Hathor Goddesses came to her, and they said, “She shall die by the sword.”  And Bata loved her most dearly, and she lived in his house, and he passed all his days in hunting the wild animals of the desert so that he might bring them and lay them before her.  And he said to her, “Go not out of the house lest the River carry thee off, for I know not how to deliver thee from it.  My heart is set upon the flower of the Acacia, and if any man find it I must do battle with him for it”; and he told her everything that had happened concerning his heart.

[Footnote 1:  The god who fashioned the bodies of men.]

And many days afterwards, when Bata had gone out hunting as usual, the young woman went out of the house and walked under the Acacia tree, which was close by, and the River saw her, and sent its waters rolling after her; and she fled before them and ran away into her house.  And the River said, “I love her,” and the Acacia took to the River a lock of her hair, and the River carried it to Egypt, and cast it up on the bank at the place where the washermen washed the clothes of Pharaoh, life, strength, health [be to him]!  And the odour of the lock of hair passed into the clothing of Pharaoh.  Then the washermen of Pharaoh quarrelled among themselves, saying, “There is an odour [as of] perfumed oil in the clothes of Pharaoh.”  And quarrels among them went on daily, and at length they did not know what they were doing.  And the overseer of the washermen of Pharaoh walked to the river bank, being exceedingly angry because of the quarrels that came before him daily, and he stood still on the spot that was exactly opposite to the lock of hair as it lay in the water.  Then he sent a certain man into the water to fetch it, and when he brought it back, the overseer, finding that it had an exceedingly sweet odour, took it to Pharaoh.  And the scribes and the magicians were summoned into the presence of Pharaoh, and they said to him, “This lock of hair belongeth to a maiden of Ra-Harmakhis, and the essence of every god is in her.  It cometh to thee from a strange land as a salutation of praise to thee.  We therefore pray thee send ambassadors into every land to seek her out.  And as concerning the ambassador to the Valley of the Acacia, we beg thee to send a strong escort with him to fetch her.”  And His Majesty said unto them, “What we have decided is very good,” and he despatched the ambassadors.

And when many days had passed by, the ambassadors who had been despatched to foreign lands returned to make a report to His Majesty, but those who had gone to the Valley of the Acacia did not come back, for Bata had slain them, with the exception of one who returned to tell the matter to His Majesty.  Then His Majesty despatched foot-soldiers and horsemen and charioteers to bring back the young woman, and there was also with them a woman who had in her hands beautiful trinkets of all kinds, such as are suitable for maidens, to give to the young woman.  And