CHAPTER IV
The Peasant who became King
The Two Brothers—Peasant Life—The Temptress—Wrath of Anpu—Attempt to slay his Brother—Flight of Bata—Elder Brother undeceived—Kills his Wife—Bata hides his Soul—His Wife—Sought by the King—Bata’s Soul Blossom destroyed—Wife becomes a Queen—Recovery of Lost Soul—Bata as a Bull—Slaughtered for the Queen—Bata a Tree—Bata reborn as Son of his Wife—The King who slew his Wife-mother—Belief in Transmigration of Souls.
There were once two brothers, and they were sons of the same father and of the same mother. Anpu was the name of the elder, and the younger was called Bata. Now Anpu had a house of his own, and he had a wife. His brother lived with him as if he were his son, and made garments for him. It was Bata who drove the oxen to the field, it was he who ploughed the land, and it was he who harvested the grain. He laboured continually upon his brother's farm, and his equal was not to be found in the land of Egypt; he was imbued with the spirit of a god.
In this manner the brothers lived together, and many days went past. Each morning the younger brother went forth with the oxen, and when evening came on he drove them again to the byre, carrying upon his back a heavy burden of fodder which he gave to the animals to eat, and he brought with him also milk and herbs for Anpu and his wife. While these two ate and drank together in the house, Bata rested in the byre with the cattle and he slept beside them.
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