THE PYRAMIDS AGAIN & LEARNING NOT TO DRAG ONE'S FEET
Our bedroom door was open and I heard Karima enter the house and move about in the morning. I looked at my watch. It was just after nine. I had not slept much more than five hours and I felt tired and stiff but decided to get up. Lizzie did not stir all the while I showered and dressed. With as little noise as possible, I collected all my soiled and used clothing and put them in my bag, took it, went out of the room and closed the door. After the Sabah El Kheir, I told Karima that I was going home to get some clean clothes and would be back within an hour to have breakfast with Set Lisa.
Downstairs, I hailed a cab and went home to Mohammed's arm-wrenching handshake. We never embraced; he was a Saidi, hard and unsentimental. Perhaps, he never even kissed his wife when making love. I told him I would not be staying and that I had business in Alexandria and would be leaving directly.
'Is anything wrong?' he asked me. 'No. Why do you ask?'
'The bawab, the doorman, told me that late last night, two persons whom he suspects being from State Security asked him if you were here or out of the country. He told them that you had gone away about a week ago and had not come back. They asked if a woman arrived yesterday and was staying upstairs in the flat. Of course, he said,
'No'. They told him they hoped he was not lying because if he were, he would find himself in serious trouble. Then, today, just a while ago a man called on the telephone and asked for you. The call was not from Cairo and the man was not Egyptian. He sounded like an Arab. The telephone connection was very bad and I could be mistaken. But that is what he sounded like.'
'What did you tell him?'
'I told him that you had gone to Greece to visit your mother and you had not returned.'
'Good. If he calls again, don't tell him I went to Alex; tell him I am still in Greece. If he asks when you expect me back tell him, in about a week.'
'What's wrong, ya messiou? I am worried.'
'Nothing's wrong, don't worry. I have brought my soiled clothes and will take some clean ones and in a few days, I will be back. I shall take the car from the garage.'
'Go in peace and may God be with you.'
In my room, I hurriedly chose the clothes I needed and after throwing the used ones in a pile on the bed, packed the clean lot. Shook hands with Mohammed again and descended to the garage to pick up the car and into the thick of the Saturday traffic madness to hurry to my beloved angel. I already missed her. After the usual vexation of finding parking space, I went upstairs and found Karima busy cleaning the flat. She told me Lizzie had not come out of her room. I asked her to prepare breakfast. I went into the room to find Lizzie awake, lazing in bed, naked underneath the bedcovers; giving me the smile I was addicted to, a smile to brighten my day.
'Good morning, my angel.'
'Good morning, my lover. I was waiting for you. Where have you been?'
'To my house for some clean clothes and to get the car. Aren't you going to get up?'
'I was waiting for you to give me my bath.'
'Hey, that's a new one! We're getting spoilt, are we?'
'It was so nice, yesterday.'
'Are we going to make a habit of it?'
'Yes. If you please?'
'But I'm all dressed.'
'Then get undressed, my sweet. Is that too much to ask?'
'Then get thee to the shower, ye shameless maid.'
Lizzie happily jumped out of bed as I was opening the shutters letting the sunlight in the room and went into the bathroom in a flurry of flying bedcovers and hair and stunning nakedness. I undressed quickly and followed her inside. She was in the bathtub under the jet of hot water, her face uplifted to the spay of water letting it into her mouth and spiting it out, smiling at me with water leaking out of her mouth. I joined her, soaped her and massaged her with all the energy and strength I had. She let herself go at my manipulations with closed eyes just moaning and uttering cries when the pain became unbearable. I loved her so much I wanted to hurt her and make her feel better than she ever felt before. I stopped when my arms and fingers hurt and I held her under the water, rinsing the soap away, listening to the sensual, audible murmur of pleasure like the purring of a cat and then I opened the cold water and shut the hot water tap. She did not notice what I did and suddenly the icy water hit her and she tried to jump out of the spray with a cry. I held her tightly despite her screams and groans and efforts to get away. When we were just about frozen, for I was on the same boat, I changed from cold to hot and I felt the body I loved more than mine relax and the purring resume. I repeated the same sequence two more times and after the third shut the off the water and lifted her, wrapped in a towel, to the bed like a bride. There, I dried her and kissed her. Her passion flared up and we made love ardently in the daylight, on the sturdy bed, hoping Karima would not look in to find out what was keeping us from breakfast. She smiled as we entered the dining room. She could not have missed the meaning of our delayed appearance for breakfast. Or its confirmation in our huge appetite. When Karima left us and as we were finishing breakfast, I told Lizzie of the inquiries of the Egyptian security and the telephone call from Arabia.
'Gosh, Michael, I am worried. Why do you think the security asked for me?'
'I do not think that it was something official. Had it been they would have had no qualms about going upstairs and searching the flat. And they would have taken the doorman as well as Mohammed, my servant, to the police station and slapped them around a little for good measure. I suspect Abdullah contacted some high-placed acquaintance of his and asked him to do some discreet inquiries. But how did he know my name and address and phone number?'
'Obviously, he must have searched my things and found my notebook with the phone numbers and addresses. Long before I left. Must have copied them all out, too. Oh dear, he's going to spoil my few days in Cairo.'
'Let's not panic. We are still one step ahead of them. They are not sure you're here, they are groping blindly. Our door attendant told the security people I was out of the country and Mohammed told Abdullah, if it was Abdullah that called, that I was in Greece visiting my mother. I am impressed by Abdullah's fast reaction, though.'
'What do we do now?'
'There's nothing we can do. Except, perhaps, to try to speed up your departure by one day. I want you to call Judith Swann and tell her that you have had a telegram telling you that your aunt's condition is deteriorating fast and would she please finish your visa by Monday. Lucky she gave you her home number.'
'Yes, I shall call her immediately.'
'Finish your breakfast, my love.'
'I'm through. I have no more appetite.'
'Lizzie, please don't worry.'
'Just the thought of going back there, terrifies me. I would rather die.'
'I would rather die, too. But trust me; that will never happen. Sending you away one day earlier is just a precaution.'
'Let's call Judith.'
She fetched the telephone number from the bedroom and I dialed the number while she held the receiver.
'Hello, Miss Swann?'
……
'Hello, this is Eva.'
……
'Quite well, thank you. Well, actually not so well. That is the reason for my call.'
……
'Unfortunately, yes. I received a telegram just now telling me her situation is worsening. I hate to impose on your kindness and friendliness but you understand I have a request to make. If it is at all possible, do you think you could speed up the procedure to enable me to have my visa by Monday instead of Tuesday? It could make the difference between seeing her alive or not.'
……
'I really don't have the words to thank you, Miss Swann.'
……
'Judith. So, I can safely go and book my ticket for Tuesday morning?'
……
'I understand. I shall be looking forward to seeing you on Monday at noon. And Judith, I really appreciate what you are doing for me. I am most grateful.'
……
'Oh, yes, absolutely. Just as soon as I return.'
……
'Good bye, Judith and thanks once again.'
Lizzie closed the phone and smiled. 'All set,' she said.
'You are a born actress. The tone of your voice was perfect.'
'I hated lying to her, though. She's a very sweet person. She really took a liking to me. She wants us to meet when I come back. Perhaps I shall write to her a letter explaining things and apologize for the deception.'
'When you're back home, you can do whatever you like.'
'Let's go change my ticket.'
'Okay. We shall go change the date of departure on your ticket. Two, we shall send a cable to your mother. And then, as planned, we shall go see the Pyramids and the Sphinx.'
A cunning smile.
'And in the afternoon?'
'Attagirl, Lizzie! That's the spirit. Let's go get ready.'
We went in the bedroom to brush teeth and hair and get the rest of our clothes. I told Lizzie to wear something warm but loose and comfortable and preferably the pair of sneakers I bought. I wore a warm jumper and a short coat on top for warmth with a pair of athletic boots. We said good-bye to Karima, kissed our way down in the elevator and stepped out on the street in a glorious sunshine and a biting cold. Walked hand in hand for some minutes along the curving and confusing streets of Garden City along the noisy traffic trying to remember where I parked the car. Found it, and drove to the Hilton to carry out the first two items of our program. We crossed the parking lot, then Mariette Street to the TWA offices, changed the date of Lizzie's departure and returned to the Hilton to send her mother's cable at the hotel's postal service.
Lizzie was silent, holding now my hand, now my arm and glancing up at me every now and then, making me so utterly happy and so utterly unhappy. I felt her love, her need, her dependence on me. For the first time in my life, I was sure of her. During these brutally few days in Cairo, I was certain she loved me. As passionately as I loved her. Our lovemaking was heavenly as much for her as it was for me. She never doubted my love but my continuous preoccupation with her safety touched her deeply. She saw it had no bounds and no self-interest. I was for her both the wide-eyed, awed, beauty- struck kid, head over heels in love with her but also the man who looked after her. And gave her good sex, which was such an important part of her life. While for me, she was at the same time both my ward and a Goddess far beyond me. As we walked, I also kept glancing at her. How would I survive her absence if I already missed her in the hour I went home for my clothes? She looked gorgeous in the mixed bag of clothing I had chosen for her with Samiha's flashy touch. In spite of them. With her sneakers and sunglasses. Beauty! A rare, heavenly accident. A gift, like talent for music or art, like great intelligence, only more accessible to the non-specialist, the average person. A gift, even to the beholder. I was about to lose my gift. Hopefully for a short while.
We crossed the Kasr El Nil Bridge and then the short, arched Galaa Bridge under which, on a felucca yesterday, the double marriage proposal took place.
Traversed into the governorate of Giza, which is part of Greater Cairo and we drove along the main artery, bypassing the Botanical Gardens, the Cairo University, impressive with its domed façade and heavy pharaonic-inspired architecture, past the huge zoological gardens, which wrenched Lisa's heart and under the railway bridge for trains to the Said, to Upper Egypt. Beyond the bridge, the road headed for the Giza pyramids in a ten-kilometer straight line, with green fields on both sides. A stretch of the road close to the city included a series of nightclubs and casinos, purveyors of the local talent in sensuality, which attracted a mainly Arab-tourist clientele as well as one or two better-class cabarets with imported foreign shows. One of these especially, the Auberge de Pyramides was a landmark in Cairo's nightlife, which the old pre- revolution high society frequented. It was Pavlo's favorite hangout. As we passed each facet of Cairo, I explained a few things to a silent Lizzie who held my hand and smiled at each of my succinct descriptions. She looked at the scenery and I was part of it because she kept glancing at me. I felt it as I was driving. Felt her gaze. Felt her tenderness. Felt happiness. Felt a heartbreak coming.
'Lizzie, my love, what do you know about the pyramids?'
'Nothing much except that they were tombs.'
'Right. Two factors dominated the shape and development of Egyptian civilization, the river Nile and the intense interest of the ancient Egyptians in everything connected with death. The Nile was the cause of the unity of this huge country at a time when most other nations were under the sway of small tribal unions. In the course of centuries, the Egyptians learnt how to control and distribute the flow of water by dams and irrigation ditches and it was the need of having the machinery to control the yearly flood of the river under one central authority, which brought about this unity. Their religion and its preoccupation with death led to the desire to build splendid tombs for the kings and this in turn led to the development of the extraordinary skill in masonry and architecture. And of course we have the pyramids as proof of this great ability.'
Just at that moment, the great pyramid of Cheops loomed on the horizon. 'Look Lizzie, there it is. The great pyramid.'
'Gosh. Yes. My goodness!'
'Wait till we get near. This is the biggest pyramid of all. In fact the most magnificent tomb in the world. It was built during the fourth Dynasty roughly five thousand years ago. Can you imagine, Lizzie? It is one hundred and forty meters high and has about two million blocks of stone, some of them weighing as much as five tons. Shall I go on? Does all this interest you?'
'Of course it does. Five thousand years ago! It is mind-boggling. I wonder what life was like, then?'
'I wouldn't have minded being a pharaoh. Being Ramses II would have suited me fine. He ruled Egypt for about seventy-seven years and had a full and active life. Of military campaigns and building an empire. Building temples for his glory and numerous statues of himself. He lived a life of luxury and had an enormous harem. He fathered some one hundred sons and fifty daughters. He really spread his genes around with abandon.'
'Oh Michael, do you really want a harem?'
'You must admit, it's a fascinating notion. Probably, not knowing all the women you own. So many questions! How often did he make love? How did he choose his daily bed-partners? Did he have a favorite wife? With all that vast choice, how often did he resort to her? Did he sleep with many women at one session? How did he treat them? Did he know all his children? Did his wives have other lovers? Male or female? And if I disappoint you, let me tell you, I would not change my Lizzie for all the harems in the world.'
'Gosh, for a moment you had me worried,' said Lizzie with a teasing smile. 'Otherwise, to continue with your question, I do not think the life of the average ancient Egyptian could have been very pleasant. Well perhaps it was similar to that of a dirt-poor, modern day villager. Hard work and privation under more primitive conditions.'
We were now quite near the great pyramid and its size was coming in perspective. I was touched to see Lizzie's fascination. She even stopped looking at me. Obviously, one of the Seven Wonders of the World had precedence. We were approaching the acclivity of the plateau where the pyramids stood and I picked up speed with the car because the incline was steep and long and the car naturally slowed down. When we reached the top, I parked the car and we got out. Lizzie was as awed as most of the many visitors I have brought at one time or another to see this, inconceivable edifice. We moved close to it and she saw the huge blocks of granite and wondered how on earth they were brought here to be stacked in this wondrous pile.
'It is quite, quite fantastic,' said Lizzie. 'Human folly sometimes achieves miracles.'
'Even this plateau though solid granite had apparently been modified. Paths and lanes were constructed through which the granite blocks were moved after being transported from the quarries of Upper Egypt by boats traveling up the Nile. Most of these are now covered with sand. An ancient Greek historian named Herodotus wrote that it took ten years to quarry the stone and ten more years to build the great pyramid, and that three hundred thousand men were employed in the construction. Astounding figures for that time when the population must have been a small fraction of what it is today. Astounding figures even for today for what you named so aptly, a human folly. So great was the hardship the people suffered during the building of the two larger pyramids, that when the pharaohs died, they refused to entomb them in them. Only Mykerinos was able, after his death, to enjoy residence in his sepulcher.'
By the time we finished our short walk and conversation we had acquired a retinue of four or five horses and an equal number of camels whose owners were pleading insistently and loudly, 'Ride camel, Ride horse.'
'What about it, Lizzie?'
'Sure.'
'Camel or horse?'
'Camel, of course.'
Bargain, too, of course. Bargain concluded, the growling, gutturally gurgling, dissatisfied camels were urged to kneel and fold to the ground. Delighted urban Bedouins helping Lizzie aloft, praising her, 'Berry good, Sir.' Telling me, 'Berry good, Excellence,' awarding me an honorary ambassadorship in the process. Lizzie seesawing precariously, squealing and laughing as her camel maneuvered to a standing position and joining me in a laugh as mine followed suit. Then off for our tour in a long legged gait, surprisingly comfortable for all the undulation of our bodies from the waist up.
First stop the second pyramid, that of Khephren son of Cheops. It is slightly smaller than the great pyramid but seems much more so. It is not in as good a shape but then the top part still conserves the smooth, white alabaster covering that enveloped in the past all three of the larger pyramids. Then that of Mykerinos, considerably smaller and more elegant and next to it three smaller pyramids belonging to the queens. Lizzie was enjoying herself immensely, listening to my meager explanations, turning to look at me for we were rarely abreast of one another, enjoying the sun, looking gorgeous, smiling and happy. We had one Bedouin apiece pulling our camels along by a rope tied to a bridle, their one-track minds urging them now and then to remind us, 'give baksheesh.' Until finally I told one of them, 'Bas baa, ya akhi,' that's enough, brother, shutting him up, having him, probably, inwardly cursing, 'Damn, he's one of us, a tightwad.' Arriving at the steep declivity of the Sphinx, the camels breaking to a long-legged, side-swaying trot, which shook us up and down and elicited merry peals of laughter from Lizzie until she turned round to the right and came face to face with the ancient placid gaze of the Sphinx.
'Oh my God, Michael. Fifty centuries are staring at us.'
'The Sphinx was built by Khephren and is presumed to be in his image with the body of a lion. It was sculpted from a single piece of limestone rock and was supposed to watch over the necropolis, this vast cemetery with many other small pyramids and hundreds of mastabas or elaborate funerary chambers and many more undoubtedly still buried under the sands. In Arabic the Sphinx is called Aboul-Hol which means father of terror.'
We started on our way back and in quarter of an hour, we dismounted our growling, haughty camels, wondering at their obvious displeasure. Did they have a way to display their pleasure as vividly? In any case, their drivers had not. However much baksheesh you gave them they were never satisfied. They always clamored for more. In the end, you had to ignore them and just walk away and pretend you were deaf. We moved off with Lizzie to a kiosk nearby and bought two bottles of Spathis, a lemonade drink, to quench a thirst that started to trouble us. We then returned and started climbing the pyramid where for the first ten or so levels small steps sculpted on the stone, as the blocks at the base were far too large to scale. We moved off the beaten track slightly to the side and sat down in the glorious sunshine.
Small groups of tourists kept coming and going and entering the pyramid to go to the chambers inside, which could be reached through narrow and low inclined corridors and are of no particular interest apart from their emplacement. Groups of young Egyptians, almost exclusively males, walked and talked in their usual loud way with a few playing the tabla, looking at the tourists curiously as if they had arrived from another planet. Some of the tourists rode horses others were on camels but most were on foot descending to the Mena House hotel. Lizzie did not escape the attention of the young men who kept a sharp lookout on her every move. At one point, she leaned and kissed me and a young man cried loudly, 'Ya Salat El Nabi,' an exclamation of wonder and approval, and means, 'A prayer to the Prophet.' This, to the general merriment of the crowd. Lizzie smiled and waved and nearly caused a riot of hoots, laughs and clapping. Whatever their failings the Egyptians are a gentle, friendly people.
'Did you rest, my love? Do you feel strong?'
'With this morning's massage, my sweet, I feel on top of the world.'
'Then, let's go. '
'Where? '
'To the top of the tomb. The top of the pyramid.'
'Are you serious?'
'Sure I am. That's why I asked you to wear loose comfortable clothing.'
'Are you sure you won't get us killed?'
'I have been up many times. It seems dangerous at the start and you wonder how you will ever get down. But once you start the climb, you get used to it and it's a cinch.'
We climbed the rest of the small steps and then headed to the eastern corner of the pyramid from where the climbing takes place. On that side, the blocks of stone right up to the top are in good shape. When we reached it, we began a slow climb upward, clambering stone-by-stone using hands, legs and very often knees as well. I was the guide leading the way and often I had to extend a helping hand to Lizzie. About half way up there was a clearing rather larger than the usual width of the stones. Frequent climbers used it for a breather. They considered it the halfway point. When we reached it, I asked Lizzie if she needed a rest.
'I'm okay. I could use a rest. On the other hand, I can continue.'
'You're terrific, my angel. Fit as a fiddle. Look at the view.'
'Isn't it something? And we're only half way up.'
'There's Cairo in the distance, in the haze. Lolling in pollution. Look at the Nile traversing it. Look at the abrupt separation of cultivated land and desert. It isn't gradual. They don't blend. Cultivated land just stops dead at some point and desert begins. Further observations and commentary from the summit. Come sit near me Lizzie. Give me a smile. Give me a kiss. I love you so much.'
She came and snuggled in my arms and offered me the smile I asked for. And the kiss. I removed her sunglasses, looked at her eyes and caressed her hair. I wondered if to be filled with so much love, so much feeling was a gift or a punishment. For it offered sublime happiness but made you vulnerable to abject wretchedness. I kissed her repeatedly and the kisses were passionless, full of feeling. They were of pure wrenching love.
'Why are your kisses so sad, Michael? We shall be together again in a month.'
'A month has a way of becoming two and then three but let's not brood on it. Come, let's go on.'
We got up and I thought, pull yourself together, Michael. Do not become a burden to Lizzie. Long faces are tiresome and they put the other person off. We started climbing again steadily, not looking down and in twenty minutes or so we achieved the summit. We sat down to rest our muscles and to regain our breath. We were on a flat square surface of about seven or eight meters square with one enormous block of granite plunked near the center of the summit but not quite. As if by miscalculation, an extra block was hoisted to the top and was left there. After resting for a while, we got up to feast our eyes. The wind was stronger at that height but the weather was good and the sun warmed us up. Lizzie was enthralled. The spectacle was truly breathtaking. The whole of the Nile valley at our feet. Well part of it anyway. Getting the overall picture.
'This is superb, Michael. Some things should not be missed in life. This view for instance. It will stay with me forever. And there, aren't these some other pyramids?'
'Yes they are. Let us take things by turn. You can see the Nile coming from the south in one single waterway. There in the distance is the small town called Helwan. It is a spa of sulphurous water supposed to have medicinal properties. My mother at one time bathed in the water to relieve back pains. The other built up region closer to Cairo is a suburb called Maadi. Cairo is the starting point of the Delta where the river fans out into many branches. The Delta is the fertile part of Egypt because for the whole of its journey in Egypt up until Cairo the Nile has only a narrow strip of agricultural land on each of its banks. Right opposite, there across the Nile, are the Mokattam Hills. Hills of rock and sand that contribute to the dustiness of Cairo. To the south, in the distance, where you see these other pyramids on the western bank of the Nile are the various necropolis. The one closest is Abusir, beyond that the famous Saqquarah with the fantastic tombs which we shall visit tomorrow and further away is Dahshur which I never visited because it is a military zone prohibited to foreigners. Note that all these cemeteries are close to the ancient capital of Memphis, which is not far from Cairo and very close to Saqqarah.'
'And behind us, just desert?'
'Yes, with the odd oasis.'
'Look at the hotel, like a doll's house. And this road going into the desert, where is it heading?'
'To Alexandria but you can see a branch separating, turning left going to one of the bigger oases called the Fayoum. Shall we start on our way down? Are you getting hungry at all?'
'A little. What a lovely experience that was. Thank you, my sweet. The descent worries me a little though.'
'Oh, you'll see it's nothing.'
'Somewhere, I forget where exactly, probably in some magazine, I read that the pyramids could not have been built by humans. They did not have the means to undertake such a colossal project. Consequently they assume that it is the work of extra- terrestrial beings.'
'Oh, what a load of rubbish. I also read somewhere that the shape of the pyramid was chosen because somehow it tends to collect energy from the universe, from the Sun-God Ra, presumably to sustain the dead person. Do you feel any energy flooding you, Lizzie, now that we are right at the top of the pyramid?'
'Yes, my sweet, I do. Come near me, feel it. I feel full of energy.'
She smiled provocatively, reached out, took my hand and pulled me to her. She enveloped me with her arms and put her lips to mine. The long-drawn kiss standing up, with the wind and the sun, with the height and the emptiness all around us made us sway. I pulled her away from the edge where we were standing lest we take a tumble and go from one tomb to another. We kissed again and she put her hand on my penis, which felt hard on her tummy.
'Good, my sweet. I feel plenty of energy flooding into you too.'
'Well, given that we can't do anything about it just now, shall we start our descent?'
'Yes, it's windy and getting cold. Wouldn't it be lovely, though, to do it up here?'
'We'll come back one hot summer's night and spend it here. Making love all night. Checking out the pyramid's solidity and its energy-collecting ability.'
We started descending cautiously, thinking of the awful plunge a misstep could cause but very soon the fear was gone and we jumped merrily down from block to block and fifteen minutes later, we were in our car rolling down another descent towards the Mena House. A place of unique charm and character, which had and has an indelible place in my heart. Where, early in my teens, I rode horses in its huge gardens with its pigeon coops, aviaries and gazelle enclosures and in the summers sneaked away from my parents to go, timidly, up the steps to the swimming pool to watch older young people enjoy themselves in very avant-garde for the times mixed groups of boys and girls. Egyptians, Greeks, Italians but also Jews, a vibrant limb of Egyptian society in the fifties. Swimming and joking, shouting and laughing. Communicating mainly in French.
'Oh what a lovely hotel,' cried Lizzie when we walked inside. 'What a unique spot it occupies. Imagine opening your bedroom window, coming face to face with your ancient history.'
'I am so glad, Lizzie, to see you developing a sense of history.'
'How can you not, in a country like Egypt, with its antiquities, its primeval river, the ancient lifestyle of its peasants with their donkeys and camels and the ploughing of fields with buffaloes, their ancient poverty.'
'Yes my sensitive angel, I do love this hotel. It is part of the recent history of the country. It is part of my life too. Not very significant, that. But a reason for loving it.'
'It is a little run-down though.'
'Yes, another victim of socialism. There are p