Read Online Moses, Man of the Mountain by Zora Neale Hurston - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Zora Neale Hurston
Ads: Link
tent and seized Mentu by the shoulders and dragged him back.
“Come back here, Mentu.”
“Why, Suten-Rech! In a few minutes your tent will be full of admirers and—er—some of them might recognize their clothes.”
“Never mind that. I’ll slip you out the back way if it comes to that. What about this deathless snake guarding the book of Thoth?”
“To tell you the truth, I don’t know anything about it. All I know is what I have heard. It was told by the father of the father of my father to the father of my father and the father of my father has told it to my father.”
“It is a really old story then.”
“Sure. And the cry of it is that there is a book which Thoth himself wrote with his own hand which, if you read it, will bring you to the gods. When you read only two pages in this book you will enchant the heavens, the earth, the abyss, the mountain, and the sea. You will know what the birds of the air and the creeping things are saying. You will know the secrets of the deep because the power is there to bring them to you. And when you read the second page, you can go into the world of ghosts and come back to the shape you were on earth. You will see the sun shining in the sky, with all the gods, and the full moon.”
“Where is this book, Mentu? Do the priests know it?”
“The priests have heard of it, of course, and now and then some one of them will pretend that he has read a page. But if they had read from that book, Suten-Rech, they would never remain a priest in Pharaoh’s temples. They would be too powerful for the place.”
“The priests are men of learning, Mentu. They must be wise.”
“They don’t just have to be. Certainly they know what is inthe books. That is learning, not wisdom. Learning without wisdom is a load of books on a donkey’s back. I want you to understand.”
“Where is this book, I ask you, Mentu? I mean to read it.”
“The cry of it is that it is in the middle of the river at Koptos, in an iron box; in the iron box is a bronze box; in the bronze box is a sycamore box; in the sycamore box is an ivory and ebony box and in the ebony box is a silver box; in the silver box is a golden box and in that is the book. And there is a deathless snake by the box to guard it. That is all that they told me so I don’t know any more.”
“If it were not for the feasts and the entertainments, and the announcements of the promotions in the army, I would start out for Koptos tomorrow, Mentu. It may be only an old tale, what you have told me, but I mean to search the river at Koptos for that snake and that book. Even if they are not there and never were there, it will be an interesting trip. When I go, you are going along. I will ask Pharaoh for you as my special attendant tomorrow. And if the box is there, Mentu, if it is only there!”
“If it is there and the snake is overcome, you will be the greatest priest the world will ever know. So far as I am concerned, if you take me with you, I won’t be nothing but your shadow, and you’ll be my boss. But I bet you I’ll be the top pauper in all Egypt. I’ll bet you that.”
The old man went out full of joy. Moses stood in the door of his tent and the sun went down in an Egyptian way—without a memory in the sky.
CHAPTER 8
T he announcements were made. The very next day after the maneuvers, they were made before all the big men of the army in their uniforms and armor. The men who sat in big chairs around the throne were there with the officers, for they were the ones who made the wars for the generals to fight. Pharaoh told the announcements to the scribe and he wrote them down, and a man with a loud voice for speaking read them out to the people. The Suten-Rech, Moses, was Commander-in-Chief of the armies of Egypt by reason of what had happened the day before. He was the chief commander for life or until Pharaoh could see further, that is, until somebody could show a better way to win battles than Moses had. In reply,
“Come back here, Mentu.”
“Why, Suten-Rech! In a few minutes your tent will be full of admirers and—er—some of them might recognize their clothes.”
“Never mind that. I’ll slip you out the back way if it comes to that. What about this deathless snake guarding the book of Thoth?”
“To tell you the truth, I don’t know anything about it. All I know is what I have heard. It was told by the father of the father of my father to the father of my father and the father of my father has told it to my father.”
“It is a really old story then.”
“Sure. And the cry of it is that there is a book which Thoth himself wrote with his own hand which, if you read it, will bring you to the gods. When you read only two pages in this book you will enchant the heavens, the earth, the abyss, the mountain, and the sea. You will know what the birds of the air and the creeping things are saying. You will know the secrets of the deep because the power is there to bring them to you. And when you read the second page, you can go into the world of ghosts and come back to the shape you were on earth. You will see the sun shining in the sky, with all the gods, and the full moon.”
“Where is this book, Mentu? Do the priests know it?”
“The priests have heard of it, of course, and now and then some one of them will pretend that he has read a page. But if they had read from that book, Suten-Rech, they would never remain a priest in Pharaoh’s temples. They would be too powerful for the place.”
“The priests are men of learning, Mentu. They must be wise.”
“They don’t just have to be. Certainly they know what is inthe books. That is learning, not wisdom. Learning without wisdom is a load of books on a donkey’s back. I want you to understand.”
“Where is this book, I ask you, Mentu? I mean to read it.”
“The cry of it is that it is in the middle of the river at Koptos, in an iron box; in the iron box is a bronze box; in the bronze box is a sycamore box; in the sycamore box is an ivory and ebony box and in the ebony box is a silver box; in the silver box is a golden box and in that is the book. And there is a deathless snake by the box to guard it. That is all that they told me so I don’t know any more.”
“If it were not for the feasts and the entertainments, and the announcements of the promotions in the army, I would start out for Koptos tomorrow, Mentu. It may be only an old tale, what you have told me, but I mean to search the river at Koptos for that snake and that book. Even if they are not there and never were there, it will be an interesting trip. When I go, you are going along. I will ask Pharaoh for you as my special attendant tomorrow. And if the box is there, Mentu, if it is only there!”
“If it is there and the snake is overcome, you will be the greatest priest the world will ever know. So far as I am concerned, if you take me with you, I won’t be nothing but your shadow, and you’ll be my boss. But I bet you I’ll be the top pauper in all Egypt. I’ll bet you that.”
The old man went out full of joy. Moses stood in the door of his tent and the sun went down in an Egyptian way—without a memory in the sky.
CHAPTER 8
T he announcements were made. The very next day after the maneuvers, they were made before all the big men of the army in their uniforms and armor. The men who sat in big chairs around the throne were there with the officers, for they were the ones who made the wars for the generals to fight. Pharaoh told the announcements to the scribe and he wrote them down, and a man with a loud voice for speaking read them out to the people. The Suten-Rech, Moses, was Commander-in-Chief of the armies of Egypt by reason of what had happened the day before. He was the chief commander for life or until Pharaoh could see further, that is, until somebody could show a better way to win battles than Moses had. In reply,
Similar Books
