form an
interesting fairy story. It is beyond the scope of this little book to
treat of the mythological ideas that underlie certain parts of the
narrative, and we therefore proceed to give a rendering of this very
curious and important "fairy tale."

[Illustration: A Page of the Hieratic Text of the Tale of Two Brothers.]

It is said that there were two brothers, [the children] of one mother
and of one father; the name of the elder was Anpu, and Bata was the name
of the younger. Anpu had a house and a wife, and Bata lived with him
like a younger brother. It was Bata who made the clothes; he tended and
herded his cattle in the fields, he ploughed the land, he did the hard
work during the time of harvest, and he kept the account of everything
that related to the fields. And Bata was a most excellent farmer, and
his like there was not in the whole country-side; and behold, the power
of the God was in him. And very many days passed during which Anpu's
young brother tended his flocks and herds daily, and he returned to his
house each evening loaded with field produce of every kind. And when he
had returned from the fields, he set [food] before his elder brother,
who sat with his wife drinking and eating, and then Bata went out to the
byre and [slept] with the cattle. On the following morning as soon as it
was day, Bata took bread-cakes newly baked, and set them before Anpu,
who gave him food to take with him to the fields. Then Bata drove out
his cattle into the fields to feed, and [as] he walked behind them they
said unto him, "The pasturage is good in such and such a place," and he
listened to their voices, and took them where they wished to go. Thus
the cattle in Bata's charge became exceedingly fine, and their calves
doubled in number, and they multiplied exceedingly. And when it was the
season for ploughing Anpu said unto Bata, "Come, let us get our teams
ready for ploughing the fields, and our implements, for the ground hath
appeared,[1] and it is in the proper condition for the plough. Go to the
fields and take the seed-corn with thee to-day, and at daybreak
to-morrow we will do the ploughing"; this is what he said to him. And
Bata did everything which Anpu had told him to do. The next morning, as
soon as it was daylight, the two brothers went into the fields with
their teams and their ploughs, and they ploughed the land, and they were
exceedingly happy as they ploughed, from the beginning of their work to
the very