The Egyptian by Mika Waltari

Posted by admin_akashic on Mar 4th, 2022 in Stories

While he was talking, I remembered what the Babylonian astrologers had told me, and said, “The priests of Babylon have calculated that the current era is ending and nations are entering a new era when the gods will die, and nothing will be as it was. But perhaps this prophecy means Crete, for the gods of Syria and Egypt are immortal and last forever.”

“Your wisdom is great, my lord,” said Kaptah, “and if I had enough wine in my head, I would clearly understand what you are saying, but now the stars and priests and gods and eras are mixed up in my head, and the only thing that makes sense to me is what you say about Minea. Whatever you talk about, she is the beginning and the end and the centre of the circle, and I pity you greatly since I have many times told you how a slave girl or a pleasure house could give you the same but much easier. Moreover, these bare-chested Cretan women do not seem to keep their legs together too tightly, from what I have heard in the taverns. But since you want the girl, the matter is simple: we hit her head with a wooden club and put her in a sack and take her aboard and, with the help of scarab, sail to Egypt. This matter is not any more difficult than that even if I firmly believe you only get a sackful of wild cats to your household. But for your sake I am ready to help you in this dangerous endeavour for it pains me to see you baa like a sad goat, and you lose weight before my eyes, and your hair gets shaggy like a tomcat’s fur during the rut.”

I did not get angry at Kaptah for his impudence, but contemplated his words for a long time, and his plan tempted me. But such was my respect for Minea and her wishes, that in my madness I refused to follow Kaptah’s advice. I thought Minea would never forgive me, if I abducted her like a cat in a sack.

On the following day, I secured a good place in the great amphitheatre of bulls whose stone benches rose up like steps one behind the other so that everyone could see the bulls without difficulty. I greatly admired this cunning device, never having seen another like it; for in Egypt, at processions and displays, high platforms are erected that all may behold the god and the priests and the dancers. The bulls were let into the ring one by one, and each dancer in turn carried out a routine that was complex and required skill as it included many different feats, which must all be faultlessly performed in a prescribed order, but the most difficult of all was the leap between the horns and from there the back somersault into the air, which must end with the dancer standing on the bull’s back. Not even the most proficient could execute the whole move without some fault, for much depended on the behaviour of the beast:

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how it stood, charged or lowered its head. The eminent and the wealthy of Crete made wagers amongst themselves for different events and for their favourites; but after I had seen many of these, I could not understand their eagerness any more, for the bulls all looked alike to me, and I could not distinguish one event from the next, and they all looked alike.

Minea also danced, and I feared for her life until her marvellous skill and suppleness of her body bewitched me so that I forgot the danger she was facing and rejoiced with the rest. Here the girls danced naked before the bulls, and the boys also, for so treacherous was the game that the smallest garment would have hindered their movements and imperilled their lives. To my thinking, Minea was the loveliest of all as she danced there, her skin gleaming with oil, although I must admit that amongst the rest were some exceedingly beautiful girls who won great applause. But I could spare no glance for any but Minea. Compared with the others, she was out of practice by reason of her long absence, and she won not a single garland. Her old patron, who had wagered on her success that day, was full of bitterness and resentment until he forgot the silver he had lost and went to the stables to make fresh bets, which as Minea’s patron he had a right to do.

When I met Minea in the bull’s house after the performance, she looked about her and said to me coldly, “Sinuhe, I shall see you no more, for my friends have invited me to a feast and I must prepare for my god since the moon is full the night after tomorrow. Therefore, it is likely that we shall not meet again before I enter the house of god, unless you would care to accompany me thither with the rest of my friends.”

“So be it like you say,” I admitted. “Undoubtedly I have much to see in Crete, and the customs and the clothes of the women divert me greatly. As I sat watching your performance, several of your women friends invited me to their houses, and I found delight in gazing on their faces and their breasts even though these women were a little fatter and more frivolous than you.”

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