VIII.  The INSTRUCTIONS, OR PRECEPTS OF TUAUF to his son Pepi.—­Two copies of this work, which has also been called a “Hymn in praise of learning,” are contained in a papyri preserved in the British Museum (Sallier II and Anastasi VII).  These “Instructions” in reality represent the advice of a father to his son, whom he was sending to school to be trained for the profession of the scribe.  Whether the boy was merely sorry to leave his home, or whether he disliked the profession which his father had chosen for him, is not clear, but from first to last the father urges him to apply himself to the pursuit of learning, which, in his opinion, is the foundation of all great and lasting success.  He says, “I have compared the people who are artisans and handicraftsmen [with the scribe], and indeed I am convinced that there is nothing superior to letters.  Plunge into the study of Egyptian Learning, as thou wouldst plunge into the river, and thou wilt find that this is so.  I would that thou wouldst love Learning as thou lovest thy mother.  I wish I were able to make thee to see how beautiful Learning is.  It is more important than any trade in the world.  Learning is not a mere phrase, for the man who devoteth himself thereto from his youth is honoured, and he is despatched on missions.  I have watched the blacksmith at the door of his furnace.  His hands are like crocodiles’ hide, and he stinketh worse than fishes’ eggs.  The metal worker hath no more rest than the peasant on the farm.  The stone mason—­at the end of the day his arms are powerless; he sitteth huddled up together until the morning, and his knees and back are broken.  The barber shaveth until far into the night, he only resteth when he eateth.  He goeth from one street to another looking for work.  He breaketh his arms to fill his belly, and, like the bees, he eateth his own labour.  The builder of houses doeth his work with difficulty; he is exposed to all weathers, and he must cling to the walls which he is building like a creeping plant.  His clothes are in a horrible state, and he washeth his body only once a day.  The farmer weareth always the same clothes.  His voice is like the croak of a bird, his skin is cracked by the wind; if he is healthy his health is that of the beasts.  If he be ill he lieth down among them, and he sleepeth on the damp irrigated land.  The envoy to foreign lands bequeatheth his property to his children before he setteth out, being afraid that he will be killed either by wild beasts of the desert or by the nomads therein.  When he is in Egypt, what then?  No sooner hath he arrived at home than he is sent off on another mission.  As for the dyer, his fingers stink like rotten fish, and his clothes are absolutely horrors.  The shoemaker is a miserable wretch.  He is always asking for work, and his health is that of a dying fish.  The washerman is neighbour to the crocodile.  His food is mixed up with his clothes, and every member of him is unclean.  The catcher of water-fowl,