August Lady shall say unto me for her
sake; let her say on." And he hearkened unto everything which she said,
and she said, "I entreat thee to cut down these two acacia trees, and to
let them be made into great beams"; and the King hearkened unto
everything which she said. And several days after this His Majesty made
cunning wood-men to go and cut down the acacia trees of Pharaoh, and
whilst the August Lady was standing and watching their being cut down, a
splinter flew from one of them into her mouth, and she knew that she had
conceived, and the King did for her everything which her heart desired.
And many days after this happened she brought forth a man child, and one
said to His Majesty, "A man child hath been born unto thee"; and a nurse
was found for him and women to watch over him and tend him, and the
people rejoiced throughout the whole land. And the King sat down to
enjoy a feast, and he began to call the child by his name, and he loved
him very dearly, and at that same time the King gave him the title of
"Royal son of Kash."[1] Some time after this His Majesty appointed him
"Erpa"[2] of the whole country. And when he had served the office of
Erpa for many years, His Majesty flew up to heaven (_i.e._ he died). And
the King (_i.e._ Bata) said, "Let all the chief princes be summoned
before me, so that I may inform them about everything which hath
happened unto me." And they brought his wife, and he entered into
judgment with her, and the sentence which he passed upon her was carried
out. And Anpu, the brother of the King, was brought unto His Majesty,
and the King made him Erpa of the whole country. When His Majesty had
reigned over Egypt for twenty years, he departed to life (_i.e._ he
died), and his brother Anpu took his place on the day in which he was
buried.

Here endeth the book happily [in] peace.[3]

[Footnote 1: _i.e._ Prince of Kash, or Viceroy of the Sudan.]

[Footnote 2: _i.e._ hereditary chief, or heir.]

[Footnote 3: According to the colophon, the papyrus was written for an
officer of Pharaoh's treasury, called Qakabu, and the scribes Herua and
Meremaptu by Annana, the scribe, the lord of books. The man who shall
speak [against] this book shall have Thoth for a foe!]

Under the heading of this chapter may well be included the Story of the
Shipwrecked Traveller. The text of this remarkable story is written in
the hieratic character upon a roll of papyrus, which is preserved in the
Imperial Libra