"I shall believe thee when I see them myself," replied the pharaoh.
"But tell me, whence could such creatures come?"
"The world in which we live, holiness, has suffered great changes. In Egypt itself we find ruins of cities and temples hidden in the earth deeply. There was a time when that which is now Lower Egypt was an arm of the sea, and the Nile flowed through the whole width of our valley. Still earlier the sea was here, where this kingdom is now. Our ancestors inhabited the region which the western desert has taken. Still earlier tens of thousands of years ago the people were not as we are, they rather resembled monkeys, but they knew how to build huts, they had fire, and they used stones and clubs in fighting.
"There were no horses in those days, nor bulls; while elephants, rhinoceroses and lions were three or even four times as large as those beasts are in our time.
"But enormous elephants were not the first creatures. Before them lived immense reptiles: flying, swimming, and walking. Earlier than the reptiles in this world there were only snails and fish, and before them only plants, but plants such as exist not at present."
"And still earlier?" inquired Ramses.
"Still earlier the earth was empty and void, and the spirit of God moved over the waters."
"I have heard something of this," said Ramses, "but I shall not believe it till Thou show me mummies of monsters which, as Thou sayst, are in thy temple."
"With permission, holiness, I will finish what I have begun," said Samentu. "When I saw that immense body in the cave at Sinai fear seized me, and for two years or more I entered no cave of any kind. But when priests of Set explained to me the origin of such wonderful creatures my alarm vanished and curiosity rose up in place of it. I have no pleasanter amusement today than to wander in subterranean places and search for ways amid darkness. For this reason the labyrinth will not cause me more trouble than a walk through the pharaoh's garden."
"Samentu," said the sovereign, "I esteem thy marvelous daring and thy wisdom; Thou hast told me so many curious things that indeed I myself have conceived a wish to examine caves, and some time I will even go with thee to Sinai. Still I have fears as to thy conquest of the labyrinth, and in every event I will summon an assembly of Egyptians to empower me to use its treasures."
"That will do no harm," replied the priest. "But none the less will my labor be needed, since Mefres and Herhor will never consent to yield the treasure."