IX
THE WAKING OF THE SLEEPER
Rei departed, wondering and heavy at heart, and Meriamun the Queenpassed into her bed-chamber, and there she bade the eunuchs suffer noneto enter, made fast the doors, and threw herself down upon the bed,hiding her face in its woven cushions. Thus she lay for many hours asone dead--till the darkness of the evening gathered in the chamber. Butthough she moved not, yet in her heart there burned a fire, now whitewith heat as the breath of her passion fanned it, and now waning blackand dull as the tears fell from her eyes. For now she knew all--that thelong foreboding, sometimes dreaded, sometimes desired, and again, likea dream, half forgotten, was indeed being fulfilled. She knew of thedevouring love that must eat her life away, knew that even in the graveshe should find no rest. And her foe was no longer a face beheld ina vision, but a living woman, the fairest and most favoured, Helen ofTroy, Argive Helen, the False Hathor, the torch that fired great cities,the centre of all desire, whose life was the daily doom of men.
Meriamun was beautiful, but her beauty paled before the face of Helen,as a fire is slain by the sun. Magic she had also, more than any whowere on the earth; but what would her spells avail against the magic ofthose changing eyes? And it was Helen whom the Wanderer came to seek,for _her_ he had travelled the wide lands and sailed the seas. But whenhe told her of one whom he desired, one whom he sought, she had deemedthat she herself was that one, ay, and had told him all.
At that thought she laughed out, in the madness of her anger and hershame. And he had smiled and spoken of Pharaoh her lord--and the whilehe spoke he had thought not on her but of the Golden Helen. Now thisat least she swore, that if he might not be hers, never should he beHelen's. She would see him dead ere that hour, ay, and herself, and ifit might be, Helen would she see dead also.
To what counsel should she turn? On the morrow night these two meet; onthe morrow night they would fly together. Then on the morrow must theWanderer be slain. How should he be slain and leave no tale of murder?By poison he might die, and Kurri the Sidonian should be charged to givethe cup. And then she would slay Kurri, saying that he had poisoned theWanderer because of his hate and the loss of his goods and freedom; andyet how could she slay her love? If once she slew him then she, too,must die and seek her joy in the kingdom that Osiris rules, and thereshe might find little gladness.
What, then, should she do? No answer came into her heart. There was onethat must answer in her soul.
Now she rose from the bed and stood for awhile staring into the dark.Then she groped her way to a place where there was a carven chest ofolive-wood and ivory, and drawing a key from her girdle she openedthe chest. Within were jewels, mirrors, and unguents in jars ofalabaster--ay, and poisons of deadly bane; but she touched none ofthese. Thrusting her hand deep into the chest, she drew forth a casketof dark metal that the people deemed unholy, a casket made of "Typhon'sBone," for so they call grey iron. She pressed a secret spring. Itopened, and feeling within she found a smaller casket. Lifting it to herlips she whispered over it words of no living speech, and in the heavyand scented dark a low flame flickered and trembled on her lips, as shemurmured in the tongue of a dead people. Then slowly the lid opened ofitself, like a living mouth that opens, and as it opened, a gleam oflight stole up from the box into the dusk of the chamber.
Now Meriamun looked, and shuddered as she looked. Yet she put her handinto the box, and muttering "Come forth--come forth, thou Ancient Evil,"drew somewhat to her and held it out from her on the palm of her hand.Behold, it glowed in the dusk of the chamber as a live ember glows amongthe ashes of the hearth. Red it glowed and green, and white, and lividblue, and its shape, as it lay upon her hand, was the shape of a coilingsnake, cut, as it were, in opal and in emerald.
For awhile she gazed upon it, shuddering, as one in doubt.
"Minded I am to let thee sleep, thou Horror," she murmured. "Twice haveI looked on thee, and I would look no more. Nay, I will dare it, thougift of the old wisdom, thou frozen fire, thou sleeping Sin, thou livingDeath of the ancient city, for thou alone hast wisdom."
Thereon she unclasped the bosom of her robe and laid the gleaming toy,that seemed a snake of stone, upon her ivory breast, though she trembledat its icy touch, for it was more cold than death. With both her handsshe clasped a pillar of the chamber, and so stood, and she was shakenwith throes like the pangs of childbirth. Thus she endured awhile tillthat which was a-cold grew warm, watching its brightness that shonethrough her silken dress as the flame of a lamp shines through analabaster vase. So she stood for an hour, then swiftly put off all herrobes and ornaments of gold, and loosing the dark masses of her hair letit fall round her like a veil. Now she bent her head down to her breast,and breathed on that which lay upon her breast, for the Ancient Evilcan live only in the breath of human kind. Thrice she breathed upon it,thrice she whispered, "_Awake! Awake! Awake!_"
And the first time that she breathed the Thing stirred and sparkled. Thesecond time that she breathed it undid its shining folds and reared itshead to hers. The third time that she breathed it slid from her bosomto the floor, then coiled itself about her feet and slowly grew as growsthe magician's magic tree.
Greater it grew and greater yet, and as it grew it shone like a torch ina tomb, and wound itself about the body of Meriamun, wrapping her in itsfiery folds till it reached her middle. Then it reared its head on high,and from its eyes there flowed a light like the light of a flame, andlo! its face was the face of a fair woman--it was the face of Meriamun!
Now face looked on face, and eyes glared into eyes. Still as a whitestatue of the Gods stood Meriamun the Queen, and all about her form andin and out of her dark hair twined the flaming snake.
At length the Evil spoke--spoke with a human voice, with the voice ofMeriamun, but in the dead speech of a dead people:
"Tell me my name," it said.
"_Sin_ is thy name," answered Meriamun the Queen.
"Tell me whence I come," it said again.
"From the evil that is in me," answered Meriamun.
"Tell me whither I go."
"Where I go there thou goest, for I have warmed thee in my breast andthou art twined about my heart."
Then the Snake lifted up its human head and laughed horribly.
"Well art thou instructed," it said. "So I love thee as thou lovest me,"and it bent itself and kissed her on the lips. "I am that Ancient Evil,that Life which endures out of the first death; I am that Death whichabides in the living life. I am that which brought on thee the woe thatis in division from the Heart's Desire, and the name thereof is _Hell_.From Life to Life thou hast found me at thy hand, now in this shape, nowin that. I taught thee the magic which thou knowest; I showed thee howto win the Throne! Now, what wilt thou of me, Meriamun, my Mother, mySister, and my Child? From Life to Life I have been with thee: ever thoumightest have put me from thee, ever thou fliest to the wisdom which Ihave, and ever from thee I draw my strength, for though without me thoumightest live, without thee I must die. Say now, what is it?--tell me,and I will name my price. No more will I ask than must be, for--ah!--Iam glad to wake and live again; glad to grip thy soul within theseshining folds, to be fair with thy beauty!--to be foul with thy sin!"
"Lay thy lips against my ear and thine ear against my lips," saidMeriamun the Queen, "and I will say what it is that I will of thee, thouAncient Evil."
So the human-headed Evil laid its ear against the lips of Meriamun, andMeriamun laid her lips against its ear, and they whispered each to each.There in the darkness they whispered, while the witch-light glittereddown the grey snake's shining folds, beamed in its eyes, and shonethrough the Queen's dark hair and on her snowy breast.
At length the tale was told, and the Snake lifted its woman's head highin the air and again it laughed.
"He seeks the Good," it said, "and he shall find the Ill! He looks forLight, and in Darkness shall he wander! To Love he turns, in Lust heshall be lost! He would win the Golden Helen, whom he has sought throughmany a way, whom he ha
s followed o'er many a sea, but first shall hefind thee, Meriamun, and through thee Death! For he shall swear by theSnake who should have sworn by the Star. Far hath he wandered--furthershall he wander yet, for thy sin shall be his sin! Darkness shall wearthe face of Light--Evil shall shine like Good. I will give him to thee,Meriamun, but, hearken to my price. No more must I be laid cold in thegloom while thou walkest in the sunshine--nay, I must be twined aboutthy body. Fear not, fear not, I shall seem but a jewel in the eyes ofmen, a girdle fashioned cunningly for the body of a queen. But with theehenceforth I must ever go--and when thou diest, with thee must I die,and with thee pass where thou dost pass--with thee to sleep, withthee to awake again--and so, on and on, till in the end I win or thouwinnest, or she wins who is our foe!"
"I give thee thy price," said Meriamun the Queen.
"So once before thou didst give it," answered the Evil; "ay, far, faraway, beneath a golden sky and in another clime. Happy wast thou thenwith him thou dost desire, but I twined myself about thy heart and oftwain came three and all the sorrow that has been. So woman thou hastworked, so woman it is ordained. For thou art she in whom all woes aregathered, in whom all love is fulfilled. And I have dragged thy glorydown, woman, and I have loosed thee from thy gentleness, and set it freeupon the earth, and Beauty is she named. By beauty doth _she_ work whois the Golden Helen, and for her beauty's sake, that all men strive towin, are wars and woes, are hopes and prayers, and longings without end.But by Evil dost _thou_ work who art divorced from Innocence, and evilshalt thou ever bring on him whom thou desireth. A riddle! A riddle!Read it who may--read it if thou canst, thou who art named Meriamun theQueen, but who art less than Queen and more. Who art thou? Who is shethey named the Helen? Who is that Wanderer who seeks her from afar, andwho, who am _I_? A riddle! a riddle! that thou mayst not read. Yet isthe answer written on earth and sky and sea, and in the hearts of men.
"Now hearken! To-morrow night thou shalt take me and twine me about thybody, doing as I bid thee, and behold! for a while thy shape shall wearthe shape of the Golden Helen, and thy face shall be as her face, andthine eyes as her eyes, and thy voice as her voice. Then I leave therest to thee, for as Helen's self thou shalt beguile the Wanderer, andonce, if once only, be a wife to him whom thou desireth. Naught can Itell thee of the future, I who am but a counsellor, but hereafter it maybe that woes will come, woes and wars and death. But what matter thesewhen thou hast had thy desire, when he hath sinned, and hath sworn bythe Snake who should have sworn by the Star, and when he is bound tothee by ties that may not be loosed? Choose, Meriamun, choose! Put mycounsel from thee and to-morrow this man thou lovest shall be lost tothee, lost in the arms of Helen; and alone for many years shalt thoubear the burden of thy lonely love. Take it, and he shall at least bethine, let come what may come. Think on it and choose!"
Thus spake the Ancient Evil, tempting her who was named Meriamun, whileshe hearkened to the tempting.
"I have chosen," she said; "I will wear the shape of Helen, and be awife to him I love, and then let ruin fall. Sleep, thou Ancient Evil.Sleep, for no more may I endure thy face of fear that is my face, northe light of those flaming eyes that are my eyes made mad."
Again the Thing reared its human head and laughed out in triumph. Thenslowly it unloosed its gleaming coils: slowly it slid to the earth andshrank and withered like a flaming scroll, till at length it seemed oncemore but a shining jewel of opal and of amethyst.
The Wanderer, when he left the inner secret shrine, saw no more theguardian of the gates, nor heard the clash of the swords unseen, forthe Gods had given the beauty of Helen to Odysseus of Ithaca, as it wasforetold.
Without the curtains the priests of the temple were gatheredwondering--little could they understand how it came to pass that thehero who was called Eperitus had vanished through the curtains and hadnot been smitten down by the unseen swords. And when they saw him comeforth glorious and unharmed they cried aloud with fear.
But he laughed and said, "Fear not. Victory is to him whom the Godsappoint. I have done battle with the wardens of the shrine, and passedthem, and methinks that they are gone. I have looked upon the Hathoralso, and more than that seek ye not to know. Now give me food, for I amweary."
So they bowed before him, and leading him thence to their chamber ofbanquets gave him of their best, and watched him while he ate and drankand put from him the desire of food.
Then he rose and went from the temple, and again the priests bowedbefore him. Moreover, they gave him freedom of the temple, and keyswhereby all the doors might be opened, though little, as they thought,had he any need of keys.
Now the Wanderer, walking gladly and light of heart, came to his ownlodging in the courts of the Palace. At the door of the lodging stoodRei the Priest, who, when he saw him, ran to him and embraced him, soglad was he that the Wanderer had escaped alive.
"Little did I think to look upon thee again, Eperitus," he said. "Hadit not been for that which the Queen----" and he bethought himself andstayed his speech.
"Nevertheless, here I am unhurt, of ghost or men," the Wandereranswered, laughing, as he passed into the lodging. "But what of theQueen?"
"Naught, Eperitus, naught, save that she was grieved when she learnedthat thou hadst gone up to the Temple of the Hathor, there, as shethought, to perish. Hearken, thou Eperitus, I know not if thou art Godor man, but oaths are binding both men and Gods, and thou didst swear anoath to Pharaoh--is it not so?"
"Ay, Rei. I swore an oath that I would guard the Queen well till Pharaohcame again."
"Art thou minded to keep that oath, Eperitus?" asked Rei, looking on himstrangely. "Art thou minded to guard the fair fame of Pharaoh's Queen,that is more precious than her life? Methinks thou dost understand mymeaning, Eperitus?"
"Perchance I understand," answered the Wanderer. "Know, Rei, that I amso minded."
Then Rei spake again, darkly. "Methinks some sickness hath smittenMeriamun the Queen, and she craves thee for her physician. Now thingscome about as they were foreshown in the portent of that vision whereofI spoke to thee. But if thou dost break thy oath to him whose salt thoueatest, then, Eperitus, God or man, thou art a dastard."
"Have I not said that I have no mind so to break mine oath?" heanswered, then sank his head upon his breast and communed with hiscrafty heart while Rei watched him. Presently he lifted up his head andspoke:
"Rei," he said, "I am minded to tell thee a strange story and a true,for this I see, that our will runs one way, and thou canst help me,and, in helping me, thyself and Pharaoh to whom I swore an oath, and herwhose honour thou holdest dear. But this I warn thee, Rei, that if thoudost betray me, not thine age, not thy office, nor the friendship thouhast shown me, shall save thee."
"Speak on, Odysseus, Laertes' son, Odysseus of Ithaca," said Rei; "maymy life be forfeit if I betray thy counsel, if it harm not those Iserve."
Now the Wanderer started to his feet, crying:
"How knowest thou that name?"
"I know it," said Rei, "and I tell thee that I know it, thou most craftyof men, to show this, that with me thy guile will not avail thee." Forhe would not tell him that he had it from the lips of the Queen.
"Thou hast heard a name that had been in the mouths of many," said theWanderer; "perchance it is mine, perchance it is the name of another. Itmatters not. Now know this: I fear this Queen of thine. Hither I came toseek a woman, but the Queen I came not to seek. Yet I have not come invain, for yonder, Rei, yonder, in the Temple of the Hathor, I foundher on whose quest I came, and who awaited me there well guarded till Ishould come to take her. On the morrow night I go forth to the temple,and there, by the gates of the temple, I shall find her whom all mendesire, but who loves me alone among men, for so it has been fated ofthe Gods. Thence I bring her hither that here we may be wed. Now thisis my mind: if thou wilt aid me with a ship and men, that at the firstlight of dawn we should flee this land of thine, and that thou shouldestkeep my going secret for awhile till I have gained the sea. True it isthat I swore to
guard the Queen till Pharaoh come again; but as thouknowest, things are so that I can best guard her by my flight, and ifPharaoh thinks ill of me--so it must be. Moreover I ask thee to meetme by the pylon of the Temple of Hathor to-morrow at one hour beforemidnight. There will we talk with her who is called the Hathor, andprepare our flight, and thence thou shalt go to that ship which thouhast made ready."
Now Rei thought for awhile and answered:
"Somewhat I fear to look upon this Goddess, yet I will dare it. Tell me,then, how shall I know her at the temple's gate?"
"Thou shalt know her, Rei, by the red star which burns upon her breast.But fear not, for I will be there. Say, wilt thou make the ship ready?"
"The ship shall be ready, Eperitus, and though I love thee well, I saythis, that I would it rode the waves which roll around the shores ofKhem and thou wert with it, and with thee she who is called the Hathor,that Goddess whom thou desirest."