Gliddon, I really am astonished to hear you talk in this style,"
said the Count, resuming his chair.
said the Count, resuming his chair.
Poe - 5
To be 'of the blood of the
Scarabaeus,' is merely to be one of that family of which the Scarabaeus
is the insignium. I speak figuratively. "
"But what has this to do with you being alive? "
"Why, it is the general custom in Egypt to deprive a corpse, before
embalmment, of its bowels and brains; the race of the Scarabaei alone
did not coincide with the custom. Had I not been a Scarabeus, therefore,
I should have been without bowels and brains; and without either it is
inconvenient to live. "
"I perceive that," said Mr. Buckingham, "and I presume that all the
entire mummies that come to hand are of the race of Scarabaei. "
"Beyond doubt. "
"I thought," said Mr. Gliddon, very meekly, "that the Scarabaeus was one
of the Egyptian gods. "
"One of the Egyptian _what? "_ exclaimed the Mummy, starting to its feet.
"Gods! " repeated the traveller.
"Mr.
Gliddon, I really am astonished to hear you talk in this style,"
said the Count, resuming his chair. "No nation upon the face of the
earth has ever acknowledged more than one god. The Scarabaeus, the Ibis,
etc. , were with us (as similar creatures have been with others) the
symbols, or media, through which we offered worship to the Creator too
august to be more directly approached. "
There was here a pause. At length the colloquy was renewed by Doctor
Ponnonner.
"It is not improbable, then, from what you have explained," said he,
"that among the catacombs near the Nile there may exist other mummies of
the Scarabaeus tribe, in a condition of vitality? "
"There can be no question of it," replied the Count; "all the Scarabaei
embalmed accidentally while alive, are alive now. Even some of those
purposely so embalmed, may have been overlooked by their executors, and
still remain in the tomb. "
"Will you be kind enough to explain," I said, "what you mean by
'purposely so embalmed'? "
"With great pleasure! " answered the Mummy, after surveying me leisurely
through his eye-glass--for it was the first time I had ventured to
address him a direct question.
"With great pleasure," he said. "The usual duration of man's life, in
my time, was about eight hundred years. Few men died, unless by most
extraordinary accident, before the age of six hundred; few lived longer
than a decade of centuries; but eight were considered the natural
term. After the discovery of the embalming principle, as I have already
described it to you, it occurred to our philosophers that a laudable
curiosity might be gratified, and, at the same time, the interests of
science much advanced, by living this natural term in installments.
Scarabaeus,' is merely to be one of that family of which the Scarabaeus
is the insignium. I speak figuratively. "
"But what has this to do with you being alive? "
"Why, it is the general custom in Egypt to deprive a corpse, before
embalmment, of its bowels and brains; the race of the Scarabaei alone
did not coincide with the custom. Had I not been a Scarabeus, therefore,
I should have been without bowels and brains; and without either it is
inconvenient to live. "
"I perceive that," said Mr. Buckingham, "and I presume that all the
entire mummies that come to hand are of the race of Scarabaei. "
"Beyond doubt. "
"I thought," said Mr. Gliddon, very meekly, "that the Scarabaeus was one
of the Egyptian gods. "
"One of the Egyptian _what? "_ exclaimed the Mummy, starting to its feet.
"Gods! " repeated the traveller.
"Mr.
Gliddon, I really am astonished to hear you talk in this style,"
said the Count, resuming his chair. "No nation upon the face of the
earth has ever acknowledged more than one god. The Scarabaeus, the Ibis,
etc. , were with us (as similar creatures have been with others) the
symbols, or media, through which we offered worship to the Creator too
august to be more directly approached. "
There was here a pause. At length the colloquy was renewed by Doctor
Ponnonner.
"It is not improbable, then, from what you have explained," said he,
"that among the catacombs near the Nile there may exist other mummies of
the Scarabaeus tribe, in a condition of vitality? "
"There can be no question of it," replied the Count; "all the Scarabaei
embalmed accidentally while alive, are alive now. Even some of those
purposely so embalmed, may have been overlooked by their executors, and
still remain in the tomb. "
"Will you be kind enough to explain," I said, "what you mean by
'purposely so embalmed'? "
"With great pleasure! " answered the Mummy, after surveying me leisurely
through his eye-glass--for it was the first time I had ventured to
address him a direct question.
"With great pleasure," he said. "The usual duration of man's life, in
my time, was about eight hundred years. Few men died, unless by most
extraordinary accident, before the age of six hundred; few lived longer
than a decade of centuries; but eight were considered the natural
term. After the discovery of the embalming principle, as I have already
described it to you, it occurred to our philosophers that a laudable
curiosity might be gratified, and, at the same time, the interests of
science much advanced, by living this natural term in installments.
