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The next king, I was told, was a priest of Vulcan, called
Sethos. This monarch despised and neglected the warrior class of the
Egyptians, as though he did not need their services. Among other
indignities which he offered them, he took from them the lands which
they had possessed under all the previous kings, consisting of twelve
acres of choice land for each warrior. Afterwards, therefore, when
Sanacharib, king of the Arabians and Assyrians, marched his vast
army into Egypt, the warriors one and all refused to come to his aid.
On this the monarch, greatly distressed, entered into the inner
sanctuary, and, before the image of the god, bewailed the fate which
impended over him. As he wept he fell asleep, and dreamed that the
god came and stood at his side, bidding him be of good cheer, and go
boldly forth to meet the Arabian host, which would do him no hurt, as
he himself would send those who should help him. Sethos, then,
relying on the dream, collected such of the Egyptians as were willing
to follow him, who were none of them warriors, but traders,
artisans, and market people; and with these marched to Pelusium,
which commands the entrance into Egypt, and there pitched his camp.
As the two armies lay here opposite one another, there came in the
night, a multitude of field-mice, which devoured all the quivers and
bowstrings of the enemy, and ate the thongs by which they managed their
shields. Next morning they commenced their fight, and great
multitudes fell, as they had no arms with which to defend themselves.
There stands to this day in the temple of Vulcan, a stone statue of
Sethos, with a mouse in his hand, and an inscription to this effect
- "Look on me, and learn to reverence the gods."
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