No More Learning

Perhaps thou wert a mason, and forbidden— By oath to tell the secrets of thy trade, Then say, what secret melody was hidden
In Memnon's statue, which at sunrise played ? Perhaps thou wert a priest, — if so, my struggles Are vain, for priestcraft never owns its juggles.
Perchance that very hand, now pinioned flat,
Has hob-a-nobbed with Pharaoh, glass to glass ;
Or dropped a halfpenny in Homer's hat,
Or doffed thine own to let Queen Dido pass,
Or held, by Solomon's own invitation,
A torch at the great Temple's dedication.
I need not ask thee if that hand, when armed, Has any Roman soldier mauled and knuckled, For thou wert dead, and buried, and embalmed,
Ere Romulus and Remus had been suckled : Antiquity appears to have begun
Long after thy primeval race was run.
148
ADDRESS TO A MUMMY.
Thou couldst develop, if that withered tongue Might tell us what those sightless orbs have seen,
How the world looked when it was fresh and young, And the great deluge still had left it green ;
Or was it then so old, that history's pages Contained no record of its early ages ?
Still silent, incommunicative elf !
Art sworn to secrecy ? then keep thy vows ;
But prithee tell us something of thyself; Reveal the secrets of thy prison house ;
Since in the world of spirits thou hast slumbered,
What hast thou seen, — what strange adventures numbered ?
Since first thy form was in this box extended,
We have, above ground, seen some strange mutations ;
The Roman empire has begun and ended,
New worlds have risen, — we have lost old nations,
And countless kings have into dust been humbled, Whilst not a fragment of thy flesh has crumbled.
Didst thou not hear the pother o'er thy head, When the great Persian conqueror, Cambyses,
Marched armies o'er thy tomb with thundering tread, O'erthrew Osiris, Orus, Apis, Isis,
And shook the pyramids with fear and wonder, When the gigantic Memnon fell asunder ?
If the tomb's secrets may not be confessed, The nature of thy private life unfold :
A heart has throbbed beneath that leathern breast, And tears adown that dusky cheek have rolled :
Have children climbed those knees, and kissed that face ? What was thy name and station, age and race ?
Statue of flesh, — immortal of the dead ! Imperishable type of evanescence !
Posthumous man, who quittest thy narrow bed, And standest undecayed within our presence,
Thou wilt hear nothing till the judgment morning, When the great trump shall thrill thee with its warning.
Why should this worthless tegument endure, If its undying guest be lost forever ?
O, let us keep the soul embalmed and pure
In living virtue, that, when both must sever,
Although corruption may our frame consume, The immortal spirit in the skies may bloom.
SETNA AND THE MAGIC BOOK. 149
SETNA AND THE MAGIC BOOK.
From the Egyptian; translated by W. M. FLINDERS PETRIE.
The mighty King User-maat-ra (Rameses the Great) had a son named Setna Kha-em-uast, who was a great scribe and very learned in all the ancient writings. And he heard that the magic book of Thoth — by which a man may enchant heaven and earth, and know the language of all birds and beasts — was buried in the cemetery of Memphis. And he went to search for it with his brother An-he-hor-eru ; and when they found the tomb of the king's son, Na-nefer-ka- ptah, son of the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Mer-neb- ptah, Setna opened it and went in.
Now in the tomb was Na-nefer-ka-ptah, and with him was the ka of his wife, Ahura ; for though she was buried at Kop- tos, her ka dwelt at Memphis with her husband, whom she loved. And Setna saw them seated before their offerings, and the book lay between them. And Na-nefer-ka-ptah said to Setna, "Who are you that break into my tomb in this way ? " He said, " I am Setna, son of the great King User- maat-ra, living forever ; and I come for that book which I see between you. " And Na-nefer-ka-ptah said, "It cannot be given to you. " Then said Setna, " But I will carry it away by force. " Then Ahura said to Setna: "Do not take this book, for it will bring trouble on you as it has upon us. Listen to what we have suffered for it. "
Ahura's Tale.
" We were the two children of the King Mer-neb-ptah, and he loved us very much, for he had no others ; and Na-nefer- ka-ptah was in his palace as heir over all the land. And when we were grown, the king said to the queen, ' I will marry Na-nefer-ka-ptah to the daughter of a general, and Ahura to the son of another general. ' And the queen said, ' No, he is the heir : let him marry his sister, like the heir of a king ; none other is fit for him. ' And the king said, 'That is not fair : they had better be married to the children of the general. ' And the queen said, 'It is you who are not dealing rightly with me. ' And the king answered: 'If I have no more than these two children, is it right that they should
150 SETNA AND THE MAGIC BOOK.
marry one another? I will marry Na-nefer-ka-ptah to the daughter of an officer, and Ahura to the son of another offi cer. " It has often been done so in our family. '
And at a time when there was a great feast before the king, they came to fetch me to the feast. And I was very troubled, and did not behave as I used to do. And the king said to me, 'Ahura, have you sent some one to me about this sorry matter, saying, "Let me be married to my elder brother? "' Isaid to him, 'Well, let me marry the son of an officer, and he marry the daughter of another officer, as it often happens so in our family. ' I laughed and the king laughed. And the king told the steward of the palace, 'Let them take Ahura to the house of Na-nefer-ka-ptah to-night, and all kinds of good things with her. ' So they brought me as a wife to the house of Na-nefer-ka-ptah; and the king ordered them to give me presents of silver and gold and things from the palace.
" And Na-nefer-ka-ptah passed a happy time with me, and received all the presents from the palace, and we loved one another. And when I expected a child, they told the king, and he was most heartily glad ; and he sent me many things, and a present of the best silver and gold and linen. And when the time came, I bore this little child that is before you. And they gave him the name of Mer-ab, and registered him in the book of the ' House of life. '
"And when my brother Na-nefer-ka-ptah went to the cemetery of Memphis, he did nothing on earth but read the writings that are in the catacombs of the kings, and the tab lets of the ' House of life,' and the inscriptions that are seen on the monuments ; and he worked hard on the writings. And there was a priest there called Nesi-ptah ; and as Na-nefer-ka- ptah went into a temple to pray, it happened that he went behind this priest, and was reading the inscriptions that wei i on the chapels of the gods. And the priest mocked him and laughed. So Na-nefer-ka-ptah said to him, 'Why are you laughing at me? ' And he replied, 'I was not laughing at you, or if I happened to do so, it was at your reading writ ings that are worthless. If you wish so much to read writ ings, come to me, and I will bring you to the place where
the book is which Thoth himself wrote with his own hand, and which will bring you to the gods. When you read but two pages in this, you will enchant the heaven, the earth, the
SETNA AND THE MAGIC BOOK. 151
abyss, the mountains, and the sea ; you shall know what the birds of the sky and the crawling things are saying ; you shall see the fishes of the deep, for a divine power is there to bring them up out of the depth. And when you read the second page, if you are in the world of ghosts, you will become again in the shape you were in on earth. You will see the sun shin ing in the sky, with all the gods, and the full moon. '
" And Na-nefer-ka-ptah said, ' By the life of the king ! tell me of anything you want done and I'll do it for you, if you will only send me where this book is. ' And the priest an swered Na-nefer-ka-ptah, 'If you want to go to the place where the book is, you must give me a hundred pieces of silver for my funeral, and provide that they shall bury me as a rich priest. ' So Na-nefer-ka-ptah called his lad and told him to give the priest a hundred pieces of silver ; and he made them do as he wished, even everything that he asked for. Then the priest said to Na-nefer-ka-ptah: 'This book is in the middle of the river at Koptos, in an iron box ; in the iron box is a bronze box ; in the bronze box is a sycamore box ; in the sycamore box is an ivory and ebony box ; in the ivory and ebony box is a silver box; in the silver box is a golden box, and in that is the book. It is twisted all round with snakes and scorpions and all the other crawling things around the box in which the book is ; and there is a deathless snake by the box. ' And when the priest told Na-nefer-ka-ptah, he did not know where on earth he was, he was so much delighted.
" And when he came from the temple, he told me all that had happened to him. And he said, 'I shall go to Koptos,
I will not stay any longer in the
for I must fetch this book ;
north. ' And I said, 'Let me dissuade you, for you prepare sorrow, and you will bring me into trouble in the Thebaid. ' And I laid my hand on Na-nefer-ka-ptah to keep him from going to Koptos, but he would not listen to me ; and he went to the king and told the king all that the priest had said. The king asked him, ' What is it that you want ? ' and he replied, 'Let them give me the royal boat with its belongings, for I will go to the south with Ahura and her little boy Mer-ab, and fetch this book without delay. ' So they gave him the royal boat with its belongings ; and we went with him to the haven, and sailed from there up to Koptos.
"Then the priests of Isis of Koptos and the high priest of Isis came down to us without waiting to meet Na-nefer
152 SETNA AND THE MAGIC BOOK.
ka-ptah and their wives also came to me. We went into the temple of Isis and Harpokrates ; and Na-nefer-ka-ptah brought an ox, a goose, and some wine, and made a burnt offering and a drink offering before Isis of Koptos and Harpokrates. They brought us to a very fine house with all good things ; and Na-nefer-ka-ptah spent four days there, and feasted with the priests of Isis of Koptos, and the wives of the priests of Isis also" made holiday with me.
And the morning of the fifth day came ; and Na-nefer- ka-ptah called a priest to him, and made a magic cabin that was full of men and tackle. He put the spell upon it, and put life in it, and gave them breath, and sank it in the water. He filled the royal boat with sand, and took leave of me, and sailed from the haven ; and I sat by the river at Koptos that I might see what would become of him. And he said, ' Work men, work for me, even at the place where the book is. ' And they toiled by night and by day ; and when they had reached it in three days, he threw the sand out, and made a shoal in the river. And then he found on it entwined serpents and scorpions and all kinds of crawling things around the box in which the book was; and by it he found a deathless snake around the box. And he laid the spell upon the entwined serpents and scorpions and all kinds of crawling things which were around the box, that they should not come out. And he went to the deathless snake, and fought with him, and killed him ; but he came to life again and took a new form. He then fought again with him a second time ; but he came to life again and took a third form. He then cut him in two parts and put sand between the parts, that he should not "appear again.
Na-nefer-ka-ptah then went to the place where he found the box. He uncovered a box of iron and opened it ; he found then a box of bronze and opened that; then he found a box of sycamore wood and opened that; again, he found a box of ivory and ebony and opened that; yet he found a box of silver and opened that; and then he found a box of gold ; he opened that and found the book in it. He took the book from the golden box, and read a page of spells from it. He enchanted the heaven and the earth, the abyss, the moun tains, and the sea ; he knew what the birds of the sky, the fish of the deep, and the beasts of the hills all said. He read another page of the spells, and saw the sun shining in the sky,
SETNA AND THE MAGIC BOOK. 153
with all the gods, the full moon, and the stars in their shapes ; he saw the fishes of the deep, for a divine power was present that brought them up from the water. He then read the spell upon the workmen that he had made, and taken from the haven, and said to them, ' Work for me back to the place from which I came. ' And they toiled night and day, and so he came back to the place where I sat by the river Koptos ; I had not drunk nor eaten anything, and had done nothing on earth, but sat like one who is gone to the grave.
"I then told Na-nefer-ka-ptah that I wished to see this book for which we had taken so much trouble. He gave the book into my hands ; and when I read a page of the spells in it, I also enchanted heaven and earth, the abyss, the moun tains, and the sea; I also knew what the birds of the sky, the fishes of the deep, and the beasts of the hills all said. I read another page of the spells, and I saw the sun shining in the sky, with all the gods, the full moon, and the stars in their
I saw the fishes of the deep, for a divine power was present that brought them up from the water. As I could not write, I asked Na-nefer-ka-ptah, who was a good writer and a very learned one ; he called for a new piece of papyrus, and wrote on it all that was in the book before him. He dipped it in beer, and washed it off in the liquid ; for he knew that if it were washed off and he drank it, he would know all that there was in the writing.
shapes ;
" We returned back to Koptos the same day, and made a feast before Isis of Koptos and Harpokrates. We then went to the haven and sailed, and went northward of Koptos. And as we went on Thoth discovered all that Na-nefer-ka-ptah had done with the book ; and Thoth hastened to tell Ra, and said, ' Now know that my book and my revelation are with Na-nefer- ka-ptah, son of the King Mer-neb-ptah. He has forced himself into my place, and robbed it, and seized my box with the writ ings, and killed my guards who protected it. ' And Ra replied to him, • He is before you ; take him and all his kin. ' He sent a power from heaven with the command, ' Do not let Na-nefer- ka-ptah return safe to Memphis with all his kin. ' And after this hour, the little boy Mer-ab, going out from the awning of the royal boat, fell into the river. He called on Ra, and everybody who was on the bank raised a cry. Na-nefer-ka- ptah went out of the cabin, and read the spell over him ; he brought his body up because a divine power brought him to
154 SETNA AND THE MAGIC BOOK.
the surface. He read another spell over him, and made him tell of all what happened to him, and of what Thoth had said before Ra.
" We turned back with him to Koptos. We brought him to the Good House ; we fetched the people to him, and made one embalm him ; and we buried him in his coffin in the ceme tery of Koptos like a great and noble person.
" And Na-nefer-ka-ptah, my brother, said, ' Let us go down ; let us not delay, for the king has not yet heard of what has happened to him, and his heart will be sad about it. ' So we went to the haven, we sailed, and did not stay to the north of Koptos. When we were come to the place where the little boy Mer-ab had fallen in the water, I went out from the awn ing of the royal boat, and I fell into the river. They called Na-nefer-ka-ptah, and he came out from the cabin of the royal boat ; he read a spell over me, and brought my body up, be cause a divine power brought me to the surface. He drew me out, and read the spell over me, and made me tell him of all that had happened to me, and of what Thoth had said before Ra. Then he turned back with me to Koptos; he brought me to the Good House, he fetched the people to me, and made one embalm me, as great and noble people are buried, and laid me in the tomb where Mer-ab, my young child, was.
" He turned to the haven, and sailed down, and delayed not in the north of Koptos. When he was come to the place where we fell into the river, he said to his heart, ' Shall I not better turn back again to Koptos, that I may lie by them? For, if not, when I go down to Memphis, and the king asks after his children, what shall I say to him? Can I tell him, " I have taken your children to the Thebaid and killed them, while I remained alive, and I have come to Memphis still alive ? " ' Then he made them bring him a linen cloth of striped byssus; he made a band and bound the book firmly, and tied it upon him. Na-nefer-ka-ptah then went out of the awning of the royal boat and fell into the river. He cried on Ra, and all those who were on the bank made an outcry, saying, ' Great woe ! sad woe ! Is he lost, that good scribe and"able man that has no equal ? '
The royal boat went on without any one on earth knowing where Na-nefer-ka-ptah was. It went on to Memphis, and they told all this to the king. Then the king went down to the royal boat in mourning, and all the soldiers and high priests
SETNA AND THE MAGIC BOOK. 155
and priests of Ptah were in mourning, and all the officials and courtiers. And when he saw Na-nefer-ka-ptah, who was in the inner cabin of the royal boat, — from his rank of high scribe, — he lifted him up. And they saw the book by him; and the king said, 'Let one hide this book that is with him. ' And the officers of the king, the priests of Ptah, and the high priest of Ptah, said to the king: ' Our Lord, may the king live as long as the sun! Na-nefer-ka-ptah was a good scribe, and a very skillful man. ' And the king had him laid in his Good House to the sixteenth day, and then had him wrapped to the thirty- fifth day, and laid him out to the seventieth day, and then had him put in his grave in his resting place.
******* And Setna said to Ahura, " Give me the book which I see between you and Na-nefer-ka-ptah; for if you do not, I will take it by"force. " Then Na-nefer-ka-ptah rose from his seat and said, Are you Setna, to whom my wife has told of all these blows of fate, which you have not suffered ? Can you take this book by your skill as a good scribe ? If, indeed, you
" I have now told you the sorrow which has come upon us because of this book for which you ask, saying, ' Let it be given to me. ' You have no claim to it; and, indeed, for the sake of it, we have given up our life on earth. "
can play games with me, let us play a game, then, of fifty-two points. " And Setna said, "I am ready," and the board and its pieces were put before him. And Na-nefer-ka-ptah won a game from Setna; and he put the spell upon him, and defended himself with the game board that was before him, and sunk him into the ground above his feet. He did the same at the second game, and won it from Setna, and sunk him into the ground to his waist. He did the same at the third game, and made him sink into the ground up to his ears. Then Setna struck Na-nefer-ka-ptah a great blow with his hand. " And Setna called his brother An-he-hor-eru and said to him, Make haste and go up upon earth, and tell the king all that has happened to me, and bring me the talisman of my father Ptah and my magic books. "
And he hurried up upon the earth, and told the king all that had happened to Setna. The king said, " Bring him the talisman of his father Ptah, and his magic books. " And An- he-hor-eru hurried down into the tomb; he laid the talisman on Setna, and he sprang up again immediately. And then
156 SETNA AND THE MAGIC BOOK.
Setna reached out his hand for the book, and took it. Then — as Setna went out from the tomb — there went a Light before him, and Darkness behind him. And Ahura wept at him, and she said: "Glory to the King of Darkness! Hail to the King of Light! all power is gone from the tomb. " But Na-nefer-ka-ptah said to Ahura, " Do not let your heart be sad; I will make him bring back this book, with a forked stick in his hand, and a fire pan on his head. " And Setna went out from the tomb, and it closed behind him as it was before.
Then Setna went to the king, and told him everything that had happened to him with the book. And the king said to Setna, " Take back the book to the grave of Na-nefer-ka-ptah, like a prudent man, or else he will make you bring it with a forked stick in your hand, and a fire pan on your head. " But Setna would not listen to him; and when Setna had unrolled the book he did nothing on earth but read it to everybody.
[Here follows a story of how Setna, walking in the court of the temple of Ptah, met Tabubua, a fascinating girl, daughter of a priest of Bast, of Ankhtaui; how she repelled his advances, until she had beguiled him into giving up all his possessions, and slaying his children. At the last she gives a fearful cry and vanishes, leaving Setna bereft of even his clothes. This would seem to be merely a dream, by the disappearance of Tabubua, and by Setna finding his children alive after it all; but on the other hand he comes to his senses in an unknown place, and is so terrified as to be quite ready to make restitu tion to Na-nefer-ka-ptah. The episode, which is not creditable to Egyptian society, seems to be intended for one of the vivid dreams which the credulous readily accept as half realities. ]
So Setna went to Memphis, and embraced his children for that they were alive. " And the king said to him, " Were you not drunk to do so ? Then Setna told all things that had happened with Tabubua and Na-nefer-ka-ptah. And the king said, " Setna, I have already lifted up my hand against you before, and said, 'He will kill you if you do not take back the book to the place you took it from. ' But you have never listened to me till this hour. Now, then, take the book to Na-nefer-ka-ptah, with a forked stick in your hand, and a fire pan on your head. "
So Setna went out from before the king, with a forked stick in his hand, and a fire pan on his head. He went down to the tomb in which was Na-nefer-ka-ptah. And Ahura said to him,
SETNA AND THE MAGIC BOOK. 157
" It is Ptah, the great god, that has brought you back safe. " Na-nefer-ka-ptah laughed, and he said, "This is the business that I told you before. " And when Setna had praised Na- nefer-ka-ptah, he found it as the proverb says, " The sun was in the whole tomb. " And Ahura and Na-nefer-ka-ptah besought Setna greatly. And Setna said, " Na-nefer-ka-ptah, is it aught disgraceful" (that you lay on me to do) ? " And Na-nefer-ka- ptah said, Setna, you know this, that Ahura and Mer-ab, her child, behold ! they are in Koptos ; bring them here into this tomb, by the skill of a good scribe. Let it be impressed upon you to take pains, and to go to Koptos to bring them here. " Setna then went out from the tomb to the king, and told the king all that Na-nefer-ka-ptah had told him.
The king said, " Setna, go to Koptos and bring back Ahura and Mer-ab. " He answered the king, " Let one give me the royal boat and its belongings. " And they gave him the royal boat and its belongings, and he left the haven, and sailed with out stopping till he came to Koptos.
And they made this known to the priests of Isis at Koptos and to the high priest of Isis ; and behold they came down to him, and gave him their hand to the shore. He went up with them and entered into the temple of Isis of Koptos and of Harpokrates. He ordered one to offer for him an ox, a goose, and some wine, and he made a burnt offering and a drink offer ing before Isis of Koptos and Harpokrates. He went to the cemetery of Koptos with the priests of Isis and the high priest of Isis. They dug about for three days and three nights, for they searched even in all the catacombs which were in the cemetery of Koptos ; they turned over the steles of the scribes of the "double house of life," and read the inscriptions that they found on them. But they could not find the resting place of Ahura and Mer-ab.
Now Na-nefer-ka-ptah perceived that they could not find the resting place of Ahura and her child Mer-ab. So he raised himself up as a venerable, very old ancient, and came before Setna. And Setna saw him, and Setna said to the ancient, " You look like a very old man, do you know where is the rest ing place of Ahura and her child Mer-ab ? " The ancient said to Setna, " It was told by the father of the father of my father to the father of my father, and the father of my father has told
it to my father ; the resting place of Ahura and of her child Mer-ab is in a mound south of the town of Pehemato. " And Setna said to the ancient, " Perhaps we may do damage to
158 MYCERINUS.
Pehemeto, and you are ready to lead one to the town for the
sake of that. " The ancient replied to Setna : "
me, shall he therefore destroy the town of Pehemato !
do not find Ahura and her child Mer-ab under the south cor ner of their town, may I be disgraced. " They attended to the ancient, and found the resting place of Ahura and her child Mer-ab under the south corner of the town of Pehemato. Setna laid them in the royal boat to bring them as honored persons, and restored the town of Pehemato as it originally was. And Na-nefer-ka-ptah made Setna to know that it was he who had come to Koptos, to enable them to find out where the resting place was of Ahura and her child Mer-ab.
So Setna left the haven in the royal boat, and sailed without stopping, and reached Memphis with all the soldiers who were with him. And when they told the king, he came down to the royal boat. He took them as honored persons, escorted to the catacombs, in which Na-nefer-ka-ptah was, and smoothed down the ground over them.
This is the completed writing of the tale of Setna Kha-em-uast- and Na-nefer-ka-ptah, and his wife Ahura, and their child Mer-ab. It was written in the 35fA year, the month Tybi.
MYCERINUS. By MATTHEW ARNOLD.
[Matthew Arnold: English poet, essayist, and critic; born at Laleham, December 24, 1822; died at Liverpool, April 15, 1888. He was professor of poetry at Oxford, 1857-1867. He was government inspector of schools for nearly forty years. His earliest published works were his prize poems, "Alaric at Rome," written at Rugby, and " Cromwell," written at Oxford. His poeti cal works include " The Strayed Reveler, and Other Poems " (1848) ; " Emped- ocles on Etna" (1853); " Merope," a tragedy (1857); "New Poems" (1868). His prose essays include "Lectures on Celtic Literature," and "Lectures on Translating Homer," "Culture and Anarchy," "Literature and Dogma," and " Discourses on America. "]
If one listens to If they
"After Chephren, Mycerinus, son of Cheops, reigned over Egypt. He abhorred his father's courses, and judged his subjects more justly than any of their kings had done. To him there came an oracle from the city of Buto to the effect that he was to live but six years longer, and to die in the seventh year from that time. " — Herodotus.
" Not by the justice that my father spurned,
Not for the thousands whom my father slew,
Altars unfed and temples overturned,
Cold hearts and thankless tongues, where thanks are due ; Fell this dread voice from lips that cannot lie,
Stern sentence of the Powers of Destiny.
MYCERINUS.
" I will unfold my sentence and my crime. My crime, — that, rapt in reverential awe, I sate obedient, in the fiery prime
Of youth, self-governed, at the feet of Law; Ennobling this dull pomp, the life of kings, By contemplation of diviner things.
" My father loved injustice, and lived long ; Crowned with gray hairs he died, and full of sway. I loved the good he scorned, and hated wrong — The gods declare my recompense to-day.
I looked for life more lasting, rule more high ;
And when six years are measured, lo, I die !
" Yet surely, O my people, did I deem
Man's justice from the all-just gods was given ; A light that from some upper fount did beam, Some better archetype, whose seat was heaven ; A light that, shining from the blest abodes,
Did shadow somewhat of the life of gods.
" Mere phantoms of man's self-tormenting heart, Which on the sweets that woo it dares not feed !
Vain dreams, which quench our pleasures, then depart, When the duped soul, self-mastered, claims its meed : When, on the strenuous just man, Heaven bestows, Crown of his struggling life, an unjust close !
" Seems it so light a thing, then, austere powers,
To spurn man's common lure, life's pleasant things 1 Seems there no joy in dances crowned with flowers, Love free to range, and regal banquetings ?
Bend ye on these indeed an unmoved eye,
Not gods, but ghosts, in frozen apathy ?
" Or is it that some force, too stern, too strong, Even for yourselves to conquer or beguile,
Bears earth and heaven and men and gods along, Like the broad volume of the insurgent Nile ?
And the great powers we serve, themselves may be Slaves of a tyrannous necessity ?
" Or in mid-heaven, perhaps, your golden cars, Where earthly voice climbs never, wing their flight, And in wild hunt, through mazy tracts of stars, Sweep in the sounding stillness of the night ?
Or in deaf ease, on thrones of dazzling sheen, Drinking deep draughts of joy, ye dwell serene ?
MYCERINUS.
" Oh, wherefore cheat our youth, if thus it be, Of one short joy, one lust, one pleasant dream ? Stringing vain words of powers we cannot see, Blind divinations of a will supreme ;
Lost labor ! when the circumambient gloom
But hides, if gods, gods careless of our doom ?
" The rest I give to joy. Even while I speak,
My sand runs short; and as yon star-shot ray, Hemmed by two banks of cloud, peers pale and weak, Now, as the barrier closes, dies away, —
Even so do past and future intertwine,
Blotting this six years' space, which yet is mine.
" Six years, — six little years, — six drops of time ! Yet suns shall rise, and many moons shall wane, And old men die, and young men pass their prime, And languid pleasure fade and flower again,
And the dull gods behold, ere these are flown, Revels more deep, joy keener than their own.
"Into the silence of the groves and woods
I will go forth ; though something would I say, — Something, — yet what, I know not : for the gods The doom they pass revoke not nor delay ;
And prayers and gifts and tears are fruitless all, And the night waxes, and the shadows fall.
" Ye men of Egypt, ye have heard your king !
I go, and I return not. But the will
Of the great gods is plain ; and ye must bring
111 deeds, ill passions, zealous to fulfill — Their pleasure, to their feet ; and reap their praise, The praise of gods, rich boon ! and length of days. "
— So spake he, half in anger, half in scorn ;
And one loud cry of grief and of amaze
Broke from his sorrowing people ; so he spake, And turning, left them there : and with brief pause. Girt with a throng of revelers, bent his way
To the cool region of the groves he loved. . . .
So six long years he reveled, night and day.
And when the mirth waxed loudest, with dull sound Sometimes from the grove's center echoes came,
To tell his wondering people of their king ;
In the still night, across the steaming flats,
Mixed with the murmur of the moving Nile.
THE BURIAL OF MOSES.
THE BURIAL OF MOSES. By MRS. C. F. ALEXANDER.
By Nebo's lonely mountain, On this side Jordan's wave, In a vale in the land of Moab
There lies a lonely grave,
And no man knows that sepulcher,
And no man saw it e'er;
For the angels of God upturned the sod,
And laid the dead man there.
That was the grandest funeral That ever passed on earth ;
But no man heard the trampling, Or saw the train go forth —
Noiselessly as the daylight
Comes back when night is done,
And the crimson streak on ocean's cheek Grows into the great sun.
Noiselessly as the springtime Her crown of verdure weaves,
And all the trees on all the hills Open their thousand leaves ;
So without sound of music,
Or voice of them that wept,
Silently down from the mountain's crown, The great procession swept.
Perchance the bald old eagle, On gray Beth-Pear's height,
Out of his lonely eyrie,
Looked on the wondrous sight ;
Perchance the lion stalking
Still shuns that hallowed spot,
For beast and bird have seen and heard That which man knoweth not.
But when the warrior dieth, His comrades in the war,
With arms reversed and muffled drum, Follow his funeral car ;
They show the banners taken, They tell his battles won,
162
THE BURIAL OF MOSES.
And after him lead his masterless steed, While peals the minute gun.
Amid the noblest of the land We lay the sage to rest,
And give the bard an honored place, With costly marble drest,
In the great minster transept Where lights like glories fall,
And the organ rings, and the sweet choir sings Along the emblazoned wall.
This was the truest warrior That ever buckled sword,
This the most gifted poet That ever breathed a word ;
And never earth's philosopher Traced with his golden pen,
On the deathless page, truths half so sage As he wrote down for men.
And had he not high honor, — The hillside for a pall,
To lie in state while angels wait With stars for tapers tall,
And the dark rock pines, like tossing plumes, Over his bier to wave,
And God's own hand in that lonely land, To lay him in the grave ?
In that strange grave without a name, Whence his uncoffined clay
Shall break again, O wondrous thought ! Before the Judgment day,
And stand with glory wrapt around On the hills he never trod,
And speak of the strife that won our life, With the Incarnate Son of God.
O lonely grave in Moab's land ! O dark Beth-Peor's hill !
Speak to these curious hearts of ours, And teach them to be still.
God hath His mysteries of grace, Ways that we cannot tell ;
He hides them deep, like the hidden sleep Of him He loved so well.
STORY OF THE TWO BROTHERS. 163
STORY OF THE TWO BROTHERS. Translated from thb Eotptiak, by P. LE PAGE RENOUF (From "Records of the Past. ")
There were two brothers (children), of one mother and of one father. Anpu was the name of the elder, Bata that of the younger.
Anpu had a house and a wife, and his younger brother was like a son to him. He itwas who . . . clothes for him.
. . .
He followed after his cattle
. . . did all the labors of the fields.
Behold, his younger brother was so good a laborer that there was not his equal in the whole land. . . . But when the days had multiplied after this the younger brother was with his cattle according to his daily wont, he took them to his house every evening ; he was laden with all the herbs of the field. . . .
(The elder brother) sat with his wife and ate and drank
the younger was the stable with his cattle. But
. . .
he who did the plowing
(whilst in)
he rose before his elder brother, took bread to the field and called the (laborers) to eat in the
field.
He followed after his cattle and they told him where the
best grasses were. He understood all that they said and he took them to the place where the best herbage was which they wanted.
And the cattle which was before him became exceedingly beautiful, and they multiplied exceedingly. And when the time for plowing came, his elder brother said to him, "Let us take our teams for plowing, because the land has made its appearance. The time is excellent for plowing it. So do thou come with seed, for we shall accomplish the plow
when the day dawned
ing. " . . .
So said he.
And the younger brother proceeded to do whatever his
elder told him. . . . But when the day dawned they went to the field with their . . . and worked at their tillage and they enjoyed themselves exceedingly at their work.
But when the days had multiplied after this they were in
the field . . . (the elder brother) sent his junior, saying, " Go and fetch seed for us from the village. "
164 STORY OF THE TWO BROTHERS.
And the younger brother found the wife of the elder sit ting at her toilet. And he said to her, "Arise and give me seed that I may go back to the field, because my elder brother wishes me to return without delay. "
And she said to him, " Go, open the bin, and take thyself whatever thou wilt ; my hair would fall by the way. "
The youth entered his stable ; he took a large vessel, for he wished to take a great deal of seed, and he loaded himself with grain and went out with it.
And she said to him, "How much have you on . . . " And he said to her, "Two measures of barley and three of wheat ; in all five, which are on my arm. "
And she spoke to him, saying, " What strength there is in thee ! indeed, I observe thy vigor every day. " Her heart knew him. . . . She seized upon him and said to him : " Come, let us lie down for an instant. Better for thee . . . beautiful clothes. "
The youth became like a panther with fury on account of the shameful discourse which she had addressed to him. And she was alarmed exceedingly.
He spoke to her, saying : " Verily, I have looked upon thee in the light of a mother and thy husband in that of a father to me. (For he is older than I, as much as if he had begotten
What a great abomination is this which thou hast men tioned to me. Do not repeat it again to me, and I will not speak of it to any one. Verily, I will not let anything of it come forth from my mouth to any man. "
He took up his load and went forth to the field. He came to his elder brother, and they accomplished the task of their labor.
But when the time of evening had come, the elder brother returned to his house. His younger brother behind his cattle . . . loaded with all things of the field. He led his cattle before him to lie down in their stable. . . .
Behold, the wife of his elder brother was alarmed at the discourse which she had held. She . . . She made herself like one who has suffered violence from a man, for she wished to say to her husband, "It is thy younger brother who has done me violence. "
Her husband returned home at evening according to his daily wont. He came to his house, and he found his wife lying as if murdered by a ruffian.
me. )
STORY OF THE TWO BROTHERS.
165
She did not pour water upon his hand according to her wont, she did not light the lamp before him, his house was in darkness. She was lying uncovered.
Her husband said to her, " Who has been conversing with thee? "
She said, "No one has conversed with me except thy younger brother ; when he came to fetch seed for thee, he found me sitting alone, and he said to me, ' Come, and let us liedownforaninstant. . . '; thatiswhathesaidtome.
"But I did not listen to him. 'Behold, am I not thy' mother, and thy elder brother is he not like a father to thee ? that is what I said to him, and he got alarmed and did me violence that I might not make a report to thee; but if thou lettest him live, I shall kill myself. Behold he was come . . . " . . .
And the elder brother became like a panther he made his dagger sharp, and took it in his hand.