=Pharaoh’s Daughter.= The daughter of Pharaoh, who brought up Moses, was
Bathia.
=Pharaoh’s Wife=, Asia, daughter of Mozâhem. Her husband cruelly tormented
her because she believed in Moses. He fastened her hands and feet to
four stakes, and laid a millstone on her as she lay in the hot sun with
her face upwards; but angels shaded off the sun with their wings, and
God took her, without dying, into Paradise.--Sale, _Al Korân_, lxvi.
note.
Among women, four have been perfect; Asia, wife of Pharaoh; Mary,
daughter of Imràn; Khadîjah, daughter of Khowailed, Mahomet’s first
wife; and Fâtima, Mahomet’s daughter.--Attributed to Mahomet.
⁂ There is considerable doubt respecting the Pharaoh meant--whether the
Pharaoh, whose daughter adopted Moses, or the Pharaoh who was drowned in
the Red Sea. The tale suits the latter king far better than it does the
first.
=Pharsa´lia= (_The_), a Latin epic in ten books, by Lucan, the subject
being the fall and death of Pompey. It opens with the passage of Cæsar
across the Rubĭcon. This river formed the boundary of his province, and
his crossing it was virtually a declaration of war (bk. i.). Pompey is
appointed by the senate general of the army to oppose him (bk. v.).
Cæsar retreats to Thessaly; Pompey follows (bk. vi.), and both prepare
for war. Pompey, being routed in the battle of Pharsalia, flees (bk.
vii.), and seeking protection in Egypt, is met by Achillas, the Egyptian
general, who murders him, cuts off his head, and casts his body into the
sea (bk. viii.). Cato leads the residue of Pompey’s army to Cyrēnê, in
Africa (bk. ix.); and Cæsar, in pursuit of Pompey, landing at
Alexandria, is hospitably entertained by Cleopatra (bk. x.). While here,
he tarries in luxurious dalliance, the palace is besieged by Egyptians,
and Cæsar with difficulty escapes to Pharos. He is closely pursued,
hemmed in on all sides, and leaps into the sea. With his imperial robe
held between his teeth, his commentaries in his left hand, and his sword
in his right, he buffets the waves. A thousand javelins are hurled at
him, but touch him not. He swims for empire, he swims for life; ’tis
Cæsar and his fortunes that the waves bear on. He reaches his fleet; is
received by his soldiers with thundering applause. The stars in their
courses fought for Cæsar. The sea-gods were with him, and Egypt with her
host was a by-word and a scorn.
⁂ Bk. ix. contains the account of the African serpents, by far the most
celebrated passage of the whole poem. The following is a pretty close
translation of the passage in question. It would have occupied too much
room to give their onslaught also:--
Here all the serpent deadly brood appears;
First the dull Asp its swelling neck uprears;
The huge Hemor´rhoïs, vampire of the blood;
Chersy´ders, that pollute both field and flood;
The Water-serpent, tyrant of the lake;
The hooded Cobra; and the Plantain snake;
Here with distended jaws the Prester strays;
And Seps, whose bite both flesh and bone decays;
The Amphisbæna with its double head,
One on the neck, and one of tail instead;
The horned Cerastês; and the Hammodyte,
Whose sandy hue might balk the keenest sight;
A feverish thirst betrays the Dipsas’ sting;
The Scytăla, its slough that casts in spring;
The Natrix here the crystal streams pollutes;
Swift thro’ the air the venomed Javelin shoots;
Here the Parēas, moving on its tail,
Marks in the sand its progress by its trail;
The speckled Cenchris darts its devious way,
Its skin with spots as Theban marble gay;
The hissing Sibīla; and Basilisk,
With whom no living thing its life would risk,
Where’er it moves none else would dare remain,
Tyrant alike and terror of the plain.