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CHAPTER 7: COMMON STOCK: CHARACTERISTICS, VALUATION,
AND ISSUANCE
1. Which of the following is not a characteristic of common stock:
a. has no maturity date
b. considered a permanent form of long-term financing
c. has claims on assets prior to those of preferred stock
d. is a residual form of ownership

ANSWER: c

2. Stockholders' equity includes all of the following except:

a. Common stock at par
b. Treasury stock
c. Contributed capital in excess of par
d. Retained earnings

ANSWER: b

3. The book value per share of common stock is calculated by dividing by the number of shares outstanding
a. market value of common stock
b. total assets
c. total stockholders' equity plus preferred stock
d. total common stockholders' equity

ANSWER: d

4. The market value of common stock is primarily based on

a. the firm's future earnings
b. book value
c. total assets
d. retained earnings

ANSWER: a

5. Common stockholders have a number of general rights, including all of the following except:
a. voting rights
b. management rights
c. asset rights
d. dividend rights

ANSWER: b

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 7: Common Stock: Characteristics, Valuation, and Issuance

6. The book value of an asset represents

a. the market value
b. the discounted cash flow value
c. the historic acquisition cost of the asset
d. stockholders' acquisition value

ANSWER: c

7. In a reverse stock split

a. the number of shares are decreased
b. the market value is decreased
c. retained earnings decrease
d. par value decreases

ANSWER: a

8. Which of the following is not an advantage of common stock financing?

a. no fixed dividend obligation
b. can lower the firm's weighted cost of capital
c. allows the firm a greater degree of flexibility in financial planning
d. involves relatively high flotation costs

ANSWER: d

9. AVIX has 6.8 million shares outstanding and the firm's charter provides for a majority voting procedure. The
company has seven directors up for reelection. What is the minimum number of shares needed to ensure the
election of one director?
a. 850,001
b. 5,950,001
c. 3,400,001
d. none of these

ANSWER: c

10. A change in the market price of an asset will occur as a result of changes in:
a. investors’ required rates of return
b. investors’ expected returns from the asset
c. book value of the asset
d. investors’ required rates of return and their expected returns from the asset

ANSWER: d

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 7: Common Stock: Characteristics, Valuation, and Issuance

11. In the constant-growth dividend valuation model, the required rate of return must be the dividend growth
rate in order for the formula price to be meaningful.
a. less than
b. equal to
c. greater than
d. proportional to

ANSWER: c

12. In the constant-growth dividend valuation model, the required rate of return on a common stock can be shown
to be equal to the sum of the dividend yield plus:
a. Yield-to-maturity
b. Cost of capital
c. Present value yield
d. Price appreciation yield

ANSWER: d

13. The valuation of common stock is considerably more complicated than the valuation of bonds or preferred
stocks because:
a. The returns can take two forms, i.e. annual cash payments and price appreciation
b. Common stock dividends are normally expected to grow and not remain constant
c. The returns from common stocks are generally larger and more certain than the returns from bonds and
preferred stocks
d. The returns can be in annual cash payments or price appreciation, and they are normally expected to grow
and not remain constant

ANSWER: d

14. Many preferred stocks are treated as in determining their values.

a. Fixed assets
b. Perpetuities
c. Convertible securities
d. Constant growth securities

ANSWER: b

15. In the valuation of common stock, the simple annuity and perpetuity formulas used in the valuation of bonds
and preferred stock are not generally applicable because:
a. Investors buy common stock for much different reasons than they buy bonds or preferred stock.
b. Returns accruing to common stock should never be capitalized (discounted) in order to determine a price.
c. Unlike bonds and preferred stock, common-stock is a short term investment.
d. Common stock dividends are normally expected to grow over time, rather than being constant as are
payments on most bonds and most preferred stock.

ANSWER: d

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 7: Common Stock: Characteristics, Valuation, and Issuance

16. One of the assumptions of the constant growth dividend valuation model is that
a. the investor’s required rate of return is equal to the expected dividend yield.
b. the required rate of return is greater than the dividend growth rate
c. the required rate of return increases at a constant rate
d. the dividend rate (in dollars) will remain constant

ANSWER: b

17. The most important factor to be considered in the valuation of a closely held firm is
a. earnings growth
b. book value of the firm
c. earnings capacity
d. the general economic outlook

ANSWER: c

18. Stockholders’ equity equals

a. both preferred stock and common equity
b. total claims
c. additional paid-in capital plus capital surplus
d. total liabilities and total surplus

ANSWER: a

19. A common stock’s book value is calculated

a. as a multiple of the stock’s price/earning ratio
b. on the basis of income statement ratios
c. on the basis of balance sheet figures
d. on the value of income statement figures

ANSWER: c

20. When a stock is split 2 for 1, then the figure on the firm's balance sheet is cut in half.
a. value of the common stock
b. par value
c. capital surplus
d. retained earnings

ANSWER: b

21. From an accounting standpoint, stock dividends involve a transfer from the
a. common stock account
b. cash account
c. retained earnings account
d. capital surplus account

ANSWER: c
© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 7: Common Stock: Characteristics, Valuation, and Issuance

22. Which one of the following is not a reason a firm may decide to repurchase its own stock?
a. future corporate needs
b. financial restructuring
c. investment
d. disposition of excess warrants

ANSWER: d

23. Dillinger, Inc. is planning to raise additional capital for expansion by selling 500,000 common shares at $16
each. The existing stockholders’ equity section of their balance sheet is shown below. What will the retained
earnings figure be immediately after the sale of the new equity?

Common stock; $1 par value; authorized, 3,000,000 shares; issued and

outstanding, 3,000,000 shares $ 3,000,000
Additional paid-in capital 6,500,000
Retained earnings 4,752,000
Total stockholders’ equity $14,252,000
a. $12,252,000
b. $14,000,000
c. $4,752,000
d. $3,500,000

ANSWER: c

24. The returns investors receive from holding common stocks may be in two forms. They are
a. cash dividend payments and capital gains
b. future earnings and treasury stock
c. stock splits and stock dividends
d. cash dividends and stock dividends

ANSWER: a

25. The constant growth dividend valuation model does not hold when
a. ke is greater than g
b. dividends are growing faster than 4 percent
c. g is greater than ke
d. the current dividend is known

ANSWER: c

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 7: Common Stock: Characteristics, Valuation, and Issuance

26. If the general level of interest rates in the economy moves up, then investors will require a rate of return
on securities, and, in general, stock prices should , ceteris paribus.
a. lower, decline
b. higher, increase
c. higher, decline
d. lower, increase

ANSWER: c

27. If competition in an industry increases, the future growth potential should

a. decrease
b. increase
c. not be affected
d. be negative

ANSWER: a

28. The zero growth dividend valuation model is used when a firm's future dividends are expected to remain
constant,
a. so the value of the firm should also remain constant
b. so the required rate of return should also remain constant
c. and the firm cannot be valued
d. forever

ANSWER: d

29. When evaluating a firm based on price/earnings multiples, the evaluator must determine the price/earnings
multiple for
a. the general market
b. the S&P 500
c. firms in the same industry
d. small capitalization firms

ANSWER: c

30. The rights of stockholders to share equally on a per share basis in any distributions of corporate earnings is
known as ____.
a. preemptive rights
b. voting rights
c. asset rights
d. dividend rights

ANSWER: d

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 7: Common Stock: Characteristics, Valuation, and Issuance

31. result in what is known as treasury stock.

a. Stock dividends
b. Stock repurchases
c. Stock splits
d. Reverse stock splits

ANSWER: b

32. A firm that wishes to raise additional equity capital by selling a portion of the existing owners' stock while
maintaining control of the firm should consider a .
a. stock split
b. stock dividend
c. share repurchase
d. separate class of nonvoting stock

ANSWER: d

33. A firm may use a stock repurchase .

a. as part of a financial restructuring
b. to dispose of excess cash
c. to reduce overhead
d. as part of a financial restructuring and to dispose of excess cash

ANSWER: d

34. In the constant growth dividend valuation model, the required rate of return on a common stock is equal to the
sum of the ____.
a. capital gains yield and cost of capital
b. present value yield and dividend yield
c. cost of capital and dividend yield
d. capital gains yield and dividend yield

ANSWER: d

35. In the constant growth dividend valuation model, it is assumed that the .
a. dividend growth rate exceeds the required rate of return
b. firm's future dividend payments are expected to grow at a constant rate forever
c. dividend cannot be forecast for any future time
d. firm is experiencing a period of poor performance, after which normal growth is expected

ANSWER: b

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 7: Common Stock: Characteristics, Valuation, and Issuance

36. An arrangement whereby an investment banker agrees to purchase an entire new issue of securities is called
a. competitive bidding
b. syndication
c. a negotiated bid
d. underwriting

ANSWER: d

37. The difference between the selling price to the public of a new issue and the net the issuing firm actually
receives is known as the
a. negotiating spread
b. underwriting spread
c. bid spread
d. SEC cost

ANSWER: b

38. A is a group of underwriters who agree to underwrite a new issue in order to spread the risk.
a. purchasing syndicate
b. cartel
c. bidding group
d. financial institution

ANSWER: a

39. All of the following are advantages of private security placements (over a public offering) except
a. reduced flotation costs
b. greater flexibility
c. lower interest rates
d. save time

ANSWER: c

40. A firm may sell its common stock directly to its existing stockholders through a
a. private placement
b. cash offering
c. rights offering
d. direct placement

ANSWER: c

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 7: Common Stock: Characteristics, Valuation, and Issuance

41. Direct issuance costs are

a. higher for common stock than for preferred stock issues
b. dependent on the quality of the issue
c. dependent on the size of the issue
d. all of these are correct

ANSWER: d

42. In marketing a new security issue, the investment banker assumes the risk of not being able to sell the security
at a favorable price in each of the following cases except:
a. a best efforts offering
b. a negotiated underwriting
c. a competitively bid underwriting
d. assumes the risk in all of the above

ANSWER: a

43. An investment banker is generally thought to be qualified to advise a corporation on a variety of matters,
including all the following except:
a. long range financial planning
b. the marketing of securities
c. the timing of securities
d. the firm's new product marketing decisions

ANSWER: d

44. In addition to direct costs, there are other costs associated with new security offerings. These other costs
include all of the following except:
a. the cost of incentives such as the “Green Shoe” option
b. the cost of overpricing
c. the cost of stock price declines
d. the cost of management time

ANSWER: b

45. A procedure that allows a firm to file a master registration statement with the SEC and then sell an offering of
common stock in small increments is known as .
a. a Green Shoe option
b. an IPO
c. rule 215
d. a shelf registration

ANSWER: d

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 7: Common Stock: Characteristics, Valuation, and Issuance

46. Which of the following are reasons why large multinational corporations may sell equity in international
markets rather than selling stock only in the country in which they are domiciled?
a. Global equity offerings result in higher price per share.
b. The existence of a 12-hour per day trading schedule
c. Higher positive returns around the time of the announcement to sell in global markets
d. Private placements are not an option.

ANSWER: a

47. The P/E ratio indicates

a. how much investors are willing to pay for $1 of current earnings
b. the current yield
c. the current price
d. how risky the stock is

ANSWER: a

48. Common stock dividends normally are paid

a. monthly
b. quarterly
c. semi-annually
d. annually

ANSWER: b

49. In stock quotations, the last column, showing the net change, indicates the net change in
a. a share's price during the day
b. the dividend yield
c. the closing price from the previous day's close
d. a share's high price during the day

ANSWER: c

50. What is the value of a share of stock of HOV Inc. to an investor who requires a 12 percent rate of return if
HOV's current dividend is $1.20? Assume earnings and dividends are expected to grow at a compound annual
rate of 7 percent.
a. $24.00
b. $18.34
c. $25.68
d. $19.62

ANSWER: c
RATIONALE: Solution: P0 = $1.20(1 + 0.07)/(0.12 - 0.07) = $25.68

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
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Chapter 7: Common Stock: Characteristics, Valuation, and Issuance

51. The current price of Zebar is $32.00 and the current dividend is $.60. What is an investor's required rate of
return on Zebar if dividends are expected to grow perpetually at a compound annual rate of 8 percent?
a. 9.88%
b. 11.38%
c. 18.75%
d. 10.03%

ANSWER: d
RATIONALE: Solution: ke = $0.60(1.08)/$32 + 0.08 = 10.03%

52. Fast Wheels, Inc. expects to pay an annual dividend of $0.72 next year. Dividends have been growing at a
compound annual rate of 6 percent and are expected to continue growing at that rate. What is the value of a
share of stock of Fast Wheels to an investor who requires a 14 percent rate of return?
a. $9.00
b. $5.14
c. $9.54
d. $8.16
ANSWER: a
RATIONALE: Solution: ke = $0.72/(0.14 – 0.06) = $9.00

53. What is the current value of the common stock of Clump Dump Kitty Litter, Limited if you know the current
dividend yield is 6.14%, the PE is 16, and the annual dividend is $1.35?
a. $21.60
b. $21.99
c. $8.29
d. $98.24

ANSWER: b
RATIONALE: Solution: Price = dividend/current yield = $1.35/0.0614 = $21.99

54. Bellbottom Gongs, Inc. pays a quarterly dividend of $0.70, has a PE ratio of 14 and closed yesterday at
$48.25.What is the dividend yield?
a. 5.45%
b. 1.45%
c. 5.8%
d. 7.25%

ANSWER: c
RATIONALE: Solution: .70(4)/48.25 = .058 or 5.8%

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 7: Common Stock: Characteristics, Valuation, and Issuance

55. If the common stock of Comdisco pays an annual dividend of $0.28, has a PE ratio of 11 and closed at 25,
what are the current earnings per share?
a. $3.08
b. $2.27
c. $7.00
d. $1.12

ANSWER: b
RATIONALE: Solution: EPS = P/PE = $25/11 = $2.27

56. If Night Owl Lamps pays an annual dividend of $1.54, has a PE of 13, and its last closing price was 40, then
its dividend yield must be:
a. 11.85%
b. 3.85%
c. 15.40%
d. 3.25%

ANSWER: b
RATIONALE Solution: $1.54/$40 = 0.0385 or 3.85%

57. Zero-Sum Enterprise expects to pay an annual dividend of $0.48 next year. Dividends and earnings have been
growing at a compound annual rate of 8 percent and are expected to continue growing at that rate. What is an
investor's required rate of return on Zero-Sum if the current price is $12?
a. 12.3%
b. 12.0%
c. 10.0%
d. 10.3

ANSWER: b
RATIONALE: Solution: ke = $0.48/$12 + 0.08 = 12%

58. Assume Zero-Sum Enterprise pays an annual dividend of $1.40 per share and that neither earnings nor
dividends are expected to grow in the future. What is the value of Zero-Sum's stock to an investor who
requires a 14 percent rate of return?
a. $14.00
b. $10.00
c. $20.00
d. 0

ANSWER: b
RATIONALE: Solution: P0 = $1.40/0.14 = $10

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 7: Common Stock: Characteristics, Valuation, and Issuance

59. Over the past 7 years the dividends of Sunshine Mining have grown from $0.24 to the current level of $.53.
What is the approximate annual compound growth rate of Sunshine's dividends?
a. 20.8%
b. 12.0%
c. 9.5%
d. 10.0%

ANSWER: b
RATIONALE: Solution: $0.53/$0.24 = 2.2083 or approximately 12% from Table I

60. Assume that the dividend ($3.25) on Central Power Company's common stock issue is paid annually at the
end of the year. This dividend is not expected to increase for the foreseeable future. Determine the value of
this stock to an investor who requires a 12 percent rate of return.
a. $3.25
b. $39
c. $12
d. $27.08

ANSWER: d
RATIONALE: Solution: P0 = $3.25/0.12 = $27.08

61. During the past 8 years, Beef Wellington Cattle Company’s common stock dividends have grown from $2.00
to $3.19. Estimate the compound annual dividend growth rate over the 8 year period.
a. 59.5%
b. 6%
c. 12%
d. 19%

ANSWER: b
RATIONALE: Solution: $2.00 = $3.19(PVIFg,8)
(PVIFg,8) = $2.00/$3.19 = .627
g = 6%, from Table II

62. Moonshine Company, a producer of fine liqueurs, has earnings and common stock dividends have been
growing at an annual rate of 4 percent over the past several years. The firm currently (t = 0) pays an annual
dividend of $4.00. Assuming that Moonshine's common stock dividends continue growing at the past rate for
the foreseeable future, determine the value of the company's common stock to an investor who requires a 13
percent rate of return on these securities.
a. $44.44
b. $36.81
c. $46.22
d. $48.62

ANSWER: c
RATIONALE: Solution: P0 = $4.16/(0.13 – 0.04) = $46.22

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 7: Common Stock: Characteristics, Valuation, and Issuance

63. What is the rate of return to an investor in the stock of Bajo, Inc. if the current dividend of $0.80 is not expected to
change in the foreseeable future? The current price of Bajo is $13.25.
a. 6.04%
b. 8.0%
c. 24.15%
d. 11.06%

ANSWER: a
.80
RATIONALE: Solution: D/P0 = = .0604 or 6.04%
13.25

64. The stock of Melody Music City is selling for $37.50 and pays a current annual dividend of $1.10. What is the
implied growth rate of dividends for this firm (assume dividends are expected to grow at a constant rate) if an
investor's required rate of return is 14 percent?
a. 11.07%
b. 14.0%
c. 11.4%
d. 10.75%

ANSWER: d
RATIONALE: Solution: $37.50 = $1.10(1 + g)/(0.14- g)
g = 10.75%

65. If the stock of Sun Computers is selling for $34 and the current dividend is $0.48, what is the implied constant
growth rate of dividends to an investor who requires a 14% rate of return?
a. 12.54%
b. 12.41%
c. 14.00%
d. 15.41%

ANSWER: b
RATIONALE: Solution: 34 = .48(1 + g)/(.14 - g)
g = 12.4 1%

66. Phillips Industries common stock currently sells for $50 and is expected to pay a dividend of $3.00 next year.
Determine the implied growth rate for Phillips Industries dividends assuming that an investor's required rate of
return on this stock is 14%.
a. 6%
b. 8%
c. 14%
d. 20%

ANSWER: b
RATIONALE: Solution: 0.14 = $3.00/$50 + g
g = 0.08 or 8%

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 7: Common Stock: Characteristics, Valuation, and Issuance

67. CPU Company currently (t = 0) pays a dividend of $2.50 per share on its common stock. Dividends are
expected to increase at the rate of $.25 per share for the next several years. Determine the current value of
CPU's common stock to an investor who expects to be able to sell the stock for $35 per share after 3 years,
given that the investor requires a 14 percent rate of return on this security.
a. $24
b. $30.54
c. $19.64
d. $68.75

ANSWER: b
RATIONALE: Solution: P0 = $2.75(0.877) + $3.00(0.769) + $3.25(0.675) + $35(0.675) = $30.54

68. What is the current value of Frocks & Socks Clothiers, Inc. to an investor who has a required rate of return of
12 percent? The current dividend is $1.00 and the dividends are expected to grow 8 percent per year for 3
years. At the end of 3 years the investor expects to sell the security for $76.
a. $79.51
b. $56.90
c. $51.13
d. $76.00

ANSWER: b
RATIONALE: Solution:
$1(1.08) = $1.08(0.893) = $0.964
$1.08(1.08) = $1.166(0.797) = $0.930
$1.166(1.08) = $1.26(0.712) = $0.897
$76(0.712) = $54.11
Total = $56.90

69. What is the current value of a share of HiGro common stock that does not pay a current dividend? Earnings
are growing at a 20 percent per year rate for the next 10 years. Assume the investor has a required rate of
return of 15 percent and expects to sell the security in 5 years. Current earnings are $1.50 per share.
a. $56.87
b. $62.21
c. $25.00
d. There is insufficient information to solve this problem.

ANSWER: d
RATIONALE: Solution: None of these are correct. There is insufficient information in the problem.

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
 He raised his stick. It was a thick, heavy stick of acacia wood, hard as
iron: had he brought it down on Yubra's head he would have killed him. But
God saved them both. Their eyes met and it was as though Maïta had
looked at Khnum.

He slowly lowered the stick without touching Yubra's head, staggered

and fell into his chair, burying his face in his hands. He was motionless for
a few minutes, then he uncovered his face and said, without looking at
Yubra:

"Away with you! Begone! You are not a slave to me any more. Untie his
hands and let him go, no one is to interfere with him. I have pardoned him."

"Perhaps I was wrong," said Dio to Pentaur, as she walked with him
across the garden to Tuta's boat in the canal. "Perhaps you Egyptians can
rebel after all...."

"You judge by Yubra?" Pentaur asked.

"Yes. Have you many such?"

"Yes, we have."

"Well, then, there is sure to be rebellion. How strange it is, Taur: you
and I have just been disputing whether the Son had come already or is to
come, and here is the same thing over again..."

"It is the same thing everywhere."

"And the rebellion is about this, too?" Dio asked.

"Yes, it is. You are glad?"

Dio did not answer, she seemed lost in thought. Pentaur paused, too, and
then said:

"Perhaps the world will perish through this...."

 "Let it!" she answered, and it seemed to him that the fire of rebellion
was already burning in her eyes. "Let the world perish if only He will
come!"

IV

he boat was brought to the gates of Khnum's garden by the

Big Canal which united the southern part of the city with
the north—Apet-Oisit, where the throne of the world, the
Temple of Amon, stood.

Hearing that Tuta had put off his meeting with her for a
few hours, Dio decided to pass these hours—perhaps the last—with
Pentaur: she had not made up her mind yet whether she was going away the
next day. She wanted, too, to say good-bye to Amon's Temple; she had
grown to love this house of God, the largest and most beautiful in the world,
because it was through it she had entered Egypt.

Surrounded by walls, three enormous sanctuaries of Amon, Khonsu,

and Mut—the Father, the Son, and the Mother—towered above the endless
multitude of low, grey, flat houses made of river mud, like swallows' nests.
Within the walls there were copses, gardens, ponds, cattle-yards, cellars,
granaries, breweries, perfumeries and other buildings, a town within the
town, the City of God in the city of men.

During King Akhnaton's reign the place fell into decay: the holy
enclosures had been destroyed, the treasuries robbed, the sanctuaries closed,
the priests driven away and the gods desecrated.

Having reached by boat the holy Road of the Rams, Dio and her nurse
Zenra, stepped into a litter and Pentaur walked by their side.
 Turning to the right into a by-road to the sanctuary of Mut, they entered
it through the northern gates.

The sacred lake of the god Khonsu, Osiris the Moon, shone, crescent-
shaped, with a silvery brilliance. The rosy granite of the obelisks, the black
basalt of the colossi, the yellow sandstone of the pylons, the green tops of
the palms, bathed in the molten gold of the afternoon sun, were mirrored in
the water with such clearness that one could see every feather in the
rainbow-coloured Falcons of the sun at the top of the pylons and every
hieroglyphic in the multi-coloured inscriptions on the yellow sandstone; it
was as though there were another world down there, the reverse of this one,
exactly like it and yet quite different.

By the shores of the lake some sandpits had been dug, probably in order
to defile the holy waters, and bricklayers were getting clay from them. The
lake in those places was shallow, its slimy bottom could be seen and the
stagnant water in the pools had a dull rainbow glitter on the surface. A huge
statue of the god Amon, of dark-red sandstone, had been thrown near by,
face downwards, and an ox, standing knee-deep in water, was scratching its
mud-coated side against the sharp end of one of the two feathers in the
god's tiara; the smell of the pig-sty came from the animal.

Next to the pits was a sanctuary of immemorial antiquity consecrated to

two goddess-mothers, Hekit the Frog, and Tuart the Hippopotamus.

At the beginning of the world the divine Frog, the midwife, crawled out
of the primaeval slime and at once began to help all women labouring of
child; she helped the birth of Khonsu-Osiris, the son of God; she helped
every dead man to rise again and be born into eternal life. Tuart, the
Hippopotamus, was as efficient a help in labour.

The copper doors of the sanctuary were locked and sealed, but in the
entry the two goddesses were hidden from the king's spies in two vaulted
niches in the wall, behind torn curtains. The huge frog made of green jade
with kind and intelligent round eyes of yellow glass, was sitting on its
cubical throne. The pig-faced Hippopotamus, in a woman's wig, was
ferociously showing its teeth; made of grey obsidian, with hanging breasts
and monstrous belly, it was standing on its hind legs, holding in its
forepaws the sign of eternal life—the looped cross Ankh.

A little girl of twelve, an Ethiopian, in the last stage of pregnancy, had

placed a wreath of lotus flowers round the neck of the goddess and,
kneeling before her, was ardently praying with childish tears for easy
travail.

Zenra wanted to sacrifice to the mother-goddesses two turtle doves for

Dio, that the virgin might at last become a mother.

They went into the portico. An old priestess, who looked rather like her
goddess, the Frog, was bathing in a copper basin of warm water two sacred
ichneumons, water animals something between a cat and a rat, beloved by
the god of the floods, Khnum-Ra. After the bath the creatures ran away,
playing; the male chased the female.

"Pew-pew-pew!" the priestess called them quietly and began feeding

them out of her hands with bread soaked in milk, muttering a prayer about a
propitious flood.

Then she went down to the lake and called:

"Sob! Sob! Sob!"

There was a splash at the other end of the lake and, thrusting out its
shining, slimy black head, a huge crocodile, some nine feet long, sacred to
Sobek, the god of the Midnight Sun, rapidly swam across in answer to the
call. Brass rings with bells glittered on its front paws, there were rings in its
ears and a piece of red glass was stuck into the thick skin of the head in the
place of the ruby that had been stripped from it. The crocodile was so tame
that it allowed its attendant to clean its teeth with acacia charcoal.

It crawled out of the water and stretched itself at the feet of the
priestess. Squatting before it she fed it with the meat and the honey cakes
brought by Zenra, fearlessly thrusting her left hand into the open jaws of the
beast; her right hand had been bitten off by the crocodile while she was still
a child.
 "I wish it had eaten me altogether," the old lady used to say, "I then
wouldn't have to see what is going on now."

She did not go on to say "under the apostate king."

To be devoured by a sacred crocodile was regarded as a most happy

death: there was no need to embalm or bury the body—one went straight
from the holy belly into paradise.

With motherly tenderness the old priestess stroked the monster on its
scaly back, calling it 'Sobby,' 'little one,' 'ducky.' And it was strange to see
the beast's pig-like eyes gleam with responsive affection.

"Well, how did you like our crocodile mother?" Pentaur asked Dio with
a smile when they came out of the portico, leaving Zenra behind and telling
the litter to go on.

"I liked her very much," Dio answered, smiling also.

"Does it make you laugh?"

"No. Your Mut and our Ma is the same Heavenly Mother who blesses
all the creatures of the earth."

"How then could you...." he began and broke off. But she understood
'how then could you have killed the god Beast?'

"Our secret wisdom teaches," he said hurriedly, in order to hide her

confusion and his own, "that animals are nearer to God than men, plants are
nearer to God than animals and the dust of the ground—Mother Earth—is
nearer to God than plants; a mass of flaming dust, the sun, is the heart of the
world—God."

"Doesn't he know this?" Dio asked.

"No," Pentaur answered, guessing that she was speaking of King

Akhnaton, "if he knew he would not desecrate the Mother."
 "Perhaps there is something that I, a childless virgin, don't know either,"
Dio thought.

From the sanctuary of Mut they walked towards the Temple of Amon,
along the sacred road of the Rams, huge creatures of black granite placed in
a row on either side of the pathway. On the top of the head between the
horns that curled downwards, each ram had the sun disc of Amon Ra, and
between the doubled up front legs a tiny mummy of King Amenhotep,
Akhnaton's father: the god-beast was embracing the dead king, carrying
him, as it were, into eternal life.

It seemed to Dio they all looked at her as though they would say
"Decide!"

They came up to the pylon—the huge gates shaped like a pyramid cut
off at the top, with a rainbow-coloured sun disc with rays and high posts for
flags; it stood at some distance from the Temple. On either side of it were
two granite giants, exactly alike, representing King Tutmose the Third,
Akhnaton's great-great-grandfather, the first world-conqueror. Wearing
gods' tiaras, they were sitting on their thrones with their arms folded in
everlasting rest, with an everlasting smile on the flat lips. Above them the
wretched tatters of old flags fluttered on the broken posts. The birds nesting
in the tiaras chirruped loudly, as though laughing, and the black faces of the
giants were streaked with white.

Pentaur read aloud the hieroglyphic inscription on the gates—the words

of the god to the king:

"Rejoice, my son, who hast honoured me. I give thee the earth in length
and breadth. With a joyful heart pass through it as a conqueror."

And the king's answer to the god:

"I have made Egypt the head of all nations, for together with me it has
honoured thee, god Amon on high."

From the way Pentaur read the inscription Dio understood that he was
comparing the great ancestor with the insignificant descendant.
 Passing through the gate, and leaving the road ta the Khonsu sanctuary
on their left, they came out into the square. Men of all classes—beggars,
slaves and grand gentlemen—were standing there in separate groups
without speaking, as though waiting for something, and when the town
guards on duty went past looked at them sullenly from a distance. All was
quiet, but Dio suddenly remembered: "Rebellion!"

Someone came up to Pentaur stealthily from behind. The man's woollen

striped Canaan cloak, worn over the Egyptian white robe, his reddish goat's
beard, the curly hair hanging down his cheeks, the prominent ears, hooked
nose, thick lips and the hot glitter in his eyes, made Dio recognize him at
once for a Jew.

Pentaur whispered something in his ear; the man nodded silently,

glanced at Dio and disappeared in the crowd.

"Who is this?" Dio asked.

"Issachar, son of Hamuel, a Jewish priest of Amon."

"But how can an unclean Jew be a priest?"

"He is a Jew on his father's side, but an Egyptian on his mother's. Their
prophet, Moses, was also a priest in Heliopolis."

"But why is he not shaven?"

Dio knew that all Egyptian priests shaved their heads.

"He is hiding from the king's spies," Pentaur answered.

"What did you speak to him about?"

"About your meeting Ptamose."

They came to the western gates of Amon's temple; the leaf gold that
covered them glowed like fire in the light of the setting sun. Three words
had been inscribed on them in hieroglyphics of dark bronze: "Amon, great
spirit." The word Amon was effaced, but that made the other two words
glorify the Unutterable the more.

Guards were standing by the closed and sealed gates. People going past
knelt down and kissed the dust of the holy flagstones, praying in a whisper;
they would be thrown into prison for calling on the name of Amon aloud.

Dio showed the chief of the guards the ring with Tutankhaton's seal and
he let her and Pentaur through the side door of the gates.

They entered the inner court that had rows of such gigantic columns,
shaped like sheaves of papyrus, that it was hard to believe they were the
work of human hands: it seemed as though the Great Spirit had piled up
these everlasting stones as a mute praise to himself, the Unutterable.

From the yard they came into a covered antechamber, where the
daylight came sparsely from narrow windows right under the ceiling. There
was sunshine in the yard, but here it was half dark already and the thick
forest of columns, saturated with the fragrance of incense like a real forest
smelling of resin, seemed all the more huge in the twilight. And it was quiet
as in a forest; only up at the top one could hear a faint tapping that sounded
like woodpeckers. "Knock-Knock-Knock!"—and there was stillness, and
then again: "Knock-knock-knock!"

Dio raised her eyes and saw masons hung up in hammocks on long
strings, like spiders on cobwebs, hammering on the walls and the pillars up
above.

"What are they doing?" she asked.

"Effacing Amon's name," Pentaur answered with a smile. Dio smiled,

too; the knocking seemed to her absurd: how could one efface the name of
the Unutterable?

As they went further into the temple the walls narrowed down, the
ceilings grew lower, darker and more menacing, and at last an almost
complete darkness enveloped them; only somewhere in the far distance a
lamp was burning dimly. That was the Holy of Holies—Sehem, the
tabernacle, cut out in a block of red granite, where in the old days a golden
statuette of god Amon, a foot high, had been kept behind linen draperies—
the sails of the holy boat. Now Sehem was empty.

A narrow passage led from it to another tabernacle where in the past

Amon's great Ram, the sacred Animal—the living heart of the temple—lay
on a couch of purple in clouds of the ever-burning incense. But now this
tabernacle too was empty; people said that a dead dog's bones had been
thrown into it to defile the holy place.

"He does not know God's darkness either?" Dio asked.

"No," Pentaur answered, understanding again that 'he' meant the king.
"He knows that God is light, but he does not know that darkness and light
go together...."

He knelt down and Dio knelt beside him; he began to pray and she
repeated after him:
"Glory to thee, who dwellest in darkness,
Amon, the Hidden,
Lord of the silent,
Help of the humble,
Saviour of those in hell!
When they cry aloud to thee,
Thou comest to them from afar,
Thou sayest to them 'I am here!'"

They bowed down to the ground and Dio felt that the hair on her head
moved with awe: 'He is here!'

They left the temple through the eastern gates where the litter was
waiting for them. They got into it and were carried to the small temple
Gem-Aton—Sun's Radiance—which had only just been built by King
Akhnaton.
 It had taken a thousand years to build Amon's temple of huge blocks of
rock, and this one had been built quickly of small stones; Amon's temple
was dark and mysterious, and this one was all open and sunny. There were
no divine images in it except Aton's disc, with rays like hands descending
from it.

They entered one of the porticos, on the wall of which there was a bas-
relief of King Akhnaton making a sacrifice to the Sun god.

Dio looked at it dumb foundered. Who was it? What was it? A human
being? No, it was some unearthly creature in human form. Neither a man
nor a woman, neither an old man nor a child; a eunuch, a decrepit still-born
baby. The arms and legs were so thin that they seemed to be nothing but
bone; narrow childish shoulders and wide, well-covered hips; a big belly; a
huge head shaped like a vegetable-marrow, bent down under its own weight
on a long thin neck, flexible like the stem of a flower; a receding forehead,
a drooping chin, a fixed stare and the smile of a madman.

Dio gazed at this face, trying in vain to recall something. All of a

sudden she remembered.

In the Charuk Palace near Thebes, where Akhnaton was born and spent
his childhood, she had seen his sculptured head: a boy looking like a girl; an
oval, egg-shaped face, childishly, girlishly charming, quiet and gentle as
that of the god whose name is Quiet-Heart.

A man dreams sometimes a dream of paradise, as though his soul

returned to its heavenly home; and long after waking he refuses to believe
that it had only been a dream and is full of sadness and yearning. Such was
the sadness in that face. The drooping eyelids were heavy as though with
sleep, the long eye-lashes seemed wet with tears and the lips wore a smile
—a trace of paradise—heavenly joy through earthly sadness, like sunshine
through a cloud.

"Can it be the same face?" Dio wondered. As in delirium the beautiful

face was distorted, grown decrepit and monstrous, and, most awful of all,
one could still see that young face in this changed one.
 "Well, don't you know him?" Pentaur whispered. There was horror in
his voice and mockery, too—triumph over an enemy. "No, he is not easy to
recognize. But it is he, Joy of the Sun, Akhnaton!"

"How did they dare insult him like this!" Dio cried out.

"No one would have dared if he had not asked for it himself. It is he
who teaches painters not to lie, not to flatter. 'Living in Truth'—Ankh-em-
Maat—so he calls himself, and this is what truth is; he did not want to be a
man, so this is what he has become!"

"No, that's not it, that's not it!" a voice said behind Dio.

She turned round and recognized Issachar, son of Hamuel. "No, that's
not it. The deception is worse and more subtle!" he said looking at the face
of the bas-relief.

"What deception?" Dio asked.

"Why, this: listen to the prophecy. 'As many were astonied at Him: His
visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons
of men. And we hid our faces from Him. But He has borne our griefs and
carried our sorrows. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him: and with
His stripes we are healed.' Do you know of whom this has been said? ...
And who is this man? Accursed, accursed, accursed is the deceiver who
said 'I am the Son'!"

Slowly, as though with an effort, he averted his eyes from the bas-relief
and looking at Dio bent down to whisper in her ear:

"The high priest of Amon expects you to-day at the third hour after
sunset." And covering his head with his cloak he walked out of the temple.

For a few minutes Dio stood as though spellbound. She was so lost in
thought that she did not hear Pentaur call her twice and when he gently
touched her hand, she started.

"What is it? What are you thinking of?" he asked.

 "I hardly know myself..." she answered, with a shy, as it were, guilty
smile, and then added, after a pause:

"Perhaps we don't any of us know the most important thing about

him...."

She paused again and then cried with such agony that Pentaur thought
she was like one dying of thirst and asking for water:

"Oh, if I only knew, if I only knew who he is!"

utankhaton had spread a rumour that he was the son of

King Amenhotep IV, Akhnaton's father. Tuta's mother,
Meritra, was one of the king's concubines for a day—he
had numbers of such. Gossips said, however, that Tuta's
father was not the king, but the king's namesake,
Amenhotep, the chief of the Surveying Office. Thanks to
his mother, Tuta had obtained, as a child, the rank of the prince's play-
fellow, and he rapidly made a career: royal chamberlain, chief fan-bearer on
the right hand of the divine and gracious king, treasurer of the king's
household, bread-giver of the Two Kingdoms, defender of Aton's faith and,
finally, the king's son-in-law, husband of Ankhsenbatona, Akhnaton's
twelve-year-old daughter.

No one could look up to heaven as devoutly as he did, whispering in a

honeyed voice:

"Oh, how salutary is your teaching, kind Uaenra, the only Son of the
Sun!"
 Or compose such pious inscriptions for tombs: "Akhnaton, the Son of
the Sun, rose early in the morning to lighten me with his light for I was
zealous in carrying out his words," said one of those inscriptions. "I have
followed thee, O Lord Aton—Akhnaton!" said another.

This identification of the king with God seemed absurd and

blasphemous, since everyone knew that Aton was the Father and the king
the son. But when it was known that these words expressed the king's secret
doctrine about the perfect unity of the Father and the Son, people marvelled
at Tuta's cunning.

The courtiers vied with one another in trying to revile the old god
Amon. But Tuta surpassed them all: he ordered for himself a pair of plaited
sandals made of golden straps, with Amon's face on the soles so as to tread
on the unholy one with every step he took. And everyone marvelled again
—they understood that he would go far in those sandals.

Tuta had been sent to Thebes with the title of Viceroy to carry out the
decrees about taking away burial grounds from the priests and desecrating
the god Khonsu, Amon's Son.

When Dio came to the Viceroy's white house the old servant, who knew
her, met her with low bows and wanted to tell His Highness at once about
her. But hearing that Tuta was having lunch with the chief of the Lybian
mercenaries, Menheperra, a man whom she disliked, she said she would
wait and going into an inner room, lay down on a low day-couch. Watching
the slanting pink oblongs cast by the setting sun on the white ceiling
through the long narrow slits of windows high up on the wall she sank into
deep thought, as in the antechamber of Gem-Aton's temple: was she to go
or not to go?

She grew tired of thinking and dozed. Two big flies were buzzing by her
very ear as though disputing "to go or not to go?"

She woke up suddenly and grasped that it was not the buzzing of flies
but a whisper, somewhere quite close to her ear. She looked round, but there
was no one there. The whisper came from the next room, which was
divided off by a latticed partition covered with a carpet; Egyptian rooms
were sometimes arranged in this way for the sake of coolness. The speakers
were probably sitting on the matting-covered floor just by the side of Dio's
couch.

"This heartburn will be the death of me," whispered one of the voices,
dignified and elderly.

"It's the goose's liver, father," answered the other voice, high-pitched
and respectful. "Would you like some telek? There is nothing like it for
indigestion; with lemon and cardamon it is most refreshing."

There was a sound of liquid being poured out

"Have a drink too, Sparrow?"

"Your health, father!"

"Why do you call me 'father'?"

"Out of respect: you're my benefactor and that's as good as a father."

"It is a good thing you respect old people. And why do they call you
'Sparrow'?"

"Because I pick up a grain out of every bit of business like a sparrow

out of a manure heap."

"Come now, don't be so modest about it: you must have grabbed 'the
man with the pig' from the cemetery thieves the other day...."

Dio remembered that a man holding a pig by the tail was the
hieroglyphic of lapis-lazuli, the Egyptian officials' favourite bribe—Hez-
Bet: hez—to hold and bet—a pig, and that the tomb of the ancient King
Saakerra had been robbed recently.

"And so I was saying, Ahmez, son of Aban, is a foolish man and no

good will come of him," the old man's voice went on. "You may pound a
foolish man in the mortar, but his foolishness will not leave him, and it is
better to meet a savage bear in a field than a foolish man in the house!"

"But in what way is he foolish, father?"

"Why, because he never knows which way the wind is blowing. There is
trouble brewing up in the town and the Lybian soldiers are mutinous
because they haven't had their pay for the last six months. And he, the fool,
is afraid of a rising, so he was delighted when the pay-money was sent the
other day from the king's treasury and ordered it to be distributed straight
away. But I was too sharp for him—I said nothing to him but kept back the
money and at once reported the whole thing to His Highness the Viceroy.
And what do you think? He thanked me, said 'well done,' patted me on the
cheek and promised to get me a job in his service. What do you think of that
now?"

"Splendid, father! There is no one like you for giving one a hint! ... But
if there really is a rising, it will be bad, won't it?"

"Bad for some and good for others. A fool burns in the fire and a clever
man warms his hands at it...."

The whisper became so low that Dio could not hear. Then it grew louder
again:

"Impossible, impossible, father! Who could presume to do such a

thing?"

"Do you know Issachar, son of Hamuel?"

"But he is a coward, it isn't for a dirty Jew like him to do it!"

"He is a coward, but he can work himself up to a frenzy. They are all
like that, the Jews: they are cowards, but if it is anything to do with their
God they are frantic. And it is not only he—he is merely the knife, and the
hand that holds the knife is strong. Soon there will be things happening to
make one dizzy, my lad."
 "It is dreadful to think of, father."

"Don't be uneasy, Sparrow—you may be a falcon yet."

Dio listened with her heart beating so violently that she was afraid they
would hear it behind the partition. She understood that a vile and evil plot
was being hatched against the king—and she seemed to have a share in it;
perhaps that was why she suffered so, unable to decide whether to go or to
stay.

Suddenly there was a sound of footsteps in the next room—not in the

one where they were whispering. Both halves of the door were flung open
and a huge hunting-cat, half panther, glided in noiselessly like a shadow;
behind it, as its guard of honour, came the runners, the fan bearers, the
bodyguards, and, last of all, walking barefoot as noiselessly as the cat—
shoes were taken off indoors—a slender and graceful young man of
medium height, with an ordinary pleasant face. He was wearing a plain
white robe, a smooth black wig, a broad necklace that came half way down
to his waist, and he held in his hand a long gilded wooden staff adorned
with a golden figure of the goddess Maat—Truth. This was the King's son-
in-law, the Viceroy of Thebes, the real or supposed son of King Amenhotep
—Tutankhaton.

He walked up to a carved ivory and ebony chair that stood on a platform

in between four pillars in the middle of the room, and sat down.
Approaching him Dio knelt before him. He kissed her on the forehead and
said:

"Rejoice, my daughter! The grace of the god Aton be with you! Leave
us," he added, addressing his suite.

When all had gone out of the room he moved to the day couch and, half
reclining on it, motioned to Dio to sit down beside him; but he did it
unobtrusively so that there was no need for her to notice the gesture unless
she chose to do so. She did not notice it and sat down opposite him on a
folding chair with a seat of plaited leather straps.
 The cat walked up to her and rubbed itself against her legs, thrusting its
head between her knees and mewing loudly, unlike a cat. Dio disliked cats
and especially this one: she fancied it was a huge, black, slimy reptile. The
cat never left Tuta's side and followed him about like a shadow.

"Why are you sitting here alone? Why didn't you send in your name?"
he asked in a low caressing voice that sounded like a cat purring.

"You had a visitor."

"It was only your admirer Menheperra. Was that why you did not come
in?"

"Yes, it was."

"Ah, you wild creature! ... Come here, Ruru," he called to the cat, "You
have had enough of it?" he asked Dio.

"No, I don't mind," Dio said politely, but she would gladly have thrust
the clinging creature away.

"It is marvellous," he said, smiling and looking at her in the peculiar

masculine way she hated: 'just like spiders crawling about one's naked
body,' she used to say about these looks. "One cannot get used to you, Dio!
Each time I see you I cannot help marvelling at your beauty.... There,
forgive me, I know you don't like it!"

The cat lifted its face and looked straight into Dio's eyes with its fiery
pupils. She pushed it slightly away with her foot, afraid that the cat might
jump on to her lap.

"Come now, you are being a nuisance!" Tuta laughed, seized the cat by
its collar and, dragging it on to the couch, made it lie down, spanked it and
said "Sleep!"

"Well, how do matters stand? Are you coming?" he began in a different

and business-like voice. "Stop, wait, don't answer at once. I am not hurrying
you, but just think: what are you doing here, what are you waiting for?
Learning our dances? What for? Dance in your own way—they will like it
all the better. Foreign things are more fashionable with us nowadays than
our own...."

"I have decided..."

"Wait a minute, let me finish. I shall go away and you will remain alone
here and in these times you don't know from day to day what might
happen...."

"But I am coming!"

"Are you? Really? You won't play me false again?"

"No, now I want to go as soon as possible."

"Why so suddenly?"

She made no answer and asked:

"Are you going to-morrow for certain?"

"Yes. Why?"

"They say there may be trouble in the city."

"Oh, it's nothing. All will be over to-morrow. Of course it is a big town
and there are many fools about; they may want to die for their puppet and
then there is bound to be bloodshed, there is nothing for it...."

Dio understood that puppet meant the image of the god Khonsu.

"And does the king know it?" she asked.

"Know what?"

"That there may be bloodshed."

 "No, he does not know. Why should he know? That he might revoke the
decree? If he revoked this one, others would still be in force. And what is
one to do? There is no teaching the fools without bloodshed!"

He sat up suddenly, put his feet on the floor, moved up to her, took her
by the hand and smiled in the ambiguous way, with a sort of wink, which,
again, there was no need for her to notice unless she chose to.

"You know, Dio, I have long wanted to ask you, why do you dislike me?
I have always been a friend to you. Tammuzadad saved you, but I, too, have
done something..."

Dio started and drew her hand away. Tuta pretended not to notice it and
continued to smile.

"Why do you think?...." she began, and broke off, blushing and looking
down. As always when she was alone with him she felt stiff, awkward—as
though she had done some wrong and been caught unawares.

"What do you want me for?" she asked suddenly, almost rudely.

"There, you treat me as you do Ruru: I am being nice to you and you
push me away," he laughed good-humouredly. "What do I want you for?
Feminine charm is a great power..."

"You want to get power through me?"

"Not through you, but with you!" he said quietly with deep emotion,
looking straight into her eyes.

"And I want you because of him," he went on, after a pause. "He is very
difficult to get on with; you will help me: you love him and so do I—we
shall love him together...."

She understood that he was speaking of King Akhnaton and her heart
began to beat as violently as when she was listening to the whisper behind
the partition. She felt that she ought to say something, but she was spell-
bound as in a nightmare: she wanted to push away the clinging reptile and
could not.

"You haven't been to see Ptamose yet, have you?" he asked suddenly, as
though they had often spoken about it, while, as a matter of fact, they had
never exchanged a word on the subject. Once more he caught her unawares
like a naughty little girl.

"What Ptamose?" she pretended not to understand, but did it so badly

that she was ashamed of herself.

"Come, come!" he said, with the same winking smile. "I won't betray
you, no one shall know of it. And even if they did know, what of it? I would
send you to him myself. He is a wise old man, a sage. He will tell you
everything; you will know what the war is about. Only babblers and court
flatterers imagine that we have won already. No, it is not so easy to conquer
the old faith. Our forefathers were not any stupider than we are. Amon—
Aton: is the dispute about a letter only? No, about the spirit. And indeed
Amon is the Great Spirit!"

When he had moved from the armchair to the couch he had taken with
him the staff with the gold sandals strapped to it. All of a sudden Dio bent
down, took up one of them, turned it sole upwards and pointed with her
finger to the image of Amon.

"And what have you here, prince? 'Amon the Great Spirit'?" she asked,
smiling with almost undisguised contempt, as though she were really
talking to a 'reptile.'

"There, you have caught me!" he laughed, good-naturedly, again. "Ah,

Dio, priestess of the Great Mother, you are still living on your Mountain
and refuse to come down to the earth to us poor men. And yet one day you
will come down, will get your feet muddy and bruise them against the
stones and be glad even of such sandals as these. One must have mercy, my
friend. Be sober and fast by yourself, but eat with the glutton and drink with
the drunkard. And as for the Great Spirit, I hope he will forgive me: my
sandals won't hurt him!"