And Neith answered, "What shall they build, if I build not with
them?"
And Pthah drew with his measuring rod upon the sand. And I saw
suddenly, drawn on the sand, the outlines of great cities, and of
vaults, and domes, and aqueducts, and bastions, and towers,
greater than obelisks, covered with black clouds. And the wind
blew ripples of sand amidst the lines that Pthah drew, and the
moving sand was like the marching of men. But I saw that wherever
Neith looked at the lines, they faded, and were effaced.
"Oh, Brother!" she said at last, "what is this vanity? If I, who
am Lady of wisdom, do not mock the children of men, why shouldst
thou mock them, who art Lord of truth?" But Pthah answered, "They
thought to bind me; and they shall be bound. They shall labor in
the fire for vanity."
And Neith said, looking at the sand, "Brother, there is no true
labor here--there is only weary life and wasteful death."
And Pthah answered, "Is it not truer labor, sister, than thy
sculpture of dreams?" Then Neith smiled; and stopped suddenly.
She looked to the sun; its edge touched the horizon-edge of the
desert. Then she looked to the long heaps of pieces of clay, that
lay, each with its blue shadow, by the lake shore.
"Brother," she said, "how long will this pyramid of thine be in
building?"
"Thoth will have sealed the scroll of the years ten times, before
the summit is laid."
"Brother, thou knowest not how to teach thy children to labor,"
answered Neith. "Look! I must follow Phre beyond Atlas; shall I
build your pyramid for you before he goes down?" And Pthah
answered, "Yea, sister, if thou canst put thy winged shoulders to
such work." And Neith drew herself to her height; and I heard a
clashing pass through the plumes of her wings, and the asp stood
up on her helmet, and fire gathered in her eyes. And she took one
of the flaming arrows out of the sheaf in her left hand, and
stretched it out over the heaps of clay. And they rose up like
flights of locusts, and spread themselves in the air, so that it
grew dark in a moment. Then Neith designed them places with her
arrow point; and they drew into ranks, like dark clouds laid level
at morning. Then Neith pointed with her arrow to the north, and to
the south, and to the east, and to the west, and the flying motes
of earth drew asunder into four great ranked crowds; and stood,
one in the north, and one in the south, and one in the east, and
one in the west--one against another. Then Neith spread her wings
wide for an instant, and closed them with a sound like the sound
of a rushing sea; and waved her hand towards the foundation of the
pyramid, where it was laid on the brow of the desert. And the four
flocks drew together and sank down, like sea-birds settling to a
level rock, and when they met, there was a sudden flame, as broad
as the pyramid, and as high as the clouds; and it dazzled me; and
I closed my eyes for an instant; and when I looked again, the
pyramid stood on its rock, perfect; and purple with the light from
the edge of the sinking sun.
THE YOUNGER CHILDREN (variously pleased). I'm so glad! How nice!
But what did Pthah say?
L. Neith did not wait to hear what he would say. When I turned
back to look at her, she was gone; and I only saw the level white
cloud form itself again, close to the arch of the sun as it sank.
And as the last edge of the sun disappeared, the form of Pthah
faded into a mighty shadow, and so passed away.
EGYPT. And was Neith's pyramid left?
L. Yes; but you could not think, Egypt, what a strange feeling of
utter loneliness came over me when the presence of the two gods
passed away. It seemed as if I had never known what it was to be
alone before; and the unbroken line of the desert was terrible.
EGYPT. I used to feel that, when I was queen: sometimes I had to
carve gods, for company, all over my palace. I would fain have
seen real ones, if I could.
L. But listen a moment yet, for that was not quite all my dream.
The twilight drew swiftly to the dark, and I could hardly see the
great pyramid; when there came a heavy murmuring sound in the air;
and a horned beetle, with terrible claws, fell on the sand at my
feet, with a blow like the beat of a hammer. Then it stood up on
its hind claws, and waved its pincers at me: and its fore claws
became strong arms, and hands; one grasping real iron pincers, and
the other a huge hammer; and it had a helmet on its head, without
any eyelet holes, that I could see. And its two hind claws became
strong crooked legs, with feet bent inwards. And so there stood by
me a dwarf, in glossy black armor, ribbed and embossed like a
beetle's back, leaning on his hammer. And I could not speak for
wonder; but he spoke with a murmur like the dying away of a beat
upon a bell. He said, "I will make Neith's great pyramid small. I
am the lower Pthah; and have power over fire. I can wither the
strong things, and strengthen the weak; and everything that is
great I can make small, and everything that is little I can make
great." Then he turned to the angle of the pyramid and limped
towards it. And the pyramid grew deep purple; and then red like
blood, and then pale rose-color, like fire. And I saw that it
glowed with fire from within. And the lower Pthah touched it with
the hand that held the pincers; and it sank down like the sand in
an hour-glass,--then drew itself together, and sank, still, and
became nothing, it seemed to me; but the armed dwarf stooped down,
and took it into his hand, and brought it to me, saying,
"Everything that is great I can make like this pyramid; and give
into men's hands to destroy." And I saw that he had a little
pyramid in his hand, with as many courses in it as the large one;
and built like that,--only so small. And because it glowed still,
I was afraid to touch it; but Pthah said, "Touch it--for I have
bound the fire within it, so that it cannot burn." So I touched
it, and took it into my own hand; and it was cold; only red, like
a ruby. And Pthah laughed, and became like a beetle again, and
buried himself in the sand, fiercely; throwing it back over his
shoulders. And it seemed to me as if he would draw me down with
him into the sand; and I started back, and woke, holding the
little pyramid so fast in my hand that it hurt me.
EGYPT. Holding WHAT in your hand?