shall be made unto thee in my city in the presence of all the nobles of the country.  I will slaughter bulls for thee, and will offer them up as burnt-offerings, and I will pluck feathered fowl in thine [honour].  And I will cause to come to thee boats laden with all the most costly products of the land of Egypt, even according to what is done for a god who is beloved by men and women in a land far away, whom they know not.”  Then the serpent smiled at me, and the things which I had said to it were regarded by it in its heart as nonsense, for it said unto me, “Thou hast not a very great store of myrrh [in Egypt], and all that thou hast is incense.  Behold, I am the Prince of Punt, and the myrrh which is therein belongeth to me.  And as for the heken which thou hast said thou wilt cause to be brought to me, is it not one of the chief [products] of this island?  And behold, it shall come to pass that when thou hast once departed from this place, thou shalt never more see this island, for it shall disappear into the waves.”

And in due course, even as the serpent had predicted, a ship arrived, and I climbed up to the top of a high tree, and I recognised those who were in it.  Then I went to announce the matter to the serpent, but I found that it had knowledge thereof already.  And the serpent said unto me, “A safe [journey], a safe [journey], O little one, to thy house.  Thou shalt see thy children [again].  I beseech thee that my name may be held in fair repute in thy city, for verily this is the thing which I desire of thee.”  Then I threw myself flat upon my stomach, and my two hands were folded humbly before the serpent.  And the serpent gave me a [ship-] load of things, namely, myrrh, heken, inteneb, khasait, thsheps and shaas spices, eye-paint (antimony), skins of panthers, great balls of incense, tusks of elephants, greyhounds, apes, monkeys, and beautiful and costly products of all sorts and kinds.  And when I had loaded these things into the ship, and had thrown myself flat upon my stomach in order to give thanks unto it for the same, it spake unto me, saying, “Verily thou shalt travel to [thy] country in two months, and thou shalt fill both thy arms with thy children, and thou shalt renew thy youth in thy coffin.”  Then I went down to the place on the sea-shore where the ship was, and I hailed the bowmen who were in the ship, and I spake words of thanksgiving to the lord of this island, and those who were in the ship did the same.  Then we set sail, and we journeyed on and returned to the country of the King, and we arrived there at the end of two months, according to all that the serpent had said.  And I entered into the presence of the King, and I took with me for him the offerings which I had brought out of the island.  And the King praised me and thanked me in the presence of the nobles of all his country, and he appointed me to be one of his bodyguard, and I received my wages along with those who were his [regular] servants.