"I have appointed thee chief of a council which is to investigate the causes of those ever-recurring riots in Egypt. I wish that only the guilty be punished, and that justice be done those who are injured."
"May the god support thee with his favor," whispered the priest. "I will do what Thou commandest. But the causes of the riots I know already."
"What are they?"
"More than once have I spoken of them to thee, holiness. The toiling people are hungry; they have too much work, and they pay too many taxes. He who worked formerly from sunrise till sunset must begin now an hour before sunrise and finish an hour after sunset. It is not long since a common man might go every tenth day to visit the graves of his mother and father, speak with their shades, and make them offerings. But today no one goes, for no one has time to go."
"Formerly a working man ate three wheat cakes in the course of the day; at present he has not even barley bread. Formerly labor on the canals, dams, and roads was deducted from the taxes; now the taxes are paid independently while public works are carried on without wages. These are the causes of riots."
"I am the poorest noble in the kingdom!" cried the pharaoh, while he tugged at his own hair. "Any landowner gives his cattle proper food and rest; but all men who work for me are tired and hungry."
"What am I to do, then, tell Thou who hast begged me to improve the lot of the workers?"
"Wilt Thou command me to tell, lord?"
"I will beg, I will command, as Thou wishest. Only speak wisely."
"Blessed be thy rule, O true son of Osiris," answered the priest. "This is what it is proper to do: Command, lord, first of all, that pay be given for labor on public works, as was the case formerly."