She was not yet purged of her uncleanness, and yet you tempt her to an assignation, not even in the stranger's quarters--but in the holy house of this pure Divinity." Undeserved praise is dangerous to the weak; unjust blame may turn even the strong from the right way.
Pentaur indignantly repelled the accusations of the old man, called them unworthy of his age, his position, and his name, and for fear that his anger might carry him too far, turned his back upon him; but the haruspex ordered him to remain, and in his presence questioned the priests, who unanimously accused the poet of having admitted to the temple another unpurified woman besides Bent-Anat, and of having expelled the gate-keeper and thrown him into prison for opposing the crime.
The haruspex ordered that the "ill-used man" should be set at liberty.
Pentaur resisted this command, asserted his right to govern in this temple, and with a trembling voice requested Septah to quit the place.
The haruspex showed him Ameni's ring, by which, during his residence in Thebes, he made him his plenipotentiary, degraded Pentaur from his dignity, but ordered him not to quit the sanctuary till further notice, and then finally departed from the temple of Hatasu.
Pentaur had yielded in silence to the signet of his chief, and returned to the confessional in which he had met Bent-Anat.

He felt his soul shaken to its very foundations, his thoughts were confused, his feelings struggling with each other; he shivered, and when he heard the laughter of the priests and the gatekeeper, who were triumphing in their easy victory, he started and shuddered like a man who in passing a mirror should see a brand of disgrace on his brow.
But by degrees he recovered himself, his spirit grew clearer, and when he left the little room to look towards the east--where, on the farther shore, rose the palace where Bent-Anat must be--a deep contempt for his enemies filled his soul, and a proud feeling of renewed manly energy.

He did not conceal from himself that he had enemies; that a time of struggle was beginning for him; but he looked forward to it like a young hero to the morning of his first battle.
ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: Bearers of ill ride faster than the messengers of weal Do not spoil the future for the sake of the present Exhibit one's happiness in the streets, and conceal one's misery Impartial looker-on sees clearer than the player Learn to obey, that later you may know how to command Man has nothing harder to endure than uncertainty Many creditors are so many allies One should give nothing up for lost excepting the dead Our thinkers are no heroes, and our heroes are no sages Overbusy friends are more damaging than intelligent enemies Prepare sorrow when we come into the world The experienced love to signify their superiority We quarrel with no one more readily than with the benefactor UARDA Volume 4.
By Georg Ebers.