed her contem- plative attitude. Innumerable contradictory thoughts filled her mind: sometimes with maidenly shame she repented the step she had taken; at others, carried away by her passion, she exulted in her own audacity. Then she said to herself: ‘ Here I am, it is true, under Poéri’s roof; I shall see him freely every day; I shall silently drink in his beauty, which is more that of a god than of a man; I shall hear his lovely voice, which is like the music of the soul. But will he, who never paid any attention to me when I passed by his home dressed in my most brilliant garments, adorned with my richest gems, perfumed with scents and flowers, mounted on my painted and gilded car surmounted by a sunshade, and surrounded like a queen with a retinue of servants, — will he pay more attention to the poor suppliant maiden whom he has received through pity and who is dressed in mean 152 she che abe ate abe che he de oh cee ctecde cece ce obec ocho ce che chee THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY stuff? Will my wretchedness accomplish what my wealth could not do? It may be, after all, that I am ugly, and that Nofré flatters me when she main- tains that from the unknown sources of the Nile to the place where it casts itself into the sea there is no lovelier maid than her mistress. Yet no, — I am beautiful; the blazing eyes of men have told me so a thousand times, and especially have the an- noyed airs and the disdainful pouts of the women who passed by me confirmed it. Will Poéri, who has inspired me with such mad passion, never love me? He would have received just as kindly an old, wrinkled woman with withered breasts, clothed in hideous rags, and with feet grimy with dust. Any one but he would at once have recognised, under the disguise of Hora, Tahoser the daughter of the high-priest Petamounoph; but he never cast his eyes upon me any more than does the basalt statue of a god upon the devotees who offer up to it quarters of antelope and baskets of lotus.” These thoughts cast down the courage of Tahoser. Then she regained confidence, and said to herself that her beauty, her youth, her love would surely at last move that insensible heart. She would be 153 shee oe be oe ale be be abe cl taba cle ete cta ole orale eee e oh hole THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY sO sweet, so attentive, so devoted, she would use so much art and coquetry in dressing herself, that certainly Poéri would not be able to resist. “Chen she promised herself to reveal to him that the humble servant- maid was a girl of high rank, possessing slaves, estates, and palaces, and she foresaw, in her imagina- tion, a life of splendid and radiant happiness follow- ing upon a period of obscure felicity. “ First and foremost, let me make myself beautiful,” she said, as she rose and walked towards one of the pools. On reaching it, she knelt upon the stone margin, washed her face, her neck, and her shoulders. The disturbed water showed her in its mirror, broken by innumerable ripples, her vague, trembling image which smiled up to her as through green gauze; and the little fishes, seeing her shadow and thinking that crumbs of bread were about to be thrown to them, drew near the edge. in shoals. She gathered two or three lotus flowers which bloomed on the surface of the pool, twisted their stems around the band that held in her hair, and made thus a head-dress which all the skill of Nofré could never have equalled, even had she emptied her mistress’s jewel-caskets. 154 chee fe oho oho a ah abe he che rakes doce cbe chaebol chee abe shook Re oe ore ore oe ere wre Te THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY When she had finished and rose refreshed and radi- ant, a tame ibis, which had gravely watched her, drew itself up on its two long legs, stretched out its long neck, and flapped its wings two or three times as if to applaud her. Having finished her toilet, I'ahoser resumed her place at the door of the house and waited for Poéri. ‘The heavens were of a deep blue; the light shimmered in visible waves through the transparent air; intoxicat- ing perfumes rose from the flowers and the plants; the birds hopped amid the branches, pecking at the berries ; the fluttering butterflies chased one another. This charming spectacle was rendered yet more bright by human activity, which enlivened it by the communica- tion of a soul. ‘The gardeners came and went, the ser- vants returned laden with panniers of grass or vegetables ; others, standing at the foot of the fig trees, caught in baskets the fruits thrown to them by monkeys trained to pluck them and perched on the highest branches. Tahoser contemplated with delight this beautiful landscape, the peacefulness of which was filling her soul, and she said to herself, “ How sweet it would be to be beloved here, amid the light, the scents, and the flowers.’’ 155 LLALCEALE LSS AAAS ALES LS THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY Poéri returned. He had finished his tour of inspec- tion, and withdrew to his room to spend the burning hours of the day. Tahoser followed him timidly, and stood near the door, ready to leave at the slightest gesture, but Poéri signed to her to remain. She came forward timidly and knelt upon the mat. “You tell me, Hora, that you can play the lute. Take that instrument hanging upon the wall, strike its cords and sing me some old air, very sweet, very tender, and very slow. The sleep which comes to one cradled by music is full of lovely dreams.” The priest’s daughter took down the mandore, drew near the couch on which Poéri was stretched, leaned the head of the lute against the wooden bed-head hol- lowed out in the shape of a half-moon, stretched her arm to the end of the handle of the instrument, the body of which was pressed against her beating heart, let her hand flutter along the strings, and struck a few chords. Then she sang in a true, though somewhat trembling voice, an old Egyptian air, the vague sigh breathed by the ancestors and transmitted from genera- tion to generation, and in which recurred constantly one and the same phrase of a sweet and penetrating monotony. 156 doce chk deck debe cbcbe ch cheb cheek choot THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY ‘‘In very truth,” said Poéri, turning his dark blue eyes upon the maid, “ you know rhythm as does a professional musician, and you might practise your art in the palaces of kings. But you give to your song a new expression; the air you are singing, one would think you are inventing it, and you impart to it a magical charm. Your voice is no longer that of mourning ; another woman seems to shine through you as the light shines from behind a veil. Who are your” “T am Hora,” replied Tahoser. ‘“‘ Have I not already told you my story? Only, I have washed from my face the dust of the road, I have smoothed out tne folds in my crushed gown and put a flower in my hair. If I am poor, that is no reason why I should be ugly, and the gods sometimes refuse beauty to the rich. But does it please you that I should go on?” “Yes. Repeat that air; it fascinates, benumbs me, it takes away my memory like a cup of nepenthe. - Repeat it until sleep and forgetfulness fall upon my eyelids.” Poéri’s eyes, fixed at first upon Tahoser, soon were half-closed, and then completely so. The maiden con- Joy aoe che che che de be che oe ecto cece cde bebe bec oe beable ore oe Fe ore OTe wre oF OTe THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY tinued to strike the strings of the mandore, and sang more and more softly the refrain of her song. Poéri slept. She stopped and fanned him with a palm-leaf fan thrown on the table. Poéri was handsome, and sleep imparted to his pure features an indescribable expression of languor and ten- derness. His long eyelashes falling upon his cheeks _ seemed to conceal from him a celestial vision, and his beautiful, red, half-open lips trembled as if they were speaking mute words to an invisible being. After a long contemplation, emboldened by silence and solitude, Tahoser, forgetting herself, bent over the sleeper’s brow, kept back her breath, pressed her heart with her hand, and placed a timid, furtive, winged kiss upon it. Then she drew back ashamed and blushing. ‘The sleeper had faintly felt in his dream ‘Vahoser’s lips; he uttered a sigh and said in Hebrew, ‘Oh, Ra’hel, beloved Ra’hel!”’ Fortunately these words of an unknown tongue con- veyed no meaning to Tahoser, and she again took up the palm-leaf fan, hoping yet fearing that Poéri would — _awake.. cece oe ake che oe oe oh oe detec checbe cle lecdech oboe ch check THE ROMANCE OF whe obs obs ole obs eb obs obs Ce whe ore CWS CHO OFS CFO OTS OFS OFS CTO OID CTW CTO OHO OTE UFO OTe CTS OTS oO OTE Viw Vil HEN day dawned, Nofré, who slept on a \) \) cot at her mistress’s feet, was surprised at not hearing Tahoser call her as usual by clapping her hands. She rose on her elbow and saw that the bed was empty; yet the first beams of the sun, striking the frieze of the portico, were only now beginning to cast on the wall the shadow of the cap- itals and of the upper part of the shafts of the pillars. Usually Tahoser was not an early riser, and she rarely rose without the assistance of her women. Neither did she ever go out until after her hair had been dressed, and perfumed water had been poured over her lovely body, while she knelt, her hands crossed upon her bosom. Nofré, feeling uneasy, put on a transparent gown, slipped her feet into sandals of palm fibre, and set out in search of her mistress. She looked for her first under the portico of the two courts, thinking that, unable to sleep, Tahoser had perhaps gone to enjoy the coolness of dawn in the inner cloisters; but she was not there. £59 LLEELEALELELEALALLLLLLA LES ore we THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY “ Tet me visit the garden,” said Nofré to herself; ‘‘ perhaps she took a fancy to see the night dew sparkle on the leaves of the plants and to watch for once the awakening of the flowers.” Although she traversed the garden in every direc- tion, she found it absolutely untenanted. Nofré looked along every walk, under every arbour, under every arch, into every grove, but unsuccessfully. She entered the kiosk at the end of the arbour, but she did not find Tahoser; she hastened to the pond, in which her mis- tress might have taken a fancy to bathe, as she some- times did with her companions, upon the granite steps which led from the edge of the basin to the bottom of fine sand. The broad nymphcea-leaves floated on the surface, and did not appear to have been disturbed; the ducks, plunging their blue necks into the calm water, alone rippled it, and they saluted Nofré with joyous cries. The faithful maid began to feel seriously alarmed 3 she roused the whole household. ‘The slaves and the maids emerged from their cells, and informed by Nofré of the strange disappearance of Tahoser, pro- ceeded to make most minute search. ‘They ascended the ‘terraces, rummaged every room, every corner, 160 che obo oe ob of aut ROMANCE OF AY Wiaus every place where she might possibly be. Nofré, in her agitation, even opened the boxes containing the dresses and the caskets holding the jewels, as if they could possibly have held her mistress. Unquestionably Tahoser was not within the dwelling. An old and consummately prudent servant bethought himself of examining the sand of the walks in search of the footprints of his young mistress. “The heavy bolts of the gate leading into the city were in place, and this proved that Tahoser had not gone out that way. It is true that Nofré had carelessly traversed every path, marking them with her sandals, but by bending close to the ground, old Souhem speedily noticed among Nofré’s footprints a slight imprint made by a narrow, dainty sole belonging to a much smaller foot than the maid’s. He followed this track, which led him, passing under the arbour, from the pylon in the court to the water gate. The bolts, as he pointed out to Nofré, had been drawn, and the two leaves of the door were held merely by their weight ; therefore Petamounoph’s daughter had gone out that way. Farther on the track was lost; the brick quay had preserved no trace; the boatman who had carried Tahoser across had not returned to his station; the II 161 KLAKAEAL ELSPA et eeeetse THE ROMANCE OF. Als Mahe others were asleep, and when questioned replied that they had seen nothing. One, however, did report — that a woman, poorly dressed and belonging appar- ently to the lowest class, had been ferried over early to the other side of the river to the Memnonia quarter, no doubt to carry out some funeral rite. “This descrip- tion, which in no way tallied with the elegant ‘Tahoser, completely upset the suppositions of Nofré and Souhem. They returned to the house sad and disappointed. The men and women servants sat down on the ground in desolate attitudes, letting one of their hands hang down, its palm turned up, and placing the other on their head, all of them calling together in plaintive chorus, “ Woe! woe! woe! Our mistress is gone!” “By Oms, the dog of the lower regions, I shall find her,’ said old Souhem, “ even if I have to walk living to the very confines of the Western Region to which travel the dead. She was a kind mistress ; she gave us food in abundance, did not exact excessive labour, and caused us to be beaten only when we deserved it and in moderation. Her foot was not heavy on our bowed necks, and in her home a slave might believe himself free.” 162 HLEEA SPELLS tetetete tes Sallie — Soult — relies —Sonllind — Soci — Sacllan — Srl, — Solin — Soll rd —erllind —I THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY |? “ Woe! woe! woe!” repeated the men and women as they cast dust upon their heads. “© Alas! dear mistress, who knows where you are now?” said her faithful maid, whose tears were flowing. ‘¢ Perchance some enchanter compelled you to leave your palace through a spell in order to work his odious will on you. He will lacerate your fair body, will draw your heart out through a cut like that made by the dissectors, will throw your remains to the ferocious crocodiles, and on the day of reunion your mutilated soul will find shapeless remains only. You will not go to join, at the end of the passages of which the undertaker keeps the plan, the painted and gilded mummy of your father, the high-priest ‘Petamounoph, in the funeral chamber which has been cut out for you.” > “Calm yourself, Nofré,” said old Souhem; “let us not despair too soon. It may be that Tahoser will soon return. She has no doubt yielded to some fancy which we cannot guess, and presently we shall see her come back, gay and smiling, holding aquatic flowers in her hands.” Wiping her eyes with the corner of her dress, the maid nodded assent. Souhem crouched down, bend- 163 wwe THE ROMANCE OF Al (-M Gaia che ob oe be abe abe oho abe obo abe abe cbe ce bela cbe bebe abe cbr ce obec ing his knees like those of the dog-faced figures which are roughly carved out of a square block of basalt, and pressing his temples between his dry hands, seemed to reflect deeply. His face of a reddish brown, his sunken eyes, his prominent jaws, the deeply wrinkled cheeks, his straight hair framing in his face like bristles, made him altogether like the monkey-faced gods. He was certainly not a god, but he looked very much like a monkey. The result of his meditations, anxiously awaited by Nofré, was thus expressed: “The daughter of Petamounoph is in love.” “ Who told you?” cried Nofré, who thought that she was the only one who could read her mistress’s heart. “No one; but Tahoser is very beautiful; she has already beheld sixteen times the rise and fall of the Nile. Sixteen is the number symbolical of voluptuous- ness; and for some time past she has been calling at unaccustomed hours her players on the harp, the lute, and the flute, like one who seeks to calm the agitation of her heart by music.” “You speak sensibly, and wisdom dwells in your old bald head. But how have you learned to know 164 deo ecko oe ace ch oe che cdec obec ce ooo ooo oe oh lace THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY women, — you who merely dig the earth in the garden and bear jars of water on your shoulders? ” The slave opened his lips with a silent smile and exhibited two rows of teeth fit to crush date-stones. The grin meant, “I have not always been old and a captive.” Enlightened by Souhem’s suggestion, Nofré imme- diately thought of the handsome Ahmosis, the oéris of the Pharaoh, who so often passed below the terrace, and who had looked so splendid on his war chariot in the triumphal procession. As she was in love with him herself, though she was not fully aware of it, she assumed that her mistress shared her feelings. She put on a somewhat heavier dress and repaired to the officer’s dwelling. It was there, she fancied, that Tahoser would certainly be found. The young officer was seated on a low seat at the end of the room. On the walls hung trophies of different weapons: the leather tunic covered with bronze plates on which was engraved the cartouche of the Pharaoh; the brazen poniard, with the jade handle open-worked to allow the fingers to pass through; the flat-edged battle-axe, the falchion with curved blade; the helmet with its double plume of 165 LTTE BLLAE ELLA LSS eee ett sees THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY ostrich-feathers ; the triangular bow; and the red- feathered arrows. His distinctive necklaces were placed upon pedestals, and open coffers showed booty taken from the enemy. When he saw Nofré, whom he knew well, standing on the threshold, he felt quick pleasure, his brown cheeks flushed, his muscles quivered, his heart beat high. He thought Nofré brought him a message from ‘Tahoser, although the priest’s daughter had never taken notice of his glances; but the man to whom the gods have imparted the gift of beauty easily fancies that all women fall in love with him. He rose and took a few steps towards Nofré, whose anxious glance examined the corners of the room to make sure whether Tahoser was there or not. “What brings you here, Nofré?”’ said Ahmosis, seeing that the young maid, full of her search, did not break silence. ‘Your mistress is well, I hope, for I think I saw her yesterday at the Pharaoh’s entry.” “You should know whether my mistress is well better than any one else,” replied Nofré; ‘for she has fled from her home without informing any one of her intentions. I could swear by Hathor that you know the refuge which she chose.” 166 che che oe obo o oh oe oe te baa cece fo cla foal ob a be eo foo THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY ‘She has disappeared! — what are you talking about ?”’ cried Ahmosis, with a surprise that was un- questionably genuine. be) “¢T thought she loved you,” said Nofré, “and some- times the best-behaved maidens lose their heads. So she is not here?” “‘’The god Phrah, who sees everything, knows where she is, but not one of his beams, which end in hands, has fallen on her within these walls. Look for your- self and visit every room.” “© believe you, Ahmosis, and I must go; for if Tahoser had come, you could not conceal it from her faithful Nofré, who would have asked nothing better than to serve your loves. You are handsome; she is very rich and a virgin; the gods would have beheld your marriage with pleasure.” Nofré returned to the house more anxious and more upset than before. She feared that the servants might be suspected of having killed T'ahoser in order to seize on her riches, and that the judges would seek to make them confess under torture what they did not actually know. The Pharaoh, on his part, was also thinking of Tahoser. After having made the libations and the 167 THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY offerings required by frre ritual, he had seated himself in the inner court of the harem, and was sunk in thought, paying no attention to the gambols of his women, who, nude and crowned with flowers, were disporting themselves in the transparent waters of the piscina, splashing each other and .uttering shrill, sono- rous bursts of laughter, in order to attract the attention of the master, who had not made up his mind, contrary to his habit, which of them should be the favourite queen that week. It was a charming picture which these beautiful women presented; in a framework of shrubs and flowers, in the centre of the court, surrounded by columns painted in brilliant colours, in the clear light of an azure sky, across which flew from time to time an ibis with outstretched neck and trailing legs, their shapely bodies shone in the water like submerged statues of jasper. Amense and ‘Twea, weary of swimming, had emerged from the water, and kneeling on the edge of the basin, were spreading out to dry in the sun their thick black hair, the long locks of which made their white skins seem whiter still. A few last drops of water ran down their shining shoulders and their arms 168 THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY polished like jade. Maids rubbed them with aromatic oil and essences, while a young Ethiopian girl held out the calyx of a large flower so that they might breathe its perfume. It might have been thought that the artist who had carved the decorative bassi-relievi of the rooms in the harem had taken these graceful groups as models; but the Pharaoh could not have looked with a colder glance at the designs cut in the stone. Perched on the back of his armchair the tame monkey was eat- ing dates and cracking its jaws; against the master’s legs the tame cat. rubbed itself, arching its back ; the deformed dwarf pulled the monkey’s tail and the cat’s moustaches, making the one scratch and the other chatter, a performance which usually caused His Majesty to smile; but His Majesty was not in a smiling mood on that day. He put the cat aside, made the monkey get off the armchair, smote the dwarf on the head, and walked toward the granite apartments. Each of those rooms was formed of blocks of pro- digious size, and closed by stone gates which no human power could have forced unless the secret of opening them were known. Within these halls were kept the 169 = = = “ = = —— — = = = = = = = THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY riches of the Pharaoh, and the booty taken from con- quered nations. They held ingots of precious metals, crowns of gold and silver, neckplates and bracelets of cloisonné enamel, earrings which shone like the disc of Moui, necklaces of seven rows of cornelian, lapis-lazuli, red jasper, pearls, agates, sardonyx, and onyx; exquisitely chased anklets, belts, with plates engraved with hieroglyphs, rings with scarabzi set in them; quantities of fishes, crocodiles, and hearts stamped out of gold, serpents in enamel twisted on themselves; bronze vases, flagons of wavy alabaster, and of blue glass on which wound white spirals; cof- fers of enamelled ware; boxes of sandal wood of strange and chimerical forms; heaps of aromatic gums from all countries; blocks of ebony; precious stuffs so fine that a whole piece could have been pulled through a ring; white and black ostrich plumes, and others coloured in various ways; monstrously huge elephant’s-tusks, cups of gold, silver, gilded glass; statues marvellous both as regards the material and the workmanship. In every room the Pharaoh caused to be taken a litter-load borne by two robust slaves of Kousch and Scheto, and clapping his hands, he called Timopht, 170 checked eo ode de oe oe oe de cdede ee cb obec ope ce be cee THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY the servant who had followed Tahoser, and said to him, “ Have all these things taken to Tahoser, the daughter of the high-priest Petamounoph, from the Pharaoh.” Timopht placed himself at the head of the proces- sion, which crossed the Nile on a royal barge, and soon the slaves with their load reached Tahoser’s house. “For Tahoser, from the Pharaoh,” said ‘Timopht, _ knocking at the door. At the sight of those treasures Nofré nearly fainted, half with fear, half with amazement. She dreaded lest the King should put her to death on learning that the priest’s daughter was no longer there. ‘“‘’Tahoser has gone,” said she, tremulously, ‘and I swear by the four sacred geese, Amset, Sis, Soumauts, and Kebhsniv, which fly to the four quarters of the wind, that I know not where she 1s.” hes Pharaoh), beloved: ‘of » Phré, favourite of Ammon Ra, has sent these gifts, —I cannot take them back. Keep them until Tahoser is found. You shall answer for them on your head. Have them put away in rooms and guarded by faithful servants,” replied the envoy of the King. 171 kbbee oh oe che he ofr tecdeche tected ead cele of bce ore, oe ole! ove THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY When Timopht returned to the palace and, pros- trate, his elbows close to his sides, his brow in the dust, said that Tahoser had vanished, the King became very wroth, and he struck the slab of the flooring so fiercely with his sceptre that the slab was split. AHOSER, nevertheless, scarce bestowed a thought on Nofré, her favourite maid, or on the anxiety which her absence would necessarily cause. “The beloved mistress had completely forgotten her beautiful home in Thebes, her servants, and her ornaments, —a most difficult and incredible thing in a woman. ‘The daughter of Petamounoph had not the least suspicion of the Pharaoh’s love for her; she had not observed’ the glance full of desire which had fallen upon her from the heights of that majesty which nothing on earth could move. Had she seen it, she would have de- posited the royal love as an offering, with all the flowers of her soul, at the feet of Poéri. While driving her spindle with her toe to make it ascend along the thread, — for this was the task which had been set her,—she followed with her glance every motion of the young Hebrew, her looks enveloped him like a caress. She silently enjoyed the happiness of remaining near him in the building to which he had given her access. 73 ale abe oe oe obs alls alle abe obs ole oe ollcbs be ele ob obs obs elle alls oe ove Ve ohS VIO CTO CHO O18 bs oly obs oe ofp obo ot THE ROMANCE OF A -MUMMY- If Poeri had turned towards her, he would no doubt have been struck by the moist brilliancy of her eyes, the sudden blushes which flushed her fair cheeks, the quick beating of her heart which might be guessed by the rising and falling of her bosom; but seated at a table, he bent over a leaf of papyrus on which, with the help of a reed, taking ink from a hollowed slab of alabaster, he inscribed accounts in demotic numbers. Did Poéri perceive the evident love of ‘Tahoser for him? Or for some secret reason, did he pretend not to perceive it? His manner towards her was gentle and kindly, but reserved, as if he sought to prevent or repel some importunate confession which it would have given him pain to reply to. And yet the sham Hora was very beautiful. Her charms, betrayed by the poverty of her dress, were all the more beautiful; and just as in the hottest hours of the day a luminous vapour is seen quivering upon the gleaming earth, so did an atmosphere of love shimmer around her. On her half-open lips her passion fluttered like a bird that seeks to take its flight; and softly, very softly, when she was sure that she would not be heard, she repeated like a monotonous cantilena, “ Poéri, I love you.” 174 che ke be oho che le oe oe oe che ce eae cdo ole che oof de cbc oe ele THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY It was harvest time, and Poeri went out to oversee the workmen. ‘Tahoser, who could no more leave him than the shadow can leave the body, followed him timidly, fearing lest he should tell her to remain in the house; but the young man said to her in a voice marked by no accent of anger, — “Grief is lightened by the sight of the peaceful work of agriculture, and if some painful remembrance of vanished prosperity weighs down your soul, it will disappear at the sight of this joyous activity. These things must be novel to you, for your skin, which the sun has never kissed, your delicate feet, your slender hands, and the elegance with which you drape your- self in the piece of coarse stuff which serves you for a vestment, prove to me that you have always inhabited cities, and have lived in the midst of refine- ment and luxury. Come, then, and sit down, while still turning your spindle, under the shadow of that tree, where the harvesters have hung up, to keep it cool, the skin which holds their drink.” Tahoser obeyed and sat down under the tree, her arms crossed on her knees and her knees up to her chin. From the garden wall, the plain stretched to the foot of the Libyan chain like a yellow sea we che che ob a fe he oe be he cba che ctocda och cde cock cf coal ae THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY over which the least breath of air drove waves of gold. ‘The light was so intense that the golden tone of the grain whitened in places and became silvery. In the rich mud of the Nile the grain had grown strong, straight, and high like javelins, and never had a richer harvest, flaming and crackling with heat, been outspread in the sun. “The crop was abundant enough to fill up to the ceiling the range of vaulted granaries which rose near the cellars. The workmen had already been a long while at work, and here and there out of the waves of the corn showed their woolly or close-shaven , heads covered with pieces of white stuff, and their naked torsos the colour of baked brick. ‘They bent and rose with a regular motion, cutting the grain just below the ear, as regularly as if they had followed a line marked out by a cord. Behind them in the furrows walked the gleaners with esparto bags, in which they placed the harvested ears, and which they then carried on their shoulders, or suspended from a cross-bar and with the help of a companion, to grinding-mills situ- ated some distance apart. Sometimes the breathless harvesters stopped to take breath, and putting their sickles under their right arm drank a draught of 176 rhe obo obe of ae abe abe abe ahaa obec ae ok ob foo a oe obe abel THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY water. “Then they quickly resumed their work, fear- ing the foreman’s stick. The harvested grain was spread on the threshing- floor in layers evened with a pitchfork, and slightly higher on the edges on account of the additional basketfuls which were being poured on. Then Poéri signed to the ox-driver to bring on his animals. “They were superb oxen with long horns, curved like the head-dress of Isis, with high withers, deep dewlaps, clean, muscular limbs; the brand of the estate, stamped with a red-hot iron, showed upon their flanks. “They walked slowly, bearing a_hori- zontal yoke which bore equally upon the heads of the four. They were driven on to the threshing-floor; urged by the double-lashed whip, they began to trample in a circle, making the grain spring from the ear under their cloven hoofs; the sun shone on their lustrous coats, and the dust which they raised ascended to their nostrils, so that after going around about twenty times, they would lean one against another, and in spite of the hissing whip which lashed their flanks, they would unmistakably slacken their pace. To encourage them, the driver who followed them, hold- 12 sr a | che ke che ake oe oe oe oe oe ae ob decease ce once feels obese THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY ing by the tail the nearest animal, began to sing in a joyous, quick rhythm the old ox-song: ‘“ Turn for yourselves, O oxen, turn for yourselves ; measures for you, and measures for your masters.” And the team, with new spirit, started on and disappeared in a cloud of yellow dust that sparkled like gold. The work of. the oxen done, came servants who, armed with wooden scoops, threw the grain into the air and let it fall to separate it from the straw, the awn, and the shell. The grain thus winnowed was put into bags, the numbers of which were noted by a scribe, and carried to the lofts, which were reached by ladders. ‘Tahoser under the shadow of her tree enjoyed this animated and grandiose spectacle, and often her heed- less hand forgot to spin the thread. The day was waning, and already the sun, which had risen behind Thebes, had crossed the Nile and was sinking towards the Libyan chain, behind which its disc sets every evening. It was the hour when the cattle returned from the fields to the stable. She watched near Poéri the long pastoral procession. First was seen advancing the vast herd of oxen, some white, others red, some black with lighter 178 ch ob oe be abe aba abe oh ob abe aoa ce ele ob ce abe feof abel THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY spots, others piebald, others brindled. They were of all colours and all sizes. “They passed by, lift- ing up their lustrous mouths whence hung filaments of saliva, opening their great, gentle eyes; the more impatient, smelling the stables, half raised themselves for a moment and peered above the horned multitude, with which, as they fell, they were soon confounded ; the less skilful, outstripped by their companions, uttered long, plaintive bellows as if to protest. Near the oxen walked the herds with their whip and their rolled up cord. On arriving near Poéri they knelt down, and, with their elbows close to their sides, touched the ground with their lips as a mark of respect. Scribes wrote down the number of heads of cattle upon tablets. Behind the oxen came the asses, trotting along and kicking under the blows of the donkey drivers. These had smooth-shaven heads, and were dressed in a mere linen girdle, the end of which fell between their legs. The donkeys went past, shaking their long ears and trampling the ground with their little, hard hoofs. The donkey drivers performed the same genuflection as the ox-herds, and the scribes noted also the exact number of the animals. ake, AEALALALLELLEALAALE ALAA L LS we ee THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY Then it was the turn of the goats. ‘They arrived, headed by the he-goat, their broken and shrill voices trembling with pleasure; the goat-herds had much difficulty in restraining their high spirits and in bring- ing back to the main body the marauding ones which strayed away. ‘They were counted, like the oxen and the asses, and with the same ceremonial the goat-herds prostrated themselves at Poéri’s feet. The procession was closed by the geese, which, weary with walking on the road, balanced themselves _ on their web feet, flapped their wings noisily, stretched out their necks, and uttered hoarse cries. Their num- ber was taken, and the tablets handed to the steward of the domain. Long after the oxen, the asses, the goats, and the geese had gone in, a column of dust which the wind could not sweep away still rose slowly into the heavens. . “ Well, Hora,” said Poéri to Tahoser, “has the sight of the harvest and the flocks amused you? These are our pastoral pleasures. We have not here, as in Thebes, harpists and dancers; but agri- culture is holy; it is the nurse of man, and he who sows a grain of corn does a deed agreeable to the gods. Now come and take your meal with your 180 deckeckecle cb oe dec oh obe beech ecb fele fee ob ceo THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY companions. For my part, I am going back to the house to calculate how many bushels of wheat the ears have produced.” Tahoser put one hand to the ground and the other on her head as a mark of respectful assent, and with- drew. In the dining-hall laughed and chattered a number of young servants as they ate their onions and cakes of doora and dates. A small earthenware vase full of oil, in which dipped a wick, gave them light, — for night had fallen, — and cast a yellow light upon their brown cheeks and bodies which no garment veiled. Some were seated on ordinary wooden seats, others leaned against the wall with one leg drawn up. “Where does the master go like that every even- 33 ing?” said a little, sly-looking maid, as she peeled a pomegranate with pretty, monkey-like gestures. 33 “) ‘‘She is very beautiful for a sister,” she murmured, as she cast a jealous glance upon the strange and charming face with its red lips and its pale complexion that was set off by ornaments of exotic shapes, and the beauty of which had something fatally mysterious about it. “Oh, Ra’hel, my beloved Ra’hel!”’ repeated Poéri often. ‘Tahoser remembered having heard him whisper that name while she was fanning him in his sleep. ** He thought of her even in his dreams. No doubt Ra’hel is her name.” And the poor child felt in her breast a sharp pang as if all the uraus snakes of the entablatures, all the royal asps of the Pharaonic crowns, had struck their venomous fangs in her heart. Ra’hel bowed her head on Poéri’s shoulder like a flower overladen with sunshine and love; the lips of the young man touched the hair of the lovely Jewess, who fell back slowly, yielding her brow and _half- closed eyes to his earnest and timid caress. ‘Their hands, which had sought each other, were now clasped and feverishly pressed together. “Oh, why did I not surprise him in some impious and mysterious ceremony, slaying with his own hands 13 193 ns che abe obe obs oe oh eh a ob abe erode cde eee ce fo oe of ce eae oe ere THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY a human victim, drinking its blood ina cup of black ware, rubbing his face with it? It seems to me that I should have suffered less than at the sight of that lovely woman whom he embraces so timidly,” mur- mured Tahoser in a faint voice as she sank on the ground in a corner by the hut. ‘Twice she strove to rise, but she fell back on her knees. Darkness came over her, her limbs gave way, and she fell in a swoon. Meanwhile Poéri issued from the hut, giving a last kiss to Ra’hel. 194 kekeeeetetttettebtttbhbtbtts THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY KEAKKAALKLAAK SSE A Shs Xx HE Pharaoh, raging and anxious on hearing of the disappearance of ‘Tahoser, had given way to that desire for change which pos- sesses a heart tormented by an unsatisfied passion. To the deep grief of Amense, Hont-Reché, and Twea, his favourites, who had endeavoured to retain him in the Summer Palace by all the resources of feminine coquetry, he now inhabited the Northern Palace on the other side of the Nile. His fierce pre- occupation was irritated by the presence and the chat- ter of his women; they displeased him because they were not Tahoser. He now thought ugly those beau- ties who had seemed to him formerly so fair; their young, slender, graceful bodies, their voluptuous atti- tudes, their long eyes brightened by antimony and flashing with desire, their purple lips, white teeth, and languishing smiles, —- everything in them, even the perfume of their cool skin, as delicate as a bouquet of flowers or a box of scent, had become odious to him. He seemed to be angry with them for having loved them, and to be unable to understand how he 195 the hea he abe be aha a abe abe octets che cbo le chaebol fs obecl owe ove VYS eye o7e THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY could have been smitten by such vulgar charms. When ‘Twea touched his breast with the slender, pink finger of her little hand, shaking with emotion, as if to recall the remembrance of former familiarities ; when Hont-Reché placed before him the draught- board supported by two lions back to back, in. order to play a game; when Amense presented him with a lotus-flower with respectful, supplicating grace, he could scarcely refrain from striking them with his sceptre, and his royal eyes flashed with such disdain that the poor women who had ventured on such bold- ness, withdrew abashed, their eyes wet with tears, and leaned silently against the painted wall, trying by their motionlessness to appear to be part of the paintings on the frescoes. To avoid these scenes of tears and violence, he had withdrawn to the palace of Thebes, alone, taciturn, and sombre; and there, instead of remaining seated on his throne in the solemn attitude of the gods and of kings, who, being almighty, neither move nor make a gesture, he walked feverishly up and down through the vast halls. Strange was it to see that tall Pharaoh with imposing mien, as formidable as the granite colossi, his like, making the stone floors resound under his curved 196 che che ole abe ly oly ote che che che che bebe ote cheb chsh cha ob ok THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY sandals. When he passed, the terrified guards seemed to be petrified and to turn to stone. They remained breathless, and not even the double ostrich-feather in their headgear dared tremble. When he had passed, they scarce ventured to whisper, “‘ What is the matter to-day with the Pharaoh? ” Had he returned from his expedition a beaten man, he could not have been more morose and sombre. If, instead of having won ten victories, slain twenty thousand enemies, brought back two thousand virgins chosen from among the fairest, a hundred loads of gold- dust, a thousand loads of ebony and elephants’ tusks, without counting the rare products and the strange animals, —if, instead of all this, Pharaoh had seen his army cut to pieces, his war chariots overthrown and broken, if he had escaped alone from the rout under a shower of arrows, dusty, blood-covered, taking the reins from the hands of his driver dead by his side, — he certainly could not have appeared more gloomy and more desperate. After all, the land of Egypt produces soldiers in abundance; innumerable horses neigh and paw the ground in the palace stables; and workmen could soon bend wood, melt copper, sharpen brass. The fortune of war is changeable, but a disaster may 197 che foods choos ta de te oh abe abe elec feo foe rob cab ele Te OFS OTe OF ere ore ore THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY be atoned for. ‘To have, however, wished for a thing which did not at once come to him, to have met with an obstacle between his will and the carrying out of that will, to have hurled like a javelin a desire which had not struck its mark, — that was what amazed the Pharaoh who dwelt in the higher plane of almightiness. For one moment it occurred to him that he was only a man. So he wandered through the vast courts, down the avenues of giant pillars, passed under the mighty pylons, between the lofty monolithic obelisks and the colossi which gazed upon him with their great, frightened eyes. He. traversed the hypostyle hall and the maze of the granitic forest with its one hundred and sixty- two pillars tall and strong as towers. The figures of gods, of kings, and of symbolic beings painted on the walls seemed to fix upon him their great eyes, drawn in black upon their profile masks, the uraeus snakes to twist and swell their hoods, the bird-faced divinities to stretch out their necks, the globes to spread over the cornices their fluttering wings of stone. A strange, | fantastic life animated these curious figures, and peo- pled with living swarms the solitudes of the vast hall, which was as large as an ordinary palace. ‘The divin- 198 cba ae a oy che he oe oho he choca abe abe bach obec be ft soa THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY ities, the ancestors, the chimerical monsters, eternally motionless, were amazed to see the Pharaoh, ordinarily as calm as themselves, striding up and down as though he were a man of flesh, and not of porphyry and basalt. Weary of roaming about that mysterious forest of pillars that upbore a granite heaven, like a lion which seeks the track of its prey and scents with its wrinkled nose the moving sand of the desert, the Pharaoh as- cended one of the terraces of the palace, stretched him- self on a low couch, and sent for Timopht. Timopht appeared at once, and advanced from the top of the stairs to the Pharaoh, prostrating himself at every step. He dreaded the wrath of the master whose favour he had, for a moment, hoped he had gained. Would the skill he had shown in discovering the home of ‘Tahoser be a sufficient excuse for the crime of los- ing track of the lovely maid? Raising one knee and leaving the other bent, Timopht stretched out his arms with a supplicating gesture. “ O King, do not doom me to death or to be beaten beyond measure. ‘The beauteous Tahoser, the daugh- ter of Petamounoph, on whom your desire deigned to descend as the hawk swoops down upon the dove, will doubtless be found; and when, returned to her home, ake ere ow Te ote ove THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY she sees your magnificent gifts, her heart will be touched, and she will come of herself to take, among the women that dwell in your harem, the place which you will assign to her.” “Did you question her servants and her slaves?” said the King. ‘The stick loosens the most rebellious tongue, and suffering makes men and women say what they would otherwise hide.” “ Nofré and Souhem, her favourite maid and her oldest servant, told me that they had noticed the bolts of the garden gate drawn back, that probably their mistress had gone out that way. ‘The gate opens on the river, and the water does not preserve the track of boats.” | “¢ What did the boatmen of the Nile say?” ““’They had seen nothing. One man alone said that a poorly dressed woman crossed the stream with the first light of day; but it could not be the beau- tiful and rich Tahoser, whose face you have yourself noticed, and who walks like a queen in her superb garments.” Timopht’s logic did not appear to convince the Pharaoh. He leaned his chin on his hand and re- flected for a few moments. Poor Timopht waited 200 che obe oe ofa oe oe oe ha oe oro efecbecde ooh ooo abe ob THE ROMANCE O MUMMY at > in silence, fearing an explosion of fury. The King’s lips moved as if he were speaking to himself. “© That mean dress was a disguise. Yes, it must have been. Thus disguised, she crossed to the other side of the river. “Timopht is a fool, who cannot see anything. I have a great mind to have him thrown to the crocodiles or beaten to death. But what could be her reason? A maid of high birth, the daughter of a high-priest, to escape thus from her palace, alone and without informing any one of her intention! It may be there is some love affair at the bottom of this mystery.” As this thought occurred to him, the Pharaoh’s face flushed red as if under the reflection of a fire; the blood had rushed from his heart to his face. The red- ness was followed by dreadful pallor; his eyebrows writhed like the urzus in his diadem, his mouth was contracted, he grated his teeth, and his face became so terrible that the terrified Timopht fell on his face upon the pavement as falls a dead man. But the Pharaoh resumed his coolness, his face re- gained its majestic, weary, placid look, and seeing that Timopht did not rise, he kicked him disdainfully. When Timopht, who already saw himself stretched on the funeral bed supported by jackal’s feet in the 201 clock abe nish ch ech ch cb cheb dechchobch checbek oh hob wwe oe THE ROMANCE OF AMO MENS Memnonia quarter, his side open, his stomach emptied, and himself ready to be plunged into a bath of pickie, —when Timopht raised himself, he dared not look up to the King, but remained crouched on his heels, a prey to the bitterest anguish. “Come, ‘Timopht!” said His Majesty, “rise up, run, and despatch emissaries on all sides; have temples, palaces, houses, villas, gardens, yea, the meanest of huts searched, and find Tahoser. Send chariots along every road; have the Nile traversed in every direction by boats; go yourself and ask those whom you meet if they have not seen such and such a woman. Violate the tombs, if she has taken refuge in the abodes of death, far within some passage or hypo- geum. Seek her out as. Isis sought her husband Osiris torn away by Typhon, and, dead or alive, bring her back, — or by the urzus of my pschent, by the lotus of my sceptre, you shall perish in hideous tortures.”’ . Timopht went off with the speed of a deer to carry out the orders of the Pharaoh, who, somewhat calmer, took one of those poses of tranquil grandeur which the sculptors love to give to the colossi set up at the gates of the temples and palaces, and calm as beseems those ZOOL, ibe hbk bbb bbb bot ore we wie Ma) UR OMRON CRY OF sAn MME MY whose sandals, covered with drawings of captives with bound elbows, rest upon the heads of nations, he waited. A roar as of thunder sounded around the palace, and had the sky not been of unchangeable, lapis-lazuli blue it might have been thought that a storm had_ burst unexpectedly. The sound was caused by the swiftly revolving wheels of the chariots galloping off in every direction, and shaking the very ground. Soon the Pharaoh perceived from the top of the terrace the boats cleaving the stream under the impulse of the rowers, and his messengers scattering on the other bank through the country. The Libyan chain, with its rosy light, and its sapphire blue shadows, bounded the horizon and formed a background to the giant buildings of Rameses, Amenhotep, and Amen Phtases; the pylons with their sloping angles, the walls with their spread- ing cornices, the colossi with their hands resting on their knees, stood out, gilded by the sunbeams, their size undiminished by distance. But the Pharaoh looked not at these proud edifices. Amid the clumps of palms and the cultivated fields, houses and painted kiosks rose here and there, standing out against the brilliant colours of the vegetation. 203 che che oh fe oe oe ee he che ce che che ole abe cbse feof ee wpe wire vro OTe OTe ove eve OTe THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY Under one of these roofs, on one of these ter- races, no doubt, Tahoser was hiding; and by some spell he wished he could raise them or make them transparent. Hours followed on hours. ‘The sun had sunk behind the mountains, casting its last rays on Thebes, and the messengers had not returned. ‘The Pharaoh preserved his motionless attitude. Night fell on the city, cool, calm, blue; the stars came out and twinkled in the deep azure. On the corner of the terrace the Pharaoh, silent, impassible, stood out dark like a basalt statue fixed upon the entablature. Several times the birds of night swept around his head ere settling on it, but terrified by his deep, slow breathing, they fled with startled wings. From the height where he sat, the King overlooked the city lying at his feet. Out of the mass of bluish shadow uprose the obelisks with their sharp pyramid- ions ; the pylons, giant doors traversed by rays; high cornices; the colossi rising shoulder-high above the sea of buildings; the propylaa; the pillars, with capi- tals swelled out like huge granite flowers ; the corners of temples and of palaces, brought out by a silvery touch of light. “The sacred pools spread out shimmering 204 iin Be ROMAN C EY OF SAG MOM MY like polished metal; the human-headed and the ram- headed sphinxes aligned along the avenues, stretched out their hind-quarters ; and the flat roofs were multi- plied infinitely, white under the moonlight, in masses cut here and there into great slices by the squares and the streets. Red points studded the darkness as if the stars had let sparks fall upon the earth. These were lamps still burning in the sleeping city. Still farther, between the less crowded buildings, faintly seen shafts of palm trees waved their fans of leaves; and beyond, the contours and the shapes were merged in a vaporous immensity, for even the eagle’s glance could not have reached the limits of Thebes; and on the other side old Hopi was flowing majestically towards the sea. Soaring in sight and thought over that vast city of which he was the absolute master, the Pharaoh reflected sadly on the limits set to human power, and his desire, like a raging vulture, gnawed at his heart. He said to himself: “ All these houses contain beings who at the sight of me bow their faces into the dust, to whom my will is the will of the gods. When I pass upon my golden car or in my litter borne by the oéris, virgins feel their bosoms swell as their long, timid 205 kKéeeeeteeeeettetetteetetes THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY glance follows me; the priests burn incense to me in their censers, the people wave palms and scatter flowers; the whistling of one of my arrows makes the nations tremble; and the walls of pylons huge as pre- cipitous mountains are scarce sufficient to record my victories; the quarries can scarce furnish granite enough for my colossal statues. Yet once, in my superb satiety, | form a wish, and that wish I cannot fulfil. ‘Timopht does not reappear. No doubt he has failed. Oh, Tahoser, Tahoser! How great is the hap- piness you will have to bestow on me to make up for this long waiting! ”’ Meanwhile the messengers, Timopht at their head, were visiting the houses, examining the roads, inquir- ing after the priest’s daughter, describing her to the travellers they met; but no one could answer them. The first messenger appeared on the terrace and an- nounced to the Pharaoh that T’ahoser could not be found. The Pharaoh stretched out his sceptre, and the messenger fell dead, in spite of the proverbial hard- ness of the Egyptian skull. A second came up; he stumbled against the body of his comrade stretched on the slabs; he trembled, for he saw that the Pharaoh was angry. 206 abe abe abs ole obs obs ole abe abe abe abs cba obe of ole obs oly obs obv abe obo obo obo ole THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY “What of Tahoser?’” said the Pharaoh, without changing his attitude. “QO Majesty! all trace of her is lost,’ replied the poor wretch, kneeling in the darkness before the black shadow, which was more like a statue of Osiris than a living king. The granite arm was outstretched from the motion- less torso, and the metal sceptre fell like a thunderbolt. The second messenger rolled on the ground by the side of the first. The third shared the same fate. Timopht, in the course of his search, reached the house of Poéri, who, having returned from his nocturnal excursion, had been amazed that morning at not seeing the sham Hora. MHarphre and the servants who, the night before, had supped with her, did not know what had become of her; her room had been found empty ; she had been sought for in vain through the gardens, the cellars, the granaries, and the washing-places. Poéri replied, when questioned by Timopht, that it was true that a young girl had presented herself at his gate in the supplicating posture of misfortune, implor- ing hospitality on her knees; that he had received her kindly ; had offered her food and shelter; but that she 207 choco cbse de eck ch deca cbch ab cb ch ch oh oh check THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY had left in a mysterious fashion for a reason which he could not fathom. In what direction had she gonef That he did not know. No doubt, having rested, she had continued on her way to some unknown place. She was beautiful, sad, wore a garment of common stuff, and appeared to be poor, Did the name of Hora which she had given stand for that of Tahoser? It was for Timopht to answer that question. Provided with this information, Timopht returned to the palace, and keeping well out of the reach of the Pharaoh’s sceptre, he repeated what he had learned. “© What did she go to Poéri’s for?’ said the Pharaoh to himself. ‘If Hora is really Tahoser, she loves Poéri. And yet, no! for she would not have fled thus, after having been received under his roof. I shall find her again, even if I have to upset the whole of Egypt from the Cataracts to the Delta.” 208 che obo obo obe abe abe oe ob aber feade toch abe lo cbeebnebocd ae abeee we coe oe ode oe oe oe oe oho che ae cle ce cde ce eee obec oe oe XI A’HEL, who from the threshold of the hut R was watching Poéri go away, thought she heard a faint sigh. She listened; some dogs were baying to the moon, an owl uttered its dole- ful hoot, and the crocodiles moaned between the reeds of the river, imitating the cry of a child in distress. The young Israelite was about to re-enter the hut when a more distinct moan, which could not be attrib- uted to the vague sounds of night, and which cer- tainly came from a human breast, again struck her ear. Fearing some ambush, she drew cautiously near the place whence came the sound, and close to the wall of the hut she perceived in the blue transparent dark- ness the shape of a body fallen to the ground. ‘The wet drapery outlined the limbs of the false Hora and betrayed her sex. Ravhel, seeing that she had to do with a fainting woman only, lost all fear and knelt by her, questioning the breathing of her lips and the beating of her heart ; the one was just expiring on the pale lips, the other scarce beat under the cold breasts. 14 209 the fe ake che oho che ho oe oho abe che debe che ole ob che che obec oh check CFO We WTO ere oTe WE Te THE | ROMAN GEO fF: cA: ¢ NERVE i Feeling the water which had soaked the stranger’s dress, Ra’hel thought at first that it was blood, and imagined that the woman must be the victim of a murder. In order to help her to better purpose, she called Thamar, her seryant, and the two women carried Tahoser into the hut. “They laid her upon the couch. Thamar held up a lamp, while Ra‘hel, bending over the girl, looked for the wound; but no red streak showed upon ‘he pallor of Tahoser, and her dress had no crimson stain. They stripped off her wet garment, and cast over her a piece of striped wool, the gentle warmth of which soon restored her suspended circulation. “Taho- | ser slowly opened her eyes and cast around her a terri- fied glance like that of a captured gazelle. It took her some time to regain control of her thoughts. She could not understand how she happened to be in that room, on the bed, where but a moment ago she had seen Poéri and the young Israelite seated side by side with clasped hands, speaking of love, while she, breathless, amazed, watched through the crack of the wall; but soon memory returned, and with it the feeling of her situation. The light fell full on Rav’hel’s face. Tahoser 210 OTe VO UTO BO WS OT? OO OTS vw TEP br RONMANG@IO «OR A MED MEM ¥ che oe fe oko ote be abe abe oho be ta abncle ole abana cbc soso ob studied it silently, grieved to find her so perfectly beautiful. In vain, with all the fierceness of feminine jealousy, she tried to note defects in her; she felt herself not vanquished, but equalled; Ra’hel was the Hebrew ideal, as T’ahoser was the Egyptian. Hard though it was to her loving heart, she was compelled to admit that Poéri’s love was justified and well bestowed. ‘The eyes with their full black eye- lashes, the beautiful nose, the red mouth with its dazzling smile, the long, elegant oval face, the arms, full near the shoulders and ending in childish hands, the round, plump neck which, as it turned, formed folds more beautiful than necklaces of gems,—all this, set off by a quaint, exotic dress, was sure to please. “© | made a great mistake,”’ said Tahoser to herself, ‘‘when I presented myself to Poéri in the humble attitude of a suppliant, trusting to my charms over- praised by flatterers. Fool that I was! I acted as a soldier who should go to war without breastplate or weapons. If I had appeared in all my splendour, covered with jewels and enamels, standing on my golden car followed by my numerous slaves, I might perhaps have touched his fancy, if not his heart.” 211 chooks cbs ob oe abe alle che he abe fe cb che che obo che cbr be ofr ofc obo abe ste ohe eT ae ee ee ee ee ae One one Ove eve THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY ‘‘ How do you feel now?” said Ra’hel in Egyptian to Tahoser; for by the outline of the face and the dressing of the hair, she had perceived that the maiden did not belong to the Israelitish race. The sound of her voice was sympathetic and sweet, and the foreign accent added oreater grace to it. ‘T'ahoser was touched in spite of herself, and re- plied, “I feel better. Your kind care will soon have restored me.” ‘Do not tire yourself with speaking,’ answered the Israelite, placing her hand on ‘ahoser’s lips. “Try to sleep, to regain your strength. Thamar and I will watch over you.” Her agitation, the swim across the Nile, the long walk through the poor quarters of ‘Thebes, had wearied out Petamounoph’s daughter; her delicate frame was. exhausted, and soon her long lashes closed, forming a dark semicircle upon her cheeks flushed with fever. Sleep came to her, but broken, restless, distorted by strange dreams, troubled by threatening hallucinations ; nervous shivers made the sleeper start, and broken words, replying to the dream dialogue, were spoken by the half-opened lips. Seated at the bed head, Ra’hel followed the changes 242, deck oe cba oe oe be ecb ccna che che cle ee ooo oe oe oct ar CFS OFS OWE OTS CFO THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY in the features of Tahoser; troubled when she saw them contract and fill with grief, quieted again when the girl calmed down. ‘Thamar, crouching beside her mistress, was also watching the priest’s daughter, but her face expressed less kindliness. Coarse instincts showed in the wrinkles of her brow, pressed down by the broad band of the Hebrew head-dress ; her eyes, still bright in spite of her age, sparkled with curious questionings in their brown and wrinkled orbits; her bony nose, shining and curved like a vulture’s beak, seemed to scent out secrets; and her lips, slightly moving, appeared to be framing interrogations. She was very much concerned about this stranger picked up at the door of the hut. Whence came she? How did she happen to be there? What was her purpose? Who could she be? Such were the questions which Thamar asked herself, and to which, very regretfully, she could find no satisfactory replies. Besides, “Thamar, like all old women, was prejudiced against beauty, and in this repect ahoser proved very unpleasant to her. The faithful servant forgave beauty in her mistress only; for her good looks she considered as her property, and she was proud and jealous of them. 213 ere ee oFS OVS OFS OFS OTS STS woe THE ROMANCE 1OF ox MUMMY Seeing that Ra’hel kept silence, the old woman rose and sat down near her, and winking her eyes, the brown lids of which rose and fell like a bat’s wing, she whispered in the Hebrew tongue, “ Mistress, nothing good will come of this woman.” “Why do you think so, Thamar?” answered Ra’hel, in the same low tone and using the same language. ‘It is strange,’ went on the suspicious Thamar, “that she should have fainted there, and not else- where.” ‘She fell at the spot where weakness came upon her.” The old woman shook her head doubtfully. “Do you suppose,” said Poéri’s beloved, ‘that her faint was simulated? ‘The dissector might have cut her side with his sharp stone, so like a dead body did she seem. Her dull eyes, her pale lips, her pallid cheeks, her limp limbs, her skin as cold as that of the dead, — these things cannot be counterfeited.” ‘© No, doubtless,’ replied —TThamar, “ although there are women clever enough to feign all these symptoms, for some reason or another, so skilfully as to deceive the most clear-sighted. I believe that the maiden had swooned, as a matter of fact.” 214 «¢<’Then what are you suspicious of ? ” ““ How did she happen to be there in the middle of the night ; in this distant quarter inhabited only by the poor captives of our tribe whom the cruel Pharaoh em- ploys in making brick, and to whom he refuses the straw necessary to burn the bricks? What motive brought that Egyptian woman to our wretched huts? Why was her garment soaking wet, as if she had just emerged from a pool or from the river? ” “© ] know no more than you do,” replied Ra’hel. *¢Suppose she were a spy of our masters’,” said the old woman, whose fierce eyes were lighted up with hatred. ‘‘ Great events are preparing, who knows whether the alarm has not been given?” “© How could that young girl, ill as she is, hurt us? She is in our hands, weak, alone, ill. Besides, we can, at the least suspicious sign, keep her prisoner until the day of deliverance.” ‘In any case, she is not to be trusted. See how delicate and soft are her hands!” And old Thamar raised one of the arms of the sleeping Tahoser. “In what respect can the fineness of her skin endanger us?” ys cho ooh le oe he oe oo ae ede eee aes obe ore ob eo wwe THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY “©Oh, imprudent youth!”’ said Thamar; ‘oh, mad youth! which cannot see anything, which walks through life trustfully, without believing in ambushes, in brambles under the grass, in hot coals under the ashes, and which would gladly caress a viper, believing it to be only a snake. Open your eyes! That woman does not belong to the class of which she seems to be; her thumb has never been flattened on the thread of the spindle, and that little hand, softened by essences and pomades, has never worked. Her poverty is a. disguise.” Thamar’s words appeared to impress Ra’hel; she examined Tahoser more attentively. [he lamp shed upon her its trembling rays, and the delicate form of the priest’s daughter showed in the yellow light relaxed in sleep. The arm which Thamar had raised still rested upon the mantle of striped wool, showing whiter by contrast with the dark stuff; the wrist was circled with a bracelet of sandal wood, the com- monplace adornment of the coquetry of poverty; but if the ornament was rude and roughly chased, the flesh it covered seemed to have been washed in the perfumed bath of riches. “Then Ra’hel saw how beautiful was Tahoser, but the discovery excited no evil feeling in 216 shoe bee be ob oh oe oof decree ooo oe oe oe oe ee eee THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY her heart; ‘Tahoser’s beauty softened, instead of irritating her as it did “IThamar; she could not believe that such perfection concealed a vile and _perfidious soul; and in this respect her youthful candour judged more correctly than the long experience of her maid. Day at last dawned, and Tahoser’s fever grew worse. She was delirious at times, and then would fall into a prolonged slumber. ““If she were to die here,” said Thamar, “we should be accused of having killed her.”’ “She will not die,’ replied Ra’hel, putting a cup of cool water to the lips of the sick girl. “If she does, I shall throw her body by night into the Nile,” continued the obstinate Thamar, “and the crocodiles will undertake to make it disappear.” The day passed, the night came, and at the accus- tomed hour Poéri, having given the usual signal, ap- peared as he had done the night before on the threshold of the hut. Ra’hel came to meet him, her finger on her lips, and: signed to him to keep silence and to speak low, for Tahoser was sleeping. Poéri, whom Ra’hel led by the hand to the bed on which Tahoser rested, at once recognised the sham Hora, whose disappearance had 207 Se ee ee ee SS ee THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY preoccupied him a good deal, especially since the visit of ‘Timopht, who was looking for her in his master’s name. Marked astonishment showed in his face as he rose, after having bent over the bed to make quite certain that the young girl who lay there was the one whom he had welcomed, for he could not understand how she happened to be in this place. His look of surprise smote Ra’hel to the heart. She stood in front of Poéri to read the truth in his eyes, placed her hands upon his shoulders, and fixing her glance upon him, said, in a dry, sharp voice which contrasted with her speech, usually as gentle as the cooing of a dove, — “© So you know her?” Thamar grinned with satisfaction; she was proud of her perspicacity, and almost glad to see her sus- picions as regarded the stranger partially justified. “ Yes,” replied Poéri, quietly. The bright eyes of the old woman sparkled with malicious curiosity. Ra’hel’s face resumed its expression of trustfulness ; she no longer doubted her lover. Poéri told her that a girl calling herself Hora had presented herself at his home as a suppliant; that he 218 checde oe oleae che do os oh ob cbecdecde echo obec eos ae foot Ce Wie Cie oe WO oe we wie ee oe THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY had received her as any guest should be received; that the next day she had disappeared from among the maids, and that he could not understand how she happened to be there. He also added that the emis- saries of the Pharaoh were everywhere looking for ‘Tahoser, the daughter of the high-priest Petamounoph, who had disappeared from her palace. > “You see that I was right, mistress,” said Thamar, triumphantly. ‘Hora and Tahoser are one and the same person.” Pe nae iiay oe, replied” Poeriy, “ but: there’ area number of difficulties which my reason does not ex- plain. First, why should Tahoser, if it is she, don this disguise? Next, by what miracle do I meet here the maiden whom [I left last night on the other bank of the Nile, and who certainly could not know whither I was going?” “No doubt she followed you,” said Ra’hel. “JT am quite sure that at that time there was no other boat on the river but mine.” “That is the reason her hair was so dripping-wet and her garments soaked. She must have swum across the Nile.’ “That may well be, — I thought for a moment that 219 ah abe obs obs abe oy oe ae abe oly cb abet ce obo oboe ofa elroy ob obo ode We wee Vee wre be obs ofr THE) ‘ROMAINCE (OF i MUMMY I had caught sight in the darkness of a human head above the waters.” “It was she, poor child!” said Ra’hel; ‘her fatigue and her fainting corroborate it, for after your departure I picked her up stretched senseless outside the hut.” “No doubt that is the way things occurred,’ said the young man. “I can see the acts, but I cannot understand the motive.” “¢ Let me explain it,” said Ra’hel, smiling, “ although I am but a poor, ignorant woman, and you are com- pared, as regards your vast knowledge, to the priests of Egypt who study night and day within sanctuaries covered with mystic hieroglyphs, the hidden meaning of which they alone can penetrate. But sometimes men, who are so busy with astronomy, music, and numbers, do not guess what goes on in a maiden’s heart. They can see a distant star in the heavens; they do not notice a love close to them. Hora—or rather, Tahoser, for it is she—took this disguise to penetrate into your house and to live near you; jealous, she glided in the shadow behind you; at the risk of being devoured by the crocodiles in the river she swam across the Nile. On arriving here she watched us a9 abe oe ols abs oe of alle ole ole abr abr obrele eof ole obs le abe ob ole ole abe ol = — We G50 HO OHO OFS Cie wie eFe ave One OTF THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY through some crack in the wall, and was unable to bear the sight of our happiness. She loves you because you are very handsome, very strong, and very gentle. But I do not care, since you do not love her. Now do you understand ? ”’ A faint blush coloured Poéri’s cheeks; he feared lest Ra’hel were angry and spoke thus to entrap him, but her clear, pure glance betrayed no hidden thought. She was not angry with Tahoser for loving the man whom she loved herself. In her dreams Tahoser saw Poéri standing by her; ecstatic joy lighted up her features, and half raising herself, she seized the hand of the young man to bear it to her lips. ‘“¢ Her lips are burning,” said Poéri, withdrawing his hand. “With love as much as with fever,”’ replied Ra’hel, “‘ but she is really ill. Suppose ‘Thamar were to fetch Mosche. He is wiser than the wise men and the wizards of Pharaoh, every one of whose wonders he imitates. He knows the secret properties of plants, and makes drinks of them which would bring the dead to life. He shall cure Tahoser, for I am not cruel enough to wish her to lose her life.” B21 ch ba cece a choot cect ce cece abe sbe obo ote obs ado obe oe ob choo THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY Thamar went off grumbling, and soon returned, fol- lowed by a very tall old man, whose majestic aspect inspired reverence. A long white beard fell down over his breast, and on either side of his brow two huge protuberances caught and retained the light. They looked like two horns or two beams. Under his thick eyebrows his eyes shone like fire. He looked, in spite of his simple dress, like a prophet or a god. Acquainted with the state of things by Poéri, he sat down by Tahoser’s couch, and said, as he stretched his hand over her: “In the name of the Mighty One beside whom all other gods are idols and demons, — though you do not belong to the elect of the Lord, — maiden, be cured!” 222 oh robo abe abe he ab abe able ober fob cele ce nce oe aboot THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY. chee oho che oe ofa be be be abe cbecde oct cda cba cte aoe ae eee 4 AHE tall old man withdrew solemnly, Reaves as it were, a trail of light behind him. Tahoser, surprised at feeling her sickness suddenly leave her, cast her eyes around the room, and soon, wrapping herself in the blanket with which the young Israelite had covered her, she put her feet to the ground and sat up on the edge of the bed. Fatigue and fever had completely left her; she was as fresh as after a long rest, and her beauty shone in all its purity. Pushing back with her little hands the plaited masses of her hair behind her ears, she showed her face lighted up with love, as if she desired Poéri to read it; but seeing that he remained motionless near Ra’hel without encouraging her by a sign or a glance, she rose slowly, drew near the young Israelite girl, and threw her arms around her neck. She remained thus, her head in Ra’hel’s bosom, wetting it with her hot tears. Some- times a sob she could not repress shook her convulsively upon her riva.’s breast. The complete yielding up of herself, and her evident misery, touched Ra’hel. “Tahoser confessed herself 223 deabebe ded ch deck ch decked ch chk ch ch shah che cheek ye ore THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY beaten, and implored her pity by mute supplication, appealing to her womanly generosity. Ra’hel, much moved, kissed her and said, — ‘¢ Dry your tears and be not so sorrowful. You love Poéri? Well, love him, and I shall not be jealous. Yacoub, a patriarch of our race, had two wives; one was called Ra’hel as I am, and the other Leah. Yacoub preferred Ra’hel, and yet Leah, who was not beautiful like you, lived happily with him.” Tahoser knelt at Ra’hel’s feet and kissed her hand. Ra’hel raised her and put her arm around her waist. They formed a charming group, these two women of different races, exhibiting, as they did, the characteristic beauty of each: Tahoser elegant, graceful, and slender, like a child that has grown too fast; Ra’hel dazzling, blooming, and superb in her precocious maturity. “‘’Tahoser,” said Poéri, “for that is your name, I think, — Tahoser, daughter of the high-priest Peta- mounoph?” ° The young girl nodded assent. “© How is it that you, who live in Thebes in a rich palace, surrounded by slaves, and whom the handsomest among the Egyptians desire, — how is it you have chosen to love me, a son of a race reduced to slavery, 224 kketbbeteeeetetetttbdttted THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY a stranger who does not share your religious beliefs and who is separated from you by so great a distance?” Ra’hel and Tahoser smiled, and the high-priest’s daughter replied, — “<’That is the very reason.” “ Although I enjoy the favour of the Pharaoh, although I am the steward of his domains and wear gilded horns in the festivals of agriculture, I cannot rise to you. In the eyes of the Egyptians | am but a slave, and you belong to the priestly caste, the highest and most venerated. If you love me —and I cannot doubt that you do —you must give up your rank.” ‘¢ Have I not already become your servant? Hora kept nothing of ‘Tahoser, not even the enamelled collars and the transparent gauze calasiris; that is why you thought me ugly.” “ You will have to give-up your country and follow me to unknown regions, through the desert where burns the sun, where blows the fire-wind, where the moving sand tangles and effaces the paths, where no tree grows, where no well springs, through the lost valleys of death strewn with whitened bones that mark the way.” “¢ T shall go,” said Tahoser, quietly. 15 22.5 ft eb of Wo ave one abs abe obs be cba ale obo ofe abn abn ole obn abr ole obo obo obs ors ote we eye wre THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY ‘That is not all,’ continued Poéri. ‘ Your gods are not mine, — your gods of brass, basalt, and granite, fashioned by the hand of man, your monstrous idols with heads of eagle, monkey, ibis, cow, jackal, and lion, which assume the faces of beasts as if they were troubled by the human face on which rests the reflec- tion of Jehovah. It is said, ‘Thou shalt worship neither stone nor wood nor metal.’ Within these temples cemented with the blood of oppressed races erin and crouch the hideous, foul demons which usurp the libations, the ‘offerings, and the sacrifices. One only God, infinite, eternal, formless, colourless, fills the immensity of the heavens which you people with a multitude of phantoms. Our God has created us; you have created your gods.” Although Tahoser was deeply in love with Poéri, his words affected her strangely, and she drew back in terror. “The daughter of the high-priest had been brought up to venerate the gods whom the young Hebrew was boldly blaspheming; she had offered up on their altars bouquets of flowers, and she had burned perfumes before their impassible images; amazed and delighted, she had walked through their temples splen- did with brilliant paintings. She had seen her father 226 bre CO VUACN CB (©. By Ag VEN Mey performing the mysterious rites; she had followed the procession of priests who bore the symbolic bari through the enormous pylons and the endless sphinx avenues; she had admired tremblingly the psychostasis where the trembling soul appears before Osiris armed with the whip and the pedum, and she had noted with a dreamy glance the frescoes representing the emblem- atic figures travelling towards the regions of the West. She could not thus yield up all her beliefs. She was silent for a few moments, hesitating between re- ligion and love. Love won the day, and she said: “You shall tell me of your God; I will try to understand him.” “It is well,’ said Poéri; ‘you shall be my wife. Meanwhile remain here, for the Pharaoh, no doubt in love with you, is having you sought everywhere by his emissaries. He will never discover you under this humble roof, and in a few days we shall be out of his power. But the night is waning and [ must depart.” Poéri went off, and the two young women, lying side by side on the soft bed, soon fell asleep, holding each other’s hands like two sisters. Thamar, who during the foregoing scene had re- mained crouched in her corner of the room, looking Nd checks ob ade a obs de cde de che de cheacbecbe cl feof doles oe doce THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY like a bat hanging from a corner by its talons, and had been muttering broken words and frowning, now un- folded her bony limbs, rose to her feet, and bending over the bed, listened to the breathing of the two sleepers. When the regularity of their breathing con- vinced her that they were sound asleep, she went towards the door, walking with infinite precaution. Once outside, she sprang with swift steps in the direc- tion of the Nile, shaking off the dogs who hung on with their teeth at the edge of her tunic, or dragging them through the dust until they let go; or she glared at them with such fierce eyes that they drew back with frightened yelps and let her pass by. She had soon passed the dangerous and deserted places inhabited at night by the members of the thieves’ association, and entered the wealthy quarter of Thebes. Three or four streets bordered with tall buildings, the shadows of which fell in great angles, led her to the outer wall of the palace, which was the object of her trip. ‘The difficulty was to enter, — no easy matter at that time of the night for an old Hebrew servant with dusty feet and shabby garments. She went to the main pylon, before which watched, stretched at length, fifty ram-headed sphinxes, arranged 228 ai3daos sty jo Mol B YUM siasuassaul 2914) OF" JUIN. JJOYS B ING Mos YoRIeYg UL], tnoidg *q as10a5y Aq ‘106s ‘WystuAdoy a -naczepthen asst ded cbeeck th ech debe cechecdecbecbe deca cbeebeck beck Te OK OTe OFS OHA OVO O70 THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY in two lines like monsters ready to crush between their granite jaws the imprudent ones who should attempt to force a passage. [he sentinels stopped her, struck her roughly with the shafts of their javelins, and then asked her what she wished. ““T want to see the Pharaoh,” replied the old woman, rubbing her back. ‘That ’s right, — very nice! Waken for this witch the Pharaoh, favourite of Phré, beloved of Ammon Ra, | eed the destroyer of nations!” said the soldiers, laughing loudly. Thamar repeated obstinately, ““I want to see the Pharaoh at once.” “© A very good time you have chosen for it! The Pharaoh slew but a short time ago three messengers with a blow of his sceptre. He sits on his ter- race, motionless and sinister like Yyphon, the god of evil,” said a soldier who condescended to give this explanation. Ra’hel’s maid endeavoured to force her way through ; the javelins rattled on her head like hammers on an anvil. She began to yell like a bird plucked alive. An officer came out on hearing the tumult; the soldiers stopped beating Thamar. 229 THE ROMANCE OF (ACN yi “ What does this woman want?!” said the officer, “¢and why are you beating her in this way?” “¢] want to see the Pharaoh,” cried ‘Thamar, dragging herself to the knees of the officer. “Out of the question,” replied the latter; ‘ it is out of the question, — even if, instead of being a low wretch, you were one of the greatest personages in the kingdom.” “I know where is Tahoser,”’ whispered the old woman in his ear, laying stress on each syllable. On hearing this, the officer took Thamar by the hand, led her through the first pylon and through the avenue of pillars and the hypostyle hall into a second court, where rose the granite sanctuary, with its two outer columns with lotus capitals. There, calling Timopht, he handed Thamar over to him. Timopht led the servant to the terrace where sat the Pharaoh, gloomy and silent. “Keep well out of the reach of his sceptre,” was the advice Timopht gave to the Israelite. As soon as she perceived the King through the darkness, Thamar threw herself with her face to the stone flags, by the side of the bodies which had not yet been removed, and then sitting up, she said in a 230 $ebebettteettbtttttte tks TO WTO WO VHS CFO OV we THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY firm voice, “ O Pharaoh, do not slay me, I bring you good news.” | > “¢ Speak without fear,’ replied the King, whose fury had passed away. “‘’Tahoser, whom your messengers have sought in the four corners of the world, —I know where she is.” At the name of Tahoser, Pharaoh rose as if moved by a spring and stepped towards ‘Thamar, who was still kneeling. “If you speak the truth, you may take from my granite halls as much as you can lift of gold and precious stones.” ‘] will put her in your hands, you may be sure,” said the old woman, with a strident laugh. What was the motive which had led Thamar to inform the Pharaoh of the retreat where the priest’s daughter was in hiding ? She wished to prevent a union which she disliked. She entertained towards the race of Egypt, a blind, fierce, unreasoning, almost bestial hatred, and the thought of breaking Tahoser’s heart delighted her. Once in the hands of the Pharaoh, Ra’hel’s rival would be unable to escape; the granite walls of the palace would keep their prey. 231 che abe docoade oleh cb fobs ofe abe be sels =~ aw VY Ve e. Ls ww AE AL CS OM OL OV eo we wre ee OTe oFe CTO ete ee THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY “© Where is she?” said Pharaoh; “tell me the spot. A] ero ove wie ee vie I want to see her at once.” “Your Majesty, I alone can guide you. I know the windings of those loathsome quarters, where ‘the humblest of your servants would disdain to set foot Tahoser is there, in a clay and straw hut which nothing marks from the huts which surround it, amid the heaps of bricks which the Hebrews make for you outside the regular dwellings of the city.” “Very well, I will trust you. ‘Timopht, have a chariot brought around.” Timopht disappeared. Soon the wheels were heard rolling over the stones of the court, and the horses stamping and pawing as the equerries fastened them to the yoke. The Pharaoh came down, followed by ‘Thamar. He sprang up on the chariot, took the reins, and seeing that ‘Thamar hesitated, — “* Come, get up,” he said. He clucked his tongue, and the horses started. The awakened echoes gave back the sound of the wheels, which sounded like low thunder through the vast halls, in the midst of the night silence. “The hideous old woman, clinging with her bony fingers to the rim of 232 shea a fe be oe oo os oe ab ce abecke foe cde ool ce boo fe a a THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY the chariot by the side of the godlike Pharaoh, pre- sented a strange sight, which fortunately was seen by none but the stars twinkling in the deep blue heavens. She resembled one of the evil genii of mysterious face which accompany the guilty souls to Hades. ‘Ts this the way?” said the Pharaoh to the woman at the forks of a street. “Yes,” replied Thamar, stretching her withered hand in the right direction. The horses, urged on by the whip, sprang forward, and the chariot leaped upon the stones with a noise of brass. Meanwhile Tahoser slept by the side of Ra’hel. A strange dream filled her sleep. She seemed to be ina temple of immense size. Huge columns of prodigious height upbore the blue ceiling studded with stars like the heavens; innumerable lines of hieroglyphs ascended and descended along the walls between the panels of symbolic frescoes painted in bright colours. All the gods of Egypt had met in this universal sanctuary, not as brass, basalt, or porphyry effigies, but as living shapes. In the first rank were seated the gods Knef, Buto, Phtah, Pan-Mendes, Hathor, Phré, Isis; then came the twelve celestial gods, — six male gods: Rem- 53 able obs obs obs obs ob oe obs obs obs ole abv cle obo ole obs obs ols abe ole abe ofr ofp ole Oe eve eye ore we vTe oTe THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY pha, Pi-Zeous, Ertosi, Pi-Hermes, Imuthi; and six fe- male deities: the Moon, Ether, Fire, Air, Water, Earth. Behind these swarmed vaguely and indistinctly three hundred and sixty-five Decans, the familiar daemons of each day. Next appeared the terrestrial deities: the second Osiris, Haroeri, Typhon, the second Isis, Nephthys, the dog-headed Anubis, Thoth, Busiris, Bubastis, the great Serapis. Beyond, in the shade, were faintly seen idols in form of animals, — oxen, crocodiles, ibises, hippopotami. In the centre of the temple, in his open mummy-case, lay the high-priest Petamounoph, who, the bandages having been unwound from his face, gazed with an ironical air at that strange and mysterious assembly. He was dead, not living, and spoke, as it often happens in dreams; and he said to his daughter, ‘‘ Question them and ask them if they are gods.” And Tahoser proceeded to put to each one that question, and each and all replied: ‘We are only numbers, laws, forces, attributes, effuvia, and thoughts of God, but not one of us is the true God.” Then Poéri appeared on the threshold of the temple, and took T’ahoser by the hand and led her to a light so brilliant that in comparison with it the sun would have 234 THE ROMANCE OF A’MUMMY che cba ob oh oe oe oe oe oh oh dhe abecke do cdece cbe cba oo bee os doce seemed black, and in the centre of which blazed in a triangle words unknown to her. Meanwhile Pharaoh’s chariot flew over all obstacles, and the axles of the wheels rayed the walls in the narrow lanes. ‘¢Pull in your horses,” said Thamar to the Pha- raoh; “the noise of the wheels in this solitude and silence might startle the fugitive, and she would again escape you.” The Pharaoh thought this advice sound, and in spite of his impatience made his horses slacken their impetu- ous pace. “There is the place,’ .said Thamar; “I left the door open. Go in. I shall look after the horses.” The king descended from the chariot, and bowing his head, entered the hut. “The lamp was still burn- ing, and shed its dying beams on the two sleeping girls. [he Pharaoh caught up Tahoser in his strong arms and walked towards the door of the hut. When the priest’s daughter awoke, and saw flaming near her face the shining face of the Pharaoh, she thought at first that it was one of the fancies of her dream transformed; but the air of night which struck her face soon restored her to the sense of reality. ae ado te teehee abe abe oe oe ofa che acdsee la obecde aol oe cto THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY Mad with terror, she tried to scream, to call for help ; the cry remained in her throat,—and then, who would have helped her against the Pharaoh? With one bound the King sprang on to his chariot, threw the reins around his back, and pressing to his breast the half-dead ‘Tahoser, sent his coursers at their top speed towards the Northern Palace. Thamar glided like a serpent into the hut, crouched down in her accustomed place, and gazed with a look almost as tender as a mother’s on her dear Ra’hel, who was still sound asleep. 2.36 ddeoteobdeeb bbb bobbed hb bh PE ROMANCE: OF A’ WOU MM: abe obs obs obs obs obs obs obs obo abe be ebrcbe obo obs obs abv obs ofe ele obo obs ofle ee ete CFS eFe B18 CTO P AHE draught of cold air, due to the speed of the chariot, soon made Tahoser recover from her faint. Pressed and _ crushed against the breast of the Pharaoh, by his two stony arms, her heart had scarce room to beat, and the hard enamelled collars were making their mark on her heaving bosom. ‘The horses, whose reins the King slackened by bending towards the front of the car, rushed furiously forward, the wheels went round like whirlwinds, the brazen plates justled, the heated axles smoked. Tahoser, terrified, saw vaguely, as in a dream, flash to the right and left vast masses of build- ings, clumps of trees, palaces, temples, pylons, obe- lisks, colossi, which the night made more fantastic and terrible. What were the thoughts that filled her mind during that mad rush? She thought as little as thinks a dove, fluttering in the talons of a hawk which is carrying it away to its eyrie. Mute terror stupefied her, made her blood run cold and dulled her feelings. Her limbs hung limp; her will was relaxed like her muscles, and, had she not been held firmly in the apf LALA ALLAALLEAALALALALLAALLS THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY arms of the Pharaoh, she would have slipped and fallen in a heap on the bottom of the chariot like a piece of stuff which is let drop. ‘“Iwice she thought she felt upon her cheek a burning breath and two lips of fire; she did not attempt to turn away her head, terror had killed modesty in her. When the chariot struck violently against a stone, a dim instinct of self-preservation made her cling with her hands to the shoulder of the King and press closer to him; then she let herself go again and leaned with her whole weight, light though it was, upon those arms which held her. The chariot entered the avenue of sphinxes, at the end of which rose a giant pylon crowned with a cor- nice on which the symbolic globe displayed its wings ; the lessening darkness allowed the priest’s daughter to recognise the King’s palace. “Then despair filled her heart; she struggled, she strove to free herself from the embrace which held her close; she pressed her frail hands against the stony breast of the Pharaoh, stiffened out her arms, throwing herself back over the edge of the chariot. Her efforts were useless, her struggles were vain. Her ravisher brought her back to his breast with an irresistible, slow pressure, as if he would 238 LAKLKALAL Eee See eeeetekte dete irr ROMANCE OF “A NEU MIM'Y have driven her into it. She tried to scream; her lips were closed with a kiss. Meanwhile the horses in three or four strides reached the pylon, under which they passed at full gallop, glad to return to the stable, and the chariot rolled into the vast court. The servants hastened up and sprang to the heads of the horses, whose bits were white with foam. Tahoser cast a terrified glance around her. High brick walls formed a vast square enclosure in which rose on the east a palace, on the west a temple, be- tween two great pools, the piscine of the sacred crocodiles. The first rays of the sun, the orb of which was already rising behind the Arabian moun- tains, flushed with rosy light the top of the buildings, the lower portions of which were still plunged in bluish shadows. . There was no hope of flight. The buildings, though in no wise gloomy, had a look of irresistible strength, of absolute will, of eternal persistence: a world catas- trophe alone could have opened an issue through these thick walls, through these piles of hard sandstone. To overthrow the pylons built of fragments of mountains, the earth itself would have had to quake; even a con- witli cheats oe abe oe oe be be che che cece cbecbe cde bebe coe abe oot = = = = = = = = = = = = = re cto vie THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY flagration could only have licked with its fiery tongues those indestructible blocks. Poor Tahoser did not have at her command such violent means, and she was compelled to allow herself to be carried like a child by the Pharaoh, who had sprung from his chariot. Four high columns with palm-leaf capitals formed the propyleum of the palace into which the king entered, still pressing to his breast the daughter of Petamounoph. When he had passed through the door, he gently placed his burden on the ground, and seeing Tahoser stagger, he said to her: ‘ Be reassured. You rule the Pharaoh, and the Pharaoh rules the world.” These were the first words he had spoken to her. If love followed the dictates of reason, Tahoser would certainly have preferred the Pharaoh to Poéri. The King was endowed with supreme beauty. His great, clean, regular features seemed to be chiselled, and not the slightest imperfection could be detected in them. ‘The habit of command had given to his glance that penetrating gleam which makes divinities and kings so easily recognisable. His lips, one word from which would have changed the face of the world and the fate of nations, were of a purple red, like fresh blood upon 240 hobcbobh bobck bb bbb bch bab bbe CFs Fo oO CFS CFS GES OFS WHFS CFO VFO re wee ew THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY the blade of a sword, and when he smiled, they pos- sessed that grace of terrible things which nothing can resist. His tall, well proportioned, majestic figure presented the nobility of form admired in the temple statues; and when he appeared solemn and radiant, covered with gold, enamels, and gems, in the midst of the bluish vapour of the censers, he did not seem to belong to that frail race which from generation to gen- eration falls like leaves, and is stretched, sticky with bitumen, in the dark depths of the mummy pits. What was poor Poéri by the side of this demigod? Nevertheless, Tahoser loved him. The wise have long since given up attempting to explain the heart of woman. ‘They are masters of astronomy, astrology, and arithmetic; they know the origin of the world, and can tell where were the planets at the very moment of creation; they are sure that the moon was then in the constellation of Cancer, the sun in that of the Lion, Mercury in that of the Virgin, Venus in the Balance, Mars in the Scorpion, Jupiter in Sagittarius, Saturn in Capricorn; they trace on papyrus or granite the direction of the celestial ocean, which goes from the east to the west; they have summed up the number of stars strewn over the blue robe of the 16 at che oh obs ob abe ahs oho abe hs abe echo hele a os bebe ce oft slog ere UFO oFe CFO CTO we THE ROMANCE OFA‘ MOUMMY Goddess Neith, and make the sun travel in the lower or the superior hemisphere with the twelve diurnal and the twelve nocturnal baris under the conduct of the hawk- headed pilot and of Neb Wa, the Lady of the Bark; they know that in the second half of the month of Tobi, Orion influences the left ear, and Sirius the heart; but they are absolutely ignorant why a woman pre- fers one man to another, a wretched Israelite to an illustrious Pharaoh. After having traversed several halls with Tahoser, whom he led by the hand, the King sat down on a seat in the shape of a throne in a superbly decorated room. Golden stars gleamed in the blue ceiling, and against the pillars which supported the cornice were placed the statues of kings wearing the pschent, their legs merging into the block of stone and their arms crossed on their chest, looking into the room with frightful intensity out of their black-lined eyes. Between every two pillars burned a lamp placed upon a pedestal, and on the base of the walls was represented a sort of ethnographic procession: the nations of the four quarters of the world were represented there with their particular faces and their particular dress. 242 LLALAALAALEALALEALLEAALALE THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY At the head of the series, guided by Horus the shep- herd of the nations, walked the man of men, the Egyptian, the Rot’en’no with a gentle face, slightly aquiline nose, plaited hair, and his dark red skin brought out by the whiteness of the loin-cloth; next came the negro or Nahasi, with his black skin, thick lips, protruding cheekbones and woolly hair; then the Asiatic or Namou, with yellow flesh-colour, strongly aquiline nose, thick black beard cut to a point, wearing a striped skirt fringed with tufts; then the European or Tamhou, the least civilised of all, differing from the others by his white complexion, his red beard and hair, his blue eyes, an undressed ox-skin cast over his shoul- der, and his arms and legs tattooed. The other panels were filled with various subjects, scenes of war and triumph and hieroglyphic inscriptions: In the centre of the room, on a table supported by prisoners bound by the elbows, so skilfully carved that they seemed to live and suffer, bloomed a vast bouquet of flowers whose sweet scent perfumed the atmosphere. So in this vast hall, surrounded by the effigies of his ancestors, all things spoke and sang of the glory of the Pharaoh. The nations of the world walked behind 243 oh cba he oe aba abe abe abe abe oo cbecde feo oe ob ce eee abe eos THE ROMANCE FA MUMMY Egypt and acknowledged her supremacy, and he gov- erned Egypt. Yet the daughter of Petamounoph, far from being dazzled by this splendour, thought of the rustic villa, of Poéri, and especially of the mean hut of mud and straw in the Hebrew quarter, where she had left Ra’hel,— Ra’hel, from henceforward the happy and only spouse of the young Hebrew. The Pharaoh held the tips of the fingers of Tahoser, who stood before him, and he fixed upon her his hawk eyes, the eyelids of which never moved. The young girl had no other garment than the drapery substituted by Ra’hel for the dress which had been soaked during the swim across the Nile, but her beauty was in no wise impaired. She remained thus, half nude, holding with one hand the coarse stuff which slipped, and the whole upper portion of her beautiful body appeared in its golden fairness. When she was adorned with her jewels, one was tempted to regret that any part of her form should be concealed by her necklaces, her brace- lets, and her belts of gold or of gems; but on seeing her thus devoid of all ornament, admiration was satis- fied, or rather exalted. Certainly many very beautiful women had entered the Pharaoh’s harem, but not one of them comparable to Tahoser; and the eyes of the 244 che hoo oe oh oh ecb ah ch bcbahcbectechcbecds decloek oh ahed JF CTO WTO WHO OX ee ve THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY King flashed such burning glances that, unable to bear their brilliancy, she was obliged to cast down her eyes. : In her heart, Tahoser was proud of having excited love in the Pharaoh; for who is the woman, however perfect she may be, who has not some vanity. Yet she would have preferred to follow the young Hebrew into the desert. The King terrified her, she felt herself dazzled by the splendour of his face, and her limbs gave way under her. The Pharaoh noticed her emotion, and made her sit down at his feet on a red cushion adorned with tufts. “Oh, Tahoser,” he said, kissing her hair, “I love you. When I saw you from the top of my triumphal palanquin, borne higher than the heads of men by the generals, an unknown feeling entered into my soul. I, whose every desire is forestalled, desired something ; I understood that I was not everything. Until then I had lived solitary in my almightiness, in the depths of my vast palaces, surrounded by mere shadows which called themselves women, and who had no more effect upon me than the painted figures in the frescoes. [I heard in the distance, muttering and complaining low, the nations upon whose heads I wipe my sandals or 24.5 seo leo oe he abe oh ae cde ctecbe cde cde eae ob oboe ob oo THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY which I lift by their hair, as I am represented doing on the symbolical bassi-relievi of the palaces, and in my cold breast, as strong as that of a. basalt god, I never heard the beat of my own heart. It seemed to me that there was nowhere on earth a being like myself, a being who could move me. In vain I brought back from my expeditions into foreign lands choice virgins and women famous for their beauty in their own coun- try; I cast them aside like flowers, after having breathed their scent fora moment. None inspired me with a desire to see her again. When they were present, I scarce glanced at them; when they were absent, I im- mediately forgot them. “Iwea, Taia, Amense, Hont- Reché, whom I have kept to avoid the disgust of having to find others who the next day would have been as indifferent as themselves, have never been, when in my arms, aught but vain phantoms, perfumed and graceful forms, beings of another race with whom my nature could not mingle any more than the leopard can mate with the gazelle, the dweller in the air with the dweller in the waters. I had come to think that, placed by the gods apart from and above all mortals, I was never to share either their pains or their joys. Fearful weariness, like that which no doubt tires the 246 che hoch ah oe oh oh a of abe a che che och ce oo eel fe ste THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY mummies, who, wrapped up in their bands, wait in their caves in the depths of the hypogea until the soul shall have finished the cycle of migrations, — a fearful weariness had fallen upon me on my throne ; for I often remained with my hands on my knees like a granite colossus, thinking of the impossible, the infinite, the eternal. How many a time have I thought of raising the veil of Isis, at the risk of fall- ing blasted at the feet of the goddess. Perhaps, I said to myself, that mysterious face is the one I have been dreaming of, the one which is to inspire me with love. If earth refuses me happiness, I shall climb to heaven. But I saw you; I felt a strange, unaccustomed sensation; I understood that there ex- isted outside myself a being necessary, imperious, and fatal to me, whom I could not live without, and who possessed the power of making me unhappy. I was a king, almost a god, and you, O Tahoser, have made of me a man.” Never, perhaps, had the Pharaoh uttered so long a speech; usually a word, a gesture, a motion of the eye sufficed to manifest his will, which was imme- diately divined by a thousand attentive, restless eyes ; performance followed his thought, as the lightning 247 LAAALAALLALAALAAAALLALA ALES THE ROMANCE WOF AY Magen ii follows the thunder-clap. But with desire he seemed to have given up his granitic majesty; he spoke and explained himself like a mortal. Tahoser was a prey to singular emotion. However much she felt the honour of having inspired love in the man preferred of Phré, in the favoured of Ammon Ra, the destroyer of nations, in the terrifying, solemn and superb being upon whom she scarce dared to gaze, she felt no sympathy for him, and the idea of belonging to him filled her with terror and repul- sion. “To the Pharaoh who had carried off her body she could not give her soul, which had remained with Poéri and Ra’hel; and as the King appeared to await a reply, she said, — ““ How is it, O King, that amid all the maids of Egypt your glance should have fallen on me, —on me whom so many others surpass in beauty, in talent, in gifts of all sorts? How is it that in the midst of clumps of white, blue, and rose lotus, with open corol- las, with delicate scent, you have chosen the modest blade of grass which nothing marks?” “[ know not, but I know that you alone exist in this world for me, and that I shall make kings’ daughters your servants.” 248 OFS WINS CHO CTS STO CVE ee OVO OTe STO CVO BTS UFO CFE OFS OO OWE UTS OTS OF CO Te v7 ene OV Be OR OA NECN MY sb ob oe abe abe oe oe oe oe cbr cdecbe ooo oe obec feo eof loaf ‘¢ But suppose I do not love you?” said Tahoser, timidly. ‘What care I, if I love you,” replied the Pharaoh. ‘Have not the most beautiful women in the world thrown themselves down upon my threshold weep- ing and moaning, tearing their cheeks, beating their breasts, plucking out their hair, and have they not ‘died imploring a glance of love which never fell upon them? Never has passion in any one made my heart of brass beat within my stony breast. Re- sist me, hate if you will,— you will only be more charming; for the first time an obstacle will have come in the way of my will, and I shall know how to overcome it.” ‘< But suppose I love another ?”’ continued Tahoser, more boldly. At this suggestion the eyebrows of the Pharaoh were bent; he violently bit his lower lip, in which his teeth left white marks, and he pressed to the point of hurting her the fingers of the maid which he still held. Then he cooled down again, and said in a low, deep voice, — ‘©When you shall have lived in this palace, in the midst of these splendours, surrounded by the atmos- 249 de che eae oe te ade oe os oe oe cde cece cde ode cree abe eo we we wre THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY phere of my love, you will forget everything as does he who eats nepenthe. Your past life will appear to you like a dream, your former feelings will vanish as incense upon the coals of the censer. “The woman who is loved by the King no longer remembers men. Go, come; accustom yourself to Pharaonic magnif- cence; help yourself as you please to my treasures ; make gold flow, heap up gems; order, make, unmake, . raise, destroy; be my mistress, my wife, my queen. I give you Egypt with its priests, its armies, its toilers, its numberless population, its palaces, its temples and cities. Crumple it up as you would crumple up gauze, —I will win other kingdoms for you, larger, fairer, and richer. If the world is not sufficient, I will conquer planets for you, I will dethrone the gods. You are she whom I love; ‘Tahoser, the daughter of Petamounoph is no more.” 250 HEN Ra’hel awoke, she was amazed not to find Tahoser by her side, and cast her glance around the room, thinking the Egyptian had already risen. Crouching in a corner, her arms crossed on her knees, her head upon her arms, which formed a bony pillow, Thamar slept, — or rather, pretended to sleep; for through the long locks of her disordered hair which fell to the ground, might have been seen her eyes as yellow as those of an owl, gleaming with malicious joy and satisfied wickedness. “© Thamar,” cried Ra’hel, ‘“‘ what has become of Tahoser ? ” The old woman, as if startled into wakefulness by the voice of her mistress, slowly uncoiled her spider- like limbs, rose to her feet, rubbed several times her brown eyelids with the back of her left hand, yellower than that of a mummy, and said with a well assumed air of astonishment: ‘Is she not there?” | “No,” replied Ra’hel; “and did I not yet see her place hollowed out on the bed by the side of 201 che be obs obs obs oe oh abe oho he rade obec oe abe cael co obec ove THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY my own, and hanging on that peg the gown which she threw off, I could believe that the strange events of the past night were but an illusion and a dream.” Though she was perfectly well aware of the manner of Tahoser’s disappearance, ‘hamar raised a_ piece of the drapery stretched in the corner of the room, as if the Egyptian might have been concealed behind it. She opened the door of the hut and standing on the threshold minutely explored the neighbourhood with her glance; then turning towards the interior, ~ she signed negatively to her mistress. ‘‘It is strange,” said Ra’hel, thoughtfully. “¢ Mistress,”’ said the old woman, drawing near the Israelite, with a gentle, petting tone, “you know that I disliked the foreign woman.” “You dislike every one, Thamar,” replied Ra’hel, smiling. b ‘‘ Except you, mistress,’ answered the old woman, placing to her lips one of the young woman’s hands. “| know it. You are devoted to me.” “T never had any children, and sometimes I fancy that I am your mother.” “© Good Thamar,” said Ra’hel, moved. 252 THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY > ‘© Was I wrong,” continued Thamar, “to consider her appearance so strange? Her disappearance ex- plains it. She said she was Tahoser, the daughter of Petamounoph. She was nothing but a fiend which took that form to seduce and tempt a child of Israel. Did you see how troubled she was when Poéri spoke against the idols of wood, stone, and metal, and how dificult it was for her to say, ‘I will try to believe in your God’? It seemed as though the words burnt her lips like hot coals.” “ laugh to attract their prey,” continued the old woman. ‘The evil spirits which prowl at night in the stones and ruins know many a trick and play every part.” *¢So, according to you, poor Tahoser was nothing but a phantom raised up by hell?” ‘¢ Unquestionably,” replied Thamar. “Is it likely that the daughter of the priest Petamounoph would have fallen in love with Poéri and preferred him to the Pharaoh, who, it is said, loves her?” Ra’hel, who did not admit that any one in the world was superior to Poéri, did not think this unlikely. 253 ktbebetetbtttbttbt tbh be THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY ‘If she loved him as much as she said she did, why did she run off when, with your consent, he accepted her as his second wife? It was the condition that she must renounce the false gods and adore Jehovah which put to flight that devil in disguise.” ‘¢ In any case, that devil had a very sweet vcice and very tender eyes.” At bottom Ra’hel was perhaps not greatly dissatis- fied with the disappearance of Tahoser; she thus kept wholly to herself the heart which she had been willing to share, and yet she had the merit of the sacrifice she had made. Under pretext of going to the market, Thamar went out and started for the King’s palace, her cupidity not having allowed her to forget his promise. She had provided herself with a great bag of coarse cloth which she proposed to fill with gold. When she appeared at the palace gate the soldiers did not beat her as they had done the first day. She enjoyed the king’s favour, and the officer of the guard made her enter at once. ‘Timopht brought her to the Pharaoh. : When he perceived the vile old hag crawling towards his throne like a crushed insect, the King 254 Le bbh bbb bbadash het THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY remembered his promise and gave orders to open one of the granite chambers of the treasury, and to allow her to take as much gold as she could carry away. Timopht, whom Pharaoh trusted, and who knew the secret of the lock, opened the stone gate. The vast mass of gold sparkled in the sunbeams, but the brilliancy of the metal was no brighter than the glance of the old woman. Her eyes turned yellow and flashed strangely. After a few moments of dazzled contemplation, she pulled up the sleeves of her patched tunic and bared her withered arms, on which the muscles stood out like cords, and which were deeply wrinkled above the elbow; then she opened and closed her curved fingers, like the talons of a griffin, and sprang at the mass of golden bars witb fierce and bestial avidity. She plunged her arms amid the ingots, moved them, stirred them round, rolled them over, threw them up; her lips trembled, her nostrils swelled, and down her spine ran convul- sive tremors. Intoxicated, mad, shaken by trepidation and spasmodic laughter, she cast handfuls of gold into her bag, saying, “* More! more! more!” so that soon it was full up to the mouth. 255 che ooh obe os ae ae che he le rodeo feo cob che reba abe kobe Te WTS CTS wVe VTS OTe THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY Timopht, amused at the sight, let her have her way, not dreaming that such a skinny spectre could move so enormous a weight. But Thamar bound the mouth of her sack with a cord, and to the great surprise of the Egyptian, lifted it on her back. Avarice lent to that broken-down frame unexpected strength of mus- cles; all the nerves and fibres of the arms, the neck, the shoulders, strained to breaking, bore up under a mass of metal which would have made the most robust Nahasi porter bow down. Her brows bent, like those of an ox when the ploughshare strikes a stone, Thamar staggered out of the palace, knocking up against the walls, walking almost on all-fours, for every now and then she put her hands out to save herself from being crushed under her burden. But at last she got out, and the load of gold was her legitimate property. Breathless, exhausted, covered with sweat, her back bruised and her fingers cut, she sat down at the palace gate upon her beloved sack, and never did any seat appear to her so soft. After a short time, she per- ceived a couple of Israelites, passing by with a litter on which they had been bearing a burden. She called them, and promising them a handsome reward, induced them to take up the sack and to follow 256 ELELLLE EES ett stetes BR OWA NIE, “Or * MUMMY her, he Israelites, preceded by Thamar, went down the streets of Thebes, reached the waste places studded with mud huts and placed the sack in one of them. ‘Thamar paid them grumblingly the prom- ised reward. 7 Meanwhile Tahoser had been installed in a splendid apartment, a regal apartment as beautiful as that of the Pharaoh. Elegant pillars with lotus capitals upbore the starry roof, framed in by a cornice of blue palm- branches painted upon a golden background. Panels of a tender lilac-colour with green lines ending in flower buds showed symmetrically on the walls; fine matting covered the stone slabs of the flooring; sofas, inlaid with plates of metal alternating with enamels, and covered with black stuffs adorned with red circles, armchairs with lions’ feet, with cushions that fell over the back, stools formed of swans’ necks interlaced, piles of purple leather cushions filled with thistle-down, seats which could hold two persons, tables of costly woods supported by statues of Asiatic captives, — formed the furniture of the room. On richly carved pedestals rested tall porcelain vases and great golden bowls, the workmanship of which was even more precious than the material. One of them 17 257 —— she che ak feos che oe oe oh oe etek cele ce echo chee oh chee THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY with a slender base, was supported by two horses’ heads - with fringed hoods and harness. ‘The handles were formed of two lotus stalks gracefully falling over two rose ornaments; on the cover were ibises with erect ears and sharp horns, and on the body of the vase were represented gazelles flying from the dogs amid stalks of papyrus. Another, no less curious, had for cover a monstrous Typhon head, adorned with palms and grimacing between two vipers. ‘The sides were ornamented with leaves and denticulated bands. One of the bowls, supported by two figures wearing mitres and dressed in robes with broad borders, with one hand upbearing the handle and with the other the foot, amazed by its huge size and the perfection and finish of the ornamentation. “The other, smaller and more perfect in shape perhaps, spread out gracefully; the slender and supple bodies of jackals whose paws rested upon the edge as if the animals sought to drink, formed the handles. Metal mirrors, framed with deformed faces, as though to give the beauty who looked into them the pleasure of contrast, coffers of cedar or syca- more wood painted and ornamented, caskets of enam- elled ware, flagons of alabaster, onyx, and glass, boxes 258 checks be che che be oe ok ch ate ected echo cheat h abeabece WO Ore CWO OF evo vie vee THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY of perfumes, —all these testified to the magnificence that the Pharaoh lavished upon Tahoser. The pre- cious objects contained in that room were well worth a kingdom’s ransom. Seated upon an ivory seat, Tahoser looked at the stuffs and gems shown her by nude maidens, who scattered around the wealth contained in the coffers. Tahoser had just emerged from the bath, and the aromatic oils with which she had been rubbed, still further softened her delicate, satin-like skin ; her flesh was almost translucent. She was of superhuman beauty, and when she gazed upon the burnished metal mirror, with her eyes brightened with antimony, she could not help smiling upon her reflection. A_ full gauze robe enveloped her fair form without veiling it. For sole ornament she wore a necklace composed of lapis-lazuli hearts surmounted by crosses, hanging from a string of gold and pearls. The Pharaoh appeared on the threshold of the hall. A golden asp bound his thick hair, and a calasiris, the folds of which, brought forward, formed a point, enclosed his body from the belt to the knees: a single necklace encircled his unconquered, muscular neck. 259 ere ore Cre eve eve ore Te CFO Ore oFe THE ROMANCE OF A NET aa On perceiving the King, Tahoser rose from her seat to prostrate herself, but the Pharaoh came to her, raised her up, and made her sit down. ‘‘Do not thus humble yourself, Tahoser,’’ he said in a gentle voice. ‘TI will you to be my equal. Iam weary of being alone in the universe. Although I am almighty and possess you, I shall wait until you love me as if I were but a man. Put away all fear; be a woman with a woman’s will, sympathies, antipathies, and caprices. I have never seen one. But if your heart at last speaks in my favour, hold out to me, when I enter your room, in order that I may know it, the lotus flower out of your hair.” Though he strove to prevent it, Tahoser threw her- self at the knees of the Pharaoh and let fall a tear upon his bare feet. ‘©Why is my soul Poéri’s?”’ she said to herself as she resumed her place upon the ivory seat. Timopht, putting one hand on the ground and the other on his head, entered the room. “QO King,” he said, “(a mysterious personage seeks to speak to you. His gray beard falls down to his waist, shining horns emerge from his bare brow, and his eyes shine like fire. An unknown power precedes 260 Sedecb deck ch ek oh bb echo shh ech check eke THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY him, for all the guards fall back and all the gates open before him. What he says must be done, and I have come to you in the midst of your pleasures, even were death to be the punishment of my audacity.” “¢'What is his name?” said the King. “© Mosche,” replied Timopht. 261 bebeteteeeeeettttktetdettst THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY ahaha cba obe oho oe oe oe cr cdoade cob cb ba beac abe efee XV HE King passed into another hall to receive Mosche, and sat down on a throne, the arms of which were formed of lions, hung a broad pectoral ornament on his breast, and assumed a pose of supreme indifference. Mosche appeared, accompanied by another Hebrew, called Aharon. August though the Pharaoh was, as he sat on his golden throne, surrounded by his officers and his fan-bearers, within that high hall with its huge columns, against that background of paintings which depicted the deeds of his ancestors or his own, Mosche was no less imposing. In him the majesty of age equalled the majesty of sovereignty. Although he was seventy years old, he seemed endowed with manly vigour, and nothing in him showed decadence into senility. The wrinkles on his brow and his cheeks, like the marks of the chisel on the granite, made him venerable without telling his age. His brown and wrinkled neck was joined to his powerful shoulders by gaunt but still powerful muscles, and a network of sinewy veins showed upon his hands, which did not 262 ee THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY shoe abe le ole oh fe oe oh ole ofa tremble as old men’s hands generally do. A soul more energetic than a human soul vivified his body, and on his face shone in the shadow a strange light. It seemed like the reflection of an invisible sun. Without prostrating himself, as was the custom when men approached the King, Mosche drew near the throne of the Pharaoh and said to him: “ Thus saith the Lord God of Israel: ‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness.’ ” The Pharaoh replied, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go.” Without being intimidated by the King’s words, the tall old man replied unhesitatingly, for the stuttering which had formerly affected him had disappeared, — “