PAKH. I despair because the happy fields do not exist--
SATNI. If you die, you will go to Osiris, you will become Osiris.
PAKH. It is not true. 'Tis now you lie--There is no Osiris! There is no Osiris! Nothing! there is nothing--but life. I curse you, you who taught me that [_He almost falls from his litter, Satni reverently lifts him up_] Ah! accursed! Accursed! I die in hate, in rage, in fear. Bad son! Bad man! I curse you, come near. [_Seizing him by the throat_] Oh! If I were strong enough!--I would my nails might pierce your throat--Ah! Ah! accursed [_He lets him go_] All my life lost! All my suffering useless!--Forever--Never! Never! shall I know--Pity! [_He holds out his arms to Satni and falls dead_].
SATNI [_horror-stricken_] He is dead!--[_He lifts him reverently and lays him on the litter_] Father! For me, too, at this moment there would have been comfort in a lie--
_He weeps, kneeling by the body with his arms stretched over it. Kirjipa appears at the door of the house. She comes near, then standing upright cries out to the four points of the horizon, tearing her hair._
KIRJIPA. The master is dead! The master is dead! The master is dead! The master is dead!
_The five mourners appear outside, Delethi, Nazit, Hanou, Zaya, and Nagaou._
KIRJIPA [_with cries that are calls_] The master is dead! The master is dead!
MOURNERS [_entering_] The master is dead! The master is dead!
MOURNERS [_louder and in a chant_] O my master! O my father!
MOURNERS. The she-wolf, death; the she-wolf, death; the she-wolf, death, has taken him!
_They rush at the body, kissing it with piercing cries. They beat their breasts, uttering long cries, after silent pauses. Kirjipa and another woman dance a hieratic dance, their feet gliding slowly over the ground. They bend to gather handfuls of earth, which they scatter on their heads as they dance. The cries are redoubled._
KIRJIPA [_after bowing before the corpse_] Go in peace towards Abydos! Go in peace towards Osiris!
ALL. Towards Abydos! Towards Osiris! To the West, thou who wast the best of men!
KIRJIPA. If it please the gods, when the day of eternity comes, we shall see thee, for behold thou goest towards the earth that mixeth men.
_They make believe to bear away the corpse; ritual movements._