The Magician Teta who Restored Life to Dead Animals, etc.
When Baiufrā had finished the story given above, Prince Herutataf, the son of King Khufu, and a very wise man, with whose name Egyptian tradition associated the discovery of certain chapters of the Book of the Dead, stood up before his father to speak, and said to him, "Up to the present thou hast only heard tales about the wisdom of magicians who are dead and gone, concerning which it is quite impossible to know whether they be true or not. Now, I want Thy Majesty to see a certain sage who is actually alive during thy lifetime, whom thou knowest not." His Majesty Khufu said, "Who is it, Herutataf?" And Prince Herutataf replied, "He is a certain peasant who is called Teta, and he lives in Tet-Seneferu. He is one hundred and ten years old, and up to this very day he eats five hundred bread-cakes (sic), and a leg of beef, and drinks one hundred pots of beer. He knows how to reunite to its body a head which has been cut off, he knows how to make a lion follow him whilst the rope with which he is tied drags behind him on the ground, and he knows the numbers of the Apet chambers of the shrineof Thoth." Now His Majesty had been seeking for a long time past for the number of the Apet chambers of Thoth, for he had wished to make something like it for his "horizon." And King Khufu said to his son Herutataf, "My son, thou thyself shalt go and bring the sage to me"; thereupon a boat was made ready for Prince Herutataf, who forthwith set out on his journey to Tet-Seneferu, the home of the sage. When the prince came to the spot on the river bank that was nearest to the village of Teta, he had the boat tied up, and he continued his journey overland seated in a sort of sedan chair made of ebony, which was carried or slung on bearing poles made of costly sesentchem wood inlaid or decorated with gold. When Herutataf arrived at the village, the chair was set down on the ground, and he got out of it and stood up ready to greet the old man, whom he found lying upon a bed, with the door of his house lying on the ground. One servant stood by the bed holding the sage's head and fanning him, and another was engaged in rubbing his feet. Herutataf addressed a highly poetical speech to Teta, the gist of which was that the old man seemed to be able to defy the usual effects of old age, and to be like one who had obtained the secret of everlasting youth, and then expressed the hope that he was well. Having paid these compliments, which were couched in dignified and archaic language, Herutataf went on to say that he had come with a message from his father Khufu, who hereby summoned Teta to his presence. "I have come," he said, "a long way to invite thee, so that thou mayest eat the food, and enjoy the good things which the king bestows on those who follow him, and so that he may conduct thee after a happy life to thy fathers who rest in the grave." The sage replied, "Welcome, Prince Herutataf, welcome, O thou who lovest thy father. Thy father shall reward thee with gifts, and he shall promote thee to the rank of the senior officials of his court. Thy Kashall fight successfully against thine enemy, thy soul knows the ways of the Other World, and thou shalt arrive at the door of those who are apparelled in ... I salute thee, O Prince Herutataf."
These were probably books and instruments which the magicians of the day used in making astrological calculations, or in working magic.
Herutataf then held out his hands to the sage and helped him to rise from the bed, and he went with him to the river bank, Teta leaning on his arm. When they arrived there Teta asked for a boat wherein his children and his books might be placed, and the prince put at his disposal two boats, with crews complete; Teta himself, however, was accommodated in the prince's boat and sailed with him. When they came to the palace, Prince Herutataf went into the presence of the king to announce their arrival, and said to him, "O king my lord, I have brought Teta"; and His Majesty replied, "Bring him in quickly." Then the king went out into the large hall of his palace, and Teta was led into the presence. His Majesty said, "How is it, Teta, that I have never seen thee?" And Teta answered, "Only the man who is summoned to the presence comes; as soon as the king summoned me I came." His Majesty asked him, saying, "Is it indeed true, as is asserted, that thou knowest how to rejoin to its body the head which hath been cut off?" Teta answered, "Most assuredly do I know how to do this, O king my lord." His Majesty said, "Let them bring in from the prison a prisoner, so that his death-sentence may be carried out." Then Teta said, "Let them not bring a man, O king my lord. Perhaps it may be ordered that the head shall be cut off some other living creature." So a goose was brought to him, and he cut off its head, and laid the body of the goose on the west side of the hall, and its head on the east side. Then Teta recited certain magical spells, and the goose stood up and waddled towards its head, and its head moved towards its body. When the body and the head came close together, the head leaped on to the body, and the goose stood up on its legs and cackled.
Then a goose of another kind called khetâa was brought to Teta, and he did with it as he had done with the other goose. His Majesty next caused an ox to be taken to Teta, and when he had cut off its head, and recited magical spells over the head and the body, the head rejoined itself to the [32]body, and the ox stood up on its feet. A lion was next brought to Teta, and when he had recited spells over it, the lion went behind him, and followed him [like a dog], and the rope with which he had been tied up trailed on the ground behind the animal.
King Khufu then said to Teta, "Is it true what they say that thou knowest the numbers of the Apet chambersof the shrine of Thoth?" Teta replied, "No. I do not know their number, O king my lord, but I do know the place where they are to be found." His Majesty asked, "Where is that?" Teta replied, "There is a box made of flint in a house called Sapti in Heliopolis." The king asked, "Who will bring me this box?" Teta replied, "Behold, O king my lord, I shall not bring the box to thee." His Majesty asked, "Who then shall bring it to me?" Teta answered, "The oldest of the three children of Rut-tetet shall bring it unto thee." His Majesty said, "It is my will that thou shalt tell me who this Rut-tetet is." Teta answered, "This Rut-tetet is the wife of a priest of Rā of Sakhabu, who is about to give birth to three children of Rā. He told her that these children should attain to the highest dignities in the whole country, and that the oldest of them should become high priest of Heliopolis." On hearing these words the heart of the king became sad; and Teta said, "Wherefore art thou so sad, O king my lord? Is it because of the three children? I say unto thee, Verily thy son, verily his son, verily one of them." His Majesty asked, "When will these three children be born?" Teta answered, "Rut-tetet will give them birth on the fifteenth day of the first month of Pert." The king then made a remark the exact meaning of which it is difficult to follow, but from one part of it it is clear that he expressed his determination to go and visit the temple of Rā of Sakhabu, which seems to have been situated on or near the great canal of the Letopolite nome. In reply Teta declared that he would take care that the water in the canal should be 4 cubits (about 6 feet) deep, i.e. that the water should be deep enough for the royal barge to sail on the canal without difficulty. The king then returned to his palace and gave orders that Teta should have lodgings given him in the house of Prince Herutataf, that he should live with him, and that he should be provided with one thousand bread-cakes, one hundred pots of beer, one ox, and one hundred bundles of vegetables. And all that the king commanded concerning Teta was done.
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