The Bronze God of Rhodes

The last of Sapher's cargo was moved to the Halia, where it was stowed here, there, and everywhere. We cast off and pulled away from the Anath. Captain Sapher stood with his elbows on the rail, weeping into his beard.

"I grieve with you," I said.

"Twenty years," he said. "For twenty years I slave and scrimp, from common sailor to master mariner, until I can own my own ship. And then, on my third voyage—"

"Could you get a battleship to pull your vessel off?"

"Nay. The bribes to Ptolemaios' officials would eat up most of her value, and by the time the galley got here, the natives would have plundered her of what cargo remains and burnt the rest. Or else the first strong north wind will break her up. Forsooth, the gods have requited me hardly for my sins."

"Indeed, they are not to be trifled with," I said. "May we all keep on then good sides from now on."

Crowded as was the forecastle deck already, several more rescued travelers squeezed in with us. There was a young Hellene on his way to enlist in the Ptolemaic army as a mercenary, a couple of traders, and three whom I came to know better. One was Azarias ben-Moses (or, as we should say, Azarias Moseos) a Judaean weaver of Bousiris: a subdued, round-shouldered, bearded little man who said little because he knew but a few words of Greek. I discovered, however, that with some difficulty and repetition I could speak to him, using my limited Phoenician, because the Judaeans speak a dialect of that language.

"I was visiting Jerusalem in connection with an inheritance," he said, "and was on my way home when this disaster struck. By the one god Iao, I thought we were all dead men, when your ship sailed into sight! Though I am but a poor man, I would do aught that lay in my power for any of you, should you ask a favor of me."

"Just where are we?" I said.

"I think we are a little east of the Phatnitic mouth. Soon we shall reach Tamiathis* (* Modern Damietta or Dumyat), where I leave you to ascend the river to my home. These two go with me, or rather, I go with them as far as Bousiris."

One of the two indicated, a big blond man, spoke Greek with a strong Kilikian accent. "I am Alexis of Tarsos, sir, and this is my partner, Semken of Koptos." He indicated a small dark man with a scar on his chin. "What does a Rhodian ship so far from Rhodes, with a war on?"

I told the tale of the capture of Demetrios' royal robes, and of our present mission.

"Could one see these robes?" queried Semken.

"You would have to ask Captain Python. He keeps them locked up, I suppose. How do you make your living?"

Alexis and Semken pointed to a huge leathern bag they had brought aboard. "Here is our stock," said Alexis. "We are bookdealers. We export rolls of raw papyrus from Egypt to the Greek lands, where we sell them and buy completed manuscripts to bring back to Egypt. Such books find a ready market among Ptolemaios' Greek officials."

"It sounds interesting," I said. "Is it profitable?"

"It is a living," said Alexis, "save that there is too cursed much governmental interference in trade. The latest rumor has it that the Ptolemaios plans to nationalize the papyrus industry."

"If that be true, we are ruined," said Semken. "At least I am. As a Hellene, Alexis can no doubt get a job in some governmental office; but, as an Egyptian, I cannot rise even in my own land, all the good posts being reserved for Hellenes. Is that not an outrage?"

"I had rather find some other commodity to trade in," said Alexis. "Long ago I swore never to do as Semken suggests: become a governmental clerk and sit all day in an office, squeezing bribes from the people and intriguing against my fellow bureaucrats. No, give me a life of travel and adventure."

Onas said: "Has either of you ever seen the terrible Book of Thôth?"

The bookdealers looked at one another. Semken spoke: "Once in my life have I seen it. In a shadowy crypt beneath the pyramid of an ancient king it was, in the hands of an aged wizard. For years this warlock had sought the book, to master the mighty spells that should enable him to stop the sun in the sky and to raise and lower the Nile at his will. At last he found it in the bony hands of the withered mummy of this king of olden times.