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._)

The Peasant And The Workman

There dwelt in the Sekhet Hemat--or Salt Country--a peasant called the
Sekhti, with his wife and children, his asses and his dogs; and he
trafficked in all good things of the Sekhet Hemat to Henenseten. Behold
now he went with rushes, natron, and salt, with wood and pods, with stones
and seeds, and all good products of the Sekhet Hemat. And this Sekhti
journeyed to the south unto Henenseten; and when he came to the lands of
the house of Fefa, north of Denat, he found a man there standing on the
bank, a man called Hemti--the workman--son of a man called Asri, who was a
serf of the high-steward Meruitensa. Now said this Hemti, when he saw the
asses of Sekhti, that were pleasing in his eyes, "Oh that some good god
would grant me to steal away the goods of Sekhti from him!"

Now the Hemti's house was by the dike of the tow-path, which was
straightened, and not wide, as much as the width of a waistcloth: on the
one side of it was the water, and on the other side of it grew his corn.
Hemti said then to his servant, "Hasten! bring me a shawl from the house,"
and it was brought instantly. Then spread he out this shawl on the face of
the dike, and it lay with its fastening on the water and its fringe on the
corn.

Now Sekhti approached along the path used by all men. Said Hemti: "Have a
care, Sekhti! you are not going to trample on my clothes!" Said Sekhti, "I
will do as you like, I will pass carefully." Then went he up on the higher
side. But Hemti said, "Go you over my corn, instead of the path?" Said
Sekhti: "I am going carefully; this high field of corn is not my choice,
but you have stopped your path with your clothes, and will you then not
let us pass by the side of the path?" And one of the asses filled its
mouth with a cluster of corn. Said Hemti: "Look you, I shall take away
your ass, Sekhti, for eating my corn; behold it will have to pay according
to the amount of the injury." Said Sekhti: "I am going carefully; the one
way is stopped, therefore took I my ass by the inclosed ground; and do you
seize it for filling its mouth with a cluster of corn? Moreover, I know
unto whom this domain belongs, even unto