Voices from the Other World Read Online Free Page A

offer a service that, by its execution, would encourage me to restore my trust in you of old?”
    But the high priest was horrified, and implored him, “I cannot, my lord . . . My duty is to serve my God, not to bring down kings.”
    Userkaf fell silent for a moment, following with his two stern eyes the eyes of the priest, which avoided his own. Then the king turned his back on him abruptly, and left the temple, sick in his soul, his chest tightening, while he gnawed at his fingers in grief and chagrin.
    He proceeded hurriedly to the palace of the vizier Horurra, demanding permission to see him. But the servants mocked his wretched appearance, and started to throw him out. He begged and pleaded with them, but this only made them more arrogant. He then told them that he was a friend of the minister’s, and mentioned a name that proved his intimacy—so they let him inside. When the vizier’s gaze fell on the man coming toward him, he stood stiff with fright, his limbs frozen and his eyes open wide, and he gasped without thinking, “My lord!”
    â€œMay the God treat you kindly, my dear friend, Horurra,” said the king.
    â€œDid anyone see you enter my house?” the vizier asked, his heart dismayed.
    The king pondered the reason behind this question, and said, beginning to sink into woe and despair, “Yes, my friend—the servants and the guards who gather at your door.”
    â€œDid any one of them recognize you?”
    â€œI know not,” the king replied.
    The vizier sighed, “What a calamity if the king knew of your visit to my house.”
    â€œDo you fear this upstart?”
    â€œHow could I not?” said the vizier. “You had best leave my palace by the back door.”
    â€œMy dear friend, Horurra—are you turning me away?”
    â€œPlease forgive me, but I’m in difficult straits—I implore you in the name of our old friendship.”
    Pharaoh laughed derisively, seeing his chief minister in an anxious state that he could only bewail. He saw that hope was useless, and that there was no choice but to quit the palace from the rear entrance, as his friend had wished. So he did depart, as the anguish and regret welled up within his breast.
    Of all his friends, none remained but General Samunra. Despite all the failure he had just experienced, the king’s bitter forebodings did not vanquish his unshakeable confidence in his commander-in-chief, who was a gallant, noble, and utterly earnest man. The gods had singled him out with a nature that neither treachery nor worldly goods could seduce. So, placing his last hopes upon him, Userkaf asked for permission to go in to see him. When his eyes fell upon him, the king’s heart yearned for him and he called out, opening his arms wide to embrace him, “O General Samunra, don’t you remember me?”
    Flabbergasted, the commander stood up in alarm saying, “My lord, King Userkaf!”
    â€œYes, it is he himself, in all his misery and remorse.”
    The general did not see the king’s open arms, while his face showed the signs of hardness and severity. He asked his former suzerain sternly, “Does His Majesty the King know of your entering his kingdom?”
    Userkaf was taken aback; his arms dropped in deep disappointment.
    â€œNo,” he said tersely.
    â€œWhat did you come to do in Egypt?”
    â€œI came to call out for help to my old friends.”
    The general approached the king, saying in a military voice, “My duty as commander of the Egyptian Army requires that I arrest you in the name of Pharaoh.”
    â€œDo you not realize that I am the legitimate king?”
    The general said, as he laid his hand upon Userkaf’s shoulder, “Egypt has only one king: I know no other.”
    Convinced that argument was futile, Pharaoh surrendered himself to Samunra. He followed him to the royal palace, where the commander entered the great hall of the