Speak, Rameri, what has caused a division between you?"

"I bear him no ill-will," answered Rameri. "You lately gave me the sword
which Mernephtah has there stuck in his belt, because I did my duty well
in the last skirmish with the enemy. You know we both sleep in the same
tent, and yesterday, when I drew my sword out of its sheath to admire the
fine work of the blade, I found that another, not so sharp, had been put
in its place."

"I had only exchanged my sword for his in fun," interrupted Mernephtah.
"But he can never take a joke, and declared I want to wear a prize that I
had not earned; he would try, he said, to win another and then--"

"I have heard enough; you have both done wrong," said the King. "Even in
fun, Mernephtah, you should never cheat or deceive. I did so once, and I
will tell you what happened, as a warning.

"My noble mother, Tuaa, desired me, the first time I went into Fenchu
--[Phoenicia: on monuments of the 18th dynasty.]--to bring her a pebble
from the shore near Byblos, where the body of Osiris was washed. As we
returned to Thebes, my mother's request returned to my mind; I was young
and thoughtless--I picked up a stone by the way-side, took it with me,
and when she asked me for the remembrance from Byblos I silently gave her
the pebble from Thebes. She was delighted, she showed it to her brothers
and sisters, and laid it by the statues of her ancestors; but I was
miserable with shame and penitence, and at last I secretly took away the
stone, and threw it into the water. All the servants were called
together, and strict enquiry was made as to the theft of the stone; then
I could hold out no longer, and confessed everything. No one punished
me, and yet I never suffered more severely; from that time I have never