"Be calm, lord; if it had infected thee Thou wouldst be leprous this moment."
The prince felt a chill in every member. How easy for the gods to thrust a man down from the highest summits to the depths of the lowest misery!
"And Lykon?"
"He is a great criminal," said Pentuer; "a criminal of such kind that the earth has given few such."
"I know him. He is as like me as a reflection of me in a mirror," replied Ramses.
Now came a crowd of Libyans leading strange animals. At the head of these was a one-humped camel with white hair, one of the first which they had caught in the desert, next two rhinoceroses, a herd of horses, and a tame lion caged. Then a multitude of cages holding birds of various colors, monkeys, and small dogs intended for court ladies. Behind them were driven great herds of cattle, and flocks of sheep as food for the pharaoh's army.
The prince cast an eye on the moving menagerie, and asked the priest,
"But is Lykon caught?"
"I will tell thee now the worst news, unhappy lord," whispered Pentuer.
"But remember that the enemies of Egypt must not notice grief in thee."
The heir moved.