"If those traitorous priests," thought the prince, "would give me twenty talents today, I would drive out that Dagon in the morning, my tenants would not be plunged under water, would not suffer blows, and my mother would not jeer at me. A tenth, a hundredth part of that wealth which is lying in the temples and feeding the greedy eyes of those bare heads would make me independent for years of Phoenicians."
Just then an idea which was strange enough flashed up in the soul of Ramses, that between priests and earth-tillers there existed a certain opposition.
"Through Herhor," thought he, "that man hanged himself on the edge of the desert. To maintain priests and temples about two million Egyptian men toil grievously. If the property of the priests belonged to the pharaoh's treasury, I should not have to borrow fifteen talents and my people would not be oppressed so terribly. There is the source of misfortunes for Egypt and of weakness for its pharaohs!"
The prince felt that a wrong was done the people; therefore he experienced no small solace in discovering that priests were the authors of this evil. It did not occur to him that his judgment might be unjust and faulty. Besides, he did not judge, he was only indignant. The anger of a man never turns against himself, just as a hungry panther never eats its own body; it twirls its tail and moves its ears while looking for a victim.
CHAPTER XIII
The expedition of the heir to the throne, undertaken with the object of discovering the priest who had saved Sarah and had given him legal advice, had a result that was unexpected.
The priest was not discovered, but among Egyptian earth-tillers legends began to circulate which concerned Ramses.
Some mysterious man sailed about from village to village and told the people that the heir to the throne freed the men who were in danger of condemnation to the quarries for attacking his dwelling. Besides, he had beaten down an official who was extorting unjust rent from tenants. Finally, the unknown person added that Prince Ramses was under the special guardianship of Amon, who was his father.
Simple people listened to these tidings eagerly, first, because they agreed with facts, second, because the man who told the story was himself like a spirit it was not known whence he came nor whither he had vanished.
Prince Ramses made no mention whatever of his tenants to Dagon; he did not even summon him. He felt ashamed in presence of the Phoenician from whom he had taken money and might require money yet more than one time.