The Little Egyptian Boy

           My mother always tells me the most amazing stories about her mother, Philipa Shaplin.  When Grandma Pippa was a little girl during the late 20’s, she lived for a few years in Egypt because her father, Dows Dunham, was an Egyptologist and was working at an archeological dig site at the time.  When she was about six years old, Grandma’s favorite pastime was to play out in the sand while her father worked.  Everyday she would play with her best friend, a little Egyptian boy from the area.

           Great-grandfather Dows was always cautious about where Pippa was playing.  Because they were far away from any medical facilities, he liked to keep antiserum in the medic kit, in case there was ever an emergency.  On a scorching hot day like any other, while the kids were playing, Pippa’s little Egyptian friend stepped on a poisonous scorpion.  It stung him immediately under the foot.  Pippa screamed for help, and when her father came running, he soon realized how dangerous that type of scorpion really was.  As quickly as he could, he administered the antiserum, hoping there would be no side-effects.  Thankfully, the medicine worked, and the little boy made it to the hospital on time.

            Many years passed, and after Grandma had been going to school in the United States for a long while, her father decided to revisit Egypt during a business trip.  As he was walking down the streets of Cairo, an Egyptian man seemed to recognize him, stopped him and asked: “Are you Dows Dunham?”  My great-grandfather said yes, at which point the man embraced him excitedly and knelt down at his feet, saying in a very emotional tone that he would do anything he wished.  The grown man, Dows realized, was the little boy he had once saved from the scorpion bite, and who now owed him his life.