C.D. Warner, et al., comp. The Library of the World’s Best Literature.
An Anthology in Thirty Volumes. 1917.
From a Dialogue between a Man and his Soul
By Egyptian Literature
D
Death is ever before me like the smell of frankincense, or like sitting under an awning on a day of cool breeze.
Death is ever before me like the scent of lotuses, like sitting on the bank of the Land of Intoxication.
Death is ever before me like a road watered [?], or as when a man cometh from a campaign to his home.
Death is ever before me like the unveiling of the sky, or as when a man attaineth to unexpected fortune.
Death is ever before me like as a man desireth to see his house when he hath spent many years in pulling [the oars?].
Verily he that is therein is as a living god punishing the error of the evil-doer.
Verily he that is therein standeth in the boat of Ra and causeth choice viands to be given thence to the temples.
Verily he that is therein is as a wizard; he is not prevented from complaining to Ra even as he would speak.
My soul said unto me: “Lay aside [?] mourning, O Nessu my brother, that thou mayest offer upon the altar even as thou fightest for life, as thou sayest, ‘Love me continually.’ Thou hast refused the grave; desire then that thou mayest reach the grave, that thy body may join the earth, that I may hover [over thee] after thou art weary. Let us then make a dwelling together.”