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    The Sphinx at Dawn: Two Stories
    The Sphinx at Dawn: Two Stories
    The Sphinx at Dawn: Two Stories
    Ebook61 pages39 minutes

    The Sphinx at Dawn: Two Stories

    By Madeleine L'Engle

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    About this ebook

    The bestselling author of A Wrinkle in Time takes a fantastical look at the childhood of Jesus in two allegories set in an Egyptian village.

    In “Pakko’s Camel,” Yehoshuah, the poor son of a carpenter, befriends Pakko, the arrogant son of a rich merchant. Yehoshuah cares for of Pakko’s camel and shares with him the knowledge of the precious gifts he received from three wise men. But when Yehoshuah’s treasures are taken, he quickly learns that all gifts have a price.
     
    In “The Sphinx at Dawn,” Yehoshuah and his camel journey into the desert, where they come across the monstrous, hungry Sphinx. Intrigued and unafraid, Yehoshuah endeavors to answer the Sphinx’s riddles—and in doing so, he begins the real journey of a man with an incredible destiny.
     
    Known for both her literary accomplishments as a winner of the Newbery Medal and the National Book Award, and her spiritual outlook, Madeleine L’Engle presents two affecting and inspiring tales for readers of any age.
     
    This ebook features an illustrated biography of Madeleine L’Engle including rare images from the author’s estate.
     
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Media
    Release dateFeb 7, 2017
    ISBN9781504041546
    Author

    Madeleine L'Engle

    Madeleine L’Engle (1918–2007) was an American author of more than sixty books, including novels for children and adults, poetry, and religious meditations. Her best-known work, A Wrinkle in Time, one of the most beloved young adult books of the twentieth century and a Newbery Medal winner, has sold more than fourteen million copies since its publication in 1962. Her other novels include A Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, and A Ring of Endless Light. Born in New York City, L’Engle graduated from Smith College and worked in theater, where she met her husband, actor Hugh Franklin. L’Engle documented her marriage and family life in the four-book autobiographical series, the Crosswicks Journals. She also served as librarian and writer-in-residence at the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine in Manhattan for more than thirty years.  

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    Reviews for The Sphinx at Dawn

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    • 5/5
      Very interesting stories. I enjoyed that they were set in Egypt. The title story was my favorite between the two stories.

    Book preview

    The Sphinx at Dawn - Madeleine L'Engle

    PAKKO’S CAMEL

    The treasure was kept in a corner at the back of the house where they were staying in Egypt. The boy’s father had made a small cupboard, and then a coffer with a cunningly-devised latch; he showed his wife how to open it, and his son, when the child was old enough to ask.

    But what is it, Father?

    It is yours, my son.

    The child picked up a little of the gold and held it wonderingly in the palm of his hand. Mine?

    When you were very small it was given to you.

    But Father, who would give me all this?

    Three men, three strangers from far away.

    But why, Father? We aren’t the kind of people who have gold and precious stones. The three men—do I remember them? I’m not sure. I think—

    You were only a baby, Yehoshuah. They were— the father hesitated—they were passing by the place where we were staying at that time, and they saw you in your mother’s lap. They stayed with us for the day, and when they left, they gave you all of the gifts that you see in this box. They told your mother and me that one day you might have need of them.

    The child looked at his father; the man’s direct brown eyes were not returning the gaze, but were cast down at the coffer; the set of the generous mouth was troubled. The boy let the gold slip from his fingers back into the coffer.

    When he was a little older he sometimes opened the door of the cupboard and looked questioningly at the coffer; but he did not open it, and he did not ask either his mother or his father about it again. Something about the box disturbed him, and he felt instinctively that his parents would like it to be out of mind as well as out of sight.

    Every month or so his mother opened the cupboard to brush away the cobwebs. Once he came upon her sitting there, a wisp of cobweb against the gloss of her hair, looking at the coffer. She did not notice him until he said, Mother, and then she jumped as though he had called her back from a long distance. She turned and gave him the same far look with which she had been regarding the coffer.

    He met her gaze, and when she turned away, shutting the door of the cupboard, he asked for some bread and cheese.

    She prepared it for him, wrapping it in a cool, damp linen cloth. Where are you going?

    To play.

    In the village?

    I thought I would go to the desert.

    The sun is very hot, my son.

    I will cover my head. If Pakko will let me ride his camel, I will go to the oasis.

    Pakko, as Pa-Khura was called, was the son of the rich man of the village, a camel breeder. Like many rich men, he was not known for his generosity, even to his own family. Pakko’s camel was a beast eminently unsellable. One of his ears had almost been ripped off in a fight with another camel. Pakko’s camel had been the loser; as a result, he creaked at the joints, needed large

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