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And lo! behind a pillar stood Phater. He did not show a sign of embarrassment, but only held out his open hand, in which lay all the pieces of papyrus, which Amram had strewed as he went. "You must not strew pieces of papyrus on the ground," said Phater with an inscrutable smile. "Yes I am not angry, I only wish you well.
Amram was alarmed, but Phater took out an amulet in the shape of a scarabaeus, and, holding it as a shield in front of him, he passed through the terrible shapes, which dissolved like smoke, while Amram followed him. "The magician only cheats our eyes," said Phater, and as he waved his hand the whole appearance vanished.
Therefore the Nile is the blood of the earth. And the mountains are the flesh, not the bones." Reuben, whose Egyptian name was Phater, had regarded Amram while he spoke with alarm and amazement. When the latter had ceased to speak, he began, "You are not Amram the worker in ebony and cabinet-maker." "I am certainly a worker in ebony and cabinetmaker, but I am also of Israel's priestly line.
I am the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham. I am a Levite and the husband of Jochebed. Miriam, and Aaron are the children hitherto born to me; one unborn I still await. Now I go back to my work; show me the way!" Phater went in front, but led Amram by another way than that by which he had come.
As they passed by an open door, which led into a large hall lined with bookcases, Amram stopped, full of curiosity, and wished to enter, in order to look at the numerous books. But Phater held him back by his garment, "Don't go in," he said; "the place is full of traps and snares. The guardian of the library sits concealed in the middle of the hall, and guards his treasures jealously.
Now they stood again in the first hall, and, pointing to the Nilometer, Amram said, "Famine!" "There is no doubt of that. Therefore all superfluous mouths should be stopped." "What!" Phater saw that he had made a slip of the tongue. "I mean," he said, "Pharaoh must consider how to get corn." "He would find a Joseph useful just now." "Why?" broke in Phater more vehemently than he intended.
"You are not Reuben; you are Phater the Egyptian, for if you were an Israelite, you would not have spoken thus. Our ways part. I go to my work." Amram laid his hand on the door, and Phater glided into the shadow of the columns and vanished. But Amram saw by his bent back that he had evil designs. When Amram came home in the evening, he found that his wife had borne a son.
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