This is my favorite story by Herodotus from his The Histories. It may not be true, but Herodotus loved a good story and included it in the book. (I’ve taken some liberties to flesh out the story.) Once upon a time in Ancient Egypt, an elderly man was on his death bed. He called his two sons to his side and said: “Sons, I am not a rich man and I have no wealth to leave you. But I know a secret that you will find valuable. Years ago, I worked on the pharaoh’s tomb and I made sure one of the stones in the wall was not sealed. If you pull out the stone you can go into the tomb and take some of the treasure.” He explained where the stone was and then he died. The brothers were skeptical, but after the funeral they visited the tomb late at night and sure enough the stone was loose and they were able to get into the tomb and steal a bunch of jewelry. For the next few nights, they had a great time out on the town drinking and going to brothels. Meanwhile, the pharaoh’s official who was in charge of preparing his tomb for the afterlife noticed some of the jewelry was missing. He told the pharaoh and they both wondered how this could be since the tomb was well guarded. The pharaoh insisted the robber be caught so the official rigged a trap. A few nights later, the brothers returned to the throne for more loot and the elder brother entered first and was immediately trapped. He whispered to his brother through the hole where the stone had been, telling him that he was trapped and would not be able to get out. When the younger brother asked him what should he do, the elder said: “There is only one thing you can do to protect yourself and our whole family from retribution. You must cut off my head and take it with you. That way the guards will not be able to identify me. I’m a dead man anyway. You must do this.” The younger was very upset with this turn of events, but realized his brother was right. He stuck his sword through the opening, decapitated his brother and took the head with him. The next day, the official inspected the tomb and found the headless body. He rushed to tell the pharaoh they had caught the robber, but the pharaoh realized he must have had an accomplice. That was the only way to explain the missing head. The pharaoh ordered the body to be hung in the city and guarded. Perhaps the other robber would try to get the body to give it a decent burial and he would be caught. But the younger brother disguised himself as a wine trader and offered free samples to the guards. When they fell asleep he took his brothers body and buried it. At this point the pharaohs detectives determined that some of the jewels were being used at a particular brothel. The pharaoh’s daughter volunteered to go undercover to catch the thief. A few nights later the thief came to the brothel and recognized the pharaoh’s daughter on the menu, so to speak. He asked for her and they went to the room where they had a good time. When he offered a ring, which she recognized in the dim light of the room, she grabbed his arm and called the guards. They came running in to find the daughter holding a severed arm with the ring in its hand and the thief having escaped in the confusion. When he heard of this, the pharaoh gave up and offered a pardon to the thief. The young man came to the palace to get his pardon and ended up marrying the princess who had fallen in love with him that night. As with all Herodotus, you can believe it or not.
0 Comments