The Pharaoh and the Priest. Bolesław Prus

court?" whispered the host. "With us thieves have a guild of their own. We will send for their elder, and value the effects; Thou wilt pay him twenty per cent of the value and all will be found again. I can assist thee."

      "In my country," replied the guest, "no man compounds with thieves, and

       I will not. I lodge with thee, I trusted thee with my property, and

       Thou wilt answer."

      The worthy Asarhadon began to scratch his shoulder-blades.

      "Man of a distant region," continued he, in a lower voice, "ye Hittites and we Phoenicians are brothers, hence I advise thee sincerely not to turn to an Egyptian court, for it has only one door, that by which a man enters, but none by which he goes out."

      "The gods can conduct an innocent man through a wall," said the

       Hittite.

      "Innocent! Who of us in the land of bondage is innocent?" whispered the host. "Look in that direction; over there that commander of ten policemen is finishing a goose, an excellent young goose, which I myself would have eaten gladly. But dost Thou know why, taking it from my own mouth, I gave that goose to him?"

      "It was because the man came to inquire about thee."

      When he said this, the Phoenician looked askance at the traveler, who did not lose calmness for an instant.

      "He asked me," continued the host, "that master of ten policemen asked, 'What sort of man is that black one who sits two hours over a handful of dates?' I replied: 'A very honorable man, the lord Phut.' 'Whence comes he?' 'From the country of the Hittites, from the city of Harran; he has a good house there of three stories, and much land.' 'Why has he come hither?' 'He has come,' I replied, 'to receive five talents from a certain priest, talents lent by his father.'

      "And dost Thou know, worthy lord," continued the innkeeper, "what that decurion answered? 'Asarhadon,' said he, 'I know that Thou art a faithful servant of his holiness, Thou hast good food and pure wines; for this reason I warn thee, look to thyself. Have a care of foreigners who make no acquaintances, who avoid wine and every amusement, and are silent. That Phut of Harran may be an Assyrian spy.' The heart died in the when I heard this. But these words do not affect thee," said he, indignantly, when he saw that the terrible suspicion of espionage did not disturb the calm face of the Hittite.

      "Asarhadon," said the guest, after a while, "I confided to thee myself and my property. See to it, therefore, that my bags and my casket are returned to me, for in the opposite case I shall complain of thee to that same chief of tea who is eating the goose which was intended for thee."

      "Well, but permit me to pay the thieves only fifteen per cent of the value of the things," cried the host.

      "Thou hast no right to pay."

      "Give them even thirty drachmas."

      "Not an uten."

      "Give the poor fellows even ten drachmas."

      "Go in peace, Asarhadon, and beg the gods to return thee thy reason," answered the traveler, with the same unchanging calmness.

      The host sprang up, panting from anger.

      "The reptile!" thought he. "He has not come for a debt simply. He is doing some business here. My heart tells me that he is a rich merchant, or maybe an innkeeper who, in company with priests and judges, will open another inn somewhere near this one. May the first fire of heaven burn thee! May the leprosy devour thee! Miser, deceiver, criminal from whom an honest man can make nothing."

      The worthy Asarhadon had not succeeded yet in calming himself when the sounds of a flute and a drum were heard on the street, and after a while four dancers, almost naked, rushed into the courtyard. The carriers and sailors greeted them with shouts of delight, and even important merchants in the galleries looked at them with curiosity and made remarks on their beauty. The dancers with motions of the hands and with smiles greeted all the company. One began to play on a double flute, another accompanied with a drum, and the two others danced around the court in such fashion that there was hardly a guest whom their muslin shawls did not strike as they whirled.