ideas come in upon us from abroad, like the swarms of
locusts from the East."

"Spoken to my very soul!" cried the treasurer of the temple, "Ameni
initiated this boy too early into the mysteries."

"In my opinion, and I am his teacher," said Gagabu, "our brotherhood may
be proud of a member who adds so brilliantly to the fame of our temple.
The people hear the hymns without looking closely at the meaning of the
words. I never saw the congregation more devout, than when the beautiful
and deeply-felt song of praise was sung at the feast of the stairs."

[A particularly solemn festival in honor of Amon-Chem, held in the
temple of Medinet-Abu.]

"Pentaur was always thy favorite," said the former speaker. "Thou wouldst
not permit in any one else many things that are allowed to him. His hymns
are nevertheless to me and to many others a dangerous performance; and
canst thou dispute the fact that we have grounds for grave anxiety, and
that things happen and circumstances grow up around us which hinder us,
and at last may perhaps crush us, if we do not, while there is yet time,
inflexibly oppose them?"

"Thou bringest sand to the desert, and sugar to sprinkle over honey,"
exclaimed Gagabu, and his lips began to twitch. "Nothing is now as it
ought to be, and there will be a hard battle to fight; not with the
sword, but with this--and this." And the impatient man touched his
forehead and his lips. "And who is there more competent than my disciple?
There is the champion of our cause, a second cap of Hor, that overthrew
the evil one with winged sunbeams, and you come and would clip his wings
and blunt his claws! Alas, alas, my lords! will you never understand that
a lion roars louder than a cat, and the sun shines brighter than an
oil-lamp? Let Pentuar alone, I say; or you will do as the man did, who,
for fear of the toothache, had his sound teeth drawn. Alas, alas, in the
years to come we shall have to bite deep into the flesh, till the blood
flows, if we wish to escape being eaten up ourselves!"

"The enemy is not unknown to us also," said the elder priest from Chennu,
"although we, on the remote southern frontier of the kingdom, have
escaped many evils that in the north have eaten into our body like a
cancer. Here foreigners are now hardly looked upon at all as unclean and
devilish."--["Typhonisch," belonging to Typhon or Seth.--Translator.]

"Hardly?" exclaimed the chief of the haruspices; "they are invited,
caress