, and it
was drunk by those who celebrated the feast.

Now, although the blasphemers of Ra had been put to death, the heart of
the god was not satisfied, and he complained to the gods that he was
smitten with the "pain of the fire of sickness." He said, "My heart is
weary because I have to live with men; I have slain some of them, but
worthless men still live, and I did not slay as many as I ought to have
done considering my power." To this the gods replied, "Trouble not about
thy lack of action, for thy power is in proportion to thy will." Here
the text becomes fragmentary, but it seems that the goddess Nut took the
form of a cow, and that the other gods lifted Ra on to her back. When
men saw that Ra was leaving the earth, they repented of their
murmurings, and the next morning they went out with bows and arrows to
fight the enemies of the Sun-god. As a reward for this Ra forgave those
men their former blasphemies, but persisted in his intention of retiring
from the earth. He ascended into the heights of heaven, being still on
the back of the Cow-goddess Nut, and he created there Sekhet-hetep and
Sekhet-Aaru as abodes for the blessed, and the flowers that blossomed
therein he turned into stars. He also created the millions of beings who
lived there in order that they might praise him. The height to which Ra
had ascended was now so great that the legs of the Cow-goddess on which
he was enthroned trembled, and to give her strength he ordained that Nut
should be held up in her position by the godhead and upraised arms of
the god Shu. This is why we see pictures of the body of Nut being
supported by Shu. The legs of the Cow-goddess were supported by the
various gods, and thus the seat of the throne of Ra became stable. When
this was done Ra caused the Earth-god Keb to be summoned to his
presence, and when he came he spake to him about the venomous reptiles
that lived in the earth and were hostile to him. Then turning to Thoth,
he bade him to prepare a series of spells and words of power, which
would enable those who knew them to overcome snakes and serpents and
deadly reptiles of all kinds. Thoth did so, and the spells which he
wrote under the direction of Ra served as a protection of the servants
of Ra ever after, and secured for them the help of Keb, who became sole
lord of all the beings that lived and moved on and in his body, the
earth. Before finally relinquishing his active rule on earth, Ra
summoned Thoth and told