The expedition of the heir to the throne, undertaken with the object
of discovering the priest who had saved Sarah and had given him legal
advice, had a result that was unexpected.
The priest was not discovered, but among Egyptian earth-tillers
legends began to circulate which concerned Rameses.
Some mysterious man sailed about from village to village and told the
people that the heir to the throne freed the men who were in danger of
condemnation to the quarries for attacking his dwelling. Besides, he
had beaten down an official who was extorting unjust rent from
tenants. Finally, the unknown person added that Prince Rameses was
under the special guardianship of Amon, who was his father.
Simple people listened to these tidings eagerly, first, because they
agreed with facts, second, because the man who told the story was
himself like a spirit--it was not known whence he came nor whither he
had vanished.
Prince Rameses made no mention whatever of his tenants to Dagon; he
did not even summon him. He felt ashamed in presence of the Phoenician
from whom he had taken money and might require money yet more than one
time.
But a few days after the adventure with Dagon's scribe the banker came
himself to the heir, holding in his hand some covered object.
On entering the prince's chamber he bent down, untied a white
kerchief, and drew forth from it a very beautiful gold goblet; the
goblet was set with stones of various colors, and covered with carving
in relief which on the lower part represented the gathering and
pressing out of grapes and on the cup part a feast.
"Accept this goblet, worthy lord, from thy slave," said the banker,
"and use it for a hundred, a thousand years, to the end of ages."
The prince understood what the Phoenician wanted; so, without touching
the golden gift, he said with a stern expression,--
"Dost thou see, Dagon, that purple reflection inside the goblet?"
"I do, indeed," replied the banker; "why should I not see that which
shows the goblet to be the purest gold?"
"But I declare that to be the blood of children seized away from their
parents," said the heir, angrily.
And he turned and went to an interior chamber.
"O Astoreth!" groaned the Phoenician.
His lips grew blue, and his hands trembled so that he was hardly able
to wrap up the goblet.
A couple of days later Dagon sailed down with his goblet to Sarah's
house. He was arrayed in robes interwoven with gold; in his thick
beard were glass globulets from which issued perfumes, and he had
fastened two plumes to his head.
"Beautiful Sarah," began he, "may Jehovah pour on thy family as many
blessings as there are waters in the Nile at present! We Phoenicians
and ye Jews are brethren and neighbors. I am inflamed with such ardor
of love for thee that didst thou not belong to our most worthy lord I
would give Gideon ten talents for thee, and would take thee for my
lawful wife. So enamored am I."
"May God preserve me," answered Sarah, "from wanting another lord
beyond the one who is mine at this moment. But whence, worthy Dagon,
did the desire come to thee to-day of visiting our lord's servant?"
"I will tell thee the truth, as if thou wert Tamara, my wife, who, a
real daughter of Sidon, though she brought me a large dowry, is old
now and not worthy to take off thy sandals."
"In the honey flowing from thy lips there is much wormwood," put in
Sarah.
"Let the honey," replied Dagon, sitting down, "be for thee and let the
wormwood poison my heart. Our lord Prince Rameses--may he live through
eternity!--has the mouth of a lion and the keenness of a vulture. He
has seen fit to rent his estate to me. This has filled my stomach with
delight; but he does not trust me, so I lay awake whole nights from
anxiety, I only sigh and cover my bed with tears, in which bed would
that thou wert resting with me, O Sarah, instead of my wife Tamara,
who cannot rouse desire in me any longer."
"That is not what thou wishest to say," interrupted the blushing
Sarah.
"I know not what I wish to say, since I have looked on thee, and since
our lord, examining my activity on his estates, struck with a cane and
took health from my scribe who was collecting dues there from tenants.
And these dues were not for me. Sarah, but for our lord. It is not I
who will eat the figs and wheaten bread from those lands, but thou and
our lord. I have given money to our lord and jewels to thee. Why then
should the low Egyptian rabble impoverish our lord and thee, Sarah? To
show how greatly thou rousest my desire and that from these estates I
wish nothing but reserve all for thee and our lord, I give this goblet
of pure gold set with jewels and covered with carving at which the
gods themselves would be astonished."
Then Dagon drew forth from the cloth the goblet refused by Prince
Rameses.
"I do not even wish that thou shouldst have the goblet in the house
and give the prince to drink from it. Give this goblet of pure gold to
Gideon, whom I love as my own brother. And thou, Sarah, tell thy
father these words: 'Thy twin brother Dagon, the unfortunate tenant on
the lands of Prince Rameses, is ruined. Drink then, my father, from
this goblet, think of thy twin brother, and beg Jehovah that our lord,
Prince Rameses, may not beat his scribes, and bring to revolt tenants
who even now have no wish to pay tribute.' And know this, Sarah, that
if thou wouldst admit me to confidence I would give thee two talents,
and thy father one talent, and, besides, I should be ashamed of giving
thee so little, for thou deservest that the pharaoh himself should
fondle thee, and the heir of the throne, and the worthy minister
Herhor, and the most valiant Nitager, and the richest bankers of the
Phoenicians. There is such a taste in thee that I grow faint when I
gaze at thee, and when I see thee not, I close my eyes and lick my
lips. Thou art sweeter than figs, more fragrant than roses. I would
give thee five talents. Take this goblet, Sarah."
Sarah drew back with drooping eyes.
"I will not take the goblet," answered she; "my lord forbade me to
take gifts from any one."
Dagon was astonished, and looked with widely opened eyes at her.
"Then it must be that thou knowest not, Sarah, the value of this
goblet. But I give it to thy father, who is my brother."
"I cannot take it," whispered Sarah.
"Oh!" cried Dagon. "Then thou, Sarah, wilt pay me for this goblet in
another way, without speaking to thy lord. But a woman as beautiful as
thou must have gold and jewels, and should have her own banker to
bring her money when she pleases, not alone when her lord likes."
"I cannot!" whispered Sarah, without concealing her repulsion for the
banker.
The Phoenician changed his tone in the twinkle of an eye, and said
laughing,--
"Very good, Sarah! I only wished to convince myself that thou art
faithful to our lord. I see that thou art faithful, though foolish, as
people say."
"What?" burst out Sarah, rushing at Dagon with clinched fist.
"Ha! ha!" laughed the Phoenician. "What a pity that our lord could not
hear and see thee this moment! But I will tell him, when he is in good
humor, that thou art not only as faithful as a dog to him, but even
that thou wouldst not accept a gold goblet because he has not
permitted thee to take presents. And this goblet, believe me, Sarah,
has tempted more than one woman, and women who were not of small
importance."
Dagon sat awhile admiring the virtue and obedience of Sarah; at last
he took farewell of her with much feeling, sat down in his tented
boat, and sailed away toward Memphis. When the boat had pushed off
from the country house, the smile vanished from the banker's face, and
an expression of anger came out thereon. When Sarah's house was hidden
behind the trees, Dagon stood up and raised his hands.
"O Baal of Sidon, O Astoreth!" said he, "avenge my insult on this
cursed daughter of a Jew. Let her treacherous beauty perish as a drop
of rain in the desert! May disease devour her body, and madness bind
her soul! May her lord hunt her out of his house like a mangy swine!
And as to-day she pushed my goblet aside, may the hour come when
people will push her withered hand aside, when in thirst she begs them
for a cup of dirty water."
Then he spat and muttered words with hidden and dreadful meaning; a
black cloud covered the sun for a while, and the water near the side
of the boat began to grow muddy and rise in a mighty wave. When he
finished, the sun had grown bright again; but the river was disturbed,
as if a new inundation were moving it.
Dagon's rowers were frightened, and ceased their singing; but
separated from their master by the side of the boat, they could not
see his ceremonies.
Thenceforth the Phoenician did not appear before Prince Rameses. But
on a certain day when the prince came to his residence, he found in
his bedchamber a beautiful Phoenician dancer, sixteen years of age,
whose entire dress was a golden circlet on her head, and a shawl, as
delicate as spider webs, thrown across her shoulders.
"Who art thou?" asked the prince.
"I am a priestess, and thy servant; the lord Dagon has sent me to
frighten away thy anger against him."
"How wilt thou do that?"
"Oh, in this way--sit down there," said she, seating him in an
armchair. "I will stand on tiptoe, so as to grow taller than thy
anger, and with this shawl, which is sacred, I will drive evil spirits
from thee. A kish! a kish!" whispered she, dancing in a circle.
"Rameses, let my hands remove gloom from thy hair, let my kisses bring
back to thy eyes their bright glances. Let the beating of my heart
fill thy ears with music, lord of Egypt.--A kish! a kish! he is not
yours, but mine.--Love demands such silence that in its presence even
anger must grow still."
While dancing, she played with the prince's hair, put her arms around
his neck, kissed him on the eyes. At last she sat down wearied at his
feet, and, resting her head on his knees, turned her face toward him
quickly, panting with parted lips.
"Thou art no longer angry with thy servant Dagon?" whispered she,
stroking his face.
Rameses wished to kiss her on the lips, but she sprang away from his
knees, crying,--
"Oh, that is not possible!"
"Why so?"
"I am a virgin and priestess of the great goddess Astoreth. Thou
wouldst have to love my guardian goddess greatly, and honor her before
thou couldst kiss me."
"But is it permitted thee?"
"All things are permitted me, for I am a priestess, and have sworn to
preserve my virginity."
"Why hast thou come hither, then?"
"To drive out thy anger. I have done so, I depart. Be well and kind
always," added she, with a piercing glance.
"Where dost thou dwell? What is thy name?" asked Rameses.
"My name is Fondling, and I dwell-- Ei, why should I tell? Thou wilt
not come soon to me."
She waved her hand and vanished. The prince, as if stunned, did not
move from his chair. When after a while he looked through the window,
he saw a rich litter which four Nubians bore toward the Nile swiftly.
Rameses was not sorry for the departing woman; she astonished, but did
not attract him.
"Sarah is calmer," thought he, "and more beautiful. Moreover, it seems
to me that that Phoenician must be cold, and her fondlings are
studied."
But from that time the prince ceased to be angry at Dagon, all the
more since on a day when he was at Sarah's earth-tillers came to him,
and thanking him for protection declared that the Phoenician forced
them to pay new rents no longer.
That was the case close to Memphis, but on other lands the prince's
tenants made good Dagon's losses.