Cavius, somewhat brusquely as usual, again began to outline ideas that all could understand. Kidogo’s laughter was heard again as were the piercing cries of the Libyan Akhmi. Pandion recovered more slowly, the collapse of his hopes had made a deeper impression on him.
Many times he had felt the stone hidden in his loincloth but it seemed like sacrilege to him to take out Yakhmos’ wonderful gift in that foul, dark hole. The stone, moreover, had deceived him, it possessed no magic; it had not helped him obtain his liberty and reach the sea.
At last, however, Pandion did take the blue-green crystal out of its hiding place and carry it stealthily to the pale ray that shone through the slit in the roof but did not reach the ground. With the first glance he cast at the joyous iridescence of the stone the desire to live and fight returned to him. He had been deprived of everything; he did not even dare to think of Thessa; he did not dare to evoke memories of his native shores. All that was left to him was the stone — the stone that was like a dream of the sea, of another life, the real life he had known in the past. And Pandion began to gaze frequently at the stone, finding in its transparent depths that joy without which it would have been impossible to live.
Pandion and his companions did not spend more than ten days in their underground prison. Without any sort of interrogation or trial the fate of the runaway slaves was decided by the authorities up there in the world above. The trap-door opened suddenly and a wooden ladder was lowered into the prison. The slaves were led out and, blinded by the glaring sun, were immediately bound and chained together in groups of six. They were then led down to the Nile and loaded on to a big barge sailing upstream. The rebels were being sent to the southern frontiers of the Black Land, to the Gates of the South, from where they would begin that last journey from which there was no return — to the terrible gold mines of the Land of Nub. (* Gates of the South — the towns of Neb and Swan, the modern Syene and Aswan, on the islands of Elephantine and Philae.
Nub (Egypt, gold) — the collective name for all the lands along the Nile south of the First Cataract; later Nubia).
A fortnight after the runaway slaves had exchanged their underground prison for a floating gaol, at a distance of five hundred thousand cubits upstream to the south of the capital of Tha-Quem, the following scene was enacted in the luxurious palace of the Prince of the South on the Island of Neb.
The Prince of the South and Governor of the Province of Neb, the cruel and imperious Kabuefta, who considered himself second only to Pharaoh in the Black Land, had summoned to his presence the Commander of the Host, the Lord of the Hunt and the Chief Caravan Leader of the South.
Kabuefta received his guests on the balcony of his palace where an abundant feast was spread; his Chief Scribe was also present. Kabuefta, a big muscular man, seated, in imitation of Pharaoh, on a high throne of ebony and ivory, towered arrogantly above his companions.
He noticed the inquiring glances, which the assembled officials exchanged, and smiled to himself.
The palace stood on the highest part of the island and the view from the balcony embraced the wide sleeves of the river sweeping round a group of temples built of white limestone and-red granite. Along the banks were dense growths of tall palms whose dark feathery foliage stretched along the foot of the steep, rocky cliff of the river-bank. A vertical granite wall bordering a high plateau shut off the southern view; the First Cataract of the Nile was situated at the eastern point of this plateau. At this point the valley of the river suddenly narrowed and the expanse of calm, well-tilled fields was broken off abruptly by the immeasurably great expanses of the deserts of Nub, the land of gold. From terraces on the cliffside the tombs of past Princes of the South looked down upon the palace — these were the graves of bold explorers of the countries inhabited by the black people, beginning with the great Herkhuf who had led caravans into the southern countries at the time of the 6th Dynasty. (2625–2475 B.C.)
An experienced desert traveller could discern the regular lines of hieroglyphs of a tremendously long inscription that from that distance had the appearance of the cuneiform inscriptions of the Asian countries. The ruler of the south, however, had no need to read the inscriptions. He knew by heart the proud words of Hemu relating his journey to the Land of Punt (Puoni): “In the eighth year… the keeper of the seal, the keeper of all that is and is not, the curator of the temples, granaries and the white house, the keeper of the Gates of the South.. ” — (Retranslated from Golenishchev’s Russian version of the Egyptian original.) all these titles belonged to Kabuefta as much as to his legendary ancestor.
The distance was lost in the greyish haze caused by the heat, but it was cool on the island — a north wind struggled against the heat encroaching from the south, driving it back to the wilderness of sunburnt plains.
The Prince of the South gazed long at the tombs of his ancestors and then with a gesture ordered a waiting slave to fill the glasses for the last time. The feast was over; the guests rose and followed their host into the inner rooms of the palace. They entered a square, not very high room, beautifully decorated in the style of the great days of Tuthmosis III. (Pharaoh Tuthmosis III (1501–1447 B.C.) — statesman and soldier who added to Egyptian conquests.) The smooth white walls were decorated at the bottom with a broad light blue border, containing an intricate straight-line design composed of white lines, while a narrow strip of wall around the ceiling bore a pattern of lotus flowers and symbolic figures, carried out in blue, green, black and white tones on a background of dull gold.
The ceiling was divided by four wooden beams of a deep cherry colour and surrounded by a checkered border in black and gold. The spaces between the beams were painted in bright colours — gold spirals and white rosettes on a checker-board background in red and blue.
The wide door-posts of polished cedar-wood were bordered with narrow black stripes broken by numerous pairs of blue lines drawn across them.
A carpet, a few folding chairs of ivory covered in leopard skin, two armchairs of. gold-inlaid ebony, a few chests on legs which also served as tables, constituted the entire furniture of the big, bright and airy room.
Without undue haste Kabuefta took his seat in one of the armchairs and his clear-cut profile stood out sharply against the white wall. The officials pulled their chairs closer to him and the Chief Scribe stood by a tall table of ebony inlaid with gold and ivory.
On the polished surface of the table lay a scroll of papyrus with a red and white seal. At a sign from the Prince of the South the Scribe unrolled the papyrus and stood for a moment in respectful silence.
The Commander of the Host, a gaunt, bald-headed man without a wig, winked at the little, stubby Caravan Leader, giving him to understand that the talk for which they had been summoned would now begin.
Sure enough Kabuefta inclined his head and spoke to the assembled officials.
“His Majesty, the Ruler of the Upper and Lower Black Lands, life, health, strength, has sent me an express letter. In it His Majesty commands me to do something unheard of — to bring to the City a beast with a horned nose such as inhabits the land beyond Wawat;* these animals are distinguished for their monstrous strength and ferocity. In the past many beasts from the southern lands have been brought alive to the Great House. The people of the City and the people of Tha-Meri-Heb have seen huge apes, giraffes, the beasts-of Seth** and the groundhogs; savage lions and leopards accompanied Ramses the Great*** and even fought against the enemies of Tha-Quem, but never has a rhinoceros been caught alive.