Then the majesty of King Huni moored his ship;[266]then was set up the majesty of King Sneferu as the good King in this whole land. Then Kagemni was appointed governor of the royal city, and wazîr.
This is its arrival.[267]
[Huni was the last king of the IIId Dynasty, Seneferu the founder of the IVth Dynasty, and Kagemni is a name found in some of the earliest inscribed tombs; but the language, at least of this last paragraph, betrays the style of the Middle Kingdom. The proverbs themselves may be much earlier.
After a blank the second text begins.]
The Instruction Of Ptahhetep
[This is another collection of proverbs, in sixteen pages, and with the rubrics marked. Small fragments from a duplicate copy of this book of proverbs show considerable variation from the Prisse text, and prove the corruptness and uncertainty of the latter. It is however quite complete. We are able to give a list of the contents of the sections, most of which are very brief, and to append to the headings translations of a considerable proportion of the whole. Further study will doubtless throw light on much that is still obscure.
General Title and Introduction: The wazîr Ptahhetep addresses the King, and recounts the evils of old age.[268] Having received the command to take his son into his office of wazîr, he desires to teach him the rules of conduct observed in the time when the gods reigned over Egypt. The King approves, and bids him commence his instruction.]
Instruction of the governor of the royal city, and wazîr Ptahetep, before the majesty of King Assa, who liveth forever and ever
The governor of the royal city, and wazîr Ptahhetep, saith:—
"O King my lord, years come on, old age befalleth, decrepitude arriveth, weakness is renewed, he lieth helpless day by day; the two eyes are contracted, the ears are dull, strength diminisheth from weariness of heart; the mouth is silent and speaketh not, the heart is closed and remembereth not yesterday; ... good becometh evil, all taste departeth; old age is evil for man in every way: the nose is stopped and breatheth not, standing and sitting are [alike] weary [?].