high priest returned and proclaimed the absolution in the ancient
words "for the sake of the suppliant's heart and of Egypt" and with it
the blessing of the goddess on her union, adding, however, the
formula, "at thy prayer, daughter and spouse, I, the goddess Isis, cut
the rope that binds thee to me on earth. Yet if thou should'st tie it
again, know that it may never more be severed, for if thou strivest so
to do, it shall strangle thee in whatever shape thou livest on the
earth throughout the generations, and with thee the man thou choosest
and those who give thee to him. Thus saith Isis the Queen of Heaven."

"What does that mean?" I asked my mother.

"It means, my son, that if, having broken her vows to Isis, a woman
should repeat them and once more enter the service of the goddess, and
then for the second time seek to break them, she and the man for whom
she did this thing would be like flies in a spider's web, and that not
only in this life, but in any other that may be given to them in the
world."

"It seems that Isis has a long arm," I said.

"Without doubt a very long arm, my son, since Isis, by whatever name
she is called, is a power that does not die or forget."

"Well, Mother, in this case she can have no reason to remember, since
never again will Amada be her priestess."

"I think not, Shabaka. Yet who can be sure of what a woman will or
will not do, now or hereafter? For my part I am glad that I have
served Amen and not Isis, and that after I was wed."