IT is strange that while literature occupies so much attention as atpresent, and while fiction is the largest division of our book-work, theoldest literature and fiction of the world should yet have remainedunpresented to English readers. The tales of ancient Egypt have appearedcollectively only in French, in the charming volume of Maspero's "ContesPopulaires"; while some have been translated into English at scatteredtimes in volumes of the "Records of the Past." But research movesforward; and translations that were excellent twenty years ago may nowbe largely improved, as we attain more insight into the language.