{"product_id":"2940015718805","title":"An Egyptian Princess, Complete","description":"AN EGYPTIAN PRINCESS.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBy Georg Ebers\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBOOK 1.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER I.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Nile had overflowed its bed. The luxuriant corn-fields and blooming\u003cbr\u003egardens on its shores were lost beneath a boundless waste of waters; and\u003cbr\u003eonly the gigantic temples and palaces of its cities, (protected from the\u003cbr\u003eforce of the water by dikes), and the tops of the tall palm-trees and\u003cbr\u003eacacias could be seen above its surface. The branches of the sycamores\u003cbr\u003eand plane-trees drooped and floated on the waves, but the boughs of the\u003cbr\u003etall silver poplars strained upward, as if anxious to avoid the watery\u003cbr\u003eworld beneath. The full-moon had risen; her soft light fell on the\u003cbr\u003eLibyan range of mountains vanishing on the western horizon, and in the\u003cbr\u003enorth the shimmer of the Mediterranean could faintly be discerned. Blue\u003cbr\u003eand white lotus-flowers floated on the clear water, bats of all\u003cbr\u003ekinds darted softly through the still air, heavy with the scent of\u003cbr\u003eacacia-blossom and jasmine; the wild pigeons and other birds were at\u003cbr\u003eroost in the tops of the trees, while the pelicans, storks and cranes\u003cbr\u003esquatted in groups on the shore under the shelter of the papyrus-reeds\u003cbr\u003eand Nile-beans. The pelicans and storks remained motionless, their long\u003cbr\u003ebills hidden beneath their wings, but the cranes were startled by the\u003cbr\u003emere beat of an oar, stretching their necks, and peering anxiously into\u003cbr\u003ethe distance, if they heard but the song of the boatmen. The air was\u003cbr\u003eperfectly motionless, and the unbroken reflection of the moon, lying\u003cbr\u003elike a silver shield on the surface of the water, proved that, wildly as\u003cbr\u003ethe Nile leaps over the cataracts, and rushes past the gigantic temples\u003cbr\u003eof Upper Egypt, yet on approaching the sea by different arms, he can\u003cbr\u003eabandon his impetuous course, and flow along in sober tranquillity.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOn this moonlight night in the year 528 B. C. a bark was crossing the\u003cbr\u003ealmost currentless Canopic mouth of the Nile. On the raised deck at\u003cbr\u003ethe stern of this boat an Egyptian was sitting to guide the long\u003cbr\u003epole-rudder, and the half-naked boatmen within were singing as\u003cbr\u003ethey rowed. In the open cabin, which was something like a wooden\u003cbr\u003esummer-house, sat two men, reclining on low cushions. They were\u003cbr\u003eevidently not Egyptians; their Greek descent could be perceived even by\u003cbr\u003ethe moonlight. The elder was an unusually tall and powerful man of\u003cbr\u003emore than sixty; thick grey curls, showing very little attempt at\u003cbr\u003earrangement, hung down over his short, firm throat; he wore a simple,\u003cbr\u003ehomely cloak, and kept his eyes gloomily fixed on the water. His\u003cbr\u003ecompanion, on the contrary, a man perhaps twenty years younger, of a\u003cbr\u003eslender and delicate build, was seldom still. Sometimes he gazed into\u003cbr\u003ethe heavens, sometimes made a remark to the steersman, disposed his\u003cbr\u003ebeautiful purple chlanis in fresh folds, or busied himself in the\u003cbr\u003earrangement of his scented brown curls, or his carefully curled beard.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e   [The chlanis was a light summer-mantle, worn especially by the more\u003cbr\u003e   elegant Athenians, and generally made of expensive materials. The\u003cbr\u003e   simpler cloak, the himation, was worn by the Doric Greeks, and\u003cbr\u003e   principally by the Spartans.]\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe boat had left Naukratis, at that time the only Hellenic port in\u003cbr\u003eEgypt, about half an hour before.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e   [This town, which will form the scene of a part of our tale, lies in\u003cbr\u003e   the northwest of the Nile Delta, in the Saitic Nomos or district, on\u003cbr\u003e   the left bank of the Canopic mouth of the river. According to\u003cbr\u003e   Strabo and Eusebius it was founded by Milesians, and Bunsen reckons\u003cbr\u003e   749 B. C. It seems that in the earliest times Greek ships were only\u003cbr\u003e   allowed to enter this mouth of the Nile in case of necessity. The\u003cbr\u003e   entire intercourse of the Egyptians with the hated strangers was, at\u003cbr\u003e   that time, restricted to the little island of Pharos lying opposite\u003cbr\u003e   to the town of Thonis.]","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47080855372016,"sku":"2940015718805","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940015718805","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}