"'I am curious to know,' thought the scribe, 'why my friend Amon forbade me to touch that thing over there in the corner. Well, for such a property he had a right to impose conditions; though I should not have imposed them on him. For if all this palace is my property, if I may use all that is here, why should I not even touch this thing-- I may not touch it, but I may look at it.' "He approached the figure, drew the veil aside carefully, looked; it was indeed beautiful. It resembled a boy, but was not a boy. It had hair reaching to its knees, delicate features, and a look full of sweetness. "'Who art thou?' asked the scribe of the figure. "'I am a woman,' answered the figure, with a voice that penetrated his heart like a Phœnician dagger. "'Woman?' thought the scribe. 'They did not tell me about woman in the priests' school. Woman?' repeated he. 'But what hast thou here?' "'Those are my eyes.' "'Eyes? What canst thou see with eyes which would melt before any light?' "'Those are not eyes made for me to look from, but thou must look into them.' "'Wonderful eyes!' thought the scribe to himself; and he walked through the chamber. "Again he stood before the figure, and asked,-- "'But what hast thou here?' "'Those are my lips.' "'By the gods, thou wilt die of hunger,' cried he, 'for with such little lips thou couldst take in no food whatever.' "'They are not for eating,' answered the figure, 'but thou art to kiss them.' "'To kiss,' repeated the scribe. 'They did not tell me in the priests' school of kissing. But these--what are they?' "'Those are my hands.' "'Hands? It is well that thou hast told me, for with those hands thou couldst not do anything; thou couldst not milk sheep even.' "'My hands are not for work.' "'But for what?' wondered the scribe, spreading apart her fingers (as I do thine, Kama," said the prince, fondling the small hands of the priestess). "'But what are those arms for?' inquired the scribe of the figure. "'To put around thy neck.' "'Thou wishest to say shoulder,' cried the frightened scribe, whom the priest always seized by the shoulder when he was to get stripes. "'Not by the shoulder,' said the figure, 'but this way;' and she put her arms around his neck thus," said the prince (here he put his arms around the priestess), "and she nestled up to his breast thus" (here he nestled up to Kama). "Lord, what art thou doing?" whispered Kama. "But this is my death." "Have no fear," replied the prince; "I was only showing thee what the statue did to that scribe in his palace. The moment she embraced him the earth trembled, the palace disappeared, dogs, horses, slaves vanished. The hill covered with grape-vines turned into a cliff, the olive-trees into thorns, the wheat into sand. The scribe, when he recovered in the embrace of his love, understood that he was as poor as he had been on the highroad a day earlier. But he did not regret his wealth, since he had a woman who loved and who clung to him."