The wedding cost Fish most of his fortune, but he was still Collector of
the Royal Revenue and by treating the people without mercy he was able
to fill his strong-box in less than three years.

When he died he was buried in a small Pyramid, just as if he had been a
member of the Royal Family, and a daughter of Pharaoh wept over
his grave.

That is my story which begins somewhere along the banks of the Nile and
which in the course of three generations lifts a farmer from the ranks
of his own humble ancestors and drops him outside the gate but near the
throne-room of the King's palace.

What happened to Fish, happened to a large number of equally energetic
and resourceful men.

They formed a class apart.

They married each other's daughters and in this way they kept the family
fortunes in the hands of a small number of people.

They served the King faithfully as officers in his army and as
collectors of his taxes.

They looked after the safety of the roads and the waterways.

They performed many useful tasks and among themselves they obeyed the
laws of a very strict code of honor.

If the Kings were bad, the nobles were apt to be bad too.