In the city of Anu a series of feasts and amusements now followed. The
worthy nomarch brought the choicest wines from his cellars; from the
three neighboring provinces came the most beautiful dancers, the most
famous musicians, the adroitest of jugglers. The prince's time was
occupied thoroughly,--every morning reviews of troops and receptions;
later feasts, spectacles, hunting, and feasts again.
But just when Ranuzer felt certain that the viceroy was tired of
questions of administration and economy, the latter summoned him, and
asked,--
"Thy province, worthiness, is among the richest in Egypt, is it not?"
"Yes, though we have had a number of hard years," replied Ranuzer; and
again his heart sank and his legs began to tremble.
"But this astonishes me," said the prince, "that year after year the
income of his holiness decreases. Canst thou not explain to me the
cause of this?"
"Lord," said the nomarch, bending his head to the earth, "I see that
my enemies have sown distrust in thy soul; whatever I might say,
therefore, would not convince thee. Permit me not to speak. Better let
scribes come with documents, which thou canst touch with thy hand and
verify."
The prince was somewhat astonished at the unexpected outburst, but he
accepted the offer; nay, he was glad of it. He thought, of course,
that the report of these scribes would explain to him the secret of
government.
The next day, therefore, came the chief scribe of Hak, and with him
his assistants. They brought from ten to twenty rolls of papyrus
written on both sides. When unwound, they formed a strip three spans
of a great hand in width and in length sixty paces. For the first time
the prince saw so gigantic a document, containing an inventory of one
province only and that for one year.
The chief scribe sat on the floor with his legs doubled under him, and
began,--
"In the thirty-third year of the reign of his holiness
Mer-Amen-Rameses the Nile was late in its overflow. Earth-tillers,
ascribing this misfortune to the black art of foreigners resident in
the province of Hak, fell to wrecking the houses of Hittites, Jews,
and Phoenicians, during which time a number of persons were slain by
them. At command of his worthiness the nomarch, those guilty were
brought to the court; twenty-five earth-tillers, two masons, and five
sandal-makers were condemned to the quarries, one boatman was
strangled--"
"What is that document?" interrupted the prince.
"It is the report of the court intended for the feet of his holiness."
"Put it aside, and read about the income of the treasury."
The assistants of the chief scribe folded the rejected document, and
gave him others. Again the official began,--
"On the fifth day of the month Thoth six hundred measures of wheat
were brought to the granaries of the pharaoh; for these a receipt was
issued by the chief overseer.
"On the seventh day of Thoth the chief scribe discovered and verified
a statement that from the supply of the previous year one hundred and
forty-eight measures of wheat had vanished. During the verification
two laborers stole a measure of grain and hid it among bricks. When
this was proven they were brought to judgment and sent to the quarries
for raising their hands to the property of his holiness."
"But the hundred and forty-eight measures?" asked the heir.
"The mice ate them," replied the scribe, and read on.
"On the eighth day of Thoth twenty cows and eighty-four sheep were
sent to the slaughter; these, at command of the overseer of oxen, were
issued to the Sparrow-Hawk regiment."
In this manner the viceroy learned day after day how much wheat,
barley, beans, and lotus seed were weighed into the granaries, how
much given out to the mills, how much stolen, and how many laborers
were condemned to the quarries for stealing. The report was so
wearisome and chaotic that in the middle of the month Paofi the prince
gave command to stop reading.
"Tell me, chief scribe," said Rameses, "what dost thou understand from
this? What dost thou learn from it?"
"Everything which thy worthiness commands."
And he began again at the beginning, but from memory,--
"On the fifth of the month Thoth they brought to the granaries of the
pharaoh--"
"Enough!" cried the enraged prince; and he commanded the man to
depart.
The scribes fell on their faces, gathered up their papyruses quickly,
and bore them away in a twinkle.
The prince summoned the nomarch. He came with crossed hands, but with
a calm face, for he had learned from the scribes that the viceroy
could understand nothing from reports, and that he did not give ear to
them.
"Tell me, worthiness," began the heir, "do they read reports to thee?"
"Every day."
"And dost thou understand them?"
"Pardon, most worthy lord, but--could I manage a province if I did not
understand?"
The prince was confused and fell to thinking. Could it be really that
he, Rameses, was the only incompetent? But in this case what would
become of his power?
"Sit down," said he, after a while, indicating a chair to the
nomarch. "Sit down and tell me how thou governest the province."
The dignitary grew pale, and the whites of his eyes turned upward.
Rameses noticed this, and began explaining,--
"Do not think that I have not trust in thy wisdom. On the contrary, I
know no man who could manage better. But I am young and curious to
know the art of government, so I beg thee to deal out to me crumbs of
thy knowledge. Thou art ruling the province--I know that. Now explain
to me the process."
The nomarch drew breath and began,--
"I will relate, worthiness, the whole course of my life, so thou shalt
know how weighty my work is.
"In the morning I bathe, then I give offerings to the god Amut; next I
summon the treasurer, and ask him whether the taxes for his holiness
are collected properly. When he answers yes, I praise him; when he
says that these and those people have not paid, I issue an order to
imprison the disobedient. Then I summon the overseers of the royal
granaries, to learn how much grain has been delivered. If much, I
praise them; if little, I issue an order to inflict stripes on the
guilty.
"Later comes the chief scribe, and tells me which of the estates of
his holiness needs troops, officials, and laborers, and I command to
send them in return for a receipt. When he gives out less, I praise
him; when more, I commence an investigation.
"In the afternoon come Phoenician merchants, to whom I sell wheat and
bring money to the treasury of the pharaoh. Afterward I pray and
confirm the sentences of the court; toward evening the police inform
me of what has happened. No longer ago than the day before yesterday
people from my province fell upon the territory Ka and desecrated a
statue of the god Sebak. I was delighted in heart, for that god is not
our patron; still I condemned some of the guilty to strangulation,
some of them to the quarries, and all to receive stripes.
"Hence peace and good habits prevail in my province, and the taxes
flow in daily."
"Though the income of the pharaoh has decreased here also," added
Rameses.
"Thou speakest truth, lord," sighed the worthy nomarch. "The priests
say that the gods are angry with Egypt because of the influx of
foreigners; but I see that even the gods do not contemn gold and
precious stones brought by Phoenicians."
At that moment the priest Mentezufis, preceded by an officer in
waiting, entered the hall to beg the prince and the nomarch to a
public devotion. Both dignitaries consented, and the nomarch exhibited
so much piety that the prince was astonished. When Ranuzer left the
company with obeisances, Rameses said to the priest,--
"Since with me, holy prophet, thou takest the place of the most
venerable Herhor, I beg thee to explain one thing which fills my heart
with anxiety--"
"Shall I be able to explain?" asked the prophet.
"Thou wilt answer me, for thou art filled with wisdom, of which thou
art the servant. But consider what I say-- Thou knowest why his
holiness sent me hither."
"He sent thee, prince, to become familiar with the wealth of the
country and its institutions," said Mentezufis.
"I am obeying. I examine the nomarchs, I look at the country and the
people. I listen to reports of scribes, but I understand nothing; this
poisons my life and astounds me.
"When I have to do with the army, I know everything,--how many
soldiers there are, how many horses, chariots, which officers drink or
neglect their service, and which do their duty. I know, too, what to
do with an army. When on a plain there is a hostile corps, I must take
two corps to beat it. If the enemy is in a defensive position, I
should not move without three corps. When the enemy is undisciplined
and fights in unordered crowds against a thousand, I send five hundred
of our soldiers and beat him. When the opposing side has a thousand
men with axes, and I a thousand, I rush at them and finish those
troops, if I have a hundred men with slings in addition.
"In the army, holy father," continued Rameses, "everything is as
visible as the fingers on my hand, and to every question an answer is
ready which my mind comprehends. Meanwhile in the management of a
province I not only see nothing, but there is such confusion in my
head that more than once I forget the object of my journey.
"Answer me, therefore, sincerely, as a priest and an officer: What
does this mean? Are the nomarchs deceiving me, or am I incompetent?"
The holy prophet fell to thinking.
"Whether they attempt to deceive thee, worthiness," answered he, "I
know not, for I have not examined their acts. It seems to me, however,
that they explain nothing, because they themselves comprehend nothing.
The nomarchs and their scribes," continued the priest, "are like
decurions in an army; each one knows his ten men and reports on them.
Each commands those under him. But the decurion knows not the general
plan made by leaders of the army. The nomarchs and the scribes write
down everything that happens in their province, and lay those reports
at the feet of the pharaoh. But only the supreme council extracts from
them the honey of wisdom."
"But that honey is just what I need," said the prince. "Why do I not
get it?"
Mentezufis shook his head.
"Wisdom of the state," said he, "belongs to the priesthood; therefore
only the man who is devoted to the gods can obtain it. Meanwhile,
worthiness, though reared by priests, thou pushest thyself away from
the temples decisively."
"How is that? Then, if I do not become a priest, will ye not explain
to me?"
"There are things, worthiness, which thou mayest know even now, as
erpatr, there are others which thou wilt know when thou art the
pharaoh. There are still others which only a high priest may know."
"Every pharaoh is a high priest," interrupted the prince.
"Not every pharaoh. Besides, even among high priests there are grades
of difference."
"Then," cried the enraged heir, "ye hide the order of the state from
me, and I shall not be able to carry out the commands of my father?"
"What the prince needs may be known," answered Mentezufis, quietly,
"for thou hast the inferior priestly consecration. Those things,
however, are hidden behind the veil in temples, which no one will dare
to draw aside without due preparation."
"I will draw it."
"May the gods defend Egypt from such a misfortune!" replied the
priest, as he raised both his hands. "Dost thou not know, worthiness,
that a thunderbolt would kill any man who without the needed
ceremonies should touch the veil? Were the prince to take to the
temple any slave or condemned criminal and let him stretch out his
hand, the man would die that same instant."
"For ye would kill him."
"Each one of us would die just like an ordinary criminal were he to
approach the altar sacrilegiously. In presence of the gods, my prince,
a pharaoh or a priest means as little as a slave."
"What am I to do, then?" asked Rameses.
"Seek an answer to thy trouble in the temple, after thou hast purified
thyself by prayers and fasting," answered the priest. "While Egypt is
Egypt, no ruler has gained wisdom of state in another way."
"I will meditate over this," said the prince. "Though I see from thy
words that the most venerable Mefres, and thou, holy prophet, wish to
involve me in ceremonies as ye have involved my father."
"Not at all. Worthiness, if thou as pharaoh would limit thyself to
commanding the army, thou mightst take part in ceremonies a few times
a year merely, for on other occasions the high priest would be thy
substitute. But if thou wish to learn the secrets of temples, thou
must honor the gods, for they are the fountain of wisdom."