to the hungry man, and water
to the thirsty man, and apparel to the naked man, and a ferry boat to
him that had none. I have made offerings to the gods, and given funerary
meals to the spirits. Therefore be ye my deliverers, be ye my
protectors; make ye no accusations against me in the presence [of the
Great God]. I am clean of mouth and clean of hands; therefore let be
said unto me by those who shall see me: 'Come in peace, come in peace'
(_i.e._ Welcome! Welcome!).... I have testified before Herfhaf,[2] and
he hath approved me. I have seen the things over which the Persea tree
spreadeth [its branches] in Rastau. I offer up my prayers to the gods,
and I know their persons. I have come and have advanced to declare the
truth and to set up the Balance[3] on its stand in Aukert."[4]

[Footnote 1: The Lord to the uttermost limit, _i.e._ Almighty God.]

[Footnote 2: The celestial ferryman who ferried the souls of the
righteous to the Island of Osiris. None but the righteous could enter
his boat, and none but the righteous was allowed to land on the Island
of Osiris.]

[Footnote 3: The balance in which the heart was weighed.]

[Footnote 4: A name of a part of the Other World near Heliopolis.]

Then addressing the god Osiris the deceased says: "Hail, thou who art
exalted upon thy standard, thou lord of the Atef crown, whose name is
'Lord of the Winds,' deliver me from thine envoys who inflict evils, who
do harm, whose faces are uncovered, for I have done the right for the
Lord of Truth. I have purified myself and my fore parts with holy water,
and my hinder parts with the things that make clean, and my inward parts
have been [immersed] in the Lake of Truth. There is not one member of
mine wherein truth is lacking. I purified myself in the Pool of the
South. I rested in the northern town in the Field of the Grasshoppers,
wherein the sailors of Ra bathe at the second hour of the night and at
the third hour of the day." One would think that the moral worth of the
deceased was such that he might then pass without delay into the most
holy part of the Hall of Truth where Osiris was enthroned. But this is
not the case, for before he went further he was obliged to repeat the
magical names of various parts of the Hall of Truth; thus we find that
the priest thrust his magic into the most sacred of texts. At length
Thoth, the great Recorder of Egypt, being satisfied as to the good faith
and veracity of the deceased, came to him and a