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He said, "I am Setna, son of the great King User.maat.ra, living for ever, and I come for that book which I see between you." And Na.nefer.ka.ptah said, "It cannot be given to you." Then said Setna, "But I will carry it away by force." Then Ahura said to Setna, "Do not take this book; for it will bring trouble on you, as it has upon us. Listen to what we have suffered for it."
Thus, when Setna forces the tomb of Na.nefer.ka.ptah, he finds Ahura seated by him with the precious magic roll between them and the child Mer-ab; and the voluble Ahura recounts all their history, and weeps when the roll is carried away by Setna. Yet all the time her body is at Koptos, and the penalty imposed on Setna is that of bringing her body to the tomb where her ka already was dwelling.
Setna at once takes the position of an inferior by addressing praises to Na.nefer.ka.ptah: after which the tomb became bright as it was before he took away the magic roll. Setna then having made restitution, is required to give some compensation as well. The search for the tomb of Ahura and Mer-ab is a most tantalising passage.
Kaber Setna Khadidje: the tomb of Khadidje, the wife of Mohammed, the dome of which was broken down by the Wahabys, and is not yet rebuilt; it is regularly visited by hadjys, especially on Friday mornings.
Then Setna went to the king, and told him everything that had happened to him with the book. And the king said to Setna, "Take back the book to the grave of Na.nefer.ka.ptah, like a prudent man, or else he will make you bring it with a forked stick in your hand, and a fire-pan on your head."
The king said, "Bring him the talisman of his father Ptah, and his magic books." And An.he.hor.eru hurried down into the tomb; he laid the talisman on Setna, and he sprang up again immediately. And then Setna reached out his hand for the book, and took it. Then as Setna went out from the tomb there went a Light before him, and Darkness behind him.
Now in the tomb was Na.nefer.ka.ptah, and with him was the ka of his wife Ahura; for though she was buried at Koptos, her ka dwelt at Memphis with her husband, whom she loved. And Setna saw them seated before their offerings, and the book lay between them. And Na.nefer.ka.ptah said to Setna, "Who are you that break into my tomb in this way?"
When this ceremony is finished, the visiter walks round the S.E. corner of the Hedjra, and presents himself before the tomb of Setna Fatme, where, after four prostrations, a prayer is addressed to Fatme- e'-Zohera, or the bright blooming Fatme, as she is called.
This enclosure is entered by four gates, three of which are constantly kept shut, and one only is opened, every morning and .evening, to admit the eunuchs, whose office it is to clean the floor and light the lamps. Each of these gates has its particular name: Bab en' Neby, Bab Errahme, Bab et Touba, Bab Setna Fatme.
The third act is Setna's struggle as a rival magician to Na.nefer.ka.ptah, from which he finally comes off victorious by his brother's use of a talisman, and so secures possession of the coveted magic book. The fourth act which I have here only summarised shows how Na.nefer.ka.ptah resorts to a bewitchment of Setna by a sprite, by subjection to whom he loses his magic power.
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