Chapter 5 third chapter

In the dark night, Ramses made an important date with his classmates and friends who were also brought up by private tutors.Can they escape the guard's supervision and come to the center of the city to meet and discuss an important issue? Ramses climbed out of the window of the room and jumped down from the second floor. The loose dirt floor of the garden swallowed his landing sound.He walked next to the buildings, not afraid to run into guards, some of them asleep, others playing a game of craps.If he had the misfortune to encounter a dedicated guard, he would explain to him or knock him out with a punch.

He was so excited that he forgot about a "warder", a medium-sized golden dog, short and strong, with drooping ears and a spiral tail, sitting in the middle of the road. Ramses instinctively followed its gaze, and the dog sat cross-legged, its tail flapping rhythmically.Young people approached and stroked it, and they hit it off right away.On the dog's red collar leash was written a name: Night Watchman. "Are you going with me?" The night guard nodded in agreement with its black-headed flat nose, and it led its new owner to the exit of the school, where the future princes and nobles of Egypt were trained.

Even at nightfall, the streets of Memphis, Egypt's oldest capital, are still full of people; despite the commercial prosperity of Thebes to the south, Memphis still retains its former glory.The great universities were at Memphis, and all descendants of the nobility, and those who were deemed fit for high offices, received a rigorous and intensive education.It is the expectation of many people to enter a noble school, "a place that is closed, protected and has no worries about food and clothing", but for those who have lived in it since childhood, such as Ramses, they only want to escape!

Ramses wore a short-sleeved gown made of ordinary material, which looked no different from pedestrians on the road.He came to the most famous beer hall next to the medical school campus, where would-be physicians like to enjoy after a long day of work.The night police never left, and the prince did not drive it away. He and it entered the restricted area for the children of the noble school. Lime walls and straw mats welcome drinkers, lovers of full-bodied beers, spirits and toddys, in the Brasserie's lobby.The proprietor of the hotel happily displays his amphora from the Nile Delta, oases or Greece, and brags about the virtues of his own products.Ramses picked a quiet corner from which he could see the gate.

"What would you like to drink?" asked a waiter. "Nothing for now." "The stranger must pay the bill first." The prince handed him a jade bracelet: "Is it enough?" The waiter looked at the thing: "Enough. Wine or beer?" "Great beer in the shop." "How many cups?" "Not sure yet." "I'll go get the wine first... I'll bring the wine glass after you decide." Ramses knew that he was ignorant of prices, and the waiter might have lied to him.It was time, no doubt, to step out of his college, which had been too far removed from the outside world.

The Night Watchman crouched at the Prince's feet, looking towards the door of the brewhouse.Among his classmates, who would dare to come and take risks?He would wager that, excluding the most cowardly and the most ambitious, he could only think of three names, and those three people never fled the battle. When Sai Dawu appeared on the threshold, Ramses smiled. The child of a sailor and a Nubian woman, Sai Dawu was a short, manly, muscular, dark-skinned, thick-haired, boxy head.He has superhuman stamina, and his talent in chemistry and botany attracted the attention of school teachers. The teachers of noble schools welcomed him very much and opened the door to higher education for him.

Sai Dawu sat down beside Ramses silently. The two boys had no time to talk because Amenes had come.He was short, slender, thin, pale, and thin for his youth.He was obviously not athletic and unable to do menial tasks, but he was better at writing and composition than the rest of the senior class.He was assiduous in sleeping only three or four hours a day, and he knew the great writers better than his literature teacher.The painter's son is now a family hero. "I managed to escape," he said proudly. "I gave dinner to one of the guards." The Prince was taken aback by the third arrival, for he had never imagined that the Rich Yaxia would take such a risk.For the only son of a billionaire, entering an aristocratic school is a natural and necessary process before becoming a high-ranking official.He was polite, slender, with a long face, a small trimmed mustache, and a look of contempt in his eyes.Those who talk to him are often mesmerized by his magnetic voice and intelligent eyes.

He sat down in front of the three of them. "Surprised, Ramses?" "I admit." "I like to hang out with you for a night, life is too monotonous for me." "We fear disciplinary action." "Punishment will add to the uncooked dish. Are we all there?" "not yet." "Your best friend may have betrayed you." "He will come." Yaxia served everyone wine with a sarcastic expression... But Ramses didn't touch the glass, worry and disappointment filled his throat.Is he really outrageously wrong about the person?

"Here he comes!" cried Amenes. Tall, broad-shouldered, with thick hair and a beard curling around his chin, Moses looked fifteen years older than his actual age.A descendant of Hebronite workers who immigrated to Egypt generations ago, he was educated at an aristocratic school because of his extraordinary intelligence.Now that he was on a par with Ramses in terms of physical strength, the two boys had been fighting each other long before the nonaggression pact and academic performance were evenly matched. "An old guard wouldn't let me out. Since I didn't want to knock him out, I had to find a good reason to go out to convince him."

"Now we come to the only question that matters," Ramesses demanded, "How can we have real power?" "It is written in the book," replied Amene at once, "that our language is the language of the gods, in which the wise men communicated their instruction to us. It is written: 'Follow your ancestors, for they were before you. Know life. Power comes from knowledge, and only words can live forever.'” "Crape nonsense." Sai Dawu retorted. "Don't you think words have real power? Manners, manners, manners, punctuality, respect for promises, refusal of obscenity and lust, modesty, the art of silence gives the word its first place, these are the virtues I want to say."

"It's not enough," Yaxia said. "The supreme power is diplomatic power. That's why I'm about to travel across the oceans to learn the languages ​​of our allies and enemies, to learn how to conduct international trade, and to meet those heads of state who really care about things, and then know how to apply that knowledge.” "This is really the ambition of a city guy who has no contact with nature." Sai Dawu said regretfully. "You won't tell us how you will gain power?" Yaxia asked sharply. "There is only one road, the road of ghosts and ghosts full of life and death, beauty and terror, antidote and drugs." "You are joking?" "Where are the snakes? In the desert, in the fields, in the swamps, by the Nile and canals, in the drying fields, in the shepherd's house, in the livestock fields, even in the shady corners of the house! Everywhere, they have the recipe for creation. I will dedicate my life to destroy them." No one dared to criticize Sai Dawu, he came to his conclusion after careful consideration. "What about you, Moses?" Ramses asked. Moses hesitated. "I envy you, my friends, for I cannot answer. Strange thoughts haunt me, my mind is uneasy, and my future is still unclear. I will be given a high post in the apse, and I'm ready to say yes, and I'm looking forward to an even more exciting adventure." The eyes of the four young men turned to Ramses. "There's only one real power," he said, "and that's that of the Pharaohs."