THE FOUR APES
(From the “Book of the Dead”)
“Hail, ye four apes, who sit in the bows of the boat of Rā, who convey right and truth to Neb-er-tchu, who sit in judgment on my misery and on my strength, who make the gods to rest contented by means of the flame of your mouths, who offer holy offerings to the gods and sepulchral meals to the Khus who live upon right and truth, and who feed upon right and truth of heart, who are without deceit and fraud and to whom wickedness is an abomination, do ye away with my evil deeds, and put ye away my sin which deserved stripes upon earth, and destroy ye any evil whatsoever that belongeth unto me, and let there be no obstacle whatsoever on my part toward you. O, grant ye I may make my way through the underworld. O, grant that there may be given to me cakes and ale and sweetmeats, even as they are given to the living Khus.”
The four apes make answer, saying, “Come then, for we have done away with thy wickedness, and we have put away thy sin, along with the sin deserving of stripes which thou didst commit upon earth, and we have destroyed all the evil which belonged to thee upon earth. There shall be given unto thee cakes and ale and sweetmeats, and thou shalt come forth and thou shalt enter in at thy desire, even as do those Khus who are favored of the god, and thou shalt be proclaimed each day in the horizon.”