The old man gazed thoughtfully on the ground, and the physician continued still more urgently: 

“If you fulfil my wish, then—­then I swear to you that, when you die, I will take care that your mummy is provided with all the amulets, and I myself will write you a book of the Entrance into Day, and have it wound within your mummy-cloth, as is done with the great.

     [The Books of the Dead are often found amongst the cloths, (by the
     leg or under the arm), or else in the coffin trader, or near, the
     mummy.]

That will give you power over all demons, and you will be admitted to the hall of the twofold justice, which punishes and rewards, and your award will be bliss.”

“But the theft of a heart will make the weight of my sins heavy, when my own heart is weighed,” sighed the old man.

Nebsecht considered for a moment, and then said:  “I will give you a written paper, in which I will certify that it was I who commanded the theft.  You will sew it up in a little bag, carry it on your breast, and have it laid with you in the grave.  Then when Techuti, the agent of the soul, receives your justification before Osiris and the judges of the dead, give him the writing.  He will read it aloud, and you will be accounted just.”

[The vignettes of Chapter 125 of the Book of the Dead represent the Last Judgment of the Egyptians.  Under a canopy Osiris sits enthroned as Chief Judge, 42 assessors assist him.  In the hall stand the scales; the dog headed ape, the animal sacred to Toth, guides the balance.  In one scale lies the heart of the dead man, in the other the image of the goddess of Truth, who introduces the soul into the hall of justice Toth writs the record.  The soul affirms that it has not committed 42 deadly sins, and if it obtains credit, it is named “maa cheru,” i.e. “the truth-speaker,” and is therewith declared blessed.  It now receives its heart back, and grows into a new and divine life.]

“I am not learned in writing,” muttered the paraschites with a slight mistrust that made itself felt in his voice.

“But I swear to you by the nine great Gods, that I will write nothing on the paper but what I have promised you.  I will confess that I, the priest Nebsecht, commanded you to take the heart, and that your guilt is mine.”

“Let me have the writing then,” murmured the old man.

The physician wiped the perspiration from his forehead, and gave the paraschites his hand.  “To-morrow you shall have it,” he said, “and I will not leave your granddaughter till she is well again.”

The soldier engaged in cutting up the ram, had heard nothing of this conversation.  Now he ran a wooden spit through the legs, and held them over the fire to roast them.  The jackals howled louder as the smell of the melting fat filled the air, and the old man, as he looked on, forgot the terrible task he had undertaken.  For a year past, no meat had been tasted in his house.