Far off in a strange grave 'mid much annoy
My wife Ahure lieth and the boy
Merab; 'tis but their shadows, by the art
Of a good scribe, dwell here and have no joy.
Therefore I charge upon thee my behest:
Go, bring from Coptos to this House of Rest
My wife Ahure and Merab the boy.'
And Setne rose and took on him the quest.
And straightway before Pharaoh bowed his head
And told him all the tale. And Pharaoh said:
'I give thee mine own pleasure-ship to sail
To Coptos and bring back those ancient dead.'
So Pharaoh's pleasure-ship with all its crew
Was brought, and southward on the wind they flew
To Coptos; and the High Priest saw the ship,
And all the Priests, and came in haste thereto.
The Priests of Isis and Harpocrates
And the Chief Priest; Setne to all of these
Gave ox and goose and wine, and with them walked
On Coptos Hill amid the tombs and trees.
Three days and nights among the tombs they trod
In Coptos on the Hill, and every sod
They turned and marked, and every graven stone,
And the Scribes' writings in the House of God.
But never could they find by night nor day
The tomb where Merab and Ahure lay.
And Nefrekepta knew they found it not,
And sent his shadow forth to guide their way.
Like an old man, a bent and aged Priest,
It sate. And Setne said: 'Joy be increased,
O Father! Thou dost know the things of old;
Three days and nights we search, and have not ceased,
To find the tomb which holds Ahure dead
And Merab.' Then the old man raised his head:
'The father of my grandsire in old days
Spoke of it to my grandsire; and he said
The father of his grandsire once had told
His grandsire how those two were laid of old
Far in the southmost corner, where the house
Now stands in which the scrivener tells his gold.'