| AN INTERESTING
primitive protest against injustice is the story of the Eloquent
Peasant, which was one of the most popular of ancient Egyptian tales,
and is found in scores of different papyri. The story narrates how a
peasant named Rensi was robbed of his asses by the henchmen of a certain
grand steward. In spite of all threats the peasant persisted in
appealing against the robber to the grand steward himself. The scene is
described in “Social Forces and Religion in Ancient Egypt,” by James
Henry Breasted, as follows: | 1 |
| “It is a tableau which epitomizes ages of social history in
the East: on the one hand, the brilliant group of the great man’s sleek
and subservient suite, the universal type of the official class; and, on
the other, the friendless and forlorn figure of the despoiled peasant,
the pathetic personification of the cry for social justice. This scene
is one of the earliest examples of that Oriental skill in setting forth
abstract principles, so wonderfully illustrated later in the parables of
Jesus. Seeing that the grand steward makes no reply, the peasant makes
another effort to save his family and himself from the starvation which
threatens them. He steps forward and with amazing eloquence addresses
the great man in whose hands his case now rests, promising him a fair
voyage as he embarks on the canal, and voicing the fame of the grand
steward’s benevolence, on which he had reckoned. ‘For thou art the
father of the orphan, the husband of the widow, the brother of the
forsaken, the kilt of the motherless. Let me put thy name in this land
above every good law, O leader free from avarice, great man free from
littleness, who destroys falsehood and brings about truth. Respond to
the cry which my mouth utters; when I speak, hear thou. Do justice, thou
who art praised, whom the praised praise. Relieve my misery. Behold me,
I am heavy laden; prove me, lo I am in sorrow.’” | 2 |
| To follow the account of the incident in other records, the
grand steward is so much pleased with the peasant’s eloquence that he
goes to the king and tells him about it. “My Lord, I have found one of
these peasants, excellent of speech, in very truth; stolen are his
goods, and he has come to complain to me of the matter.” | 3 |
| His majesty says, “As thou wishest that I may see health,
lengthen out his complaint, without reply to any of his speeches! He who
desireth him to continue speaking should be silent; behold, bring us
his words in writing that we may listen to them.” | 4 |
| So he keeps the peasant pleading for many days. The story
quotes nine separate speeches, of constantly increasing bitterness and
pathos. The peasant is beaten by the servants of the grand steward, but
still he comes. “Thou art appointed to hear causes, to judge two
litigants, to ward off the robber. But thou makest common cause with the
thief.… Thou art instructed, thou art educated, thou art taught—but not
for robbery. Thou art accustomed to do like all men, and thy kin are
likewise ensnared. Thou the rectitude of all men, art the chief
transgressor of the whole land. The gardener of evil waters his domain
with iniquity that his domain may bring forth falsehood, in order to
flood the estate with wickedness.” | 5 |
| In spite of his eloquence, the grand steward remains unmoved.
The peasant appeals to the gods of Justice; and in the ninth address he
threatens to make his plea to the god Anubis, who is the god of the
dead—meaning thereby that he will commit suicide. None of the extant
papyri informs us as to the outcome of the whole proceedings | 6 |
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