The Tale of the Eloquent Peasant

There dwelt in the Sekhet Hemat--or salt country--a peasant called the

Sekhti, with his wife and children, his asses and his dogs; and he

trafficked in all good things of the Sekhet Hemat to Henenseten. Behold

now he went with rushes, natron, and salt, with wood and pods, with

stones and seeds, and all good products of the Sekhet Hemat. And this

Sekhti journeyed to the south unto Henenseten; and when he came to the

lands of the house of Fefa, north of Denat, he found a man there

standing on the bank, a man called Hemti--the workman--son of a man

called Asri, who was a serf of the High Steward Meruitensa. Now said

this Hemti, when he saw the asses of Sekhti, that were pleasing in his

eyes, "Oh that some good god would grant me to steal away the goods of

Sekhti from him!"

Now the Hemti's house was by the dyke of the tow-path, which was

straitened, and not wide, as much as the width of a waist cloth: on the

one side of it was the water, and on the other side of it grew his corn.

Hemti said then to his servant, "Hasten I bring me a shawl from the

house," and it was brought instantly. Then spread he out this shawl on

the face of the dyke, and it lay with its fastening on the water and its

fringe on the corn.

Now Sekhti approached along the path used by all men. Said Hemti, "Have

a care, Sekhti! you are not going to trample on my clothes!" Said

Sekhti, "I will do as you like, I will pass carefully." Then went he

up on the higher side. But Hemti said, "Go you over my corn, instead

of the path?" Said Sekhti, "I am going carefully; this high field of

corn is not my choice, but you have stopped your path with your

clothes, and will you then not let us pass by the side of the path?"

And one of the asses filled its mouth with a cluster of corn. Said

Hemti, "Look you, I shall take away your ass, Sekhti, for eating my

corn; behold it will have to pay according to the amount of the

injury." Said Sekhti, "I am going carefully; the one way is stopped,

therefore took I my ass by the enclosed ground, and do you seize it

for filling its mouth with a cluster of corn? Moreover, I know unto

whom this domain belongs, even unto the Lord Steward Meruitensa. He it

is who smites every robber in this whole land; and shall I then be

robbed in his domain?"

Said Hemti, "This is the proverb which men speak: 'A poor man's name is

only his own matter.' I am he of whom you spake, even the Lord Steward

of whom you think." Thereon he took to him branches of green tamarisk

and scourged all his limbs, took his asses, and drave them into the

pasture. And Sekhti wept very greatly, by reason of the pain of what

he had suffered. Said Hemti, "Lift not up your voice, Sekhti, or you

shall go to the Demon of Silence." Sekhti answered, "You beat me, you

steal my goods, and now would take away even my voice, O demon of

silence! If you will restore my goods, then will I cease to cry out at

your violence."

Sekhti stayed the whole day petitioning Hemti, but he would not give ear

unto him. And Sekhti went his way to Khenensuten to complain to the Lord

Steward Meruitensa. He found him coming out from the door of his house

to embark on his boat, that he might go to the judgment hall. Sekhti

said, "Ho! turn, that I may please thy heart with this discourse. Now at

this time let one of thy followers whom thou wilt, come to me that I

may send him to thee concerning it." The Lord Steward Meruitensa made

his follower, whom he chose, go straight unto him, and Sekhti sent him

back with an account of all these matters. Then the Lord Steward

Meruitensa accused Hemti unto the nobles who sat with him; and they said

unto him, "By your leave: As to this Sekhti of yours, let him bring a

witness. Behold thou it is our custom with our Sekhtis; witnesses come

with them; behold, that is our custom. Then it will be fitting to

beat this Hemti for a trifle of natron and a trifle of salt; if he is

commanded to pay for it, he will pay for it." But the High Steward

Meruitensa held his peace; for he would not reply unto these nobles,

but would reply unto the Sekhti.

Now Sekhti came to appeal to the Lord Steward Meruitensa, and said, "O

my Lord Steward, greatest of the great, guide of the needy:

When thou embarkest on the lake of truth,--

Mayest thou sail upon it with a fair wind;

May thy mainsail not fly loose.

May there not be lamentation in thy cabin;

May not misfortune come after thee.

May not thy mainstays be snapped;

Mayest thou not run aground.

May not the wave seize thee;

Mayest thou not taste the impurities of the river;

Mayest thou not see the face of fear.

May the fish come to thee without escape;

Mayest thou reach unto plump waterfowl.

For thou art the orphan's father, the widow's husband,

The desolate woman's brother, the garment of the motherless.

Let me celebrate thy name in this land for every virtue.

A guide without greediness of heart;

A great one without any meanness.

Destroying deceit, encouraging justice;

Coming to the cry, and allowing utterance.

Let me speak, do thou hear and do justice;

O praised! whom the praised ones praise.

Abolish oppression, behold me, I am overladen,

Reckon with me, behold me defrauded."

Now the Sekhti made this speech in the time of the majesty of the King

Neb-ka-n-ra, blessed. The Lord Steward Meruitensa went away straight to

the king and said, "My lord, I have found one of these Sekhti, excellent

of speech, in very truth; stolen are his goods, and he has come to

complain to me of the matter."

His majesty said, "As thou wishest that I may see health! lengthen out

his complaint, without replying to any of his speeches. He who

desireth him to continue speaking should be silent; behold, bring us

his words in writing, that we may listen to them. But provide for his

wife and his children, and let the Sekhti himself also have a living.

Thou must cause one to give him his portion without letting him know

that thou art he who is giving it to him."

There were given to him four loaves and two draughts of beer each day;

which the Lord Steward Meruitensa provided for him, giving it to a

friend of his, who furnished it unto him. Then the Lord Steward

Meruitensa sent the governor of the Sekhet Hemat to make provision for

the wife of the Sekhti, three rations of corn each day.

Then came the Sekhti a second time, and even a third time, unto the Lord

Steward Meruitensa; but he told two of his followers to go unto the

Sekhti, and seize on him, and beat him with staves. But he came again

unto him, even unto six times, and said--

"My Lord Steward-Destroying deceit, and encouraging justice; Raising up

every good thing, and crushing every evil; As plenty comes removing

famine, As clothing covers nakedness, As clear sky after storm warms the

shivering; As fire cooks that which is raw, As water quenches the

thirst; Look with thy face upon my lot; do not covet, but

content me without fail; do the right and do not evil."

But yet Meruitensa would not hearken unto his complaint; and the Sekhti

came yet, and yet again, even unto the ninth time. Then the Lord Steward

told two of his followers to go unto the Sekhti; and the Sekhti feared

that he should be beaten as at the third request. But the Lord Steward

Meruitensa then said unto him, "Fear not, Sekhti, for what thou has

done. The Sekhti has made many speeches, delightful to the heart of his

majesty and I take an oath--as I eat bread, and as I drink water--that

thou shalt be remembered to eternity." Said the Lord Steward, "Moreover,

thou shalt be satisfied when thou shalt hear of thy complaints." He

caused to be written on a clean roll of papyrus each petition to the

end, and the Lord Steward Meruitensa sent it to the majesty of the

King Neb-ka-n-ra, blessed, and it was good to him more than anything

that is in the whole land: but his majesty said to Meruitensa, "Judge

it thyself; I do not desire it."

The Lord Steward Meruitensa made two of his followers to go to the

Sekhet Hemat, and bring a list of the household of the Sekhti; and its

amount was six persons, beside his oxen and his goats, his wheat and his

barley, his asses and his dogs; and moreover he gave all that which

belonged unto the Hemti to the Sekhti, even all his property and his

offices, and the Sekhti was beloved of the king more than all his

overseers, and ate of all the good things of the king, with all his

household.

Remarks

Of the tale of the peasant and the workman three copies, more or less

imperfect, remain to us. At Berlin are two papyri, Nos. 2 and 4,

containing parts of the tale, published in facsimile in the "Denkmaler"

of Lepsius vi. 108-110 and 113; while portions of another copy exist in

the Butler papyrus; and lately fragments of the same have been collated

in the collection of Lord Amherst of Hackney. These last have been

published in the Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archaeology,

xiv. 558. The number of copies seem to show that this was a popular tale

in early times; it certainly is of a more advanced type than the earlier

tales of magic, though it belongs to a simpler style than the tales

which follow. It has been translated partially by Chabas and Goodwin,

and also by Maspero, but most completely by Griffith in the Proceedings

of the Society of Biblical Archaeology, referred to above.

The beginning of the tale is lost in all the copies, and an introductory

sentence is here added in brackets, to explain the position of affairs

at the opening of the fragment. The essence of the tale is the

difference in social position between the Sekhti, or peasant, and the

Hemti, or workman--the _fellah_ and the client of the noble; and the

impossibility of getting justice against a client, unless by some

extraordinary means of attracting his patron's attention, is the basis

of the action. There is not a single point of incident here which might

not be true in modern times; every turn of it seems to live, as one

reads it in view of country life in Egypt.

The region of the tale is Henenseten, or Herakleopolis, now Ahnas, a

little south of the Fayum. This was the seat of the IXth and Xth

Dynasties, apparently ejected from Memphis by a foreign invasion of the

Delta; and here it is that the High Steward lives and goes to speak to

the king. The district of the Sekhti is indicated by his travelling

south to Henenseten, and going with asses and not by boat. Hence we are

led to look for the Sekhet Hemat, or salt country, in the borders of the

Fayum lake, whence the journey would be southward, and across the

desert. This lake was not regulated artificially until the XIIth

Dynasty; and hence at the period of this tale it was a large sheet of

water, fluctuating with each rise and fall of the Nile, and bordered by

lagoons where rushes would flourish, and where salt and natron would

accumulate daring the dry season of each year. At the present time the

lake of the Fayum is brackish, and the cliffs which border it contain so

much salt that rain pools which collect on them are not drinkable. The

paths and roads of Egypt are not protected by law as in Western

countries. Each person encroaches on a path or diverts it as may suit

his purpose, only checked by the liberties taken by passers-by in

trespassing if a path be insufficient. Hence, it is very usual to see a

house built over half of a path, and driving the traffic into the

field or almost over the river bank. In this case the Hemti had taken

in as much of the path as he could, and left it but a narrow strip

along the top of the canal bank. The frequent use of the public way

for drying clothes, or spreading out property, gave the idea of

choking the way altogether, and leaving no choice but trespassing on

the crops. No sooner does a donkey pause, or even pass, by a field of

corn than he snatches a mouthful, and in a delay or altercation such

as this the beast is sure to take the advantage. Donkeys carrying

loads by cornfields are usually muzzled with rope nets, to prevent

their feeding; and even sheep and goats are also fended in the same

way.

The proverb, "A poor man's name is only his own matter," refers to the

independent _fellah_ having no patron or protector who will take up and

defend his name from accusations, as the interests of clients and serfs

would be protected. This being the case, Hemti therefore seizes on the

property, and drives the asses into his own pasture field.

The scene of Meruitensa laying the case before the nobles who sat with

him is interesting as showing that even simple cases were not decided by

one judge, but referred to a council. Similarly, Una lays stress on the

private trial of the queen being confided to him and only one other

judge. Apparently, referring cases to a bench of judges was the means of

preventing corruption.

The speeches of the Sekhti were given at full length in the papyrus, but

owing to injuries we cannot now entirely recover them; they are all in

much the same strain, only the first and last are translated here, and

the others are passed over. The style of these speeches was evidently

looked on as eloquent in those days, and this papyrus really seems to

show the time when long-drawn comparisons and flowery wishes were in

fashion. It is far different from later compositions, as it is also from

the earlier simple narration of crude marvels in the tales of the

magicians.

The close of the tale is defective, but from the remains it appears to

have ended by the gift of the Hemti's property to the oppressed Sekhti

and the triumph of the injured peasant.

GOING TO WAWAT, XIITH DYNASTY