The Bride of the Nile — Volume 03

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Georg Ebers

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2010

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The Project Gutenberg EBook The Bride of the Nile, by Georg Ebers, v3 #80 in our series by Georg EbersCopyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the copyright laws for your country beforedownloading or redistributing this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook.This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do notchange or edit the header without written permission.Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom ofthis file. Included is important information about your specific rights and restrictions in how the file may be used. Youcan also find out about how to make a donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved.**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts****EBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971*******These EBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers*****Title: The Bride of the Nile, Volume 3.Author: Georg EbersRelease Date: April, 2004 [EBook #5519] [Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] [This file was firstposted on July 4, 2002]Edition: 10Language: English*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BRIDE OF THE NILE, BY EBERS, V3 ***This eBook was produced by David Widger [NOTE: There is a short list of bookmarks, or pointers, at the end of the file for those who may wish to sample theauthor's ideas before making an ...

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Publié par

onjya

Publié le

08 décembre 2010

Nombre de lectures

Langue

English

Author: Georg EbersRelease Date: April, 2004 [EBook #5519] [Yes, weare more than one year ahead of schedule] [Thisfile was first posted on July 4, 2002]Edition: 10Language: English*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG***EBOOK BRIDE OF THE NILE, BY EBERS, V3 This eBook was produced by David Widger<widger@cecomet.net>[NOTE: There is a short list of bookmarks, orpointers, at the end of the file for those who maywish to sample the author's ideas before makingan entire meal of them. D.W.]

THE BRIDE OF THENILEBy Georg EbersVolume 3.CHAPTER X.After the great excitement of the night Paula hadthrown herself on her bed with throbbing pulses.Sleep would not come to her, and so at rathermore than two hours after sunrise she went to thewindow to close the shutters. As she did so shelooked out, and she saw Hiram leap into a boatand push the light bark from the shore. She daredneither signal nor call to him; but when the faithfulsoul had reached open water he looked back at herwindow, recognized her in her white morning dressand flourished the oar high in the air. This couldonly mean that he had fulfilled his commission andsold her jewel. Now he was going to the other sideto engage the Nabathaean.When she had closed the shutters and darkenedthe room she again lay down. Youth asserted itsrights the weary girl fell into deep, dreamlessslumbers.

When she woke, with the heat drops on herforehead, the sun was nearly at the meridian, onlyan hour till the Ariston would be served, the Greekbreakfast, the first meal in the morning, which thefamily eat together as they also did the principalmeal later in the clay. She had never yet failed toappear, and her absence would excite remark.The governor's household, like that of everyEgyptian of rank, was conducted more on theGreek than the Egyptian plan; and this was thecase not merely as regarded the meals but inmany other things, and especially the languagespoken. From the Mukaukas himself down to theyoungest member of the family, all spoke Greekamong themselves, and Coptic, the old nativedialect, only to the servants. Nay, many borrowedand foreign words had already crept into use in theCoptic.The governor's granddaughter, pretty little Mary,had learnt to speak Greek fluently and correctlybefore she spoke Coptic, but when Paula had firstarrived she could not as yet write the beautifullanguage of Greece with due accuracy. Paulaloved children; she longed for some occupation,and she had therefore volunteered to instruct thelittle girl in the art. At first her hosts had seemedpleased that she should render this service, but erelong the relation between the Lady Neforis and herhusband's niece had taken the unpleasant aspectwhich it was destined to retain. She had put a stopto the lessons, and the reason she had assignedfor this insulting step was that Paula had dictated

to her pupil long sentences out of her OrthodoxGreek prayerbook. This, it was true, she had done;but without the smallest concealment; and thepassages she had chosen had contained nothingbut what must elevate the soul of every Christian,of whatever confession.The child had wept bitterly over her grandmother'sfiat, though Paula had always taken the lessonsquite seriously, for Mary loved her older companionwith all the enthusiasm of a half-grown girl—as achild of ten really is in Egypt; her passionate littleheart worshipped the beautiful maiden who was inevery respect so far above her, and Paula's armshad opened wide to embrace the child who broughtsunshine into the gloomy, chill atmosphere shebreathed in her uncle's house. But Neforisregarded the child's ardent love for her Melchiterelation as exaggerated and morbid, imperillingperhaps her religious faith; and she fancied thatunder Paula's influence Mary had transferred heraffections from her to the younger woman withadded warmth. Nor was this idea wholly fanciful;the child's strong sense of justice could not bear tosee her friend misunderstood and slighted, oftensimply and entirely misjudged and hardly blamed,so Mary felt it her duty, as far as in her lay, tomake up for her grandmother's delinquencies inregard to the guest who in the child's eyes wasperfection.But Neforis was not the woman to put up with thisdemeanor in a child. Mary was her granddaughter,the only child of her lost son, and no one should

come between them. So she forbid the little girl togo to Paula's room without an express message,and when a Greek teacher was engaged for her,her instructions were that she should keep herpupil as much as possible out of the Syriandamsel's way. All this only fanned the child'svehement affection; and tenderly as hergrandmother would sometimes caress her—whileMary on her part never failed in dutiful obedience—neither of them ever felt a true and steady warmthof heart towards the other; and for this Paula wasno doubt to blame, though against her will and byher mere existence.Often, indeed, and by a hundred covert hintsDame Neforis gave Paula to understand that she itwas who had alienated her grandchild; there wasnothing for it but to keep the child for whom sheyearned, at a distance, and only rarely reveal toher the abundance of her love. At last her life wasso full of grievance that she was hardly able to beinnocent with the innocent—a child with the child;Mary was not slow to note this, and ascribedPaula's altered manner to the suffering caused byher grandmother's severity.Mary's most frequent opportunities of speaking toher friend were just before meals; for at that timeno one was watching her, and her grandmotherhad not forbidden her calling Paula to table. A visitto her room was the child's greatest delight—partlybecause it was forbidden— but no less becausePaula, up in her own room, was quite different fromwhat she seemed with the others, and because

they could there look at each other and kisswithout interference, and say what ever theypleased. There Mary could tell her as much as shedared of the events in their little circle, but the livelyand sometimes hoydenish little girl was oftenwithheld from confessing a misdemeanor, or evenan inoffensive piece of childishness, by sheeradmiration for one who to her appeared nobler,greater and loftier than other beings.Just as Paula had finished putting up her hair,Mary, who would rush like a whirlwind even into hergrandmother's presence, knocked humbly at thedoor. She did not fly into Paula's arms as she didinto those of Susannah or her daughter Katharina,but only kissed her white arm with fervent devotion,and colored with happiness when Paula bent downto her, pressed her lips to her brow and hair, andwiped her wet, glowing cheeks. Then she tookMary's head fondly between her hands and said:"What is wrong with you, madcap?"In fact the sweet little face was crimson, and hereyes swelled as if she had been crying violently."It is so fearfully hot," said Mary. "Eudoxia"—herGreek governess— "says that Egypt in summer isa fiery furnace, a hell upon earth. She is quite illwith the heat, and lies like a fish on the sand; theonly good thing about it is. . .""That she lets you run off and gives you nolessons?"

Mary nodded, but as no lecture followed theconfession she put her head on one side andlooked up into Paula's face with large roguish eyes."And yet you have been crying!—a great girl likeyou?""I—I crying?""Yes, crying. I can see it in your eyes. Nowconfess: what has happened?""You will not scold me?""Certainly not." "Well then.At first it was fun, such fun you cannotthink, and I do not mind the heat; but when thegreat hunt had gone by I wanted to go to my grandmother and I was not allowed. Do you know,something very particular had been going on in thefountain-room; and as they all came out again Icrept behind Orion into the tablinum—there aresuch wonderful things there, and I wanted just tofrighten him a little; we have often played gamestogether before. At first he did not see me, and ashe was bending over the hanging, from which thegem was stolen—I believe he was counting thestones in the faded old thing—I just jumped on tohis shoulder, and he was so frightened—I can tellyou, awfully frightened! And he turned upon me likea fighting-cock and—and he gave me a box on theear; such a slap, it is burning now—and all sorts ofcolors danced before my eyes. He always used tobe so nice and kind to me, and to you, too, and so

I used to be fond of him—he is my uncle too —buta box on the ears, a slap such as the cook mightgive to the turnspit—I am too big for that; that I willcertainly not put up with it! Since my last birthdayall the slaves and upper servants, too, have had totreat me as a lady and to bow down to me! Andnow!—it was just here.—How dare he?" She beganto cry again and sobbed out: "But that was not all.He locked me into the dark tablinum and left—leftme…." her tears flowed faster and faster, "left mesitting there! It was so horrible; and I might havebeen there now if I had not found a gold plate; Iseized my great-grandfather—I mean the silverimage of Menas, and hammered on it, andscreamed Fire! Then Sebek heard me and fetchedOrion, and he let me out, and made such a fussover me and kissed me. But what is the good ofthat; my grandfather will be angry, for in my terror Ibeat his father's nose quite flat on the plate."Paula had listened, now amused and now grave, tothe little girl's story; when she ceased, she oncemore wiped her eyes and said:"Your uncle is a man, and you must not play withhim as if he were a child like yourself. Thereminder you got was rather a hard one, no doubt,but Orion tried to make up for it.—But the greathunt, what was that?"At this question Mary's eyes suddenly sparkledagain. In an instant all her woes were forgotten,even her ancestor's flattened nose, and with amerry, hearty laugh she exclaimed:

"Oh! you should have seen it! You would havebeen amused too. They wanted to catch the badman who cut the emerald out of the hanging. Hehad left his shoes and they had held them underthe dogs' noses and then off they went! First theyrushed here to the stairs; then to the stables, thento the lodgings of one of the horse-trainers, and Ikept close behind, after the terriers and the otherdogs. Then they stopped to consider and at lastthey all ran out at the gate towards the town. Iought not to have gone beyond the court-yard, but—do not be cross with me—it was such fun!—Outthey went, along Hapi Street, across the square,and at last into the Goldsmith's Street, and therethe whole pack plunged into Gamaliel's shop—theJew who is always so merry. While he was talkingto the others his wife gave me some apricottartlets; we do not have such good ones at home.""And did they find the man?" asked Paula, who hadchanged color repeatedly during the child's story."I do not know," said Mary sadly. "They were notchasing any one in particular. The dogs kept theirnoses to the ground, and we ran after them.""And only to catch a man, who certainly hadnothing whatever to do with the theft.—Reflect alittle, Mary. The shoes gave the dogs the scent andthey were set on to seize the man who had wornthem, but whom no judge had examined. Theshoes were found in the hall; perhaps he haddropped them by accident, or some one else mayhave carried them there. Now think of yourself in

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