Chapter 23

IN the city of Anu a series of feasts and amusements now followed. The worthy nomarch brought the choicest wines from his cellars; from the three neighboring provinces came the most beautiful dancers, the most famous musicians, the adroitest of jugglers. The prince's time was occupied thoroughly, every morning reviews of troops and receptions; later feasts, spectacles, hunting, and feasts again.

But just when Ranuzer felt certain that the viceroy was tired of questions of administration and economy, the latter summoned him, and asked,

"Thy province, worthiness, is among the richest in Egypt, is it not?"

"Yes, though we have had a number of hard years," replied Ranuzer; and again his heart sank and his legs began to tremble.

"But this astonishes me," said the prince, "that year after year the income of his holiness decreases. Canst Thou not explain to me the cause of this?"

"Lord," said the nomarch, bending his head to the earth, "I see that my enemies have sown distrust in thy soul; whatever I might say, therefore, would not convince thee. Permit me not to speak. Better let scribes come with documents, which Thou canst touch with thy hand and verify."

The prince was somewhat astonished at the unexpected outburst, but he accepted the offer; nay, he was glad of it. He thought, of course, that the report of these scribes would explain to him the secret of government.

The next day, therefore, came the chief scribe of Hak, and with him his assistants. They brought from ten to twenty rolls of papyrus written on both sides. When unwound, they formed a strip three spans of a great hand in width and in length sixty paces. For the first time the prince saw so gigantic a document, containing an inventory of one province only and that for one year.

The chief scribe sat on the floor with his legs doubled under him, and began,

"In the thirty-third year of the reign of his holiness Meramen-Ramses the Nile was late in its overflow. Earth-tillers, ascribing this misfortune to the black art of foreigners resident in the province of Hak, fell to wrecking the houses of Hittites, Jews, and Phoenicians, during which time a number of persons were slain by them. At command of his worthiness the nomarch, those guilty were brought to the court; twenty-five earth-tillers, two masons, and five sandal-makers were condemned to the quarries, one boatman was strangled."

"What is that document?" interrupted the prince.

"It is the report of the court intended for the feet of his holiness."

"Put it aside, and read about the income of the treasury."

The assistants of the chief scribe folded the rejected document, and gave him others. Again the official began,

"On the fifth day of the month Thoth six hundred measures of wheat were brought to the granaries of the pharaoh; for these a receipt was issued by the chief overseer.

"On the seventh day of Thoth the chief scribe discovered and verified a statement that from the supply of the previous year one hundred and forty-eight measures of wheat had vanished.

"During the verification two laborers stole a measure of grain and hid it among bricks. When this was proven they were brought to judgment and sent to the quarries for raising their hands to the property of his holiness."

"But the hundred and forty-eight measures?" asked the heir.

"The mice ate them," replied the scribe, and read on.

"On the eighth day of Thoth twenty cows and eighty-four sheep were sent to the slaughter; these, at command of the overseer of oxen, were issued to the Sparrow-Hawk regiment."

In this manner the viceroy learned day after day how much wheat, barley, beans, and lotus seed were weighed into the granaries, how much given out to the mills, how much stolen, and how many laborers were condemned to the quarries for stealing. The report was so wearisome and chaotic that in the middle of the month Paophi the prince gave command to stop reading.

"Tell me, chief scribe," said Ramses, "what dost Thou understand from this? What dost Thou learn from it?"

"Everything which thy worthiness commands."

And he began again at the beginning, but from memory,

"On the fifth of the month Thoth they brought to the granaries of the pharaoh."

"Enough!" cried the enraged prince; and he commanded the man to depart.

The scribes fell on their faces, gathered up their papyruses quickly, and bore them away in a twinkle.

The prince summoned the nomarch. He came with crossed hands, but with a calm face, for he had learned from the scribes that the viceroy could understand nothing from reports, and that he did not give ear to them.

"Tell me, worthiness," began the heir, "do they read reports to thee?"

"Every day."

"And dost Thou understand them?"

"Pardon, most worthy lord, but could I manage a province if I did not understand?"

The prince was confused and fell to thinking. Could it be really that he, Ramses, was the only incompetent? But in this case what would become of his power?

"Sit down," said he, after a while, indicating a chair to the nomarch. "Sit down and tell me how Thou governest the province."

The dignitary grew pale, and the whites of his eyes turned upward. Ramses noticed this, and began explaining,

"Do not think that I have not trust in thy wisdom. On the contrary, I know no man who could manage better. But I am young and curious to know the art of government, so I beg thee to deal out to me crumbs of thy knowledge. Thou art ruling the province I know that. Now explain to me the process."

The nomarch drew breath and began,

"I will relate, worthiness, the whole course of my life, so Thou shalt know how weighty my work is.

"In the morning I bathe, then I give offerings to the god Amut; next I summon the treasurer, and ask him whether the taxes for his holiness are collected properly. When he answers yes, I praise him; when he says that these and those people have not paid, I issue an order to imprison the disobedient. Then I summon the overseers of the royal granaries, to learn how much grain has been delivered. If much, I praise them; if little, I issue an order to inflict stripes on the guilty.

"Later comes the chief scribe, and tells me which of the estates of his holiness needs troops, officials, and laborers, and I command to send them in return for a receipt. When he gives out less, I praise him; when more, I commence an investigation.

"In the afternoon come Phoenician merchants, to whom I sell wheat and bring money to the treasury of the pharaoh. Afterward I pray and confirm the sentences of the court; toward evening the police inform me of what has happened. No longer ago than the day before yesterday people from my province fell upon the territory Ka and desecrated a statue of the god Sebak. I was delighted in heart, for that god is not our patron; still I condemned some of the guilty to strangulation, some of them to the quarries, and all to receive stripes.

"Hence peace and good habits prevail in my province, and the taxes flow in daily."

"Though the income of the pharaoh has decreased here also," added Ramses.

"Thou speakest truth, lord," sighed the worthy nomarch. "The priests say that the gods are angry with Egypt because of the influx of foreigners; but I see that even the gods do not contemn gold and precious stones brought by Phoenicians."

At that moment the priest Mentezufis, preceded by an officer in waiting, entered the hall to beg the prince and the nomarch to a public devotion. Both dignitaries consented, and the nomarch exhibited so much piety that the prince was astonished. When Ranuzer left the company with obeisances, Ramses said to the priest,

"Since with me, holy prophet, Thou takest the place of the most venerable Herhor, I beg thee to explain one thing which fills my heart with anxiety ."

"Shall I be able to explain?" asked the prophet.

"Thou wilt answer me, for Thou art filled with wisdom, of which Thou art the servant. But consider what I say Thou knowest why his holiness sent me hither."

"He sent thee, prince, to become familiar with the wealth of the country and its institutions," said Mentezufis.

"I am obeying. I examine the nomarchs, I look at the country and the people. I listen to reports of scribes, but I understand nothing; this poisons my life and astounds me.

"When I have to do with the army, I know everything, how many soldiers there are, how many horses, chariots, which officers drink or neglect their service, and which do their duty, I know, too, what to do with an army. When on a plain there is a hostile corps, I must take two corps to beat it. If the enemy is in a defensive position, I should not move without three corps. When the enemy is undisciplined and fights in unordered crowds against a thousand, I send five hundred of our soldiers and beat him. When the opposing side has a thousand men with axes, and I a thousand, I rush at them and finish those troops, if I have a hundred men with slings in addition.

"In the army, holy father," continued Ramses, "everything is as visible as the fingers on my hand, and to every question an answer is ready which my mind comprehends. Meanwhile in the management of a province I not only see nothing, but there is such confusion in my head that more than once I forget the object of my journey.

"Answer me, therefore, sincerely, as a priest and an officer: What does this mean? Are the nomarchs deceiving me, or am I incompetent?"

The holy prophet fell to thinking.

"Whether they attempt to deceive thee, worthiness," answered he, "I know not, for I have not examined their acts. It seems to me, however, that they explain nothing, because they themselves comprehend nothing. The nomarchs and their scribes," continued the priest, "are like decurions in an army; each one knows his ten men and reports on them. Each commands those under him. But the decurion knows not the general plan made by leaders of the army. The nomarchs and the scribes write down everything that happens in their province, and lay those reports at the feet of the pharaoh. But only the supreme council extracts from them the honey of wisdom."

"But that honey is just what I need," said the prince. "Why do I not get it?"

Mentezufis shook his head.

"Wisdom of the state," said he, "belongs to the priesthood; therefore only the man who is devoted to the gods can obtain it. Meanwhile, worthiness, though reared by priests, Thou pushest thyself away from the temples decisively."

"How is that? Then, if I do not become a priest, will ye not explain to me?"

"There are things, worthiness, which Thou mayest know even now, as erpatr, there are others which Thou wilt know when Thou art the pharaoh. There are still others which only a high priest may know."

"Every pharaoh is a high priest," interrupted the prince.

"Not every pharaoh. Besides, even among high priests there are grades of difference."

"Then," cried the enraged heir, "ye hide the order of the state from me, and I shall not be able to carry out the commands of my father?"

"What the prince needs may be known," answered Mentezufis, quietly, "for Thou hast the inferior priestly consecration. Those things, however, are hidden behind the veil in temples, which no one will dare to draw aside without due preparation."

"I will draw it."

"May the gods defend Egypt from such a misfortune!" replied the priest, as he raised both his hands. "Dost Thou not know, worthiness, that a thunderbolt would kill any man who without the needed ceremonies should touch the veil? Were the prince to take to the temple any slave or condemned criminal and let him stretch out his hand, the man would die that same instant."

"For ye would kill him."

"Each one of us would die just like an ordinary criminal were he to approach the altar sacrilegiously. In presence of the gods, my prince, a pharaoh or a priest means as little as a slave."

"What am I to do, then?" asked Ramses.

"Seek an answer to thy trouble in the temple, after Thou hast purified thyself by prayers and fasting," answered the priest. "While Egypt is Egypt, no ruler has gained wisdom of state in another way."

"I will meditate over this," said the prince. "Though I see from thy words that the most venerable Mefres, and thou, holy prophet, wish to involve me in ceremonies as ye have involved my father."

"Not at all. Worthiness, if Thou as pharaoh would limit thyself to commanding the army, Thou mightst take part in ceremonies a few times a year merely, for on other occasions the high priest would be thy substitute. But if Thou wish to learn the secrets of temples, Thou must honor the gods, for they are the fountain of wisdom."