His wife now came out; she set a bowl of lentils that she had hastily warmed before the two men, with radishes and onions,

   [Radishes, onions, and garlic were the hors-d’oeuvre of an Egyptian
   dinner. 1600 talents worth were consumed, according to Herodotus.
   during the building of the pyramid of Cheops—­L360,000 (in 1881.)]

then she helped Uarda, who did not need to be carried, into the house, and invited Nebsecht to share their meal.  He accepted her invitation, for he had eaten nothing since the previous evening.

When the old woman had once more disappeared indoors, he asked the paraschites: 

“Whose heart is it that you have brought me, and how did it come into your hands?”

“Tell me first,” said the other, “why thou hast laid such a heavy sin upon my soul?”

“Because I want to investigate the structure of the human heart,” said Nebsecht, “so that, when I meet with diseased hearts, I may be able to cure them.”

The paraschites looked for a long time at the ground in silence; then he said: 

“Art thou speaking the truth?”

“Yes,” replied the leech with convincing emphasis.  “I am glad,” said the old man, “for thou givest help to the poor.”

“As willingly as to the rich!” exclaimed Nebsecht.  “But tell me now where you got the heart.”

“I went into the house of the embalmer,” said the old man, after he had selected a few large flints, to which, with crafty blows, he gave the shape of knives, “and there I found three bodies in which I had to make the eight prescribed incisions with my flint-knife.  When the dead lie there undressed on the wooden bench they all look alike, and the begger lies as still as the favorite son of a king.  But I knew very well who lay before me.  The strong old body in the middle of the table was the corpse of the Superior of the temple of Hatasu, and beyond, close by each other, were laid a stone-mason of the Necropolis, and a poor girl from the strangers’ quarter, who had died of consumption—­two miserable wasted figures.  I had known the Prophet well, for I had met him a hundred times in his gilt litter, and we always called him Rui, the rich.  I did my duty by all three, I was driven away with the usual stoning, and then I arranged the inward parts of the bodies with my mates.  Those of the Prophet are to be preserved later in an alabaster canopus,

   [This vase was called canopus at a later date.  There were four of
   them for each mummy.]

those of the mason and the girl were put back in their bodies.

“Then I went up to the three bodies, and I asked myself, to which I should do such a wrong as to rob him of his heart.  I turned to the two poor ones, and I hastily went up to the sinning girl.  Then I heard the voice of the demon that cried out in my heart ’The girl was poor and despised like you while she walked on Seb,