is to say, the ships which thou didst
despatch to Egypt, with our unfortunate fellow-sailors in them." And he
said unto them, "I know not how to detain the ambassador of Amen in my
country any longer. I beg of you to let me send him away, and then do ye
pursue him, and prevent him [from escaping]." And he made me embark in a
ship, and sent me forth from the sea-coast, and the winds drove me
ashore to the land of Alasu (Cyprus?). And the people of the city came
forth to slay me, and I was dragged along in their midst to the place
where their queen Hathaba lived; and I met her when she was coming forth
from one house to go into another. Then I cried out in entreaty to her,
and I said unto the people who were standing about her, "Surely there
must be among you someone who understandeth the language of Egypt." And
one of them said, "I understand the speech [of Egypt]." Then I said unto
him, "Tell my Lady these words: I have heard it said far from here, even
in the city of [Thebes], the place where Amen dwelleth, that wrong is
done in every city, and that only in the land of Alasu (Cyprus?) is
right done. And yet wrong is done here every day!" And she said, "What
is it that thou really wishest to say?" I said unto her, "Now that the
angry sea and the winds have cast me up on the land wherein thou
dwellest, thou wilt surely not permit these men who have received me to
slay me! Moreover, I am an ambassador of Amen. And consider carefully,
for I am a man who will be searched for every day. And as for the
sailors of Byblos whom they wish to kill, if their lord findeth ten of
thy sailors he will assuredly slay them." Then she caused her people to
be called off me, and they were made to stand still, and she said unto
me, "Lie down and sleep...." [The rest of the narrative is wanting].

CHAPTER XI

FAIRY TALES

One of the most interesting tales that have come down to us in Egyptian
dress is the tale commonly called the "Tale of the Two Brothers." It is
found written in the hieratic character upon a papyrus preserved in the
British Museum (D'Orbiney, No. 10,183), and the form which the story has
there is that which was current under the nineteenth dynasty, about 1300
B.C. The two principal male characters in the story, Anpu and Bata, were
originally gods, but in the hands of the Egyptian story-teller they
became men, and their deeds were treated in such a way as to