Some days later Prince Rameses was summoned before the face of his
most worthy mother, Nikotris, who was the second wife of the pharaoh,
but now the greatest lady in Egypt. The gods were not mistaken when
they called her to be the mother of a pharaoh. She was a tall person,
of rather full habit, and in spite of forty years was still beautiful.
There was in her eyes, face, and whole form such majesty that even
when she went unattended, in the modest garb of a priestess, people
bowed their heads to her.
The worthy lady received Rameses in her cabinet, which was paved with
porcelain tiles. She sat on an inlaid armchair under a palm-tree. At
her feet, on a small stool, lay a little dog; on the other side knelt
a black slave woman with a fan. The pharaoh's wife wore a muslin robe
embroidered with gold, and on her wig a circlet in the form of a
lotus, ornamented with jewels.
When the prince had bowed low, the little dog sniffed him, then lay
down again; while the lady, nodding her head, made inquiry,--
"For what reason, O Rameses, hast thou desired an interview?"
"Two days ago, mother."
"I knew that thou wert occupied. But to-day we both have time, and I
can listen."
"Thy speech, mother, acts on me as a strong wind of the desert, and I
have no longer courage to present my petition."
"Then surely it is a question of money."
Rameses dropped his head; he was confused.
"But dost thou need much money?"
"Fifteen talents--"
"O gods!" cried the lady, "but a couple of days ago ten talents were
paid thee from the treasury. Go, girl, into the garden; thou must be
tired," said she to the black slave; and when alone with her son she
asked,--
"But is thy Jewess so demanding?"
Rameses blushed, but raised his head.
"Thou knowest, mother, that she is not. But I promised a reward to the
army, and--I am unable to pay it."
The queen looked at him with calm loftiness.
"How evil it is," said she, after a while, "when a son makes decisions
without consulting his mother. Just now I, remembering thy age, wished
to give thee a Phoenician slave maiden sent me by Tyre with ten
talents for dowry. But thou hast preferred a Jewess."
"She pleased me. There is not such a beauty among thy serving maidens,
mother, nor even among the wives of his holiness."
"But she is a Jewess!"
"Be not prejudiced, mother, I beg of thee. It is untrue that Jews eat
pork and kill cats."
The worthy lady laughed.
"Thou art speaking like some boy from a primary school," answered she,
shrugging her shoulders, "and hast forgotten the words of Rameses the
Great: 'The yellow people are more numerous than we and they are
richer; let us act against them, lest they grow too powerful, but let
us act carefully.' I do not think, therefore, that a girl of that
people is the one to be first mistress of the heir to the throne."
"Can the words of Rameses the Great apply to the daughter of a poor
tenant?" asked the prince. "Besides, where are the Jews? Three
centuries ago they left Egypt, and to-day they form a little state,
ridiculous and priest-governed."
"I see," answered the worthy lady, frowning slightly, "that thy
mistress is not losing time. Be careful, Rameses; remember, that their
leader was Messu (Moses), that traitor priest whom we curse to this
day in our temples. Remember that the Jews bore away out of Egypt more
treasures than the labor of their few generations was worth to us;
they took with them not only gold, but the faith in one god, and our
sacred laws, which they give out to-day as their own faith and laws.
Last of all, know this," added she, with great emphasis, "that the
daughters of that people prefer death to the bed of a foreigner. And
if they give themselves even to hostile leaders, it is to use them for
their policy or to kill them."
"Believe me, mother, that it is our priests who spread all these
reports. They will not admit to the footstool of the throne people of
another faith lest those people might serve the pharaoh in opposition
to their order."
The queen rose from the armchair, and crossing her arms on her breast,
gazed at her son with amazement.
"What they tell me is true then, thou art an enemy of our priests.
Thou, their favorite pupil!"
"I must have the traces of their canes to this day on my shoulders,"
said Rameses.
"But thy grandfather and my father, Amenhôtep, was a high priest, and
possessed extensive power in this country."
"Just because my grandfather was a pharaoh, and my father is a pharaoh
also, I cannot endure the rule of Herhor."
"He was brought to his position by thy grandfather, the holy
Amenhôtep."
"And I will cast him down from it."
The mother shrugged her shoulders.
"And it is thou," answered she, with sadness, "who wishest to lead a
corps? But thou art a spoiled girl, not a man and a leader--"
"How is that?" interrupted the prince, restraining himself with
difficulty from an outburst.
"I cannot recognize my own son. I do not see in thee the future lord
of Egypt. The dynasty in thy person will be like a Nile boat without a
rudder. Thou wilt drive the priests from the court, but who will
remain with thee? Who will be thy eye in the Lower and the Upper
Country, who in foreign lands? But the pharaoh must see everything,
whatever it be, on which fall the divine rays of Osiris."
"The priests will be my servants, not my ministers."
"They are the most faithful servants. Thanks to their prayers thy
father reigns thirty-three years, and avoids war which might be
fatal."
"To the priests?"
"To the pharaoh and the state!" interrupted the lady. "Knowest thou
what takes place in our treasury, from which in one day thou takest
ten talents and desirest fifteen more? Knowest thou that were it not
for the liberality of the priests, who on behalf of the treasury even
take real jewels from the gods and put false ones in their places, the
property of the pharaoh would be now in the hands of Phoenicians?"
"One fortunate war would overflow our treasury as the increase of the
Nile does our fields."
"No. Thou, Rameses, art such a child yet that we may not even reckon
thy godless words as sinful. Occupy thyself, I beg, with thy Greek
regiments, get rid of the Jew girl as quickly as may be, and leave
politics to us."
"Why must I put away Sarah?"
"Shouldst thou have a son from her, complications might rise in the
State, which is troubled enough as matters now are. Thou mayst be
angry with the priests," added she, "if thou wilt not offend them in
public. They know that it is necessary to overlook much in an heir to
the throne, especially when he has such a stormy character. But time
pacifies everything to the glory of the dynasty and the profit of
Egypt."
The prince meditated; then he said suddenly,--
"I cannot count, therefore, on money from the treasury."
"Thou canst not in any case. The grand secretary would have been
forced to stop payment to-day had I not given him fourteen talents
sent from Tyre to me."
"And what shall I do with the army?" asked the prince, rubbing his
forehead impatiently.
"Put away the Jewess, and beg the priests. Perhaps they will make a
loan to thee."
"Never! I prefer a loan from Phoenicians."
The lady shook her head.
"Thou art erpatr, act as may please thee. But I say that thou must
give great security, and the Phoenicians, when once thy creditors,
will not let thee go. They surpass the Jews in treachery."
"A part of my income will suffice to cover such debts."
"We shall see. I wish sincerely to help thee, but I have not the
means," said the lady, sadly. "Do, then, as thou art able, but
remember that the Phoenicians in our state are like rats in a granary;
when one pushes in through a crevice, others follow."
Rameses loitered in leave-taking.
"Hast thou something more to tell me?" inquired the queen.
"I should like to ask-- My heart divines that thou, mother, hast some
plans regarding me. What are they?"
She stroked his face.
"Not now--not yet. Thou art free to-day, like every young noble in the
country; then make use of thy freedom. But, Rameses, the time is
coming when thou wilt have to take a wife whose children will be
princes of the blood royal and whose son will be thy heir. I am
thinking of that time--"
"And what?"
"Nothing defined yet. In every case political wisdom suggests to me
that thy wife should be a priest's daughter."
"Perhaps Herhor's?" said the prince, with a laugh.
"What would there be blamable in that? Herhor will be high priest in
Thebes very soon, and his daughter is only fourteen years of age."
"And would she consent to occupy the place of the Jewess?" asked
Rameses, ironically.
"Thou shouldst try to have people forget thy present error."
"I kiss thy feet, mother, and I go," said the prince, seizing his own
head. "I hear so many marvellous things here that I begin to fear lest
the Nile may flow up toward the cataract, or the pyramids pass over to
the eastern desert."
"Blaspheme not, my child," whispered the lady, gazing with fear at
Rameses. "In this land most wonderful miracles are seen."
"Are not they this, that the walls of the palace listen to their
owners?" asked her son, with a bitter smile.
"Men have witnessed the death of pharaohs who had reigned a few months
only, and the fall of dynasties which had governed nine nations."
"Yes, for those pharaohs forgot the sword for the distaff," retorted
Rameses.
He bowed and went out.
In proportion as the sound of Rameses' steps grew less in the immense
antechamber, the face of the worthy lady changed; the place of majesty
was taken by pain and fear, while tears were glistening in her great
eyes.
She ran to the statue of the goddess, knelt, and sprinkling incense
from India on the coals, began to pray,--
"O Isis, Isis, Isis! three times do I pronounce thy name. O Isis, who
givest birth to serpents, crocodiles, and ostriches, may thy name be
thrice praised. O Isis, who preservest grains of wheat from robber
whirlwinds, and the bodies of our fathers from the destructive toil of
time, O Isis, take pity on my son and preserve him! Thrice be thy name
repeated--and here--and there--and beyond, to-day and forever, and for
the ages of ages, as long as the temples of our gods shall gaze on
themselves in the waters of the Nile."
Thus praying and sobbing, the queen bowed down and touched the
pavement with her forehead. Above her at that moment a low whisper was
audible,--
"The voice of the just is heard always."
The worthy lady sprang up, and full of astonishment looked around. But
there was no one in the chamber. Only the painted flowers gazed at her
from the walls, and from above the altar the statue of the goddess
full of superterrestrial calm.