Está en la página 1de 4

S T O R Y

THE MIRACULOUS
DISCOVERY OF
PSAMMETICHUS I
By Daniel Mason

1. his presence. And having himself other foolish tales, a different version,
Now, the Egyptians, before the reign heard them pronounce “becos,” he namely that Psammetichus sent the
of Psammetichus, believed themselves made inquiries into what people might children to live with women whose
to be the most ancient race of tongues he had removed.
mankind. But Psammetichus, —Herodotus, The Histories,
upon ascending the throne, set Book II (adapted from the trans-
out to determine who truly was lation by G. Rawlinson, 1858)
the most primitive. Finding it
impossible to do so by dint of 2.
inquiry, he contrived the fol- Now, it is said that Psammeti-
lowing method of discovery. chus, upon discovering the
Taking two children of the origin of human speech, did
common sort, he gave them to not rest but pushed forth in
a herdsman to raise, charging other inquiries. After unifying
him to let no one utter a word Egypt and liberating her from
in their presence but to keep the yoke of Assyrian rule, he
them in a secluded cottage, came to be blessed with hours
introducing only milk goats so of leisure with which to con-
that they might slake their template the mysteries of the
thirst. His intention was to world. And so it was that sit-
know, after the babblings of ting in his gardens, he found
infancy were over, what word himself bewitched by the chat-
they would first articulate. tering of parrots. Now, having
And so it happened. The discovered the antiquity of
herdsman obeyed his orders for Phrygian, he began to wonder
two years, until one day, when whether the birds might speak
he opened the door to the cot- an even older tongue. Thus he
tage, the children ran to him betook the following method
with outstretched arms and of experiment. He selected a
shouted “becos.” At first the herdsman use this word and learned that “becos” pair of newborn children from two
took no notice, but soon the word was was the Phrygian name for bread. fisherwomen and gave them to his
constantly in their mouths. So he in- Thus the Egyptians yielded their aviarist to raise amongst his flocks
formed his lord, and Psammetichus claims and admitted the greater antiq- with these instructions: No one was to
commanded them to be brought into uity of the Phrygians. utter a word in the children’s presence;
These were the real facts I learned they should be given birdseed for their
Daniel Mason is the author of the novels at Memphis from the priests of He- hunger and perches for their sleep, and
The Piano Tuner and A Far Country. phaistos. The Greeks relate, among so be raised to think that they were

62 HARPER’S MAGAZINE / MARCH 2011 Illustration by Wendy Wahman

Mason Final4CX2.indd 62 1/25/11 9:54 AM


fowl. And everything turned out as same tenderness as she had shown her gage in all other sorts of filth that is
planned. The aviarist followed his own, pressing it to her breast and disap- shocking to the gods. The third child
orders for three and a half years, upon pearing into the forest. And everything would be raised wild among the pigs.
which time Psammetichus had the turned out as planned, for after five And so it happened that when the
children captured in a net and taken years, Psammetichus sent his hunters children were three years old they were
to the palace, where they were edu- into the gardens, where they ambushed all brought to the palace, where one by
cated in Egyptian. And they were the band, killing them all. But the child one they were placed in a room with a
brought before him, and he inquired, they did not harm. The Scythian boy kitten, a coin, and a piece of bread. As
What now do the birds speak of? The was captured and brought back to Sais, had been foreseen, the child raised in
boys crouched and blinked, and one where he was bathed and cured of grunt- good stroked the little kitten, fed it the
licked a flea from his armpit, and the ing and public defecation and at last bread (even softening it with the mois-
other scraped his teeth back and forth educated in the Egyptian tongue. Then ture of his own mouth), and made
against the floor. Whereupon Psam- the boy was conveyed to Psammetichus’ gentle inquires as to whom the coin
metichus asked again, and the boys chamber, where the king asked him, belonged. Next, the child raised against
replied that the song sparrows spoke What stories have you learned from the law was brought into the room.
nostalgically of the berries in Ethiopia, those apes? And the boy, glowering from Immediately, he killed the kitten, stole
and the peacocks of their own beauty, beneath a heavy brow, made answer: the coin, and ate the bread. When he
and the parrots of what the aviarist Come, I will tell you. Whereupon the was asked as to the fate of the coin and
did with the queen. From this Psam- king knelt to receive the secret, and with bread, he said they were eaten by the
metichus learned of memory and van- one swift lunge the boy bit his ear off kitten. Finally the last child, the wild
ity and not to trust Lydian wives, nor and leapt onto the throne, proceeding one raised by pigs, was summoned. He
aviarists from Krokodilopolis. to chew the flesh, slowly, with hatred in ate the bread, tried to eat the coin, and
This is generally held to be a lesser his eyes. From this experiment Psam- played with the kitten.
discovery than the first, but one with metichus learned little about the lan- From this Psammetichus learned
more practical application. guage of animals but much about ex- that the answer to whether man is
perimental design. good or evil is: Inconclusive.
3.
And Psammetichus, say the priests, did 4. 5.
not relent in his search for knowledge. Now, Egypt had long been closed to And so it came that a queen of Psam-
Pondering the truths unveiled by his foreigners, and alien vessels were metichus (a replacement) asked him,
inquiry, he came to understand the mis- banned from entering any of the Nile’s Whence this inquisitiveness? After
take of having studied such an idle prat- mouths. But Psammetichus, having all, the court was full of priests and
tler. And so he again made tour of his employed thousands of Greek merce- philosophers. Could not they provide
menagerie, peering into the cages, arriv- naries to drive off the Assyrians, grant- him with his answers? And stroking
ing at last at a tribe of gorillas captured ed these men free movement to and this creature’s plump and comely
during the southern expeditions of his from their homeland. And so it was cheek, Psammetichus fed her a date
father, Necho I. Now, this animal, which that the trade between Greeks and on his smallest finger, as was the girl’s
I have seen myself, is very much like a Egyptians grew, and Greek temples preference. And he told her the fol-
man, save that the organs of generation were erected, and Egypt sent alum and lowing story.
are placed in the back like that of a corn to Greece, and Greece sent back Not long after he had secured the
horse, though the teats are in the front. philosophers in turn. Now, these men, throne, he had been vexed by a ques-
And Psammetichus must have also had rather than teaching the king Truth, as tion of great material consequence,
this observation in mind, for he stopped he had desired, could not agree on namely thus: What was the depth of
before a she-gorilla who had just brought anything. Thus Psammetichus had a the Nile? Taking a boat to the center
to term a child and was tending it with new wing of the palace built beside the of the river, he slowly lowered a rope
all the affection of a human mother, seraglio so that they might resolve their on which regular intervals of knots
nursing it and growling in a distinct yet differences. And day in and day out the were placed. Lower and lower it went,
incomprehensible tongue. And Psam- philosophers spoke of the question of but it did not stop. He returned with
metichus carefully contrived a new ex- whether men were good or evil, but a longer rope and repeated the ex-
periment. On the outskirts of Sais, he they did nothing. At last Psammetichus, periment, but still it did not stop,
ordered ramparts constructed around a tiring of such womanly lassitude, de- though it was a thousand fathoms
jungle, where he loosed the tribe. Then vised an experiment to answer their long. The river was bottomless! cried
he selected two newborn children from question once and for all. This time, he his queen, with her mouth full of
the hairiest Scythians and set them selected three newborn children from dates. But Psammetichus shook his
down inside the ramparts. And after not boatmen and gave them to a swineherd head. That was what his counselors
many days, the she-gorilla arrived, with the following instructions: One had claimed, but he, Psammetichus,
sniffed at the infants, and, grabbing one child was to be raised as normal and had reasoned that the river current
by the leg, dashed it against the ground taught to do good, while the second carried the rope downstream, so he
as if it were a doll. But finding the other was to be taught the reverse, that one was not measuring the river’s depth
to her liking, she treated it with the must murder and steal and lie and en- but its length, an interesting question,

STORY 63

Mason Final4.indd 63 1/20/11 8:24 AM


certainly, but not the one he had set spite his having prayed daily for a friend tions. And I am told that his priests
out to solve. That, he said, was why he who might share in the practice of tried to comfort him. For hours they
no longer trusted his counselors, who memory or of poesy, Psammetichus ac- brought him papyri from the temples
had the intelligence of a fifteen-year- cepted one interested in irrigation. To and so by reason sought to prove the
old bride, with none of the advantages. the chosen wife he explained further immortality of Psammetichus, repeat-
And Psammetichus’ queen beamed his joy thus: that even if the child was ing thus: that his mummified corpse
with admiration for the intelligence not bewitched by questions of history, would last until the end of time, and
of her husband. But with the memory perhaps together they might pursue every year his family would bring food
of this question left unanswered, a mysteries of the natural world, such as offerings to his tomb, and that there
cloud had come across his face. why cats leapt into fire, and if a starfish, is no true death, for man lives forever
sundered, becomes two starfishes, in in the glory of his children. And just
6. which side lives the starfish’s soul? Or as the priests had proclaimed this, I
And so Psammetichus completed his at the very least, they might go walking am told Necho II entered the cham-
fiftieth year, and the entire kingdom by the Nile, as Psammetichus had done ber, naked save a wreath of flowers tied
celebrated, and there arrived gifts of with his father, and turn over stones to about his privy member, carrying a
mongooses and fireflies and philoso- see what creatures they could find. shovel in his left hand and an ibis in
phers. But nothing could bring him And the boy was born, and time his right. Whereupon followed a long
pleasure, nor did clysters calm his proved the oracle to be right, for he silence. Then the king made to depart,
mind. Then gateways were con- was good at canals, though in truth and the head priest, who had learned
structed in his honor, and every- he was good at digging, not at plan- the art of rhetoric from the philoso-
where there were processions and ning. He dug canals in the streets and phers, called him back, reminding the
songs about kings of generations the marketplace and in the gardens other priests that it was not the family
past. Yet of whom was Psammetichus and the road to Elephantine. And who truly attended to the tomb of the
to be proud? Of Cheops, who sacri- even though he discovered how to cut king but rather the caste of priests
ficed the honor of his own daughter through the hardest stone, he didn’t themselves, the most learned men in
just to build his pyramids? Or understand the general principle that all of Egypt. And another priest said,
Mykerinos, around whom swirled water flows from high to low, and so Do not fear death, for your brains will
even nastier tales? Or Pheros, who flooded the quarters of the concu- be pulled out through your nostrils
threw a spear in anger at the Nile? bines with the water from the Royal and your belly slit and washed with
Indeed, it is said that Psammetichus Pond. And Psammetichus, wakened palm wine and filled with cassia and
was particularly irked by the story of from an afternoon slumber by the myrrh. And another counseled that
Pheros, for he could not abide stupid- commotion, stood in silence behind among the gods he would learn all the
ity, and even the swineherds knew the gesticulating crowd of his phi- answers he sought. But, as I have
you didn’t throw a spear at the Nile, losophers, and watched with a heavy shown, Psammetichus could find no
lest the gods curse you with a blind- heart as his son shouted and struck comfort in that which could not be
ness that must be cured with the wa- the water and commanded his slaves proved by rigorous experimentation.
ter of a woman who had lain only to do the same, while all the concu- As for the promise of eternal worship,
with her husband—a cure that rarely bines screamed and fell about, their he asked his priests, “Does anyone
worked, as such women were so hard gowns soaked with pond scum and worship Neferkare III?” Then they
to find. their collars with the kohl that had looked dumbly at one another and
Similarly, they say, he took little joy been painted hieroglyphically over tried to speak of other matters, for
in his heir, Necho II. Now, it was not their eyes. And observing the boy, none recalled the name of this pha-
always so, for Psammetichus, over many Psammetichus thought, How could raoh who ruled for only four years,
years, had prayed to have a son. Night my miraculous seed have created this, seventeen dynasties ago. And Psam-
and day he had practiced intercourse, I who saved Egypt, I who found the metichus, who wished to have no more
but such ministrations yielded up no oldest language in the world? And he to do with them, said, “Look it up.”
child, for all his wives were barren, all took little consolation from the an-
twenty-six. Now, on the outskirts of swer, which appeared to him thus: 8.
Sais, there is a place that I have seen The aviarist from Krokodilopolis. Now, concerning the final years of
myself, where cows are buried with Psammetichus, I have heard from my
their horns protruding above the 7. informants in Memphis that his long-
ground. And it was there that one day And Psammetichus, it is said, came to ing for knowledge grew so sharp that
Psammetichus, long before his experi- wake in the night, shouting, The end he fell into a frenzy, and some even
ments, was walking and began to weep, is coming soon! Now, the Egyptians claimed he was possessed. But since I
his tears falling upon the earth. Now, believed that all human beings had a do not respect men’s conclusions with
because these cows are sacred to Isis, it life force that would not perish with regard to human sentiments, I sought
came to pass that the goddess visited the death of the body, just as they the female opinion of the prophetess of
Psammetichus in a dream and promised believed that the pharaoh would one Dodona. And she told me that it was
him a son, a great man, a builder of day join the gods. But Psammetichus not possession but rather a fluttering
canals. And such was his joy that de- found no consolation in such convic- moth a sorcerer had placed inside his

64 HARPER’S MAGAZINE / MARCH 2011

Mason Final4.indd 64 1/20/11 8:24 AM


chest. But I do not believe this either, most of which I do not have space Now, Psammetichus knew that the
for the inside of the body is moist, and to relate here. Some state that priests were already preparing for his
no one has ever observed a moth in Psammetichus would not stop until passage into the afterlife, for the
water. More likely it was a fish. he understood the antiquity of man; carts of animals were arriving, and
Despite such disagreements, ev- others, that it was the source of sto- the embalming ointments gave off
eryone I have spoken to accords ries; others, the thoughts of infants sweet smells that wafted through the
with the history that followed: that in the womb. But I, who have ob- palace, and the corridors echoed
Psammetichus sent out his messen- served that men with many ques- with the terrified cries of slaves se-
gers to collect newborn children tions are driven by an emptiness in- lected to serve him on his journey
from all corners of his kingdom, side t hem, k now t hat he wa s down. But when his counselors came
placing them amongst the islands in searching even deeper. And this and asked him which of his mistress-
that part of the Nile known as the was the opinion that I expressed to es he wished to accompany him, he
Canobic Mouth. And there he built the priestess of Dodona, whereupon did not answer. Instead, he com-
many enclosures, the ruins of which she asked what I thought was the manded that his throne be carried
can still be seen today. Then men question that so tormented him, out to the Nile, so that he might
who once had been bricklayers or and I made answer thus: What is watch the river. And those who have
scorpion charmers, or who had spe- Psammetichus? Or to put it other- related this story to me say that all
cialized in capturing animals for wise: Which of these quiet, quaking the people of Sais gathered to see
mummification, gave up their work children is Psammetichus? What him, but that he paid them no heed,
to devote themselves to the experi- was I before they bound me to this and stayed there five days and nights
ments of Psammetichus. And some throne, these gods, this tongue? until he expired. There are other
children he raised among geese and And I knew I was correct, for the versions, told to me by tricky and po-
some among wild dogs, and some he priestess did not dispute me but said, etic men, that he was last heard sing-
raised in solitude or in packs, and What is Herodotus? and a small fish ing to himself in a barbarian tongue,
some hanging upside down so that leapt inside my chest. while others claim that it was not
he might know if they could distin- the body of Psammetichus in the
guish between “up” and “down.” 10. tomb I observed at Sais but an empty
This I have heard from Thebes, Now, regarding the end of the mummy, and that the king did not
while in Memphis they say that reign of Psammetichus, there are expire in his chair but rather rose,
Psammetichus commanded some many lies told, some saying that he and, gathering stones in his hands,
children to be raised thinking water took poison, and others saying that descended slowly, without fear, into
was “wine” and wine “water,” and he had his son murdered and lived the river’s still-unfathomed depths. ■
some boys he raised amidst old hags himself for another forty years under
who were called “beautiful” while the name Necho II. I do not believe March Index Sources
nubile you ng maiden s were any of these tales but rather that 1 U.S. Department of Defense; 2 National
Counterterrorism Center (McLean, Va.); 3
shunned. And others he taught that which was told to me in Memphis National Weather Service (Silver Spring,
dreams were real and it was the and confirmed by those I spoke with Md.); 4–6 United Nations Office on Drugs
waking life that was illusory. in Heliopolis, namely that, with his and Crime (Vienna); 7 Langer Research
This I heard in Memphis and mind full of answers and his palace Associates (N.Y.C.); 8 Harper’s research; 9
Ice Pack Company (Tehran); 10 Freedom
Thebes. In Dodona, the priestesses full of children, Psammetichus could Restaurant Supermarket (Baghdad); 11
say that it was Psammetichus who not sleep. And every night he was Harper’s research/Washington Post; 12 U.S.
answered the mystery of why some seen to go to the darkness of his gar- Senate Select Committee on Ethics; 13–15
people weave by pushing the woof up dens where the children gathered, Defense Manpower Data Center; 16 Amnesty
and others by pulling it down, and and there he watched them as they International (London); 17 The Humane
Society of the United States (Washington);
what is fear, and why some people chattered like geese, or hung upside 18,19 Divorce-Online (Swindon, England);
love to believe nonsense, for example down from the branches, or lowered 20 University of Oxford (Oxford, England); 21
that ibises kill flying serpents, when their faces to drink water from his International Quidditch Assocation (N.Y.C.);
no one has ever seen a flying serpent, fountains, or wrestled and played, or 22,23 Institute for Social Research, University
of Michigan (Ann Arbor); 24 Mark Kantrowitz
not once. tasted the earth, or sat and held (Cranberry, Pa.); 25 U.S. Census Bureau
themselves about the shoulders, (Suitland, Md.); 26 HELP of Southern Nevada
9. swaying back and forth for hours, (Las Vegas); 27 Harper’s research/U.S. Social
Now, as the children came of age, staring sadly at the moon. And when Security Administration (Baltimore); 28 Matt
Psammetichus gathered them in his he ventured forth among them, there DeLisi, Iowa State University (Ames); 29,30 U.S.
Food and Drug Adminstration (Silver Spring,
palace. There were hundreds then, were those who shrank straight away, Md.); 31 Arkansas Game and Fish Commission
some say even thousands. But re- and others who came and clasped his (Little Rock, Ark.) 32 New Hampshire Fish and
gardless of what he learned, he was legs, and still others who leapt into Game Department (Concord, N.H.); 33 Federal
not satisfied, as if there remained, his arms, took his hand, and pressed Election Commission; 34,35 Bloomberg L.P.
(N.Y.C.); 36 Harper’s research/Federal Reserve
beneath it all, a single question be- it to their eyes and mouth as if they Bank of Chicago; 37 Society for Elimination
yond his reach. And there are many wished to tell him something but of Rural Poverty (Hyderabad, India); 38–40
opinions as to what he was seeking, had not yet learned to speak. Merriam-Webster Inc. (Springfield, Mass.).

STORY 65

Mason Final4.indd 65 1/20/11 8:24 AM

También podría gustarte