_Chapter whereby the Serpent Rekrek is repulsed in the Netherworld._
Back! down with thee, stabber(1.) from Apepi! Drown in the lake of
Heaven, in the spot wherein thy father ordered that thy murder should be
carried out. Away from this birth-place of Râ, the god encompassed
by[55] his terrors.
I am Râ, encompassed by his terrors.
Back! the dark demon and the sword which he maketh to flash!
Râ flingeth down thy words; thy face is twisted round by the gods; thy
whole heart is torn out by the Lynx goddess; chains are flung upon thee
by the Scorpion goddess; and slaughter is dealt upon thee by Maāt.
The gods who are on the roads overthrow thee.
Apep falleth down, the enemy of Râ.
O thou who removest the bolt from the East of Heaven at the stormy voice
of bellowings, and openest the gates of the Horizon before Râ: he cometh
forth fainting from the wounds.
I am a doer of thy will, I am a doer of thy will, O Râ.
I have done well, I have done well; I have done to the satisfaction of
Râ.
And I raise shouts of acclamation at thy success at fettering, O Râ.
Apep is fallen and is in bonds.
The gods of the South, the North, the West and the East bind him; their
bonds are upon him. Aker(2.) overthroweth him, and the lord of the ruddy
sky doth bind him.
Râ is satisfied; Râ is satisfied; Râ maketh his progress peacefully.
Apep falleth; Apep goeth down; the enemy of Râ. And more grave for thee
is the proof(3.) than that sweet proof through the Scorpion goddess,
which she practised for thee, in the pain which she suffered...(4.).
Be thou emasculate, O Apep, enemy of Râ; be thou repulsed whom Râ
hateth; look behind thee: a chopper is over thy head to divide it into
two parts, and those who are above thy head assail it. Thy bones are
broken, thy limbs are severed under the direction of Aker, O Apep, enemy
of Râ.
Thy boatmen [O Râ], succeed in measuring out thy path, and a journey,
with which thou art satisfied; a progress, a progress towards home; and
the progress which thou hast made towards home is a fair progress.
Let no evil hindrances come forth against me from thy mouth in what thou
doest towards me.
I am Sutu, who causeth the storms and tempests, and who goeth round in
the Horizon of Heaven, like to one whose heart is veiled.
Tmu saith: Let your countenances be raised up, ye soldiers of Râ, and
drive back Nebtu in presence of the Divine Circle.
Seb saith: establish those who are upon their thrones in the middle of
the Bark of Chepera; seize your shields and spears, and hold them in
your hands.
Hathor saith: Seize your daggers.
Nut saith: Come and drive back Nebtu, who cometh against him who
dwelleth in his shrine, and maketh his voyage in solitary guise: the
Inviolate god, the resistless one.
O ye gods in your Divine cycles, who travel round the lake of Emerald,
come and defend the Great one who is in the shrine from which all the
Divine cycle proceedeth. Let glory be ascribed to him, and let honour be
given to him. Oh then, proclaim him with me.
Nut saith, the mother of the gods: He cometh forth and findeth his path,
and maketh captures of the gods; he hath the first place in the two
houses of Nut.
Seb standeth still, the great cycle of the gods is in terror, Hathor is
under terror, and Râ is triumphant over Apep.
NOTES.
The extreme uncertainty of the text is such that no translation at
present can be other than conjectural.