The Eloquent Peasant

The Eloquent Peasant

There was once a man named Khunanup, a peasant of the Salt Valley. His wife was named Meret.

The peasant said to his wife, “See, I am going down into Egypt to obtain food for our children. Measure for me what grain remains in the storehouse.” She measured it, and he set aside a portion for her and the children. The rest he ordered to be made into bread and beer for his journey.

Then Khunanup loaded his donkeys with the good produce of the Salt Valley: reeds, rushes, natron, salt, timber, staffs, skins, stones, herbs, fruits, seeds, and other goods of the oasis. He set out southward toward Heracleopolis.

He came to the land belonging to Fefi’s estate, north of Mednit. There he met a man named Nemtinakht, son of Isry, a dependent of the High Steward Rensi, son of Meru.

When Nemtinakht saw the peasant’s donkeys and the goods upon them, desire entered his heart. He said within himself, “Would that I had some device by which I might take this man’s possessions.”

Nemtinakht’s house stood beside the river path. The way was narrow: water lay on one side and standing grain on the other. He ordered a servant to bring a cloth from his house, and he spread it across the path so that one edge touched the water and the other reached the barley.

When the peasant approached along the public way, Nemtinakht called out, “Take care, peasant. Do not tread upon my cloth.”

Khunanup answered, “I shall do as you say. I will pass carefully.” He turned toward the higher side, but Nemtinakht said, “Will you make my barley your road?”

The peasant replied, “The bank is steep, the path is blocked by your cloth, and the grain stands on the other side. Will you not allow us to pass?”

As they spoke, one donkey seized a mouthful from a clump of barley. Nemtinakht said, “I will take this donkey because it has eaten my grain. It shall tread grain in payment for its offence.”

Khunanup answered, “A single mouthful has been taken, yet you seize an animal worth many times its value. I know the lord of this estate. It belongs to Rensi, son of Meru, the High Steward, who punishes robbers throughout the land. Shall I be robbed within his own domain?”

Nemtinakht said, “Is it not said, ‘The poor man’s name is known only because of his master’? You speak of the High Steward, but it is I who stand before you.”

He took a staff of green tamarisk and beat the peasant over all his limbs. Then he seized the donkeys and drove them with their loads into his estate.

Khunanup cried aloud because of the pain and the wrong done to him. Nemtinakht said, “Do not raise your voice, peasant, or you will be sent to the harbour of the Lord of Silence.”

The peasant answered, “You beat me and steal my goods, and now you would take complaint from my mouth. O Lord of Silence, restore my possessions, so that I need not cry out against your terror.”

For a full week the peasant petitioned Nemtinakht, but Nemtinakht gave him no answer.

Then Khunanup went to Heracleopolis to appeal to the High Steward Rensi, son of Meru. He found him leaving the gate of his house to board his official barge.

The peasant said, “May I cause my lord to hear a matter? Send to me one of your trusted attendants, and I will return him to you with the whole account.”

Rensi sent an attendant. Khunanup told him all that had happened, and the attendant reported every detail.

Rensi brought the matter of Nemtinakht before the officials who were with him. They said, “Perhaps this is merely one peasant quarrelling with another. Such things are common. Shall Nemtinakht be punished over a little natron and salt? Command him to repay it, and he will repay it.”

Rensi remained silent. He answered neither the officials nor the peasant.

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Then the peasant came before the High Steward Rensi and said:

“High Steward, my lord, greatest among the great, guide of what exists and of what is lacking: when you descend to the sea of truth, may you sail upon it with a favourable wind. May your sail not be stripped away, your vessel not be delayed, your mast not be struck, your yards not be broken. May you not run aground, may the flood not seize you, may you not taste the evil of the river, and may you not look upon the face of fear. May fish come to your net and fattened birds to your snare.

“For you are a father to the orphan, a husband to the widow, a brother to the woman cast off, and a garment to the motherless. Let me establish your name in this land above every good law: a leader without greed, a great man without pettiness, a destroyer of falsehood, a creator of truth, one who comes at the voice of the caller.

“I speak so that you may hear. Do justice, praised one whom the praised praise. Drive away my distress, for I am burdened. Examine my cause, for I am wronged.”

This speech was made in the reign of King Nebkaure, justified. Rensi went before the king and said, “My lord, I have found a peasant whose speech is truly excellent. His goods were stolen, and he has come to appeal to me.”

The king said, “Because you desire that I hear him, keep him here and do not answer what he says. Be silent so that he may continue speaking. Let his words be written and brought to us. But provide food for his wife and children, and give the peasant himself his daily portion without allowing him to know who supplies it.”

So the peasant received bread and beer each day, and provisions were sent to his household in the Salt Valley. His speeches were written down, yet no judgement was given.

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The peasant came a second time and said:

“High Steward, my lord, you are the rudder of heaven, the beam of the earth, the cord by which burdens are measured. Do not let the rudder drift, do not let the beam bend, do not let the measuring cord be false.

“A great lord should take account of one who is alone. Your property is in your house and your food is in your storehouse; yet the poor man’s goods are his very life. Do not take the breath from his nostrils by taking what sustains him.

“You were appointed to restrain the thief, to hear the litigants, and to judge between two men. Yet the measurer cheats for himself, the divider seizes another’s portion, and the lawful officer commands robbery. Who shall drive away misery when the healer himself is sick?

“Redress is brief, but wrongdoing is long. Good conduct returns to the place where it was yesterday. Act for the one who acts rightly, so that he may continue to act. This is gratitude for a deed; this is preventing the arrow before it is loosed.

“The watchman has become blind, the hearer deaf, and the guide a misleader. You are strong, your arm is active, but mercy has passed by you. How wretched is the poor man whom you destroy.

“A lord of bread ought to be merciful. Theft may be expected from one who has nothing, but wrongdoing without need is shameful. You are filled with bread, drunk with beer, rich in every possession. The king is in the palace, and the steering oar is in your hand, yet evil surrounds the boat.

“Let your tongue be true, lest you stray. A man’s own tongue can become his destruction. Do not speak falsehood, and beware of officials who listen only to lies. Wise one among men, will you neglect only my matter? You who bring the drowning to shore, rescue one who is shipwrecked beside you.”

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The peasant came a third time and said:

“High Steward, my lord, you are like the sun, lord of heaven, and all men receive their portion from you. You are like the inundation that revives the meadows and restores the ruined mounds. Punisher of the robber, protector of the poor, do not become a flood against the petitioner.

“Consider the approach of eternity. Desire to endure, for doing truth is the breath of life. Punish the one who deserves punishment. Do the scales wander? Is the balance partial? Does the standard bend? If justice itself were lenient toward evil, then you might be lenient also; but justice does not bend.

“Do not repay good with evil or put one thing in another’s place. False speech grows like weeds when watered. Steer according to the sail. Turn back the torrent by doing truth. Do not turn aside while your hand is upon the tiller. To keep the land upright is to do truth.

“Do not speak falsehood, for you are great. Do not be light, for you are weighty. Do not stray, for you are the standard. If a wave comes against the steering oar, the boat is overturned. If you neglect one word of truth, a whole judgement fails.”

At the entrance of the portico Rensi ordered two attendants to seize the peasant and beat him with whips. They struck him over all his limbs.

The peasant cried out:

“Does Rensi still wander? His face is blind to what it sees, his ears deaf to what they hear, and his heart forgetful of what has been placed before him. You are like a town without a governor, a generation without a leader, a boat without a helmsman, a company without a commander. You are an officer who steals, a magistrate who accepts gifts, an overseer appointed to drive away plunder who has become the model of the evildoer.”

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The peasant came a fourth time. He met Rensi as he came from the temple of Herishef and said:

“Praised one, may Herishef, from whose temple you have come, praise you. Goodness is destroyed and has no support; nothing casts falsehood to the ground. The ferry has sunk—who then can cross? To cross the river on foot is no true crossing.

“No one can sleep until dawn, for travel by night is destroyed, travel by day is destroyed, and a man cannot attend to his rightful claim. Mercy has passed you by; how miserable is the poor man whom you destroy.

“You are like a hunter who fulfils his desire, harpooning hippopotami, shooting wild cattle, catching fish, and snaring birds. Yet the swift of mouth is not free from recklessness, and the light of heart is not careful in purpose.

“Let your heart be patient, so that you may know truth. Restrain your desire for the sake of the one who wishes to depart in peace. No hasty man clings to excellence. Open your eyes and instruct your heart.

“Do not become harsh because you are powerful, lest evil reach you. Pass over a wrong once and it becomes two. The eater alone knows the taste; the sleeper alone sees the dream; and the judge who deserves punishment becomes the pattern of the evildoer.

“Fool, you are caught. Ignorant man, you are accused. Bailer of a leaking boat, you are seen. Helmsman, do not steer wrongly. Giver of life, do not cause death. Shade, do not become burning heat. Shelter, do not let the crocodile seize. This is the fourth time I have appealed to you. Must I continue all day?”

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The peasant came a fifth time and said:

“High Steward, my lord, the netter takes fish, the angler kills fish, the spearer harpoons fish, and the trawler ravages the river. You are like them. Do not rob a wretched man of his possessions.

“You know helplessness. The poor man’s goods are his breath; to take them is to stop his breathing. You were appointed to hear cases, to judge between disputants, and to punish the thief. Yet your way is to weigh out advantage for the robber.

“You were trusted, but you have become a misleader. You were set up as a dyke for the poor; take care lest he drown. You are his lake, yet you drag him under.”

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The peasant came a sixth time and said:

“High Steward, my lord, a true lord diminishes falsehood and creates truth. He brings goodness into being and destroys evil. He is like plenty ending hunger, clothing ending nakedness, the calm sky after a storm warming those who shiver, fire cooking what is raw, and water quenching thirst.

“Look with your own eyes. The distributor is robbing; the one appointed to soothe causes pain; the one appointed to make whole creates anguish. Every defect diminishes truth, so measure carefully.

“Speak no falsehood, for falsehood is light and can be carried far, but truth is heavy and endures. Do not answer before hearing, and do not judge before understanding. The one who knows should not pretend ignorance; the one who sees should not close his eyes.

“The law is not a weapon for the powerful against the weak. It is a staff for the one who stumbles, a shelter for the naked, bread for the hungry, and a boat for the one stranded on the bank.

“You are the one to whom all mouths turn. Let not the petitioner become weary while the robber rests. Let not the innocent be beaten while the guilty drinks in peace. Make straight what has been bent.”

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The peasant came a seventh time and said:

“High Steward, my lord, do not be inactive in the work entrusted to you. A man who neglects truth cuts the cord that binds the land together. When the standard is broken, every measure becomes theft.

“The destroyer of law becomes the destroyer of the standard. No poor man whom he has stripped can remain alive. Has truth not spoken to him?

“My body is full of suffering and my heart is burdened. What comes from my mouth comes because of what has been done to my body. A breach has been made in the dam, and the water pours through.

“Your neglect will lead you astray; your selfishness will make you foolish; your greed will raise enemies against you. Yet will you find another peasant like me? Will another neglected man stand so long at your door?

“There is no silent man whom you have not made speak, no sleeper whom you have not awakened, no dull man whom you have not enlightened, no closed mouth whom you have not opened, no ignorant man whom you have not made wise, and no fool whom you have not instructed.

“Officials are men appointed to beat back evil. They are lords of goodness, craftsmen who restore what is ruined and join again what has been severed.”

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The peasant came an eighth time and said:

“High Steward, my lord, a man falls far because of greed. The selfish man has no true success; what seems success becomes failure. Greed does not befit you. Theft is not fitting for one appointed to establish another man’s right.

“Your portion is already in your house. Your belly is filled. Your grain-measure overflows, and its excess falls useless upon the ground. Yet you seize from the robbed and take from the needy.

“Officials appointed to drive away evil have become a shelter for the predator—those very men appointed to cast falsehood out. Your terror does not prevent me from speaking, because you do not know my heart.

“The quiet man who comes to complain is not afraid of the one he supplicates, even though he has no brother in the street to summon against you. Your fields lie in the countryside, your wealth fills the estate, your provisions are stored in abundance. Officials give to you, yet you still take. Are you not then a thief?

“Do truth for the Lord of Truth, whose justice is just. You are the pen, the roll, and the palette of justice. Keep yourself far from evil. The goodness of the good man reaches beyond him.

“Truth belongs to eternity. It descends to the necropolis with the one who practises it. He is placed in the tomb and joined to the earth, yet his name is not erased from the land. He is remembered because of the good he did. This is the standard of the divine word.

“If truth is a pair of scales, it does not tilt; if a balance, it is not partial. Another man will come if I do not. Do not answer the quiet man with accusation, and do not attack one who has no defence.

“You have not pitied me, you have not suffered with me, and you have not yet destroyed me. You give no answer to this good speech that comes from the mouth of the sun god: Speak truth and do truth, for it is mighty, great, and enduring. Its fulfilment leads to blessedness.

“Can the scales lean when their pans weigh rightly? No excess can belong to the true standard. A shameful deed cannot reach a safe harbour, and the bearer of false cargo cannot make land.”

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The peasant came a ninth time and said:

“High Steward, my lord, the tongue of men is their balance, and the scales reveal what is lacking. Punish the one who deserves punishment, and let your standard be true.

“Falsehood goes out even when it already has its portion, but truth turns back to confront it. Falsehood feeds upon truth, yet falsehood has never reached a lasting harvest.

“If falsehood sets out, it loses the way. It cannot cross by ferry and cannot keep a straight course. The man enriched by it has no lasting children and no heir upon earth. The one who sails with it cannot touch land; his boat cannot moor in harbour.

“Do not remain heavy when you ought to be light. Do not delay when you ought to be swift. The man who divides fairly does not diminish himself. The one who does justice does not lose his inheritance.

“You have allowed me to speak until my words are exhausted. Now I shall appeal concerning you to Anubis, lord of the western bank.”

Then Rensi sent two attendants to bring the peasant before him. Khunanup was afraid, thinking that he would be punished for his final words.

Rensi said, “Do not fear, peasant. You shall remain with me. Your speeches have delighted the king’s heart. As surely as I eat bread and drink water, your words shall be remembered.”

The peasant answered, “Then I live, because I eat your bread and drink your beer.”

Rensi caused all the petitions the peasant had spoken to be copied upon a fresh roll from beginning to end. He sent the roll to King Nebkaure. The words pleased the king more than anything in his land.

The king said to Rensi, “Judge the matter yourself, my beloved son.”

Then Rensi ordered two attendants to obtain a record of Nemtinakht’s household and possessions. They listed his people, his grain, his animals, his donkeys, and all that belonged to him.

Rensi gave Nemtinakht’s property to Khunanup, together with the goods that had been taken from him.

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