Herhor inclined his head.
"Because ye neglect the great secrets, your priests have not noted that evil years are approaching Egypt. Ye are threatened by internal disasters from which only virtue and wisdom can save you. But the worst is that if in the course of the coming decade ye begin war with Assyria, she will defeat your forces. Her armies will come to the Nile and destroy all that has existed here for ages.
"Such an ominous juncture of stars as is now weighing on Egypt happened first during the XIV. dynasty, when the Hyksos kings captured and plundered this country. It will come for the third time in five or six hundred years from Assyria and the people of Paras, who dwell to the east of Chaldea."
The priests listened in terror. Herhor was pale; the tablets fell from Pentuer's fingers; Mefres held the amulet hanging on his breast, and prayed while his lips were parching.
"Be on your guard then against Assyria," continued the Chaldean, "for her hour is the present. The Assyrians are a dreadful people! They despise labor, they live by war. They conquer, they impale on stakes or flay living people, they destroy captured cities and lead away their inhabitants to bondage. For them to kill savage beasts is repose; to pierce prisoners with arrows or scoop out their eyes is amusement. Temples they turn into ruins, the vessels of the gods they use at their banquets, and make buffoons of priests and sages. They adorn their walls with skins torn from living people, and their tables with the blood-stained skulls of their enemies."
When the Chaldean ceased speaking, the worthy Mefres answered,
"Great prophet, Thou hast cast fear on our souls, and dost not indicate a remedy. It may be true, and to a certainty is so, since Thou hast said it, that the fates for a certain time will be against us, but how avoid this predicament? In the Nile there are dangerous places through which no boat can pass safely; so the wisdom of the helmsmen avoids deadly whirlpools. It is the same with misfortunes of nations. A nation is a boat, and an epoch is the river, which at certain periods has whirlpools. If the frail boat of a fisherman can avoid peril, why should not millions of people escape under similar conditions?"
"Thy words are wise," replied Beroes, "but I can answer in part only."
"Dost Thou not know all that will happen?" asked Herhor.
"Ask me not touching that which I know, but which I may not disclose at this moment. Most important in your case is to keep peace for ten years with Assyria. Ye have power to do that. Assyria still dreads you; she knows not the juncture of evil fates above Egypt, and desires to wage war with northern and eastern nations who live near the seacoast. Ye might, therefore, conclude a treaty today with Assyria."