"The stone in no way. But," said the sage, now impatient, "I will say this to thee, and do Thou remember it: the time will come when horses and oxen will take the place of people in labor, and also when boiling water will take the place of horses and oxen."
"But what good will that do the people?" insisted Pentuer.
"Woe is me!" exclaimed Menes, seizing his head. "I know not whether it is because Thou hast grown old, or dull; 'the people' have hidden the whole world from thee and darkened thy mind. If sages had only the people in mind they would be forced to throw away their books and calculations and become shepherds."
"But everything must be of some use," said Pentuer, now grown timid.
"Ye court people," replied Menes with vexation, "use two measures frequently. When a Phoenician brings a ruby or a sapphire ye do not inquire what its use is; ye buy the jewel and shut it up in a casket. But if a sage comes to you with an invention which might change the face of the world, ye ask straightway: 'What is the use of this?' It is clear that ye are frightened lest the investigator might ask a handful of barley for a thing the sense of which your mind does not fathom."
"Art Thou angry, father? Have I wished to offend thee?"
"I am not angry, but I am pained. Twenty years ago there were five men in this temple working over the discovery of new secrets. Today I am alone. And, by the gods, I am unable to find not merely a successor, but even a man who is able to understand me."
"Beyond doubt I would remain here till death so as to learn thy god- like thoughts," said Pentuer. "But tell me, can I shut myself up today in a temple when the fate of the kingdom and the future of the people are wavering in the balance, and when my assistance."
"May influence the fate of the kingdom and of some millions of people!" interrupted Menes, jeeringly. "O ye grownup children in the miters and chains of office. Because ye are free to draw water from the Nile it seems to you that ye may stop the rise or the fall of the river. Not otherwise, surely, thinks the sheep, which following the herd imagines that she is directing it."
"But think, the young pharaoh has a heart full of nobleness; he wishes to give the seventh day for rest, just courts, and even land."