The Irish standard., 1889-10-12


lpg much to tell, ana perchance but littI,
time to tell it, will pass over the events O
the years that followed.
/ For this was the manner of nv life.
! rose early, attended the worship of th.
! Temple, and gave my days 10 study.
| learned Of the rites of religion and their sig
nificance, and Of the beginning of the god.
and the beginning of tbs Upper World.
/ learned OF the mystery of the movement.
| of the stars, and of how the earth rolls OF
among them. / was instructed in that an
| Gent knowledge which is called magic, anG
in the way Of Interpretation Of dreams, ane
| OF the drawing nigh to God was taught
the language OF symbols and the outer and
| inner secrets thereof. Ibecame acquainted
| with the internal laws Of good and evil, and
/ with the mystery of that trust which is
held of man; also learned the secrets o1
| the pyramids-Which j would that I hao
never known. Further, read the records
| Of the past, and Of the acts and words ii
! the ancient kings who were before ms
| since the rule of Horus upon earth: and
| was made to learn all craft of state. th,
| lore OF earth and with it the records OF
Greece and Rome. Also learned the Gre.
| clan and the Roman tongues. OF which in.
| deed already had some Knowledge
all this while, even for five years, Ikept nv
hands clean and my heart pure, and did NO
svil in the sight of God or man; but la
bored heavily to acquire all things. and to
prepare myself for the destiny that await
"a me
Twice every year came greetings and let
sers from my father, Ameuemhat, and twice
| syery year | sent back my answers asking
the time had come to cease from labor
And so the days of my probation sped away
ill grew faint and weary at heart, for be-
ing now man, ay, and learned [ longed to
| make a beginning OF the life of men. And
ofttimeS l wondered If this talk and prophe-
~ Of the things there we're To be was buta
1reanl born Of the brains of men whose
wish ran before their thought. 1 was. in
iced, of the royal blood, that [ knew; for
n-y uncle, Sepa, the Priest, showed me the
secret record of the descent, traced without
break from father unto son, and craven IN
mystic symbols upon tablet of the stone OF
Syene But off what avail was 1t to be royal
oy right when Egypt, my heritage, was Il
slave-a slave to do the pleasure and ming-
ter to the luxury of the Macedonian i4agia
ay, and when she had been so long serf
that, perehance, she had forgot houto put
Dtf the servile smile Of bondage and once
more to look across the world with free
donl's glorious eyes:
ADd then | bethought me of my prayer
upon the pylon tower of Abouthis and of
the answer 70 my PRAYER, and wondered if
that, too, We're a dream.
And one night, as, weary with study,
walked within the sacred grove that is in
the temen0s Of the Temple, and thought
such thoughts as these, | met my Uncle
Scpa. who also was walking and thinking
"Holdi' he cried, III has great voice;
S'why IS thy face SO sad, Harmachis? Hath
the last problem that we studied over
Whelmed thee?n
"Nay, nv uncle. I answered II am
overwhelmed, indeed, but not OF the
problem; it was light one MY heart is
heavy within me, for | am aweary of life
within these cloisters. and the piled-up
40 avail to store up force which can not be
used
"Ah thou art inpatient Harmachis,'' he
answered; III IS ever the way Of foolish
youth. Thou wouldst taste Of the battle !;
thou dest weary Of watching the breakers
fall upon the shore, thou wouldst plunge
therein and venture the desperate hazard
Of the war And so thou wouldst 90 going,
Harmachiss The bird would fly the nest
as, when they are grown, The swallows fy
from beneath the caves Of the Temple.
We'll, it shall be as thou desirest; the hour
is ut hand. [ have taught thee all that I
have learned, and nethinks that the pupil
hath outrun his master" And he paused
and wiped his bright, black eyes, for he
was very sad at the thought of my depart
ure.
And whittier shall ] 80, my uncles"
asked, rejoicing; ''baclz to Abouthis TO be
initiated in the mystery Of the Godsso
'.Ay, back to Abouthis, and from Az touthis
to Alexandria, and from Alexandria to the
throne Of thy fathers, @ Harmachisi Listen,
row, things are thus; Thou knowest how
Cleopatra, the Queen, fled into Syria when
that false eunuch Pothinus set the will of
Auletes at naught and raised her brother
Ptoiemy to the sole lordship of Egypt. Thou
knoWest also how she came back, like
Queen indeed, with a great army in her
train, and lay at Peluslm, and how at this
iuncture the mighty Caesar, that great man,
that greatest OF all men, sailed with weak
company hither to Alexandria from Phar-
salla's bloody field in hot pursuit of Pompey.
But he found Pompey already dead, having
been basely murdered by Achillas, the Gen
erai, and Lucius Septimips, the chief Of the
Roman legions in Egypt; and thou knowest
how the Afexandrian were troubled at his
coming and would have slain his lictors.
Then, as thou hast heard, Caesar seized
Ptolemy, the young King, and his sister
,Arsinoe, and bade the army of Cleopatra
and the army Of Ptolemy, under Achillas,
Which lay facing each other al Pelusim, dis
Dand and go their ways. And for.
answer Achillas marched on Caesar and be-
sieged him straitly in the Bruchium at
Alexandria, and SO, for awhile, things
were, and none knew who should reign in
Egypt But then Cleopatra took up the dice
and threw them, andtthis was the throw she
made-in truth 1t was a bold one. For,
leaving the army At Pelusim, she came at
dusk to the harbor Of Alexandria, and alone
with the Sicilian Apollodorus entered and
Landed. Then did Apollodorus bind her in
a bale Of rich rugs. such as are made in
Syria, and sent the rugs as a present to
Cesar. And when the rugs were unbound
in the palace, behold within them was the
falrest girl on all the earth-ay, and the
most witty and the most learned And she
seduced the great Caesar his weight
of years did not avail to protect him from
her charms-so that as a fruit of his folly,
he well-nigh lost his life and all the glory
a