Page:Egyptian Literature (1901).djvu/135

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OF THE FOUR APES
111

his princes, and bread, and cakes, and sweetmeats, and wine, and pieces of flesh shall be given unto him upon the altar of the great god; and he shall not be turned back at any door in amentet, and he shall be brought in along with the kings of upper and lower egypt, and he shall be in the train of osiris[1] continually and forever.

OF THE FOUR APES[2]

[From the Papyrus of Nu (British Museum No. 10,477, sheet 24).]

The overseer of the palace, the chancellor-in-chief, Nu, triumphant, the son of the overseer of the palace, the chancellor-in-chief, Amen-hetep, triumphant, saith:

“Hail, ye four apes who sit in the bows of the boat of Rā, who convey right and truth to Neb-er-tcher, who sit in judgment on my misery and on my strength, who make the gods to rest contented by means of the flame of your mouths, who offer holy offerings to the gods and sepulchral meals to the khus, who live upon right and truth, and who feed upon right and truth of heart, who are without deceit and fraud, and to whom wickedness is an abomination, do ye away with my evil deeds, and put ye away my sin [which deserved stripes upon earth, and destroy ye any evil whatsoever that belongeth unto me],[3] and let there be no obstacle whatsoever on my part toward you. Oh, grant ye that I may make my way through the underworld (ammehet), let me enter into Re-stau, let me pass through the hidden pylons of Amentet. Oh, grant that there may be given to me cakes, and ale, and sweetmeats(?), even as [they are given] to the living khus, and grant that I may enter in and come forth from Re-stau.”

"[The four apes make answer, saying], ‘Come, then, for we have done away with thy wickedness, and we have put away thy sin, along with the [sin deserving of] stripes which thou [didst commit] upon earth, and we have destroyed [all] the evil which belonged to thee upon the earth. Enter, therefore, into Re-stau, and pass thou through the hidden pylons

  1. After “Osiris” a Paris papyrus adds, “He shall come forth in whatsoever form he is pleased to appear as a living soul forever and ever.”
  2. This chapter has no title either in the Theban or in the Saite Recension.
  3. The words in brackets are added from Brit. Mus. No. 9,913.