Afterward, when she was seated again with Pharaoh at table, she made
him swear another oath to do whatever she asked him, and Pharaoh swore
again. Then she said, "Cut me down these two trees and make them into
two good beams." What she demanded was done, but as the trees were being
cut down a chip flew into her mouth. In due time she brought forth a
male child, whom Pharaoh loved and made Prince of the Upper Nile, and
when Pharaoh died, Bitou, for _he_ was this child, succeeded him. Then
he summoned all the great officials, had his wife brought before him,
and told them all that had happened. So she was put to death. Bitou
lived and reigned for twenty years, and then his brother Anapou, whom he
had made his successor, reigned in his stead.
The Doomed Prince
This story is to be found in the Harris Papyrus in the British Museum.
It was complete when first discovered, but an unfortunate accident
partly destroyed it, so that the end of the tale is lost. It is supposed
to belong to the end of the Eighteenth Dynasty.
There was once a king who was sore in heart because no son had been born
to him. He prayed the gods to grant his desire, and they decreed that as
he had prayed, so it should be. And his wife brought forth a son. When
the Hathors came to decide his destiny they said, "His death shall be by
the crocodile, or by the serpent, or by the dog." And those who stood
round, upon hearing this, hurried to tell the king, who was much grieved
thereat and feared greatly.
And because of what he had heard he caused a house to be built in the
mountains and furnished richly and with all that could be desired, so
that the child should not go abroad. When the boy was grown he went one
day upon the roof, and from there he saw a dog following a man upon the
road. Then he turned to his attendant and said, "What is that which
follows the man coming along the road?" And he was told that it was a
dog.
And the child at once wished to possess a dog, and when the king was
told of his desire he might not deny him, lest his heart should be sad.
As time went on and the child became a man he grew restive, and, being
told of the decree of the Hathors, at once sent a message to his father,
saying, "Come, why and wherefore am I kept a prisoner? Though I am fated
to three evil fates, let me follow my desires. Let God fulfil His will."
And after this he was free and did as other men. He was given weapons
and his dog was allowed to follow him, and they took him to the east
country and said to him, "Behold, thou art free to go wheresoever thou
wilt."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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