The Literature of the Ancient EgyptiansBudge, E. A. Wallis (Ernest Alfred Wallis), Sir
History
The Literature of the Ancient Egyptians
Budge, E. A. Wallis (Ernest Alfred Wallis), Sir
Egyptian literature -- History and criticism; Egyptian literature -- Translations into English
This peasant came the eighth time to lay his complaint [before Rensi],
and said, "O my lord steward, a man falleth because of covetousness. The
avaricious man hath no aim, for his aim is frustrated. Thy heart is
avaricious, which befitteth thee not. Thou plunderest, and thy plunder
is no use to thee. And yet formerly thou didst permit a man to enjoy
that to which he had good right! Thy daily bread is in thy house, thy
belly is filled, grain overfloweth [in thy granaries], and the overflow
perisheth and is wasted. The officials who have been appointed to
suppress acts of injustice have been rapacious robbers, and the
officials who have been appointed to stamp out falsehood have become
hiding-places for those who work iniquity. It is not fear of thee that
hath driven me to make my complaint to thee, for thou dost not
understand my mind (or heart). The man who is silent and who turneth
back in order to bring his miserable state [before thee] is not afraid
to place it before thee, and his brother doth not bring [gifts] from the
interior of [his quarter]. Thy estates are in the fields, thy food is on
[thy] territory, and thy bread is in the storehouse, yet the officials
make gifts to thee and thou seizest them. Art thou not then a robber?
Will not the men who plunder hasten with thee to the divisions of the
fields? Perform the truth for the Lord of Truth, who possesseth the real
truth. Thou writing reed, thou roll of papyrus, thou palette, thou
Thoth, thou art remote from acts of justice. O Good One, thou art still
goodness. O Good One, thou art truly good. Truth endureth for ever. It
goeth down to the grave with those who perform truth, it is laid in the
coffin and is buried in the earth; its name is never removed from the
earth, and its name is remembered on earth for good (or blessing). That
is the ordinance of the word of God. If it be a matter of a hand-balance
it never goeth askew; if it be a matter of a large pair of scales, the
standard thereof never inclineth to one side. Whether it be I who come,
or another, verily thou must make speech, but do not answer whether thou
speakest to one who ought to hold his peace, or whether thou seizest one
who cannot seize thee. Thou art not merciful, thou art not considerate.
Thou hast not withdrawn thyself, thou hast not gone afar off. But thou
hast not in any way given in respect of me any judgment in accordance
with the command, which came forth from the mouth of Rā himself, saying,
'Speak the truth, perform the truth, for truth is great, mighty, and
everlasting. When thou performest the truth thou wilt find its virtues
(?), and it will lead thee to the state of being blessed (?). If the
hand-balance is askew, the pans of the balance, which perform the
weighing, hang crookedly, and a correct weighing cannot be carried out,
and the result is a false one; even so the result of wickedness is
wickedness.'"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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