"...a gem be tied at the feet and a piece of glass be worn upon the
head, yet still glass is glass, and gems are gems.
"It is said:
"Wisdom is of more consequence than strength. The want of it is a state
of misery. And as in the night darkness is kept at a distance by the
lord of shades (the moon) thus love by seeing and being seen delights
the young. The woman...
"Again:
"Women are never to be rendered faithful and obedient; no, not by gifts,
nor by honours, nor by sincerity, nor by services, nor by severity, nor
by precept!... What women eat is twofold; their cunning fourfold; their
perseverance sixfold; their passions eightfold; and their patience
tenfold. Wherefore the understanding which upon unexpected occurrences
remaineth unaffected, may pass through the greatest difficulties. He
who hath sense and worshippeth the Sun-God hath strength. Where hath he
strength who wanteth judgment? Where hath...
"To the unkind the ruin of the worthy bringeth delight, and...
"It is not proper to be alarmed at a mere sound when the cause of that
sound is unknown.
"For:
"Upon the great river the city of Thebes there was in the days of
Sekhomab a city where... called Aa-tenen, the inhabitants of which used
to believe that a certain giant crocodile, whom they called Nefer-biu,
infested the waters. The fact was this: a thief, as he was swimming
away with a bell he had stolen, was overcome and devoured by a
crocodile, and the bell, falling from his hand, was washed upon the
river-bank there and picked up by some apes, who every now and then used
to ring it in the trees by the river... The people of the town, finding
a man had been killed there, and hearing continually the noise of the
bell, used to declare that the giant Nefer-biu, being enraged, was
devouring a man and ringing a bell, so that the city was abandoned by
all the principal inhabitants.
"And so...
"At length, guided by the god Horus... of Stars of Sopdu, a certain poor
woman, having considered the subject, discovered that the bell was rung
by the apes. She accordingly went unto King Sekhomab, loved of Ra,
favourite of Mentu, and before the priests of Amon, and said: `If, O
King. Lord of both Lands, I may expect a very great reward, I will
engage to silence this Nefer-biu.' The King was exceedingly well
pleased, and gave her some silver. So having described some circles and
exhibited the worship of strange gods in a conspicuous manner, she
secretly provided such fruits as she conceived the apes were fond of and
went unto the river; where, strewing them about, they presently quitted
the bell and attached themselves to the fruit. The poor woman, in the
meantime, took away the bell and carried it into Sekhomab, who honoured
her and gave her great reward. And in the city of Aa-tenen she became
an object of adoration to its inhabitants, and her cartouche was
inscribed upon the Temple of Amon-Ra... and of the Sun-God...