Search Texts
Download book as a pdf
Epic of Gilgamish
Chapter - 6
| 1 | A time came when Enkidu longed for the life of the forest. |
| 2 | Thither he went. And Gilgamish, when he knew that his friend has gone from Erech, put on coarse attire; he arrayed himself in the skin of a lion, and he pursued Enkidu. |
| 3 | And Enkidu was glad because of this, for he knew that his friend, the noble Gilgamish, would not forsake him. |
| 4 | Together they lived in the forest; they hunted together and they became more and more dear to each other. |
| 5 | Later Enkidu had a dream that terrified him. |
| 6 | He dreamt that there were thunderings in the heavens and quakings in the earth. |
| 7 | He dreamt that a being came before him and gripped him in talons that were the talons of an eagle, and carried him down into a dread abyss. |
| 8 | There Enkidu saw creatures that had been kings when they were upon the earth; he saw shadowy beings offering sacrifices to the Gods. |
| 9 | He saw in the House of Dust priests and magicians and prophets dwelling. |
| 10 | He saw there Bêlit-sêri who writes down the deeds done upon the earth. |
| 11 | Enkidu was terrified; he knew not the meaning of the dream that had come to him. |
| 12 | To Ninsunna he went, and he told her his dream. |
| 13 | She wept when she heard him tell it. But she would not tell him the meaning that it had. |
| 14 | Thereafter Enkidu lay down on the well-decked bed that Gilgamish, his friend, had given him. |
| 15 | He groaned upon his bed. Gilgamish came to comfort him, but Enkidu, although he had joy of Gilgamish's coming, could not banish from his heart the thing that had been shown him in his dream. For ten days he lay upon his bed with Gilgamish beside him. |
| 16 | In two days more his sickness became more grievous. |
| 17 | Then Enkidu lay silent, and Ninsunna said to her son, "Now is Enkidu dead." |
| 18 | Long gazed Gilgamish upon Enkidu, his friend in the palace, his companion in the hunt upon the mountains and in the forest, his brave ally in his fight against the Bull of Heaven. |
| 19 | Long gazed Gilgamish upon his friend lying there. |
| 20 | Then Gilgamish said:"What kind of sleep is this that is upon thee? |
| 21 | Thou starest out blankly and hearest me not. 22 Shall this sleep be upon Gilgamish also? Shall I lie down and be as Enkidu? |
| 22 | Sorrow hath entered into my soul. 24 Because of the fear of death that hath come upon me my heart is restless; I shall go; I shall wander through the lands." |
| 23 | Then Gilgamish touched the breast of his friend, and he found that the heart in his breast was still. |
| 24 | Tenderly, as though leaving it over a bride, Gilgamish laid the covering over Enkidu. |
| 25 | He turned away; he roared in his grief as a lion or as a lioness robbed of her young. |
| 26 | And when his roarings had ceased, his mother said to him, "What dost thou desire, my son, and what is it that will quiet the grief and the restless. ness that are in thine heart?" |
| 27 | Gilgamish said to her, "My desire is to escape death which hath taken hold of Enkidu, my friend." |
| 28 | His mother said, "Only one hath escaped death; the one is Uta-Napishtim the Remote, thine ancestor." |