I also see ducks flying with outstretched necks to build their nests, and the waters gleam green and yellow in the sunlight, and my heart is as light as a bird now that I am freed from slavery.”
I considered her words, and they were wise, and I said, “Since both of you are mad, why shouldn’t I also be mad for truly it is all one to me whether my skin hangs drying on the wall already tomorrow or ten years from now, for all this was written in the stars before our birth, as the priests of the Tower have taught me. The sun shines in glory, and in the fields along the river bank the corn is sprouting green. Therefore, I shall bathe in the river and try to catch fish with my hands — as I did when a child — for this day is as good as any other.”
And so we swam in the river and dried our clothes in the sun and ate and drank wine, and Minea made sacrifice to her god and danced her god’s dance for me in the boat so that my breast tightened as I watched her, and I breathed with difficulty. Therefore I said to her, “Only once in my life have I called a woman my sister, but her embrace was a fire and her body a parching desert that brought me no refreshment. Therefore, I beseech you, Minea, set me free from the spell in which your limbs have bound me and do not look at me with eyes that are like moonlight on the river, or else I shall call you my sister, and you will lead me into crimes and death as that evil woman once did.”
Minea looked at me curiously and said, “You must have known strange women, Sinuhe, saying such things to me, but perhaps the women of your country are like that. Don’t be uneasy on my account for it is far from my purpose to seduce you as you seem to fear. My god has forbidden me to approach a man, and if I do that, I must die. Therefore I am careful of myself and do not plan to seduce you as you seem to think, and I cannot say how you get ideas like that.”
She took my head between her hands and laid it against her knees, and stroking my cheeks and hair, she said, “This is a stupid head to make you speak so ill of women, for though there be women who poison all wells, certainly there are others who are like an oasis in the desert or like dew on a parched meadow. But, though you have a thick and uncomprehending head and your hair is black and rough, I like to hold your head in my hands for there is something in your eyes and your hands that I find pleasing to me. Therefore, I am truly sorry that I cannot give you what you wish — and I am not only sorry for your sake but for mine too, if such an immodest confession may please you.”
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The water rippled against the boat, green and gold, and I held her strong, beautiful hands in mine. I held her hands like a drowning man and looked into her eyes that were like moonlight on the river and yet as warm as a caress, and said, “Minea, my sister! There are many gods in the world, and each land has its own gods and there is no end to the number of gods, and I am weary of all the gods whom men have raised up for the sake of their own fears. Renounce your god, therefore, for his demand is cruel and useless and today more cruel than ever. I will bring you to a country beyond the reach of his power though we have to journey to the edge of the world, eating grass and dried fish amongst savage tribes, and sleeping on reeds till our life’s end. For somewhere there must be a set boundary to the power of your god.”
But she held my hands tightly and turned away her head and said, “My god has set his boundary within my heart so that wherever I go I am within his reach, and if I give myself to any man, I must die. Today as I behold you, my god seems to me cruel and useless to demand this, but I can do nothing against him. Tomorrow all may be different when you will tire of me and forget me, for that is the way of men.”
“No one knows what tomorrow will bring,” I said impatiently, for all my being blazed toward her like a bundle of reeds that has been scorched year-in, year-out by the sun until kindled by a spark. Your talk is but empty evasion to torment me, which is the custom of women, and you enjoy my torment.”
She withdrew her hands with a reproachful look and said, “I am no ignorant woman, for besides my own language, I speak that of Babylon and yours also and can write my name in three sorts of letters both on clay and paper. Moreover, I have been in many great cities, even on the coast of Egypt with my god, and I have danced before many different people, who have marvelled at my art, until I was stolen away by merchants when our ship foundered. I know men and women are alike in all countries, even if the colour of their skin and their language differ, and if they worship different gods. I also know that civilised men in all great cities are alike and do not much differ from one another in their thoughts and customs, but drink wine and do not in their hearts believe
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