"
Pharaoh sat down on a chair of state, his face turned towards the
rising sun, and began to speak like one who wishes to set his
thoughts in order. "My chariots have rolled over the red soil of
Syria, my horses have trampled the highways of Babylon and Nineveh;
I have crossed the Euphrates and Tigris, and marched through the
region between the two rivers; I have come to the land of the Five
Rivers, and seen the Seven in the distance, where the Land of Silk
begins, that stretches towards the sunrise. I have returned on my
traces and gone northward towards Scythia and Colchis. Wherever I
went I heard murmurs and saw movements. The people have awaked; in
the temples they prophesied the return of the gods; for men had been
left alone to manage their affairs and to guide their destinies, but
had done both badly. Justice had become injustice, and truth,
falsehood; the whole earth groaned for deliverance. At last their
prayers reached the throne of the All-merciful. And now the wise,
the gentle, the saintly proclaim in all tongues the joyful message,
'The gods return again. They return in order to put right what the
children of men have thrown in confusion, to give laws and to
protect justice.' This message I bring home as a spoil of victory,
and thou, wisest of the wise, shalt receive it first from thy lord.
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