Page:Book of the Dead.djvu/30

Rh

—Ani, you saw your evil deeds outweigh your good! The Feather of Truth has prevailed over your conscience! Hear, then, our judgment and decree.

The great Rameses, the son of Seti, the son of Rameses, Irridescent Son of the Sun, Ruler of Egypt, is no more. Foully murdered, his body, seized by vandals and ghouls, has been dismembered and lost unto us, and his spirit wanders over the land. Before there can be a ruler over Egypt, his remains must be found and given sepulchre in the Pyramid. Some of the faithful have recovered for us parts of the slain Pharaoh, but some are yet missing. It is now decreed by the Council of Amenti that you find these missing parts of our lost ruler, and that he who finds and restores them to the paraschites shall be the successor to Rameses and Pharaoh over all Egypt. This is our judgment, and failing in its performance, you will be walled up within the abode of Am-mit, the loathsome "Eater-of-the-Dead," from which monster there can be no escape. Go, and may the blessings of the great Osiris attend you.

—Ani, sore indeed is your plight! You must find the missing parts of our lost ruler or you shall suffer death! What a gulf! The throne of the Pharaohs or eternal destruction! How, indeed, shall we know whither to travel? If so, how may we know the parts to be those of Rameses? In all the kingdom, but one