e
on the bank made an outcry, saying: 'Great woe! Sad woe! Is he lost, that
good scribe and able man that has no equal?'

"The royal boat went on, without anyone on earth knowing where
Na.nefer.ka.ptah was. It went on to Memphis, and they told all this to the
King. Then the King went down to the royal boat in mourning, and all the
soldiers and high-priests of Ptah were in mourning, and all the officials
and courtiers. And when he saw Na.nefer.ka.ptah, who was in the inner
cabin of the royal boat--from his rank of high scribe--he lifted him up. And
they saw the book by him; and the King said, 'Let one hide this book that
is with him.' And the officers of the King, the priests of Ptah, and the
high-priest of Ptah, said to the King, 'Our Lord, may the King live as
long as the sun! Na.nefer.ka.ptah was a good scribe, and a very skilful
man.' And the King had him laid in his Good House to the sixteenth day,
and then had him wrapped to the thirty-fifth day, and laid him out to the
seventieth day, and then had him put in his grave in his resting-place.

"I have now told you the sorrow which has come upon us because of this
book for which you ask, saying, 'Let it be given to me.' You have no claim
to it; and, indeed, for the sake of it, we have given up our life on
earth."

-------------------------------------

And Setna said to Ahura, "Give me the book which I see between you and
Na.nefer.ka.ptah; for if you do not I will take it by force." Then
Na.nefer.ka.ptah rose from his seat and said: "Are you Setna, to whom my
wife has told of all these blows of fate, which you have not suffered? Can
you take this book by your skill as a good scribe? If, indeed, you can
play games with me, let us play a game, then, of 52 points." And Setna
said, "I am ready," and the board and its pieces were put before him. And
Na.nefer.ka.ptah won a game from Setna; and he put the spell upon him, and
defended himself with the game board that was before him, and sunk him
into the ground above his feet. He did the same at the second game, and
won it from Setna, and sunk him into the ground to his waist. He did the
same at the third game, and made him sink into the ground up to his ears.
Then Setna struck Na.nefer.ka.ptah a great blow with his hand. And Setna
called his brother An.he.hor.eru and said to him, "Make haste and go up
upon earth, and tell the King all that has happened to me, and bring me
the talisman of my father Ptah,