Ancient Egyptian legends

								

the royal barge sailed down the river till they reached the Northern
Land and came to Memphis, and the chiefs of the royal barge went to
the King and told him all that had happened.
The King put on mourning raiment; he and his courtiers, the high
priest and all the priests of Memphis, the King's army and the King's
household, were clothed in mourning apparel, and they walked in
procession to the haven of Memphis to the royal barge.  When they
came to the haven, they saw the body of Nefer-ka-ptah floating in the
water beside the barge, close to the great steering-oars.  And this
marvel came to pass because of the magical powers of Nefer-ka-ptah;
even in death he was a great magician by reason of the spells he had
washed off the papyrus and drunk in the beer.
Then they drew him out of the water, and they saw the Book of Thoth
bound to his breast with the girdle of royal linen.  And the King
gave command that they should bury Nefer-ka-ptah with the honour due
to the son of a king, and that the Book of Thoth should be buried
with him.
Thus was the vengeance of Thoth fulfilled, but the Book remained with
Nefer-ka-ptah.






V
OSIRIS
In the beginning Ra cursed Nut, and his curse was that none of her
children should be born on any day of any year.  And Nut cried to
Thoth who loved her, Thoth, the twice great, god of magic and
learning and wisdom, he whom the Greeks called Hermes Trismegistos.
Though the curse of the great God Ra once uttered could never be
recalled, Thoth by his wisdom opened a way of escape.  He went to the
Moon-god, whose brightness was almost equal to that of the Sun
itself, and challenged him to a game of dice.  Great were the stakes
on either side, but the Moon's were the greatest, for he wagered his
own light.  Game after game they played and always the luck was with
Thoth, till the Moon would play no more.  Then Thoth, the twice
great, gathered up the light he had won, and by his power and might
he formed it into five days.  And since that time the Moon has not
had light enough to shine throughout the month; but dwindles away
into darkness, and then comes slowly to his full glory; for the light
of five whole days was taken from him.  And these five days Thoth
placed between the end of the old year and the beginning of the new
year, keeping them distinct from both; and on these five days the
five children of Nut were born; Osiris on the first day, Horus on the
second, Set on the third, Isis on the fourth, and Nephthys on the
fifth.  Thus the curse of Ra was both fulfilled and made of no
effect, for the days on which the children of Nut were born belonged
to no year.
When Osiris was born, wonders and marvels, prodigies and signs, were
heard and seen throughout the world, for a voice cried over the whole
earth, "The Lord of all comes forth to the light."  And a woman
drawing water from the holy place of the temple was filled with the