Egyptian Tales, 1st series | Page 7

away toward
the place from which they came. And Isis spake unto these goddesses,
and said, "Wherefore have we come without doing a marvel for these
children, that we may tell it to their father who has sent us?" Then
made they the divine diadems of the king (life, wealth, and health), and
laid them in the bushel of barley. And they caused the clouds to come
with wind and rain; and they turned back again unto the house. And
they said, "Let us put this barley in a closed chamber, sealed up, until
we return northward, dancing." And they placed the barley in a close
chamber.
And Rud-didet purified herself, with a purification of fourteen days.
And she said to her handmaid, "Is the house made ready?" And she
replied, "All things are made ready, but the brewing barley is not yet
brought." And Rud-didet said, "Wherefore is the brewing barley not yet
brought?" And the servant answered, "It would all of it long since be
ready if the barley had not been given to the dancing-girls, and lay in
the chamber under their seal." Rud didet said, "Go down, and bring of
it, and Ra-user shall give them in its stead when he shall come," And
the handmaid went, and opened the chamber. And she heard talking
and singing, music and dancing, quavering, and all things which are

performed for a king in his chamber. And she returned and told to
Rud-didet all that she had heard. And she went through the chamber,
but she found not the place where the sound was. And she layed her
temple to the sack, and found that the sounds were in it. She placed it in
a chest, and put that in another locker, and tied it fast with leather, and
layed it in the store-room, where the things were, and sealed it. And
Ra-user came returning from the field; and Rud-didet repeated unto
him these things; and his heart was glad above all things; and they sat
down and made a joyful day.
And after these days it came to pass that Rud-didet was wroth with her
servant, and beat her with stripes. And the servant said unto those that
were in the house, "Shall it be done thus unto me? She has borne three
kings, and I will go and tell this to his majesty King Khufu the
blessed." And she went, and found the eldest brother of her mother,
who was binding his flax on the floor. And he said to her, "Whither
goest thou, my little maid?" And she told him of all these things. And
her brother said to her, "Wherefore comest thou thus to me? Shall I
agree to treachery?" And he took a bunch of the flax to her, and laid on
her a violent blow. And the servant went to fetch a handful of water,
and a crocodile carried her away.
Her uncle went therefore to tell of this to Rud-didet; and he found
Rud-didet sitting, her head on her knees, and her heart beyond measure
sad. And he said to her, "My lady, why makest thou thy heart thus?"
And she answered, "It is because of this little wretch that was in the
house; behold she went out saying, 'I will go and tell it.'" And he bowed
his head unto the ground, and said, "My lady, she came and told me of
these things, and made her complaint unto me; and I laid on her a
violent blow. And she went forth to draw water, and a crocodile carried
her away."
(The rest of the tale is lost.)

REMARKS

The tales or the magicians are only preserved in a single copy, and of
that the beginning is entirely lost. The papyrus was brought from Egypt
by an English traveller, and was purchased by the Berlin Museum from
the property of Lepsius, who had received it from the owner, Miss
Westcar: hence it is known as the Westcar papyrus. It was written
probably in the XIIth Dynasty, but doubtless embodied tales, which had
been floating for generations before, about the names of the early kings.
It shows us probably the kind of material that existed for the great
recension of the pre-monu-mental history, made in the time of Seti I.
Those ages of the first three dynasties were as long before that
recension as we are after it; and this must always be remembered in
considering the authority of the Egyptian records.
This papyrus has been more thoroughly studied than most, perhaps
more than any other. Erman has devoted two volumes to it; publishing
the whole in photographic facsimile, transcribed in hieroglyphs,
transcribed in the modern alphabet, translated literally, translated freely,
commented on and discussed word by word, and with a complete
glossary