Cretan manner, greatly inflamed him, since they covered her throat, but left her breasts bare, and he was accustomed to seeing his women veiled from head to foot. At length, he was unable to restrain his desire and started sighing deeply and said to me:
“I am your friend, Sinuhe, the Egyptian, and you have mended my teeth and caused my mouth to glisten with gold whenever I open it, which will greatly enhance my dignity in the land of Amurru. For this, I will make you such gifts as shall cause you to raise your hands in wonder. Nevertheless, I am forced to pain you against my will. Ever since I laid eyes upon the woman in your house, she has pleased me, and I can no longer withstand my desire for her; it tears at me like a wildcat and none of your arts can heal that sickness. My desire for this woman is so strong that I think it is a sort of sickness. I have never seen her like and can well understand your fondness for her when she warms your bed at night. Yet I desire her from you, that I may make her my wife among my other wives and release her from slavery. I tell you this openly, for you are my friend and I am a just man, and I will pay you whatever you ask. But I tell you openly also that if you will not give her up of your free will, I will come and take her by force and carry her off to my country, where you could never find her even if you dared to seek. Even if you left Zemar with this woman, I will find you, and my messengers will find you from the end of the world and kill you and bring her to me. All this I tell you in advance, because I am a just man and your friend and I do not want to deceive you.”
At these words of his, I raised my hands in delight, but Kaptah who had overheard, tore his hair and lamented, “Evil is the day, and better were it that my master had never been born than you should now take from him the only woman in whom he has found pleasure. Nor can her loss be made good, for to my lord she is dearer than all the gold in the world, all the jewels, all the incense; and she is fairer than the full moon, and her belly is round and white as a heap of wheat, though you have not yet seen it, and her breasts are like melons, which your own eyes can tell you.”
Thus he babbled on, for since coming to Zemar, he had learned the ways of merchants and hoped for a good price though both he and I desired nothing so much as to be rid of the girl. When Keftiu heard him, she wept also, saying that she would never forsake me but as she wept she peeped admiringly between her fingers at the prince and his curly beard.
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I raised my hands, and having quieted them, I assumed a grave expression and said, “Prince Aziru, King of Amurru and my friend! Truly this woman is dear to my heart, and I call her my sister, but your friendship is dearer to me than anything else. In token of this friendship, I will give her to you without payment, and I beg you to accept of her and do with her all that the wildcat within you desires for if I am not mistaken, her heart is inclined toward you, and she will be content of all this, as far as I know her, for within her body also lurks many a wildcat.”
Aziru cried aloud for joy and said, “Truly, Sinuhe, Egyptian though you be and all evil comes out of Egypt, from this day you are my brother and my friend, and throughout the land of Amurru your name shall be blessed, and whenever you visit me, you shall sit at my right hand above all nobles and other guests, even if I had Kings as my guests — this I swear.”
Saying this, he laughed so that his teeth flashed and then looked at Keftiu, who had forgotten her weeping, and became serious. His eyes started glowing like firebrands, and he seized her by the arms so that the melons swayed, and swung her into his carrying chair without noticing her weight. So he departed and took Keftiu with him, and neither I nor anyone else in Zemar saw him for a while, for he shut himself up in his lodgings for three days and three nights. But Kaptah and I rejoiced at having rid ourselves of the troublesome girl. Nevertheless, he rebuked me for demanding nothing in exchange when Aziru would have given me whatever I asked. But I said to Kaptah:
“By giving him this girl, I have secured Aziru’s friendship. No one knows what tomorrow may bring. Though the land of Amurru is small and insignificant, being no more than grazing land for asses and sheep, yet a King’s friendship is the friendship of a King, and its worth may prove more than gold.”
Kaptah shook his head, but he smeared the scarab with myrrh and placed fresh dung before it in thanksgiving for being quit of Keftiu.
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