Tahoser, nevertheless, scarce bestowed a thought on Nofre, 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 deposited
the royal love as an offering, with all the flowers of her soul, at the
feet of Poeri.
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.
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 Poeri 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, "Poeri, I love
you."
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 yourself 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 refinement 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 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 situated some distance apart.
Sometimes the breathless harvesters stopped to take breath, and putting
their sickles under their right arm drank a draught of water. Then they
quickly resumed their work, fearing 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 Poeri 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 horizontal 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, holding 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 heedless 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 Poeri the long pastoral
procession.
First was seen advancing the vast herd of oxen, some white, others red,
some black with lighter spots, others piebald, others brindled. They
were of all colours and all sizes. They passed by, lifting 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 Poeri 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.
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 bringing
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 Poeri'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
number 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 Poeri 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 agriculture 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 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 withdrew.
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 evening?" said a little,
sly-looking maid, as she peeled a pomegranate with pretty, monkey-like
gestures.
"The master goes where he pleases," replied a tall slave, who was
chewing the petals of a flower. "Is he to tell you what he does? It is
not you, in any case, who will keep him here."
"Why not I as well as another?" answered the child, piqued.
The tall slave shrugged her shoulders.
"Hora herself, who is fairer and more beautiful than any of us, could
not manage it. Though he bears an Egyptian name and is in the service of
the Pharaoh, he belongs to the barbarous race of Israel, and if he goes
out at night, it is no doubt to be present at the sacrifices of children
which the Hebrews perform in desert places, where the owl hoots, the
hyena howls, and the adder hisses."
Tahoser quietly left the room without a word, and concealed herself in
the garden behind the mimosa bushes. After waiting two hours, she saw
Poeri issue forth into the country. Light and silent as a shadow, she
started to follow him.