Uarda : a Romance of Ancient Egypt — Volume 09 — John Shaqi
Uarda : a Romance of Ancient Egypt — Volume 09Ebers, Georg
History
Uarda : a Romance of Ancient Egypt — Volume 09
Ebers, Georg
Egypt -- History -- To 332 B.C. -- Fiction; German fiction -- Translations into English
"He is the elder of us two," said Horus with a trembling voice. "When my
father died I had only a short time before left the school of Seti, and
with his last words my father enjoined me to respect Paaker as the head
of our family. He is domineering and violent, and will allow no one's
will to cross his; but I bore everything, and always obeyed him, often
against my better judgment. I remained with him two years, then I went
to Thebes, and there I married, and my wife and child are now living
there with my mother. About sixteen months afterwards I came back to
Syria, and we travelled through the country together; but by this time I
did not choose to be the mere tool of my brother's will, for I had grown
prouder, and it seemed to me that the father of my child ought not to be
subservient, even to his own brother. We often quarrelled, and had a bad
time together, and life became quite unendurable, when--about eight weeks
since--Paaker came back from Thebes, and the king gave him to understand
that he approved more of my reports than of his. From my childhood I
have always been softhearted and patient; every one says I am like my
mother; but what Paaker made me suffer by words and deeds, that is--I
could not--" His voice broke, and Pentaur felt how cruelly he had
suffered; then he went on again:
"What happened to my brother in Egypt, I do not know, for he is very
reserved, and asks for no sympathy, either in joy or in sorrow; but from
words he has dropped now and then I gather that he not only bitterly
hates Mena, the charioteer--who certainly did him an injury--but has some
grudge against the king too. I spoke to him of it at once, but only
once, for his rage is unbounded when he is provoked, and after all he is
my elder brother.
"For some days they have been preparing in the camp for a decisive
battle, and it was our duty to ascertain the position and strength of the
enemy; the king gave me, and not Paaker, the commission to prepare the
report. Early yesterday morning I drew it out and wrote it; then my
brother said he would carry it to the camp, and I was to wait here. I
positively refused, as Rameses had required the report at my hands, and
not at his. Well, he raved like a madman, declared that I had taken
advantage of his absence to insinuate myself into the king's favor, and
commanded me to obey him as the head of the house, in the name of my
father.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account