The Literature of the Ancient Egyptians

by Sir E. A. Wallis Budge

Here endeth the book; [given] from its beginning to its end, as it hath been found in writing.

The Story of the Educated Peasant Khuenanpu

The text of this most interesting story is written in the hieratic character on papyri which are preserved in the British Museum and in the Royal Library at Berlin. It is generally thought that the story is the product of the period that immediately followed the twelfth dynasty.

Once upon a time there lived a man whose name was Khuenanpu, a peasant of Sekhet-hemat,[1] and he had a wife whose name was Nefert. This peasant said to this wife of his, "Behold, I am going down into Egypt in order to bring back food for my children. Go thou and measure up the grain which remaineth in the granary, [and see how many] measures [there are]." Then she measured it, and there were eight measures. Then this peasant said unto this wife of his, "Behold, two measures of grain shall be for the support of thyself and thy children, but of the other six thou shalt make bread and beer whereon I am to live during the days on which I shall be travelling." And this peasant went down into Egypt, having laden his asses with aaa plants, and retmet plants, and soda and salt, and wood of the district of ..., and aunt wood of the Land of Oxen,[2] and skins of panthers and wolves, and neshau plants, and anu stones, and tenem plants, and kheperur plants, and sahut, and saksut seeds (?), and masut plants, and sent and abu stones, and absa and anba plants, and doves and naru and ukes birds, and tebu, uben and tebsu plants, and kenkent seeds, and the plant "hair of the earth," and anset seeds, and all kinds of beautiful products of the land of Sekhet-hemat. And when this peasant had marched to the south, to Hensu,[3] and had arrived at the region of Perfefa, to the north of Metnat, he found a man standing on the river bank whose name was Tehutinekht, who was the son of a man whose name was Asri; both father and son were serfs of Rensi, the son of Meru the steward. When this man Tehutinekht saw the asses of this peasant, of which his heart approved greatly, he said, "Would that I had any kind of god with me to help me to seize for myself the goods of this peasant!" Now the house of this Tehutinekht stood upon the upper edge of a sloping path along the river bank, which was narrow and not wide. It was about as wide as a sheet of linen cloth, and upon one side of it was the water of the stream, and on the other was a growing crop. Then this Tehutinekht said unto his slave, "Run and bring me a sheet of linen out of my house"; and it was brought to him immediately. Then he shook out the sheet of linen over the narrow sloping path in such a way that its upper edge touched the water, and the fringed edge the growing crop. And when this peasant was going along the public path, this Tehutinekht said unto him, "Be careful, peasant, wouldst thou walk upon my clothes?" And this peasant said, "I will do as thou pleasest; my way is good." And when he turned to the upper part of the path, this Tehutinekht said, "Is my corn to serve as a road for thee, O peasant?" Then this peasant said, "My way is good. The river-bank is steep, and the road is covered up with thy corn, and thou hast blocked up the path with thy linen garment. Dost thou really intend not to let us pass? Hath it come to pass that he dareth to say such a thing?" [At that moment] one of the asses bit off a large mouthful of the growing corn, and this Tehutinekht said, "Behold, thy ass is eating my corn! Behold, he shall come and tread it out." Then this peasant said, "My way is good. Because one side of the road was made impassable [by thee], I led my ass to the other side (?), and now thou hast seized my ass because he bit off a large mouthful of the growing corn. However, I know the master of this estate, which belongeth to Rensi, the son of Meru. There is no doubt that he hath driven every robber out of the whole country, and shall I be robbed on his estate?" And this Tehutinekht said, "Is not this an illustration of the proverb which the people use, 'The name of the poor man is only mentioned because of his master?' It is I who speak to thee, but it is the steward [Rensi, the son of Meru] of whom thou art thinking." Then Tehutinekht seized a cudgel of green tamarisk wood, and beat cruelly with it every part of the peasant's body, and took his asses from him and carried them off into his compound. And this peasant wept and uttered loud shrieks of pain because of what was done to him. And this Tehutinekht said, "Howl not so loudly, peasant, or verily [thou shalt depart] to the domain of the Lord of Silence."[4] Then this peasant said, "Thou hast beaten me, and robbed me of my possessions, and now thou wishest to steal even the very complaint that cometh out of my mouth! Lord of Silence indeed! Give me back my goods. Do not make me to utter complaints about thy fearsome character."

And this peasant spent ten whole days in making entreaties to this Tehutinekht [for the restoration of his goods], but Tehutinekht paid no attention to them whatsoever. At the end of this time this peasant set out on a journey to the south, to the city of Hensu, in order to lay his complaint before Rensi, the son of Meru, the steward, and he found him just as he was coming forth from the door in the courtyard of his house which opened on the river bank, to embark in his official boat on the river. And this peasant said, "I earnestly wish that it may happen that I may make glad thy heart with the words which I am going to say! Peradventure thou wilt allow some one to call thy confidential servant to me, in order that I may send him back to thee thoroughly well informed as to my business." Then Rensi, the son of Meru, the steward, caused his confidential servant to go to this peasant, who sent him back to him thoroughly well informed as to his business. And Rensi, the son of Meru, the steward, made inquiries about this Tehutinekht from the officials who were immediately connected with him, and they said unto him, "Lord, the matter is indeed only one that concerneth one of the peasants of Tehutinekht who went [to do business] with another man near him instead of with him. And, as a matter of fact, [officials like Tehutinekht] always treat their peasants in this manner whensoever they go to do business with other people instead of with them. Wouldst thou trouble thyself to inflict punishment upon Tehutinekht for the sake of a little soda and a little salt? [It is unthinkable.] Just let Tehutinekht be ordered to restore the soda and the salt and he will do so [immediately]." And Rensi, the son of Meru, the steward, held his peace; he made no answer to the words of these officials, and to this peasant he made no reply whatsoever.

And this peasant came to make his complaint to Rensi, the son of Meru, the steward, and on the first occasion he said, "O my lord steward, greatest one of the great ones, guide of the things that are not and of these that are, when thou goest down into the Sea of Truth,[5] and dost sail thereon, may the attachment (?) of thy sail not tear away, may thy boat not drift (?), may no accident befall thy mast, may the poles of thy boat not be broken, mayest thou not run aground when thou wouldst walk on the land, may the current not carry thee away, mayest thou not taste the calamities of the stream, mayest thou never see a face of fear, may the timid fish come to thee, and mayest thou obtain fine, fat waterfowl. O thou who art the father of the orphan, the husband of the widow, the brother of the woman who hath been put away by her husband, and the clother of the motherless, grant that I may place thy name in this land in connection with all good law. Guide in whom there is no avarice, great man in whom there is no meanness, who destroyest falsehood and makest what is true to exist, who comest to the word of my mouth, I speak that thou mayest hear. Perform justice, O thou who art praised, to whom those who are most worthy of praise give praise. Do away the oppression that weigheth me down. Behold, I am weighted with sorrow, behold, I am sorely wronged. Try me, for behold, I suffer greatly."

[1] A district to the west of Cairo now known as Wādi an-Natrūn.

[2] The Oasis of Farāfrah.

[3] The Khānēs of the Hebrews and Herakleopolis of the Greeks, the modern Ahnās al-Madīnah.

[4] i.e. Osiris. This was a threat to kill the peasant.