首页 >出版文学> Moon of Israel>第13章

第13章

  NowIsatopen-mouthed,forhowcouldthismanknowthesethings,andthePrincelaughedoutright,saying:
  “Ana,Ibegintothinkyoukeepyourcounselill。AtleastIshouldthinkso,wereitnotthatyouhavehadnotimetotellwhatthePrincessyondermayhavesaidtoyou,andcanscarcelyknowthetrickoftheslidingpanelinthatwallwhichIhavenevershowntoyou。“
  KichuckledagainandasmilegrewonoldBakenkhonsu’sbroadandwrinkledface。
  “OPrince,“Ibegan,“Isweartoyouthatneverhasonewordpassedmylipsofaught-“
  “Iknowit,friend,“brokeinthePrince,“butitseemstherearesomewhodonotwaitforwordsbutcanreadtheBookofThought。Thereforeitisnotwelltomeetthemtoooften,sinceallhavethoughtsthatshouldbeknownonlytothemandGod。Magician,whatisyourbusinesswithme?Speakonasthoughwewerealone。“
  “This,Prince。YougouponajourneyamongtheHebrews,asallhaveheard。Now,BakenkhonsuandI,alsotwoseersofmyCollege,seeingthatweallloveyouandthatyourwelfareismuchtoEgypt,haveseparatelysoughtoutthefutureasregardstheissueofthisjourney。
  Althoughwhatwehavelearneddiffersinsomematters,onothersitisthesame。Thereforewethoughtitourdutytotellyouwhatwehavelearned。“
  “Sayon,Kherheb。“
  “First,then,thatyourHighness’slifewillbeindanger。“
  “Lifeisalwaysindanger,Ki。ShallIloseit?Ifso,donotfeartotellme。“
  “Wedonotknow,butwethinknot,becauseoftherestthatisrevealedtous。Welearnthatitisnotyourbodyonlythatwillbeindanger。Uponthisjourneyyouwillseeawomanwhomyouwillcometolove。Thiswomanwill,wethink,bringyoumuchsorrowandalsomuchjoy。“
  “Thenperhapsthejourneyisworthmaking,Ki,sincemanytravelfarbeforetheyfindaughttheycanlove。Tellme,haveImetthiswoman?“
  “Therewearetroubled,Prince,foritwouldseem——unlesswearedeceived——thatyouhavemetheroftenandoften;thatyouhaveknownherforthousandsofyears,asyouhaveknownthatmanatyoursideforthousandsofyears。“
  Seti’sfacegrewveryinterested。
  “Whatdoyoumean,Magician?“heasked,eyeinghimkeenly。“HowcanI
  whoamstillyounghaveknownawomanandamanforthousandsofyears?“
  Kiconsideredhimwithhisstrangeeyes,andanswered:
  “Youhavemanytitles,Prince。Isnotoneofthem’LordofRebirths,’
  andifso,howdidyougetitandwhatdoesitmean?“
  “Itis。WhatitmeansIdonotknow,butitwasgiventomebecauseofsomedreamthatmymotherhadthenightbeforeIwasborn。Do/you/
  tell/me/whatitmeans,sinceyouseemtoknowsomuch。“
  “Icannot,Prince。Thesecretisnotonethathasbeenshowntome。
  Yettherewasanagedman,amagicianlikemyselffromwhomIlearnedmuchinmyyouth——Bakenkhonsuknewhimwell——whomadeastudyofthismatter。Hetoldmehewassure,becauseithadbeenrevealedtohim,thatmendonotliveonceonlyandthendeparthenceforever。Hesaidthattheylivemanytimesandinmanyshapes,thoughnotalwaysonthisworld,andthatbetweeneachlifethereisawallofdarkness。“
  “Ifso,ofwhatuseareliveswhichwedonotrememberafterdeathhasshutthedoorofeachofthem?“
  “Thedoorsmayopenagainatlast,Prince,andshowusallthechambersthroughwhichourfeethavewanderedfromthebeginning。“
  “Ourreligionteachesus,Ki,thatafterdeathweliveeternallyelsewhereinourownbodies,whichwefindagainonthedayofresurrection。Noweternity,havingnoend,canhavenobeginning;itisacircle。Thereforeiftheonebetrue,namelythatweliveon,itwouldseemthattheothermustbetrue,namelythatwehavealwayslived。“
  “Thatiswellreasoned,Prince。Intheearlydays,beforethepriestsfrozethethoughtofmanintoblocksofstoneandbuiltofthemshrinestoathousandgods,manyheldthatthisreasoningwastrue,asthentheyheldthattherewasbutonegod。“
  “AsdotheseIsraeliteswhomIgotovisit。Whatsayyouoftheirgod,Ki?“
  “That/he/isthesameasourgods,Prince。Tomen’seyesGodhasmanyfaces,andeachswearsthattheoneheseesistheonlytruegod。Yettheyarewrong,forallaretrue。“
  “Orperchancefalse,Ki,unlessevenfalsehoodisapartoftruth。
  Well,youhavetoldmeoftwodangers,onetomybodyandonetomyheart。Hasanyotherbeenrevealedtoyourwisdom?“
  “Yes,Prince。Thethirdisthatthisjourneymayintheendcostyouyourthrone。“
  “IfIdiecertainlyitwillcostmemythrone。“
  “No,Prince,ifyoulive。“
  “Evenso,Ki,IthinkthatIcouldendurelifeseatedmorehumblythanonathrone,thoughwhetherherHighnesscouldendureitisanothermatter。ThenyousaythatifIgouponthisjourneyanotherwillbePharaohinmyplace。“
  “Wedonotsaythat,Prince。Itistruethatourartshaveshownusanotherfillingyourplaceinatimeofwizardryandwondersandofthedeathofthousands。Yetwhenwelookagainweseenotthatotherbutyouoncemorefillingyourownplace。“
  HereI,Ana,bethoughtmeofmyvisioninPharaoh’shall。
  “ThematterisevenworsethanIthought,Ki,sincehavingonceleftthecrownbehindme,IthinkthatIshouldhavenowishtowearitanymore,“saidSeti。“Whoshowsyouallthesethings,andhow?“
  “Our/Kas/,whichareoursecretselves,showthemtous,Prince,andinmanyways。Sometimesitisbydreamsorvisions,sometimesbypicturesonwater,sometimesbywritingsinthedesertsand。Inallthesefashions,andbyothers,our/Kas/,drawingfromtheinfinitewellofwisdomthatishiddeninthebeingofeveryman,giveusglimpsesofthetruth,astheygiveuswhoareinstructedpowertoworkmarvels。“
  “Ofthetruth。Thenthesethingsyoutellmearetrue?“
  “Webelieveso,Prince。“
  “Thenbeingtruemusthappen。Sowhatistheuseofyourwarningmeagainstwhatmusthappen?Therecannotbetwotruths。Whatwouldyouhavemedo?Notgouponthisjourney?WhyhaveyoutoldmethatImustnotgo,sinceifIdidnotgothetruthwouldbecomealie,whichitcannot?YousayitisfatedthatIshouldgoandbecauseIgosuchandsuchthingswillcomeabout。Andyetyoutellmenottogo,forthatiswhatyoumean。Oh!KherhebKiandBakenkhonsu,doubtlessyouaregreatmagiciansandstronginwisdom,buttherearegreaterthanyouwhoruletheworld,andthereisawisdomtowhichyoursisbutasadropofwatertotheNile。Ithankyouforyourwarnings,butto-morrowIgodowntothelandofGoshentofulfilthecommandsofPharaoh。IfIcomebackagainwewilltalkmoreofthesemattershereupontheearth。IfIdonotcomeback,perchancewewilltalkofthemelsewhere。Farewell。“
  ThePrinceSetiandallhistrain,averygreatcompany,cameinsafetytothelandofGoshen,I,Ana,travellingwithhiminhischariot。Itwasthenasnowarichland,quiteflatafterthelastlineofdeserthillsthroughwhichwetravelledbyanarrow,tortuouspath。Everywhereitwaswateredbycanals,betweenwhichlaythegrainfieldswhereintheseedhadjustbeensown。Alsotherewereotherfieldsofgreenfodderwhereonweretetheredbeastsbythehundred,andbeyondthese,uponthedriersoil,grazedflocksofsheep。ThetownGoshen,ifsoitcouldbecalled,wasbutapoorplace,numbersofmudhuts,nomore,inthecentreofwhichstoodabuilding,alsoofmud,withtwobrickpillarsinfrontofit,thatweweretoldwasthetempleofthispeople,intotheinnerpartsofwhichnonemightentersavetheirHigh-priest。Ilaughedatthesightofit,butthePrincereprovedme,sayingthatIshouldnotjudgethespiritbythebody,orofthegodbyhishouse。
  Wecampedoutsidethistownandsoonlearnedthatthepeoplewhodweltinitorelsewhereinothertownsmustbenumberedbythetenthousand,formoreofthemthanIcouldcountwanderedroundthecamptolookatus。Themenwerefierce-eyedandhook-nosed;theyoungwomenwell-shapedandpleasanttobehold;theolderwomenforthemostpartstoutandsomewhatunwieldy,andthechildrenverybeautiful。Allwereroughlycladinrobesofloosely-woven,dark-colouredcloth,beneathwhichthewomenworegarmentsofwhitelinen。Notwithstandingthewealthwesawaboutusincornandcattle,theirornamentsseemedtobefew,orperhapsthesewerehiddenfromoursight。
  ItwaseasytoseethattheyhatedusEgyptians,andevendaredtodespiseus。Hateshoneintheirglitteringeyes,andIheardthemcallingusthe’idol-worshippers’onetotheother,andaskingwherewasourgod,theBull,forbeingignoranttheythoughtthatweworshippedApisasmayhapsomeofthecommonpeopledoinsteadoflookinguponthesacredbeastasasymbolofthepowersofNature。
  Indeedtheydidmore,foronthefirstnightafterourcomingtheyslaughteredabullmarkedmuchasApisis,andinthemorningwefounditlyingnearthegateofthecamp,andpinnedtoitshidewithsharpthornsgreatnumbersofthescarab?usbeetlestillliving。ForagaintheydidnotknowthatamongusEgyptiansthisbeetleisnogodbutanemblemoftheCreator,becauseitrollsaballofmudbetweenitsfeetandsetsthereinitseggstohatch,astheCreatorrollstheworldthatseemstoberound,andcausesittoproducelife。
  NowallwereangryattheseinsultsexceptthePrince,wholaughedandsaidthathethoughtthejestcoarsebutclever。Butworsewastohappen。ItseemsthatasoldierwithwineinhimhaddoneinsulttoaHebrewmaidenwhocamealonetodrawwateratacanal。Thenewsspreadamongthepeopleandsomethousandsofthemrushedtothecamp,shoutinganddemandingvengeanceinsothreateningamannerthatitwasnecessarytoformuptheregimentsofguards。