"Do so, and thou shalt have a rod of gold," answered the king.
Then descending into a fountain, inclosed by a high wall of the palace, where the frogs had not yet appeared, the magician caused frogs also to appear. "At first," said the chief butler, who spoke to me of this deed, "the king was greatly pleased, but suddenly said:
"'What thou hast produced by thy enchantments, remove by thy enchantments. Command them to disappear from the fountain.'
"This the two magicians not being able to do, the next day, the frogs rendering every habitation uninhabitable, and the lords of Egypt appealing to Pharaoh, he sent for Moses and Aaron. It had become time to do so. Every part of my rooms was filled with these animals; they got into the plates and cups, and defiled every place—while by night their combined roar filled all Egypt with a deafening and terrible noise, so that if a bed could be found to sleep in, sleep was nowhere possible; and by day we could tread nowhere but upon frogs."
When the two Hebrew brothers again stood in the presence of Pharaoh, he said, with mingled shame and displeasure—
"Entreat your God to take away this plague of frogs from me, my people, and the land of Egypt; and if thou canst free the land from them, I will acknowledge that it is the power of the God of the Hebrews, and will let the people go to do sacrifice unto the Lord, who hath commanded and sent for them."
Then Moses answered the king—
"The Lord shall be entreated as thou desirest; and thou, O king, shalt set the time, lest thou shouldst say I consulted a favorable aspect of the stars. Choose when I shall entreat for thee to remove this plague from the land, the people, and their houses."
"To-morrow," answered Thothmeses.
"Be it according to thy word," answered Moses; "and when thou seest the plague removed at the time appointed by thee, know it is God's gracious act, and not our sorcery. To-morrow the frogs in all the land of Egypt shall be found in the river only."