He went thither. At the door there was gloom, and somewhere far off flamed a number of lamps, as if in the air and unsupported. Looking more attentively, he saw standing closely together between the entrance and the lamps a forest of columns, the tops of which were lost in darkness. At a distance, perhaps two hundred yards from him, he saw indistinctly the gigantic legs of a sitting goddess with her hands resting on her knees, from which the lamplight was reflected dimly.
All at once he heard a sound from afar. From a side passage a row of white figures pushed forth, moving in couples. This was a night procession of priests, who, singing in two choruses, gave homage to the statue of the goddess: Chorus I. "I am He who created heaven and earth and made all things contained in them." Chorus II. "I am He who created the waters and the great overflow, He who made for the bull his mother whose parent he himself is." Chorus I "I am He who made heaven and the secrets of its horizon; as to the gods I it was who placed their souls in them." Chorus II. "I am He who when he opens his eyes there is light in the world and when he closes them darkness is present." Chorus I. "The waters of the Nile flow when he commands." Chorus II. "But the gods do not know what his name is." [Authentic.].
The voices, indistinct at first, grew stronger, so that each word was audible, and when the procession disappeared the words scattered among the columns, growing ever fainter. At last every sound ceased.
"And still those people," thought Ramses, "not only eat, drink, and gather wealth they really perform religious services even in the night- time; though, how is that to affect the statue?"
The prince had seen more than once the statues of boundary divinities bespattered with mud by the inhabitants of another province, or shot at from bows or slings by mercenary soldiers. "If gods are not offended by insult, they must also care little for prayers and processions. Besides, who has seen gods?" said the prince to himself.
The immensity of the temple, its countless columns, the lamps burning in front of the statue, all this attracted Ramses. He wished to look around in that mysterious immensity, and he went forward. Then it seemed to him that some hand from behind touched his head tenderly. He looked around. No one was there; so he went farther.
This time the two hands of some person seized him by the head, and a third, a great hand, rested on his shoulder.
"Who is here?" cried he prince; and he rushed in among the columns. But he stumbled and almost fell: some one caught him by the feet. Again terror mastered Ramses more than in the cell. He fled distracted, knocking against columns which seemed to bar the way to him, and darkness closed around the man on all sides.
"Oh, save, holy goddess, save me!" whispered he.
At this moment he stopped: some yards in front of him was the great door of a temple through which the starry sky was visible. He turned his head. Amid the forest of gigantic columns lamps were burning, and the gleam of them was reflected faintly from the bronze knees of the holy Hator.