Here is a short summary of the first half of the book, The Cat of Bubastes, by G.A. Henty.
At the beginning of the book, we are told about a people called the Rebu. The Egyptians are going into battle against the Rebu. We are introduced to the son of the King of Rebu, and his name is Amuba, and also the king’s general, Jethro. In short, the Egyptians conquer the Rebu nation, killing the king in battle and taking Jethro and Amuba away as slaves to Thebes, which was then the capital of Egypt. However, it was farther away from the sea. Here is an map:
The Rebu nation was on the shore of the Caspian Sea, probably on the west side of the sea. The blue dot that is marked in Egypt is where the capital city of Thebes once was. So, being on foot and having to go around the tip of the red sea, that would have been a very long and tiresome journey.
Upon arriving at Thebes, Jethro and Amuba are put into the hands of the high priest of Osiris, who treats them really well, and the two slaves hardly ‘slave’ at all. The household consists of Ameres, the priest, his wife, Amese, their son Chebron who will be best friends with Amuba, and his younger sister Mysa, in addition to Jethro, Amuba, and several other servants and slaves and attendants. After this things settle down for a year. As is obvious, Amuba and Jethro had previously learned the language of the Egyptians, in this case on the way to Egypt. A little over a year later, they go to a canal project in Lower Egypt (to the north). There, they hunt several creatures, and also rescue a young Israelite from a crocodile. After that, they go home, the girl promising to come live with them and be Mysa’s companion once her old great-grandfather (her only guardian) dies. Chebron and the others then go back to Upper Egypt. Back home, Chebron is upgraded to the lower level of priesthood. He is given free range of the temple. One night, he and Amuba go there to explore. There is an open door that is not normally open, and they go up the stairs on the other side. They find themselves in one of the image’s heads and are able to look out the lip. Some priests are down below, conspiring. Chebron calls out something along the lines of “do not do this wicked thing!” and he and Amuba run, escaping over the temple wall via some ladders left by some workmen (the temple has no roof). Later it is learned that that night, Chebron’s older brother, Neco, who had previously moved out, is found to have been murdered. The book gives a brief description of the ceremonies for Neco’s funeral, and then it gets back to the main plot of the story. Mysa has been noticing that some of the water-foul are missing, so Chebron and Amuba go out to the garden to try and kill the hawk, for so they believed it was. When the hawk came, for so it proved to be, Amuba and Chebron fire their arrows. Now, all the pets of Mysa were in this garden, cats and all. One of Mysa’s cats had recently been chosen to be the successor to “the most sacred cat” who had recently died. Now, Amuba’s arrow hit its mark, killing the hawk. Chebron’s arrow hit a twig, and hit THE SPECIAL CAT! The cat died, and Chebron has now committed the worst crime in all Egypt.
As to what I think will happen after this point in the book, I think Chebron and Amuba will have to flee to some far off country, maybe Rebu itself, to escape from the death of Chebron.
In my next English essay, I will be writing a short(er) summary of the next half of the book as well as an event that occurred later in the lives of Amuba and Chebron. Thanks for reading!