Streszczenie książki Kleopatra

The story in 10 parts

1. Key idea 1 · free to read

   A dying mother's prophecy puts a baby in danger

   Harmachis opens by swearing by Osiris that every word is true. He is born at Abouthis on the very day Cleopatra, the future Queen of Egypt, is born. His father, the high priest Amenemhat, is of royal blood, and his mother lies dying. In her last hour she lays a golden serpent, the sign of kings, on the baby's brow.

   She rises in prophecy and hails her son as the future Pharaoh who will cleanse the land. She curses him if he fails when his hour comes. Then she falls dead across the cradle. Amenemhat knows these words are treason, so he makes every witness swear silence. But the nurse Atoua talks, and the tale reaches King Ptolemy the Piper, who sends guards to cut off the child's head.

   Atoua makes the cruelest choice in the book. She dresses her own grandson in silk and lays him in the royal cradle, while the true prince plays in the mud of the yard. The soldiers kill the wrong child and ride away.

   Hidden greatness is paid for by other people.

2. 2

   A boy's pride sends him to face a lion

   At seventeen Harmachis is strong and trained in the old learning.

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3. 3

   A rebuke and a lotus bud confirm his destiny

   Harmachis goes to confess to Amenemhat, who sits at a stone table beneath a bronze lamp.

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4. 4

   Five years at Annu turn a boy into a scholar

   Harmachis sails down the Nile, sees the sacred bull Apis at Memphis and rides on to Annu.

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5. 5

   He dies to the world and meets the goddess Isis

   Back at Abouthis, Harmachis spends three months in prayer and studies the sorrow of the goddess Isis.

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6. 6

   He is crowned in secret and swears a heavy oath

   Harmachis wakes in the shrine at dawn, and no one asks what he saw.

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7. 7

   In Alexandria he meets the Queen and Charmion

   Amenemhat warns his son that the danger on his path comes in the form of a woman.

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8. 8

   Duty and desire pull on the same heart

   The central struggle is between a vow and a heart.

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9. 9

   Jealous love can undo the best plans

   A second theme runs beside the first.

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10. 10

    A dead man's confession frames the whole tale

    Haggard wraps the story in a found-manuscript frame.

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