CHAPTER III
THE DEATH-BRIDAL OF NITOCRIS
The day of the bridal of Nitocris the Queen with Menkau-Ra the Conquerorhad come and gone in a blaze of golden splendour. In all the Upper andLower Lands no head was held so proudly as the head of Menkau-Ra, noheart beat so high as his that day, nor did any cheek bloom so sweetly,or any eyes shine so brightly as the cheeks and the eyes of Nitocris--sostrange are the workings of a woman's heart, and so far are itsmysteries past finding out.
And now the bridal feast was spread in the great banqueting hall whichPepi the Wise had made deep down in the foundations of his palace belowthe waters of the Nile at flood-time, and at midnight the waters wouldbe at the full. It was here that Nitocris had sat at the betrothal feastwith Nefer but a few hours before his death, for here he had drunk fromthe poisoned cup which Anemen-Ha the High Priest had prepared, and hereonly would Nitocris meet her guests.
The great hall shone with the light of a thousand golden lamps, whichshed their radiance and the perfume from the scented oils in which weredissolved the most precious gums of the distant East.
The long tables, spread with snowy linen and loaded with vessels of goldand silver and glass of many hues and curious forms, flashed andglittered in the glow of the thousand flames. The vineyards of Cos andSais had yielded their oldest and sweetest wines, red and purple andgolden. The choicest meats and the rarest fruits that ripened under theglowing suns of Khem--all was there that could make glad the heart ofman and fill his soul with contentment.
At the centre of the table, which stood on a raised platform in front ofthe great black pedestal of the Colossus of Pepi, Nitocris the Queen satin her chair of ivory and gold, clad in almost transparent robes of thefinest silk of Cos, shining with gems, and crowned with the UraeusSnake, and the double diadem of the Two Lands.
On her right sat Menkau-Ra, crowned and robed in royal vesture, and onher left Anemen-Ha in his priestly garments of snowy linen. At the othertables sat their friends and kindred, the families of the Mohar and theHigh Priest, the chief officers of the victorious army and all the proudhierarchy of the Temple of Ptah, for was not this the triumph ofAnemen-Ha no less than of Menkau-Ra?
Only Ma-Rim[=o]n was absent. He had disappeared from the temple earlyin the morning, and no one had given a thought to his going, for onebase-born, even though of royal blood, had no place at the bridal feastof the Queen and her chosen consort.
The libations had been poured out to the Lords and Ladies of Heaven--toPtah the Beginner, and Ra the Lord of Day, to Sechet the Lady of Loveand War, and Necheb the Bringer of Victory; and when the slaves hadcarried round the viands till all were satisfied, the guests werecrowned with garlands, and the jars of the oldest and choicest wineswere broached. The feast was ended, and the revel was about to begin.
The last half of the last hour of the night was well-nigh spent, andwhile the guests were waiting for the signal from the royal table, theQueen rose in her place, and, in the silence that greeted her, her voicesounded sweetly as she spoke and said:
"O my guests--ye who are the holiest and the bravest in the Land ofKhem, though our hearts are joyful, and our souls refreshed with wineand good cheer, let us not forget the pious customs and wise ways of ourancestors, for it is fitting that in such hours as this our heartsshould be turned from pride by the remembrance that we live ever in thepresence of death, and that this world is but the threshold of the next.Ill, too, would it become me to forget, in the midst of my presenthappiness, to pay the honour due to him who might have shared this crownwith me; wherefore let the noble dead be brought into our midst, sothat the soul of Nefer, looking down from the flowery fields of Aalu,may see that in the hour of our joy we do not forget the sorrow of hisuntimely death."
Then she clapped her hands, and Menkau-Ra and Anemen-Ha shifted in theirseats, and looked at each other with eyes of evil meaning as six slavesappeared at the lower end of the hall, bearing upon their shoulders themummy-case of Nefer, the dead Prince, beloved of Nitocris. Now low, sadmusic sounded from a hidden source, and to the cadence of this theslaves marched slowly round the tables, followed by the eyes of thesilenced and sobered guests. Then they stopped in front of the Queen'sseat, and she said:
"Let the case be set up against the central pillar yonder, and let theface of the Prince be uncovered, that I may look upon him who was tohave been my lord."
"But if I may speak, Royal Egypt," said Anemen-Ha, the chief of theHouse of Ptah, leaning towards her, "that would be beyond the law of thegods and the customs of the land. To look on the face of the dead weredefilement for thee and us."
"Yet this once it shall be done, O Priest of the Father of the Gods,"answered Nitocris, turning and looking into his eyes, "for last night Ihad a vision, and I saw the soul of Nefer come back to his mummy, herein this hall, at my bridal feast, and his eyes opened, and his lipsspoke, and made plain to me many things that I greatly longed to know.But why shouldst thou turn pale and tremble, thou the holiest man in theland? What hast thou to fear, even if my vision came true? And thou,too, Menkau-Ra the Mighty, hast thou slain thy thousands, and yetfearest to look upon the face of one dead man? See, see!" and shepointed her finger at the face of the mummy. "By the power of the justand merciful gods, my vision shall be made very truth indeed! Look,Anemen-Ha, Priest of the God who is King of Gods! Look, Menkau-Ra, thouwho wouldst reign in the place of Nefer. Behold, he has come back fromthe bosom of Osiris to greet thee!"
With eyes fixed and ears sharpened by such terror as only thesin-steeped soul can know, they saw the waxen eyelids of the mummyslowly rise, the dim, glazed eyes look out from underneath them, thedry, black lips move, and heard a thin, harsh voice say through theawful silence:
"Greeting, Nitocris, my Queen--greeting from the gloom of Amenthes,where I have waited too long for those who ere now should have stoodwith me in the Halls of Doom and the presence of the Assessors! Say now,thou who sittest feasting between my murderers, how much longer must Iwait for thee and them?"
Not long, O Nefer, my beloved, not long! Tarry yet a little while, Ooutraged soul, in the shape that once was thine, and thou shalt seethyself avenged. Lo, I hear the wings of Kefa, Goddess of theFlood-time, rustling in the silence of the midnight skies. She herselfshall pour out a libation to thine injured shade! "Nay, nay, my lords,and you good friends of those who did my own true lord to death, sitstill, and drain a farewell cup with me, your Queen. It is too late tofly, for every way is closed. The High Gods have spoken, and I will dotheir bidding!" Then, extending her white, jewelled arms toward themummy, she cried in a deeper, harsher tone: "O Nefer, my Prince and mylove! There lives no man in Khem who shall take thy place beside me, orusurp the throne that should have been thine. I have sinned, but Irepent me of the wrong. Lo, now I come and bring thee a goodly sacrificeto cheer thine angry heart--my lord, my love, I come!"
Held by the triple spell of guilt and fear and wonder, they listened tothese terrible words in silence, white horror sitting on their blanchingcheeks and brows.
As she ceased she raised her arms above her head, a golden cupfull-crowned between her glittering hands. A moment she held it aloft,then dashed it to the floor, and cried in a voice that rang like thelaughter of devils through the awful silence:
"Come, Kefa, come, and bear me to my lord!"
The goddess answered in a mighty rush and roar of waters, long pent andswiftly loosed. Then above the tumult rose the hoarse shouts of men andthe shrill screams of women, and the crash and clash of tablesoverturned; then came the swirl and bubbling hiss of a flood thatgleamed darkly under the golden lamps and swiftly rose towards them,bearing upon its surface white arms with outstretched hands gripping atthe empty air, and gauzy robes which half hid gleaming limbs, whitefaces with wildly-staring eyes, and teeth that grinned betweentight-drawn lips so lately smiling; strong swimmers fighting for anothermoment's breath, and one by one dragged down by many hidden hands: thenthe sharp hiss of swift-quenched flames, then darkness, and the stiflingof sobbin
g groans into silence, and after that only the sibilantundertone of waters rushing swiftly past smooth walls through utternight.
* * * * *
"Dear me!" the Professor heard himself say as he sat up and rubbed hiseyes, "what on earth can be the matter with me? Egypt--the Queen--Palaceof Pepi--bridal feast of Nitocris and Menkau-Ra--yes, yes, of course Iremember it all now. She made me impersonate Nefer in the mummy-case,and then, when she had frightened her guests half out of their wits, sheavenged her lover by opening the sluice-gates and drowning the lot,herself included. A rare device, that of old Pepi's, for getting rid ofhospitably entertained enemies. Not quite in accordance with our modernideas of sport, I'm afraid, but in those days we thought a good dealmore of effectiveness than sport. Good heavens! What sort of nonsense amI talking? Dreaming, I suppose."
He stopped as the reflection of a brilliant flash of lightning lit uphis window, and bursts of rain dashed upon the panes.
"Ah yes, of course, that's it! Quite in accordance with the theory ofdreams. It's only the difference between a thunder-shower and the Nileflood. The Genius of Dreams could easily account for the rest. Certainlythis apparatus that we call our brain plays some very curious trickswith us sometimes. I suppose this is one of them. And yet if ever therewas a dream that seemed like reality that one did. The Mummy and thelong-dead Nitocris back to life! By the way, I wonder whether thatflagon was really there, and whether there _was_ any wine in it? Ifthere was, perhaps I took too much of it. Ah, there's the rain again!
"By the way now, suppose that this fourth dimension that has puzzled somany of us is, after all, duration? If so, it would solve a great manyproblems, because it would be possible to be and not to be at the sametime, and, therefore, for two bodies to occupy the same space. Thatwould be perfectly easy of supposition to the being to whom time andeternity were one. Yes, I believe that when the great problem is solved,it will be found that the fourth dimension _is_ duration, extending inall directions like the circumference of a circle, the edges of a cube,and the curves of the conic sections.
"Yes, I really do think I have got it at last, and that confounded Mummyhas taught it me. Still, I don't think I ought to speak asdisrespectfully as that of a young lady who has been dead for the lastfifty centuries or so and has come back. Yes, that is it. It _is_duration."
Perfectly satisfied for the time being with this solution, he turnedover on to his right side--for, to his disgust, he found that he hadbeen lying on his back, a most pernicious position where dreaming isconcerned--and went to sleep. Half an hour later he was awakened byanother heaven-shaking crash of thunder.