|
After the death of his daughter, Mycerinus was visited with a second
calamity, of which I shall now proceed to give an account. An oracle
reached him from the town of Buto, which said, "Six years only
shalt thou live upon the earth, and in the seventh thou shalt end thy
days." Mycerinus, indignant, sent an angry message to the oracle,
reproaching the god with his injustice - "My father and uncle," he
said, "though they shut up the temples, took no thought of the gods,
and destroyed multitudes of men, nevertheless enjoyed a long life;
I, who am pious, am to die so soon!" There came in reply a second
message from the oracle - "For this very reason is thy life brought
so quickly to a close - thou hast not done as it behoved thee. Egypt
was fated to suffer affliction one hundred and fifty years - the two
kings who preceded thee upon the throne understood this - thou hast not
understood it." Mycerinus, when this answer reached him, perceiving
that his doom was fixed, had prepared, which he lighted every day at
eventime, and feasted and enjoyed himself unceasingly both day and
night, moving about in the marsh-country and the woods, and visiting
all the places that he heard were agreeable sojourns. His wish was to
prove the oracle false, by turning the nights into days, and so living
twelve years in the space of six.
|
|