The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion (Vol. 2 of 2)Frazer, James George
ReligionComparative
The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion (Vol. 2 of 2)
Frazer, James George
Magic; Mythology; Religion; Superstition
one on the one side of the water and the other on the other, and the
younger brother told the elder brother all that had befallen. So the elder
brother repented him of what he had done and he wept aloud. But he could
not come at the farther bank by reason of the crocodiles. His younger
brother called to him and said, “Go home and tend the cattle thyself. For
I will dwell no more in the place where thou art. I will go to the Valley
of the Acacia. But this is what thou shalt do for me. Thou shalt come and
care for me, if evil befalls me, for I will enchant my heart and place it
on the top of the flower of the Acacia; and if they cut the Acacia and my
heart falls to the ground, thou shalt come and seek it, and when thou hast
found it thou shalt lay it in a vessel of fresh water. Then I shall come
to life again. But this is the sign that evil has befallen me; the pot of
beer in thine hand shall bubble.” So he went away to the Valley of the
Acacia, but his brother returned home with dust on his head and slew his
wife and cast her to the dogs.
For many days afterwards the younger brother dwelt alone in the Valley of
the Acacia. By day he hunted the beasts of the field, but at evening he
came and laid him down under the Acacia, on the top of whose flower was
his heart. And many days after that he built himself a house in the Valley
of the Acacia. But the gods were grieved for him; and the Sun said to
Khnum, “Make a wife for Bitiu, that he may not dwell alone.” So Khnum made
him a woman to dwell with him, who was perfect in her limbs more than any
woman on earth, for all the gods were in her. So she dwelt with him. But
one day a lock of her hair fell into the river and floated down to the
land of Egypt, to the house of Pharaoh’s washerwomen. The fragrance of the
lock perfumed Pharaoh’s raiment, and the washerwomen were blamed, for it
was said, “An odour of perfume in the garments of Pharaoh!” So the heart
of Pharaoh’s chief washerman was weary of the complaints that were made
every day, and he went to the quay, and there in the water he saw the lock
of hair. He sent one down into the river to fetch it, and, because it
smelt sweetly, he took it to Pharaoh. Then Pharaoh’s magicians were sent
for and they said, “This lock of hair belongs to a daughter of the Sun,
who has in her the essence of all the gods. Let messengers go forth to all
foreign lands to seek her.” So the woman was brought from the Valley of
the Acacia with chariots and archers and much company, and all the land of
Egypt rejoiced at her coming, and Pharaoh loved her. But when they asked
her of her husband, she said to Pharaoh, “Let them cut down the Acacia and
let them destroy him.” So men were sent with tools to cut down the Acacia.
They came to it and cut the flower upon which was the heart of Bitiu; and
he fell down dead in that evil hour. But the next day, when the elder
brother of Bitiu was entered into his house and had sat down, they brought
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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