THE GODDESSES HIDING THE CROWN
HORDEDEF'S TALE 41
rain; and they turned back again unto the house. And they said, "Let us put this barley in a closed chamber, sealed up, until we return northward, dancing." And they placed the barley in a close chamber. And Rud-didet purified herself, with a purification of fourteen days. And she said to her handmaid, "Is the house made ready?" And she replied, "All things are made ready, but the brewing barley is not yet brought." And Rud-didet said, "Wherefore is the brewing barley not yet brought? " And the servant answered, " It would all of it long since be ready if the barley had not been given to the dancing-girls, and lay in the chamber under their seal." Rud didet said, "Go down, and bring of it, and Ra-user shall give them in its stead when he shall come," And the handmaid went, and opened the chamber. And she heard talking and singing, music and dancing, quavering, and all things which are performed for a king in his chamber. And she returned and told to
42 TALES OF THE MAGICIANS