ecause," said Rameri at length, "you observed that all was not quite
right between us two."

"And because," continued the king, "I desire that unity should exist
between my children. You will have enemies enough to fight with
to-morrow, but friends are not often to be found, and are too often
taken from us by the fortune of war. We ought to feel no anger towards
the friend we may lose, but expect to meet him lovingly in the other
world. Speak, Rameri, what has caused a division between you?"

"I bear him no ill-will," answered Rameri. "You lately gave me the sword
which Mernephtah has there stuck in his belt, because I did my duty well
in the last skirmish with the enemy. You know we both sleep in the same
tent, and yesterday, when I drew my sword out of its sheath to admire
the fine work of the blade, I found that another, not so sharp, had been
put in its place."

"I had only exchanged my sword for his in fun," interrupted Mernephtah.
"But he can never take a joke, and declared I want to wear a prize that
I had not earned; he would try, he said, to win another and then--"

"I have heard enough; you have both done wrong," said the King. "Even in
fun, Mernephtah, you should never cheat or deceive. I did so once, and I
will tell you what happened, as a warning.

"My noble mother, Tuaa, desired me, the first time I went into
Fenchu--[Phoenicia: on monuments of the 18th dynasty.]--to bring her a
pebble from the shore near Byblos, where the body of Osiris was washed.
As we returned to Thebes, my mother's request returned to my mind; I was
young and thoughtless--I picked up a stone by the way-side, took it with
me, and when she asked me for the remembrance from Byblos I silently
gave her the pebble from Thebes. She was delighted, she showed it to her
brothers and sisters, and laid it by the statues of her ancestors; but I
was miserable with shame and penitence, and at last I secretly took away
the stone, and threw it into the water. All the servants were called
together, and strict enquiry was made as to the theft of the stone; then
I could hold out no longer, and confessed everything. No one punished
me, and yet I never suffered more severely; from that time I have never
deviated from the exact truth even in jest. Take the lesson to heart,
Mernephtah--you, Rameri, take back your sword, and, believe me, life
brings us so many real causes of vexation, that it is well to learn
early to pass lightly over little things if yo