The Literature of the Ancient Egyptians eBook

E. A. Wallis Budge
This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 349 pages of information about The Literature of the Ancient Egyptians.

The Literature of the Ancient Egyptians eBook

E. A. Wallis Budge
This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 349 pages of information about The Literature of the Ancient Egyptians.

And this peasant came a third time to lay his complaint [before Rensi], and he said, “O my Lord Rensi, the steward!  Thou art Ra, the lord of heaven with thy great chiefs.  The affairs of all men [are ruled by thee].  Thou art like the water-flood.  Thou art Hep (the Nile-god) who maketh green the fields, and who maketh the islands that are deserts to become productive.  Exterminate the robber, be thou the advocate of those who are in misery, and be not towards the petitioner like the water-flood that sweepeth him away.  Take heed to thyself likewise, for eternity cometh, and behave in such a way that the proverb, ‘Righteousness (or truth) is the breath of the nostrils,’ may be applicable unto thee.  Punish those who are deserving of punishment, and then these shall be like unto thee in dispensing justice.  Do not the small scales weigh incorrectly?  Doth not the large balance incline to one side?  In such cases is not Thoth merciful?  When thou doest acts of injustice thou becomest the second of these three, and if these be merciful thou also mayest be merciful.  Answer not good with evil, and do not set one thing in the place of another.  Speech flourisheth more than the senmit plants, and groweth stronger than the smell of the same.  Make no answer to it whilst thou pourest out acts of injustice, to make to grow apparel, which three ... will cause him to make. [If] thou workest the steering pole against the sail (?), the flood shall gather strength against the doing of what is right.  Take good heed to thyself and set thyself on the mat (?) on the look-out place.  The equilibrium of the earth is maintained by the doing of what is right.  Tell not lies, for thou art a great man.  Act not in a light manner, for thou art a man of solid worth.  Tell not lies, for thou art a pair of scales.  Make no mistake [in thy weighing], for thou art a correct reckoner (?).  Observe!  Thou art all of a piece with the pair of scales.  If they weigh incorrectly, thou also shalt act falsely.  Let not the boat run aground when thou art working the steering pole ... the look-out place.  When thou hast to proceed against one who hath carried off something, take thou nothing, for behold, the great man ceaseth to be a great man when he is avaricious.  Thy tongue is the pointer of the scales; thy heart is the weight; thy lips are the two arms of the scales.  If thou coverest thy face so as not to see the doer of violent deeds, who is there [left] to repress lawless deeds?  Observe!  Thou art like a poor man for the man who washeth clothes, who is avaricious and destroyeth kindly feeling (?).  He who forsaketh the friend who endoweth him for the sake of his client is his brother, who hath come and brought him a gift.  Observe!  Thou art a ferryman who ferriest over the stream only the man who possesseth the proper fare, whose integrity is well attested (?).  Observe!  Thou art like the overseer of a granary who doth not at once permit to pass him that cometh empty. 

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The Literature of the Ancient Egyptians from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.