"Bedtime Stories"

I was digging through my stuff when I happened upon a story that my friend, Jonamun and I wrote together almost three or so years ago. I had it on blogger, but I may as well put it here, too.



"Bedtime Stories" by Sekhmet Meritamen and Jonamun Hatshepsut (Ancient Sites: Qenbet)

The Royal Physician, Sekhmet Meritamen, was tapped on the shoulder by a maid as she made to leave the Per'aa to her rest. It was late aboard the Heart of Ra, but the young boy Menenhetet was tapping at the door of Pharaoh's chamber, asking for Sekhmet. Menenhetet had assured Jonamun he would be fine while the man went into the city of Waset and left him on the coronation barge with all his new friends, but now, as it grew dark and Jonamun hadn't returned, Meni was lonely and sought out the warmth of Lady Sekhmet.

Sekhmet emerged from the fragrant shadows of Per'aa's cabin and knelt down before the little waif, "Are you alright Meni?" she asked.

Seeing the familiar midnight braids and the warm dark eyes of Lady Sekhmet, Meni's apprehensive expression melted into a relieved smile. He reached instinctively for her hand and then peered curiously over her shoulder into the darkness.

"Are you tucking in our Per'aa, nebet?" Meni asked

"I've already tucked Her in," Sekhmet said softly, holding a finger to her lips to hush the child. "She is almost asleep, which means you should be yourself!"

Meni went up on his toes trying to penetrate the shadows for a glimpse of what a sleeping pharaoh looked like. His eyes squinted and his brow furrowed.

"Did you read a story to Her?" Meni asked inquisitively

Sekhmet smiled and saw a perfect opportunity to entertain young Meni.

"As a matter of fact, I did. Would you like to hear it?" Sekhmet asked him, knowing full well that Meni would not be able to resist a good story.

"Oh yes, nebet! I love stories!" Meni exclaimed in a whisper as he watched Sekhmet close the chamber doors to Per'aa's cabin.

With tender steps, the woman and child then creaked along the undulating decks under the star-studded night. The glow from the city was like a dim remnant of the sunken western sun and as he looked past the docks and into the capitol, Meni wondered what his friend Jonamun was up to. Soon Sekhmet's cabin was in sight and the two shadows passed within.

The cabin was filled with pretty things that Meni's eyes swam over with delight. And there were delicious smells of incense and herbs that the boy had never known. As Lady Sekhmet sought the scrolls of the story, Meni wandered about the cabin as if in a dream.

"Jonamun's cabin is so empty!" he commented, examining some of Sekhmet's knick-knacks.

Sekhmet smiled at Meni, "Well that's one thing about nebets, Meni. We tend to travel with a good deal more things than are necessary. Although, most of what I have is for my job as Per'aa's doctor. Do you see this herb?" Sekhmet held up a fragrant, dried piece of *ti-sepes bark before Meni. He gingerly plucked it from her fingers.

"This is very important to those people who may feel seasick on our travels. It helps settle their tummies. Smell it..." She invited him to smell it and Meni broke into a smile, 'see! That smells good doesn't it?"

"Oh nebet! Can I have this?" Meni asked, grinning as he smelled the herbal sprig.

"Why don't you keep that....I think I have some more," Sekhmet smiled, her heart was quickly being won over and she knew it.

"Thank you, nebet!" Meni's eyes sparkled in the light as he looked at her. The boy's gratitude was evident and Sekhmet wondered why a sweet herb was so pleasing to him.

"What will you do with that?" she asked.

"I will give it to Jonamun. It will make him stop puking at night when the boat rocks." Meni replied cradling the herb to him.

"Oh that is an excellent idea, Meni! I think you maybe should consider being a doctor as well as an architect. You could build Pharaoh something very tall and give her something if she got sick from the heights." ;

'Whatever Netjer's plan is, ' She thought, 'surely we have been brought together by Shai, little Meni', Sekhmet thought as she looked down at Meni and smiled again.

"So you have prepared for Bed young Meni? The ladies I hear gave you a bath, which is good. It seems you have made many new friends here lately! So now, if you will hop into the sleeping couch there I can sit beside you and tell you the story." Sekhmet offered.

Sekhmet's own cot was ample even for being on a ship. Certainly there was enough room on it for Sekhmet and himself, Meni thought.

Sekhmet watched the thoughts cross the little boy's face, at first excited about sleeping somewhere warm and wrapped in soft linen sleeping clothes and all at once self conscious because the experience was new. He settled on the cot, and snuggled into the pillows. Sekhmet sat beside him and took out a scroll from the box near the cot. Meni snuggled in close, laying his little hand on Sekhmet's lap, causing the Swnwt n neb tawy's heart to stir. She looked down at his anxious face and began to read the old familiar story of her youth:

"Once there was a young lion and he went out into the world with no fear in his heart. He was mighty in strength and good at hunting. The small game of the mountains knew fear and terror of him. One day it happened that he met a panther whose fur was stripped..."Sekhmet told him.

"Oh! Like the Viyaggrah that Subhajit told me about!" Meni exclaimed, reflecting on the strange Bharati man that he met that afternoon.

Sekhmet looked at him with one raised eyebrow, 'Subhajit? Hmmm...I'm almost afraid to ask..." Whenever Subhajit was involved in anything, particularly with tigers or children, there was trouble afoot.

Meni noting Sekhmet's sudden shift in tone at the mention of the Bharati Physician, feared that his story would be ended even before it began. Deftly, he herded Sekhmet's awareness back to the scroll.

"What about the panther and the lion, nebet?" Meni asked coyly, snuggling even closer into Sekhmet's side.

Sekhmet smiled and continued, "well the panther's skin was torn. The lion asked the panther, 'how did your skin get torn? Who scraped your fur?' And the panther replied, ' It was man." The Lion was confused, "Man, what is that?" That panther said to him" There is no one more cunning than man. May you not fall into the hand of man!" The Lion became enraged against man. He ran away from the Panther in order to search for man."

"The lion encountered a team yoked animals. so that one was in the bit of the horse and the other bit in the mouth of the donkey. The Lion said to them, "Who is he who has done this to you?" They said "It is man, our master." The Lion said to them, "Is man stronger than you?" They said: "Our lord, there is no one more cunning than man. May you not fall into the hands of man!" The Lion became enraged against man and he ran away from them."

"The same happened to him with an ox and a cow, whose horns had been clipped, whose noses were pierced and whose heads were roped. He questioned them; and they all told him the same."

"The same happened with a Bear whose claws had been removed and whose teeth had been pulled. He asked him saying :Is man stronger than you?" And the Bear answered the Lion, "That is the truth. I had a servant who prepared my food, He said to me "Truly your claws stick out from your flesh; you cannot pick up food with them. Your teeth protrude; they do not let food reach your mouth. Release me and I will cause you to pick up twice as much food. When I released him, he removed my claws and teeth. I have no food and no strength without them. He strewed sand in my eyes and ran away from me. " The Lion became again enraged against man. He ran away from the bear in order to search for man."

He met another lion who was tied to a tree of the desert, the trunk being closed over his paw, and he was very distressed for he could not run away. The lion asked the other lion, "How did you get into this evil condition? Who is he who did this to you? " The captive lion said to him, "It is man! Beware! Do not trust him! Man is bad, do not fall into the hand of man! I had said to him: "What work do you do?" and He said to me: "My work is giving old age. I can make for you and amulet, so that you shall never die. Come, I will cut a tree for you and place it on your body as an amulet and you shall never die.'. I went with him. He came to this tree of the mountain, sawed it and said to me: "Stretch out your paw.' I put my paw between the trunk ; he shut it's mouth on it. When he had ascertained of me that my paw was fastened, so that I could not run after him. he strewed sand in my eyes and ran away from me."

The Lion laughed and then said: "Man if you should fall into my hand, I shall give you the pain that you have inflicted on all my companions on the mountain."

Then as the Lion was walking in search of man, there strayed into his paw, a little Mouse, small in size, tiny in shape. When he was about to crush him, the mouse said to him: " Do not crush me, my lord the Lion! If you eat me you will not be sated,. If you release me you will not hungry for me either. If you give me my breath of life as a gift, I shall give you your own breath of life as a gift. If you spare me from your destruction, I shall make you escape from your misfortune. The Lion laughed at the Mouse and said: "What is it that you could do in fact? Is there anyone on earth who would attack me?" But he swore an oath before him saying; 'I shall make you escape from your misfortune on your bad day!" Now although the Lion considered the words of the mouse a joke, he reflected: "If I eat him indeed I would not be sated" And so the Lion released the Mouse."

"Now it so happened that there was a huntsman with a net who set traps and had dug a pit before the Lion. The Lion fell into the pit and fell into the hand of man. He was placed in the net, then bound with dry leather straps. He was tied with raw straps. Now as he lay suffering on the mountain, in the seventh hour of the night, Fate wished to make his joke come true. Because of the boastful words of the lion. had spoken made the mouse stand before the Lion. He said unto the Lion: "Do you recognize me? I am the little mouse to whom you gave his breath of life as a gift. I have come in order to repay for you it today, and to rescue from your misfortune, since you are suffering. It is beautiful to do good to him who does it in turn.." The Mouse set his mouth to the fetters of the Lion. He cut the dry straps; he gnawed through all the raw straps with which the Lion had been bound and released him from his fetters. The Lion, being grateful to the Mouse, invited him into his mane and they went of onto the mountain that day".

**********************************

Sekhmet's soothing voice drew the parable to a close and she noticed that the evening had grown late and the lamps grown dim. She felt the scroll curling back in her hands and she remembered suddenly her own mother reading from this same scroll. As a girl, Sekhmet had loved this story and the way her mother breathed life into the wisdom of the words. But like the evening and the lamps, the memory was dim and her mother's long-gone voice was a mere whisper in her ears.

Looking down beside her, she found the peaceful face of Meni resting in quiet slumber. She saw herself there, safe and sound in the protective aura of her beautiful mother. Sekhmet bent gently to kiss Meni's little forehead, wondering if the sensation on her lips was like her own forehead had felt under those deeply missed lips a lifetime ago.

So as not to wake the child, Sekhmet arose tenderly and went about dousing the lamps and wrapping a warm blanket round Meni. In the darkness she fell into her cot and waited for dreams to sew her memories to sleep.



**Notes: This story is adapted from the Leyden Papyrus - Volume III "Ancient Egyptian Literature: The Late Period" by Miriam Lictheim, University of California Press

*ti-sepes - Cinnemonium or more commonly known as Cinnamon.

Of Side Locks and Donkey Tales

This is from another story of Sekhmet Meritamen and her adopted son, Meni that Jonamun and I did We had a great deal of fun, because he really makes the voice of a small child and a child's inquisitiveness quite believable! In this scene she is telling Meni about being different and the parable of trying to please everyone, I believe I heard this story as a child and Im not certain, but I think it is an Aesop's fable....

It was past dusk on board the Heart of Ra and Sekhmet Meritamen padded nimbly down the wooden deck steps to her cabin. As Royal Physician to a pregnant Per'aa, Sekhmet's routine was unpredictable; she hurried from her work and was thinking of what to make herself and young Menenhetet for dinner when a sound reached her. It was the sound of a child's crying and it drew the Lady Sekhmet with a tug on her heart. The sound came from her own cabin.

Inside, in the middle of the floor, a blanket clutched to his breast, lay Meni. Sekhmet's heart ached at the sound of his sadness. She rushed to the curled up ball that was Meni. His face was a blustery thundercloud, bursting with tears. His sobs were a tiny thunder in his wan chest and lightning shone in the glisten of his tears. Drooping like a hippo's tail, his new sidelock trembled from the weeping.

"Are you hurt?" Sekhmet asked, kneeling near him and looking over his tanned limbs with a professional calm that surprised even her. She saw no cuts or bruises, but her hands examined the frail boy out of habit.

Meni simply wept, blubbering and oblivious to the tender ministrations. Yet nothing seemed amiss.

"Please tell me what's wrong?" Sekhmet almost felt as though she herself might cry as well, for the boy's sobs were like pluckings on the strings of her heart.

"The .. boys .. and .. girls .. laughed .. at .. my .. hair!" he finally managed, hiccuping between each syllable and blinking a stream of tears out of each brown eye. Many of Per'aa's entourage had children onboard the Coronation Barge. Apparently Meni had been teased by some of them.

Sekhmet relaxed inwardly, vastly relieved. She pursed her lips sympathetically and thumbed away the spill of tears on the boy's wet cheeks. She held the boy's head and tried to still his crying with a kiss upon his troubled brow. He huddled to her bosom and cried all the more. Rocking his sobs away, Sekhmet sighed.

"Meni, you like your new hairstyle, don't you? Nebet Nefeti worked very hard to make you a handsome little man. She shaved your head, just like you wanted and even managed to salvage this sidelock for you to braid," Sekhmet stroked the dark tail of hair on the side of Meni's head.

"Yes nebet," Meni sobbed. "But the ... other kids ... laughed at ... me!"

"You mustn't let them get to you like that" Sekhmet soothed,. " They'll get used to it and things will be better. I promise."

Meni's frown was unrelenting and his eyes were still freshets of tears. As fast as Sekhmet brushed them away, more scooted out to replenish the rivulets of on his cheeks.

"Meni," Sekhmet said, lifting his chin up to her gaze. "It wouldn't matter what you did with your hair. Any change would have gained the attention of the other children. If you had kept your ragged locks, or shaved your head as bald as an egg, or put it in braids just like mine, the children would have teased you all the same."

"But I want ... to play with ... them!" Meni protested, calming a little but still afflicted with his hiccups.

"I know you do," Sekhmet soothed. "And tomorrow you will try again. You will be strong for me, won't you?"

Meni blinked doubtfully.

"Let me tell you a story that might help. It's one my mother used to tell me when I was a girl. When I was your age I was not very graceful, and very much a tomboy, and the kids at school would tease me too. And no matter what I did it didn't make them stop. But one day my mother found me like I found you, weeping. She told me this story...

"There once was a man, who lived in the far off reaches of the land. He was a craftsman and widower living with his son and a donkey. One day the man, knowing he would have to go to the great city to trade, carefully prepared his wares, and loaded them on the donkey and set off for town. When the animal was loaded he set his son upon the top of the load on the donkey and started toward the great city."

"The man and his son and the loaded donkey walked and walked and at last they met upon the road two men coming from the great city. They nodded and smiled and exchanged greetings as they passed and the man with the donkey and son overheard the two other men they had passed whispering between themselves, 'Did you see that selfish child riding on top of the donkey while his father walked!? That is terrible! What a selfish child!'"

Meni's face grew fierce and he said, "But nebet! That boy might be lame! Those men aren't nice!"

"Yes Meni," Sekhmet nodded, finally seeing the flow of sadness drying in the boy's eyes.

"The man...not wanting to appear to be a fool, stopped and thought about this and decided that it might be best if he rode and his son led the donkey. The boy agreed.

"'Oh certainly, father,' The boy replied. 'I can lead the donkey and you can ride, I am young and my legs will not grow weary.' And so they traded places.

"A few leagues down the road, the man and boy and donkey met a man and his wife going the other direction. The two parties nodded and smiled and exchanged greetings as they passed each other on the road, but the man overheard the woman whispering to her husband as they passed, 'Did you see that*selfish* man riding the donkey while the poor child walked?! I've never seen anything so pathetic!'"

"That's silly!" Meni pointed out. "Those people don't know the man is nice!"

Sekhmet nodded and continued:

"This troubled the man; and not wanting to appear to be a fool--for fools are often taken advantage of in the marketplace of the great city--pondered the predicament. He came upon the idea that he and his son could both ride the donkey and it would satisfy all of the objections of everyone on the road thus far.

"A few more leagues and the man and his son and the donkey met a nobleman and his fanbearer on the road. They smiled and exchanged greetings and the man heard the fanbearer comment to the nobleman, 'Master! What a terrible waste of a good animal to make him bear the weight of two people plus his load!'"

Meni just shook his head, tears forgotten, eyes wide, and in deep consternation at such things.

"The man, not wanting to appear to be a fool--for fools are sometimes regarded with suspicion and riducule and taken advantange of in the marketplace of the great city--pondered a moment and decided that neither he nor his son would ride the donkey but would walk alongside. There were a few more miles to go, but this was fine.

"The man and his son and the donkey then met a woman and her son on the road and they exchanged pleasantries with the man and his son and when they had passed the man overheard the woman say to her son, 'Those fools! Neither rides when they have a fine donkey. Surely he can handle more than that simple load!'"

Exasperated at these silly people, Meni snorted.

"The man could take it no longer! He was tired of being everyone's fool! He found a thicket of saplings and cut a strong sturdy one and then reached into the sacks for extra rope and lashed the legs of the donkey to the sapling and, struggling, he and his son carried the animal into the gates of the city. With astonishment the man wondered at why everyone was laughing at him for he had done everything that anyone had asked of him and in exasperation had done what he knew to be the last choice that was left."

Sekhmet saw the glimmer of understanding in Meni's eyes.

"The moral of the story is: If you try to please everyone, dear Meni, you in the end will end up looking like the fool, for there is no possible way to please everyone at all times."

Meni looked up into the wise dark eyes of Lady Sekhmet and wondered if there were anything she couldn't fix. Which led him inevitably to his next words.

"I'm hungry!"

Sekhmet laughed and held out a hand to Meni, "Let's find something to eat then."

Meni skipped beside Sekhmet, his sidelock twitching from side to side, looking very much like a switching tail.