5. Be not haughty because of thy might in the midst of thy young
soldiers. Beware of making strife, for one knoweth not the things that
the God will do when He punisheth.

The Vizier caused his sons and daughters to be summoned, when he had
finished the rules of the conduct of men. And they marvelled when they
came to him. Then he said unto them, 'Hearken unto everything that is
in writing in this book, even as I have said it in adding unto
profitable sayings.' And they cast themselves on their bellies, and
they read it, even as it was in writing. And it was better in their
opinion than any thing in this land unto its limits.

Now they were living when His Majesty, the King of Upper and Lower
Egypt, HEUNI, {64} departed, and His Majesty, the King of Upper and
Lower Egypt, SENFORU, was enthroned as a gracious king over the whole
of this land.

Then was Ke'gemni made Governor of his City and Vizier.

IT IS FINISHED.

[1] The original is not divided into sections.

[2] _i.e._ comfortable

[3] This is a rather dark saying, but apparently the author means that
although the duly instructed guest will only partake moderately of the
abundance before him, what he eats is as good as the rest. His portion
will be equal to the whole as regards quality, though inferior as
regards quantity.

{65}

APPENDIX

The Instruction of Amenemhe'et I. is here given as a contrast to the
foregoing. It is a Testament, however, rather than an Instruction, and
contains more historical matter than didactic. It is written in a
terse and pointed style, combined with the parallelism and antithesis
which was the prevailing vehicle of poetic thought in Egyptian. The
rank of its author and the exceeding bitterness of his mood make it a
document of great interest. There is no reason to doubt its
authenticity.

This King was the founder of the glorious Twelfth Dynasty, a period
which has been called the Golden Age of Egypt. He ruled from about
2778-2748 B.C., and, although he describes himself as over-lenient, was
really one of the most vigorous and powerful of all the Sons of the Sun
who for five thousand years wore the double crown of the Two Egypts.

The circumstances in which the new dynasty arose are not known; nor
have we any other record of the attempt on his life, here recounted.
{66} In the twentieth year of his reign he associated his son,
Senwesert I., with him in a co-regency which lasted ten years. From