declare thy name?" And I was afraid
to contradict him, and I answered him about these matters like a man
who was stricken with fear. Thus did my Lord speak to me.

[Footnote: 1 A fortified town a little to the south of Memphis.]

And I answered and said, "The matter was not of my doing, for, behold,
it was done by the hand of God; bodily terror made me to flee according
to what was ordained. But, behold, I am here in thy presence! Thou art
life. Thy Majesty doeth as thou pleasest." And the King dismissed the
royal children, and His Majesty said unto the Queen, "Look now, this is
Sanehat who cometh in the guise of an Asiatic, and who hath turned
himself into a nomad warrior of the desert." And the Queen laughed a
loud hearty laugh, and the royal children cried out with one voice
before His Majesty, saying, "O Lord King, this man cannot really be
Sanehat"; and His Majesty said, "It is indeed!"

Then the royal children brought their instruments of music, their
_menats_ and their sistra, and they rattled their sistra, and they
passed backwards and forwards before His Majesty, saying, "Thy hands
perform beneficent acts, O King. The graces of the Lady of Heaven rest
[upon thee]. The goddess Nubt giveth life to thy nostrils, and the Lady
of the Stars joineth herself to thee, as thou sailest to the South
wearing the Crown of the North, and to the North wearing the Crown of
the South. Wisdom is stablished in the mouth of Thy Majesty, and health
is on thy brow. Thou strikest terror into the miserable wretches who
entreat thy mercy. Men propitiate thee, O Lord of Egypt, [as they do]
Ra, and thou art acclaimed with cries of joy like Nebertcher. Thy horn
conquereth, thine arrow slayeth, [but] thou givest breath to him that is
afflicted. For our sakes graciously give a boon to this traveller
Sanehat, this desert warrior who was born in Tamera (Egypt). He fled
through fear of thee, and he departed to a far country because of his
terror of thee. Doth not the face that gazeth on thine blench? Doth not
the eye that gazeth into thine feel terrified?" Then His Majesty said,
"Let him fear not, and let him not utter a sound of fear. He shall be a
_smer_ official among the princes of the palace, he shall be a member of
the company of the _shenit_ officials. Get ye gone to the refectory of
the palace, and see to it that rations are provided for him."

Thereupon I came forth from the privy chamber of the King, and the royal
children clasped