Smith and the Pharaohs

by H. Rider Haggard

Smith and the Pharaohs is a collection of six tales from master storyteller H. Rider Haggard. The title tale concerns a budding Egyptologist who is accidentally locked up one night in the Cairo Museum. Falling asleep, he dreams that he is put on trial by the ghosts of Egypt's pharaohs and queens. His crime? Robbing their graves. But is it just a dream? Four of the tales are fantasies: the title novella, "Little Flower," "Only a Dream," and "Barbara Who Came Back." The other stories are "Magepa the Buck" and "The Blue Curtain." In all, this is a sterling collection of stories of adventure and the supernatural from the author of King Solomon's Mines.

Genres: Short Stories, Fantasy, Fiction, Classics

54 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1920

About the author

Sir Henry Rider Haggard, KBE was an English writer of adventure novels set in exotic locations, predominantly Africa, and the creator of the Lost World literary genre. His stories, situated at the lighter end of the scale of Victorian literature, continue to be popular and influential. He was also involved in agricultural reform and improvement in the British Empire.

His breakout novel was King Solomon's Mines (1885), which was to be the first in a series telling of the multitudinous adventures of its protagonist, Allan Quatermain.

Haggard was made a Knight Bachelor in 1912 and a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1919. He stood unsuccessfully for Parliament as a Conservative candidate for the Eastern division of Norfolk in 1895. The locality of Rider, British Columbia, was named in his memory.

Reviews

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although H. Rider Haggard wrote a total of 58 books of fiction during his four decades as a writer, only two of those titles consist of short stories: "Allan's Wife" (1889), which includes that novella and three short tales, and "Smith and the Pharaohs" (1920). This latter volume consists of six brief stories, and is thus a practically unique demonstration of this master storyteller's way with the shorter form. Four of these stories take place in Africa, the setting of so many of Haggard's novels, and all are eminently readable and of interest.

The collection kicks off with the title tale, and concerns a budding Egyptologist who is locked up one night in the Cairo Museum, and dreams that he is put on trial for grave robbing by the ghosts of Egypt's pharaohs and queens. Or is it a dream? This is a very amusing, somewhat lighthearted, at times eerie tale, which also serves as a bit of a history lesson for those not up on their ancient lore. While perhaps not on a par with Algernon Blackwood's story "A Descent Into Egypt," it remains most entertaining. (Haggard does make a rare goof in this tale, when he writes that Thotmes III was Hatshepu's brother and husband; in actuality, he was her son. Thotmes II was her husband. I know, I know...who cares, right?)

Next up is a tale for all fans of Haggard's arguably greatest creation, the hunter Allan Quatermain. Haggard wrote 14 novels dealing with Quatermain, plus those aforementioned three short tales. This volume's "Magepa the Buck" was the only bit of Quatermain that I'd not previously read, so it was of great interest to me indeed. Here, Allan tells us the story of the greatest instance of bravery that he ever came across during his long career; the tale of Magepa, a Zulu man, and the great sacrifice that he makes for his grandson. It's an exciting little story, well told and moving.

"The Blue Curtains" tells the tale of a British army captain who is stationed in South Africa, and the love affair that he has with an undeserving woman back home in London. This tale builds to a surprisingly tragic conclusion.

Next up is my favorite story of the bunch, "Little Flower," in which an English missionary and his family live with a Zulu tribe in the hopes of spreading the Good Word. But our small-minded missionary meets his match in the local witch doctor, Menzi, a wonder-worker whose magics are apparently real. This battle of wills is very well paced by the author, and features some exciting set pieces (those magic demonstrations, that stormy finale). A neat touch in this story is the reference to Zikali, the Zulu witch doctor who figured so prominently in many of the Quatermain books.

In "Only a Dream," Haggard seems to pay tribute to Edgar Allan Poe himself; at least, this short-short is the closest thing to a Poe-like tale of terror that I believe the author ever attempted. Here we meet a man who is seemingly haunted by the spirit of his deceased wife on the eve of his wedding to wife #2. This tale gets a bit gruesome but, short as it is, never really attains to any prolonged shudders. It's fun while it lasts, though.

The collection winds up with "Barbara Who Came Back," a love tale of sorts in which Haggard gets to revisit some of his favorite themes: eternal love (i.e., love that survives beyond the grave) and reincarnation. We also get to see, in this story, what the author's conception of the afterlife is, and truth to tell, it really doesn't sound half bad! This is also a tale of a mother making a beyond-ultimate sacrifice for her child, and the conclusion of the story will certainly provide some food for thought; a nice ending to a fine collection of Haggard's shorter works. I've never read a novel by this man that I haven't enjoyed, and now I can say the same for his shorter pieces, as well. This is a book well worth your time and attention. And thanks to the folks at Wildside Press--who have brought this and some three dozen other Haggard titles back into publication in no-frills but somewhat overpriced editions--you don't have to spend major bucks to enjoy this comparatively obscure collection.

[Ece · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting short story that explores the moral conundrums that come with museum displays, more specifically mummies and their belongings.


”Gods may change their kingdoms and their names; men may live and die, and live again once more to die; empires may fall and those who ruled them be turned to forgotten dust. Yet true love endures immortal as the souls in which it was conceived, and from it for you and me, the night of woe and separation done, at the daybreak which draws on, there shall be born the splendour and the peace of union.”

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid mystery, was it real or a dream? Even Smith can't say.

[Emmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an utterly charming short story about a relative nobody who falls in love with a statue of an Egyptian princess he sees at the museum. Since no one really bothers to get to know him that well, Smith has amassed quite a fortune in secret, and he uses the money to fund personal expeditions to Egypt (under the guise of travelling for his health) and he engages in archeology.

After discovering the princess's tomb and accidentally getting locked in the Cairo museum one night, Smith discovers that the mummies' spirits have gathered--and are talking about the desecration of their tombs. Smith is discovered, but is saved by the princess, who recognizes him as the reincarnation of her lover, who had been killed by her husband.

It was a surprisingly tender story about love that transcends time and thoroughly enjoyable.

[Susan Molloy · Rating 4 out of 5]

🖍️️ Clever story about a self-taught Egyptologist who experiences some odd encounters with ancient Egyptians – or did he? Nicely written.

📙Published in 1920.

☞How I came across this book: Looking for books with an ancient Egypt theme.

જ⁀➴🟢The e-book version can be found at Project Gutenberg.
🟣 Kindle.
𓅓 𓀿 𓄁 𓀡 𓆙 𓂻 𓁹 𓃠 𓃒 𓂀

[Wade Burgess · Rating 2 out of 5]

A collection of short stories, some very short and others more like novelettes. The stories are: Smith and the Pharaohs, Magepa the Buck, The Blue Curtains, Little Flower, Only a Dream, and Barbara Who Came Back. I really only enjoyed the 2 South African stories (2nd and 4th in the list). The others were just alright to me. Haggard is unrivaled when he is in his element of stories with black tribes of South Africa. You will not be disappointed if you read my 2 favorites.

[Yuriy Gritsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Это замечательная история любви сквозь жизнь и смерть...

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A rather cute short story from 1920 that features a love story between a mysterious queen of Egypt and a bank clerk turned archaeologist, J. E. Smith. It's a nice story, not necessarily historically accurate (Thutmose III is described as Hatshepsut's brother and husband), though I do take points off for never revealing the identity of the queen beyond the nonsensical Ma-Mee. The idea of Akhenaten ("Khu-en-aten") and Ramesses II snarking at each other is the only reason why I wanted to read this. The exchange between two of Egypt's most famous rulers is ultimately disappointing, but my favourite part of the novel.

In second place would be Akhenaten complaining about the Aten not being allowed to be present at this assembly of gods and royals, and third place, Ramesses confusing the names of his wives.

Smith and the Pharaohs is nothing incredibly interesting or groundbreaking, but a cute read nonetheless.