第13章
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  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,forbeingignoranttheythoughtthatweworshippedApisasmayhapsomeofthecommonpeopledoinsteadoflookinguponthesacredbeastasasymbolofthepowersofNature。

  Indeedtheydidmore,foronthefirstnightafterourcomingtheyslaughteredabullmarkedmuchasApisis,andinthemorningwefounditlyingnearthegateofthecamp,andpinnedtoitshidewithsharpthornsgreatnumbersofthescarab?usbeetlestillliving。ForagaintheydidnotknowthatamongusEgyptiansthisbeetleisnogodbutanemblemoftheCreator,becauseitrollsaballofmudbetweenitsfeetandsetsthereinitseggstohatch,astheCreatorrollstheworldthatseemstoberound,andcausesittoproducelife。

  NowallwereangryattheseinsultsexceptthePrince,wholaughedandsaidthathethoughtthejestcoarsebutclever。Butworsewastohappen。ItseemsthatasoldierwithwineinhimhaddoneinsulttoaHebrewmaidenwhocamealonetodrawwateratacanal。Thenewsspreadamongthepeopleandsomethousandsofthemrushedtothecamp,shoutinganddemandingvengeanceinsothreateningamannerthatitwasnecessarytoformuptheregimentsofguards。

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