abyss, the mountains, and the sea; I also knew what the birds of the
sky, the fishes of the deep, and the beasts of the hills all said. I
read another page of the spells, and I saw the sun shining in the sky
with all the gods, the full moon, and the stars in their shapes; I saw
the fishes of the deep, for a divine power was present that brought them
up from the water. As I could not write, I asked Na.nefer.ka.ptah, who
was a good writer, and a very learned one; he called for a new piece of
papyrus, and wrote on it all that was in the book before him. He dipped
it in beer, and washed it off in the liquid; for he knew that if it were
washed off, and he drank it, he would know all that there was in the
writing.

"We returned back to Koptos the same day, and made a feast before Isis
of Koptos and Harpokrates. We then went to the haven and sailed, and
went northward of Koptos. And as we went on Thoth discovered all that
Na.nefer.ka.ptah had done with the book; and Thoth hastened to tell Ra,
and said, 'Now know that my book and my revelation are with
Na.nefer.ka.ptah, son of the King Mer.neb.ptah. He has forced himself
into my place, and robbed it, and seized my box with the writings, and
killed my guards who protected it.' And Ra replied to him, 'He is before
you, take him and all his kin.'He sent a power from heaven with the
command, 'Do not let Na.nefer.ka.ptah return safe to Memphis with all
his kin.' And after this hour, the little boy Mer-ab, going out from the
awning of the royal boat, fell into the river: he called on Ra, and
everybody who was on the bank raised a cry. Na.nefer.ka.ptah went out of
the cabin, and read the spell over him; he brought his body up because a
divine power brought him to the surface. He read another spell over him,
and made him tell of all what happened to him, and of what Thoth had
said before Ra.