The Prince of India, vol 1 | Page 7

letting the

light fall into the courts of the famous building; in like manner he
illuminated the corridors, and the tabernacle; and, as he did so, his
features trembled and his eyes were suffused. He walked around the
exquisite representation several times, pausing now and then to blow
away the dust that had in places accumulated upon it. He noticed the
effect of the transparent whiteness in the chamber; so in its day the
original had lit up the surrounding world. Undoubtedly the model had
peculiar hold upon his feelings.
But shaking the weakness off he after a while addressed himself to
work. He had the negro thrust the edge of the bar under the lid, and
raise it gently. Having thoughtfully provided himself in the
antechamber with pieces of stone for the purpose, he placed one of
them so as to hold the vantage gained. Slowly, then, by working at the
ends alternately, the immense slab was turned upon its centre; slowly
the hollow of the coffin was flooded with light; slowly, and with
seeming reluctance, it gave up its secrets.
In strong contrast to the plainness of the exterior, the interior of the
sarcophagus was lined with plates and panels of gold, on which there
were cartoons chased and beaten in, representing ships, and tall trees,
doubtless cedars of Lebanon, and masons at work, and two men armed
and in royal robes greeting each other with clasped hands; and so
beautiful were the cartoons that the eccentric medalleur, Cellini, would
have studied them long, if not enviously. Yet he who now peered into
the receptacle scarcely glanced at them.
On a stone chair seated was the mummy of a man with a crown upon
its head, and over its body, for the most part covering--the linen
wrappings, was a robe of threads of gold in ample arrangement. The
hands rested on the lap; in one was a sceptre; the other held an
inscribed silver tablet. There were rings plain, and rings with jewels in
setting, circling the fingers and thumbs; the ears, ankles, even the great
toes, were ornamented in like manner. At the feet a sword of the
fashion of a cimeter had been laid. The blade was in its scabbard, but
the scabbard was a mass of jewels, and the handle a flaming ruby. The
belt was webbed with pearls and glistening brilliants. Under the sword

were the instruments sacred then and ever since to Master Masons--a
square, a gavel, a plummet, and an inscribing compass.
The man had been a king--so much the first glance proclaimed. With
him, as with his royal brethren from the tombs along the Nile, death
had asserted itself triumphantly over the embalmer. The cheeks were
shrivelled and mouldy; across the forehead the skin was drawn tight;
the temples were hollows rimmed abruptly with the frontal bones; the
eyes, pits partially filled with dried ointments of a bituminous color.
The monarch had yielded his life in its full ripeness, for the white hair
and beard still adhered in stiffened plaits to the skull, cheeks, and chin.
The nose alone was natural; it stood up thin and hooked, like the beak
of an eagle.
At sight of the figure thus caparisoned and maintaining its seat in an
attitude of calm composure the slaves drew back startled. The negro
dropped his iron bar, making the chamber ring with a dissonant
clangor.
Around the mummy in careful arrangement were vessels heaped with
coins and pearls and precious stones, cut and ready for the goldsmith.
Indeed, the whole inner space of the sarcophagus was set with basins
and urns, each in itself a work of high art; and if their contents were to
be judged by what appeared overflowing them, they all held precious
stones of every variety. The corners had been draped with cloths of
gold and cloths embroidered with pearls, some of which were now
falling to pieces of their own weight.
We know that kings and queens are but men and women subject to the
same passions of common people; that they are generous or sordid
according to their natures; that there have been misers amongst them;
but this one--did he imagine he could carry his amassments with him
out of the world? Had he so loved the gems in his life as to dream he
could illumine his tomb with them? If so, O royal idiot!
The master, when an opening had been made sufficiently wide by
turning the lid upon the edge of the sarcophagus, took off his sandals,
gave a foot to one of his slaves, and swung himself into the interior.

The lamp was then given him, and he surveyed the wealth and splendor
as the king might never again. And as the king in his day had said with
exultation,