[Mrs. Beset is washing her cat in the Nile, when Mrs. Knouphis enters, carrying a papyrus-reed basket, filled with jars of human organs.]
Mrs. Knouphis: “‘Allo Mrs. Beset.”
Mrs. Beset: “‘Allo Mrs. Knouphis.”
K: “‘Av you ‘eard about that Mrs. Thoth?”
B: “No Mrs. Knouphis.” [She whacks the cat on the rock and it meows plaintively .]
K: “She’s quite a hag. Beggaring ‘er ‘usband she is. She won’t eat nothin’ but lotus salad.” [K. kneels down by the river and starts unpacking the organs, which she cleans in the water.]
B: “That bitch! What’s ‘he ‘usband doin’ about it?”
K: “Well, ‘es got to make some money, don’t ‘e? The poor man’s been spending lots of evenings over at that fat priest’s house.”
B: “Oooo, not Father Reshep, the one covered in date oil at the sex temple?”
K: “The very same.”
B: “Ooo, poor Mr. Thoth.”
K: “Yes, beggaring him — buggering her husband she is.”
B: “Hmm. I don’t care for that kind of talk Mrs. K. It’s very unappealing.”
K: “Well intercourse your sense of what’s appealing Mrs. B you old fart! I’m just tellin’ you the news.”
[They both cackle.]
K: Well I have to go, the Priests at the Valley don’t have forever to get these packed in myrrh.
[They both cackle again, and Mrs. K. departs. Mrs. B. returns to scrubbing mewling cat.]
With apologies to Monty Python’s original pepperpot ladies:
The ancient Egyptians were famous for taking the concept of “work” and the mysterious burial chamber to new heights (and depths), when they began building massive edifices they called “pyramids”.