hese, sandy places. In the middle of
the green flows a stream, which in the triangular space is divided into
a number of branches."

"That is the Nile! That is Egypt!" cried the priests.

"But look," interrupted Mefres, with emotion. "I will discover the
river. Do ye see those two blue veins running from the elbow to the
hand? Is not that the Nile and its canals, which begins opposite the
Alabaster mountains and flows to Fayum? And look at the back of my
hand: there are as many veins there as the sacred river has branches
below Memphis. And do not my fingers remind you of the number of
branches through which the Nile sends its waters to the sea?"

"A great truth!" exclaimed the priests, looking at their hands.

"Here, I tell you," continued the excited high priest, "that Egypt is
the trace of the arm of Osiris. Here on this land the great god rested
his arm: in Thebes lay his divine elbow, his fingers reached the sea,
and the Nile is his veins. What wonder that we call this country
blessed!"

"Evidently," said the priest, "Egypt is the express imprint of the arm
of Osiris."

"Has Osiris seven fingers on his hand," interrupted the prince, "for
the Nile has seven branches falling into the sea?"

Deep silence followed.

"Young man," retorted Mefres, with kindly irony, "dost suppose that
Osiris could not have seven fingers if it pleased him?"

"Of course he could!" said the other priests.

"Speak on, renowned Pentuer," said Mentezufis.

"Ye are right, worthy fathers," began Pentuer: "this stream with its
branches is a picture of the Nile; the narrow strip of green bounded by
stones and sand is Upper Egypt, and that triangular space, cut with
veins, is a picture of Lower Egypt, the most extensive and richest part
of the country.

"Well, in the beginning of the nineteenth dynasty, all Egypt, from the
cataract to the sea, included five hundred thousand measures of land.
On every measure lived sixteen persons: men, women, and children. But
during four hundred succeeding years almost with each generation a
piece of fertile soil was lost to Egypt."

The speaker made a sign. A number of young priests ran out of the
building and sprinkled sand on various parts of the green area.

"During each generation," continued the priest, "fertile land
diminished, and the narrow strip of it became much narrower. At present
our country instead of five hundred thousand measures has only four
hundred thousand or during two dynas