xt greatest to
him in the kingdom, nor shall I ever forget the shoutings with which I
was received.

Karema also was presented as his wife, having passed the Ordeal of the
Matrons, but only, I think, because it was found that she was in the way
to give an heir to the throne. For to them her beauty was ugliness, nor
could they understand how it came about that their king, who contrary
to the general customs of the land, was only allowed one wife lest the
children should quarrel, could have chosen a lady who was not black.
So they received her in silence with many whisperings which made Karema
very angry.

When in due course, however, the child came and proved to be a son black
as the best of them and of perfect shape, they relented towards her and
after the birth of a second, grew to love her. But she never forgave and
loved them not at all. Nor was she over-fond of these children of hers
because they were so black which, she said, showed how poisonous was the
blood of the Ethiopians. And indeed this is so, for often I have noticed
that if an Ethiopian weds with one of another colour, their offspring
is black down to the third or fourth generation. Therefore Karema longed
for Egypt notwithstanding the splendour in which she dwelt.

So greatly did she long that she had recourse to the magic lore which
she had learned from the holy Tanofir, and would sit for hours gazing
into water in a crystal bowl, or sometimes into a ball of crystal
without the water, trying to see visions therein that had to do with
what passed in Egypt. Moreover in time much of her gift returned to her
and she did see many things which she repeated to me, for she would tell
no one else of them, not even her husband.

Thus she saw Amada kneeling in a shrine before the statue of Isis and
weeping: a picture that made me sad. Also she saw the holy Tanofir
brooding in the darkness of the Cave of the Bulls, and read in his mind
that he was thinking of us, though what he thought she could not read.
Again she saw Eastern messengers delivering letters to Pharaoh and knew
from his face that he was disturbed and that Egypt was threatened with
calamities. And so forth.

Soon the news of her powers of divination spread abroad, so that all the
Ethiopians grew to fear her as a seeress and thenceforth, whatever they
may have thought, none of them dared to say that she was ugly. Further,
her gift was real, since if she told me of a certain thing such as that
mes