the shape of birds, fishes, and
chimeras, which held the sauces and condiments, had been cleared away,
as well as the ivory, bronze, or wooden spatulae, and the bronze and
flint knives, the guests washed their hands, and cups of wine and
fermented drinks kept on passing around.

The cup-bearer drew with a long-handled ladle the dark wine and the
transparent wine from two great, golden vases adorned with figures of
horses and rams, which were held in equilibrium in front of the Pharaoh
by means of tripods on which they were set.

Female musicians appeared--for the orchestra of male musicians had
withdrawn. A wide gauze tunic covered their slender, youthful bodies,
veiling them no more than the pure water of a pool conceals the form of
the bather who plunges into it. Papyrus wreaths bound their thick hair
and fell to the ground in long tendrils; lotus flowers bloomed on top of
their heads; great golden rings sparkled in their ears, necklaces of
enamel and pearl encircled their necks, and bracelets clanked and
rattled on their wrists. One played on the harp, another on the lute, a
third on the double flute, crossing her arms and using the right for the
left flute and the left for the right flute; a fourth placed
horizontally against her breast a five-stringed lyre; a fifth struck the
onager-skin of a square drum; and a little girl seven or eight years of
age, with flowers in her hair and a belt drawn tight around her, beat
time by clapping her hands.

The dancers came in. They were slight, slender, and as lithe as
serpents; their great eyes shone between the black lines of their lids,
their pearly teeth between the red bars of their lips. Long curls
floated down on their cheeks. Some wore full tunics striped white and
blue, which floated around them like a mist; others wore mere pleated
short skirts falling over the hips to the knees, which allowed their
beautiful, slender legs and round muscular thighs to be easily seen.
They first assumed poses of languid voluptuousness and indolent grace,
then, waving branches of bloom and clinking castanets, shaped like the
head of Hathor, striking tambourines with their little closed hands, or
making the tanned skin of drums resound under their thumbs, they gave
themselves up to swifter steps and to bolder postures; they pirouetted,
they whirled with ever-increasing ardour. But the Pharaoh, thoughtful
and dreamy, did not condescend to bestow a glance of satisfaction upon
them; his