“God forbid, sir! Good food gives me stomach poisoning! I just sell it to anyone who'll buy.”
“Aren't you afraid of the constables?”
“I'm very afraid of them, sir, because the only ones allowed to steal in this country are the rich and the rulers!”
Tuna added his word to that of the thief, saying, “The rule in Egypt is that the rich steal from the poor, but the poor are not allowed to steal from the rich.”
As he spoke his eyes — were focused greedily on the two full cups and he changed the course of the conversation by saying accusingly, “Why do you leave your cups untouched, just waiting to stir up trouble among the drinkers?”
Isfmis smiled and said affably, “They're yours, Tuna!”
His mouth watered and he seized the cups in his thick hands, directing warning looks at those around him. Then he emptied them into his belly one after the other and sighed contentedly. Isfmis grasped the meaning of the man's threat and ordered as much beer and wine as they wanted for those nearby. Everyone drank and raised a happy clamor and started talking and singing and laughing. Hardship and poverty were written on the faces of all, but at that moment they appeared happy, laughing and giving no thought to the morrow. Isfmis threw himself into the spirit of things gaily enough, though his low spirits would revisit him from time to time. They had been with the men quite some time when a man came into the inn who appeared to be one of them, and greeted them with a wave and ordered a cup of beer. Then he said to those around him in a tone that gave nothing away, “They have arrested the Lady Ebana and taken her to the court.”
Most of the men were too befuddled with drink to pay him any attention but others asked, “And why is that?”
“They say that a high-ranking officer of the Herdsmen crossed her path on the Nile shore and wanted to take her as one of his women. She resisted and pushed him away.”
Many of the men yelled angrily and Isfmis asked him, “And what will the court do to her?”
The man stared at him unbelievingly and said, “It will sentence her to pay a fine that she cannot afford in order to give her no way out. Then it will order her to be flogged and thrown into prison.”
Isfmis's face changed and he turned pale and said to the man, “Can you show us how to get to the court?”
Tuna stammered, “It will do you more good to drink, because whoever defends this woman will anger the high-ranking officer and expose himself to who knows what punishment!”
The man — who had spread the news asked him, “Are you a stranger, sir?”
“Yes,” Isfinis replied. “And I want to attend this trial.”
“I'll be your guide to the court if you wish.”
As they left the inn, Latu bent over his ear and whispered, “Take care not to get involved in anything that will spoil our delicate mission!”
Isfinis did not answer, but turned on his heel and followed the man.
6
The court was crammed with petitioners, plaintiffs, and witnesses and the seats in the hall were filled with people of every class. In the place of honor sat judges with flowing beards and white faces, a figurine of Thamy, the goddess of justice, dangling on the chest of their chief. The two colleagues took seats close to one another and Latu whispered to Isfinis, “They imitate the externals of our system.”
They scrutinized the faces and realized that most of those present were Hyksos. The judges summoned the accused, interrogated them rapidly, and issued their sentences fast and mercilessly. Cries of complaint and lamentation arose from the naked victims with their copper-colored bodies and brown faces. Lady Ebana's turn came and the usher called, “Lady Ebana!”
The two men looked apprehensively and saw a lady approach the dais with measured steps, her bearing displaying dignity and sorrow, her features full of beauty despite her being close to forty years in age. A Hyksos man, dressed in fine clothes, followed her, bowed respectfully to the judge, and said, “Honorable Lord Judge, I am the agent of Commander Rukh — whom this woman attacked — and I am called Khumm. I shall represent his lordship before the court.”
The judge nodded his head in agreement, astonishing Latu and Isfinis. The judge said, “What does your master accuse this woman of?”
The man replied with distaste and irritation, “My master says that he met this woman this morning and wished to add her to his harem, but she refused ungratefully and rejected him with an impudence that he considered an attack on his honor as a soldier.”
The man's statement set off a clamor of indignation among those present and people put their heads together, whispering disapprovingly. The judge made a gesture toward the people with his staff of office and they fell silent. Then he said, “What say you, woman?”
The woman had maintained her calm, as though despair of fair treatment had absolved her of any susceptibility to fear. She said quietly, “This man's statement is inaccurate.”
The judge angrily rebuked her, saying, “Take care that you do not say anything that might touch the dignity of the honorable complainant, for your crime will then be twice as bad! Tell your story and leave the judgment to us!”
The woman's face reddened in embarrassment and she said, still maintaining her calm, “I was on my way to the fishermen's quarter when a carriage barred my way and an officer got down and told me to get in, without delay and without any previous acquaintance. I was terrified and wanted to get away from him, but he took hold of my hand and told me that he was doing me an honor by adding me to his women. I told him that I refused his offer, but he scoffed at me and told me that when a woman makes a show of refusal she really means, ‘Yes.’ “
The judge gestured to her to stop speaking, as though it pained him to hear her mention details that might detract from the officer's dignity. Then he asked her, “Answer! Did you assault him or not?”
“Certainly not, sir! I insisted on refusing and tried to slip from his grasp, but I did not attack him either with my hand or my tongue, and any number of people from the quarter can attest to that.”
“You mean the fishermen?”
“Yes, sir.”
“The testimony of such people is not accepted in this sacred place.”
The woman fell silent and a look of perplexity and confusion appeared in her eyes. The judge asked her, “Is that all you have to say?”
“Yes, sir. And I swear that I did not harm him by word or deed.”
“The one who brings a complaint against you is a great personage, a commander of Pharaoh's guard, and his words are true until proven otherwise.”
“And how am I to prove otherwise, when the court refuses to hear my witnesses?”
The judge said angrily, “Fishermen do not enter this place, unless brought here as suspects!”
The man turned away from her and leant toward his colleagues to discuss their opinions. Then he sat upright once more and said, directing his words to Lady Ebana, “Woman, the commander intended to do you a favor and you rewarded him very badly. The court gives you a choice between paying fifty pieces of gold or prison for three years, with a flogging.”
The public listened attentively to the sentence and satisfaction showed on all their faces, except for that of one, who shouted in a voice full of emotion, as though unable to control himself, “Lord Judge! The woman is wronged and innocent. Let her go! Pardon her, for she is wronged!”
The judge, however, grew furious and fixed the owner of the voice with a look that silenced him, while people stared at him from every side. Isfmis recognized him and said to his companion in amazement, “It's the youth who was angry when we spoke to him and accused us of being Herdsmen's slaves.”
Isfmis was enraged and full of pain. He went on and said, “I will not let that imbecile of a judge throw that lady in prison!”
Latu said anxiously, “Your mission is more important than taking the part of a wronged woman. Be careful
