oor are multiplied.
"V.--He is at the service of all prayers to answer them,--withholding
nothing. To make boats to be that is his strength.--Stones are not
sculptured for him--nor statues whereon the double crown is placed;--he
is unseen;--no tribute is paid unto him and no offerings are brought
unto him,--he is not charmed by words of mystery;--the place of his
dwelling is unknown, nor can his shrine be found by virtue of magic
writings.
"VI.--There is no house large enough for thee,--nor any who may
penetrate within thy heart!--Nevertheless, the generations of thy
children rejoice in thee--for thou dost rule as a king--whose decrees
are established for the whole earth,--who is manifest in presence of the
people of the South and of the North,--by whom the tears are washed from
every eye,--and who is lavish of his bounties.
"VII.--Where sorrow was, there doth break forth joy--and every
heart rejoiceth. Sovku, the crocodile, the child of Nit, leaps for
gladness;[*]--for the Nine gods who accompany thee have ordered all
things,--the overflow giveth drink unto the fields--and maketh all men
valiant; one man taketh to drink of the labour of another,--without
charge being brought against him.[**]
* The goddess Nit, the heifer born from the midst of the
primordial waters, had two crocodiles as her children, which
are sometimes represented on the monuments as hanging from
her bosom. Both the part played by these animals, and the
reason for connecting them with the goddess, are still
imperfectly understood.
** This is an allusion to the quarrels and lawsuits
resulting from the distribution of the water in years when
the Nile was poor or bad. If the inundation is abundant,
disputes are at an end.
"IX.--If thou dost enter in the midst of songs to go forth in the midst
of gladness,--if they dance with joy when thou comest forth out of the
unknown,--it is that thy heaviness is death and corruption.--And when
thou art implored to give the water of the year,--the people of the
Thebai'd and of the North are seen side by side,--each man with the
tools of his trade,--none tarrieth behind his neighbour;--of all
those who clothed themselves, no man clotheth himself (with festive
garments)--the children of Thot, the god of riches, no longer adorn
themselves with jewels,--nor the Nine gods, but they are in the
night!--As soon as thou hast answered by the rising,--each one a
|