The World's Progress Part 20

Withhold thy hand from violence, and thy heart from cruelty; softly entreat her and win her to thy way; consider her desires, and deny not the wish of her heart.

Thus shalt thou keep her heart from wandering; but if thou harden thyself against her, she will turn from thee. Speak to her, yield her thy love, she will have respect unto thee; open thy arms, she will come unto thee.

Blessed is the son who gives ear to the instruction of his father, for he shall escape error.

Train thou thy son to obedience; his wisdom shall be pleasing unto the great.

Let his mouth have respect to thy sayings; by obedience shall his wisdom be established. Day by day shall his walk be perfect; but error shall be the destruction of fools. The ignorant and the froward shall be overthrown, but knowledge shall uplift the wise.

He that lacketh prudence and inclineth not his ear to instruction, the same worketh no good. He thinketh to discover knowledge in ignorance, and gain in that which profiteth nothing; he runneth to mischief, and wandereth in error, choosing those things which are rejected of the prudent; so subsisteth he on that which perisheth, and filleth his belly with the words of evil. Yea, he is brought to shame, seeking to be nourished with whatsoever the wise hold in abomination, shunning profitable things, led astray by much foolishness.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

THE VOYAGE OF THE SOUL.

In the 15th chapter of "The Book of the Dead" we find an account of the pa.s.sage of the soul in a boat across the firmament, to the abode of the blessed.

This fable reappears in the religious writings of other nations, as, for instance, in, the Greek story of Charon, ferrying departed spirits across the Styx, and in the traditions of the ancient Mexicans. The soul is called by the Egyptians Osiris, in connection with the proper name of the individual (_N_), to indicate that the latter already partakes of the divine nature. Ra is the sun-G.o.d, approaching the west. The following translation is by P. Le Page Renouf:

Here is the Osiris _N_.

Come forth into Heaven, sail across the firmament and enter into brotherhood with the stars, let salutation be made to thee in the bark, let invocation be made to thee in the morning bark. Contemplate Ra within his Ark, and do thou propitiate his...o...b..daily. See the fish in its birth from the emerald stream, and see the tortoise and its rotations. Let the offender (the dragon) fall prostrate, when he meditates destruction for me, by blows on his backbone.

Ra springs forth with a fair wind; the evening bark speeds on and reaches the Haven. The crew of Ra are in exultation when they look upon him; the Mistress of Life, her heart is delighted at the overthrow of the adversary of her Lord.

See thou Horus at the look-out at the bow, and at his sides Thoth and Maat. All the G.o.ds are in exultation when they behold Ra coming in peace to give new life to the hearts of the Chu, and here is the Osiris _N_ along with them.

[_Litany._]

Adored be Ra, as he setteth in the land of Life.

Hail to thee, who hast come as Tmu, and hast been the creator of the cycle of the G.o.ds, _Give thou delicious breezes of the north wind to the Osiris N._ Hail to thee, who hast come as the Soul of souls, revered in Amenta, Hail to thee, who art above the G.o.ds, and who lightenest up Tuat with thy glories, Hail to thee, who comest in splendor, and goest around in thine orb, Hail to thee, who art mightier than the G.o.ds, who art crowned in Heaven and King in Tuat, Hail to thee, who openest the Tuat and disposest of all its doors, Hail to thee, supreme among the G.o.ds, and weigher of words in the nether world, Hail to thee, who art in thy Nest, and stirrest the Tuat with thy glory, Hail to thee, the great, the mighty, whose enemies are laid prostrate at their blocks, Hail to thee, who slaughterest the Sebau and annihilatest Apepi (the dragon).

[After each invocation, the italicized line is repeated.]

Horus openeth: the Great, the Mighty, who divideth the earths, the Great One who resteth in the Mountain of the West, and brighteneth up the Tuat with his glories and the Souls in their hidden abode, by shining into their sepulchres.

By hurling harm against the foe thou hast utterly destroyed all the adversaries of the Osiris _N_.

THE SOUL'S DECLARATION OF INNOCENCE.

This declaration was to be made by the soul in the Judgment Hall of Osiris in the presence of the council of forty-two G.o.ds. The heart being weighed against the symbol of truth and found correct was then restored to the deceased who entered upon the life of the blessed.

"O ye Lords of Truth! I have brought you truth.

I have not privily done evil against mankind.

I have not afflicted the miserable.

I have not told falsehoods.

I have had no acquaintance with sin.

I have not made the laboring man do more than his daily task.

I have not been idle.

I have not been intoxicated.

I have not been immoral.

I have not calumniated a slave to his master.

I have not caused hunger.

I have not made to weep.

I have not murdered.

I have not defrauded.

"I have not eaten the sacred bread in the temples.

I have not cheated in the weight of the balance.

I have not withheld milk from the mouths of sucklings.

I have not slandered any one.

I have not netted sacred birds.

I have not caught the fish which typify them.

I have not stopped running water.

I have not robbed the G.o.ds of their offered haunches.

I have not stopped a G.o.d from his manifestation.

I have made to the G.o.ds the offerings that were their due.

I have given food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, and clothes to the naked.

I am pure! I am pure!"

[Ill.u.s.tration: WEIGHING THE HEART IN THE JUDGMENT HALL OF OSIRIS.]

THE ADVENTURES OF THE EXILE SANEHAT.[1]

(2000 B.C.)

The fact that three copies of this tale have been found indicates that it was popular. Sanehat was a high official, and probably a member of the royal family; but on the death of King Amenemhet, the founder of the twelfth dynasty, Sanehat, fearing for his life, fled to Syria and lived there many years. In his old age he desired to return, that he might die in his native land. The narrative was probably prepared for inscription on the wall of his tomb. The translation is from W. M. Flinders Petrie's "Egyptian Tales."

In the thirtieth year, the month Paophi, the seventh day, the G.o.d entered his horizon, the King Sehotepabra flew up to heaven and joined the sun's disc, the follower of the G.o.d met his maker. The palace was silenced, and in mourning, the great gates were closed, the courtiers crouching on the ground, the people in hushed mourning.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

His majesty had sent a great army with the n.o.bles to the land of the Temehu (Libya), his son and heir, the good G.o.d, King Usertesen,[2] as their leader. Now he was returning, and had brought away living captives and all kinds of cattle without end. The councillors of the palace had sent to the West to let the king know the matter that had come to pa.s.s in the inner hall. The messenger was to meet him on the road, and reach him at the time of evening: the matter was urgent. "A hawk had soared with his followers." Thus said he, not to let the army know of it. Even if the royal sons who commanded in that army sent a message, he was not to speak to a single one of them.

But I was standing near, and heard his voice while he was speaking. I fled far away, my heart beating, my arms failing, trembling had fallen on all my limbs. I turned about in running to seek a place to hide me, and I threw myself between two bushes, to wait while they should pa.s.s by. Then I turned me toward the south, not wishing to come into this palace--for I knew not if war was declared--nor even thinking a wish to live after this sovereign. I turned my back to the sycamore, I reached Shi-Seneferu, and rested on the open field. In the morning I went on and overtook a man, who pa.s.sed by the edge of the road. He asked of me mercy, for he feared me. By the evening I drew near to Kher-ahau (Cairo) and I crossed the river on a raft without a rudder. Carried by the west wind, I pa.s.sed over to the east to the quarries of Aku and the land of the G.o.ddess Herit, mistress of the red mountain. Then I fled on foot, northward, and reached the walls of the prince, built to repel the Sati. I crouched in a bush for fear of being seen by the guards, changed each day, who watch on the top of the fortress. I took my way by night, and at the lighting of the day I reached Peten, and turned me toward the valley of Kemur. Then thirst hasted me on; I dried up, and my throat narrowed, and I said, "This is the taste of death."

When I lifted up my heart and gathered strength, I heard a voice and the lowing of cattle. I saw men of the Sati, and one of them--a friend unto Egypt--knew me. He gave me water and boiled milk, and I went with him to his camp; they did me good, and one tribe pa.s.sed me on to another. I pa.s.sed on to Sun, and reached the land of Adim (Edom).

[Ill.u.s.tration: HAREM WINDOW AND COURT.

Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y.]

When I had dwelt there half a year Amu-an-shi--who is the prince of the Upper Tenu--sent for me and said: "Dwell thou with me that thou mayest hear the speech of Egypt." He said thus for that he knew of my excellence, and had heard tell of my worth, for men of Egypt who were there with him bore witness of me. Behold he said to me, "For what cause hast thou come hither? Has a matter come to pa.s.s in the palace?

Has the king of the two lands, Sehetepabra, gone to heaven? What has happened about this is not known." But I answered with concealment, and said, "When I came from the land of the Temehu, and my desires were there changed in me, if I fled away it was not by reason of remorse that I took the way of a fugitive; I have not failed in my duty, my mouth has not said any bitter words, I have not heard any evil counsel, my name has not come into the mouth of a magistrate. I know not by what I have been led into this land." And Amu-an-shi said, "This is by the will of the G.o.d (King of Egypt), for what is a land like, if it know not that excellent G.o.d, of whom the dread is upon the lands of strangers, as they dread Sekhet in a year of pestilence?" I spake to him, and replied, "Forgive me, his son now enters the palace, and has received the heritage of his father. He is a G.o.d who has none like him, and there is none before him. He is a master of wisdom, prudent in his designs, excellent in his decrees, with good-will to him who goes or who comes; he subdued the land of strangers while his father yet lived in his palace, and he rendered account of that which his father destined him to perform. A king, he has ruled from his birth; he, from his birth, has increased births, a sole being, a divine essence, by whom this land rejoices to be governed. He enlarges the borders of the South; but he covets not the lands of the North; he does not smite the Sati, nor crush the Nemau-shau. If he descends here, let him know thy name, by the homage which thou wilt pay to his majesty. For he refuses not to bless the land which obeys him."

And he replied to me, "Egypt is indeed happy and well settled; behold thou art far from it, but whilst thou art with me I will do good unto thee." And he placed me before his children, he married his eldest daughter to me, and gave me the choice of all his land, even among the best of that which he had on the border of the next land. It is a goodly land; Iaa is its name. There are figs and grapes; there is wine commoner than water; abundant is the honey, many are its olives; and all fruits are upon its trees; there is barley and wheat, and cattle of kinds without end. This was truly a great thing that he granted me, when the prince came to invest me, and establish me as prince of a tribe in the best of his land. I had my continual portion of bread and of wine each day, of cooked meat, of roasted fowl, as well as the wild game which I took, or which was brought to me, besides what my dogs captured. They made me much b.u.t.ter, and prepared milk of all kinds. I pa.s.sed many years, the children that I had became great, each ruling his tribe. When a messenger went or came to the palace, he turned aside from the way to come to me; for I helped every man. I gave water to the thirsty, I set on his way him who went astray, and I rescued the robbed. The Sati who went far, to strike and turn back the princes of other lands, I ordained their goings; for the Prince of the Tenu for many years appointed me to be general of his soldiers. In every land which I attacked I played the champion, I took the cattle, I led away the va.s.sals, I carried off the slaves, I slew the people, by my sword, my bow, my marches and my good devices. I was excellent to the heart of my prince; he loved me when he knew my power, and set me over his children when he saw the strength of my arms.