"Why not?" answered the young priest. "But since two sacred beetles have barred the way now, we must not go farther; some misfortune might happen."
"As it is, a misfortune has happened. Or hast Thou not noticed that
Prince Ramses is angry at the minister? and our lord is not forgetful."
"It is not the prince who is offended with our lord, but our lord with the prince, and he has reproached him. He has done well; for it seems to the young prince, at present, that he is to be a second Menes."
"Or a Ramses the Great," put in the adjutant.
"Ramses the Great obeyed the gods; for this cause there are inscriptions praising him in all the temples. But Menes, the first pharaoh of Egypt, was a destroyer of order, and thanks only to the fatherly kindness of the priests that his name is still remembered, though I would not give one brass uten on this, that the mummy of Menes exists."
"My Pentuer," added the adjutant, "Thou art a sage, hence knowest that it is all one to us whether we have ten lords or eleven."
"But it is not all one to the people whether they have to find every year a mountain of gold for the priests, or two mountains of gold for the priests and the pharaoh," answered Pentuer, while his eyes flashed.
"Thou art thinking of dangerous things," said the adjutant, in a whisper.
"But how often hast Thou thyself grieved over the luxuries of the pharaoh's court and of the nomarchs?" inquired the priest in astonishment.
"Quiet, quiet! We will talk of this, but not now."