The Egyptian by Mika Waltari

Posted by admin_akashic on Mar 4th, 2022 in Stories

I shook my wine jar and broke the seal before his eyes, and in feigned drunkenness, I poured the wine into my cup so that it slopped on the ground, and I drank from my cup and said, “Ah, this is the wine of Memphis, this is the wine of the pyramids which is weighed in gold — strong, sweet and intoxicating wine of Egypt, unparalleled in all the world.” The wine was indeed strong and good, and I had mixed myrrh with it so that the whole tent was perfumed when I opened the jar, but even through wine and myrrh I tasted the tang of death. I spilled wine down my chin as I drank, but the Hittites attributed this to my drunken condition. Prince Zannanza became curious, and holding out his cup to me, he said:

“I am no stranger to you. Tomorrow I shall be your lord and Pharaoh. Let me taste this wine, for if you don’t let me taste it, I shall not believe it is as excellent as you say.”

But I pressed the wine jar against my chest and refused him earnestly and said, “This wine does not suffice for two, and I have no more with me, and I desire to get drunk this evening because this is a day of great rejoicing for all of Egypt — and the day of the eternal union of Egypt and the land of Hatti.”

“Hee-haw,” I brayed like a donkey and pressed the wine jar closer and said, “My sister, my bride, my little beloved, my throat is your home, and my belly is your soft nest, and I won’t let a stranger touch you.”

The Hittites doubled up with laughter and smote their knees, but Zannanza was accustomed to having every wish of his granted, and he put his cup forward to me, begging and beseeching me to let him taste of my wine, until at last I wept and filled his cup from my jar and emptied my jar to his cup. And it was not hard for me to weep, so great was my terror at this moment.

But when Zannanza had been given the wine, he looked about him as if warned by his instincts, and then in the Hittite manner he held out the cup to me and said, “Hallow my cup, as you are my friend, and I will do you a great favour.” He said this because he did not wish to seem suspicious and let his cupbearer taste the wine. I took a deep draught from his cup, whereupon he emptied it and smacked his mouth and listened to his body with his head on one side

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and said, “Truly your wine is strong, Sinuhe, and it mounts to the head like smoke and burns the stomach like fire, but it leaves a bitter taste in the mouth, and this taste of Egypt I will rinse away with wine from the mountains.” He refilled his cup with his own wine, thus swilling it out, and I knew the poison would not take effect until the morning because his bowels were bound and he had eaten a lot.

I drank as much wine as I could and pretended to be very drunk and waited yet half a water measure’s time before I let them lead me to my tent, lest I should arouse suspicion in the minds of the Hittites. I only let them take me to my tent when a suitable amount of time had passed, and all that time I clung tightly to my empty wine jar so that it might not be left behind to be examined by them. But when the Hittites, with many coarse jests, had put me to bed and left me to myself, I rose hastily and thrust my fingers down my throat and threw up until my stomach was empty, and I vomited the protecting oil and the poison. But my fear was so great that deadly sweat poured all over me and my knees trembled, and perhaps the poison had already affected me a little. Therefore I rinsed my stomach many times and drank cleansing drugs and vomited repeatedly until I threw up from mere fear, without the help of drugs.

Not until I was reduced to a wet rag, did I rinse out the wine jar and smash it to pieces and bury the pieces in the sand. After this, I lay sleepless, trembling with fear and with the effects of the poison; and all night Zannanza’s smiling face and large eyes, bright as water, watched me from the darkness. He was a very handsome young man, and lying in the dark I could not forget his face, nor could I forget his proud and carefree laughter — and I could not forget his bright, white teeth.

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