oes not clothe himself with gold and he cannot stop his hunger or
thirst with it. If he had a lump of gold as big as the pyramid, he
would be as poor at the foot of it as a Libyan wandering through the
western desert where there is neither a date nor a drop of water.

"And see, for a piece of this barren metal a Phoenician takes a piece
of land which suffices to feed and clothe thirty-two people, and
besides that he takes the people. For three years he exercises power
over beings who know how to cultivate land, gather in grain, make flour
and beer, weave garments, build houses, and make furniture.

"At the same time the pharaoh or the nomarch is deprived for three
years of the services of those people. They pay him no tribute, they
carry no burdens for the army, but they toil to give income to the
greedy Phoenician.

"Ye know, worthy fathers, that at present there is not a year during
which in this or that province an insurrection does not break out among
laborers exhausted by hunger, borne down by toil, or beaten with
sticks. And some of those men perish, others are sent to the quarries,
while the country is depopulated more and more for this reason only,
that the Phoenician gave a lump of gold to some land-owner! Is it
possible to imagine greater misery? And is Egypt not to lose land and
people yearly under such conditions? Victorious wars undermined Egypt,
but Phoenician gold-dealers are finishing it."

On the faces of the priests satisfaction was depicted; they were more
willing to hear of the guile of Phoenicians than the excesses of
scribes throughout Egypt.

Pentuer rested awhile, then he turned to the viceroy.

"For some months," said he, "Ramses, O servant of the gods, Thou hast
been inquiring why the income of his holiness is diminished. The wisdom
of the gods has shown thee that not only the treasure has decreased but
also the army, and that both those sources of royal power will decrease
still further. And the end will be utter ruin for this country, unless
heaven sends down a ruler who will stop the inundation of misery which
for some hundreds of years is overwhelming Egypt.

"The treasury of the pharaohs was full when we had more land and
people. We must win back from the desert the fertile lands which it has
swallowed, and remove from the people those burdens which weaken and
kill them."

The priests were alarmed again, lest Pentuer might mention scribes for
the second time.

"Thou hast seen, p