This is its arrivallike that which was found in the writing.
This is its arrivallike that which was found in the writing.
Translation of F. Ll. Griffith.
[The following extracts are reproduced from the German of Professor Erman's translation.]
"Keep thyself from the strange woman who is not known in her city. Look not upon her when she cometh, and know her not. She is like unto a whirlpool in deep water, the whirling vortex of which is not known. The woman whose husband is afar writeth unto thee daily. When none is there to see her, she standeth up and spreadeth her snare; sin unto death is it to hearken thereto." Hence he who is wise will renounce her company and take to himself a wife in his youth. A man's own house is "the best thing," and also "she will give unto thee a son who shall be as the image of thyself."...
[Thy debt to thy mother.]Thou shalt never forget thy mother and what she hath done for thee, "that she bore thee, and nurtured thee in all ways." Wert thou to forget her then might she blame thee, "lifting up her arms unto God, and he would hearken unto her complaint. For she carried thee long beneath her heart as a heavy burden, and after thy months were accomplished she bore thee. Three long years she carried thee upon her shoulder and gave thee herbreast to thy mouth." She nurtured thee, nor knew offense from thine uncleanness. "And when thou didst enter the school and wast instructed in the writings, daily she stood by the master with bread and beer from her house."
[Be not drunken with beer.]Drink not beer to excess! That which cometh forth from thy mouth thou canst no longer speak. Thou fallest down, thou breakest thy limbs, and none stretcheth out a hand to thee. Thy companions drink on; they arise and say, "Away with this one who hath drunken." When one cometh to seek thee, to seek counsel of thee, he findeth thee lying in the dust like a little child.
[Of inward piety.]"Clamor is abhorrent to the sanctuary of God; let thy prayers for thyself come forth out of a loving heart, whose words remain secret, that he may grant thee thy needs, may hear thy prayer, and accept thine offering."
[Of diligence and discretion.]Be diligent; "let thine eye be open that thou mayest not go forth as a beggar, for the man who is idle cometh not to honor." Be not officious and indiscreet, and "enter not [uninvited] into the house of another; if thou enter at his bidding thou art honored. Look not around thee, look not around thee in the house of another. What thine eye seeth, keep silence concerning it, and tell it not without to another, that it be not in thee a crime to be punished by death when it is heard." Speak not overmuch, "for men are deaf to him who maketh many words; but if thou art silent thou art pleasing, therefore speak not." Above all be cautious in speech, for "the ruin of a man is on his tongue. The body of a man is a storehouse, which is full of all manner of answers. Wherefore choose thou the good and speak good, while the evil remaineth shut up within thy body."
[Of manners.]Behave with propriety at table and "be not greedy to fill thy body." And "eat not bread while another standeth by and thou placest not thy hand on the bread for him. The one is rich and the other is poor, and bread remaineth with him who is open-handed. He who was prosperous last year, even in this may bea vagrant.[?]" Never forget to show respect, "and sit not down while another is standing who is older than thou, or who is higher than thou in his office."
Revised from the German of Adolf Erman.
When Dauf the sage of Sebennytus went up to the Royal Residence with his son Pepy to take him to the "Court Writing-School," he admonished him "to set his heart upon writing, to love it as his mother, for there is naught that surpasseth it." He thereupon composes a poem in praise oftheprofession, to the disparagement of all other callings:—
"Behold, there is no profession that is not under rule;Only the man of learning himself ruleth."
"Behold, there is no profession that is not under rule;Only the man of learning himself ruleth."
And then,
"Never have I seen the engraver an ambassador,Or the goldsmith with an embassy;But I have seen the smith at his workAt the mouth of his furnace;His fingers were as crocodile [hide],He stank more than fish-roe."A craftsman who plieth the chiselIs wearied more than he who tilleth the soil;Wood is his field, and bronze his implement;At night—is he released?He worketh more than his arms are able;At night he lighteth a light."
"Never have I seen the engraver an ambassador,Or the goldsmith with an embassy;But I have seen the smith at his workAt the mouth of his furnace;His fingers were as crocodile [hide],He stank more than fish-roe.
"A craftsman who plieth the chiselIs wearied more than he who tilleth the soil;Wood is his field, and bronze his implement;At night—is he released?He worketh more than his arms are able;At night he lighteth a light."
Etc., etc.
[The praise of learning was a favorite subject with pedagogue and parent. According to other sages] "the unlearned whose name no man knoweth, is like unto a heavy-laden ass, driven by the scribe," while "he who hath set learning in his heart" is exempt from labor "and becometh a wise noble." "The rank of a scribe is princely; his writing outfit and his papyrus roll bring comfort and wealth." "The scribe alone guideth the labor of all men; but if labor in writing is hateful to him, then the goddess of good fortune is not with him."
"O scribe, be not lazy, be not lazy, else thou shalt be soundly chastised; give not thy heart to vain desires, or thou wilt come to ruin. Book in hand, read with thy mouth, and take the advice of those who know more than thyself. Prepare for thyself the office of a noble, that thou mayest attain thereto when thou art become old. Happy is the scribe clever in all his offices. Be strong and diligent in daily work. Pass no day idly, or thou wilt be flogged, for the ears of a boy are on his back, and he heareth when he is flogged. Let thine heart hear what I say; it will bring thee to fortune. Be strong in asking advice; do not overlook it in writing; be not disgusted at it. Therefore let thine heart hear my words; thou shalt find fortune thereby."
Revised from the German of Adolf Erman.
[The following is a sample of the warnings to young men to stick to the business of the scribe and not be led away by the charms of out-door life, always so dear to the Egyptian.—Date XIXth Dynasty, or earlier.]
[The following is a sample of the warnings to young men to stick to the business of the scribe and not be led away by the charms of out-door life, always so dear to the Egyptian.—Date XIXth Dynasty, or earlier.]
It is told to me that thou hast cast aside learning, and givest thyself to dancing; thou turnest thy face to the work in the fields, and castest the divine words behind thee.
Behold, thou rememberest not the condition of the fellâh, when the harvest is taken over. The worms carry off half the corn, and the hippopotamus devours the rest; mice abound in the fields, and locusts arrive; the cattle devour, the sparrows steal. How miserable is the lot of the fellâh! What remains on the threshing-floor, robbers finish it up. The bronze ... are worn out, the horses [oxen?] die with threshing and plowing. Then the scribe moors at the bank who is to take over the harvest;[313]the attendants[314]bear staves, the negroes carry palmsticks. They say, "Give corn!" But there is none. They beat [the fellâh] prostrate; they bind him and cast him into the canal, throwing him headlong. His wife is bound before him, his children are swung off; his neighbors let them go, and flee to look after their corn.
But the scribe is the leader of labor for all; he reckons to himself the produce in winter, and there is none that appoints him his tale of produce. Behold, now thou knowest!
Translation of F. Ll. Griffith.
They tell me that thou forsakest books,And givest thyself up to pleasure.Thou goest from street to street;Every evening the smell of beer,The smell of beer, frightens people away from thee,It bringeth thy soul to ruin.Thou art like a broken helm,That obeyeth on neither side.Thou art as a shrine without its god,As a house without bread.Thou art met climbing the walls,And breaking through the paling:People flee from thee,Thou strikest them until they are wounded.Oh that thou didst know that wine is an abomination,And that thou wouldst forswear theShedehdrink!That thou wouldst not put cool drinks within thy heart,That thou wouldst forget theTenreku.But now thou art taught to sing to the flute,To recite [?] to the pipe,To intone to the lyre,To sing to the harp,
They tell me that thou forsakest books,And givest thyself up to pleasure.Thou goest from street to street;Every evening the smell of beer,The smell of beer, frightens people away from thee,It bringeth thy soul to ruin.
Thou art like a broken helm,That obeyeth on neither side.Thou art as a shrine without its god,As a house without bread.
Thou art met climbing the walls,And breaking through the paling:People flee from thee,Thou strikest them until they are wounded.
Oh that thou didst know that wine is an abomination,And that thou wouldst forswear theShedehdrink!That thou wouldst not put cool drinks within thy heart,That thou wouldst forget theTenreku.
But now thou art taught to sing to the flute,To recite [?] to the pipe,To intone to the lyre,To sing to the harp,
[and generally to lead a life of dissipation.]
Revised from the German of Adolf Erman.