Three Novels of Ancient Egypt

“Not the box exactly, but rather what is inside it. It is from the tusk of a wild elephant. The Nubian trader I bought it from swore that four of his strongest men were killed trying to bring the beast down. I kept it in a safe place and never showed it to customers. Then when I rested up awhile in Tanis, I delivered it into the hands of the town's skilled craftsmen and they lined it with a layer of pure gold and gilded it on the outside so that it became a goblet fit only for kings to drink from. I said to myself, ‘How fitting that this cup that has cost valuable lives should be given to her for whose sake no effort should be spared, if she would accept.’ “

Rhadopis laughed politely and said, “Why thank you, Master Anin. Your gift, despite its great value, is not so beautiful as your words.”

He was overjoyed and, staring at her with eyes full of admiration and yearning, said in a faint voice, “How beautiful you are, how ravishing. Every time I return from my travels I find you more ravishing and more beautiful than I left you. It seems to me as if time's only task is to enhance and magnify your unrivaled pulchritude.”

She listened to him lauding her beauty as one listens to a familiar tune, and thinking she would enjoy a little sarcasm, she asked him, “How are your sons?”

He felt a twinge of disappointment and he was silent for a moment, then, bending over the box, he raised its lid. She could see the goblet resting on its side. “How biting your humor is, my lady,” he said as he looked up at her. “And yet you will not find a single white hair on my head. Could anyone, having set eyes upon your face, retain in his heart the slightest affection for another woman?”

She did not answer but continued to smile. Then she invited him to be seated, and he sat down near to her. Immediately after, she received a group of merchants and land owners, some of whom frequented her palace every evening and others who she saw only at festivals and on special occasions, but she welcomed them all with her captivating smile. Then she espied the slim figure of the sculptor Henfer enter the hall with his tight curly hair and flat nose, and his Adam's apple protruding gently. He was one man whose company she enjoyed, and she extended her hand, which he kissed with deep affection.

“You lazy artist,” she teased.

Henfer was not enamored of the description. “I finished my work in no time,” he said.

“What about the summer room?”

“It is all that remains to be decorated. I'm afraid I have to tell you that I will not decorate it myself.”

Rhadopis looked surprised.

“I am traveling to Nubia the day after tomorrow,” Henfer explained. “My mother is sick and has sent a messenger requesting to see me. I have no alternative but to go.”

“May the gods relieve her pain and yours.”

Henfer thanked her and said, “Do not think I have forgotten the summer room. Tomorrow my most outstanding pupil, Benamun Ben Besar, will come to see you. He will decorate it in the most beautiful fashion. I trust him as I trust myself. I trust you will welcome him and offer him your encouragement.”

She thanked him for his kind attention and promised him she would do as he asked.

The stream of visitors continued. The architect Heni arrived, followed by Ani, the governor of the island, and a little while later, the poet Ramon Hotep. The last one to arrive was the philosopher Hof, who had until recently been the grand professor at the university in On, and who had returned to Abu, his place of birth, after reaching the age of seventy. Rhadopis was constantly teasing him. “Why is it that whenever I see you I want to kiss you?” she exclaimed.

“Perhaps, my lady, it is because you are fond of antiques,” replied the philosopher dryly.

A group of slave girls entered carrying silver bowls filled with sweet perfume and garlands of lotus flowers, and they anointed the head, hands, and chest of each guest with perfume and gave him a lotus flower.

Rhadopis spoke in a loud voice, “Would you like to know what happened to me today?”

They all turned toward her eager to hear, and the hall fell silent. She smiled and said, “While I was bathing at noon today, a falcon swooped down and stole one of my golden sandals and flew away with it.”

Smiles of surprise appeared on their faces, and the poet Ramon Hotep said, “Seeing you naked in the water has unhinged the birds of prey.”

“I'll swear by Almighty Sothis that the falcon is wishing he had carried off the owner of the sandal instead,” said Anin excitedly.

“It was so very dear to me,” said Rhadopis sadly.

“It is truly distressing that something should be lost that has enjoyed your touch for days and weeks, and its only fate in the end will be to fall from the sky. Imagine if it falls into a remote field and a simple peasant's foot slips it on,” said Henfer.

“Whatever its fate will be,” said Rhadopis sadly, “I will never see it again.”