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In this same gigantic hall of columns, where half a year earlier the priests had judged Ramses XII, and shown dislike for Ramses XIII, those dignitaries assembled to settle the most important question of state, under the presidency of Herhor. On the 25th of Tobi, exactly at noon, Herhor, in the miter of Amenhotep, sat on the throne; others sat in armchairs, and the council took place.

In the month Tobi, when the mummy of Ramses XIII was placed in its tomb, a great assembly of the most important personages met in the temple of Amon. There were present almost all the high priests, nomarchs, and generals of troops, and among them, covered with glory, was the gray-haired chief of the eastern army, Nitager.

They are masters of astronomy, astrology, and arithmetic; they know the origin of the world, and can tell where were the planets at the very moment of creation; they are sure that the moon was then in the constellation of Cancer, the sun in that of the Lion, Mercury in that of the Virgin, Venus in the Balance, Mars in the Scorpion, Jupiter in Sagittarius, Saturn in Capricorn; they trace on papyrus or granite the direction of the celestial ocean, which goes from the east to the west; they have summed up the number of stars strewn over the blue robe of the Goddess Neith, and make the sun travel in the lower or the superior hemisphere with the twelve diurnal and the twelve nocturnal baris under the conduct of the hawk-headed pilot and of Neb Wa, the Lady of the Bark; they know that in the second half of the month of Tobi, Orion influences the left ear, and Sirius the heart; but they are absolutely ignorant why a woman prefers one man to another, a wretched Israelite to an illustrious Pharaoh.

The children sing this song: Tobi, tobi, maute mise! Ashita no ha ni Karasu ni kakushite Nezumi yaru. The mention of dancing refers to the beautiful balancing motion of the kite's wings in flight. By suggestion this motion is poetically compared to the graceful swaying of a maiko, or dancing-girl, extending her arms and waving the long wide sleeves of her silken robe.