| 1 | One day, expecting to find many wild beasts in his pits and his nets, he went to them, but behold! the pits he had digged were filled up and the nets he had laid were torn; also the prey had been taken out of the nets and the pits. |
| 2 | Then the young man, the hunter, went up the mountain, and coming nigh a pit he had made he watched, for he saw something at the pit. |
| 3 | He saw the shoulders and the head of a man. And he watched the man come out of the pit, and he had upon his shoulders a gazelle that had fallen into it. |
| 4 | And behold! the man went to where a company of gazelles stood waiting, and they were not fearful of the man. |
| 5 | He laid down the gazelle he carried, and the gazelle joined the company of gazelles. |
| 6 | Then the man went back and filled up the pit with earth, and went with great strides towards the forest. |
| 7 | The young man, the hunter, saw that he was all naked and covered with hair; and that the hair on his head was long and like a woman's. |
| 8 | The hunter was affrighted, and he went from the place. |
| 9 | He came upon others of the pits he had digged, and they were all filled up; there was no creature near any of them, nor was there one under any of the nets he had laid. |
| 10 | Then was the hunter made anxious. |
| 11 | He said within himself, "What shall become of me? I till no land, and I know of no way of living save by my nets and my pits! |
| 12 | But if the creatures that have been snared are taken out of my pits and from under my nets, what shall I do to find food for myself and my parents?" |
| 13 | He wept as he spoke thus to himself, and, carrying no beast, he went back to the hut where his father was. |
| 14 | His father heard what the young man said and considered it. |
| 15 | This is one who is friendly to the beasts and knows not the faces of men, he said. "What he has done he will do again and yet again, and there will be no prey left for us in the pits or under the nets. |
| 16 | Therefore, we must have him led away from this place. |
| 17 | Often have you brought beasts to the Temple in Erech to be sacrificed there to Anu and Ishtar and the rest of the Gods. |
| 18 | Go to that city and into the place of the mighty Gilgamish, and have those in the Temple give you a woman of the Temple to go with you. |
| 19 | And when the one who has not seen the faces of men sees the face of the woman of the Temple, and sees her take off her veil, he will be amazed; he will go to the woman of the Temple, and she will speak with him and will draw him from this place." |
| 20 | The young man, the hunter, did as his father instructed him: he went into Erech, the city that Gilgamish ruled over, and he went within the Temple. |
| 21 | He spoke to Ninsunna, the mother of Gilgamish. |
| 22 | And having heard what he had to tell, the mother of Gilgamish brought to him a woman of the Temple; she put the woman's hand in the hunter's hand, and the young man brought the woman out of that place and into the mountainous region where he had looked upon Enkidu. |
| 23 | It was then that Ishtar the Goddess stood before Gilgamish in her terrible beauty. |
| 24 | She said unto him, "Thou, O Gilgamish, shalt be my man; I shall be thy woman. |
| 25 | Thou shalt come into my house, and those who sit upon the thrones shall kiss thy feet. |
| 26 | Gifts from the mountain and the lowland shall be laid before thee. I shall make to be harnessed for thee a chariot of lapis-lazuli and gold; the wheels of it shall be gold and the horns upon it shall be precious stones. |
| 27 | Thou shalt harness to it mighty horses; they shall prance proudly; there shall be no horses like unto the horses that shall be under thy yoke. |
| 28 | All these things shall be for thee when, with perfume of cedar upon thee, thou shalt come into my house." |
| 29 | Gilgamish made answer to the Goddess; in wrath he spoke to Ishtar, the Beautiful One, the Terrible One, answering her: "Thy lovers have perished. |
| 30 | Thy love is like to a door that letteth in the storm. |
| 31 | Thy love is like a fortress that falls upon and crushes the warriors within it. |
| 32 | The lover of thy youth, Tammuz, even he, was destroyed; destroyed are all the men whom thou hadst to do with. |
| 33 | The creatures who come under thine influence rejoice, but they rejoice for a while only: the wing of the bird is broken through thee; the lion is destroyed; the horse is driven to death. |
| 34 | Thou sayst thou lovest me, Ishtar. |
| 35 | Loved by thee I should fare as they have fared." |
| 36 | When Ishtar heard the words that Gilgamish spoke she was filled With wrath. |
| 37 | She left the place where he was. She meditated evil against him. |
| 38 | In a while she made a fire-breathing bull and sent it down into Erech to destroy Gilgamish and Gilgamish's people. |
Search Texts
Download book as a pdf
Chapter - 4