The Tale of Rhodopis

A tale is told in days of old, days of old, days of old –

A tale is told in days of old – of Rhodopis

So what happened?

Some pirates took her to Egypt, to Egypt, to Egypt –

Some pirates took her to Egypt, – far from home.

So how did she get on? Anyone know?

So as a slave she lived her life, lived her life, lived her life –

So as a slave she lived her life – it was hard.

( Remember this was a time of different gods, where pharaohs ruled and stories were shared by the tongue and not the pen )

She didn’t look like other girls, other girls, other girls –

She didn’t look like other girls – Doricha

Her hair was gold , her eyes were green, eyes were green, eyes were green – Her hair was gold , her eyes were green – like the Nile.

The servant girls they laughed at her, laughed at her, laughed at her… –

The servant girls they laughed at her – that was rude

( Servants had more advantage than slaves and so poor Doricha had to do all the work and the others just ordered her around – ‘ Do this Rhodopis, Do that Rhodopis – Rhodopis was their nickname for her cos of her Rosy Cheeks   )

Doricha had rosy cheeks, rosy cheeks, rosy cheeks –

Doricha had rosy cheeks – Red as rose

What else do we know about her?

She moved about on nimble feet, nimble feet, nimble feet –

She moved about on nimble feet …. Barefoot dance

The animals were kind to her, kind to her, kind to her –

The animals were kind to her – she made friends.

What else do we know about her? Introduce

She charmed a hippo with her songs, with her songs, with her songs –

She charmed a hippo with her songs – life went on.

( Some people say that Doricha ( or Rhodopis ) was alive at the same time as Aesop and that they were friends – you may have heard of Aesop and his famous Fables – including The Hare & the Tortoise and the Wolf in Sheeps Clothing .   

Remember this was a time when tales were shared by tongue and not the Pen

THERES A WOLF HERE SOMEWHERE- WHAT DOES HE KNOW?

Her Master saw her dance one day, dance one day, dance one day –

Her Master saw her dance one day – and thought “ Oh My “

This girl deserves a Pair of Shoes, Pair of Shoes, Pair of Shoes –

This girl deserves a pair of shoes – for her feet

With leather soles and toes of gold, toes of gold, toes of gold –

With leather soles and toes of gold – life had changed

But the servant girls were jealous of her, jealous of her, jealous of her –

The servant girls were jealous of her – of her shoes

( Life got even harder for Rhodopis – the other girls made her do ALL the chores and this meant that she was too tired to even think about dancing  at the end of each day.)

The Pharoah who lived far away, said one day, come and play –

The Pharoah who lived far away – opened court

What else do we know?

The servants said that Rhodopis couldn’t go to the feast –

The servants said she couldn’t go – to the feast

So what happened next? Anyone know?  

She stayed behind to wash the clothes, grind the corn, weed the plants –

She stayed behind to do the chores – she felt sad

( In fact, or so the tale tells us, Rhodopis was so glum that her song became tired and the hippo became bored and splashed into the river – the splash  splattered mud all over her beautiful shoes – oh noooo… Rhodopis loved her shoes and so took them off and cleaned them on the hem of her tunic until they shone again in the glorious sunshine. Then, all of a sudden Rhodopis saw a great falcon in the sky – ‘Greetings to you Proud Horus’ she said  ECHO CHORUS )

The falcon God he blocked the sun, blocked the sun, blocked the sun –

The falcon God he blocked the sun – it went dark

The falcon came and stole her shoe, stole her shoe, stole her shoe –

The falcon came and stole her shoe  – naughty bird

Off it flew with Rhodi’s shoe, Rhodi’s shoe, Rhodi’s shoe –

So off it flew with Rhodi’s shoe – along the Nile.

( The Nile is the great River of Egypt and home to one of its finest cities –  Memphis –           this is where the Pharoah Amasis was holding his Court and if the tale be told true he was sitting bored and a little grumpy. He would much rather be off racing his chariot instead of sitting on his throne watching everyone doing their thing  when all of a sudden a rose red slipper dropped into his lap)

He saw the falcon wheel away, wheel away, wheel away –

He saw the falcon wheel away – as a sign

The great God Horus knows what’s best, knows what’s best, knows what’s best – The great God Horus knows what’s best – we shall see.

Whose ever foot this slipper fits, slipper fits, slipper fits

Whose ever foot this slipper fits – shall be my queen.

( Is anyone feeling that this is a story that they’ve heard before somewhere? And that all that is missing is a Fairy Godmother and a Golden Chariot pulled by Mice and the sound of midnight chiming on the bells  – well.. in our story by the time that Rhodis ‘FRIENDS’ arrived in Memphis to meet Amasis he had gone, he’d cancelled the party and gone off looking for the foot that would fit the rose-red slipper. They were so angry – ahh well )

He summoned up his Royal Barge, Royal Barge, Royal Barge –

He summoned up his Royal Barge – and sailed the Nile

The Pharaoh looked both day and night, day and night, day and night –

The pharaoh looked both day and night  – Searching hard

The Barge was hung with sails of silk, sails of silk, sails of silk –

The Barge was hung with sails of silk – and trumpets blared.

The servant girls they heard the sound, saw the shoe, and they knew –

The servant girls they saw the shoe – and they knew.

( so.. what do you think happened next?

We have the classic tale of a rose-red slipper and a rosy-cheeked slave girl called Doricha.

A humble character who was kind to all birds and animals and who danced with nimble feet and sang sweet songs 

Could it possibly be that the Pharoah Amasis had found his queen?

Well…

If we can believe the word of Strabo who first recorded the tale two thousand years ago that’s exactly what happened. Or did it?