Page:The land of enchantment (1907, Cassell).djvu/53

 “I’m longing to hear more about those old Egyptian fellows,” he said.

“Well, one peculiarity which will interest thee since thou comest from thy studies is the writing of the Egyptians. They had two kinds—one sacred and one common—the one used by the priests being called hieratic; the one used by anyone who could write being demotic. More- over, they wrote from right to left, and not from left to right, as thou and I do now, though of old we also wrote from right to left. Thou hast no doubt seen some of the Egyptian writing, which thou wouldst call hieroglyphics, and in which the letters and words are chiefly represented by pictures.”

“I suppose I could see it on Cleopatra’s Needle?” said Harry. “It stands down by the river in London, you know. Mother told me it came from Egypt. It must have wanted a jolly big ship to bring it over.”

“I have seen it,” said Herodotus; “with the sphinxes guarding it on either side. Now, lest I weary thee, I will tell thee of the animals of Egypt, for, like all boys of thy race, I have no doubt thou lovest all animals.”

“Ra—ther!” said Harry; “you should see my guinea No, I won’t interrupt, for I want to hear you speak. Were they kind to animals in Egypt? Some people are brutes, so Father says, and treat animals shamefully.”

“The Egyptians held most animals sacred,” said Herodotus, smiling at Harry’s outburst, “and each animal had special persons to watch over it—both men and women—what thou mightst call ‘animal priests.’ Thus, when a man had made a vow to a god he shaved his son’s head, weighed the hair against a sum of silver, and devoted the money to purchasing food for the animal sacred to the god. Moreover, if a man killed a sacred animal intentionally, he suffered death; if unintentionally, he paid a fine. But there was no punishment save death for the killing of an ibis or a hawk.”

“What awful rot!” said Harry. “As if a man‘s life was worth less than an animal’s. I love all animals, but I can’t see that.”

“Nay,” replied Herodotus, “I cannot see the justice, but remember that men’s ideas could not be the same many thousands of years ago.”

“Weren‘t cats very sacred in Egypt?” said Harry. “I thought I heard that they turned cats into mummies, just like people.”

“Yes, thou hast heard aright. I can tell thee a strange tale