The beginning of the tale is lost in all the copies, and an introductory sentence is here added in brackets, to explain the position of affairs at the opening of the fragment. The essence of the tale is the difference in social position between the Sekhti, or peasant, and the Hemti, or workman--the _fellah_ and the client of the noble; and the impossibility of getting justice against a client, unless by some extraordinary means of attracting his patron's attention, is the basis of the action. There is not a single point of incident here which might not be true in modern times; every turn of it seems to live, as one reads it in view of country life in Egypt. The region of the tale is Henenseten, or Herakleopolis, now Ahnas, a little south of the Fayum. This was the seat of the IXth and Xth Dynasties, apparently ejected from Memphis by a foreign invasion of the Delta; and here it is that the High Steward lives and goes to speak to the king. The district of the Sekhti is indicated by his travelling south to Henenseten, and going with asses and not by boat. Hence we are led to look for the Sekhet Hemat, or salt country, in the borders of the Fayum lake, whence the journey would be southward, and across the desert. This lake was not regulated artificially until the XIIth Dynasty; and hence at the period of this tale it was a large sheet of water, fluctuating with each rise and fall of the Nile, and bordered by lagoons where rushes would flourish, and where salt and natron would accumulate daring the dry season of each year. At the present time the lake of the Fayum is brackish, and the cliffs which border it contain so much salt that rain pools which collect on them are not drinkable. The paths and roads of Egypt are not protected by law as in Western countries. Each person encroaches on a path or diverts it as may suit his purpose, only checked by the liberties taken by passers-by in trespassing if a path be insufficient. Hence, it is very usual to see a house built over half of a path, and driving the traffic into the field or almost over the river bank. In this case the Hemti had taken in as much of the path as he could, and left it but a narrow strip along the top of the canal bank. The frequent use of the public way for drying clothes, or spreading out property, gave the idea of choking the way altogether, and leaving no choice but trespassing on the crops. No sooner does a donkey pause, or even pass, by a field of corn than he snatches a mouthful, and in a delay or altercation such as this the beast is sure to take the advantage. Donkeys carrying loads by cornfields are usually muzzled with rope nets, to prevent their feeding; and even sheep and goats are also fended in the same way.