On the tablets of the tombs
in the early times, there is usually recorded the offering--or, rather,
the pious desire that there should be offered--thousands of loaves, of
oxen, of gazelles, of cranes, &c., for a deceased person. Such
expression cost no more by the thousand than by the dozen, so thousands
came to be the usual expression in all ordaining of offerings.
We are so accustomed to think of tedium as something modern, that it
seems strange to find in the oldest tales [Page 16] in the world how the
first king of whom we know anything was bored by his pleasures. A reward
for discovering a new pleasure is the very basis of the tale of Sneferu;
and the wise man's remedy of a day in the country is still the best
resource, though all that we know as human history has tried its
experiments in enjoyment since then. The flavour of the ballet thrown
in, by the introduction of the damsels of the household clad in fishing
nets, is not yet obsolete in modern amusements; and even in this century
Muhammed Ali had resource to the same way of killing time, as he was
rowed about by his _harem,_ but on an artificial lake.
The use of two large oars for steering explains the detail of the
story. The oars were one on each side of the stern, and were each
managed by a steerer. From the tale we see that the steerer led the
song of the rowers, and if the leader ceased, all that side of the
boat ceased also.
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