The-Egyptian-by-Mika-Waltari

The Egyptian by Mika Waltari

He protested eagerly and said, “We believed you to be without prejudice, royal Sinuhe, since you have travelled in many countries and have learned much that is unknown in Egypt. Flowing blood can be staunched without the use of forceps or hot irons. Why then may not cures be effected without knives or fire? Your name shall not be linked with the affair, of that we give our word, but we have our reasons for desiring you in particular to see these things and to satisfy yourself that there is no deception. You are alone, Sinuhe, and an impartial witness, and that is why we want you.”

His words astonished me and whetted my curiosity. As a doctor, I was also ever eager to learn new things. Therefore I agreed to his proposal, and when darkness had fallen, he called at my house with a carrying chair, and in the chair he bound my eyes with a cloth so that I might not see the direction we were taking. On our arrival, he led me through passages and up and down many steps until I was weary and told him I had had enough of the foolery. He pacified me, removed the bandage from my eyes and led me to a hall where many lamps were burning and whose walls were of stone. Three sick people lay on litters on the floor, and a priest came to meet me, his head shaven and gleaming with oil. He addressed me by name and invited me to examine the patients thoroughly and satisfy myself that there was no trickery. His voice was steady and gentle and his aspect wise. I did as he asked and examined the patients, and the surgeon from the House of Life assisted me.

I saw that these people were unfeignedly ill and unable to rise from their litters. One was a young woman whose limbs were shrivelled and thin and totally lifeless, and only her dark, frightened eyes moved in her emaciated face. The second was a boy whose whole body was covered with hideous boils and many watery scabs. The third was an old man whose legs were paralysed so that he could not walk, and the affliction was genuine for though I drove a pin into his leg, he felt no pain. At length, I said to the priest, “I have examined these three patients with my utmost skill, and were I their physician, I could do no more than send them to the House of Life. The woman and the old man could hardly be cured even in the House of Life, although the boy’s sufferings might be alleviated by daily sulphur baths.”

 

 

473

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The priest smiled and bade us both sit on seats that were at the end of the room, in semi-darkness, and wait there patiently. Next, he summoned to the hall slaves who lifted up the sick with their litters and set them on the altar and then kindled an intoxicating incense within censers. From the passage came the sound of singing, and a group of priests entered, chanting the sacred hymns of Amun. Having taken up positions about the sick people, they began to pray and jump and shout. They jumped and shouted until the sweat poured down their faces, and they cast off their shoulder cloths and swung bells in their hands, and gashed their breasts with sharp stones so they bled. I had seen similar rites in Syria, and I contemplated their ecstasy with the cold eye of a physician, until their shouts grew louder, and they beat on the stone walls with their fists, and the stone wall opened, and the sacred image of Amun loomed over them in the lamplight, terrifying and magnificent. At that instant, the priests fell silent, and following all the noise the silence was frightening. The countenance of Amun shone out at us from the dark recess, glowing with celestial light, and suddenly the chief one among the priests stepped forward to the sick people, and calling each of them by name, he cried, “Arise and walk, for great Amun has blessed you because of your faith in him.”

With my own eyes I saw the sick, all three of them, rise uncertainly from their beds, staring at the image of Amun. Trembling all over, they rose to their knees and then stood feeling their limbs incredulously until they broke out into weeping, praying and blessing the name of Amun. The stone walls closed again, the priests departed and the slaves bore away the incense and lit many bright lamps, that we might examine the sick people a second time. Now the young woman could move and walk a few steps when we guided her, the old man could walk by himself, and the eruption had vanished from the skin of the young boy so that his skin was now clean and smooth. All this had taken place within a few water measures’ time, and I could never have believed it had I not seen it with my own eyes.

 

 

474

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380 381 382 383 384

Leave a Reply