Silence in the 'Tale of the Eloquent Peasant': themes and problems

The Tale of the Eloquent Peasant, a narrative centered on the power of discourse, remarkably mentions silence in numerous and plot-significant passages, providing it with several different connotations. Alluding, each time, to indifference, repression, even death; or, conversely, to justice and proper behavior, the weight of such a term in a text hinged on the concept of maat is not fortuitous – silence and its value being one of the recurring themes in wisdom literature. By directly comparing these instances from the Tale and matching excerpts from the Teachings and other contemporaneous narratives, it is possible to bring out a composite pattern of references and considerations concerning the value of silence and the problems of communication.