The tale of the eloquent peasant sparknotes

THE LITERATURE OF ANCIENT EGYPT THE LITERATURE OF ANCIENT EGYPT AN ANTHOLOGY OF STORIES, INSTRUCTIONS, STELAE, AUTOBIOGRAPHIES, AND POETRY Third Edition Edited and with an introduction by WILLIAM KELLY SIMPSON With translations by Robert K. Ritner, William Kelly Simpson, Vincent A. Tobin, and Edward F. Wente, Jr. YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS / NEW HAVEN & LONDON Disclaimer: Some images in the original version of this book are not available for inclusion in the eBook. Published with assistance from the William K. and Marilyn M. Simpson Endowment for Egyptology at Yale University. Copyright ∫ 2003 by Yale University. All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustrations, in any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press), without written permission from the publishers. Designed by Mary Valencia. Set in Simoncini Garamond and Michelangelo types by Keystone Typesetting, Inc. Printed in the United States of America by Vail-Ballou Press. ISBN: 0-300-09920-7 A catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress and the British Library. The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 To the memory of sages of our own time who have made outstanding contributions to the study and appreciation of the literature of ancient Egypt RAYMOND O. FAULKNER (1894–1982) WOLFGANG HELCK (1914–1993) GEORGES POSENER (1906–1988) CONTENTS List of Abbreviations xi Introduction by William Kelly Simpson 1 PART I NARRATIVES AND TALES OF MIDDLE EGYPTIAN LITERATURE 11 King Cheops and the Magicians 13 The Tale of the Eloquent Peasant 25 The Shipwrecked Sailor 45 The Story of Sinuhe 54 PART II 67 LATE EGYPTIAN STORIES The Quarrel of Apophis and Seknenre 69 The Capture of Joppa 72 The Tale of the Doomed Prince 75 The Tale of the Two Brothers 80 vii CONTENTS The Contendings of Horus and Seth 91 The Blinding of Truth by Falsehood 104 Astarte and the Insatiable Sea 108 A Ghost Story 112 The Report of Wenamon 116 PART III INSTRUCTIONS, LAMENTATIONS,