The peasant consumed four days, during which he besought Dehuti-necht, but he did not grant him his rights. Then this peasant went to the south, to Ehnas, to implore the chief steward, Meruitensi. He met him as he was coming out of the canal-door of his compound to embark in his boat. Thereupon the peasant said: “Oh let me lay before thee this affair. Permit one of thy trusted servants to come to me, that I may send him to thee concerning it.” Then the steward, Meruitensi, sent one of his servants to him, and he sent back by him an account of the whole affair. Then the chief steward, Meruitensi, laid the case of Dehuti-necht before his attendant officials, and they said to him: “Lord, it is presumably a case of one of your peasants who has gone against another peasant near him. Behold, it is customary with peasants to so conduct themselves toward others who are near them. Shall we beat Dehuti-necht for a little natron and a little salt? Command him to restore it and he will restore it.”
The chief steward, Meruitensi, remained silent; he answered neither the officials nor the peasant. The peasant then came to entreat the chief steward, Meruitensi, for the first time, and said:
“Chief steward, my lord, thou art greatest of the great, thou art guide of all that which is not and which is. When thou embarkest on the sea of truth, that thou mayest go sailing upon it, then shall not the .......... strip away thy sail, then thy ship shall not remain fast, then shall no misfortune happen to thy mast, then shall thy spars (?) not be broken, then shalt thou not be stranded; if thou runnest fast aground, the waves shall not break upon thee, then thou shalt not taste the impurities of the river, then thou shalt not behold the face of fear; the shyest (?) fish shall come to thee, and thou shalt capture the fat birds. For thou art the father of the orphan, the husband of the widow, the brother of the desolate, the garment of the motherless. Let me place thy name in this land higher than all good laws: thou guide without avarice, thou great one free from meanness, who destroyest deceit, who createst truthfulness. Throw the evil to the ground. I will speak; hear me. Do justice, O thou praised one, whom the praised ones praise. Remove my oppression: behold, I have a heavy ....... to carry; behold, I am troubled of soul; examine me, I am in sorrow.”
The reference in this address to the orphan and the widow touches a chord which runs through much of the Old Testament and is especially prominent in the prophets, as the following references will indicate: Isa. 1:17, 23; 9:17; 10:2; 47:8; Jer. 7:6; 15:8; 18:21; 22:3; 49:11; Ezek. 22:7, 25; Zech. 7:10; Mal. 3:5; Deut. 10:18; 14:29; Job 29:13, and Psa. 68:5.
In the Egyptian story Meruitensi was so pleased with the eloquence of the peasant that he passed him on to another officer and he to still another until he came before the king. Altogether the peasant made nine addresses. For lack of space we can reproduce but one more. For this purpose we select his eighth address.
This peasant came to implore him for the eighth time, and said:
“Chief steward, my lord, man falls on account of ...... Greed is absent from a good merchant. His good commerce is ........
“Thy heart is greedy; it does not become thee. Thou despoilest: this is not praiseworthy for thee ...... Thy daily rations are in thy house; thy body is well filled ...... The officers, who are set as a protection against injustice,—a curse to the shameless are these officers, who are set as a bulwark against lies.
“Fear of thee has not deterred me from supplicating thee; (if thou thinkest so), thou hast not known my heart. The silent one, who turns to report to thee his difficulties, is not afraid to present them to thee ....... Thy real estate is in the country; thy bread is on thy estate; thy food is in the storehouse. Thy officials give to thee and thou takest it. Art thou, then, not a robber? They drag for thee ...... for thee to the plots of arable land. Do the truth for the sake of the lord of truth ....... Thou reed of a scribe, thou roll of a book, thou palette, thou god Thoth, thou oughtest to keep thyself far removed from injustice. Thou virtuous one, thou shouldst be virtuous; thou virtuous one, thou shouldst be really virtuous. Further, truth is true to eternity. She goes with those who perform her to the region of the dead. He will be laid in the coffin and committed to the earth; his name will not perish from the earth, but men will remember him on account of his property: so runs the right interpretation of the divine word.
“Does it then happen that the scales stand aslant? Or is it thinkable that the scales incline to one side?