Page:The land of enchantment (1907, Cassell).djvu/79

 food they had failed, and the men had to eat the beasts of burden.”

“How horrible!”

“Yes, but worse followed. At length they had to eat grass and herbs, but when these failed, and they came to the far-reaching desert, starvation stared them in the face, and their sufferings were so ter- tible that Cambyses was forced to return. Numbers of his men died, and thus ended his expedition against the Ethiops.”

He made a nice mess of it.”

“Yes, but that was not all. He had sent part of his army against the Ammonians, and this never returned. It was believed they were lost in the sand.”

“Cambyses’ luck seemed to be turning,” said Harry.

“Yes,” replied Herodotus; “now hear what followed. It chanced that, just about the time Cambyses returned from his expedition with the remnant of his army, the sacred bull Apis appeared in Egypt. This was the signal for great rejoicing and feasting, and Cambyses, down- cast and angry, immediately imagined that the people were rejoicing at his misfortunes. He asked them the cause of their joy, and they replied:

‘One of our gods, who only once in many years appears to us, hath come amongst us again, and ’tis our custom thus to do him honour.’

“Cambyses replied: ‘Ye lie, and ye shall all suffer death.’

“When the punishment had been carried out, Cambyses called the priests and asked them to explain the feasting and rejoicing. They gave the same answer, whereupon Cambyses cried:—

“‘Ye lie too. Soon will I discover whether a tame god has come to Egypt or no.’ So he commanded Apis to be brought before him. The sacred bull was always black with a square spot of white upon his forehead, and on his back the figure of an eagle; the hairs in his tail were double, and he had a beetle on his tongue.

“When Apis was led into Cambyses’ presence, the king drew his dagger and wounded the animal in the thigh. Apis fell to the ground, and Cambyses burst into mocking laughter.

“‘A fine god, forsooth,’ he cried, ‘and fit for you, you wooden-heads! But you shall pay dearly for having thus made a fool of me.’

“Then he had the priests scourged, and forbade any more feasting on pain of death.”