VI
THE STORY OF MERIAMUN
Rei, the Priest of Amen, the Master Builder, began his story unwillinglyenough, and slowly, but soon he took pleasure in telling it as old mendo, and in sharing the burden of a secret.
"The Queen is fair," he said; "thou hast seen no fairer in all thyvoyagings?"
"She is fair indeed," answered the Wanderer. "I pray that she bewell-mated and happy on her throne?"
"That is what I will tell thee of, though my life may be the price ofthe tale," said Rei. "But a lighter heart is well worth an old man'scheap risk, and thou may'st help me and her, when thou knowest all.Pharaoh Meneptah, her lord, the King, is the son of the divine Rameses,the ever-living Pharaoh, child of the Sun, who dwelleth in Osiris."
"Thou meanest that he is dead?" asked the Wanderer.
"He dwelleth with Osiris," said the Priest, "and the Queen Meriamun washis daughter by another bed."
"A brother wed a sister!" exclaimed the Wanderer.
"It is the custom of our Royal House, from the days of the TimelessKings, the children of Horus. An old custom."
"The ways of his hosts are good in the eyes of a stranger," said theWanderer, courteously.
"It is an old custom, and a sacred," said Rei, "but women, thecustom-makers, are often custom-breakers. And of all women, Meriamunleast loves to be obedient, even to the dead. And yet she has obeyed,and it came about thus. Her brother Meneptah--who now is Pharaoh--thePrince of Kush while her divine father lived, had many half-sisters, butMeriamun was the fairest of them all. She is beautiful, a Moon-child thecommon people called her, and wise, and she does not know the face offear. And thus it chanced that she learned, what even our Royal womenrarely learn, all the ancient secret wisdom of this ancient land. ExceptQueen Taia of old, no woman has known what Meriamun knows, what I havetaught her--I and another counsellor."
He paused here, and his mind seemed to turn on unhappy things.
"I have taught her from childhood," he went on--"would that I had beenher only familiar--and, after her divine father and mother, she loved memore than any, for she loved few. But of all whom she did not love sheloved her Royal brother least. He is slow of speech, and she is quick.She is fearless and he has no heart for war. From her childhood shescorned him, mocked him, and mastered him with her tongue. She evenlearned to excel him in the chariot races--therefore it was that theKing his father made him but a General of the Foot Soldiers--and inguessing riddles, which our people love, she delighted to conquer him.The victory was easy enough, for the divine Prince is heavy-witted; butMeriamun was never tired of girding at him. Plainly, even as a littlechild she grudged that he should come to wield the scourge of power, andwear the double crown, while she should live in idleness, and hunger forcommand."
"It is strange, then, that of all his sisters, if one must be Queen, heshould have chosen her," said the Wanderer.
"Strange, and it happened strangely. The Prince's father, the divineRameses, had willed the marriage. The Prince hated it no less thanMeriamun, but the will of a father is the will of the Gods. In one sportthe divine Prince excelled, in the Game of Pieces, an old game in Khem.It is no pastime for women, but even at this Meriamun was determinedto master her brother. She bade me carve her a new set of the piecesfashioned with the heads of cats, and shaped from the hard wood ofAzebi.[*] I carved them with my own hands, and night by night she playedwith me, who have some name for skill at the sport.
[*] Cyprus.
"One sunset it chanced that her brother came in from hunting the lion inthe Libyan hills. He was in an evil humour, for he had found no lions,and he caused the huntsmen to be stretched out, and beaten with rods.Then he called for wine, and drank deep at the Palace gate, and thedeeper he drank the darker grew his humour.
"He was going to his own Court in the Palace, striking with a whip athis hounds, when he chanced to turn and see Meriamun. She was sittingwhere those three great palm-trees are, and was playing at pieces withme in the cool of the day. There she sat in the shadow, clad in whiteand purple, and with the red gold of the snake of royalty in theblackness of her hair. There she sat as beautiful as the Hathor, theQueen of Love; or as the Lady Isis when she played at pieces in Amentiwith the ancient King. Nay, an old man may say it, there never wasbut one woman more fair than Meriamun, if a woman she be, she whom ourpeople call the _Strange Hathor_."
Now the Wanderer bethought him of the tale of the pilot, but he saidnothing, and Rei went on.
"The Prince saw her, and his anger sought for something new to breakitself on. Up he came, and I rose before him, and bowed myself. ButMeriamun fell indolently back in her chair of ivory, and with a sweep ofher slim hand she disordered the pieces, and bade her waiting woman,the lady Hataska, gather up the board, and carry all away. But Hataska'seyes were secretly watching the Prince.
"'Greeting, Princess, our Royal sister,' said Meneptah. 'What artthou doing with these?' and he pointed with his chariot whip at thecat-headed pieces. 'This is no woman's game, these pieces are not softhearts of men to be moved on the board by love. This game needs wit! Getthee to thy broidery, for there thou may'st excel.'
"'Greeting, Prince, our Royal brother,' said Meriamun. 'I laugh to hearthee speak of a game that needs wit. Thy hunting has not prospered, soget thee to the banquet board, for there, I hear, the Gods have grantedthee to excel.'
"'It is little to say,' answered the Prince, throwing himself intoa chair whence I had risen, 'it is little to say, but at the gameof pieces I have enough wit to give thee a temple, a priest and fivebowmen, and yet win,'--for these, O Wanderer, are the names of some ofthe pieces.
"'I take the challenge,' cried Meriamun, for now she had brought himwhere she wanted; 'but I will take no odds. Here is my wager. I willplay thee three games, and stake the sacred circlet upon my brow,against the Royal uraeus on thine, and the winner shall wear both.'
"'Nay, nay, Lady,' I was bold to say, 'this were too high a stake.'
"'High or low, I accept the wager,' answered the Prince. 'This sister ofmine has mocked me too long. She shall find that her woman's wit cannotmatch me at my own game, and that my father's son, the Royal Prince ofKush and the Pharaoh who shall be, is more than the equal of a girl. Ihold thy wage, Meriamun!'
"'Go then, Prince,' she cried, 'and after sunset meet me in myantechamber. Bring a scribe to score the games; Rei shall be the judge,and hold the stakes. But beware of the golden Cup of Pasht! Drain it notto-night, lest I win a love-game, though we do not play for love!'
"The Prince went scowling away, and Meriamun laughed, but I foresawmischief. The stakes were too high, the match was too strange, butMeriamun would not listen to me, for she was very wilful.
"The sun fell, and two hours after the Royal Prince of Kush came withhis scribe, and found Meriamun with the board of squares before her, inher antechamber.
"He sat down without a word, then he asked, who should first take thefield.
"'Wait,' she said, 'first let us set the stakes,' and lifting from herbrow the golden snake of royalty, she shook her soft hair loose, andgave the coronet to me. 'If I lose,' she said, 'never may I wear theuraeus crown.'
"'That shalt thou never while I draw breath,' answered the Prince, ashe too lifted the symbol of his royalty from his head and gave it to me.There was a difference between the circlets, the coronet of Meriamun wascrowned with one crested snake, that of the divine Prince was crownedwith twain.
"'Ay, Meneptah,' she said, 'but perchance Osiris, God of the Dead, waitsthee, for surely he loves those too great and good for earth. Take thouthe field and to the play.' At her words of evil omen, he frowned. Buthe took the field and readily, for he knew the game well.
"She moved in answer heedlessly enough, and afterwards she played atrandom and carelessly, pushing the pieces about with little skill. Andso he won this first game quickly, and crying, '_Pharaoh is dead_,'swept the pieces from the board. 'See how I better thee,' he went on inmockery. 'Thine is a woman's game; all attack and no defenc
e.'
"'Boast not yet, Meneptah,' she said. 'There are still two sets to play.See, the board is set and I take the field.'
"This time the game went differently, for the Prince could scarce makea prisoner of a single piece save of one temple and two bowmen only, andpresently it was the turn of Meriamun to cry '_Pharaoh is dead_,' andto sweep the pieces from the board. This time Meneptah did not boast butscowled, while I set the board and the scribe wrote down the game uponhis tablets. Now it was the Prince's turn to take the field.
"'In the name of holy Thoth,' he cried, 'to whom I vow great gifts ofvictory.'
"'In the name of holy Pasht,' she made answer, 'to whom I make dailyprayer.' For, being a maid, she swore by the Goddess of Chastity, andbeing Meriamun, by the Goddess of Vengeance.
"''Tis fitting thou should'st vow by her of the Cat's Head,' he said,sneering.
"'Yes; very fitting,' she answered, 'for perchance she'll lend me herclaws. Play thou, Prince Meneptah.'
"And he played, and so well that for a while the game went against her.But at length, when they had struggled long, and Meriamun had lost themost of her pieces, a light came into her face as though she had foundwhat she sought. And while the Prince called for wine and drank, she layback in her chair and looked upon the board. Then she moved so shrewdlyand upon so deep a plan that he fell into the trap that she had laid forhim, and could never escape. In vain he vowed gifts to the holy Thoth,and promised such a temple as there was none in Khem.
"'Thoth hears thee not; he is the God of lettered men,' said Meriamun,mocking him. Then he cursed and drank more wine.
"'Fools seek wit in wine, but only wise men find it,' quoth she again.'Behold, Royal brother, _Pharaoh is dead_, and I have won the match, andbeaten thee at thine own game. Rei, my servant, give me that circlet;nay, not my own, the double one, which the divine Prince wagered. So setit on my brow, for it is mine, Meneptah. In this, as in all things else,I have conquered thee.'
"And she rose, and standing full in the light of the lamps, the Royaluraeus on her brow, she mocked him, bidding him come do homage to herwho had won his crown, and stretching forth her small hand for him tokiss it. And so wondrous was her beauty that the divine Prince of Kushceased to call upon the evil Gods because of his ill fortune, and stoodgazing on her.
"'By Ptah, but thou art fair,' he cried, 'and I pardon my father at lastfor willing thee to be my Queen!'
"'But I will never pardon him,' said Meriamun.
"Now the Prince had drunk much wine.
"'Thou shalt be my Queen,' he said, 'and for earnest I will kiss thee.This, at the least, being the strongest, I can do.' And ere she couldescape him, he passed his arm about her and seized her by the girdle,and kissed her on the lips and let her go.
"Meriamun grew white as the dead. By her side there hung a dagger.Swiftly she drew it, and swiftly struck at his heart, so that had henot shrunk from the steel surely he had been slain; and she cried as shestruck, 'Thus, Prince, I pay thy kisses back.'
"But as it chanced, she only pierced his arm, and before she couldstrike again I had seized her by the hand.
"'Thou serpent,' said the Prince, pale with rage and fear. 'I tell theeI will kiss thee yet, whether thou wilt or not, and thou shalt pay forthis.'
"But she laughed softly now that her anger was spent, and I led himforth to seek a physician, who should bind up his wound. And when he wasgone, I returned, and spoke to her, wringing my hands.
"'Oh, Royal Lady, what hast thou done? Thou knowest well that thy divinefather destines thee to wed the Prince of Kush whom but now thou didstsmite so fiercely.'
"'Nay, Rei, I will none of him--the dull clod, who is called the sonof Pharaoh. Moreover, he is my half-brother, and it is not meet that Ishould wed my brother. For nature cries aloud against the custom of theland.'
"'Nevertheless, Lady, it _is_ the custom of thy Royal house, and thyfather's will. Thus the Gods, thine ancestors, were wed; Isis toOsiris. Thus great Thothmes and Amenemhat did and decreed, and all theirforefathers and all their seed. Oh, bethink thee--I speak it for thineear, for I love thee as mine own daughter--bethink thee, for thou canstnot escape, that Pharaoh's bed is the step to Pharaoh's throne. Thoulovest power; here is the gate of power, and mayhap upon a time themaster of the gate shall be gone and thou shalt sit in the gate alone.'
"'Ah, Rei, now thou speakest like the counsellor of those who would bekings. Oh, did I not hate him with this hatred! And yet can I rule him.Why, 'twas no chance game that we played this night: the future lay uponthe board. See, his diadem is upon my brow! At first he won, for I chosethat he should win. Well, so mayhap it shall be; mayhap I shall givemyself to him--hating him the while. And then the next game; that shallbe for life and love and all things dear, and I shall win it, and mineshall be the uraeus crest, and mine shall be the double crown of ancientKhem, and I shall rule like Hatshepu, the great Queen of old, for I amstrong, and to the strong is victory.'
"'Yes,' I made answer, 'but, Lady, see thou that the Gods turn not thystrength to weakness; thou art too passionate to be all strength, and ina woman's heart passion is the door by which King Folly enters. To-daythou hatest, beware, lest to-morrow thou should'st love.'
"'Love,' she said, gazing scornfully; 'Meriamun loves not till she finda man worthy of her love.'
"'Ay, and then----?'
"'And then she loves to all destruction, and woe to them who cross herpath. Rei, farewell.'
"Then suddenly she spoke to me in another tongue, that few know save herand me, and that none can read save her and me, a dead tongue of a deadpeople, the people of that ancient City of the Rock, whence all ourfathers came.[*]
[*] Probably the mysterious and indecipherable ancient books, which were occasionally excavated in old Egypt, were written in this dead language of a more ancient and now forgotten people. Such was the book discovered at Coptos, in the sanctuary there, by a priest of the Goddess. "The whole earth was dark, but the moon shone all about the Book." A scribe of the period of the Ramessids mentions another indecipherable ancient writing. "Thou tellest me thou understandest no word of it, good or bad. There is, as it were, a wall about it that none may climb. Thou art instructed, yet thou knowest it not; this makes me afraid." Birch, _Zeitschrift_, 1871, pp. 61-64. _Papyrus Anastasi_ I, pl. X. 1. 8, pl. X. 1. 4. Maspero, _Hist. Anc._, pp. 66-67.
"'I go,' she said, and I trembled as she spoke, for no man speaks inthis language when he has any good thought in his heart. 'I go to seekthe counsel of That thou knowest,' and she touched the golden snakewhich she had won.
"Then I threw myself on the earth at her feet, and clasped her knees,crying, 'My daughter, my daughter, sin not this great sin. Nay, for allthe kingdom of the world, wake not That which sleepeth, nor warm againinto life That which is a-cold.'
"But she only nodded, and put me from her,"--and the old man's face grewpale as he spoke.
"What meant she?" said the Wanderer.
"Nay, wake not _thou_ That which sleepeth, Wanderer," he said, atlength. "My tongue is sealed. I tell thee more that I would tellanother. Do not ask,--but hark! They come again! Now may Ra and Pashtand Amen curse them; may the red swine's mouth of Set gnaw upon them inAmenti; may the Fish of Sebek flesh his teeth of stone in them for ever,and feed and feed again!"
"Why dost thou curse thus, Rei, and who are they that go by?" said theWanderer. "I hear their tramping and their song."
Indeed there came a light noise of many shuffling feet, patteringoutside the Palace wall, and the words of a song rang out triumphantly:
The Lord our God He doth sign and wonder, Tokens He shows in the land of Khem, He hath shattered the pride of the Kings asunder And casteth His shoe o'er the Gods of them! He hath brought forth frogs in their holy places, He hath sprinkled the dust upon crown and hem, He hath hated their kings and hath darkened their faces; Wonders He works in the land of Khem.
"These are the acc
ursed blaspheming conjurors and slaves, the Apura,"said Rei, as the music and the tramping died away. "Their magic isgreater than the lore even of us who are instructed, for their leaderwas one of ourselves, a shaven priest, and knows our wisdom. Never dothey march and sing thus but evil comes of it. Ere day dawn we shallhave news of them. May the Gods destroy them, they are gone for thehour. It were well if Meriamun the Queen would let them go for ever, asthey desire, to their death in the desert, but she hardens the King'sheart."