An important milestone is coming up. Next Sunday our GlyphStudy group will complete the final exercise from Hoch's Middle Egyptian Grammar. That's reason enough to boost the language level in my profile to A1!
Some years ago when I was in the early stages of teaching myself Latin and Ancient Greek, I also thought about picking up one of the really ancient languages, specifically either Egyptian or Akkadian. But knowing me, without some external motivation there was no way I was going to complete a heavy grammar-translation book like Hoch's or the far heavier Grammar of Akkadian by Huehnergard. So when finally a new Hoch study group was announced in April 2020 I really had to sign up. The group's pace has been just right for me, and I've managed to keep up with its schedule of readings and exercises right up to the end.
This week I had an idea to write a short composition in hieroglyphics as a parting gift to my fellow group members. I want to translate this brief conversation between a peasant and a sailor:
Peasant: How did your father die?
Sailor: He died while sailing in a ship.
P: And how did your grandfather die?
S: He too died while sailing in a ship.
P: Then why aren't you afraid of sailing in a ship?
After thinking for a bit, the sailor responds with some questions of his own:
Sailor: How did your father die?
Peasant: He died while sleeping in his bed.
S: And how did your grandfather die?
P: He too died while sleeping in his bed.
S: Then why aren't you afraid of sleeping in your bed?
I have collected the vocabulary for my translation. All the words happen to be in the lexicon provided by Hoch, with the exception of 'bed'. I just need to re-read the sections about interrogative sentences and then I should be ready to translate.
Incidentally I found this story in a sermon on the topic of envy, given by (I seem to recall) Abraham a Sancta Clara, a German monk. In it, the peasant is shown to be the kind of person who seeks to minimise the virtues of others. The intent behind the peasant's questioning is to play down the bravery of the sailor, which he secretly envies, and make him seem reckless instead.
Ancient Greek diversion
The following was my attempt at a Greek translation of the same conversation, written a couple of years ago. I can't remember why I chose to get rid of the peasant and replace him with a mere boy curious to learn about maritime life. Maybe I couldn't be bothered to look up the word for 'peasant'? Whatever the reason, in this version it is the sailor who comes across as crass and mean by making light of the loss of the boy's dear ones.
παῖς τις, βουλόμενος τὰ τῆς θαλάσσης μανθάνειν, πρὸς λιμένα ποτε ἦλθεν. οὗτος μὲν ναύτῃ τινι εἶπεν, "ὦ ναῦτα, πῶς ἀπέθανεν ὁ σὸς πατήρ;" ὁ δὲ ναύτης "πλέων δὴ κατὰ θάλασσαν," ἔφη, "ἐν νηὶ ἀπέθανεν ὁ πατήρ μου." ἔπειτα ὁ παῖς ἠρώτησεν, "ὁ πάππος σου πῶς ἀπέθανεν;" ὁ οὗν ναύτης ἀπεκρίνατο "πλέων δὴ κατὰ θάλασσαν ἐν νηὶ ἀπέθανε καὶ ὁ ἐμὸς πάππος." ὁ παῖς μάλιστα θαυμάζων "αλλὰ σύ," ἔφη, "καίπερ ταῦτα εἰδώς, ἔτι μέλλεις πλεύσεσθαι ἐν νηί;"
ὁ μέντοι ναύτης ἠρώτησε τὸν παῖδα πῶς ἀπέθανεν ὁ πατὴρ αὐτοῦ. ἀπεκρίνατο ὁ παῖς, "ἐν κλίνῃ καθεύδων." ἔπειτα ὁ ναύτης ἠρώτησε πῶς ἀπέθανεν ὁ πάππος αὐτοῦ. ὁ δὲ παῖς αὖθις εἶπεν, "ἐν κλίνῃ καθεύδων." τέλος δὲ ὁ ναύτης "αλλὰ σύ," ἔφη, "καίπερ ταῦτα εἰδώς, ἔτι μέλλεις καθευδήσειν ἐν κλίνῃ;"
Life after Hoch
Right at the end his book Hoch says:
Serious students who have reached this point in their studies of Egyptian have, it may be assumed, expended a great deal of time and much effort. Although reading Egyptian texts will not feel natural for years (if ever), there is an undeniable satisfaction in the ability to read first-hand the fascinating literature and to have direct access to the culture of this ancient society. [...] There is no better way to keep and sharpen one's skills than by reading texts.
He goes on to recommend the Westcar Papyrus as a good text to proceed with, so that's what I am going to do. It is a collection of tales about some legendary sorcerers from the time of pharaoh Khufu (of Great Pyramid fame). Along the way I will be consulting the detailed grammatical notes in Le récit du Papyrus Westcar by Laura Parys. It's out of print but the author has made it free to download.