in this whole earth,* and that the eldest shall be the high priest at Heliopolis.”  His Majesty, his heart was troubled at it, but Didi says to him:  “’What are these thoughts, sire, my lord?  Is it because of these three children?  Then I say to thee:  ‘Thy son, his son, then one of these.’"** The good King Kheops doubtless tried to lay his hands upon this threatening trio at the moment of their birth; but Ra had anticipated this, and saved his offspring.  When the time for their birth drew near, the Majesty of Ra, lord of Sakhibu, gave orders to Isis, Nephthys, Maskhonit, Hiquit,*** and Khnumu:  “Come, make haste and run to deliver Buditdidit of these three children which she carries in her womb to fulfil that beneficent office in this whole earth, and they will build you temples, they will furnish your altars with offerings, they will supply your tables with libations, and they will increase your mortmain possessions.”

* This kind of circumlocution is employed on several occasions in the old texts to designate royalty.  It was contrary to etiquette to mention directly, in common speech, the Pharaoh, or anything belonging to his functions or his family.  Cf. pp. 28, 29 of this History.

** This phrase is couched in oracular form, as befitting the reply of a magician.  It appears to have been intended to reassure the king in affirming that the advent of the three sons of Ra would not be immediate:  his son, then a son of this son, would succeed him before destiny would be accomplished, and one of these divine children succeed to the throne in his turn.  The author of the story took no notice of Dadufri or Shopsiskaf, of whose reigns little was known in his time.

*** Hiquit as the frog-goddess, or with a frog’s head, was one of the mid-wives who is present at the birth of the sun every morning.  Her presence is, therefore, natural in the case of the spouse about to give birth to royal sons of the sun.

The goddesses disguised themselves as dancers and itinerant musicians:  Khnumu assumed the character of servant to this band of nautch-girls and filled the bag with provisions, and they all then proceeded together to knock at the door of the house in which Buditdidit was awaiting her delivery.  The earthly husband Bausir, unconscious of the honour that the gods had in store for him, introduced them to the presence of his wife, and immediately three male children were brought into the world one after the other.  Isis named them, Maskhonit predicted for them their royal fortune, while Khnumu. infused into their limbs vigour and health; the eldest was called Usirkaf, the second Sahuri, the third Kakiu.  Kausir was anxious to discharge his obligation to these unknown persons, and proposed to do so in wheat, as if they were ordinary mortals:  they had accepted it without compunction, and were already on their way to the firmament, when Isis recalled them to a sense of their dignity, and