第13章
NowIsatopen-mouthed，forhowcouldthismanknowthesethings，andthePrincelaughedoutright，saying：
“Ana，Ibegintothinkyoukeepyourcounselill。AtleastIshouldthinkso，wereitnotthatyouhavehadnotimetotellwhatthePrincessyondermayhavesaidtoyou，andcanscarcelyknowthetrickoftheslidingpanelinthatwallwhichIhavenevershowntoyou。“
KichuckledagainandasmilegrewonoldBakenkhonsu’sbroadandwrinkledface。
“OPrince，“Ibegan，“Isweartoyouthatneverhasonewordpassedmylipsofaught-“
“Iknowit，friend，“brokeinthePrince，“butitseemstherearesomewhodonotwaitforwordsbutcanreadtheBookofThought。Thereforeitisnotwelltomeetthemtoooften，sinceallhavethoughtsthatshouldbeknownonlytothemandGod。Magician，whatisyourbusinesswithme？Speakonasthoughwewerealone。“
“This，Prince。YougouponajourneyamongtheHebrews，asallhaveheard。Now，BakenkhonsuandI，alsotwoseersofmyCollege，seeingthatweallloveyouandthatyourwelfareismuchtoEgypt，haveseparatelysoughtoutthefutureasregardstheissueofthisjourney。
Althoughwhatwehavelearneddiffersinsomematters，onothersitisthesame。Thereforewethoughtitourdutytotellyouwhatwehavelearned。“
“Sayon，Kherheb。“
“First，then，thatyourHighness’slifewillbeindanger。“
“Lifeisalwaysindanger，Ki。ShallIloseit？Ifso，donotfeartotellme。“
“Wedonotknow，butwethinknot，becauseoftherestthatisrevealedtous。Welearnthatitisnotyourbodyonlythatwillbeindanger。Uponthisjourneyyouwillseeawomanwhomyouwillcometolove。Thiswomanwill，wethink，bringyoumuchsorrowandalsomuchjoy。“
“Thenperhapsthejourneyisworthmaking，Ki，sincemanytravelfarbeforetheyfindaughttheycanlove。Tellme，haveImetthiswoman？“
“Therewearetroubled，Prince，foritwouldseem——unlesswearedeceived——thatyouhavemetheroftenandoften；thatyouhaveknownherforthousandsofyears，asyouhaveknownthatmanatyoursideforthousandsofyears。“
Seti’sfacegrewveryinterested。
“Whatdoyoumean，Magician？“heasked，eyeinghimkeenly。“HowcanI
whoamstillyounghaveknownawomanandamanforthousandsofyears？“
Kiconsideredhimwithhisstrangeeyes，andanswered：
“Youhavemanytitles，Prince。Isnotoneofthem’LordofRebirths，’
andifso，howdidyougetitandwhatdoesitmean？“
“Itis。WhatitmeansIdonotknow，butitwasgiventomebecauseofsomedreamthatmymotherhadthenightbeforeIwasborn。Do/you/
tell/me/whatitmeans，sinceyouseemtoknowsomuch。“
“Icannot，Prince。Thesecretisnotonethathasbeenshowntome。
Yettherewasanagedman，amagicianlikemyselffromwhomIlearnedmuchinmyyouth——Bakenkhonsuknewhimwell——whomadeastudyofthismatter。Hetoldmehewassure，becauseithadbeenrevealedtohim，thatmendonotliveonceonlyandthendeparthenceforever。Hesaidthattheylivemanytimesandinmanyshapes，thoughnotalwaysonthisworld，andthatbetweeneachlifethereisawallofdarkness。“
“Ifso，ofwhatuseareliveswhichwedonotrememberafterdeathhasshutthedoorofeachofthem？“
“Thedoorsmayopenagainatlast，Prince，andshowusallthechambersthroughwhichourfeethavewanderedfromthebeginning。“
“Ourreligionteachesus，Ki，thatafterdeathweliveeternallyelsewhereinourownbodies，whichwefindagainonthedayofresurrection。Noweternity，havingnoend，canhavenobeginning；itisacircle。Thereforeiftheonebetrue，namelythatweliveon，itwouldseemthattheothermustbetrue，namelythatwehavealwayslived。“
“Thatiswellreasoned，Prince。Intheearlydays，beforethepriestsfrozethethoughtofmanintoblocksofstoneandbuiltofthemshrinestoathousandgods，manyheldthatthisreasoningwastrue，asthentheyheldthattherewasbutonegod。“
“AsdotheseIsraeliteswhomIgotovisit。Whatsayyouoftheirgod，Ki？“
“That/he/isthesameasourgods，Prince。Tomen’seyesGodhasmanyfaces，andeachswearsthattheoneheseesistheonlytruegod。Yettheyarewrong，forallaretrue。“
“Orperchancefalse，Ki，unlessevenfalsehoodisapartoftruth。
Well，youhavetoldmeoftwodangers，onetomybodyandonetomyheart。Hasanyotherbeenrevealedtoyourwisdom？“
“Yes，Prince。Thethirdisthatthisjourneymayintheendcostyouyourthrone。“
“IfIdiecertainlyitwillcostmemythrone。“
“No，Prince，ifyoulive。“
“Evenso，Ki，IthinkthatIcouldendurelifeseatedmorehumblythanonathrone，thoughwhetherherHighnesscouldendureitisanothermatter。ThenyousaythatifIgouponthisjourneyanotherwillbePharaohinmyplace。“
“Wedonotsaythat，Prince。Itistruethatourartshaveshownusanotherfillingyourplaceinatimeofwizardryandwondersandofthedeathofthousands。Yetwhenwelookagainweseenotthatotherbutyouoncemorefillingyourownplace。“
HereI，Ana，bethoughtmeofmyvisioninPharaoh’shall。
“ThematterisevenworsethanIthought，Ki，sincehavingonceleftthecrownbehindme，IthinkthatIshouldhavenowishtowearitanymore，“saidSeti。“Whoshowsyouallthesethings，andhow？“
“Our/Kas/，whichareoursecretselves，showthemtous，Prince，andinmanyways。Sometimesitisbydreamsorvisions，sometimesbypicturesonwater，sometimesbywritingsinthedesertsand。Inallthesefashions，andbyothers，our/Kas/，drawingfromtheinfinitewellofwisdomthatishiddeninthebeingofeveryman，giveusglimpsesofthetruth，astheygiveuswhoareinstructedpowertoworkmarvels。“
“Ofthetruth。Thenthesethingsyoutellmearetrue？“
“Webelieveso，Prince。“
“Thenbeingtruemusthappen。Sowhatistheuseofyourwarningmeagainstwhatmusthappen？Therecannotbetwotruths。Whatwouldyouhavemedo？Notgouponthisjourney？WhyhaveyoutoldmethatImustnotgo，sinceifIdidnotgothetruthwouldbecomealie，whichitcannot？YousayitisfatedthatIshouldgoandbecauseIgosuchandsuchthingswillcomeabout。Andyetyoutellmenottogo，forthatiswhatyoumean。Oh!KherhebKiandBakenkhonsu，doubtlessyouaregreatmagiciansandstronginwisdom，buttherearegreaterthanyouwhoruletheworld，andthereisawisdomtowhichyoursisbutasadropofwatertotheNile。Ithankyouforyourwarnings，butto-morrowIgodowntothelandofGoshentofulfilthecommandsofPharaoh。IfIcomebackagainwewilltalkmoreofthesemattershereupontheearth。IfIdonotcomeback，perchancewewilltalkofthemelsewhere。Farewell。“
ThePrinceSetiandallhistrain，averygreatcompany，cameinsafetytothelandofGoshen，I，Ana，travellingwithhiminhischariot。Itwasthenasnowarichland，quiteflatafterthelastlineofdeserthillsthroughwhichwetravelledbyanarrow，tortuouspath。Everywhereitwaswateredbycanals，betweenwhichlaythegrainfieldswhereintheseedhadjustbeensown。Alsotherewereotherfieldsofgreenfodderwhereonweretetheredbeastsbythehundred，andbeyondthese，uponthedriersoil，grazedflocksofsheep。ThetownGoshen，ifsoitcouldbecalled，wasbutapoorplace，numbersofmudhuts，nomore，inthecentreofwhichstoodabuilding，alsoofmud，withtwobrickpillarsinfrontofit，thatweweretoldwasthetempleofthispeople，intotheinnerpartsofwhichnonemightentersavetheirHigh-priest。Ilaughedatthesightofit，butthePrincereprovedme，sayingthatIshouldnotjudgethespiritbythebody，orofthegodbyhishouse。
Wecampedoutsidethistownandsoonlearnedthatthepeoplewhodweltinitorelsewhereinothertownsmustbenumberedbythetenthousand，formoreofthemthanIcouldcountwanderedroundthecamptolookatus。Themenwerefierce-eyedandhook-nosed；theyoungwomenwell-shapedandpleasanttobehold；theolderwomenforthemostpartstoutandsomewhatunwieldy，andthechildrenverybeautiful。Allwereroughlycladinrobesofloosely-woven，dark-colouredcloth，beneathwhichthewomenworegarmentsofwhitelinen。Notwithstandingthewealthwesawaboutusincornandcattle，theirornamentsseemedtobefew，orperhapsthesewerehiddenfromoursight。
ItwaseasytoseethattheyhatedusEgyptians，andevendaredtodespiseus。Hateshoneintheirglitteringeyes，andIheardthemcallingusthe’idol-worshippers’onetotheother，andaskingwherewasourgod，theBull，forbeingignoranttheythoughtthatweworshippedApis(asmayhapsomeofthecommonpeopledo)insteadoflookinguponthesacredbeastasasymbolofthepowersofNature。
Indeedtheydidmore，foronthefirstnightafterourcomingtheyslaughteredabullmarkedmuchasApisis，andinthemorningwefounditlyingnearthegateofthecamp，andpinnedtoitshidewithsharpthornsgreatnumbersofthescarab？usbeetlestillliving。ForagaintheydidnotknowthatamongusEgyptiansthisbeetleisnogodbutanemblemoftheCreator，becauseitrollsaballofmudbetweenitsfeetandsetsthereinitseggstohatch，astheCreatorrollstheworldthatseemstoberound，andcausesittoproducelife。
NowallwereangryattheseinsultsexceptthePrince，wholaughedandsaidthathethoughtthejestcoarsebutclever。Butworsewastohappen。ItseemsthatasoldierwithwineinhimhaddoneinsulttoaHebrewmaidenwhocamealonetodrawwateratacanal。Thenewsspreadamongthepeopleandsomethousandsofthemrushedtothecamp，shoutinganddemandingvengeanceinsothreateningamannerthatitwasnecessarytoformuptheregimentsofguards。