“In the name of Aten,” said Thutmose and raised his golden cup. “There are no more highs and lows, no slaves nor lords, and I, in whose hands stone bloomed into life, will depart to overthrow ugly pictures of gods. Let us drink together for the sake of this, good friends, since I think none of us has many days to live.”
We drank wine together, and Bek said, “Pharaoh raised me from mud to be by his side, saying I was his friend, and every time I have drank even with my clothes off of me, he has given me new clothes. Wouldn’t I therefore do this to please him? I only hope that death does not hurt too much since in my hometown peasants have a bad temper and a nasty habit of using sickles when they become angry, cutting open the bellies of those who they don’t fancy.”
Horemheb said, “I indeed don’t envy you, though rest assured that the Hittites have far nastier habits. In any case, I will wage war against the Hittites and defeat them for I have great trust in my luck, and once I saw in the desert of Sinai a burning bush or a tree that was not consumed by fire, and from that I knew I was born to do great deeds. Great deeds are however difficult with bare hands but perhaps my soldiers can scare the Hittites off by throwing dung cakes at them.”
I said, “In the name of Seth and all devils, tell me why we love him and obey him, though we know he is mad, and his words are madness. Explain this to me if you can.”
“He has no effect whatsoever on me,” pondered Bek. “But I am an old drunkard, and my death brings no harm to anyone. Therefore I will do what pleases him and pay the price for all the intoxicated years that I have spent with him.”
“I do not love him, but rather hate him,” claimed Thutmose fiercely. “That is the exact reason why I will leave to do his bidding, since I hate him and desire to fasten his demise. Truly, I am greatly weary of everything and wish that the end be nigh.”
But Horemheb said, “You lie, you pigs. Confess that when he looked at you in the eye, your filthy spines trembled, wishing you were children once again and playing with a kid in a meadow. I am the only one who is immune to his gaze, but my destiny is bound to his in another way, and I have to admit that I do love him, but he indeed behaves like a woman and speaks in a shrill voice.”
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Thus conversing, we drank wine together and saw ships glide downstream and sail upstream as well as many people leave Akhetaten. Many nobles escaped with their best possessions, but many left to overthrow the gods of Egypt as Pharaoh had ordered them and sang Aten’s hymns as they went. I believe that the singing did not last too long but soon the songs froze in their throats as they had to face the enraged people in the temples. We drank wine all day, but the wine did not gladden our hearts for the future was like a black abyss before us, and our words became increasingly bitter.
On the following day, Horemheb boarded his ship for Memphis, from whence he was to proceed on to Tanis. Before he went, I promised to lend him as much gold as I could lay my hands on in Thebes and to send him half the grain I possessed. The other half I thought to put to my own uses. Perhaps it was just how my weakness failed me that determined the course of my life: half I gave to Akhenaten and half to Horemheb, but to no one did I give the whole.
3
Thutmose and I made the journey to Thebes, and while we were yet far from Thebes, corpses already came drifting down the river toward us. Floating and swollen they came downstream, and among them we saw the shaven heads of priests, men of high and low degree, guards and slaves — and from their hair, clothes and the colour of their complexion one could say what each one had been during the days of his life, before his body blackened and disintegrated or crocodiles ate him. And the crocodiles had no need to swim upstream to Thebes to feast on human flesh, for the same took place everywhere in cities and villages throughout the length of the river, and great numbers lost their lives during those days, and their bodies were cast into the river so that the crocodiles became picky when choosing their meals. A crocodile is a wise fish, preferring to eat women’s and children’s soft meat and the fat bodies of the nobles rather than the chewy flesh of porters and slaves. If crocodiles have a mind, like they probably do, I believe they greatly praised Aten those days.
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