Fragment IX
685 Words
Fragment IXDost thou still wonder, my son, why I committed this deadly sin? why I, who ever worshipped the gods, had thus eternally incurred their wrath, and given up my soul to the powers of darkness for ever? Read on further, my son, and thou wilt understand.
Awakened from their early morning slumbers the people of Abydos came in crowds, men, women and children, poor artizans, and nobles of high degree. They assembled in masses at the foot of the temple steps, and there paused in wonder and awe, seeing the group of priests, and one solitary figure, mine, standing between them, with my garments torn, my head bare, and my arms tied behind my back.
An awful stillness reigned among the crowd; I gazed down calmly at their upturned faces; I was not afraid. I knew, nay, I hoped that the punishment would be a terrible one, one that would remain as a record in the annals of Abydos, only to be whispered of at nights, round the dying embers of the hearths, and breathed with a shudder at the thought of the sacrilege.
I gazed down upon them in search of one face—hers; and presently I saw her looking up at me, her large eyes dilated with terror, not understanding, not daring to trust to what she saw. Once more the High Priest smote the great gong thrice, then in solemn tones he began to tell the people of Abydos of the terrible sacrilege that had polluted the temple of Isis for ever; a long groan of horror and execration greeted his tale, but through it all the only sound I heard was a prolonged shriek of intense agony and hopeless despair. I knew then that the truth had flashed upon her, that she guessed the motive that had led me to do this fearful crime.
Two men now came forward and forced me down on my knees, and pressed my head into the dust; they tore the remnants of my garments from me, and thus n***d and humbled beneath the condition of the humblest slave, but, with hellish joy deep down in my breast, I heard the sentence the High Priest now solemnly pronounced upon me.
“Ur-tasen! Ur-tasen! Ur-tasen!” he called, “thou, whose sacrilegious foot trod the f*******n precincts within the temple of the goddess, the mother of us all, Isis, who rules our night, whose hand rocks the cradle of the Nile.
“Ur-tasen! Ur-tasen! Ur-tasen! thou, whose sacrilegious eyes beheld the glories of these sacred precincts.
“Ur-tasen! Ur-tasen! Ur-tasen! thou, whose sacrilegious hand spilt the blood of a virgin, vowed to the worship of Isis, and with that blood polluted the sacred altar of the goddess.
“Ur-tasen! Ur-tasen! Ur-tasen! For this thou art accursed! be thy name a byword in the land that bore thee! Be it only whispered on stormy evenings, when Osiris has gone to rest in a sea of blood! Cursed be thou, thy wife, thy children, and the children of thy children! may they all wander homeless and friendless from Abydos, followed by the execration of all the worshippers of Isis, shunned by all, in the land of the Pharaohs!
“As for thou, Ur-tasen, live a while longer, live to repent thee of thy sin, to atone for thy sacrilegious crime, buried alive in the caves beneath the temple thou hast desecrated!”
An awful and solemn silence followed the announcement of this terrible sentence; I raised my head and looked towards the crowd; and there I saw what filled my heart with joy—saw that my sin had not been committed in vain. The crowd had parted in one spot, and a figure, that of a woman, holding a tiny boy (thee, my son) by the hand, stood all alone; further and further all retreated from her, while scornful fingers pointed in her direction, and one or two childish hands threw a handful of dust upon her. She looked round, like some wounded animal at bay, seeking in vain for pity and help. Not a hand was stretched towards her, not a look of comfort, nor a sigh of compassion. Then, pressing thee tightly to her bosom, she fell upon her knees and sobbed bitterly.
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- Writer
