young generations take their place: Râ rises in the morning, Tûmû lies
down to rest in the land of the evening, all males generate, the females
conceive, every nose inhales the air from the morning of their birth
to the day when they go to their place! Be happy then for one day, O
man!--May there ever be perfumes and scents for thy nostrils, garlands
and lotus-flowers for thy shoulders and for the neck of thy beloved
sister* who sits beside thee! Let there be singing and music before
thee, and, forgetting all thy sorrows, think only of pleasure until the
day when thou must enter the country of Marîtsakro, the silent goddess,
though all the same the heart of the son who loves thee will not cease
to beat! Be happy for one day, O man!--I have heard related what befell
our ancestors; their walls are destroyed, their place is no more, they
are as those who have ceased to live from the time of the god! The walls
of thy tomb are strong, thou hast planted trees at the edge of thy pond,
thy soul reposes beneath them and drinks the water; follow that which
seemeth good to thee as long as thou art on earth, and give bread to him
who is without land, that thou mayest be well spoken of for evermore.
Think upon the gods who have lived long ago: their meat offerings
fall in pieces as if they had been torn by a panther, their loaves are
defiled with dust, their statues no longer stand upright within the
temple of Râ, their followers beg for alms! Be happy for one day!"

* Marriages between brothers and sisters in Egypt rendered
this word "sister" the most natural appellation.

Those gone before thee "have had their hour of joy," and they have put
off sadness "which shortens the moments until the day when hearts are
destroyed!--Be mindful, therefore, of the day when thou shalt be taken
to the country where all men are mingled: none has ever taken thither
his goods with him, and no one can ever return from it!" The grave did