Thus was the vengeance of Thoth fulfilled, but the Book remained with Nefer-ka-ptah.
V
OSIRIS
In the beginning Ra cursed Nut, and his curse was that none of her children should be born on any day of any year. And Nut cried to Thoth who loved her, Thoth, the twice great, god of magic and learning and wisdom, he whom the Greeks called Hermes Trismegistos. Though the curse of the great God Ra once uttered could never be recalled, Thoth by his wisdom opened a way of escape. He went to the Moon-god, whose brightness was almost equal to that of the Sun itself, and challenged him to a game of dice. Great were the stakes on either side, but the Moon's were the greatest, for he wagered his own light. Game after game they played and always the luck was with Thoth, till the Moon would play no more. Then Thoth, the twice great, gathered up the light he had won, and by his power and might he formed it into five days. And since that time the Moon has not had light enough to shine throughout the month; but dwindles away into darkness, and then comes slowly to his full glory; for the light of five whole days was taken from him. And these five days Thoth placed between the end of the old year and the beginning of the new year, keeping them distinct from both; and on these five days the five children of Nut were born; Osiris on the first day, Horus on the second, Set on the third, Isis on the fourth, and Nephthys on the fifth. Thus the curse of Ra was both fulfilled and made of no effect, for the days on which the children of Nut were born belonged to no year.
When Osiris was born, wonders and marvels, prodigies and signs, were heard and seen throughout the world, for a voice cried over the whole earth, "The Lord of all comes forth to the light." And a woman drawing water from the holy place of the temple was filled with the divine afflatus and rushed forth crying, "Osiris the King is born."
Now Egypt was a barbarous country where men fought together and ate human flesh; naught did they know of the gods, lawless were they and savage. But Osiris became the King of Egypt, and he showed his people how to till the land and to plant corn and the vine, and he taught them the honour due to the Gods, and made laws, and abolished their barbarous and savage customs. Wherever he went, the people bowed at his feet, for they loved the very ground he trod on; and whatever he commanded, that they did. Thus did Osiris rule over the Egyptians till, with music playing and banners flying, he passed out of Egypt to bring all nations beneath his gracious sway.
But Set hated his brother Osiris, and he gathered to himself seventy-two conspirators, and with them was Aso, queen of Ethiopia. And they made a plan that when Osiris returned they should kill him and place Set on the throne; but they hid their plans, and with smiling faces went out to meet Osiris when he re-entered Egypt in triumph.
In secret they met again and again, in secret also they prepared a coffer made of costly wood painted and decorated with rich designs and glowing colours, an interweaving of tints and a wealth of cunning workmanship, so that all who saw it longed to have it for their own. Set, that Wicked One, had in secret measured the body of Osiris, and the coffer was made to fit the body of the King, for this was part of the plan.
When all was ready, Set bade his brother and the seventy-two conspirators to a feast in his great banqueting-hall. When the feast was over, they sang the chant of Maneros, as was the custom, and slaves carried round cups of wine and threw garlands of flowers round the necks of the guests, and poured perfume upon them, till the hall was filled with sweet odours. And while their hearts were glad, slaves entered bearing the coffer, and all the guests cried out at the sight of its beauty.
Then Set stood up in his place and said, "He who lies down in this coffer and whom it fits, to that man I will give it." His words were sweet as honey, but in his heart was the bitterness of evil.