Tutmosis raised his pitcher; soldiers rushed up from the door. The wounded man fell with his face to the steps, crying,
"Have mercy, sun of Egypt!"
The soldiers were ready to seize him when Ramses pulled himself free of the women and approached the unfortunate giant.
"Touch him not!" cried Ramses to the warriors. "What dost Thou wish, man?"
"I wish, lord, to tell thee of the wrongs which we suffer."
At that moment the nomarch stepped up to the viceroy and whispered,
"This is a Hyksos. Look, worthiness, at his shaggy hair and his beard. But the insolence with which he burst in proves that the criminal is not a genuine Egyptian."
"Who art thou?" asked Ramses.
"I am Bakura, a laborer in the regiment of diggers in Sochem. We have no work now, so the nomarch Otoes commanded us."
"He is a drunkard and a madman!" whispered the excited Sofra. "How dares he speak to thee, lord."