CHAPTER LII
.
_Chapter whereby one eateth not dirt in the Netherworld._
I execrate, I execrate, I do not eat it.
That which I execrate is dirt. I eat it not, that I may appease my Genius(1.).
Let it not fall upon me; let me not approach it with my hands, let me not tread upon it with my sandals.
Henceforth let me live upon corn(2.) in your presence, ye gods, and let there come one who bringeth to me that I may feed from those seven loaves which he hath brought for Horus and upon the loaves for Thoth.
“What willst thou eat?” say the gods to him.
Let me eat under the Sycamore of Hathor the Sovereign, and let my turn be given to me among those who rest there.
And let me manage the fields in Tattu and prosper in Heliopolis.
And let me feed upon the bread of the white corn and upon the beer of the red barley.
And let the forms(3.) of my father and of my mother be granted to me; the gate-keepers of the stream.
Let room be thrown open for me, let the path be made, and let me sit in any place that I desire.
NOTES.
1. Here, as in the corresponding passage in the preceding chapter and in several other places, the later texts often read ⁂, which is a serious error.
2. The unintelligible ⁂⁂⁂ of the later texts should be corrected to ⁂⁂ (_Älteste Texte_ 42, lines 50, 54 and 67). The error may be traced to a form of the word with the prothetic ⁂. There are several words varying in their applications which may be traced to the same origin.
⁂⁂ _šeser_ ‘spica’ a point, hence an ear of corn, and ⁂⁂, ⁂⁂, ‘spiculum,’ an arrow, a javelin, are very clearly connected, and the notion in both is, as in the Hebrew אביב, that of ‘shooting forth,’ _proferre_, _protendere_.
⁂⁂, a term applied to horned animals, has surely nothing to do with the Coptic ϣⲣⲱ of Leviticus XV, 19. It refers to the _pointed_ weapons presented by the beasts.
⁂⁂ is ‘put forward’ in the way of speech, and may be command or prayer, or simple statement.
⁂⁂ the builder’s line is something ‘stretched out’ _prolatum_, _protensum_.
And with reference to walls, buildings, and the like, ⁂⁂ may always be translated by _proferre, protendere_.
3. _The forms_, ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ not ⁂⁂⁂⁂, as the Turin Todtenbuch. There is a most interesting text but unfortunately imperfect on the Leyden Coffin M. 3 (M. Pl. 13). The deceased is told that on arriving at the mysterious gate he will find his father and his mother, ⁂⁂⁂⁂. This is followed by ⁂ and then apparently by ⁂ but the middle sign is almost entirely effaced. This would mean ‘at the resurrection of thy body.’
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## CHAPTER LIIIA.
_Chapter whereby one is not made to eat dirt or to drink lye._
I am the sharp-horned Bull, who regulateth the sky, the Lord of the risings in heaven; the great Giver of Light, who issueth from Flame; the Bond of Time, richly supplied with years; the god in Lion form, to whom is given a march of Glory.
I execrate, I execrate, I do not eat that which my Genius execrateth.
Let it not enter into my stomach, let it not approach to my hands, let me not tread upon it with my sandals.
Let me not drink lye, let me not advance headlong in the Netherworld.
I am the possessor of bread in Heliopolis, who hath bread in Heaven with Râ, and bread upon earth with Seb.
It is the Sektit boat which hath brought it from the house of the great god in Heliopolis.
I am gladdened in my very entrails, and am associated with the divine mariners, who circle round to the East of Heaven. I eat as they eat, and I feed upon what they feed. I eat bread from the house of the Lord of offerings.
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## CHAPTER LIIIB.
_Whereby one eateth not dirt._
I execrate, I execrate! I do not eat it.
Dirt is what I execrate; I do not eat it.
I execrate lye, I do not drink it.
Let me not approach it with my fingers, let me not tread upon it with my sandals.
Seb, the father of Osiris, hath ordained that I should not eat dirt or drink lye, but my father hath four times said that I should eat of the red corn.
There are seven loaves in Heaven at Heliopolis with Râ, and there are seven loaves upon earth with Seb, and there are seven loaves with Osiris.
It is the god of the Sektit galley, and of the Mââtit galley, who hath brought them to me at Heliopolis.
I shout with joy, and my Genius shouteth with joy, because I am in Heliopolis, and I live in excellent condition before Râ, on the day when bread is presented in Heliopolis.
NOTE.
## Chapter 53A is taken from the papyri of the older period, 53B is a still
older text from the Coffin of Horhotep.
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