I inquired of them if they were coming also, to which their spokesman replied that they were my slaves to do what I commanded.
"Do you desire to come ?" I inquired.
"O Lord Shabaka," answered their spokesman, "we do, though some of us must leave wives and children behind us." "Why ?" I asked.
"For two reasons, Lord.

Here we are men disgraced, though through no fault of our own and if you were to leave us in this land, soon the anger of the King would find us out and we should lose not only our wives and children, but with them our lives.

Whereas in another land we may get other wives and more children, but never shall we get another life.

Therefore we would leave those dear ones to our friends, knowing that soon the women will forget and find other husbands, and that the children will grow up to whatever fate is appointed them, thinking of us, their fathers, as dead.

Secondly we are hunters by trade, and we have seen that you are a great hunter, one whom we shall always be proud to serve in the chase or in war, one, too, who went out of his path to save our lives, because he saw that we had been unjustly doomed to a cruel death.