ish that only the
guilty be punished, and that justice be done those who are injured."

"May the god support thee with his favor," whispered the priest. "I
will do what Thou commandest. But the causes of the riots I know
already."

"What are they?"

"More than once have I spoken of them to thee, holiness. The toiling
people are hungry; they have too much work, and they pay too many
taxes. He who worked formerly from sunrise till sunset must begin now
an hour before sunrise and finish an hour after sunset. It is not long
since a common man might go every tenth day to visit the graves of his
mother and father, speak with their shades, and make them offerings.
But today no one goes, for no one has time to go."

"Formerly a working man ate three wheat cakes in the course of the day;
at present he has not even barley bread. Formerly labor on the canals,
dams, and roads was deducted from the taxes; now the taxes are paid
independently while public works are carried on without wages. These
are the causes of riots."

"I am the poorest noble in the kingdom!" cried the pharaoh, while he
tugged at his own hair. "Any landowner gives his cattle proper food and
rest; but all men who work for me are tired and hungry."

"What am I to do, then, tell Thou who hast begged me to improve the lot
of the workers?"

"Wilt Thou command me to tell, lord?"

"I will beg, I will command, as Thou wishest. Only speak wisely."

"Blessed be thy rule, O true son of Osiris," answered the priest. "This
is what it is proper to do: Command, lord, first of all, that pay be
given for labor on public works, as was the case formerly."

"Of course."

"Next command that field labor last only from sunrise till sunset. Then
direct, as during the divine dynasties, that people rest every seventh
day; not every tenth, but every seventh day. Then command that
landowners shall not have the right to mortgage earth-tillers, or
scribes the right to beat and torture them according to fancy.

"And finally, give the tenth part, or even the twentieth part of the
land as property to the workers, so that no one may take it away or
mortgage it. Let each family have as much land in extent as the
pavement of this room, and it will not be hungry. Give the people
desert sands as property, and in a few years gardens will be growing on
them."

"Thou speakest beautifully," interrupted the pharaoh; "but what Thou
sayest is what Thou seest in thy heart, not in the world.