7. Egypt (2)
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In a palace ablaze with gold and jade, Faraway Cloud sat before a mirror, dressing her hair.
The maids brought out an array of beautiful gowns and glittering jewelry for her to choose from.
Faraway Cloud selected a long white dress. Once she put it on, she looked pure and elegant, almost holy.
Egypt’s climate was hot, so the gown was sleeveless. A jeweled belt encircled her waist, making it appear slender enough to fit within one hand.
A white gauze shawl draped over her shoulders, like moonlight spilling down. Her arms could be seen only faintly through its translucent folds.
The maids braided her hair into numerous small plaits, fastening gold ornaments to their ends.
It was an extremely popular Egyptian hairstyle, filled with an exotic charm.
At last, she put on golden armlets and a necklace, transforming herself into a vision of unparalleled splendor.
Faraway Cloud admired herself in the mirror for a moment, then went outside.
The maids treated her with utmost reverence. They followed behind her the entire time, scarcely daring to raise their heads and look at her.
Faraway Cloud wandered through the royal palace for a while before catching sight of a familiar figure.
The young pharaoh was tall and handsome, adorned from head to toe in jewels, his bearing noble and magnificent.
Today he wore no elaborate crown. Instead, a golden brow band rested across his forehead, and his long, sharp eyes became remarkably tender whenever they turned toward her.
He spoke in Egyptian, repeating a single word again and again: Ramses.
Faraway Cloud repeated it after him.
The young man immediately broke into a smile, seemingly delighted.
Faraway Cloud guessed that it must be his name.
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After spending several days in the palace, Faraway Cloud grew bored and wanted to go out.
She kept repeating the name “Ramses” to the maids.
They led her all the way to a palace and then stopped outside, not daring to enter.
Faraway Cloud walked straight to the palace gates. The guards did not dare stop her.
She entered without hesitation and discovered many people gathered inside, apparently discussing something.
The moment they saw her, every voice fell silent.
Faraway Cloud paid them no attention and simply took Ramses away with her.
She pulled him out of the hall, then felt his hand tighten around hers.
Faraway Cloud glanced at him, then pointed with her other hand toward the world beyond the palace.
Ramses understood what she meant and gave a series of orders to the guards.
Before long, slaves carried over a litter. The two of them climbed aboard and were carried out of the palace.
The instant she appeared, the people surged toward her, cheering wildly.
The crowd rolled forward like a tidal wave, utterly beyond control.
They kept shouting, “Nefertari!”
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It was only much later that Faraway Cloud understood what those words meant: Daughter of the Nile.
At last, the royal procession left the city and arrived beside the Nile.
The sun shone upon the river, scattering glittering reflections across its surface, tender and alluring.
The water was astonishingly clear. Along the banks grew great clusters of papyrus, swaying gently in the breeze.
The reeds could be used to make papyrus sheets for writing.
Yet this material was not true paper. It was coarse and expensive to produce, though it was still an extraordinary invention.
In that ancient age, every form of civilization was only just beginning.
The procession traveled for a long while before numerous pyramids appeared in the distance.
Sunlight bathed their sides, lending them a solemn and mysterious grandeur.
As they slowly drew closer, the pyramids grew larger and larger, until they seemed like mountains.
Only when she stood at their feet did Faraway Cloud truly grasp how magnificent and imposing they were.
She was utterly stunned.
She approached for a closer look. The stones were fitted together so tightly that not even a sheet of paper could be slipped between them.
They were monuments in the history of human architecture, counted among the Eight Wonders of the World.
Faraway Cloud ran her fingers over the stonework, her face filled with disbelief.
The pyramids were the tombs of the pharaohs, and enormous statues of the pharaohs had therefore been carved around them. Statues of the queens stood nearby as well, though they were noticeably shorter than those of the pharaohs.
After touring the site, the two of them returned in the royal litter.
They had not gone far when a heart-rending cry suddenly rose from the riverbank.
Faraway Cloud looked toward the water and saw a crocodile dragging a child into the river.
A woman stood nearby, wailing uncontrollably and crying out for help.
Faraway Cloud looked at Ramses and gestured for him to save the child.
But she knew very well that it might already be too late.
Among all crocodile species, the Nile crocodile was second only to the saltwater crocodile in size. It was a notorious killer.
This Nile crocodile was enormous. If the child had still been on the bank, there might have been some hope. But now that the animal had dragged him into the water, there was practically nothing anyone could do.
Ramses ordered the soldiers to bring him a bow. Then he rose and aimed at the crocodile’s eye.
A crocodile’s hide was like bronze and its bones like iron. Its eyes were its only weakness.
Yet striking so small a target was extraordinarily difficult. It required a truly masterful archer.
High upon the royal litter, the majestic pharaoh drew the bowstring, his expression calm as he waited for the right moment.
With a sharp whistle, the arrow flew through the air and struck the crocodile directly in the eye.
The crocodile, writhing in pain, opened its jaws, then plunged beneath the water and fled.
The child thrashed helplessly in the river, but at last escaped with his life.
In an instant, the soldiers and the people erupted in jubilation.
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People said that the pharaoh was a god among mortals. This seemed to be irrefutable proof.
With such a powerful pharaoh, Egypt would naturally become tremendously prosperous.
Bathed in countless adoring gazes, Ramses calmly lowered his bow. Then he looked toward Faraway Cloud, as though waiting for something.
Faraway Cloud applauded him.
The corners of Ramses’s lips lifted slightly. He looked like the proud sun itself.
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By the time they returned, evening had nearly arrived. Faraway Cloud removed her elaborate jewelry and immediately felt much lighter.
In the mirror, her dark hair flowed like ink, framing a face of gentle beauty.
One of the maids lifted a lock of her hair. Her eyes were filled with fascination as she carefully began to comb it.
Just then, music drifted in through the window, flowing into the room like the tide.
Faraway Cloud pushed open the window and looked out.
Ramses was in the garden, playing a harp.
Moonlight enveloped him, draping his figure in a silvery radiance.
He gazed up at her with tenderness and deep affection.
Then he began to sing. His voice mingled with the harp and drifted through the night, haunting and beautiful.
Although Faraway Cloud could not understand the lyrics, she was captivated all the same.
The maids, meanwhile, wore expressions of intense excitement. Their eyes moved repeatedly between the two of them, as though they were witnessing something momentous.
“My love is the only one. No one can ever replace her.
“She is the most beautiful woman in the world.
“When she passed by my side, she had already stolen my heart.
“Because of her, the sun gives forth its light.
“Gods of Egypt, hear my plea. Let me win her love.”
The exalted pharaoh, like an ordinary young man, sang a love song outside the window of the woman he adored.
The lyrics were sincere and passionate, and the maids were deeply moved as they listened.
When the song ended, Faraway Cloud merely smiled and closed the window.
The maids exchanged glances, their eyes filled with sympathy for the pharaoh.
The candles in the hall went out. Ramses stared at the closed window as though he were looking at the tightly shut doors of the young woman’s heart.
Clever as he was, even he could not help but feel troubled.
How, exactly, was he ever going to open her heart?
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