Long ago in ancient Egypt, there lived a beautiful girl named Rhapdosis. She was a slave. The other slaves who lived in the grand house hardly spoke to her. The slave girls were jealous of her beauty and the slave boys thought she was proud and arrogant. But she was kind and shy. She did not remember her previous life. The pirates had kidnapped her and sold her to a rich Egyptian merchant. The only thing she had left from her former life was a pair of beautiful red slippers. Rhapdosis cherished her slippers and kept them hidden from the other slaves. When no one was around, she would take her slippers out and held them up to the sun or the moon. Holding them and watching the stones shine in the light made her feel good. Though they were not real stones, they were very beautiful.
The Pharaoh
One night, after completing the day’s work, Rhapdosis was too tired to sleep. She silently slipped away from the rooftop where the other slaves were sleeping. Rhapdosis took out her red slippers from their hiding place. She held one of the slippers up to the moon and turned it this way and that. She was lost in the shining stones and felt better than she had all day. Suddenly, she heard the flapping of wings. In a moment, one of her slippers had gone. An eagle swooped down and stole it. Stunned, Rhapdosis slid the remaining slipper back into its hiding place. Far away, in another city entirely, Pharaoh Amasis was sitting in his garden, listening to his Vizier (a high official). He was informing the Pharaoh about the day’s happenings. The eagle swooped down and dropped the red slipper at his feet.
The Pharaoh and the Vizier were surprised and looked at each other. The Vizier thought that the owner of the slipper must be very rich. An idea struck him. He said, “I will ask the officials of every city to check if anyone has reported a missing red slipper of great quality, covered with jewels.” The Pharaoh still watching the stones shining in the moonlight, asked the Vizier to do whatever he wanted to find the woman. He was sure that the woman who lost the slipper would appreciate its return. After a few days, one of the officials came with the news that he had found the young owner of the red slipper. She was a slave in a grand house on the Nile, in the city of Memphis. It was impossible for the Vizier to believe that a slave could own such a beautiful slipper. He decided to go and meet the slave girl and find out the truth himself. The Vizier met Rhapdosis and asked her to prove that the slipper was hers.
Rhapdosis took out another red slipper from its hiding place and showed it to the Vizier. The Vizier thought for a moment and said, “I think Horus, the son of Isis and Osiris, sent an eagle with a message to the Pharaoh.” She asked Rhapdosis to come along with him to the palace. The family did not want to lose a slave, but no one argued with the Vizier as he was the most important man in all of Egypt, after the Pharaoh. The Vizier gave the owner of the grand house enough gold in return for the slave girl. On his way back, he was sure that the Pharaoh would be happy to see the girl. When the Pharaoh met Rhapdosis, he fell in love with her. Soon, they were married. They sailed away on the royal barge across the Nile.
