The Two Brothers: Part
One
There were two brothers named Anpu and the other named Bata.
Anpu lived with his wife and his brother in his house. His brother Bata was the
one who worked on his land and labored for his brother constantly, he was also
imbued with the spirit of a god. Since it was Anpu’s land that Bata worked on
he decided what happened. Bata however held no grudge even though he worked all
day for his brother and slept outside next to the cattle. One day Anpu told
Bata that the Nile had receded and it was now time for them to go and seed the
land. Bata being the loyal brother he was went and did as Anpu instructed him
to do. For several days Bata worked for his brother in the field working tirelessly
seeding the land. When they were out of seed Anpu told his brother to go fetch
more. He ran to the house and saw his brother’s wife laying there brushing her
hair. He asked for her help and she declined it not wanting to mess up her
hair. He ran to the grain storage and grabbed all the grain they would need. As
he ran by the house his brother’s wife commented on his strength. She said that
he was so strong to carry so much grain on his back. She wished him to lie with
her and told him to come and lie down next to her and she would clothe him in
expensive linen. He became mad and told her that he thought of her as a mother
and his brother a father. When the work was done Anpu returned to the house to
find his wife lying on the floor beat up. He asked what had happened and she
lied and said that it was his brother Bata who had done this to her.
Bibliography: Egyptian Myth and Legend by Donald Mackenzie
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