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.

Bata reached the Valley of Acacia. Since there was no one with him, he slew wild
beasts for food, built himself a house and met the Nine Gods who knew of his innocence and
goodness. Ra said to the god Khunumu, “Behold, frame a woman for Bata that he may not
remain alone.”So Khunumu made for Bata a wife to dwell with him. She was indeed more
beautiful than any other woman in the whole land. She was like a goddess, and Bata loved her
very much.
  In English, the three basic verb tenses are past, present, and future.
 Verbs in past tense express what happened in the past.
 Verbs in present tense express actions that are currently happening, or occur over a period of
time that includes the present.
 Verbs in future tense express actions that will happen in the future.
 All verbs have both tense and aspect. Because there are three verb tenses and four verb aspects,
there are twelve possible combinations of tense and aspect.

Source: Boundless. “Verb Tense: Past, Present, and Future.” Boundless Writing. Boundless, 26 May.
2016. Retrieved 21 Aug. 2016 from https://www.boundless.com/writing/textbooks/boundless-writing-
textbook/overview-of-english-grammar-parts-of-speech-250/verbs-291/verb-tense-past-present-and-
future-123-3142/  tense

Any of the forms of a verb that distinguish when an action or state of being occurs or exists. The three simple tenses
are past, present, and future.

 verb
A word that indicates an action, event, or state.

 aspect
A grammatical category that expresses how a verb relates to the flow of time.

Source: Boundless. “Verb Tense: Past, Present, and Future.” Boundless Writing. Boundless, 26
May. 2016. Retrieved 21 Aug. 2016 from https://www.boundless.com/writing/textbooks/boundless-
writing-textbook/overview-of-english-grammar-parts-of-speech-250/verbs-291/verb-tense-past-

present-and-future-123-3142/ Present Tenses

The present tense refers to circumstances that exist now, or that have occurred over a period of time that
includes the present. Present tense can also be used to express basic facts or circumstances that are
continuous.
Simple Present
The simple present expresses current events, recurring events, and general facts.
 There is a shady park down the block.
 I paint a portrait of my cat every week

Source: Boundless. “Verb Tense: Past, Present, and Future.” Boundless Writing. Boundless, 26
May. 2016. Retrieved 21 Aug. 2016 from https://www.boundless.com/writing/textbooks/boundless-
writing-textbook/overview-of-english-grammar-parts-of-speech-250/verbs-291/verb-tense-past-

present-and-future-123-3142/ Past Tenses

The past tense refers to events that have occurred in the past or an event that occurred continually in the
past. It can also be used when discussing hypothetical situations. The types of past tense are simple
past, past progressive, past perfect, and the past perfect progressive.

Simple Past
First, the simple past expresses a past event:
 Last week, I read several of Shaw's novels.
 The mother took her son to the beach every day last summer.
 The book sat on the shelf, collecting dust.
The verbs read, took, and sat are in the past tense to show these actions have already occurred.

Source: Boundless. “Verb Tense: Past, Present, and Future.” Boundless Writing. Boundless, 26 May.
2016. Retrieved 21 Aug. 2016 from https://www.boundless.com/writing/textbooks/boundless-writing-
textbook/overview-of-english-grammar-parts-of-speech-250/verbs-291/verb-tense-past-present-and-
future-123-3142/