The warders threw Pandion a piece of coarse linen for a loin-cloth and then four black-skinned men brought in a big earthen vessel of water, barley cakes and the stalks of some green vegetable.
Pandion was astounded at the sight of absolutely black faces in which the teeth, the whites of the eyes and the brownish-red lips stood out so brightly. He guessed that they were slaves and was surprised at their jolly and kindly countenances. The Negroes laughed, showing their white teeth, made fun of the prisoners and of each other. Was it possible, that, with the passage of time, he, too, would be capable of finding joy in anything, of forgetting the pitiful role of a man deprived of his liberty? Could this constant ache that was gnawing at his heart possibly pass away? And Thessa? O Gods, if Thessa should know where he was! No, Thessa must never know — he would return to her or die, there was no other way…
Pandion’s thoughts were disturbed by a long drawn-out cry. The door opened. Before his eyes sparkled a wide river — his place of imprisonment was quite close to the water’s edge. A strong detachment of soldiers surrounded the captives with a phalanx of spears and drove them into the hold of a big ship. The ship sailed away upstream and the captives were given no opportunity to look round them. It was stiflingly hot in the hold; the sun, standing high in the heavens, scorched the prisoners, and it was difficult to breathe in an atmosphere befouled by their exhalations.
Towards evening it grew cooler, the exhausted captives began to recover and started talking. The vessel sailed on all night, there was a short halt in the morning when the prisoners were fed, and the wearying journey continued. Several days passed in this way but Pandion, stupefied and apathetic, lost count of them.
At last a more lively note could be heard in the voices of the rowers and soldiers and there were sounds of bustle on deck — the long journey was over. The captives were left in the hold all night and in the morning Pandion heard orders given in a loud, drawling voice.
The escort stood in a half-circle, spears thrust out in front of them, on a dusty sun-baked square. The captives left the ship one by one and immediately fell into the hands of two giant soldiers beside whom lay a heap of short ropes. The Egyptians bound the prisoners’ arms so tightly that their shoulders were bent back and their elbows met behind them. The groans and cries of the victims had no effect on the giants who gloried in their own strength and in the helplessness of their victims.
Pandion’s turn came. One of the soldiers seized him by the arm immediately the youth, blinded by the glaring sun, set foot on land. The pain drove away all Pandion’s apathy. He had been trained in fist-fighting and easily escaped the hands of the soldier. He struck him a deadly blow on the ear; the giant fell face down in the dust and the other, momentarily losing his presence of mind, jumped away. Pandion was surrounded by thirty enemy soldiers with their spears pointed at him.
In unspeakable fury the youth leaped forward hoping to die in battle, for death seemed like deliverance to him… He did not, however, know the Egyptians, whose methods of handling recalcitrant slaves were the accumulated result of thousands of years’ experience. The soldiers immediately gave way and closed in behind Pandion who was thus left outside the circle. The bold youth was knocked off his feet and borne to the ground under the weight of several attackers. The end of a spear-shaft caught him a sharp blow in the ribs. The breath was knocked out of him and a fiery-red haze floated before his eyes. In an instant the Egyptians brought his hands together above his head and fastened them to a wooden instrument shaped like a toy boat.
The soldiers then left the youth in peace.
The remaining captives were quickly bound and all of them were driven off along a narrow road between the river and the fields. The young sculptor suffered intense pain: his arms were stretched at full length above his head with the wrists gripped in a wooden clamp that squeezed the bones. This instrument of torture did not permit him to bend his elbows or lower his hands on to his head.
A second party of slaves joined Pandion’s group from a side road; then came a third party until there were altogether two hundred slaves in the group.
All of them were bound in a most cruel manner and a number were wearing stocks like Pandion’s. The captives’ faces were twisted in pain, they were pallid and dripping with perspiration. Pandion walked along in a daze, scarcely taking note of his surroundings.
The country through which they marched was a rich one. The air was clean and fresh, silence reigned on the narrow roads and the mighty river carried its waters slowly towards the Great Green Sea. The palms nodded their heads very slightly in the light breeze from the north and green fields of ripening wheat were interspersed with vineyards and orchards. The entire country was a huge garden, carefully tended for thousands of years.
Pandion could not look from side to side. He stumbled along, his teeth clenched in pain, past the high walls that surrounded the houses of the wealthy. The houses were light and airy two-storied structures with high, narrow windows over the columned entrances. The snow-white walls, decorated with an intricate pattern in pure, bright colours, stood out sharply in the blinding sunlight.
Quite suddenly the captives were confronted by a colossal stone edifice with straight, enormously thick-walls built of huge blocks of stone dressed with amazing skill. The dark and mysterious building seemed to be spread-eagled on the earth which it crushed under its terrific weight. Pandion passed a row of heavy columns, gloomily grey against the bright green background of the gardens that covered the plain. Palms, fig- and other fruit-trees alternated in seemingly endless straight rows. The hills were covered with a dense tangle of grape vines.
In a garden by the river stood a high, light structure painted in the same bright colours as the other buildings of that city. Before the facade, opening on to the river, and beyond wide gates, stood tall mast-like poles with bunches of waving ribbons on top of them. Over the wide entrance was a huge snow-white balcony with two columns supporting a perfectly flat roof. The cornice of the roof was painted with an ornament in which bright blue and gold designs alternated. The bright blue and gold zigzags also ornamented the capitals of the columns.
At the back of the balcony, in the shade cast by carpets and curtains, could be seen people dressed in long white garments of some finely pleated material. The personage seated in the centre inclined over the rail a head heavy with the red and white double crown of the ruler of the two Kingdoms, Upper and Lower Egypt.
The escort, together with the commander, who had marched so importantly at their head, prostrated themselves face downwards on the ground. On a motion of the hand of Pharaoh, the living god and supreme ruler of the land of Tha-Quem, the captives were drawn up in a single line and marched slowly past the balcony. The courtiers who crowded the balcony exchanged whispered remarks and laughed merrily. The beauty of the palace, the opulent raiment of Pharaoh and his courtiers, their haughty, free and easy postures made a sharp contrast to the pain-racked faces of the tormented slaves — and this aroused fierce indignation in Pandion’s heart. He was beside himself from the pain in his arms, his body trembled as though with ague, his badly bitten lips were caked with dried blood, but the youth straightened his back, heaved a deep sigh and turned a wrathful face towards the balcony.
Pharaoh turned and said something to his courtiers and all of them nodded their heads in approval. The procession of slaves moved slowly on. Soon Pandion found himself behind the house, in the shade of a high wall. Gradually the whole party of slaves gathered there, still surrounded by the silent soldiers. From around the corner appeared a corpulent, hook-nosed man carrying a long ebony staff inlaid with gold and accompanied by a scribe carrying a wooden tablet and a roll of papyrus.