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the yard day and night.
Three commodious river boats are being constructed. The work is well advanced, for the carpenters are fitting
in the benches, which are being pierced and prepared for jointing on trestles by men who sit astride them. The
artisans are skilled and active, and the overseers who direct operations are easily recognized; they carry long
staffs in their right hands and constantly urge on the men.
But what is happening yonder in front of the Government buildings? A large crowd has assembled, and the
jeers and roars of laughter indicate that something of amusing character is in progress. We press forward to
find that the city guards have made several arrests, and are hauling their protesting prisoners through the
doorway. The spectators are delighted to see "the tables turned", for these are their oppressors the tax
collectors who are being taken before the Pharaoh's accountants so that their accounts may be audited. There
have been several complaints of late of extortionate dealings and dishonest transactions. In a large hall within
we see the stern auditors kneeling at their low desks, on which are piled the official records. Scribes record
the proceedings. Each arrested man crouches on his knees, and is held firmly by a guard while he is sharply
questioned and his accounts are checked. All his privatepapers have been seized; he must explain every entry
and prove that he is a man above suspicion. It is a rough-and-ready, but effective, manner of doing business.
Punishments for dishonesty or oppression are sharp and peremptory.
The Pharaoh is the protector of all his subjects great and small. A poor man may suffer a great wrong and
find himself unable to have it righted even in the Hall of justice; but if the great monarch is appealed to, he
will prove to be no respecter of persons, and visit the wrongdoer with punishment of great severity.
A tale has come down the ages which was often related in the dwellings of poor and great alike, to show how
Pharaoh might espouse the cause of the humblest man in the kingdom. Scribes recorded it on papyri, and
fragments of these still survive.
Once upon a time a peasant had his dwelling in the Fayum, and it was his custom to load his ass with nitre
and reeds, salt and stones, and seeds and bundles of wood, and drive it to a town in the south, where in the
marketplace he exchanged what he had brought for other things that he and his family required. He began to
be prosperous.
One day, when it was nigh to harvesttime, he journeyed townwards and reached the estate of a great royal
official named Meritensa. As he passed through it he came to the farm of Hamti, a feudal tenant. The farmer
saw him approach, and to himself he said: "May the god permit me to rob the peasant of his ass and its
burden. I have need of salt."
The path along the river bank was exceedingly narrow, for Hamti had sowed much land. Between his corn
CHAPTER IX. A Day in Old Memphis 70
 EGYPTIAN MYTH AND LEGEND
and the water there was scarcely the breadth of a man's body.Said the farmer to one of his servants: "Bring
me a rug from within." The man ran to Hamti's house and came back with a rug, which was spread out upon
the path, and it reached from the corn to the river edge.
The peasant drove his ass along the narrow way, past the corn, and when he drew nigh, the farmer called to
him, saying: "Observe where you are going; do not soil my rug."
"I will do according to your will," remarked the peasant, "and avoid troubling you."
So he smote his ass and turned it inland to pass round the field. But the farmer would not be satisfied with
that even. He shouted with an angry voice, saying: "Would you dare to trample upon my corn? There is no
path that way."
"What else can I do?" remonstrated the peasant; "you prevent me from using the path by laying a rug upon it."
As he spoke his ass began to eat the grain, and the farmer seized it and said: "I will take this animal in
payment for the damage it has done."
The peasant cried indignantly: "What? first you close the path against me, and now you seize my ass because
it has taken a few ears of barley. Dare not to wrong me on this estate; it belongs to the just Meritensa, the
great judge, who is a terror to all evildoers in the kingdom. Well you know that I speak truly. Do not imagine
that you can oppress me on the land of such a good and high nobleman."
But the farmer laughed. "Heard you not," he asked, "the maxim which says: 'A peasant is esteemed only by
himself?' Know now, too, that I am even Meritensa, the judge, of whom you have spoken. I will deal with
you here and now."Having spoken thus, the farmer seized a scourge and lashed the peasant fiercely, seeking
to drive him away. But the wronged man refused to depart. His body ached with many wounds. He waited
about all day, but neither by threat nor tearful appeal could he prevail upon the farmer to give him back his
ass and the burden it carried.
Then the peasant hastened towards the dwelling of Meritensa. He waited the coming forth of that great lord,
sitting patiently beside the wall gate. Hours went past, and at length he saw Meritensa walking out to step
into a boat at the river side.
"Hail to thee, my lord!" he called. "Bid one of your servants to hear the tale of my wrong."
As the man desired, so did the nobleman do. He bade a scribe to converse with the peasant, who related how
he had been wronged by Hamti.
So it happened that, when sitting in the Hall of justice next morning, Meritensa repeated the accusations
which the peasant had made against the farmer. The other judges heard, and then said: [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]