"I salute thee, as my future queen and sister! I can believe that thy heart is sore at parting from thy home, thy parents, brethren and sisters; but be of good courage; thy husband is a great hero, and a powerful king; our mother is the noblest of women, and among the Persians the beauty and virtue of woman is as much revered as the life-giving light of the sun. Of thee, thou sister of the lily Nitetis, whom, by her side I might venture to call the rose, I beg forgiveness, for robbing thee of thy dearest friend."
As he said these words he looked eagerly into Tachot's beautiful blue eyes; she bent low, pressing her hand upon her heart, and gazed on him long after Amasis had drawn him away to a seat immediately opposite the dancing-girls, who were just about to display their skill for the entertainment of the guests. A thin petticoat was the only clothing of these girls, who threw and wound their flexible limbs to a measure played on harp and tambourine. After the dance appeared Egyptian singers and buffoons for the further amusement of the company.
At length some of the courtiers forsook the hall, their grave demeanor being somewhat overcome by intoxication.
[Unfortunately women, as well as men, are to be seen depicted on the monuments in an intoxicated condition. One man is being carried home, like a log of wood, on the heads of his servants. Wilkinson II. 168. Another is standing on his head II. 169. and several ladies are in the act of returning the excessive quantity which they have drunk. Wilkinson II. 167. At the great Techu-festival at Dendera intoxication seems to have been as much commanded as at the festivals of Dionysus under the Ptolemies, one of whom (Ptolemy Dionysus) threatened those who remained sober with the punishment of death. But intoxication was in general looked upon by the Egyptians as a forbidden and despicable vice. In the Papyrus Anastasi IV., for instance, we read these words on a drunkard: "Thou art as a sanctuary without a divinity, as a house without bread," and further: "How careftilly should men avoid beer (hek)." A number of passages in the Papyrus denounce drunkards.]
The women were carried home in gay litters by slaves with torches; and only the highest military commanders, the Persian ambassadors and a few officials, especial friends of Amasis, remained behind. These were retained by the master of the ceremonies, and conducted to a richly- ornamented saloon, where a gigantic wine-bowl standing on a table adorned in the Greek fashion, invited to a drinking-bout.
Amasis was seated on a high arm-chair at the head of the table; at his left the youthful Bartja, at his right the aged Croesus. Besides these and the other Persians, Theodorus and Ibykus, the friends of Polykrates, already known to us, and Aristomachus, now commander of the Greek body- guard, were among the king's guests.
Amasis, whom we have just heard in such grave discourse with Croesus, now indulged in jest and satire. He seemed once more the wild officer, the bold reveller of the olden days.
His sparkling, clever jokes, at times playful, at times scornful, flew round among the revellers. The guests responded in loud, perhaps often artificial laughter, to their king's jokes, goblet after goblet was emptied, and the rejoicings had reached their highest point, when suddenly the master of the ceremonies appeared, bearing a small gilded mummy; and displaying it to the gaze of the assembly, exclaimed. "Drink, jest, and be merry, for all too soon ye shall become like unto this!"
[Wilkinson gives drawings of these mummies (II. 410.) hundreds of which were placed in the tombs, and have been preserved to us. Lucian was present at a banquet, when they were handed round. The Greeks seem to have adopted this custom, but with their usual talent for beautifying all they touched, substituted a winged figure of death for the mummy. Maxims similar to the following one are by no means rare. "Cast off all care; be mindful only of pleasure until the day cometh when then must depart on the journey, whose goal is the realm of silence!" Copied from the tomb of Neferhotep to Abd- el-Qurnah.]
"Is it your custom thus to introduce death at all your banquets?" said Bartja, becoming serious, "or is this only a jest devised for to-day by your master of the ceremonies?"