ed me admission, but when I promised to remain
hidden, and besides, to obtain the freedom of his child, he led me up to
his observatory, from which there is a very extensive view, and told me
that I should see a representation of the fates of Osiris and his wife
Isis.

"He had scarcely left, when the sacred grove became so brightly
illuminated by colored lights that I was able to see into its innermost
depths.

"A lake, smooth as glass, lay before me, surrounded by beautiful trees
and flower-beds. Golden boats were sailing on this lake and in them sat
lovely boys and girls dressed in snow-white garments, and singing sweet
songs as they passed over the water. There were no rowers to direct
these boats, and yet they moved over the ripples of the lake in a
graceful order, as if guided by some magic unseen hand. A large ship
sailed in the midst of this little fleet. Its deck glittered with
precious stones. It seemed to be steered by one beautiful boy only,
and, strange to say, the rudder he guided consisted of one white
lotus-flower, the delicate leaves of which seemed scarcely to touch the
water. A very lovely woman, dressed like a queen, lay on silken cushions
in the middle of the vessel; by her side sat a man of larger stature
than that of ordinary mortals. He wore a crown of ivy on his flowing
curls, a panther-skin hung over his shoulders and he held a crooked
staff in the right hand. In the back part of the ship was a roof made
of ivy, lotus-blossoms and roses; beneath it stood a milk-white cow with
golden horns, covered with a cloth of purple. The man was Osiris, the
woman Isis, the boy at the helm their son Horus, and the cow was the
animal sacred to the immortal Isis. The little boats all skimmed over
the water, singing glad songs of joy as they passed by the ship, and
receiving in return showers of flowers and fruits, thrown down upon the
lovely singers by the god and goddess within. Suddenly I heard the roll
of thunder. It came crashing on, louder, and louder, and in the midst of
this awful sound a man in the skin of a wild boar, with hideous features
and bristling red hair, came out of the gloomiest part of the sacred
grove, plunged into the lake, followed by seventy creatures like
himself, and swam up to the ship of Osiris.

[We have taken our description of this spectacle entirely from the
Osiris-myth, as we find it in Plutarch, Isis and Orisis 13-19.
Diod. I. 22. and a thousand times repeated on th