The weird of the wanderer Being the papyrus records of some incidents in one of the previous lives of Mr. Nicholas Crabbe
Thus, then, I found Amenemhat in his body as he lived.
But, during this month of waiting on the will of the gods (for it
was no more than that), a certain thing was done by me, at the
suggestion and with the aid of Amenemhat, which I will set down here
in its place. For, it being evident to both of us that my lot was to
move through time, getting wisdom by living many lives in various
circumstances, Amenemhat used to speak of the comfort which I should
derive from constant companions throughout my wanderings. But I,
knowing the sort of man which I am, and not by any means loving, used
to respond to him saying, that it was not the perpetual companionship
of an equal which would delight me, so much as the perpetual readiness
of comely and trustworthy and affectionate slaves, whose services
I could command at pleasure or neglect if I thought well so to do.
But Amenemhat, having perceived the alert intelligent faithful minds
and the pleasing and powerful bodies of Nesamun and Yokkho, inquired
whether such as these would suit me. To whom I answered, saying, that I
had them in my mind when thus speaking. Wherefore, Amenemhat suggested
that I should perform the two magics called _The Soul-Loosening_ and
_The Life-Binding_, whereby the silver cords which tied the said
Nesamun and Yokkho to their present forms might be loosed, so that (at
a moment’s notice) they might migrate to other forms of my invention,
and, also, that by binding their lives to my life, the said slaves
might accompany me into whatsoever other lives The Supreme might have
in store for me and them.
But I, when I had pondered the matter, found it very desirable indeed.
For which cause, having obtained the consent of the two, very gleefully
given when (without any concealment) I described the whole project to
them, for (beside being fearless and very eager for adventures) they
deemed me godlike, and desired nothing less than to be left behind
when I should go forward, then, having brought them to a sacred part
of the vast temple, where their screams would be inaudible, I and
Amenemhat did what was necessary on the bodies, first of little Yokkho,
and then of Nesamun, in such a dexterous manner that they suffered
not more pain than they could bear without swooning: but I shall not
describe the process on account of a religious reason. Nor could any
earth-walking man, mage or simple, find out any difference in them
afterward, unless (by chance) he should hap upon the tiny and almost
invisible silver-coloured puncture in the rosy breast-flower (but which
one it was of their breast-flowers I decline to indicate, for both
breast-flowers are punctured on both of them, yet only one puncture
on each of them is an exit), through which Nesamun and Yokkho became
able to leave their Egyptian bodies, and to follow me through time, as
easily as they could leave my barge by the deserted quay and follow me
through the streets of Tanis.
In this manner, I prepared myself and them for a new migration.
FOOTNOTES:
[31] Oh! Is it indeed? The statement (as it stands) is a little
startling though. A. H.
[32] This repeated use of these epithets “the most righteous of men,”
and “blameless” is, of course, obviously, an example of Greek irony. A.
H.
THE ELEVENTH PAPYRUS
But it was well that the thing was done when it was well-done. For, a
few months later, the occasion for departure occurred.
Now I had been very diligently studying such magic of the Tanitic
priests as I did not know, to fill up the interval until Amenemhat
should be moved by the blessed gods to deliver his message. And, among
other matters where improvement seemed desirable, it was put into my
mind to try a new method of imbalming the dear remains of the dead,
which method (I believed and believe) not only prevents the mummy
from shrivelling and going black or dry or discoloured in any way,
but also preserves the exact freshness of appearance and condition
which it had enjoyed while used as the temporary vesture of the soul,
excepting the condition of life. But, because I found it unwise to make
my experiments on the corpses of persons who had spoiled the pristine
beauty of their bodies by over-long or over-arduous usage, I and
Amenemhat preferred those of such acolyths of the temples whose souls
well-plumed Thoth had been directed to escort elsewhere without first
afflicting their forms with loathsome diseases. But, because all the
temples of Tanis supplied no more than two such corpses within the
month, Amenemhat sent both wind-messages and ibis-messages to other
temples of other cities stating our needs. And, when we had treated
without emptying eight well-made blooming bodies, with imperishable
quintessences of unmentionable virtue and inconceivable fragrance, then
we anointed them nine times in every part, under the nine proper stars,
using a liquid unguent, preservative, which perseveres through all time
and disgusts worms. But the fame of our handicraft went abroad, so that
all the hierarchies of Khem desired to have their dead acolyths mummied
in the new manner for the benefit of the temples. For which cause, it
happened that I went to Alexandria in my barge to inspect a corpse so
perfect that I brought it away with me, intending to treat it; and, on
my return, I became imbroiled in the streets of Tanis after this wise.
The priests attending Amenemhat had taken the beautiful body from my
barge and were gone on their way to the temple of Isis. But I remained
behind during a little while, inspecting the diligence of my slaves,
well-shaven, performing prescribed purifications. And anon, later in
the evening, I proceeded by quiet by-ways toward the temple where
Amenemhat awaited me. But, on my way, I encountered a troop of land
mercenaries, blameless Sithonians and Mygdonians, escorting the litter
of one of the Lagidai, a brother of the Pharoah’s favourite wife. And
they were rudely brushing everyone from their path, not being at all
affable. But by chance, a certain aged philosopher, Melkas by name,
who taught daily in the porch of the Serapion, was about to cross the
road. His eyes were dim, his step infirm, his pace tardy and grave.
Wherefore, I tried to help him into the shadow of a portico; and did
so, but not before a Sithonian, seeing the length of my arms, had
yelled at me, clipping the Argive tongue, “Ho, there, Ape-man, stand
aside before thy betters!”
But instantly divine anger inflamed my lordly mind. And boldly
affronting the mocker, I broke the crust of his blameless face to pulpy
fragments with fist-blows, as a bear in springtime breaks a delicate
egg. But the puny prince in the litter ordered his guards to seize me;
and half-a-dozen rash Mygdonians hastened with an obedient start to
obey. Then, indeed, the fierce and frolicsome joy of Saint Aldate’s
or the Cowley Empire on a Saturday night[33] came upon me, so that
I delayed not, but I simply smashed the first four faces using my
left fist and my right like flails or sledge-hammers; and, snatching
a falling shield and mightily sweeping with it, I shattered the shins
of the others as they came on. Now, when they saw these things, the
shrieking slaves fled, having dropped the litter. But I, by this time,
had got into my stride, becoming very methodical in my fury: for which
cause I determined to leave nothing important undone. Wherefore, I
butted the prince out of his tangled curtains, and rolled him about
with my feet in a pool of foul slime which happened to be near by. And,
all things necessary having been accomplished, I went upon my way with
a calm and holy mind. Nor did I bestow another thought to the matter.
And indeed no one gave me news of it: for the city, in those last days
of the Lagidaian dynasty, was a scene of incessant disorder; and a few
messes more or less, found in the streets at dawn, were by no means
uncommon. But, after four days, Amenemhat suddenly interrupted my
studies, crying: “Fly, O Nicholas, to the secret chamber in the shrine:
for the Pharoah’s mercenaries are upon thee.”
Thus he spoke. But I proceeded, without more ado, to the secret door;
and, when I stamped on the right, it slid ajar, so that I could squeeze
by, and sidle sideways along the narrow passage which led to the
secret chamber. Now this secret chamber was a very wily one; and it
was constructed after this manner: by the hollowing-out of one of the
pillars which surrounded the shrine, but the pillar itself was (like
all the others) carved into the similitude of an important god. And,
inside the hollow of it (from the secret crypt beneath the temple floor
in which I was), there ascended a very narrow ladder of twisted linen
threads leading up into the secret chamber in the skull of the god.
But, at the top of the ladder, there was contrived a small seat like a
saddle, so ordained that anyone sitting thereon in the skull, having
pulled up the ladder, was very much separated from earth-walking men;
and might (at will) speak through the orifice of the god’s mouth quite
safely, and also might see plainly all which happened in the temple,
looking downward. And the place was used in the following manner. For
the priests of the temple, being seated on the saddle and speaking
awfully through the mouth of the god, delivered themselves of oracles
imparted to them by the Divine Ones, or of revelations which they
obtained in their trances or by sacred magic on account of a religious
reason. Such, then, was the secret chamber.
But the lower part of the hollow pillar being dark, a studio of
spiders, a thoroughfare of mice, and an abode of most holy beetles, I
made haste to ascend to the saddle, pulling the ladder after me. And,
being there conveniently insconced, I perceived Amenemhat hurriedly
entering the temple by the priest’s door; and, having seated himself in
his proper pulpit, he instantly began to intone the litanies, beginning
in the middle so that an interrupter (I suppose) might imagine that he
had been thus occupied for some time. He, therefore shook the sacred
sistrum, saying:
“_Homage to thee, O lord of the star-gods in An and of heavenly beings
in Khez-aba, O thou god Unti more glorious than those gods hidden in
Annu:_
“_Homage to thee, O Heru, thou dweller in both horizons, who,
enormously striding, stridest over heaven, thou dweller in both
horizons:_
“_Homage to thee, O soul of everlastingness, O soul who dwellest in
Tattu, O Un-nefer son of Nut, thou lord of Akert:_
“_Homage to thee, in thy dominion over Tattu, the feathery crown is
stablished on thy head, thou art the one whose strength is in himself:_
“_Homage to thee, O lord of the acacia-tree, who settest the boat upon
its sledge, who turnest back the ill-working friend, who causest the
eye to rest:_
“_Homage to thee, mighty in thy moment, great god dwelling in An-rut-f,
lord of eternity, creator of everlastingness, lord of Sutenhenen:_
“_Homage to thee, who restest upon right and truth, O lord of Abtu
whose limbs are joined to Ta-sertet, to whom fraud and guile are
hateful:_
“_Homage to thee in thy boat, who bringest Hapi from his source, on
whose body light shineth, O dweller in Nek-hen:_
“_Homage to thee, O creator of the gods, O king of the north and of
the south, O Osiris, O victor, O lord and ruler of the world in thy
gracious seasons._”
And, having met with no interruption at the time when he finished these
beautiful imprecations, Amenemhat shook the sacred sistrum more loudly,
and went on with the _Address to the Rudders_, saying:
“_Hail, thou lovely power, thou lovely rudder of the northern heavens:_
“_Hail, thou pilot of the world, thou lovely rudder of the western
heavens:_
“_Hail, thou shining one who livest with the gods in visible forms,