priest had said. The King asked him, 'What is it that you want?'
and he replied, 'Let them give me the royal boat with its belongings, for
I will go to the south with Ahura and her little boy Mer-ab, and fetch
this book without delay.' So they gave him the royal boat with its
belongings, and we went with him to the haven, and sailed from there up to
Koptos.

"Then the priests of Isis of Koptos, and the high-priest of Isis, came
down to us without waiting, to meet Na.nefer.ka.ptah, and their wives also
came to me. We went into the temple of Isis and Harpokrates; and
Na.nefer.ka.ptah brought an ox, a goose, and some wine, and made a
burnt-offering and a drink-offering before Isis of Koptos and Harpokrates.
They brought us to a very fine house, with all good things; and
Na.nefer.ka.ptah spent four days there and feasted with the priests of
Isis of Koptos, and the wives of the priests of Isis also made holiday
with me.

"And the morning of the fifth day came; and Na.nefer.ka.ptah called a
priest to him, and made a magic cabin that was full of men and tackle. He
put the spell upon it, and put life in it, and gave them breath, and sank
it in the water. He filled the royal boat with sand, and took leave of me,
and sailed from the haven: and I sat by the river at Koptos that I might
see what would become of him. And he said, 'Workmen, work for me, even at
the place where the book is.' And they toiled by night and by day; and
when they had reached it in three days, he threw the sand out, and made a
shoal in the river. And then he found on it entwined serpents and
scorpions and all kinds of crawling things around the box in which the
book was; and by it he found a deathless snake around the box. And he laid
the spell upon the entwined serpents and scorpions and all kinds of
crawling things which were around the box, that they should not come out.
And he went to the deathless snake, and fought with him, and killed him;
but he came to life again, and took a new form. He then fought again with
him a second time; but he came to life again, and took a third form. He
then cut him in two parts, and put sand between the parts, that he should
not appear again.

"Na.nefer.ka.ptah then went to the place where he found the box. He
uncovered a box of iron, and opened it; he found then a box of bronze, and
opened that; then he found a box of sycamore wood, and opened that; again,
he found a box of ivory and ebony, and opened that; yet, he fo