She walked halfway around the pool and stood before the summer room. A number of her slave girls were there to wait upon her, and they bowed reverently as she entered, then stood awaiting her orders. The courtesan lay her body down on a shaded couch to rest, but she could not sit still for long and she jumped to her feet, shouting to her slave girls, “The people's hot breaths annoyed me. And the heat, how it exhausted me. Take off my clothes. I want to feel the cool water of the pool against my body.”
The first slave girl approached her mistress and gently removed the veil which was woven with golden threads from eternal Memphis. Then two others came up and took off her silk cape to reveal a translucent chemise that covered her body from just above the breasts to below the knees. Two more slave girls followed and with gentle hands removed the lucky blouse to dazzle the world with the body now set free, in whose creation all the gods had joined, and in which each had demonstrated his art and ability.
Another slave girl approached and took out the clips from her jet-black hair, which cascaded over her body, covering it from her neck to her wrists. She bent over to untie her golden sandals and placed them by the edge of the pool. Her body swayed as she strode slowly down the marble steps into the water, which covered first her feet, then her legs and thighs, until she was immersed entirely in the still water, which took in the body's sweet smell and gave it cool peace in return. Relaxing, she surrendered to the water and let it caress her as she splashed and played without a care in the world. She swam for a long time, sometimes on her back, then on her belly, or on one of her sides.
She would have remained there in sweet oblivion had not a sudden scream of terror from her slave girls rung in her ears. She stopped swimming and, turning toward them, was just in time to see a huge falcon swoop down by the edge of the pool. The bird flapped its wings and Rhadopis let out a shriek of terror. She dived under the water shaking with fear, and with enormous effort she held her breath until she felt her lungs would burst. When she could bear it no longer, she raised her head cautiously out of the water and looked around nervously. She saw no trace of the bird, but when she looked up at the sky she could just make out the falcon nearing the horizon. She swam quickly to the side of the pool and staggered up the steps in a state of shock. She put on one of her sandals but then could not find the other and she looked for it awhile before she asked, “Where is the other one?”
“The falcon took it,” said the slave girls nervously.
A look of sadness crossed her face but she did not have the time to express her distress, for she hurried into the summer room with the slave girls all around her drying droplets of water that shone like pearls off the ivory skin of her succulent body.
As sunset approached, Rhadopis prepared to receive her guests. Their numbers grew greatly during the days of the festival, which drew people to the South from all over the land, and she dressed in her most beautiful clothes and put on her finest jewelry. Then she left the mirror for the reception hall to await their arrival, for it was time for them to be shown in.
The hall was a gem of art and architecture. It had been built by the architect Heni, who had designed an oval structure, constructing the walls of granite like the houses of the gods, and dressing them with a layer of flint, colored with delightful pigments. The ceiling was vaulted and adorned with pictures and intricate designs, and from it hung lamps embellished with silver and gold.
The sculptor Henfer had decorated the walls and her lovers had competed with one another to furnish it, presenting her with fine chairs, sumptuous couches, and beautiful feathers. Rhadopis's throne was the most wonderful of all these works of art, made from the richest ivory. Its legs were elephant tusks and its seat was of pure gold encrusted with emeralds and sapphires. It had been given to her by the governor of the island of Biga.
Rhadopis did not wait for long before one of her slaves entered and announced the arrival of Master Anin, the ivory merchant. The man entered immediately and rushed over in his flowing robes, proudly showing off his false hair. Behind him came a slave carrying a gilded ivory box. He set it down near the courtesan's chair and went out of the hall. The merchant bowed over Rhadopis's hand and kissed her fingertips. She smiled at him and said in her sweet voice, “Welcome, Master Anin. How are you? We really should see you more often. It has been so long.”
The man laughed. He was delighted, and said, “What can I do, my lady? Such is the life I have chosen for myself, or — which the Fates have decreed for me, that I should always be traveling the roads. A wanderer am I, hopping from country to country. I spend half the year in Nubia and the other half between the North and the South, buying and selling, selling and buying, always on the move.”
She looked at the ivory box and still smiling asked, “What is this beautiful box? Could it be one of your precious gifts?”
“Not the box exactly, but rather what is inside it. It is from the tusk of a wild elephant. The Nubian trader I bought it from swore that four of his strongest men were killed trying to bring the beast down. I kept it in a safe place and never showed it to customers. Then when I rested up awhile in Tanis, I delivered it into the hands of the town's skilled craftsmen and they lined it with a layer of pure gold and gilded it on the outside so that it became a goblet fit only for kings to drink from. I said to myself, ‘How fitting that this cup that has cost valuable lives should be given to her for whose sake no effort should be spared, if she would accept.’ “
Rhadopis laughed politely and said, “Why thank you, Master Anin. Your gift, despite its great value, is not so beautiful as your words.”
He was overjoyed and, staring at her with eyes full of admiration and yearning, said in a faint voice, “How beautiful you are, how ravishing. Every time I return from my travels I find you more ravishing and more beautiful than I left you. It seems to me as if time's only task is to enhance and magnify your unrivaled pulchritude.”
She listened to him lauding her beauty as one listens to a familiar tune, and thinking she would enjoy a little sarcasm, she asked him, “How are your sons?”
He felt a twinge of disappointment and he was silent for a moment, then, bending over the box, he raised its lid. She could see the goblet resting on its side. “How biting your humor is, my lady,” he said as he looked up at her. “And yet you will not find a single white hair on my head. Could anyone, having set eyes upon your face, retain in his heart the slightest affection for another woman?”
She did not answer but continued to smile. Then she invited him to be seated, and he sat down near to her. Immediately after, she received a group of merchants and land owners, some of whom frequented her palace every evening and others who she saw only at festivals and on special occasions, but she welcomed them all with her captivating smile. Then she espied the slim figure of the sculptor Henfer enter the hall with his tight curly hair and flat nose, and his Adam's apple protruding gently. He was one man whose company she enjoyed, and she extended her hand, which he kissed with deep affection.
“You lazy artist,” she teased.
Henfer was not enamored of the description. “I finished my work in no time,” he said.
“What about the summer room?”
“It is all that remains to be decorated. I'm afraid I have to tell you that I will not decorate it myself.”
Rhadopis looked surprised.
“I am traveling to Nubia the day after tomorrow,” Henfer explained. “My mother is sick and has sent a messenger requesting to see me. I have no alternative but to go.”
“May the gods relieve her pain and yours.”
Henfer thanked her and said, “Do not think I have forgotten the summer room. Tomorrow my most outstanding pupil, Benamun Ben Besar, will come to see you. He will decorate it in the most beautiful fashion. I trust him as I trust myself. I trust you will welcome him and offer him your encouragement.”