maize, and beans....

SOKITI. And blows of the stick--say, will there be blows of the stick?

PAKH. Never again.

SOKITI. Never again....

PAKH. I shall forget all I have endured.

SOKITI. I shall be famished; and I shall be able to eat until my hunger
is gone ... every day!

BITIOU. And I--I shall be tall, with straight strong legs, like the rest
of the world.

PAKH. That will be better than having been prince on the earth.

_They laugh. The Steward appears._

STEWARD. What are you doing there? [_Striking them with the whip_] Your
mistress comes! Begone!

_They go out._

_The Steward bows low before Mieris who is blind, and who
enters with her arms full of flowers and led by Yaouma._

_The Steward retires._

MIERIS [_gently_] Leave me, Yaouma--I shall be able to find my way to
her, alone.

YAOUMA. Yes mistress.... [_Nevertheless, she goes with her
noiselessly_].

MIERIS [_smiling_] I can feel you do not obey. Be not afraid. [_She has
come as far as the little statue of Isis_] You see, I do not lose my
way. I have come every day to bring her flowers, a long, long time....
Leave me.

YAOUMA. Yes, mistress.

_She withdraws._

MIERIS [_touching the statue in the manner of the blind_] Yes, thou art
Isis. I know thy face, and I can guess thy smile. [_She takes some of
the flowers which she has laid beside her and lays them one by one on
the pedestal of the statue_] Behold my daily offering! I know this for a
white lotus flower. It is for thee. I am not wrong, this one, longer,
and with the heavier scent, is the pink lotus. It is for thee. And here
are yet two more of these sacred flowers. At dawn, they come from out
the water, little by little. At midday they open wide. And when the sun
sinks they, too, hide themselves, letting the waters of the Nile cover
them like a veil. Men say they are fair to see. Alas, I know not the
beauty of the gifts I bring! Here is a typha ... here an alisma; and by
the overpowering perfume, this, I know, is the acacia flower. I have
had them tell me how the light, playing through the filmy petals, tints
them with color sweet unto the eyes. May the sight gladden thine! I know
not the beauty of the gifts I bring! But all the days of my life, a
suppliant I shall come, and weary not to ply thee with my prayers, until
in the end thou absolve me, until thou grant me the boon that all save I
enjoy, to behold the rays of the shining God, of Ammon-Ra