American library books ยป Fiction ยป Uarda : a Romance of Ancient Egypt โ€” Complete by Georg Ebers (find a book to read txt) ๐Ÿ“•

Read book online ยซUarda : a Romance of Ancient Egypt โ€” Complete by Georg Ebers (find a book to read txt) ๐Ÿ“•ยป.   Author   -   Georg Ebers



1 ... 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 ... 151
Go to page:
it would soon shoot up so high that it would cover door and window, and I should sit in darkness. Throw this handkerchief over your shoulders, for the dew falls as it grows cooler, and listen to me a little longer!โ€”The beautiful passion of love and fidelity has grown unchecked in your dreamy nature to such a height, that it darkens your spirit and your judgment. Love, a true love, it seems to me, should be a noble fruit-tree, and not a rank weed. I do not blame you, for she who should have been the gardener did not heedโ€”and would not heedโ€”what was happening. Look, Nefert, so long as I wore the lock of youth, I too did what I fanciedโ€”I never found any pleasure in dreaming, but in wild games with my brothers, in horses and in falconry; they often said I had the spirit of a boy, and indeed I would willingly have been a boy.โ€

โ€œNot Iโ€”never!โ€ said Nefert.

โ€œYou are just a roseโ€”my dearest,โ€ said Bent-Anat. โ€œWell! when I was fifteen I was so discontented, so insubordinate and full of all sorts of wild behavior, so dissatisfied in spite of all the kindness and love that surrounded meโ€”but I will tell you what happened. It is four years ago, shortly before your wedding with Mena; my father called me to play draughts.

[At Medinet Habu a picture represents Rameses the Third, not Rameses the Second, playing at draughts with his daughter.]

You know how certainly he could beat the most skilful antagonist; but that day his thoughts were wandering, and I won the game twice following. Full of insolent delight, I jumped up and kissed his great handsome forehead, and cried โ€˜The sublime God, the hero, under whose feet the strange nations writhe, to whom the priests and the people prayโ€”is beaten by a girl!โ€™ He smiled gently, and answered โ€˜The Lords of Heaven are often outdone by the Ladies, and Necheb, the lady of victory, is a woman. Then he grew graver, and said: โ€˜You call me a God, my child, but in this only do I feel truly godlike, that at every moment I strive to the utmost to prove myself useful by my labors; here restraining, there promoting, as is needful. Godlike I can never be but by doing or producing something great! These words, Nefert, fell like seeds in my soul. At last I knew what it was that was wanting to me; and when, a few weeks later, my father and your husband took the field with a hundred thousand fighting men, I resolved to be worthy of my godlike father, and in my little circle to be of use too! You do not know all that is done in the houses behind there, under my direction. Three hundred girls spin pure flax, and weave it into bands of linen for the wounds of the soldiers; numbers of children, and old women, gather plants on the mountains, and others sort them according to the instructions of a physician; in the kitchens no banquets are prepared, but fruits are preserved in sugar for the loved ones, and the sick in the camp. Joints of meat are salted, dried, and smoked for the army on its march through the desert. The butler no longer thinks of drinking-bouts, but brings me wine in great stone jars; we pour it into well-closed skins for the soldiers, and the best sorts we put into strong flasks, carefully sealed with pitch, that they may perform the journey uninjured, and warm and rejoice the hearts of our heroes. All that, and much more, I manage and arrange, and my days pass in hard work. The Gods send me no bright visions in the night, for after utter fatigueโ€”I sleep soundly. But I know that I am of use. I can hold my head proudly, because in some degree I resemble my great father; and if the king thinks of me at all I know he can rejoice in the doings of his child. That is the end of it, Nefertโ€”and I only say, Come and join me, work with me, prove yourself of use, and compel Mena to think of his wife, not with affection only, but with pride.โ€ Nefert let her head sink slowly on Bent-Anatโ€™s bosom, threw her arms round her neck, and wept like a child. At last she composed herself and said humbly:

โ€œTake me to school, and teach me to be useful.โ€ โ€œI knew,โ€ said the princess smiling, โ€œthat you only needed a guiding hand. Believe me, you will soon learn to couple content and longing. But now hear this! At present go home to your mother, for it is late; and meet her lovingly, for that is the will of the Gods. To-morrow morning I will go to see you, and beg Katuti to let you come to me as companion in the place of my lost friend. The day after to-morrow you will come to me in the palace. You can live in the rooms of my departed friend and begin, as she had done, to help me in my work. May these hours be blest to you!โ€





CHAPTER XXII.

At the time of this conversation the leech Nebsecht still lingered in front of the hovel of the paraschites, and waited with growing impatience for the old manโ€™s return.

At first he trembled for him; then he entirely forgot the danger into which he had thrown him, and only hoped for the fulfilment of his desires, and for wonderful revelations through his investigations of the human heart.

For some minutes he gave himself up to scientific considerations; but he became more and more agitated by anxiety for the paraschites, and by the exciting vicinity of Uarda.

For hours he had been alone with her, for her father and grandmother could no longer stop away from their occupations. The former must go to escort prisoners of war to Hermonthis, and the old woman, since her granddaughter had been old enough to undertake the small duties of the household, had been one of the wailing-women, who, with hair all dishevelled, accompanied the corpse on its way to the grave, weeping, and lamenting, and casting Nile-mud on their forehead and breast. Uarda still lay, when the sun was sinking, in front of the hut.

She looked weary and pale. Her long hair had come undone, and once more got entangled with the straw of her humble couch. If Nebsecht went near her to feel her pulse or to speak to her she carefully turned her face from him.

Nevertheless when the sun disappeared behind the rocks he bent over her once more, and said:

โ€œIt is growing cool; shall I carry you indoors?โ€

โ€œLet me alone,โ€ she said crossly. โ€œI am hot, keep farther away. I am no longer ill, and could go indoors by myself if I wished; but grandmother will be here directly.โ€

Nebsecht rose, and sat down on a hen-coop that was some paces from Uarda, and asked stammering, โ€œShall I go farther off?โ€

โ€œDo as you please,โ€ she answered. โ€œYou are not kind,โ€ he said sadly.

โ€œYou sit looking at me,โ€ said Uarda, โ€œI cannot bear it; and I am uneasyโ€”for grandfather was quite different this morning from his usual self, and talked strangely about dying, and about the great price that was asked of him for curing me. Then he begged me never to forget him, and was so excited and so strange. He is so long away; I wish he were here, with me.โ€

And with these words Uarda began to cry silently. A nameless anxiety for the paraschites seized Nebsecht, and it struck him to the heart

1 ... 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 ... 151
Go to page:

Free e-book: ยซUarda : a Romance of Ancient Egypt โ€” Complete by Georg Ebers (find a book to read txt) ๐Ÿ“•ยป   -   read online now on website american library books (americanlibrarybooks.com)

Comments (0)

There are no comments yet. You can be the first!
Add a comment