ather of the orphan, the husband of the
widow, the brother of the woman who hath been put away by her husband,
and the clother of the motherless, grant that I may place thy name in
this land in connection with all good law. Guide in whom there is no
avarice, great man in whom there is no meanness, who destroyest
falsehood and makest what is true to exist, who comest to the word of my
mouth, I speak that thou mayest hear. Perform justice, O thou who art
praised, to whom those who are most worthy of praise give praise. Do
away the oppression that weigheth me down. Behold, I am weighted with
sorrow, behold, I am sorely wronged. Try me, for behold, I suffer
greatly."

[Footnote 1: A district to the west of Cairo now known as Wadi
an-Natrun.]

[Footnote 2: The Oasis of Farafrah.]

[Footnote 3: The Khanes of the Hebrews and Herakleopolis of the Greeks,
the modern Ahnas al-Madinah.]

[Footnote 4: _i.e._ Osiris. This was a threat to kill the peasant.]

[Footnote 5: The name of a lake in the Other World; see _Book of the
Dead_, Chap. 17, l. 24.]

Now this peasant spake these words in the time of the King of the South,
the King of the North, Nebkaura, whose word is truth. And Rensi, the son
of Meru, the steward, went into the presence of His Majesty, and said,
"My Lord, I have found one of these peasants who can really speak with
true eloquence. His goods have been stolen from him by an official who
is in my service, and behold, he hath come to lay before me a complaint
concerning this." His Majesty said unto Rensi, the son of Meru, the
steward, "If thou wouldst see me in a good state of health, keep him
here, and do not make any answer at all to anything which he shall say,
so that he may continue to speak. Then let that which he shall say be
done into writing, and brought unto us, so that we may hear it. Take
care that his wife and his children have food to live upon, and see that
one of these peasants goeth to remove want from his house. Provide food
for the peasant himself to live upon, but thou shalt make the provision
in such a way that the food may be given to him without letting him know
that it is thou who hast given it to him. Let the food be given to his
friends and let them give it to him." So there were given unto him four
bread-cakes and two pots of beer daily. These were provided by Rensi,
the son of Meru, the steward, and he gave them to a friend, and it was
this friend who gave them to the peasant. And Ren