Read about It. Рахимбергенова М.Х. - 26 стр.

Evil spirits and fierce demons surround him, desiring that he should die            They drink the blood of those who are condemned before you, О
a second death and cease to be. A gigantic tortoise rises against him. He   just and good king.
must fight against it with his lance. Serpents are poised to strike, and            The soul concludes by declaring that he is sinless and expresses
they must be overcome. The very insects have poisonous stings and           the hope that no ill will befall him in the hall of judgment.
must be driven away. But his most formidable enemy is the fierce god                The jackal-headed god Anubis, «opener of the ways», then strides
Seth, the murderer of Osiris, the terror of the good gods and of men,       from the hall and leads the soul by the hand before Osiris, who had
who appears as an enormous red monster with a head like a camel and         heard the confession in silence. No word is uttered as the dead man en-
the body of a hound, his long and forked tail erect and venomous, eager     ters. The King of the Dead sits on his high throne within a dim pavilion.
to devour the pilgrim on his way.                                           His crown is on his head. In one hand he holds the crook and in the
       When the evil god is overcome and driven back, the soul goes         other the flail. He is the supreme judge of the dead. Before him stands
forward until he reaches the bank of a wide river. There a magic boat       the sure balance on which the heart of the dead man will be weighed.
awaits him. The crew consist of silent divinities who give him no aid.      Thoth, the recording god, is beside it, and Horus and Maat, goddess of
But before he can embark he must answer each question that the boat         truth and justice, are there also. The guardian of the balance is a mon-
addresses to him. He must know and tell how it is constructed in every      ster, which is ready to fall upon sinners who are condemned before the
part, and if the papyrus roll that was laid beside his mummy contains       great god. Around the dread hall crouch the forty-two animal gods who
the secrets of the boat and the magic formulae that must also be re-        tear the wicked to pieces.
peated, he will be ferried over the river and taken to the Osirian king-            In the tingling silence that prevails, the pilgrim again recites the
dom. The sulky «ferryman» is called Turnface – his face is always           confession. Osiris makes no comment. Then, quivering with fear, the
turned away from the dead who call to him.                                  soul watches the gods deliberately weighing his heart in the balance,
       After entering the boat the soul’s journey is not yet near to its    while Maat, the goddess of truth and justice, or her symbol, an ostrich
end. He wishes greatly to join those happy beings who have their dwell-     feather, occupies the opposite scale.
ings in the blessed fields of Aalu, but he must first be tried before               The trembling soul cries out to his heart not to witness against
Osiris, the King of the Dead and Judge of All. The only approach to         him. «O heart that was mine,» he says, «do not say «Behold the things
paradise is through the hall of justice, which rises before him, stupen-    he has done.» Permit me not to be wronged in the presence of the great
dous and dark and full of mystery. The gate is shut fast. No man can        god.»
draw the bolts or enter without the permission of the king.                         If the heart is found to be neither too heavy nor too light, the dead
       Alone, and trembling with fear, the pilgrim soul stands before the   man is acquitted. Thoth makes known the result of the weighing to
gate with both hands uplifted in adoration. He is beheld by the shining     Osiris, who then orders the heart to be restored to the man on trial. «He
god who is inside. Then, in a clear, full voice the soul cries out in the   has won the victory,» the King of the Dead exclaims. «Now let him
deep silence:                                                               dwell with the spirits and the gods in the fields of Aalu.»
       Hail, unto you, О great god, you who are lord of truth!                      Released and rejoicing, the dead man goes forth to gaze on the
       Lo! I draw nigh to thee now, О my lord, and my eyes behold you       wonders of the nether world. The divine kingdom is a greater and more
beauty.                                                                     glorious Egypt in which the souls work and hunt and combat against
       You I know, and I know also the two-and-forty gods assembled         their enemies as in other days. To each man is allotted his task. He must
with you in the hall of justice;                                            till the soil and reap the grain that grows in abundance and to a great
       They observe all the deeds of the wicked;                            height. The harvest never fails, and famine and sorrow are unknown.
       They devour those who seek to do evil;

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