coffers close on a widow’s mite.
The King laughed till the tears ran from his eyes. Then he remembered his pain and moaned and put his hand to a cheek so swollen that one eye was half closed. He scowled at the old man, who hastened to say, “Here is that stubborn Egyptian who would not come when you summoned him. Say but the word, and the guards. shall slit his liver.”
But the»King kicked at him, saying, “This is no time to talk nonsense but for him to heal me at once. The pain is terrible, and I fear that I may die since I have not slept for many nights nor eaten anything but broth.”
Then the old man lamented, striking his head against the floor, “O lord of the four quarters of the world! We have done all we might to heal you; we have offered jaws and teeth in the temple to drive out the evil spirit that is lodged in your jaw. More we have not been able to do because you would not let us touch your sacred person. Nor do I think this unclean Egyptian can do better than we.”
But I said, “I am Sinuhe the Egyptian, He Who Is Alone, Son of the Wild Ass, and I do not need to examine you to see that a tooth has caused your cheek to swell because you did not have it cleansed or drawn out in time as your physicians must surely have counseled you to do. Such pains are for children and the timid and not for the lord of the four quarters of the world, before whom the very lions tremble and bow their heads as I see with my own eyes. Nevertheless, I know your pain is great, and I will help you.”
The King, still with his hand to his face, made answer, “You speak boldly. Were I well, I should have your impudent tongue cut out and your liver slit-but there is no time for that now. Cure me quickly, and your reward shall be great. But if you hurt me, I will have you slain without delay.”
“Be it so. I have with me a small but remarkably powerful god, thanks to whom I did not come yesterday-for if I had, it would have been to no purpose. I can see that today the evil has ripened sufficiently for me to treat it, and this I shall do if you wish. But not even a king can the gods preserve from pain, though I declare to you that your relief when it is over will be so great that the pain will be forgotten and that I will make it as slight as any man in the world can make it.”
The King hesitated for a while, scowling, with his hand to his cheek. He was a handsome boy when well, though spoiled, and I knew that I liked him. Feeling my eyes upon him, at last he said irritably, “What you have to do, do quickly.”
The old man groaned and struck his head against the floor, but I paid him no heed. I ordered wine to be warmed, and with this I mixed a narcotic. He drank and after a time brightened a little, saying, “The pain is leaving me, and you need not plague me with your knives and forceps.”
But my will was stronger. Tucking his head firmly into my armpit, I made him open his mouth, then lanced the boil on his jaw with a knife purified in the fire Kaptah had brought with him. The fire was not, indeed, the holy fire of Ammon; Kaptah had carelessly allowed this to go out on the journey down the river. The new flame Kaptah had kindled with a fire drill in my room at the inn, believing in his simplicity that the scarab was potent as Ammon.
The King uttered loud cries when he felt the knife, and the lion with blazing eyes rose up and roared, lashing its tail to and fro; but soon the boy was busily spitting. His relief was sweet, and I helped him by pressing lightly on his cheek. He spat, and wept for joy, and spat again, exclaiming, “Sinuhe the Egyptian, you are a blessed man although you hurt me.” And he spat on unceasingly.
But the old man said, “I could have done that as well as he, and better, if only you had permitted me to touch your sacred jaw. And your dentist would have done it best of all.”
He was astonished when I said, “This old man says truly, for he could have done it as well as I, and the dentist would have done it best. But their wills were not as strong as mine, and so they could not free you from your pain. For a physician must venture to cause pain even to a king when it is unavoidable, without fearing for himself. These feared, but I do not fear, for all is one to me, and your men are welcome to slit my liver when I have cured you.”
The King spat and pressed his cheek, and the cheek was no longer painful.
“I never heard a man speak as you speak, Sinuhe. Truly you have brought me great relief; wherefore, I pardon you your insolence-and I forgive your servant also though he saw me with my head under your arm and heard me cry out. I forgive him because he made me laugh with his capering.” To Kaptah he added, “Do it again!”
But Kaptah said wrathfully, “It is inconsistent with my dignity.”
Burnaburiash said smiling, “We shall see.”
He called the lion, and the lion rose and stretched till its joints cracked, its intelligent eyes upon its master. The King pointed to Kaptah, and the lion strolled lazily toward him waving his tail, while Kaptah drew back and back and gazed on the beast as if bewitched. Suddenly the lion opened its jaws and gave a muffled roar; Kaptah whipped about and, seizing the door hangings, scuttled up them and perched upon the lintel. He squeaked with terror as the animal dabbed up at him with its paw. The King laughed more than ever.
“Never did I see such clowning,” he said.
The lion sat licking its chops while Kaptah clung to the lintel in great distress. But now the King ordered food and drink, declaring that he was hungry. The old man wept for joy that the King was cured, and many different foods were brought in on silver dishes, wine also in golden cups.
The King said, “Eat with me, Sinuhe! Ill though it befits my dignity, I will forget it today and not think of how you held my head under your arm and poked your fingers into my mouth.”
So I ate and drank with him, and I told him, “Your pain is soothed, but may return at any time if the tooth that is the cause of it be not removed. Therefore, let the dentist draw it as soon as the swelling in your cheek has gone down, when it may be done without endangering your health.”
His face darkened.
“You talk much and tediously, you cra^y foreigner.” Then after some reflection he added, “But it may be true, for the pain returns every autumn and spring when my feet are wet-and so badly that I wish I were dead. If it must be done then you shall do it, for I will not set eyes on that dentist again because of the needless pain he has caused me.”
I answered him gravely, “Your dentist shall draw the tooth and not I, for in such matters he is the cleverest man in the country-cleverer also than myself-and I would not bring his anger upon my head. But if you wish it, I will stand beside you and hold your hands and encourage you while he does it, and I will soothe the pain with all the arts I have learned in many lands among many people. And this shall be done two weeks from today-for it is best to fix the time lest you repent of it. By then your jaw will be sufficiently healed, and meanwhile you shall rinse your mouth morning and evening with a remedy I shall give you, though it may sting and has an evil taste.”
He grew angry. “And if I will not do this?”
“You must give me your sacred word that all shall be done as I have said-for indeed the lord of the four quarters of the world cannot go back upon that. And if you let it be done, I will divert you with my arts and turn water into blood before your eyes-I will even teach you to do this and amaze your subjects. But you must promise never to reveal the secret to anyone else, for it is sacred to the priests of Ammon, and I should not know it myself were I not a priest of the first grade, nor dare to teach it to you were you not a king.”
As I finished speaking, Kaptah cried out pitifully from the door frame, “Take away this devil’s beast or I shall climb down and slay it, for my hands are numb and my backside sore with sitting in this uncomfortable place which in no way befits my dignity.”
Burnaburiash laughed more than ever at this threat. Then feigning gravity he said, “It would indeed be a woeful thing if you killed my lion, for I have brought it up from a cub, and it is my friend. I will call it away, therefore, that you may not commit this evil deed in my palace.”
He called the lion to him, and when Kaptah had climbed down the hangings, he stood rubbing his cramped legs and glaring at the lion so that the King laughed again and slapped his knees.
“A more comical man I never saw in my life. Sell him to me, and I will make you rich.”
But I did not wish to sell Kaptah. The King did not insist, and we parted friends. He had begun to nod by now, and his eyelids were drooping, for he had had no sleep for many nights.
The old physician followed me out, and I said to him, “Let us take counsel together about what is to happen in two weeks’ time, for that will be an evil day, and we should be wise to make sacrifice to all suitable gods.”
This greatly pleased him, for he was a pious man, and we agreed to meet in the temple to make sacrifice and to confer with the doctors about the King’s tooth. Before we left the palace, he caused refreshment to be offered to
