第13章

NowIsatopen-mouthed，forhowcouldthismanknowthesethings，andthePrincelaughedoutright，saying： “Ana，Ibegintothinkyoukeepyourcounselill。AtleastIshouldthinkso，wereitnotthatyouhavehadnotimetotellwhatthePrincessyondermayhavesaidtoyou，andcanscarcelyknowthetrickoftheslidingpanelinthatwallwhichIhavenevershowntoyou。“ KichuckledagainandasmilegrewonoldBakenkhonsu’sbroadandwrinkledface。 “OPrince，“Ibegan，“Isweartoyouthatneverhasonewordpassedmylipsofaught-“ “Iknowit，friend，“brokeinthePrince，“butitseemstherearesomewhodonotwaitforwordsbutcanreadtheBookofThought。Thereforeitisnotwelltomeetthemtoooften，sinceallhavethoughtsthatshouldbeknownonlytothemandGod。Magician，whatisyourbusinesswithme？Speakonasthoughwewerealone。“ “This，Prince。YougouponajourneyamongtheHebrews，asallhaveheard。Now，BakenkhonsuandI，alsotwoseersofmyCollege，seeingthatweallloveyouandthatyourwelfareismuchtoEgypt，haveseparatelysoughtoutthefutureasregardstheissueofthisjourney。 Althoughwhatwehavelearneddiffersinsomematters，onothersitisthesame。Thereforewethoughtitourdutytotellyouwhatwehavelearned。“ “Sayon，Kherheb。“ “First，then，thatyourHighness’slifewillbeindanger。“ “Lifeisalwaysindanger，Ki。ShallIloseit？Ifso，donotfeartotellme。“ “Wedonotknow，butwethinknot，becauseoftherestthatisrevealedtous。Welearnthatitisnotyourbodyonlythatwillbeindanger。Uponthisjourneyyouwillseeawomanwhomyouwillcometolove。Thiswomanwill，wethink，bringyoumuchsorrowandalsomuchjoy。“ “Thenperhapsthejourneyisworthmaking，Ki，sincemanytravelfarbeforetheyfindaughttheycanlove。Tellme，haveImetthiswoman？“ “Therewearetroubled，Prince，foritwouldseem——unlesswearedeceived——thatyouhavemetheroftenandoften；thatyouhaveknownherforthousandsofyears，asyouhaveknownthatmanatyoursideforthousandsofyears。“ Seti’sfacegrewveryinterested。 “Whatdoyoumean，Magician？“heasked，eyeinghimkeenly。“HowcanI whoamstillyounghaveknownawomanandamanforthousandsofyears？“ Kiconsideredhimwithhisstrangeeyes，andanswered： “Youhavemanytitles，Prince。Isnotoneofthem’LordofRebirths，’ andifso，howdidyougetitandwhatdoesitmean？“ “Itis。WhatitmeansIdonotknow，butitwasgiventomebecauseofsomedreamthatmymotherhadthenightbeforeIwasborn。Do/you/ tell/me/whatitmeans，sinceyouseemtoknowsomuch。“ “Icannot，Prince。Thesecretisnotonethathasbeenshowntome。 Yettherewasanagedman，amagicianlikemyselffromwhomIlearnedmuchinmyyouth——Bakenkhonsuknewhimwell——whomadeastudyofthismatter。Hetoldmehewassure，becauseithadbeenrevealedtohim，thatmendonotliveonceonlyandthendeparthenceforever。Hesaidthattheylivemanytimesandinmanyshapes，thoughnotalwaysonthisworld，andthatbetweeneachlifethereisawallofdarkness。“ “Ifso，ofwhatuseareliveswhichwedonotrememberafterdeathhasshutthedoorofeachofthem？“ “Thedoorsmayopenagainatlast，Prince，andshowusallthechambersthroughwhichourfeethavewanderedfromthebeginning。“ “Ourreligionteachesus，Ki，thatafterdeathweliveeternallyelsewhereinourownbodies，whichwefindagainonthedayofresurrection。Noweternity，havingnoend，canhavenobeginning；itisacircle。Thereforeiftheonebetrue，namelythatweliveon，itwouldseemthattheothermustbetrue，namelythatwehavealwayslived。“ “Thatiswellreasoned，Prince。Intheearlydays，beforethepriestsfrozethethoughtofmanintoblocksofstoneandbuiltofthemshrinestoathousandgods，manyheldthatthisreasoningwastrue，asthentheyheldthattherewasbutonegod。“ “AsdotheseIsraeliteswhomIgotovisit。Whatsayyouoftheirgod，Ki？“ “That/he/isthesameasourgods，Prince。Tomen’seyesGodhasmanyfaces，andeachswearsthattheoneheseesistheonlytruegod。Yettheyarewrong，forallaretrue。“ “Orperchancefalse，Ki，unlessevenfalsehoodisapartoftruth。 Well，youhavetoldmeoftwodangers，onetomybodyandonetomyheart。Hasanyotherbeenrevealedtoyourwisdom？“ “Yes，Prince。Thethirdisthatthisjourneymayintheendcostyouyourthrone。“ “IfIdiecertainlyitwillcostmemythrone。“ “No，Prince，ifyoulive。“ “Evenso，Ki，IthinkthatIcouldendurelifeseatedmorehumblythanonathrone，thoughwhetherherHighnesscouldendureitisanothermatter。ThenyousaythatifIgouponthisjourneyanotherwillbePharaohinmyplace。“ “Wedonotsaythat，Prince。Itistruethatourartshaveshownusanotherfillingyourplaceinatimeofwizardryandwondersandofthedeathofthousands。Yetwhenwelookagainweseenotthatotherbutyouoncemorefillingyourownplace。“ HereI，Ana，bethoughtmeofmyvisioninPharaoh’shall。 “ThematterisevenworsethanIthought，Ki，sincehavingonceleftthecrownbehindme，IthinkthatIshouldhavenowishtowearitanymore，“saidSeti。“Whoshowsyouallthesethings，andhow？“ “Our/Kas/，whichareoursecretselves，showthemtous，Prince，andinmanyways。Sometimesitisbydreamsorvisions，sometimesbypicturesonwater，sometimesbywritingsinthedesertsand。Inallthesefashions，andbyothers，our/Kas/，drawingfromtheinfinitewellofwisdomthatishiddeninthebeingofeveryman，giveusglimpsesofthetruth，astheygiveuswhoareinstructedpowertoworkmarvels。“ “Ofthetruth。Thenthesethingsyoutellmearetrue？“ “Webelieveso，Prince。“ “Thenbeingtruemusthappen。Sowhatistheuseofyourwarningmeagainstwhatmusthappen？Therecannotbetwotruths。Whatwouldyouhavemedo？Notgouponthisjourney？WhyhaveyoutoldmethatImustnotgo，sinceifIdidnotgothetruthwouldbecomealie，whichitcannot？YousayitisfatedthatIshouldgoandbecauseIgosuchandsuchthingswillcomeabout。Andyetyoutellmenottogo，forthatiswhatyoumean。Oh!KherhebKiandBakenkhonsu，doubtlessyouaregreatmagiciansandstronginwisdom，buttherearegreaterthanyouwhoruletheworld，andthereisawisdomtowhichyoursisbutasadropofwatertotheNile。Ithankyouforyourwarnings，butto-morrowIgodowntothelandofGoshentofulfilthecommandsofPharaoh。IfIcomebackagainwewilltalkmoreofthesemattershereupontheearth。IfIdonotcomeback，perchancewewilltalkofthemelsewhere。Farewell。“ ThePrinceSetiandallhistrain，averygreatcompany，cameinsafetytothelandofGoshen，I，Ana，travellingwithhiminhischariot。Itwasthenasnowarichland，quiteflatafterthelastlineofdeserthillsthroughwhichwetravelledbyanarrow，tortuouspath。Everywhereitwaswateredbycanals，betweenwhichlaythegrainfieldswhereintheseedhadjustbeensown。Alsotherewereotherfieldsofgreenfodderwhereonweretetheredbeastsbythehundred，andbeyondthese，uponthedriersoil，grazedflocksofsheep。ThetownGoshen，ifsoitcouldbecalled，wasbutapoorplace，numbersofmudhuts，nomore，inthecentreofwhichstoodabuilding，alsoofmud，withtwobrickpillarsinfrontofit，thatweweretoldwasthetempleofthispeople，intotheinnerpartsofwhichnonemightentersavetheirHigh-priest。Ilaughedatthesightofit，butthePrincereprovedme，sayingthatIshouldnotjudgethespiritbythebody，orofthegodbyhishouse。 Wecampedoutsidethistownandsoonlearnedthatthepeoplewhodweltinitorelsewhereinothertownsmustbenumberedbythetenthousand，formoreofthemthanIcouldcountwanderedroundthecamptolookatus。Themenwerefierce-eyedandhook-nosed；theyoungwomenwell-shapedandpleasanttobehold；theolderwomenforthemostpartstoutandsomewhatunwieldy，andthechildrenverybeautiful。Allwereroughlycladinrobesofloosely-woven，dark-colouredcloth，beneathwhichthewomenworegarmentsofwhitelinen。Notwithstandingthewealthwesawaboutusincornandcattle，theirornamentsseemedtobefew，orperhapsthesewerehiddenfromoursight。 ItwaseasytoseethattheyhatedusEgyptians，andevendaredtodespiseus。Hateshoneintheirglitteringeyes，andIheardthemcallingusthe’idol-worshippers’onetotheother，andaskingwherewasourgod，theBull，forbeingignoranttheythoughtthatweworshippedApis(asmayhapsomeofthecommonpeopledo)insteadoflookinguponthesacredbeastasasymbolofthepowersofNature。 Indeedtheydidmore，foronthefirstnightafterourcomingtheyslaughteredabullmarkedmuchasApisis，andinthemorningwefounditlyingnearthegateofthecamp，andpinnedtoitshidewithsharpthornsgreatnumbersofthescarab？usbeetlestillliving。ForagaintheydidnotknowthatamongusEgyptiansthisbeetleisnogodbutanemblemoftheCreator，becauseitrollsaballofmudbetweenitsfeetandsetsthereinitseggstohatch，astheCreatorrollstheworldthatseemstoberound，andcausesittoproducelife。 NowallwereangryattheseinsultsexceptthePrince，wholaughedandsaidthathethoughtthejestcoarsebutclever。Butworsewastohappen。ItseemsthatasoldierwithwineinhimhaddoneinsulttoaHebrewmaidenwhocamealonetodrawwateratacanal。Thenewsspreadamongthepeopleandsomethousandsofthemrushedtothecamp，shoutinganddemandingvengeanceinsothreateningamannerthatitwasnecessarytoformuptheregimentsofguards。