Pharaoh. Уилбур Смит

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СКАЧАТЬ the city went on for many more days for it was spread on both banks of the river. However, our victorious troops were at last able to apprehend Khamudi, where he and his family were found cowering in their hiding place deep in the dungeons beneath his palace. It was most fortuitous that they were sitting on a vast treasure of silver and gold bars, as well as innumerable large chests of jewellery that had taken him and his predecessors almost a century to collect from the enslaved Egyptian populace. This brood of royal rogues and rascals was escorted down to the harbour on the Nile by Hurotas’ troops, where to the accompaniment of music and laughter they were drowned one after another, beginning with the youngest members of the family.

      These were a pair of twin girls of about two or three years of age. Contrary to what I had come to expect of the tribe they were not really repulsive to look at; in fact they were pretty little mites. Their father Khamudi wept as they were plunged into the Nile and held beneath the surface of the river. I was not prepared for that either. Somehow I had come to believe that, like all the brute animals, the Hyksos were incapable of loving and grieving.

      The dreaded Khamudi himself was reserved for last on the execution roster. When his turn came he was accorded a more elaborate departure from this world than the others of his family. This began with skinning him alive using knives that were heated to a glowing red in charcoal braziers; followed by drawing and quartering, which evoked further merriment from the spectators. It seemed that Hurotas’ men have a particularly robust sense of humour.

      I managed to maintain a neutral countenance during these proceedings. I would have much preferred to have taken no part in them, but had I absented myself it would have been seen as a display of weakness by my men. Appearances are vital, and reputations ephemeral.

      Hurotas, Hui and I were subdued on our return to the Memphis palace. However, we soon became our usual cheerful and lively selves when we began counting and cataloguing the contents of the cellars beneath the palace of Khamudi. I find it truly remarkable how when all else in life has lost its flavour, gold alone retains its full fascination and appeal.

      Even though we had fifty of Hurotas’ most trusted men to assist us, it took us several days to lay out all of this treasure. When at last we turned our lanterns upon this mass of precious metal and coloured stones the reflected light was strong enough to dazzle us. We stared at it in awe and astonishment.

      ‘Do you recall the Cretan treasure we captured at the fortress of Tamiat?’ Hurotas asked me in hushed tones.

      ‘When you were still a young captain of legionaries, and your name was Zaras? I will never forget it. I thought that there was not that much silver and gold in the whole wide world.’

      ‘That was not even one-tenth part of what we have here and now,’ Hurotas pointed out.

      ‘This is just as well,’ I replied

      Both Hurotas and Hui looked at me askance. ‘How is that, Taita?’

      ‘That is because we have to share it at least four ways,’ I explained, and when they were still uncomprehending I went on: ‘You and Hui; me and Utteric Turo.’

      ‘You don’t mean Utteric, that utter prick, do you?’ Hurotas looked aghast.

      ‘Exactly!’ I confirmed, ‘Utteric the Great, the Pharaoh of Egypt. This treasure was originally stolen from his ancestors.’

      They considered what I had said in silence for a while and then Hurotas asked tactfully, ‘So then it seems that you intend to remain in Utteric Turo’s realm?’

      ‘Naturally!’ I was taken aback by the question. ‘I am an Egyptian nobleman. I possess vast estates in this country. Where else would I go?’

      ‘Do you trust him?’

      ‘Who?’

      ‘Utteric the Utter Prick; who else?’ Hurotas demanded of me.

      ‘He is my Pharaoh. Of course I trust him.’

      ‘Where was your Pharaoh at the battle of Luxor?’ Hurotas asked remorselessly. ‘Where was he when we stormed these battlements of Memphis?’

      ‘Poor Utteric is not a warrior. He is a gentle soul.’ I tried to make excuses for him. ‘However, his father, Tamose, was a fine and furious warrior.’

      ‘We are discussing the son, not the father,’ Hurotas pointed out.

      I was silent again while I contemplated the implication of his words; finally I asked, ‘May I take it, then, that you will not return with me to Luxor when I go to make my report to Pharaoh Utteric Turo?’

      He shook his head. ‘My heart lies in Lacedaemon with the lovely woman who is my queen, and with our daughter. My business in Luxor is finished. Besides which, there are people in that city who still remember me as young Zaras. I have only met your Pharaoh Utteric Turo once, and he gave me no good reason to like or trust him. I think I would rather return to my own citadel where I have control of the situation.’ He came to me and clapped me on my shoulder. ‘My old friend, if you are as wise as we all believe you to be, you will give your share of this splendid treasure to me, to keep it safely for you until you call upon me to return it to you. In that case no harm will have been done. However, if I am correct in my suspicions you will have good reason to be thankful to me.’

      ‘I will think on it,’ I muttered unhappily.

      Hurotas and Hui lingered another ten days while they loaded their ships with the slaves and other booty they had captured in Memphis, including my share of the Hyksos treasure which I had reluctantly agreed to place in Hurotas’ care. Then they sent their chariots and horses on board and we said our farewells standing on the stone jetty on the west bank of the Nile.

      Four of Hui’s sons by Princess Bekatha were with us at Memphis. Each of them commanded a squadron of chariots. There had been little opportunity for me to become acquainted with them; however, it seemed they took after their father and their royal mother, and that meant to me that they were fine young men, and brave and skilful charioteers. The eldest was named Huisson for obvious reasons; and the other three were Sostratus, Palmys and Leo. Barbaric Greek names, to be sure, but they embraced me and called me ‘Revered and illustrious Uncle’ which endorsed my high opinion of them. They promised to convey my loving duty to their mother and their aunt immediately on their return to Lacedaemon.

      Hurotas had written out the sailing orders for a voyage from the Nile Delta to the island of Lacedaemon; and this, together with a receipt for my share of the treasure of Memphis, he pressed into my hands. ‘Now you will have no excuse for failing to visit us at the very first opportunity that presents itself to you,’ he told me, his voice gruff as he tried to mask his distress at this our second significant parting.

      On the other hand I had written a papyrus scroll for each of my two beloved princesses, Tehuti and Bekatha, for their husbands to deliver to them as soon as they reached their homes. I could not trust those two amiable ruffians to deliver verbatim my precious words to their spouses. These were expressions of such poetic beauty that, even after all these years repeating them silently to myself, can reduce me to tears.

      Then all of them went aboard their galleys and pushed off from the pier. The drums beat the cadence for the rowers; the long oars dipped and swung and dipped again. In line ahead they unwound like some mighty sea dragon awakening, and with the Nile current urging them onwards they disappeared around the first bend in the river, heading for the delta where the river debouched into the great Middle Sea.

      I was СКАЧАТЬ