THE SIXTH PAPYRUS

When Day with her white steeds was come (most beautiful to behold), and the dawn was yet cool, then indeed I examined my barge with its contents and its mariners. And I saw that Nesamun was a nimble and mightily powerful youth, and that Yokkho the slave was slim and very eager, both stripped for work, and of a brick-red colour, with long black and white eyes, and closely shaven polls which they covered with a napkin as is the custom among the Egyptians. But they carried girdles in their bundles. And I saw that the barge was long and flattish, having two bulwarks. But there was a chief cabin in the waist; and the roof of it was like a deck: but the low waist was open. And, at the prow, there was a smaller cabin, with a deck above it, whereon a slave might stand to shove the barge off shoals and sandbanks with the well-handled pole. And there was a third cabin at the stern; and the steersman stood on the roof of it wielding the cunning steering-oar. But, in the waist, was a lofty mast, with a triangular sail of woven reeds and the cordage relative thereto. And, having seen all these things, I inspected the baskets of provisions; and these were very grateful to the mind. For there was fresh bread, and much wheat (the marrow of men), and many cheeses, and fruits both fresh and dried, with jars of wine from Kos and Korinth, and vinegar, and condiments, and nuts. But, when I had given an order, all these things were stored in the fore-cabin. And I bade the boatman and his boy to take the aft-cabin for themselves, so that their smells might not come to me, as I slept in the chief cabin, or took the air in the waist, or on the main deck during the voyage. Not that they were in any wise disagreeable, being both healthy and naked and constantly washed: but so I willed it, for (at that time) my stomach heaved at the odour of all mortals. And, these matters having been settled, Yokkho pulled the gangway into the barge, while Nesamun pushed out on to the placid bosom of Hapi-hallowed Sihor. But, when they had hoisted the sail, a favourable breeze assisted the slow stream to waft us toward the distant Delta.

In this manner, I departed from hundred-gated Thebes.

But I began to ponder the past: for this always has been, and always is, and always will be, my singular habit, recounting in my dear mind every particular of the things which I had done, or which had been done to me, weighing their worth and import and possibilities, rejecting some to fall into oblivion, but storing others in my memory until such time when they might be used for my advantage. And, of all the things which I had done during the last two days, there were two things which I regretted. The first was that I had left my magic cabinet with the papyrus-enkheiridion at Thebes; and the second was that I had left my priestly robe and sandals in the cavity under the boulders on the plain. But, nevertheless, the mind in my noble breast bade me be of good cheer, relinquishing all matters, even greater than these, without a backward thought; and going forward boldheartedly in search of fresh adventures, and the more boldly as the more barehandedly, seeing that greater wisdom is to be gained by the simple, and more blooming laurels are to be won by the absolutely naked, than by the trained philosopher, or by the heavyarmed. Furthermore, the divine ones inhabiting olympian palaces put into my mind an unmentioned and unthought-of action. For I remembered the prediction of Amenemhat, how he said that within the month I should meet him again. For, since those words, Time had rolled back for me, so that it seemed that I was now actually living in the former lifetime of Amenemhat. And, also, it seemed that (if these things were so) the friendly priest would be performing his functions at Tanis in the Delta: to which place I, undoubtedly by the direction of the gods, was at that moment proceeding. Wherefore, taking courage from the thought that, though I had not all which I might have had, still, I had a great deal, to wit, the prospect of meeting a friend, the divination-cup, the crystal orb, and the magic staff, beside my arms and my money all safely stored in my cabin, to say nothing of the inestimable wisdom which I had so far attained, then, indeed, I became cheerful of heart; and set myself to take my pleasure from what was round about me.

For, as I walked about my deck, I saw the stalwart Nesamun poised like some grand archaic carving in carnelian jasper, at one moment lithe, and at another moment rigid, intent upon his business at the steering-oar. And, at his feet, across the narrow aft-deck, Yokkho was stretched at length, busy with fishing-lines which trailed behind in golden Sihor. All around, were the rolling waters, bordered with leaves like living emeralds; and, above, the great splendour of Ra flamed in the turquoise-coloured dome of the heavens. Nothing broke the stillness, excepting ripples lapping about the well-carved prow, or when the slave laughed contentedly, drawing a silver fish from the stream from time to time and tossing it to flap in a heap below Nesamun’s feet.

But when fishes enough for a meal for my crew had been caught, for fish is a food which my gorge rejects without even trying it, then I called Yokkho to me, demanding that he should soothe me with singing. And, having fetched a certain well-sounding harp from his baggage, he began to tighten the strings. But I saw that the harp was an old one, very dilapidated, and the gilding and the paint were both worn off, leaving bare wood to be seen. And also I knew it for the harp of a priest of Khem, though one of the glass eyes of the face on the base had fallen out, and the face itself was so broken and discoloured that it was not to be decyphered either as of a god or of a man. And the slave-boy said that, having been rescued from a sunken temple-barge at Philai where he dived for it, the harp had been damaged by water. For which cause, he fitted it with new strings, the frame being still whole. And when at length he had tuned it, crouching on his hams and pressing it to his tender shoulder, then he opened his throat and began to sing. But his song was in a rude metre, with a pæan of praise at the end of every tenth strophe; and he would have continued singing even unto this day: for his song was as interminable as that endless song of future Galatia which will be called Jean François de Nantes.⁠[22] But long before weariness prevented his hand from twanging the strings, I myself called for silence, demanding the name of his ditty. And he said that it was one of the folk-songs of the watermen of the Thebaid. This, then, was the song which Yokkho sang:

But when I had made an end of his singing, I gave him a small coin of no value to me, which seemed to him wealth incalculable, he being such a simple little fellow. And, having praised his pretty voice, a most innocent one and not by any means shrill, I turned to Nesamun demanding a meal. For, the sun being on his zenith, it was my pleasure to eat before sleeping. And, having brought me cheeses and gherkins and cakes of bread and fresh fruit and a jar of wine where I sat in the shade of my cabin, the mariners went ashore and filled their own bellies with the fish which they broiled in papyrus on a fire. But, when they had bathed and returned to the barge, we again set sail, Nesamun guiding the steering-oar, and Yokkho fanning me with a palm-leaf where I slept in the cool cabin.

But, while I slept, it seemed to me that I was wandering near the Treasury of Dreams which overlooks the meadows of Eäru in Duät of the gods. And the monotonous song of the slave still hummed in my ears. And anon, as my manner is in dreams, I found that I was all stark, without a single stitch of clothing on me, having naught but my wings and tail fixed to my arms and shoulders and legs at the back, wherewith I swam in the air⁠[23] like a beautiful expert seagull, easily and enormously swooping. And I was flying finely balanced over my former (or future) home in the kingdom of Victory queen of the stalwart stately Anglicans. Which place I have well in memory, having known it, in the life from which I had come, and to which I infallibly shall return terribly and invincibly armed with the wisdom of ages. But I remembered the limpid river, and the little island with its precipitous cliffs save at one end which sloped gently to the water’s edge and the wide-stepped quay. And I recognized the distant river-banks, clothed with oak-forests and steep pine-woods, purifying the air. And I looked southward to see the rivermouth far away, kissing the lips of the innumerably smiling sea. But I knew, also, the small old perfect fortress of grey stone, which stood on the summit of that isle, where were velvet lawns bestarred with daisies, and gardens of quaint herbs and sweet old flowers, and the cedar-tree, and the ghent-azaleas, and the pergola furred with honeysuckle and white roses and passion-flowers and dripping with amethystine wistaria and asterial jasmine. And I saw the library of ancient books for solacing my mind in wintertime when pinecones burn upon the hearth. And I saw my three well-tailed kittens, the white and the yellow and the grey, frisking round my tame white peacocks trailing pearl-like prides indignantly across the pleasaunces and neatly cobbled paths which lead down to the boat-house. There also, I saw my electric gondogla, and my flat-bottomed huge-ruddered sailing bragozzetto. And, too, I saw my sailors, John Marcus and Ermenegildo Falier by name, the last telling horrible Venetian tales to my three servants, Bob and Bill and Roddy, having finished their day’s work in my house and gardens. But I swam in the air round and about the place, so near to the flag of Saint George and the ensign of the Cinque Ports which flew from my battlements that I could have touched the bunting with my hand; and yet I was unseen by any mortal eye. Wherefore I flew back to the Treasury of Dreams.⁠[24]

And I saw the Master of Dreams summoning a certain blameless Dream, to whom he said: “Go thou to such and such a priest of Isis, who sleeps in a barge, near Koptos, on River Nile; and try whether he will receive thee.” And the Dream, having wrapped a cloak of pink and tinsel falsehood about him, leaped out through an ivory gate; and dived down toward me, asleep, in the cabin of my barge. But, because he could not find a foothold there (though he fought like a dog for it), he slank back to the Dream-Master, to whom he sulkily snarled: “Lord, there is that on that barge which prevents me.” Whereat, the Dream-Master (having smiled and having dismissed him to his place) summoned another Dream, to whom he gave a similar charge. And the second Dream donned a cloak which seemed to be woven of dewdrops and the eyes of kittens or babies; and he leaped out of another gate, and pounced like a robin on my brow. And, with him, there entered to me Belmarduk the god of Assyria, very brave with fringed vestments and well-curled love-locks, attended by winged bulls and sphynxes and cherubs; and the heroes Gilgamish and Eabani came flatly smirking sideways in his train. But Belmarduk addressed me, saying: “By favour of the gods of Khem, I come to thee in a land which is not mine; and my message is that thou shalt be a king in Armenia, that is to say in Moxoene which is called Magurturgadash in Naïri.” And, when he had said this, the traveller-god departed as he came. But, in my dream, I wondered very greatly, being overwhelmed with wave after wave of astonishment: even as a stranded ship is washed by waves pushed by azure-haired earth-shaking Nun, the lord of the ocean. For I was ignorant of the cause why any gods should visit me, specially a strange god, or why Assyrian gods should visit an Egyptian priest. And other doubts also assailed me. Wherefore, in my dream, I mentioned my perplexity to our holy Mother Isis, the wise goddess, whose priest I was, asking for news of these matters; and she instantly answered me by the mouth of Tefeu her messenger, saying: “The god of Assyria came to thee: because the word hath gone forth in the hall of fate from the abode of The Supreme, the Dweller in the Innermost, Whose decrees nor god nor hero nor mortal can evade.” And the scorpion-headed god shewed the Sign of Life in token that the Lady of the Marsh indeed had sent him. But, having done this, he fled on uplifting wings to Duät of the gods which is above Amentet. Whereat I awakened from my sleep.

Such was the dream which I dreamed in my barge on sacred Sihor.

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