Ancient World 02 - Raiders of the Nile Read Online Free PDF Page A

Alexandrians are freer than the Romans at least in this regard, because virtually anything can be said about anyone, even including the king, so long as the ridicule takes place in a mime show and no one is identified by his real name.
    This mime show was not only being staged in a nicer part of town than usual, but it seemed to be attracting a more rarified audience. As I watched, a magnificent litter arrived. The occupant was hidden inside a box screened by yellow linen curtains. The box was fitted atop long wooden poles that were elaborately carved and brightly painted, like two lotus columns from an Egyptian temple laid on their sides. The poles rested upon the shoulders of bearers who were veritable giants, half again as tall as me, twice as broad, and midnight black; such giants are said to come from the land where the Nile begins. Making way for the litter, a vanguard of bodyguards, also giants, bullied their way through the crowd, so that the litter was able to claim a spot at the very front. Some of the spectators who were forcibly displaced grumbled and shook their fists, but the bodyguards stared them down. The curtains of the litter were opened a finger’s width on all sides, allowing the occupant to see out without being seen.
    Two young boys circulated through the crowd, holding out cups to solicit offerings for the troupe. One of the boys stopped in front of me and rattled his cup.
    “Shouldn’t I see a bit of the show before I decide what I wish to pay?” I said.
    “Better to pay now.” The boy grinned. “You never know what might happen.”
    I wasn’t sure I liked the sound of that, but begrudgingly I pulled the thinnest copper coin from my depleted purse and dropped it into the cup. The rattle it made seemed to satisfy the urchin, who moved on to badger the people next to me.
    Some moments later the two boys disappeared from view, slipping around to the far side of the tent. With its entrance hidden from view and its rear side facing the crowd, the tent would serve as both changing room and backdrop for the presentation. The two boys soon reappeared, both clutching Pan pipes, and stood to either side of the tent, using their bodies to mark the boundaries of an imaginary stage. As they played a shrill fanfare, the crowd settled down, and the show commenced.
    It began innocently enough with a skit about a befuddled brothel keeper, who was all leering eyebrows and salacious grins, and his oldest “girl,” an actress with wrinkles drawn on her face with kohl and a huge pair of drooping stage-breasts. She was not merely her employer’s oldest whore, but was also the first well ever drilled in Alexandria—or something like that. The Greek dialogue contained a great many puns that seemed to play off the local dialect. Bethesda got more of the jokes than I did, laughing at bits of dialogue that were merely Greek to me.
    When not reciting her lines, the actress turned this way and that, knocking over small props (chairs, table, standing lamp) with her massive breasts. To accompany this buffoonery, the two boys played rude notes on their pipes. Some of the men and women around me laughed so hard they wept and had to blow their noses. A mime show cannot be too bawdy for Alexandrian tastes.
    Suddenly, despite her makeup and costume, I recognized the actress.
    “Bethesda, look! It’s her. Your double.”
    Bethesda gave me a sour look.
    “No, seriously. It’s that girl who was running through the streets naked—well, practically naked. You can hardly recognize her, but that’s the girl. I’m sure of it. Amazing, how these mimes can transform themselves!”
    Bethesda rolled her eyes and shook her head, still unconvinced of the resemblance.
    The skit came to a climax with yet another pun that was completely unintelligible to me but that set off howls of laughter in the audience and earned a sustained round of applause. As the two performers took a bow, it seemed to me that the actress made a special