My spirit saw this man enter into my
tomb, and what he did there. With bowed head he looked upon my bones
that a thief of the priesthood had robbed and burnt within twenty years
of their burial, in which he himself had taken part. And what did this
man with those bones, he who was once Horu? I tell you that he hid them
away there in the tomb where he thought they could not be found again.
Who, then, was the thief and the violator? He who robbed and burnt my
bones, or he who buried them with reverence? Again, he found the jewels
that the priest of your brotherhood had dropped in his flight, when the
smoke of the burning flesh and spices overpowered him, and with them the
hand which that wicked one had broken off from the body of my Majesty.
What did this man then? He took the jewels. Would you have had him leave
them to be stolen by some peasant? And the hand? I tell you that he
kissed that poor dead hand which once had been part of the body of my
Majesty, and that now he treasures it as a holy relic. My spirit saw
him do these things and made report thereof to me. I ask you, therefore,
Prince, I ask you all, Royalties of Egypt--whether for such deeds this
man should die?"
Now Khaemuas, the advocate of vengeance, shrugged his shoulders and
smiled meaningly, but the congregation of kings and queens thundered an
answer, and it was:--
"_No!_"
Ma-Mee looked to Menes to give judgment.
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