Isetnofret the musical act 1

ACT 1


                Scene 1

The palace of the Egyptian pharaoh. It's Morning. Two guards are standing on watch by the door. There is a combination of two noises in the room: sound of construction from the window and court music heard behind the doors. The queen, Isetnofret, is still asleep in her chamber. The door opens. In enters the priestess Bentrishur. She comes to the bed with a sanctimonious, servile bow.

BENTRISHUR:
Oh, the greatest of the goddesses! Oh, the sun of our land! Oh, Mother of God and the hope of heaven! Awake and arise from your divine sleep! Behold! God Ra brought to us a new morning, and the god Thoth retreated to his quarters of dark night.

(Dismisses guards with a hand gesture. As soon as they exit, she turns to the queen with a tone of familiarity.)

Come on! Get up! You have been pampered enough. Isetnofret! Are you deaf? Get up. I have news!

ISETNOFRET: (Stretching and swaying lazily on the bed)
What do you want from me, witch?! Again you barge into my chamber and disturb my sleep. Oh, gods, when will I take a break from your attacks on my privacy? Bentrishur, well, you are quite insolent.

BENTRISHUR: (Opening the curtains at the window)
Okay, enough whining! Without me, you would be lost anyway. Who would wipe your nose when your royal highness would be sinking into another puddle?

(Singing)
Listen to me, my little queen.
Mommy knows when you sneeze.
So many years I stood between
You and your enemies.
But the biggest enemy you’re always facing
Is you with your laziness, which is increasing.
And who will kick your bottom? What if I
Don’t wipe your nose every time you cry?

Don't think that you would be the queen if I did not let you.
What would you do if my hand wasn't always to the rescue?
From the very beginning of your occupation,
I was there to guide you and to shush your frustration.

If I were in your place,
I wouldn't have my role debased.
Appreciate what you possess.
It is not only your success.

You most certainly cannot exclude divination.
To a great extent, I'm involved into your elevation.
Who but I drew the Prince's attention to so little you.
He fell into your arms. That I conjured. He didn't have a clue.

If I were in your place,
I wouldn't make my role debased.
Appreciate what you possess.
It isn't only your success.

My dear, get down from the clouds!
Without me you would not be crowned.
My dear, get down from the clouds!
Without me you would not be crowned.

Your man would never have gotten the throne.
This palace would never have been your own.
Your son would’ve never been named an heir.
And your life would be full of despair

I think I'm deserving of more attention.
Our friendship has such a great potential.
Be a good girl. Follow my instructions.
I am kind of surprised at your reaction.

Listen to me, my little queen.
Mommy knows when you sneeze.
So many years, I stood betweenIiiYou and your enemies.

ISETNOFRET: (Yawning lazily)
Have you decided to trample on my head early in the morning? Decided to trample on my head, just to raise your self-esteem? Leave it for the others. Let them think that you are "the holy priestess of Hathor," but please don't try to scrub my brains with sand.  Аs you were a witch - so you remain one.

BENTRISHUR:
My child, and who do you think conjured you up into the queen - not I? Wouldn't you still remain as a daughter of the palace caretaker, or you would be married to some of the palace guards, or even worse, one of the geezer advisers, or become a concubine to one of the generals. So please don't fluff your feathers, my little Nile heron.

ISETNOFRET:
 Really? You think it's only your charms that were so effective? And my beauty  is not taken into account? Who was prettier than I in the palace then? Why did the son of Pharaoh cast his gaze on me? And what about the princess of Selim? Would he have had feelings for her? She, poor thing, never made it to the palace. She just vanished in the sands of the desert on the way from her fathers land. Only burning wood from her tent were found in the desert.

BENTRISHUR (With a sneer)
I admit your plan worked then. But if I had not agreed with the gods, would  you have made it? It would be your long-smoldering remains lying somewhere in the family pyramid. So my "unreachable star", do not rattle your tail. 
Well, enough of this! I brought you the news. All night I was in the temple, and did the ritual to the goddess. Hathor told me that the one who left us long ago will come back soon. But he will bring to us what we don't know yet, and he will take from us something that we have had for a long time.

ISETNOFRET:
Bentrishur, are you sure that is what the goddess told you, and not your sick imagination whispering to you? I have known for a long time, already, that you're crazy.

BENTRISHUR: (Conspiratorially with nerve)
Isetnofre--e-et, she did not lie. I have just learned that the Prince, Moses, returned into the city. A spy from the camp of the Jews sent me a wax tablet with the report.

ISETNOFRET: (Frozen in thought)
How about that? She has spies everywhere. You are a spider.

BENTRISHUR:
Don't you realize what this means?! What he brought? What he will take?! Isetnofret, take your head out of the clouds. He came to change us all, and all around us again! Remember? It was he who killed your brother. And only because he struck some Jew-slave? What did your poor brother do wrong? He was just a guard on the construction of the pyramid. He punished the rebellious disobedient slave. Prince Moses has already changed your life once! He took from you the one whom you loved so much, and he ran away.

ISETNOFRET: (Arriving in thought)
Yes, but I loved him, too. I was only thirteen. My world exploded then. He took my heart away with him, and there was only a shadow left of me.

BENTRISHUR:
Well, after all of that, this shadow had the sense to come to a more condensed state and move on. Let's get clothed, my queen, in your royal robe and access the throne room, where your husband is already gathering an audience with his former relative.
                (She goes to the door, opens it, lets the maids in. She leaves.)
       
      
               
Scene 2

                                 Enter Miriam and another maid. They help to dress the Queen.
ISETNOFRET: (singing)
How can I receive such news?
Why do I feel strange and shaken?
Memories rising from the ash.
Memories slowly being wakened.

Childhood love, prince of my heart,
Riding in the distance yonder.
You've returned after so long.
Forty years, lengthy years,
In the desert you have wandered.

Long have waters of the Nile
Carried off a young girl's passion.
Everything my heart has felt
Barricaded by time's passing.

I've been favored by the gods.
My desires all satiated.
You return from no true place,
No great land. Do you still hope
To be once more reinstated?

Brother murdered by your hand.
Killed in anger; hate so narrow.
He did not deserve such death.
For obedience to the pharaoh!

You were gone. The flame of love
Slowly burnt out to an ember.
And my heart has not again
Loved another; not since then;
Not as long as it remembers.

What you brought me pain, again?
 Sorrow, anguish, endless falling?
 Or by favor of the gods,
Will you now reclaim your calling?

MIRIAM:(Bowing extremely low)
My lady, may I speak before thee?

ISETNOFRET: (With as much softness as is capable with her hardened heart)
What do you want, old woman?

MIRIAM:
Let me not displease my mistress with the words of her unworthy servant.

ISETNOFRET: (Sends another maid out the door)
Miriam, stop pretending; speaking with the formality of the court. You know that you are the closest person to me? No one has ever been closer. You nursed me when my mother died in childbirth. What are you playing -  slave and queen now? Speak up!
What made you come to me? You have not behaved this way in such a long time.

MIRIAM: (Kneeling)
Great lady, I beg your mercy and protection! My brother came back. He was away almost forty years....

ISETNOFRET: (Nervously, sharply)
I know. Shut up! What do you want?! Don't say anything, don't! What does he want?! Why did he come back?! What did he bring? Miriam, why did he come to torment me? So many years have passed! I thought everything had changed; everything forgotten!
Why do I need this storm now?

MIRIAM:
Let me not displease my mistress. Let me speak before thee, O great mistress of Upper and Lower Nile. (She goes into a deep bow again)

ISETNOFRET:
 (Trying to raise her, still she isn't ready yet to focus on something else other than her own thoughts)
Well, tell me Miriam how did I anger Isis, that she sent this man again into my life? What did he say to you when he came? What is he up to?

MIRIAM:
My great lady, you should not worry and be so nervous about that. I just wanted to tell you about his intentions. I wanted to ask you about some help and protection. After all, you are the only one whom our almighty lord Merneptah listens to.

ISETNOFRET: (Standing up suddenly, with contempt)
Um! Listens to? ... You have confused me with someone else, slave. He is the one, who doesn't listen to anybody, and surely he will not desire to in the future. He knows very well how to present his tiny, tiny self in a great grandiose display.

MIRIAM:
Let me, as your audacious slave, not displease you, my mistress, by telling you that you had been chosen by him even when he was just one of many sons of the great and eternal Ramses the Great. He was not even the first-born. He was not yet  co-regent with his father, but he chose you and fell in love with you.  You were always his favorite and his beloved wife. And all of the hardships that you were dealing with on the way to the throne, you were sharing together. You always gave him advice, and you've always been his wisdom.

ISETNOFRET: (Angrily)
Really! I am his Wisdom! And maybe I am his conscience also, would you say?And  why in this case, had he forgotten about his "great love and conscience" so easily?! As soon as he became the pharaoh, he brought up a bunch of wives -  Babylonian freaks and Nubian coalfaces!  Just so he wouldn't seem less significant than his father! Of course, his father was not too shy. He scored to himself an army of crowned contenders. He fathered troops of sons. And then they gnawed at each other's throats, for the throne. And I had to fight for our own place under the sun to win a place within the venom of this nest of snakes. I had to clear a path for him from the palace scribe to the co-ruler of Pharaoh. My head would be impaled if someone found out how it happened that his two older brothers suddenly got sick of the "unknown deadly disease." And how did he thank me? As soon as he sat with his father as a co-ruler on the throne, immediately he took his sister as wife! Ha, Tradition! (Bitterly) Tradition!...

MIRIAM:
My lady, but our great lord loved only you and  always you. Only you are the great queen in Egypt, just...

ISETNOFRET (Cut her off)
And what stopped him from lying with me, if he was so-o-o in love with me? Why didn't he give me an opportunity to have more kids? What will happen to my son, when the Babylonian cubs grow up?

MIRIAM:
My queen, do not fret about your son. After all, your spouse and lord gave him his name, so he wants him to inherit this kingdom.

ISETNOFRET:
Yes? And why did he name the son of his sister after his grandfather, a Ramses? Maybe he is hoping that this son will be magnified early?
(Devastated) No, my foolish old woman. He wouldn’t listen to me. (Cooling off) And what are you asking me about? Why are you looking for my protection?
 
MIRIAM: (Collecting her thoughts)
My brother lived for many years in the valleys of Mount Horeb. He was tending sheep there. And when...
 
ISETNOFRET:
He was tending sheep? Prince, a shepherd? This sophisticated and great leader became a shepherd? Oh yeah! Surely, this is the god's revenge for the death of my brother.
Yeah, why, I wonder? He is the son of a slave after all. Oh, poor Aunt Meritanan. She was not able to conceive children for Ramses. That’s why she rushed to adopt a baby found in a basket drifting in the waters of the Nile. She wasn't even embarrassed that he comes from Israelite slaves. How did she manage to persuade Ramses  to keep the child? Isis is the only one who knows. And why was he not killed then, as all other Israeli infants? O great goddess, great is your wisdom!

MIRIAM:
Mistress, he was not killed because there is a purpose for his life.
And it is not in the power of the pharaoh to deprive him of the opportunity to fulfill this purpose.

ISETNOFRET: (Sarcastically)
What does that purpose include: killing my brother, oppressing of my soul or herd sheep in the land of savages?

MIRIAM:
Great queen! There, in distant land, when he herded his flock of sheep and one of them was missing, he went to look for it. On the mountain called Horeb he met God; The God of our fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He introduced himself as The Yahweh. The Lord commanded Moses to return to Egypt, and lead his people to a place that God Himself will indicate, to build an altar. Have mercy on us oh radiant one, I beg you, please ask the great Pharaoh to meet the request of Moses.
 
ISETNOFRET: (Recoils from it)
What do you mean, my nothingness? What are you trying to convince me to do?Am I so stupid that I would go to my husband to beg him to let the slaves go? That would deprive the country of almost a million free hands. This would stop all work. Only the gods know for how long. For how long would you  slaves hang out in the desert? And who will give me a guarantee that you would not escape led by this idol of yours? May the gods grant you long life, if you can tell me that? What if I order the execution of both you and Moses? Maybe then you’ll stop and my soul will find peace!

(singing);
Foolish slave, what madness is this? 
Once more he’s coming to cause me pain,
To leave Egypt with no working men,
In the land where my son will rule someday.
I’ll keep him from achieving his venture.
Think of what I’d be letting him do.
Turn our treasury into a wasteland.
Cause a day that all Egypt would rue.
I will die before that will come true.
MIRIAM: (Singing)
Queen, may your days be great.
Oh, remember those early days.
The same Moses whom you loved
Heard God speak from above.
He means no harm.
Let me just make my case.
He has lived in a distant place,
But God sent him after so long
Great, almighty and strong.
The God who rights wrongs
Sent him after all.

 ISETNOFRET: (Singing)
Well, such nonsense who else would invent,
That we’re all going to help him because he’s ‘sent’?
Can I not correct my own slaves?
When their thoughts lead them to forget their place? 
So what if my youth passed like lightning?
What’s important to me on this day
Is to pass on the crown to my darling,
So that he could start ruling one day.
So that he would be pharaoh someday.
MIRIAM: (Singing)
Live for ages, my queen.
Don’t you see, my brother has been
Chosen by God for such an hour?
God who has strength and great power.
His promise is sure.
He knows all places and times.
Eternal God, who’s holy and pure.
Please, don’t place yourself in his way
It will occur as He says.
If your word is “no”, if your word is “yes”,
His promise is sure
His promise is sure.

ISETNOFRET: (Irritably)
That’s all, old woman. Stop! Otherwise, I'll have you flogged and thrown into the dungeon, like a rebellious slave. And there, you can rot alive! Go away! Do not ask me to do that! Guards!

MIRIAM: (Kneeling)
Oh, great Lady, have mercy on me! Do not be angry with me, your unreasonable servant! Nobody asked me to talk to you about it. Moses didn’t know that I had decided to talk to you. Forgive me. I am so naive and stupid! I just wanted to tell you about the purpose of the arrival of my brother, so that you would not be angry at him! That you would become a protector and benefactor to  my people! Have mercy on me, mistress! Do not send me to prison!

(Guards are entering )

ISETNOFRET (Slightly confused)
Take me to the throne room.
(To Miriam)
I forgive you this time.  Accompany me, but don't you dare utter a word there!

(Miriam rises from her knees, and remains in a deep bow. Bentrishur is entering.)

BENTRISHUR: (Seeing guards in chambers)
Oh, Mistress of Upper and Lower Nile, great mother of our people! Oh great ......

ISETNOFRET: (Interrupting, emotionless )
Enough. Come on.
 (Gets up between the guards, and by gesture, commands Miriam and Bertnishur to stand behind her.)

BENTRISHUR: (Confused)
And, yes.... I obey, my lady....
(Piously pretending, as a docile lamb, stands behind her. Conspiratorially whispers to her from behind.)
Your husband is behaving oddly. Probably, he is nervous. It seems to me he is not liking this audience with Moses very much. He called up all his advisers. Is he afraid of him or what?
ISETNOFRET: (Quietly, with irritation)
Careful with your words! Who do you think you are? You dare talk to me like that? Another one has tried and failed ! Have you both broken off the leash today? I'll have all of you flogged with whips so that you fear me more. Oh you ungrateful slaves...

BENTRISHUR: (To herself)
Letting out some steam, Your Majesty ?...

Scene 3

(Throne Room. Pharaoh Merneptah sitting  on the throne. There are servants and advisers standing between multiple columns. Before the throne slave dancers are dancing very gracefully and seductively. The pharaoh devours the half-naked women with his eyes).

CHORUS OF WISE MEN AND SERVANTS:
Who is the greatest god of all?
It's you who are limitless with power!
Your wisdom praised and honored.
In ages you stay tall!
Your wisdom praised and honored.
In ages you stay tall!

We praise you! Our pharaoh!
We bear awe and our thanks
At the altar of worship.
Your power is immense.
You ascended by the gods.
You are the ruler of peoples.
Strongest one of them all.
Our god and our lord!

Who is the greatest god of all?
It's you who are limitless with power!
Your wisdom praised and honored.
In ages you stay tall!
Your wisdom praised and honored.
In ages you stay tall!
MERNEPTAH:(Singing)
My people trust me and obey.
I know exactly where we’re going.
My kingdom is blossoming and growing.
Tomorrow'll be brighter than today.

I am leading my kingdom,
And all the gods always favored me.
let my enemies tremble,
When my army assembles.

No one stands above my will.
Key from land is in my hand.
My decisions are vital.
I'm sure I've earned my title.

And anything that I demand,
And all the wealth belong to me,
And every woman at my feet,
And every man in my command.

The all  is under my command.

(The queen  with her companions entering the room. Pharaoh Merneptah takes his royal position, coming to his senses, he invites  the queen to sit beside him)

MERNEPTAH: (With show off)
Did you rest well, my Queen? Did god Thoth give you the best dream? Did god Ra give you the most beautiful morning? As always, you are as fresh and beautiful as the lily of the Nile. Sit next to me. Share with me the burden of my kingship.

ISETNOFRET: (Sitting down, and with a smile on her lips, softly, leaning close, pretending that she whispers something intimate and sweet)
Enough, you old lecher! Don’t you think I didn't see you stare at these tramps!
(Loud, for all)
Oh, my lord, Ra is so merciful to me. Every morning is beautiful because it's lit with your love. And every night, that great Thoth gives me, I see you in my dreams, my lord and god.
(Again, quietly, just for him)
Why don't I see our son Merneptah? You didn't  invite him again? How long will you keep the boy far away from public affairs. He is your first-born. It's time for him to reign with you, as you have reigned with your father. You've spent ten years next to him in this room. Well, is my son less than you?

MERNEPTAH: (Only for her ears)
Again you start to grumble. You know I can’t stand these little growls. Why are you bothering me? Do not test my patience woman...
His time has not yet come. And I am the one who will decide when it has come.

 (The court manager comes forward to make an announcemebt, banging on the floor three times with his staff)

MANAGER:
Prince Moses, who calls himself a messenger of God Almighty, asks you for an audience, O divine one!

MERNEPTAH:
Let my brother Moses come in. We will listen to him!
 
( Moses entering in to the room, Aaron with him. They bowed with dignity.)

MERNEPTAH:
 Greetings to you, Moses, my brother! How long have you not appeared before our eyes? Where have you been until now? And what brings you to us? We are glad to see you. What message did you bring? Speak.

MOSES: (Slight stammer)
Live forever my great brother Merneptah. Do not be angry at me. You know that I could command in combat without stuttering, but in real life I am tongue-tied. Let my brother, my mother's son be my voice. That I would not be as an annoying fly before you.

MERNEPTAH:
 So many years have passed. I forgot about your little flaw, Moses. Although it could not prevent you from being a winner in many battles. Oh, how proud of you was aunt Meritanan, your mother! How she loved you! The poor thing, she was not able to survive your sudden disappearance. The idea that you were dead, there, in the desert, tormented her badly. She was glad to leave this world and go to the dark chambers of Nubis to find you there.

MOSES: (Sadly)
Mother Meritanan...
(As if waking up)
Please listen to my brother, I put my words into his mouth

MERNEPTAH:
 Well, let him speak. What is the name of your brother, Moses?
 (Holding out his hand with his rod toward Aaron as a sign of his favor.)

AARON: (Bowing)
Peace and prosperity to you the great master of the Lower and Upper Nile! The ruler of all Egypt, Nubia and the subjugator of the wild tribes of Arabia. Great Merneptah! May the gods grant you long life!
My name is Aaron, my lord. Thank you for the honor of standing in front of you.
We came by the will of Almighty God, His name is Yahweh, the Lord God of the Israel. He appeared to Moses on Mount Horeb, and He spoke to him miraculously from the bush on fire that did not burn. The Lord told Moses to come back to Egypt. He gave authority to my brother, as a god over you, Pharaoh, and I am his prophet.
(Pharaoh and the queen exchanged glances with a look of surprise. He leaned forward with rising anger. Everybody gasped.)
The Lord said that He had heard the cries of his people. Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: "Pharaoh, Let my people go so that they may keep a feast to me in the waste land".  Let all of us, and our wives, and our children go to the place where the Lord will guide us, that we can bring Him the sacrifice of praise.

MERNEPTAH:
Yea you say? As god over me? What did you say is your God's name?

AARON:
           The Lord, God of the Hebrews

MERNEPTAH: (Sarcastically with a growing anger)
And you say he has sent you here? But why have I never heard of this god? I do not know him. I know a lot of gods: but this one, well, I do not know. What do I do now? How can I trust you? After all, I do not know your strange god! Are you sure that he speaks to you? He speaks with you also, Aaron! Answer servant!(Frightening)

AARON: (Confused)
Yes, my Lord, with me too.

MERNEPTAH: (Screaming furious and sarcastically)
Aha! Oracles both! Broadcasters! Well, prove that this God of yours exists! Where is he? Is he outside the palace waiting to be introduced ? Is He shy or timid to stand before my thrown, scared of my majesty? Is he afraid of the great gods of Egypt that they will chase him back to the mountain where he rules?  Who is your shepherd god that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? Or did you come up with this all by yourself? Why are you, Moses and Aaron, keaping the people from their works?

AARON:
The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Let us go into the desert for a three day journey to bring sacrifice to the Lord our God, so that He may not send death on us by disease or the sword.

MERNEPTAH:
Why should he strike you? Are your people such sinners that God can only think of how to punish? It seems to me that you are just distract people from their work. You're  just creating  mischief. Truly, your people are increasing in number, and you are keeping them back from their work. What will happen if they all stop working and go to pray. What will happen to the country? And what will I do with the other slaves. They also will imagine their gods, asking me to let them leave their work and run away to pray. And how will it all end?! You people are lazy. That is why you say, “Let us go and make an offering to the Lord.” Who is this God who dared to put you over me? Exalted above the Pharaoh? Neither I nor the fathers ever heard of him until now! No one dares to say such things in my face. Uttering such speech is worthy of death. Is your god strong enough, to save you from certain death for your bold words, Slave?


AARON:
Oh master, we can prove the truth of these words.

MERNEPTAH:
Prove it to me! Make a miracle! And if your God is with you, He will help you.
(Aaron put his rod down on the earth before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a snake. Everybody recoiled in different directions)

(Song of Moses and Aaron )

MOSES:         Those who once were free, in Egypt, turned into slaves,
  In four hundred and thirty years.
 AARON:        God has heard our groans, so then Moses was born,
 The dawn of freedom wipes away all our tears.
MOSES and AARON:
Pharaoh let our people go to worship their God.
MOSES:         I'm not afraid of your threats.
My God cannot wait for us. He's control rod.
I'm so inspired by Him!

(Pharaoh, by gesture, calls wise men and the wonder-workers so that they would do something. They go forward, Bentrishur among them. The wise men and the wonder-workers did the same with their secret arts. For every one of them put down their rods on the earth, and they became snakes: but Aaron's serpent eat all of their serpents.)

WONDER-WORKERS and BENTRISHUR:
                     The glories of Egypt stand proudly before thee.
                     How dare you, slave, show up in the court!
                     You escaped from justice, for a long time, lived in the distance.
                     We thought you were dead. All these years, that’s what we’ve been told.

MOSES:        I came back to Egypt, at the request of my God,
To fulfill His sovereign will.
He speaks through me to you, “Let my people go.”
 Let them go, will you? Let them go.
 MOSES and AARON:
His strong arm will protect us all of the way.
Let us worship him that we do not fear.
Let us go and sacrifice. He awaits us,
In three days' journey from here.
MERNEPTAH:
How dare you speak with such blatant sedition!
There is only one god in this land  that is me!
in this land there is no one who dares to contradict me!
(Don't turn me into an enemy through this contradiction.)
Аnd thy God that had sent you , has no authority. 
MOSES and AARON: (aside)
Hot cell оf Egypt, we will leave behind us.
We’ll shake off, from our feet, slavery's dust.
All we need is just bread and sweet freedom.
Lord take us out of hell to Eden.
 
(Aaron takes his rod back, which turns back into it's previous form in his hand.)

MERNEPTAH:
Who do you think you are? Well, so what if the rod turned into a serpent? My wise men proved to you that this is just a cheap trick! Get out of here. You do not get my permission. And I order you, in addition to everything...
Yes! Where is my chief vizier?

(Pharaoh's chief vizier comes forward in deep bow)

Write it down now! For every overseer and those who are responsible for the work, give these men no more dry stems for their brick-making, as you have been doing. Let them go and get the material for themselves.  But see that they make the same number of bricks as before, and no less. For they have no love for work. And so they are crying out and saying: "Let us go to make an offering to our God".  Give the men harder work, and see that they do it. Let them not give attention to false words. The number of bricks which they have to make every day will be no less than before. That is my answer! All leave! Guards, get them out of here!

(The guards surround Moses and Aaron, and remove them from the room. Mernepreah nervously gets up from his throne, coming to Isetnofret's throne.)

Leave us, all! Everybody out!

(Courtiers and servants hurry to leave bowing, backing away. Bertnishur and Miriam leave too. There are only the pharaoh and the queen left in the room.)
(To Isetnofret)

Here is your fascination, look at what he has become, wearing rags, his beard like a sponge. And what was he babbling to me, that his shepherd god has authority over me? Did you ever hear such a  thing before?! Audacity, bordering on madness. He has such impudence to come to me and...

ISETNOFRET: (Interrupting)
My "fascination"? You're confused about something, my "good husband". It was you, who were chasing chickens with a chariot, while drunk. And you tormented  Nubians with dogs, after the battles. It was your idea to go to a Jewish camp just to "have fun!" And how did it all end?! Didn’t you provoke my brother to beat up that slave, and thus irritate Moses? Didn't you see he was troubled. Didn't you know that Aunt Meritanan did not hide his origin from him? And you mocked him! And my poor brother paid for it with his life! And you say after all that my "fascination" !  You ... you ...
(Runs out of room)

MERNEPTAH (Almost without listening to his wife)
To be as God over me? .. Then establish his own rules? .. It will never, ever happen! ..

                                                     (Lights out)

                Scene 4

The Colonnade in the Palace. Moses and Aaron, still accompanied by guards sent to the outside.  The queen appears  from behind the column. She is alone. Gesturing, she releases the guards. Moses and Aaron bow before her. She comes down to Moses.
            
ISETNOFRET:
Moses, can you ask your brother to wait for you outside of the palace.
(Aaron, bowing, leaves them)
You don't  recognize me, do you?

MOSES:
No, majestic one. Many years have passed since I left the banks of the Nile, and my memory refuses to resurrect you out of the darkness of time.

ISETNOFRET:
Do you remember Isetnofret, the daughter of the Palace manager Tramidat? You used to take her on your lap and sing to her your exotic Jewish songs. You taught her archery, and gave her evening lilies from the pond in the garden of the palace.

MOSES:
Oh yes! Great queen, Is it you? How could I forget my days of joy. You were that joy. You were like a sister and daughter to me. You were my missing family. Is it you I see in the majesty and splendor of the pharaoh?

ISETNOFRET:
Yes, it's me Moses.

MOSES:
Sweet lotus flower Isetnofret, girl with a warm heart among the cold walls of the royal palace.

ISETNOFRET (With a slight, bitter smile)
 For me, you were more than that. You were my first love.

MOSES: (With surprise)
How many secrets hiding the time. I had no idea...

ISETNOFRET:
You couldn’t have known this. How could I confess to you then? I was just thirteen. And you ... You were a great military leader, the son of Pharaoh's sister. You were the Prince. You were so majestic and beautiful. It was not difficult to fall in love.

MOSES:
All this brilliance has only burdened me. But what happened to you?

ISETNOFRET:
I became Merneptah's  wife three years after you left us. You must remember: he was only the fourteenth son of Ramses the Great then, and served as a scribe in the palace. You were  friends with him. Maybe that's why I agreed to marry him.

MOSES:
Since that time, I turned from a prince into a shepherd, and you turned from a teen in the court into the queen. And  Merneptah became pharaoh. Great is the Lord and His ways are inscrutable.

ISETNOFRET:
Moses, what god are you talking about? Where did you go after the tragedy? Many of us thought that you were dead! You didn't know  that after the death of Ramses you were acquitted of the murder of my brother, and  because everybody thought that you were dead, they just let go. ..

MOSES:
Forgive me, Isetnofret, I did not want this. You know that even being  Ramses Army General, I have never been able to participate in senseless murders and killings. In battle - it is quite another. And I did not know that the guard was your brother. I could not help it. That servant, whom he beat was my nephew, I couldn't stand it any longer. So I acted impulsively. Forgive me, Queen!

ISETNOFRET:
He was the only one left in my family. You know that my mother died giving me life, my father never remarried, and your sister nursed me.

MOSES:
How can I not know, queen...

ISETNOFRET:
I loved him so much. It was very painful for me to lose both people that I love. A man I loved was killed by the hand of someone who was my love.

MOSES:
I have always loved you. You were always my little Isetnofret. If you only knew how great was the sense of guilt in me, before you. But I had not had the opportunity to ask your forgiveness then. Will you forgive me now?

ISETNOFRET: (Sings)
 Dust of the past is never coming back.
The light of memories is breaking through the dark.
The window pane is echoing in my heart.
It revives the shadow of love which fell apart .
MOSES: (singing)
My heart is captured by the sorrow storm.
Guilt pierces my parched soul as a thorn.
My memory is longing for release.
Forgiveness will be such a great relief.
TOGETHER:  Forgiveness will be such a great relief.
                    
ISETNOFRET:
 I forgive you, Prince Moses! In return, I ask you one thing.

MOSES:
My queen, I'll be happy to serve you.

ISETNOFRET:
Moses, you should leave alone this venture of a prayer journey with your people. I will not ask my husband to let you and your people go. It will only get worse. Don't you see how hardened his heart has become?

MOSES:
My queen, long life to you. My God, the God of the Hebrews, God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob warned me about this. I knew it would be so. There for He told me that He shall smite all of the gods of Egypt.

ISETNOFRET:
What does this mean, Moses? Why are you scaring me?

MOSES:
I still don't  know what it means, and how the Lord is going to do it. And more so, it was not in my plans to intimidate you. But I know that my God is alive, and He keeps his word. It will certainly come true.

ISETNOFRET:
Moses, is that you talking to me? How do you boast about this God? You forget who is standing before you, and what you've become. Leave us! Leave us! Go back where you came from! Haven’t you brought enough pain to me? Listen to me, for the sake of the love that lived between us at one time! Just leave and take this God of yours with you!

MOSES:
O my Queen, do not be angry at me! I'm just the messenger. I brought the word of God, and cannot disobey him. I have to do what the Lord has entrusted to me. I knew nothing about you.

ISETNOFRET:
Moses, the gods will not forgive you for your apostasy. They’ll punish you! Later you will regret it all!

MOSES: (In a rush, grabbing her by the shoulders)
                Isetnofret, hear me! The Lord said: Israel is my son, my firstborn. Let my son go, that they may serve me. And if you do not let them go, behold, I will kill your son, your firstborn! Do you realize what this means?! Your son! After all, he is yours an Mernepteh's firstborn, isn't he? Listen to God, save your firstborn, save Egipt!

ISETNOFRET (Disentangling from his hands)
Slave! You have gone too far! Leave, both you and this God of yours! You dare to threaten me and that white  is most sacred to me! Get out! Get out!!!

                                                         (Light off)