The Eloquent Peasant

The Eloquent Peasant

The Eloquent Peasant is an Ancient Egyptian story about a peasant, Khun-Anup, who stumbles upon the property of the noble Rensi son of Meru, guarded by its harsh overseer, Nemtynakht. [cite book|title=The Tale of the Eloquent Peasant|first=Richard|last=Parkinson|publisher=Griffith Institute|year=1991|id=ISBN 0900416602] [cite web|title=The Eloquent Peasant (5)|url=http://www.rostau.org.uk/ep/EPAlign/Peasant/guest5.html#start|work=AEL Email List|accessdate=2007-12-17] It is set in the Ninth/Tenth dynasty around Herakleopolis.

tory Summary

The story begins with a peasant, Khun-anup, and his donkey stumbling on to the lands of the noble Rensi son of Meru. [cite book|title=Ancient Egyptian Literature|first=M|last=Lichtheim|volume=Vol.1|year=1973|page=pp.169-184] Nemtynakht, the overseer of noble's lands, was renowned for his misdeeds and tricked Khun-anup into causing damage to his master Meritensa's property by spreading a sheet across the road beside the farm, forcing Khun-anup and his donkey to trample over the crops. The donkey then began to eat the grain and whereupon Nemtynakht took custody of the donkey and started to beat Khun-anup, knowing that Rensi would believe the word of his overseer rather than any allegations of trickery and theft from Khun-anup.

Khun-anup searched for Rensi and found him near the riverside of the city. He addressed him with praises. Rensi and his judges heard his case and replied that witnesses to Nemtynakht's so called crime were needed for the case to continue. Khun-anup could find none, but the magnificent speech of the eloquent peasant convinced Rensi to continue to consider his case. Rensi brought the case before Pharaoh and told him of Khun-anup's rhetorical powers. The king was impressed, but ordered the peasant not be given justice just yet and his petitions to be put in writing.

For nine days Khun-anup complimented the high steward Rensi and begged for justice. After sensing that he was being ignored, Khun-anup insulted him and was punished with a beating. After one last speech, the discouraged peasant left, but Rensi sent for him and ordered him to return. But rather than being punished for his insolence, the peasant was given justice. Amenemhat, after reading Khun-anup's last speech, was impressed and ordered the donkey to be returned to Khun-anup and the peasant to be compensated with all the property of Nemtynakht, including his job, making Nemtynakht as poor as Khun-anup had been.

References

External links

* [http://www.rostau.org.uk/ep/ep1.html] – in hieroglyphs (includes literal translations by various contributors)
* [http://www.sacred-texts.com/egy/eml/eml12.htm] – older translation
* [http://www.jimloy.com/egypt/peasant.htm] – older translation


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • The Tale of the Eloquent Peasant —    A literary tale from the Middle Kingdom that describes the pleadings of the peasant Khunanup for justice at the hands of the Egyptian bureaucracy. His complaints were so eloquently worded that his case was prolonged by officials so they could… …   Ancient Egypt

  • The Golden Rule — Not to be confused with the Golden Law or the Golden ratio.   This term refers to the maxim do as you would be done by . For other uses, see Golden Rule (disambiguation). The maxim of the golden rule is exemplified in many Christian stories …   Wikipedia

  • Conte du Paysan éloquent — Le Conte du Paysan éloquent, ou Conte de l Oasien, est une histoire de l Égypte antique racontant les aventures d un paysan, nommé Khoun Inpou (Ḫwn Ỉnpw), qui traverse par hasard la propriété du noble Rensi fils de Mérou, gardée par son sévère… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • The public scandal of the Dreyfus Affair — The scandal over falsely accused Alfred Dreyfus grew into a public scandal of unprecedented scale. Almost the entire french nation became divided between pro and anti Dreyfusards.Attitude of the pressAgainst this odious campaign was set in motion …   Wikipedia

  • motion picture, history of the — Introduction       history of the medium from the 19th century to the present. Early years, 1830–1910 Origins       The illusion of motion pictures is based on the optical phenomena known as persistence of vision and the phi phenomenon. The first …   Universalium

  • Alfred the Great — Infobox British Royalty|Monarch name =Alfred the Great title =King of the Anglo Saxons caption =Statue of Alfred the Great, Winchester reign =23 April 871 ndash; 26 October 899 predecessor =Æthelred of Wessex successor =Edward the Elder issue… …   Wikipedia

  • List of characters in The Elenium and The Tamuli — Below is a list of fictional characters appearing in The Elenium and The Tamuli , fantasy series written by David Eddings.ProtagonistsparhawkSparhawk is the main character in the Elenium and Tamuli series. He is a Pandion Knight and Champion of… …   Wikipedia

  • List of The Elenium and The Tamuli characters — Faran redirects here. For the desert, see Desert of Paran. Below is a list of fictional characters appearing in The Elenium and The Tamuli, fantasy series written by David Eddings. For the various races, also read Major Races of Eosia and Tamul… …   Wikipedia

  • Culture of Egypt — The culture of Egypt has thousands of years of recorded history. Ancient Egypt was among the earliest civilizations. For millennia, Egypt maintained a strikingly complex and stable culture that influenced later cultures of Europe, the Middle East …   Wikipedia

  • Twelfth dynasty of Egypt — The Eleventh (all of Egypt), Twelfth, Thirteenth and Fourteenth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title, Middle Kingdom.RulersKnown rulers, in the History of Egypt, for the Twelfth Dynasty are as follows:The chronology …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”