arch.

"'But how begin!' said he, sighing. 'Only fools are favored by the
gods; and I am filled with wisdom from my wig to my two naked heels. If
in my heart a grain of dullness lurks, it is perhaps my inability to
squander, and I should not even know how to set about a work so godless
in its object.'

"As the needy scribe was thus musing, he passed a mud hut at which sat
some man, neither old nor young, with a very keen glance, which reached
to the depth of whatever heart came before him. The scribe, as wise as
a stork, thought at once that this must be some divinity; so he bowed
down and said to him,

"'I greet thee, worthy master of this splendid mansion. I grieve that I
have neither meat nor wine, so as to divide them between us, in sign
that I respect thee, and that whatever I own is thy property.'

"This kindness of the scribe was pleasing to Amon, for he it was, in
human aspect. He looked at the scribe, and inquired of him,

"'Of what wert Thou thinking while passing along here? for I see wisdom
on thy forehead, and I am of those who seize words of truth as
partridges pick up wheat kernels.'

"The scribe sighed.

"'I was thinking,' said he, 'of my misery, and of those frivolous rich
men who spend their wealth without knowing why or in what manner.'

"'And wouldst Thou not waste wealth?' inquired the god, retaining human
semblance.

"'Look at me, lord,' said the scribe. 'I have a tattered rag around my
hips, and on the road I have lost my sandals; but my papyrus and reed I
bear with me at all times, as I do the heart in my body. Both while
rising in the morning and lying down at night, I repeat that wise
poverty is far better than foolish riches. If I know how to express
myself in two kinds of writing and to solve the most complicated
problems, if I know all plants and every beast beneath the sky, Thou
mayst judge whether I, the master of such lore, am capable of wasting
property.'

"The god pondered awhile, and continued,

"'Thy speech flows as vigorously as the Nile at Memphis; but if Thou
art so wise, indeed, write for me the name of Amon in two manners.'

"The scribe took his reed and brush, and in no long time he wrote the
name Amon in two manners on the door of the hut, and so clearly that
even dumb creatures would have stopped to give Lord Amon homage.

"The god was satisfied, and answered,

"'If Thou art as skilled in reckoning as in writing, reckon for me the
following problem: If they g