“Victory!  Victory!  Long life to the Pharaoh!  Strength and health!” cried the guests of the king, who, as he descended from his throne, cried to the drinkers: 

“Now, rest till the star of Isis sets.  Then follow me to prayer at the altar of Amon, and then-to battle.”

Fresh cries of triumph sounded through the room, while Rameses gave his hand with a few words of encouragement to each of his sons in turn.  He desired the two youngest, Mernephtah and Rameri to follow him, and quitting the banquet with them and Mena, he proceeded, under the escort of his officers and guards, who bore staves before him with golden lilies and ostrich-feathers, to his sleeping-tent, which was surrounded by a corps d’elite under the command of his sons.  Before entering the tent he asked for some pieces of meat, and gave them with his own hand to his lions, who let him stroke them like tame cats.

Then he glanced round the stable, patted the sleek necks and shoulders of his favorite horses, and decided that ‘Nura’ and ‘Victory to Thebes’ should bear him into the battle on the morrow.

     [The horses driven by Rameses at the battle of Kadesh were in fact
     thus named.]

When he had gone into the sleeping-tent, he desired his attendants to leave him; he signed Mena to divest him of his ornaments and his arms, and called to him his youngest sons, who were waiting respectfully at the door of the tent.

Why did I desire you to accompany me?” he asked them gravely.  Both were silent, and he repeated his question.

“Because,” said Rameri at length, “you observed that all was not quite right between us two.”

“And because,” continued the king, “I desire that unity should exist between my children.  You will have enemies enough to fight with to-morrow, but friends are not often to be found, and are too often taken from us by the fortune of war.  We ought to feel no anger towards the friend we may lose, but expect to meet him lovingly in the other world.  Speak, Rameri, what has caused a division between you?”

“I bear him no ill-will,” answered Rameri.  “You lately gave me the sword which Mernephtah has there stuck in his belt, because I did my duty well in the last skirmish with the enemy.  You know we both sleep in the same tent, and yesterday, when I drew my sword out of its sheath to admire the fine work of the blade, I found that another, not so sharp, had been put in its place.”

“I had only exchanged my sword for his in fun,” interrupted Mernephtah.  “But he can never take a joke, and declared I want to wear a prize that I had not earned; he would try, he said, to win another and then—­”

“I have heard enough; you have both done wrong,” said the King.  “Even in fun, Mernephtah, you should never cheat or deceive.  I did so once, and I will tell you what happened, as a warning.