THE TWO BROTHERS

-EGYPTIAN FOLKTALE-
Characters:

Anpu- elder brother

Bata- younger brother
Wife of Anpu
Once there were two brothers. Anpu was the elder, and Bata was
the younger. When their parents died, Anpu was already married
and had a house of his own, so he took his little brother with him
and treated him like his son. When the little brother grew to be a
young man, he became an excellent worker. He did the plowing.
He harvested the corn, and there was no one his equal in the
whole land. Behold, the spirit of the god was within him.

Every morning, the younger brother followed his oxen and

worked all day in the fields, and every evening, he returned to
the house with vegetables, milk, and wood. He laid all these
before his elder brother, and he took with him his bread, and he
drove the cattle into the field.
Because Anpu loved his younger brother very much, his wife became very
jealous and she wanted to destroy Bata. One day, when Anpu and Bata were
in the fields, they needed some corn, so Anpu sent Bata home to get some.
The younger brother found the wife combing her hair and said to her, “Get
up and give me some corn that I may run to the field for my elder brother is
in a hurry. Do not delay.”

At eventide, Anpu returned home earlier than his brother because Bata had
much work to do in the fields. Anpu was met by his wife, who was crying
bitterly. She showed him her arms and legs which he had painted black and
blue and accused Bata of having beaten her up. She pretended to be in great
pain. She did not give him water to wash his hands with. She did not light the
fire for him. She pretended that she was very sick.
Anpu became very angry. He sharpened his knife and waited for Bata in
the stable. When the sun went down, Bata came home as usual, loaded
with herbs, milk and wood. As he entered the door, he saw the feet of his
brother and the sharp knife hanging by his side. The brother sprang from
him and Bata fled praying to the god Ra. “My good Lord! Save me from
death, thou who divines the evil from the good.” Ra heard his cry. He made
a river flow between one brother and the other and filled it with
crocodiles.

Bata asked his elder brother, “Why do you seek to kill me? Am I not your
brother and have you not always treated me as if you were my father? Has
not your wife been as mother to me? Now since you want to kill me, I shall
go to the Valley of the Acacia.”
Anpu answered, “Why did you beat up my wife and almost kill
her.” Bata answered,

“I did not do such thing. Have I told you that I have always looked
upon her as my mother?”

So, Anpu went home. He found his wife near the river washing
off the black and blue dye with which she had painted herself.
Filled with great anger, Anpu killed his wife and cast her to the
dogs. Then, he sat down, poured ashes on his head and mourned
for his younger brother.
PROCESS QUESTIONS
1. Why did the wife get jealous of Bata?
2. What did the wife do to get the attention of Anpu? Do you
agree with what she had done? Why so?
3. If you were Bata, what would you do? Do you agree with him
in leaving the house? Why so?
4. If you were Anpu, would you believe your wife’s explanation?
5. Do you agree with the beliefs and traditions they practice?
Which of those bring unity and harmony? Which do not?
6. Enumerate those traditions of Egyptians which are similar to
you as Filipinos. Write them down, then, compare and contrast
them to our culture.
ACTIVITY:

Using the plot organizer,

enumerate the events in the story
by filling in the rectangles.