e land. And when we were grown, the King said to the Queen, 'I
will marry Na.nefer.ka.ptah to the daughter of a general, and Ahura to the
son of another general.' And the Queen said, 'No; he is the heir, let him
marry his sister, like the heir of a king; none other is fit for him.' And
the King said, 'That is not fair; they had better be married to the
children of the general.'

"And the Queen said, 'It is you who are not dealing rightly with me.' And
the King answered, 'If I have no more than these two children, is it right
that they should marry one another? I will marry Na.nefer.ka.ptah to the
daughter of an officer, and Ahura to the son of another officer. It has
often been done so in our family.'

"And at a time when there was a great feast before the King, they came to
fetch me to the feast. And I was very troubled, and did not behave as I
used to do. And the King said to me, 'Ahura, have you sent someone to me
about this sorry matter, saying, "Let me be married to my elder brother"?'
I said to him, 'Well, let me marry the son of an officer, and he marry the
daughter of another officer, as it often happens so in our family.' I
laughed, and the King laughed. And the King told the steward of the
palace, 'Let them take Ahura to the house of Na.nefer.ka.ptah to-night,
and all kinds of good things with her.' So they brought me as a wife to
the house of Na.nefer.ka.ptah; and the King ordered them to give me
presents of silver and gold, and things from the palace.

"And Na.nefer.ka.ptah passed a happy time with me, and received all the
presents from the palace; and we loved one another. And when I expected a
child, they told the King, and he was most heartily glad; and he sent me
many things, and a present of the best silver and gold and linen. And when
the time came, I bore this little child that is before you. And they gave
him the name of Mer-ab, and registered him in the book of the 'House of
life.'

"And when my brother Na.nefer.ka.ptah went to the cemetery of Memphis, he
did nothing on earth but read the writings that are in the catacombs of
the kings, and the tablets of the 'House of life,' and the inscriptions
that are seen on the monuments, and he worked hard on the writings. And
there was a priest there called Nesi-ptah; and as Na.nefer.ka.ptah went
into a temple to pray, it happened that he went behind this priest, and
was reading the inscriptions that were on the chapels of the gods. And the
priest mocked