|
Nesmut, an Ancient
Egyptian Cinderella Tale |
||||||||||||||
|
Nesmut was a tall girl with fair skin and a slender
frame. Her eyes were like two sapphires shimmering in the afternoon sun. Her hair
was a fiery red, like the roaring flames inside the artisan’s pottery oven. Captured into slavery when she was but a child,
Nesmut spent her days tending to the cattle and doing laundry. She was a
pleasant person, a smile always spread across her sun-kissed cheeks. She
liked to sing songs and write poems in the dirt along the She was well-liked by all; especially the priests of
the nearby temple. She often spent her free time there, and observed the
sacred rituals that they preformed. Although she never minded her life, and took each
day as it came, Nesmut loved to dream. She dreamt of living in a grand palace;
she dreamt of gold and vast wealth; she dreamt of falling in love and being
swept away to a faraway land where she could live to be her own person. By the end of the day, when the sun started to
snuggle into the desert horizon, Nesmut would awaken from her dreams of
grandeur and return to her small blanket on the floor of her master’s house. Her master was a merchant. He traded things like
papyrus, gold and other jewelry for cedar and ebony wood, ivory, panther
skins, and lions for the palace. He was not a very wealthy merchant, but he
made his way. Nesmut could always find her master at his desk,
planning his next big trip for trade, whenever she came inside for the
evening. One night, she returned from doing the laundry to
find her master missing. Puzzled and curious as to where he was and why,
Nesmut set out looking for him. She found him in the city square, talking to
some of his friends. They were excited, and chattering on about some Nubian
king and his nobles, who were passing through town next week. They said that
the Pharaoh was going to hold a grand welcoming celebration, in the King’s
honor. They were excited, because in the few days that the King and his
entourage were staying in town, there would be many an opportunity to trade
things. Nesmut’s heart grew heavy. How she wished she could
attend! Just thinking about all the extravagant people and wondrous food and
merriment made her lightheaded with excitement. But…there was no room for a
peasant in such a beautiful setting. Sad and disappointed, Nesmut turned
around and went home to retire for the evening. All night long, she could do nothing but think of
how much fun it would be to attend the celebration. She imagined she was the
daughter of a rich nobleman—the pharaoh’s royal treasurer/tax collector. She
was draped in gold jewelry and sprinkled with nice scented oil. She would
wear the finest makeup, and have the most beautiful dress. She would stand
around and socialize with the other nobles, and then go wander off to a
corner of the room to observe silently. She would have so much fun; the hours of the night
would fly by like minutes. Before she’d know it, the dawn would come, and
that’s when she’d meet her prince charming. The two would fall madly in love,
and she’d be whisked away to become his queen in a far off land. Nesmut grew more and more melancholy as the days
went by, knowing that there was no escape from who and what she was. She was
a peasant girl. And peasants weren’t allowed at the celebration. This was for
nobles and important people only. On the evening of the celebration, Nesmut was given
relief from her duties. She sat out on the bank of the Just then, a figure descended from the heavens.
Nesmut watched in awe as the figure landed in front of her, enshrouded in a
cloak of stars. Elegantly, the cloak was removed, to reveal a fair skinned
woman with long, shimmering black hair; and eyes as dark as ebony. Nesmut’s
jaw dropped. “Nephthys…” She stammered. The beautiful goddess of the night
nodded; a smile lit up her porcelain face. “You have been such a devoted
friend to my temple; you deserve to be rewarded.” With a wave of Nephthys’ delicate hand, Nesmut was
draped in gold necklaces and a silk dress. She smelled like some kind of
exotic flower, and was wearing the finest makeup in the land. The goddess
looked over her work, and thought for a moment. “You’re missing something…”
Snapping her fingers once, a chariot appeared, with seven sleek black jackals
to pull it. They each had a jeweled gold collar around their necks, and their
eyes were a bright yellow. Nesmut was amazed. She could hardly believe her
eyes. She stared back at Nephthys in awe. Nephthys herded the young girl into
the chariot, and said, “Go on and enjoy yourself.” The next thing Nesmut knew was that she was riding
through town. Everyone she passed stopped what they were doing to look at
her, even the soldiers digging irrigation tunnels for a new farm. Her heart thrashed wildly in her chest as she walked
into the palace. It was better than she imagined. There were a lot of people,
and all so elegantly dressed. She was surrounded in grandeur. There were
tables lined end on end, overflowing with food of every kind. She was so
overwhelmed, all she could do was sit in a corner of the room, and observe
everything from afar. That’s when she saw him; the Nubian King everybody
was talking about in the town square earlier that day. She recognized him by
the cap-crown on his head, adorned with the double-headed cobra. He was tall,
dark and handsome, with long gold necklaces with solid gold ram’s heads on
the ends. He wore a kilt of the finest material. Nesmut couldn’t help but
stare, and she learned that his name was Anlamani. Noticing that he was being stared at, Anlamani
decided to go over and make conversation with the bright-haired beauty. The
night wore on, and the two talked much. By the end of the party, Anlamani had decided he
wanted to marry this girl. As he proposed, Nesmut broke down into tears, and
ran off, crying, “You can’t marry me, I’m a peasant girl!” Nesmut was so heartbroken, she cried all the way
home, and the rest of the night long. The next morning, there was a knock on
the merchant’s door. The merchant went to answer it, and was amazed by what
he saw. He was speechless as none other than Anlamani stood in his doorway.
Anlamani bought Nesmut’s freedom, and the two were married later that same
day. Then all Nesmut’s dreams came true as she became queen of a faraway
land, and lived happily ever after. By Rachel Fakih © 2002 J. Napier-Faeih
|
