Then it was that Hatsu spoke. "Bring in the prophets of Israel," she
said, "that they may hear the King's decree and so waste no more time
in idle hoping."
And into the apartment were ushered two men.
Both were far past middle life. One was small and thin, with pinched
features and bright, gray eyes; the other was tall and grandly formed,
and both were in the garb of shepherds.
They stood two mute figures before the chair of Tothmes the Second,
and although it was the custom of the age to bend low the knee before
sovereignty, neither man did aught save to wait his bidding.
It was the Princess Hatsu who addressed them.
"We have bidden you to come hither," she said, "that you might, oh
great Poet and Lawgiver of Israel, speak with the freedom of a friend
to us, of that, which has brought you back after many years into
Egypt."
It was Aaron who spoke. Yet while his sweet, strong voice told the
story, the eyes of all were fixed upon the silent lips of Moses.
"Great Queen of Egypt," began Aaron (and all remembered that to the
poor idiot he addressed never a word). "There stands before you on
this day, an instrument of the Almighty. One who by the will of the
All Powerful, shall in time, rear out of ruins and ashes, out of
ignorant, broken-spirited slaves, a great and enduring nation; a
people that shall live with the riches of this globe when Egypt is but
a faded memory. Of this glory that is to be, Moses is promised no
portion, and no place, and being meekest of all men that are upon the
face of the earth, he is satisfied to be the humblest servant of his
Lord. There is for him no glory but the glory of God. Moses has dwelt
always, in spirit, in Egypt. He has never day or night ceased to think
upon the bondage of his people. And who knows the purposes of Mizram
better than this son of Israel that stands before you. He is the
adopted son of Pharaoh's great daughter. Aye it is from out of the
tenderness of his heart for his adopted mother, and his adopted
kinsmen, that he has pleaded with the God of Israel to stay His hand,
that he might warn Egypt of the woes that shall before long befall her
if she still holds Israel in thrall. Therefore he asks, oh gracious
Queen, that thou loosen the cords, and open the gates, and bid thy
bondsmen depart in peace."
"Spare thy prayer." It was the King's brother that spoke. "We fear not
thy one God, so hurl thy threats quickly that we may laugh them to
scorn."
There was no look of anger in the gentle face, and no tone of
bitterness in the strong, sweet voice that said:
"Our God hath thus spoken to Moses, His Prophet: 'Oh thou, who feedest
thy flocks beside the green pastures, and the still waters, arise and
get thee down into Egypt, and take with thee Aaron, thy brother, that
he may speak for thee, and say thou, unto her, who holds the hearts of
her people in the hollow of her woman's hand: "Hear, oh Egypt, harken
unto the voice of the God of Israel. Lo! behold! the cry of Israel has
reached the Mercy Seat and the wailing must cease." Thus saith the
Lord. "Or most surely Egypt shall learn the power of the Most High."'
"Hark, ye, oh Queen, an army shall fall upon Egypt and devour her
substance; its ranks shall be unseen; its warriors shall be called
famine, fever, pestilence and death. Take thou our challenge, oh
stubborn of heart, for we two standing unarmed, save for our
shepherd's staffs, shall alone abide unharmed in your midst when the
will of our God shall be accomplished to the uttermost. Aye, not one
hair of our heads shall ye touch for we are the anointed of Heaven.
Listen, oh Queen, the princes of this world come to naught! Kingdoms
fall and are forgotten, but the glory of the God of Israel remaineth
forever. Once, yet again, for the love he bears the home of his
youth, for the land that heard his first cry, does Moses plead: Oh
Mizram, loose thy vain pride and let Israel go."
"And who is thy God?" (It was Alric who spoke.) "Show us some sign by
which we may be convinced of his power."
Then the silent Moses lifted a small, lithe rod, which he held in one
of his hands, and, lo! it was a rod no longer; but a serpent, the
enemy of man! And it gazed with hungry eyes and spake with a hissing
tongue! Then Alric drew from out his tunic a similar rod and it, too,
changed into a scorpion, larger and fiercer than that, which the man
Moses had created, and these two accursed objects, viewing each other,
forgot man, and engaged in mortal combat the one with the other, and,
lo! the serpent of Moses swallowed the serpent of Alric, and so doing,
vanished.
With a laugh Alric threw down his wand.
"Thy skill, oh free Israelite," he said, "exceedeth mine. What say you
of this power as a test of the God of Israel's might to perform upon
Egypt, that which He threatens?"
The Prince had watched with keenest interest and he now replied,
rather than the Princess: "No test of foolish magic will move our King
from his purpose, believe me. I speak both the will of the King and
his sainted Queen, when I say Israel will abide in Egypt," and as
though hushed by a power that she could not baffle, while her heart
and soul were filled with protest, Hatsu held her peace.
Then Aaron spoke: "But Israel shall go and Egypt shall open her gates
and cry, 'Depart, depart, ere the remnant of us be lost forever.'
Listen! In some near at hand day, Nature shall break no law, when she
makes this fair land a chaos of misery! Your rivers and lakes shall be
like unto blood, and the fish that is in them shall die and the people
shall turn away with loathing, though their throats be parched and
their thirst be intolerable. Then shall the waters breed frogs, and
they shall be tame in their boldness, and go up into the houses, and
consume all that there is therein, from the fair hangings on the
palace walls, to the dough in the humblest dwellers' kneading troughs,
and then if my people be not free, the dust of the land shall become
fleas, and lice, and these shall fall upon man and beast and devour
their bodies while they yet live, and then if wisdom comes not to
thee, oh Egypt, there shall rise swarms of flies that shall buzz and
sting without ceasing and a murrain shall come on thy beasts, the
cattle and the horses and the camels, the oxen and the sheep, and a
boil shall follow, breaking forth with blains upon man and beast! Then
upon Egypt a tempest shall fall, whose like was never known--a tempest
of hail that shall cut like a sword of fire that shall kill--of wind
that howls, and tears, and destroys; and the hail shall smite the
field, and the fire from heaven shall consume the cattle, and every
green thing shall die! The trees shall perish! The flax shall be
useless for the loom! The barley shall give no yield! Then shall come
the locusts, singing a mournful song! They shall cover all things that
be left, and then, be ye warned, if thou still vaunt thyself, there
shall come a midnight wherein all the first born of the land shall
die! The first born of Pharaoh that sitteth upon the throne and the
first born of the lowliest in the realm! No hearth shall be spared!
Listen, oh Queen! give heed to my word, oh councillors! for what the
Lord saith that will He surely perform."
It was with the same relentlessness that the Queen made answer:
"Go back, Shepherd Prophets, to your flocks and herds! Your
threatenings we do not heed! In the name of King Tothmes the Second of
Egypt, I bid you depart, and wish you peace." The great Lawgiver felt,
as the queen spoke, a hand upon his robe, and looking down beheld it
in the grasp of the fingers of the idiot King. And he heard softly,
but distinctly, these words: "Let Israel go! Let Israel go!" And it
stirred in his grand soul a tender pity.
"Israel shall go," he said gently, "and thy will (which thy people
feign to misinterpret) is remembered in love, by the God of all the
earth. Egypt shall harden her heart, and the sorrows of her sin shall
fall upon her; but when Israel goes out thy soul shall go, too, and,
leaving its poor tenement of clay, will inherit a better kingdom,
wherein our God shall give thee light."