The prince nodded, and again there was such silence in the tent that the dropping of sand in the hour gla.s.s was audible.

Again the heir rallied,--

"Tell me, holy father," said he, "unless it belongs to the great secrets, what is the real difference between burning the dead and the making of mummies? for though I have heard something at school I do not understand clearly this question, to which the Greeks attach such importance."

"We attach far more, the greatest importance to this question,"

replied Mentezufis. "To this our cities of the dead testify; they occupy a whole region in the western desert. The pyramids testify to it also; they are the tombs of the pharaohs of the ancient kingdom, and the immense tombs which are cut in cliffs for the rulers of our period.

"Burial and the tomb are of great importance--the very greatest human importance. For while we live in bodily form fifty or a hundred years, our shades endure tens of thousands till they are perfectly purified.

"The a.s.syrian barbarians laugh at us, saying that we give more to the dead than the living; but they would weep over their own lack of care for the dead did they know the mystery of death and the tomb as do the priests of Egypt."

The prince started up.

"Thou dost terrify me," said he. "Dost forget that among the dead there are two beings dear to me, and these are not buried according to Egyptian ritual."

"On the contrary. Just now men are embalming them. Both Sarah and thy son will have everything which may profit them in the long journey."

"Will they?" asked Rameses, as if comforted.

"I guarantee," answered Mentezufis, "that everything will be done which is needed, and should this earthly life ever be unpleasant to thee thou wilt find them happy in the other."

On hearing this Rameses was greatly affected.

"Then dost thou think, holy man," inquired he, "that I shall find my son some time, and that I shall be able to say to that woman: 'Sarah, I know that I have been too harsh to thee?'"

"I am as certain of it as that I see thee now, worthy lord," replied the prophet.

"Speak, speak of this!" exclaimed the prince. "A man does not think of the grave till he has put a part of himself there. This misfortune has struck me, and struck just when I thought myself more powerful than any save the pharaoh."

"Thou hast inquired, lord," began Mentezufis, "as to the difference between burning the dead and embalming them. We find the same difference that there is between destroying a garment and preserving it in a closet. When the garment is preserved it may be of use frequently; and if a man has only one garment it would be madness to burn it."

"I do not understand this," interrupted Rameses. "Ye do not explain it even in the higher schools."

"But we can tell it to the heir of the pharaoh. Thou knowest, worthiness," continued the priest, "that a human being is composed of three parts: the body, the divine spark, and the shade, or _Ka_, which connects the body and the divine spark.

"When a man dies his shade separates from his body as does the divine spark. If the man lives without sin the divine spark and the shade appear among the G.o.ds to live through eternity. But each man sins, stains himself in this world; therefore his shade, the _Ka_, must purify itself, for thousands of years sometimes. It purifies itself in this way, that being invisible it wanders over our earth among people and does good in its wandering,--though the shades of criminals, even in life beyond the grave, commit offences, and at last destroy themselves and the divine spark contained in them.

"Now--and this is no secret for thee, worthiness--this shade, the _Ka_, is like a man, but looks as though made of most delicate mist.

The shade has a head, hands, body, it can walk, speak, throw things or carry them, it dresses like a man, and even, especially during a few hundred of the earlier years after death, must take some food at intervals. But the shade obtains its main strength from the body which remains on the earth here. Therefore if we throw a body into a grave it spoils quickly and the shade must satisfy itself with dust and decay. If we burn the body the shade has nothing but ashes with which to gain strength. But if we embalm the body, or preserve it for thousands of years the shade _Ka_ is always healthy and strong; it pa.s.ses the time of purification in calmness, and even agreeably."

"Wonderful things!" whispered the heir.

"Priests in the course of investigations during thousands of years have learned important details of life beyond the grave. They have convinced themselves that if the viscera are left in the body of a dead man, his shade, the _Ka_, has a great appet.i.te, and needs as much food as a man during earthly existence, and if food is withheld it will rush at living people and suck the blood out of them. But if the viscera are removed from the body, as we remove them, the shade lives on without food almost: its own body, embalmed and filled with plants which are strongly fragrant, suffices it for millions of years.

"It has been verified, also, that if the tomb of a dead man is empty the shade yearns for the world and wanders about in it needlessly. But if we place in a mortuary chapel the clothing, furniture, arms, vessels, utensils, things pleasant during life to the dead man, if the walls are covered with paintings depicting feasts, hunts, divine services, wars, and, in general, events in which the departed took share, if besides we add statues of members of his family, servants, horses, dogs and cattle, the shade will not go out to the world without need, for it will find what it wants in the house of the dead with its mummy.

"Finally they have convinced themselves that many shades, even after penance is finished, could not enter regions of endless bliss since they know not the needful prayers, incantations, and conversations with G.o.ds. We provide for that by winding the mummies in papyruses, on which are written sentences, and by putting the 'Book of the Dead' in their coffins.

"In one word, our funeral ritual a.s.sures strength to the shade, preserves it from misfortunes and yearnings after earth, facilitates its entrance to the company of G.o.ds, and secures living people from every harm which shades might inflict on them. Our great care of the dead has this in view specially; hence we erect for them almost palaces and in them dwellings with the greatest ornaments."

The prince thought awhile, but said finally,--

"I understand that ye show great kindness to weak and defenceless shades by caring for them in this manner. But who will a.s.sure me that there are shades?"

"That there is a waterless desert," said the priest, "I know, for I see it, I have sunk in its sands and felt heat in it. That there are countries in which water turns to stone, and steam into white down, I know also, for credible witnesses have informed me."

"But how do ye know of shades which no man has seen, and how do ye know of their life after death since no one of them has ever returned to us?"

"Thou art mistaken, worthiness," replied the priest. "Shades have shown themselves more than once, and even revealed their own secrets.

"It is possible to live ten years in Thebes and not see rain: it is possible to live a hundred years on earth and not meet a shade. But whoso should live hundreds of years in Thebes, or live thousands of years on earth would see more than one rain, and more than one shade."

"Who has lived thousands of years?" inquired Rameses.

"The sacred order of priests has lived, is living, and will live,"

replied Mentezufis. "The sacred order of priests settled on the Nile thirty thousand years ago. Since then, it has scrutinized the heavens and the earth; it has created our wisdom, and made the plan of every field, sluice, ca.n.a.l, pyramid, and temple in Egypt."

"That is true. The order of priests is mighty and wise, but where are the shades? What man has seen them, and who is the person who has spoken to them?"

"Know this, lord," said Mentezufis. "There is a shade in each living man; as there are people distinguished for immense strength, or a marvellous swiftness of vision, so there are men who possess the uncommon gift that during life they can separate their own shades from their bodies.

"Our secret books are filled with the most credible narratives touching this subject. More than one prophet has been able to fall into a sleep that is deathlike. At that time his shade separated from the body and transferred itself in a moment to Tyre, Babylon, or Nineveh, examined what it wished, listened to counsels relating to us, and after the awakening of the prophet gave the most minute account of all that it had witnessed. More than one evil magician, after falling asleep in like fashion, has sent out his shade against a man whom he hated, and overturned or destroyed furniture and terrified a whole household.

"It has happened, too, that the man attacked by the shade of the magician struck the shade with a spear or a sword, and on his house b.l.o.o.d.y traces were left, while the magician received on his body that wound exactly which was inflicted on his shade.

"More than once also has a shade of a living man appeared in company with him, but some steps distant."

"I know such shades," said the prince ironically.

"I must add," continued Mentezufis, "that not only people, but animals, plants, stones, buildings, and utensils have shades also.

But--a wonderful thing--the shade of an inanimate object is not dead, it possesses life, moves, goes from place to place, it even thinks and expresses thought through various signs, most frequently through knocking.

"When a man dies his shade lives and shows itself to people. In our books thousands of such cases are noted; some shades asked for food, others walked about in houses, worked in a garden, or hunted in the mountains with the shades of their dogs and cats with them. Other shades have frightened people, destroyed their property, drunk their blood, even enticed living persons to excesses. But there are good shades: those of mothers nursing their children, of soldiers, fallen in battle, who give warning of an ambush of an enemy, of priests who reveal important secrets.

"In the eighteenth dynasty the shade of the pharaoh, Cheops, who was doing penance for oppressing people while building the great pyramid, appeared in Nubian gold mines, and in compa.s.sion for the sufferings of toiling convicts showed them a new spring of water."

"Thou tellest curious things, holy man," replied Rameses; "let me now tell thee something. One night in Pi-Bast my own shade appeared to me.

That shade was just like me, and even dressed like me. Soon, however, I convinced myself that it was no shade. It was a living man, a certain Lykon, the vile murderer of my son. He began his offences by frightening the Phnician woman Kama. I appointed a reward for seizing him--but our police not only did not seize the man, they even permitted him to seize that same Kama and to slay a harmless infant.

"To-day I hear that they have captured Kama, but I know nothing of Lykon. Of course he is living in freedom, in good health, cheerful and rich through stolen treasures; may be making ready for new crimes even."

"So many persons are pursuing that criminal that he must be taken at last," said Mentezufis. "And if he falls into our hands Egypt will pay him for the sufferings which he has caused the heir to her throne.

Believe me, lord, thou mayst forgive all his crimes in advance, for the punishment will be in accord with their greatness."

"I should prefer to have him in my own hands," said the prince. "It is always dangerous to have such a 'shade' while one is living."[22]

[22] It is curious that the theory of shades, on which very likely the uncommon care of the Egyptians for the dead was built, has revived in our times in Europe. Adolf d'a.s.sier explains it minutely in a pamphlet "_Essai sur l'humanite posthume et le spiritisme, par un positiviste_."