The Eloquent Peasant is based on one of the major literary texts that have survived from the Middle Kingdom, the classical period of Egyptian literature. It is a combination of folk tale and a poem, with events set around 2000 BC. When the peasant Khun-anup and his donkey stumble onto the lands of the nobleman Rensi, he is unjustly accused of theft and his goods are confiscated. Rensi is so taken by the peasant’s eloquence that he reports his astonishing discovery to the king. The king, in turn, realizes that the peasant has been wronged, but delays judgment to hear him speak just once more. red