The Doomed Prince

Do you know that the ancient Egyptians used papyrus, a reed that grew along the Nile, for their writing? This story come to us from the Great Harris Papyrus (the longest papyrus found so far—forty-one metres long with 1500 lines of text), which is housed in the British Museum, London. Sadly, a part of it was destroyed in an explosion.

Our story is set in the time of the mortal pharaohs. There once lived a pharaoh who had no children. Greatly saddened and worried that he would die without an heir to sit upon the throne of Egypt, he prayed to the gods for a son.

Ra, the great god, heard his prayers and before long, a baby boy was born to the pharaoh. But on the day of the child’s birth, the seven Hathors visited the palace. They were goddesses who predicted the fate of newborns and what they foretold always came true.

They greeted the new prince with crestfallen faces and spelled out the little one’s destiny: ‘Death will claim him before old age does. And it shall come to him through a crocodile or a serpent or a dog.’ The nurses, who heard this, rushed to the pharaoh with the news. Poor Pharaoh; his joy had turned into grief.

But then, life has to go on and the pharaoh decided that he would do his best to keep the boy out of harm’s way. High on a mountain at the edge of the desert, he built a tower of stone. Inside it was a luxurious abode for his precious son. The palace had all the comforts a prince could wish for but would all that bring happiness to a lonely boy?

One day, the prince climbed to the roof of his tower and looked out to see the world beyond. He saw a man walking with a dog following close behind. The prince turned to the attendant beside him. ‘What is that animal that walks behind that man?’ he asked. He had never seen a dog before.

‘It’s a greyhound,’ answered the attendant. ‘I would like one too,’ said the boy as he watched the dog and master walking off into the distance. The servant informed the pharaoh of the prince’s wish. The pharaoh thought for a while and said, ‘Let him have a little puppy. It will make him happy.’ So the boy was given a little greyhound puppy, which followed him everywhere.

Many years passed and the prince grew to be a strong young man. He began to get restless, confined in the high tower, and begged his father to let him go out and see the world. The pharaoh tried to explain the situation to his son but he would have none of it. ‘If it is my destiny to embrace death before my time, let it be so! I need to live whatever is left of my life. Do not deprive me, Father.’

The pharaoh loved his only son dearly but knew that he had to let him go. So he gave him many weapons and a fine horse and took him to the eastern edge of the desert. ‘Now you can go where you wish to, my son; I shall not stop you,’ he said, embracing the young man. Needless to say, the pet dog followed his master everywhere. The prince turned north and travelled a long way, hunting game. He was enjoying his new-found freedom. In time, he reached the country of Naharina.

The chief of Naharina had only one child, a beautiful daughter. But he had her locked away in a tower too. The tower had seventy windows and stood at the edge of a steep cliff, which was 700 feet high. The chief had sent word of this to all the kingdoms in the region, claiming that any prince who could scale the cliff all the way up to her window would win the hand of the fair maiden.

So all day long, princes tried to climb the cliff but none had even made it halfway. Still, they tried hard every day. When the prince arrived after his long journey, the other princes welcomed him warmly and he spent the evening in their company. But he did not reveal his true identity. ‘I’m the son of a charioteer from Egypt. I left home because my mother died and my father married again. My stepmother was very cruel to me and I decided to get away from all that.’ Everybody sympathized with his plight and treated him with great kindness.

The next morning, he saw them embark on their cliff-climbing mission. ‘Can I come too?’ he asked, and they were only too glad for the company. ‘It’s really no use. We don’t even make it halfway, but you can join us.’

They began to climb as the princess gazed down at them curiously from her window above. Our prince saw her beautiful face and, inspired, he climbed up, up and up, all the way to the window. When the princess saw him, she was so happy that she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him. Soon, word got to the chief of Naharina that an Egyptian youth had managed to get to the top of the tower.

As this was not part of his plan, he began to fume and fret. ‘A common charioteer’s son, did you say?’ he thundered at the ones who had brought him the news. ‘Tell him to leave at once! Make him go back to where he came from. This contest was not meant for the likes of him.’

But the princess was truly smitten and refused to let him go. The chief was livid now and sent guards to kill the fugitive from Egypt. But the princess was adamant. ‘By the great god Ra, if he is slain, I shall not eat or drink and shall die in a day!’ Such strong words were these that the chief’s heart melted. And when he went up to the tower to see the young man in question, he was impressed. The princess finally married the handsome stranger from Egypt.

After they were married, the prince revealed his true identity to his bride and told her about his impending doom; that his death would be brought about by a dog, a crocodile or a serpent.

‘Then we must get rid of that greyhound of yours,’ said his wife, of the faithful dog that was always at his master’s side. ‘No,’ the prince assured her. ‘My dog is never going to harm me.’

‘From now on, I will always be on guard. I will never let any harm befall you,’ said his wife, for she loved her husband dearly.

After the wedding festivities, the prince wished to return to his homeland. Along with their attendants, he and his bride travelled across the desert towards Egypt. One night, they stopped to rest in the open country. As the prince lay down to sleep, his wife kept watch, anointing his body with perfumed oils. Her sharp eyes spotted a serpent slowly slithering towards them. Quietly, she placed her silver cup of sweet wine in the serpent’s way. The serpent drank the wine and the intoxicating sweetness made it drowsy. As the snake lay in a stupor, the princess took out her dagger and killed it.

When her husband awoke the next morn, she showed him the dead snake. ‘The great god Ra has helped me slay this vile serpent. I’m sure I’ll be able to ward off the others too.’ The grateful prince and his bride gave thanks to Ra and offered him several gifts.

Back in Egypt, the pharaoh was happy to see his son return safely, and with such a beautiful bride. There were great celebrations to mark the happy occasion and the prince and his bride went to live in the tower. The princess, of course, had no qualms about this restriction, having grown up in a similar abode.

The pharaoh had a garden made for the young couple that extended all the way till the edge of the Nile. There was a crocodile that lived in the Nile that had been awaiting the prince’s return. All day long, he lay basking on a rock, eyes closed, jaws open, thinking of ways to get the prince into the water.

Then came a day when the prince, accompanied by his greyhound, went into the garden. The dog, upon spotting a deer, chased it down to the river. The prince followed them into the water where the crocodile lay in wait.

‘If you think you can kill the prince, you are mistaken,’ boomed a loud voice that rattled the crocodile badly. He looked up to see a marsh giant looming over him. The giant, who lived in the marsh, was a good-hearted soul.

‘Don’t you dare come here or I’ll have to kill you!’ he thundered and the crocodile slithered away but he was not going to give up easily.

‘Remember, I am your doom and I shall get you sooner or later!’ the crocodile said to the surprised prince as he swam away.

This is where our story ends as the papyrus on which it was written was destroyed in an unfortunate accident. At first, I thought of penning my own ending for you (in which the crocodile makes another attempt to kill the prince but is thwarted by the princess and the dog). In my story, all of them go on to live happily ever after, defying destiny. But now you go ahead and write your own ending, any which way you please!