CHAPTER XXXII.

[From Lepsius, Todtenbuch, Bll. 16 and 17.]
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Vignette: Four crocodiles advancing against the deceased who is spearing one of them.
Text :' TH CHAPTER OF BEATING BACK THE CROcO- DILE THAT COMETH TO CARRY AWAY THE MAGICAL WORDS FROM THE KuHU IN THE UNDERWORLD. (1) Osiris Auf-ankh, triumphant, saith :—
“The Mighty One fell down upon the place where he “is, or (as others say), upon his belly, but the company
1 From no Papyrus containing the Theban Recension can a con- nected translation of this Chapter be made ; it has, therefore, been thought best to give a rendering of it from the text as found in the Saite Recension.
156 OF REPULSING CROCODILES (Chap, xxxii. 2
“of the gods caught him and set him up again. [My] “soul cometh and it speaketh with its father, and the “ Mighty One delivereth it (2) from these eight! croco- ‘“diles. I know them by their names and [what] they “live upon, and I am he who hath delivered his father “from them.”
“Get thee back, O Crocodile that dwellest in the “West, thou that livest upon the stars which never “rest, (3) for that which is an abomination unto thee ‘‘is in my belly, O thou that hast eaten the forehead of “Osiris, I am Set.”
“Get thee back, O Crocodile that dwelleth in the “West, for the serpent-fiend Naau is in my belly, and “Twill give him unto thee; let not thy flame be “against me.”
“Get thee back, O (4) Crocodile that dwellest in the “Hast, who feedest upon those who eat their own “filth, for that which is an abomination unto thee is “in my belly; I advance, I am Osiris.”
“Get thee back, O Crocodile that dwellest in the “Hast, the serpent-fiend Naau is in (5) my belly, and I “will give [him] unto thee; let not thy flame come ‘against me.”
“Get thee back, O Crocodile that dwellest in the “South, who feedest upon filth, and waste, and dirt, “for that which is an abomination unto thee is in my “Delly; shall not the flame be on thy hand? I am “Sept.” (6)
1 The Theban texts mention fowr crocodiles only.
Chap, xxxii.1o] OF REPULSING CROCODILES 7)
“Get thee back, O Crocodile that dwellest in the “South, for I am safe by reason of my charm ; my fist “is among the flowers and I will not give it unto thee.”
“Get thee back, O Crocodile that dwellest in the “North, who feedest upon what is offered (?) within “the hours, (7) for that which thou abominatest is in “my belly; let [not] thy venom be upon my head, for “Tam Tem.”
“Get thee back, O Crocodile that dwellest in the “North, for the goddess Serqet is in my belly and I “have not yet brought her forth (8). I am Uatch- “Maati (or Merti).”
“The. things which are created are in the hollow of “my hand, and those which have not yet come into “being are in my body. I am clothed and wholly “provided with thy magical words, O Ra, the which “are in heaven above me and in the earth beneath me. “(9) I have gained power, and exaltation, and a full- “breathing throat in the abode of my father Ur (7.e., “the Mighty One), and he hath delivered unto me the “beautiful Amentet which destroyeth living men and “women; but strong is its divine lord, who suffereth “from weakness,” (10) or (as others say) “ exhaustion “two-fold, therein day by day. My face is open, my “heart is upon its seat, and the crown with the serpent “ig upon me day by day. I am Ra, who is his own “protector, and nothing shall ever cast me to the “ oround.”
158 OF REPULSING SERPENTS [Chap. xxxiii.