LEGENDS OF THE GODS

O thou Cat, thine ears are the ears of Nebertcher, who hearkeneth untothe voice of all persons when they appeal to him, and weigheth words(i.e., judgeth) in all the earth. O thou Cat, thy mouth is the mouthof Tem, the Lord of life, the uniter (?) of creation, who hath causedthe union (?) of creation; he shall deliver thee from every poison. Othou Cat, thy neck (nehebt) is the neck of Neheb-ka, President of theGreat House, vivifier of men and women by means of the mouth of his twoarms. O thou Cat, thy breast is the breast of Thoth, the Lord ofTruth, who hath given to thee breath to refresh (?) thy throat, andhath given breath to that which is therein. O thou Cat, thy heart isthe heart of the god Ptah, who healeth thy heart of the evil poisonwhich is in all thy limbs. O thou Cat, thy hands 25 are the hands ofthe Great Company of the gods and the Little Company of the gods, andthey shall deliver thy hand from the poison from the mouth of everyserpent. O thou Cat, thy belly is the belly of Osiris, Lord ofBusiris, the poison shall not work any of its wishes in thy belly. Othou Cat, thy thighs are the thighs of the god Menthu, who shall makethy thighs to stand up, and shall bring the poison to the ground. Othou Cat, thy leg-bones are the leg-bones of Khensu,[FN#202] whotravelleth over all the Two Lands by day and by night, and shall leadthe poison to the ground. O thou Cat, thy legs (or, feet) are the legsof Amen the Great, Horus, Lord of Thebes, who shall stablish thy feeton the earth, and shall overthrow the poison. O thou Cat, thy haunchesare the haunches of Horus, the avenger (or, advocate) of his fatherOsiris, and they shall place Set in the evil which he hath wrought. Othou Cat, thy soles are the soles of Ra, who shall make the poison toreturn to the earth. O thou Cat, thy bowels are the bowels of the CowgoddessMeh-urt, who shall overthrow and cut in pieces the poison whichis in thy belly and in all the members in thee, and in [all] themembers of the gods in heaven, and in [all] the members of the gods onearth, and shall overthrow every poison in thee. There is no member inthee without the goddess who shall overthrow and cut in pieces thepoison of every male serpent, and every female serpent, and everyscorpion, and every reptile, which may be in any member of this Catwhich is under the knife. Verily Isis weaveth and Nephthys spinnethagainst the poison. This woven garment strengtheneth this [being,i.e., Horus], who is perfect in words of power, through the speech ofRa Heru-khuti, the great god, President of the South and North: 'O evilpoison which is in any member of this Cat which is under the knife,come, issue forth upon the earth.'"[FN#201] Literally "his."[FN#202] He was the messenger of the gods, and travelled across thesky under the form of the Moon; he sometimes appears as a form ofThoth.ANOTHER CHAPTER.