Berkley, E.: The pharaohs and their people: scenes of old Egyptian life and history (New York, [1883])

52 INSTRUCTIONS OF AMENEMHAT.

' Let thine own heart be strong, for know
this, O man, that in the day of adversity thy
servants' help will fail thee. As for me, I have
given to the lowly and I have strengthened
the weak. I have breathed courage into hearts
where there was none.

' Thee have I exalted from being a subject,
and I have upheld thee, that men may fear
before thee. I have adorned myself with fine
linen, so that I was like the pure water flowers ;
I anointed myself with fragrant oil, as though
it had been water.

' My remembrance lives in men's hearts be-
cause I caused the sorrow of the afflicted to
cease; their cry was no longer heard. The
conflicts are over, though they had been
renewed again and again, for the land had
become like a mighty one who is forgetful of
the past. Neither the ignorant nor the learned
man was able to endure.1

' Once after supper, when the shades of night
had fallen, I went to seek repose. I lay down
and stretched myself upon the carpets of my

1 Words very suggestive as to the distractions and warfare of the
preceding centuries, when the land had indeed seemed to have ' for-
gotten the past.'