Dispute Between a Man and His Ba

"To whom can I speak today? Gentleness has perished And the violent man has come down on everyone."

"Lo, my name reeks Lo, more than carrion smell On summer days of burning sky. [...] Lo, my name reeks Lo, more than that of a wife About whom lies are told to the husband.Lo, my name reeks Lo, more than that of a sturdy child Who is said to belong to one who rejects him.Lo, my name reeks Lo, more than a kings town That utters sedition behind his back."

"H. Goedicke, The Report about the Dispute of a Man with his Ba (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins Press, 1970)"

"To whom can I speak today? Brothers are evil And the friends of today unlovable."

"To whom can I speak today? I am heavy-laden with trouble Through lack of an intimate friend.To whom can I speak today? The wrong which roams the earth, There is no end to it."

"Death is in my sight today As when a man desires to see home When he has spent many years in captivity."

"What my ba said to me: "Now throw complaint on the [wood-pile], you my comrade, my brother! Whether you offer on the brazier, whether you bear down on life, as you say, love me here when you have set aside the West! But when it is wished that you attain the West, that your body joins the earth, I shall alight after you have become weary, and then we shall dwell together!"

"R. O. Faulkner, "The Man Who Was Tired of Life", The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, vol. 42 (1956) pp. 21–40"

"V. A. Tobin, in W. K. Simpson (ed.) The Literature of Ancient Egypt: An Anthology of Stories, Instructions, and Poetry (Yale UP, 1972) pp. 201–209"

"M. Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, vol. 1: The Old and Middle Kingdoms (U of California P, 1975) pp. 163–169"

"J. L. Foster, Echoes of Egyptian Voices: An Anthology of Ancient Egyptian Poetry (Norman: U of Oklahoma P, 1992) pp. 11–18"

"(As for) that which my ba had said to me: "Give up the complaints about the stalling of this companion, my brother, while you last upon the flame, in order to be adamant about life!" (Man:) "As you say! Like me here, after you rejected the West. Please, but like also the West, and your limbs join the earth, I shall alight, after you are weary. Therefore, let us make a harbor for the occasion."