Remarks

The tales or the magicians are only preserved in a single copy, and of
that the beginning is entirely lost. The papyrus was brought from Egypt
by an English traveller, and was purchased by the Berlin Museum from the
property of Lepsius, who had received it from the owner, Miss Westcar:
hence it is known as the Westcar papyrus. It was written probably in the
XIIth Dynasty, but doubtless embodied tales, which had been floating
for generations before, about the names of the early kings. It shows us
probably the kind of material that existed for the great recension of
the pre-monu-mental history, made in the time of Seti I. Those ages of
the first three dynasties were as long before that recension as we are
after it; and this must always be remembered in considering the
authority of the Egyptian records.

This papyrus has been more thoroughly studied than most, perhaps more
than any other. Erman has devoted two volumes to it; publishing the
whole in photographic facsimile, transcribed in hieroglyphs,
transcribed in the modern alphabet, translated literally, translated
freely, commented on and discussed word by word, and with a complete
glossary of all words used in it. This exhaustive publication is named
"Der Marchen des Papyrus Westcar." Moreover, Maspero has given a
current translation in the "Contes Populaires," 2nd edit. pp. 53-86.

The scheme of these tales is that they are all told to King Khufu by his
sons; and as the beginning is lost, eight lines are here added to
explain this and introduce the subject. The actual papyrus begins with
the last few words of a previous tale concerning some other magician
under an earlier king. Then comes the tale of Khafra, next that of
Bau-f-ra, and lastly that of Hor-dedef.

It need hardly be said that these tales are quite fictitious. The king
and his successor Khafra are real, but the other sons cannot be
identified; and the confusion of supposing three kings of the Vth
Dynasty to be triplets born early in the IVth Dynasty, shows what very
vague ideas of their own history the Egyptians had when these tales were
formed. This does not prevent our seeing that they embodied some very
important traditions, and gives us an unequalled picture of the early
civilisation.

In the earliest tale or the three there seems at first sight merely a
sketch of faithlessness and revenge. But there is probably much more
in it. To read it aright we must bear in mind the position of woman in
ancient Egypt. If, in later ages, Islam has gone to the extreme of the
man determining his own divorce at a word, in early times almost the
opposite system prevailed. All property belonged to the woman; all
that a man could earn, or inherit, was made over to his wife; and
families always reckoned back further on the mother's side than the
father's. As the changes in historical times have been in the
direction of men's rights, it is very unlikely that this system of
female predominance was invented or introduced, but rather that it
descends from primitive times. In this tale we see, then, at the
beginning of our knowledge of the country, the clashing of two
different social systems. The reciter is strong for men's rights, he
brings destruction on the wife, and never even gives her name, but
always calls her merely "the wife of Uba-aner." But behind all this
there is probably the remains of a very different system. The servant
employed by the mistress seems to see nothing outrageous in her
proceedings; and even the steward, who is on the master's side, waits
a day or two before reporting matters. When we remember the supremacy
in properly and descent which women held in Egypt, and then read this
tale, it seems that it belongs to the close of a social system like
that of the Nairs, in which the lady makes her selection--with
variations from time to time. The incident of sending a present of
clothing is curiously like the tale about a certain English envoy,
whose proprieties were sadly ruffled in the Nair country, when a lady
sent him a grand shawl with an intimation of her choice. The
priestesses of Amen retained to the last this privilege of choice, as
being under divine, and not human protection; but it seems to have
become unseemly in late times.

The hinging of this tale, and of those that follow it, upon the use of
magic, shows how thoroughly the belief in magic powers was ingrained
in the Egyptians. Now such a belief implies the presence of magicians,
and shows how familiar must have been the claim to such powers, and
the practising of the tricks of witchcraft, so prevalent in Africa in
modern times. The efficacy of a model, such as this crocodile of wax,
is an idea continually met with in Egypt. The system of tomb furniture
and decoration, of _ka_ statues, of _ushabtis_ or figures to work for
the deceased, and the models placed in foundation deposits, all show
how a model was supposed to have the efficacy of an actual reality.
Even in the latest tale of all (written in Ptolemaic times), Setnau
makes a model of a boat and men, to be sunk in the river to work for
him. The reconversion of the crocodile to wax, on being taken up by
the magician, reminds us of the serpent becoming again a rod when
taken up by Aaron.

The punishment of burning alive is very rarely, if ever, mentioned in
Egyptian history, though it occurs in modern Egyptian tales: and it
looks as if it were brought in here rather as a dire horror for the
climax than as a probable incident. The place of the penalty, in front
of the harem, or the private portion of the palace, was evidently for
the intimidation of other ladies.

At the close of each tale, King Khufu, to whom it is told, orders
funerary offerings by the usual formula, to be presented in honour of
the king under whom the wonder took place. On the tablets of the tombs
in the early times, there is usually recorded the offering--or, rather,
the pious desire that there should be offered--thousands of loaves, of
oxen, of gazelles, of cranes, &c., for a deceased person. Such
expression cost no more by the thousand than by the dozen, so thousands
came to be the usual expression in all ordaining of offerings.

We are so accustomed to think of tedium as something modern, that it
seems strange to find in the oldest tales [Page 16] in the world how the
first king of whom we know anything was bored by his pleasures. A reward
for discovering a new pleasure is the very basis of the tale of Sneferu;
and the wise man's remedy of a day in the country is still the best
resource, though all that we know as human history has tried its
experiments in enjoyment since then. The flavour of the ballet thrown
in, by the introduction of the damsels of the household clad in fishing
nets, is not yet obsolete in modern amusements; and even in this century
Muhammed Ali had resource to the same way of killing time, as he was
rowed about by his _harem,_ but on an artificial lake.

The use of two large oars for steering explains the detail of the
story. The oars were one on each side of the stern, and were each
managed by a steerer. From the tale we see that the steerer led the
song of the rowers, and if the leader ceased, all that side of the
boat ceased also.. The position of the lost jewel upon the hair shows
that it was in a fillet set with inlaying, like that seen on early
figures, such as Nefert at Medum, who wears a fillet of rosettes to
retain the hair; and the position of the steering oar attached to a
post, with the handle rising high in the air, explains how it could
strike the fillet and displace the jewel.

The last tale is really double, a tale within a tale. It begins with
the wonders done by Dedi, and then goes on with the [Page 22] history
or the children about whom he prophesied to Khufu.

The village of Dedi was probably near Medum, as in the temple of Sneferu
at Medum an offering was found presented by a worshipper to the gods
of Ded-sneferu: hence the background which is here given for the scene
of Hordedef leading old Dedi. The translation of "the designs of the
dwelling of Tahuti" is not certain; but the passage seems to refer to
some architectural plan which was desired for the pyramid.

The story of Rud-didet is remarkable historically. She is said to be
wife of the priest of Ra, her children are sons of Ra, and they are the
first three kings of the Vth dynasty, and supplanted the line of Khufu.
This points to the Vth Dynasty having been a priestly usurpation; and on
looking at its history we see two confirmations of this. The title "Son
of Ra" is so common in most ages in Egypt that it is taken for granted,
and is applied in lists to any second cartouche; but it is not found
until well into the Vth Dynasty; the earlier kings were not descendants
of Ra, and it is only on arriving at this dynasty, which claimed descent
from Ra, through the wife of the priest of Ra, that we find the claim
of each king to be a "son of Ra." Another confirmation of this
priestly descent is the abundance of priesthoods established for the
kings of the Vth Dynasty; a care which agrees with their having a
priestly origin; while in the tale it is particularly said that they
would build up the temples, furnish the altars with offerings, supply
the tables of libations, and increase the religious endowments.

The names of the three children are a play upon the names of the first
three kings of the Vth Dynasty. User-kaf is made into User-ref;
Sahu-ra is written Sah-ra; and Kaka is Kaku; thus making allusions to
their births. The comparison of the hair to true lapis lazuli seems
very strange; but there is often a confusion between black aind blue
in uneducated races, and _azrak_ means either dark blue or green, or
black, at present in Arabic. Lapis lazuli is brought in to the name of
the queen of Ramessu VI., who was called "gold and lazuli,"
_Nub-khesdeb;_ recalling the comparison here of personal beauty to
these precious materials.

It is noticeable here that in a tale of the Vth Dynasty, certainly
written as early as the XIIth Dynasty, we find professional dancers
commonly recognised, and going on travels through the country, with a
porter.

From this tale we also learn that Egyptian women underwent a
purification of fourteen days, during which they kept apart and did not
attend to any household matters. The mistress of the house here inquires
if the preparations are made for the feast on her return to household
affairs; and hears then how the beer cannot be made for lack of the barley.

The securing of the sack is just in accord with the remains of this
early period; the use of boxes, of thongs of leather for tying and of
clay sealings for securing property, were all familiar matters in the
XIIth Dynasty, as we learn from Kahun.

The present close of the tale is evidently only a stage in it, when the
treacherous maid meets with the common doom of the wicked in Egyptian
romance. How it was continued is a matter of speculation, but Khufu
ought certainly to reappear and to order great rewards for Dedi, who up
to this has only had maintenance on his requisite scale provided for
him. Yet it is imperative that the children shall be saved from his
wrath, as they are the kings of the Vth Dynasty. There may be a long
episode lost of their flight and adventures.

One reference to a date needs notice. The 25th of the month Tybi is said
to be the predicted birthday of the children; and Khufu refers to going
to Sakhebu about that time apparently, when the banks of the canal are
cut and the land was drying after the inundation, whereon Dedi
threatens that the water shall still be deep there. This points to 25th
Tybi being about the close of the inundation. This would be about
the case both in the beginning of the IVth Dynasty, and also in the
XIIth Dynasty, when the papyrus was perhaps written: hence there is
nothing conclusive to be drawn from this allusion so far. But when we
compare this tale with those following, we see good ground for its
belonging to a time before the XIIth Dynasty The following tale of the
peasant and the workman evidently belongs to the IXth or Xth Dynasties,
when Herakleopolis was the capital, and Sanehat is certainly of the
XIIth Dynasty. Yet in those we see character and incident made the basis
of interest, in place of the childish profusion of marvels of the Tales
of the Magicians. It seems impossible not to suppose that they belong to
very different ages and canons of taste; and hence we cannot refer the
crudities of the Khufu tales to the time of the far more elaborate and
polished recital of the adventures of Sanehat in the XIIth Dynasty.
Being thus obliged to suppose an earlier date for these tales, the
allusion to the month Tybi throws us back to a very early period--the
IVth Dynasty--for their original outlines. Doubtless they were modified
by reciters, and probably took shape in the Vth or VIth Dynasties; but
yet we must regard them as belonging practically to the age to which
they refer.

IN THE SEKHET HEMAT

IXTH DYNASTY

THE PEASANT AND THE WORKMAN

There dwelt in the Sekhet Hemat--or salt country--a peasant called the
Sekhti, with his wife and children, his asses and his dogs; and he
trafficked in all good things of the Sekhet Hemat to Henenseten. Behold
now he went with rushes, natron, and salt, with wood and pods, with
stones and seeds, and all good products of the Sekhet Hemat. And this
Sekhti journeyed to the south unto Henenseten; and when he came to the
lands of the house of Fefa, north of Denat, he found a man there
standing on the bank, a man called Hemti--the workman--son of a man
called Asri, who was a serf of the High Steward Meruitensa. Now said
this Hemti, when he saw the asses of Sekhti, that were pleasing in his
eyes, "Oh that some good god would grant me to steal away the goods of
Sekhti from him!"

Now the Hemti's house was by the dyke of the tow-path, which was
straitened, and not wide, as much as the width of a waist cloth: on the
one side of it was the water, and on the other side of it grew his corn.
Hemti said then to his servant, "Hasten I bring me a shawl from the
house," and it was brought instantly. Then spread he out this shawl on
the face of the dyke, and it lay with its fastening on the water and its
fringe on the corn.

Now Sekhti approached along the path used by all men. Said Hemti, "Have
a care, Sekhti! you are not going to trample on my clothes!" Said
Sekhti, "I will do as you like, I will pass carefully." Then went he
up on the higher side. But Hemti said, "Go you over my corn, instead
of the path?" Said Sekhti, "I am going carefully; this high field of
corn is not my choice, but you have stopped your path with your
clothes, and will you then not let us pass by the side of the path?"
And one of the asses filled its mouth with a cluster of corn. Said
Hemti, "Look you, I shall take away your ass, Sekhti, for eating my
corn; behold it will have to pay according to the amount of the
injury." Said Sekhti, "I am going carefully; the one way is stopped,
therefore took I my ass by the enclosed ground, and do you seize it
for filling its mouth with a cluster of corn? Moreover, I know unto
whom this domain belongs, even unto the Lord Steward Meruitensa. He it
is who smites every robber in this whole land; and shall I then be
robbed in his domain?"

Said Hemti, "This is the proverb which men speak: 'A poor man's name is
only his own matter.' I am he of whom you spake, even the Lord Steward
of whom you think." Thereon he took to him branches of green tamarisk
and scourged all his limbs, took his asses, and drave them into the
pasture. And Sekhti wept very greatly, by reason of the pain of what
he had suffered. Said Hemti, "Lift not up your voice, Sekhti, or you
shall go to the Demon of Silence." Sekhti answered, "You beat me, you
steal my goods, and now would take away even my voice, O demon of
silence! If you will restore my goods, then will I cease to cry out at
your violence."

Sekhti stayed the whole day petitioning Hemti, but he would not give ear
unto him. And Sekhti went his way to Khenensuten to complain to the Lord
Steward Meruitensa. He found him coming out from the door of his house
to embark on his boat, that he might go to the judgment hall. Sekhti
said, "Ho! turn, that I may please thy heart with this discourse. Now at
this time let one of thy followers whom thou wilt, come to me that I
may send him to thee concerning it." The Lord Steward Meruitensa made
his follower, whom he chose, go straight unto him, and Sekhti sent him
back with an account of all these matters. Then the Lord Steward
Meruitensa accused Hemti unto the nobles who sat with him; and they said
unto him, "By your leave: As to this Sekhti of yours, let him bring a
witness. Behold thou it is our custom with our Sekhtis; witnesses come
with them; behold, that is our custom. Then it will be fitting to
beat this Hemti for a trifle of natron and a trifle of salt; if he is
commanded to pay for it, he will pay for it." But the High Steward
Meruitensa held his peace; for he would not reply unto these nobles,
but would reply unto the Sekhti.

Now Sekhti came to appeal to the Lord Steward Meruitensa, and said, "O
my Lord Steward, greatest of the great, guide of the needy:

When thou embarkest on the lake of truth,--
Mayest thou sail upon it with a fair wind;
May thy mainsail not fly loose.
May there not be lamentation in thy cabin;
May not misfortune come after thee.
May not thy mainstays be snapped;
Mayest thou not run aground.
May not the wave seize thee;
Mayest thou not taste the impurities of the river;
Mayest thou not see the face of fear.
May the fish come to thee without escape;
Mayest thou reach unto plump waterfowl.
For thou art the orphan's father, the widow's husband,
The desolate woman's brother, the garment of the motherless.
Let me celebrate thy name in this land for every virtue.
A guide without greediness of heart;
A great one without any meanness.
Destroying deceit, encouraging justice;
Coming to the cry, and allowing utterance.
Let me speak, do thou hear and do justice;
O praised! whom the praised ones praise.
Abolish oppression, behold me, I am overladen,
Reckon with me, behold me defrauded."

Now the Sekhti made this speech in the time of the majesty of the King
Neb-ka-n-ra, blessed. The Lord Steward Meruitensa went away straight to
the king and said, "My lord, I have found one of these Sekhti, excellent
of speech, in very truth; stolen are his goods, and he has come to
complain to me of the matter."

His majesty said, "As thou wishest that I may see health! lengthen out
his complaint, without replying to any of his speeches. He who
desireth him to continue speaking should be silent; behold, bring us
his words in writing, that we may listen to them. But provide for his
wife and his children, and let the Sekhti himself also have a living.
Thou must cause one to give him his portion without letting him know
that thou art he who is giving it to him."

There were given to him four loaves and two draughts of beer each day;
which the Lord Steward Meruitensa provided for him, giving it to a
friend of his, who furnished it unto him. Then the Lord Steward
Meruitensa sent the governor of the Sekhet Hemat to make provision for
the wife of the Sekhti, three rations of corn each day.

Then came the Sekhti a second time, and even a third time, unto the Lord
Steward Meruitensa; but he told two of his followers to go unto the
Sekhti, and seize on him, and beat him with staves. But he came again
unto him, even unto six times, and said--

"My Lord Steward-Destroying deceit, and encouraging justice; Raising up
every good thing, and crushing every evil; As plenty comes removing
famine, As clothing covers nakedness, As clear sky after storm warms the
shivering; As fire cooks that which is raw, As water quenches the
thirst; Look with thy face upon my lot; do not covet, but
content me without fail; do the right and do not evil."

But yet Meruitensa would not hearken unto his complaint; and the Sekhti
came yet, and yet again, even unto the ninth time. Then the Lord Steward
told two of his followers to go unto the Sekhti; and the Sekhti feared
that he should be beaten as at the third request. But the Lord Steward
Meruitensa then said unto him, "Fear not, Sekhti, for what thou has
done. The Sekhti has made many speeches, delightful to the heart of his
majesty and I take an oath--as I eat bread, and as I drink water--that
thou shalt be remembered to eternity." Said the Lord Steward, "Moreover,
thou shalt be satisfied when thou shalt hear of thy complaints." He
caused to be written on a clean roll of papyrus each petition to the
end, and the Lord Steward Meruitensa sent it to the majesty of the
King Neb-ka-n-ra, blessed, and it was good to him more than anything
that is in the whole land: but his majesty said to Meruitensa, "Judge
it thyself; I do not desire it."

The Lord Steward Meruitensa made two of his followers to go to the
Sekhet Hemat, and bring a list of the household of the Sekhti; and its
amount was six persons, beside his oxen and his goats, his wheat and his
barley, his asses and his dogs; and moreover he gave all that which
belonged unto the Hemti to the Sekhti, even all his property and his
offices, and the Sekhti was beloved of the king more than all his
overseers, and ate of all the good things of the king, with all his
household.