Gilgamesh : A New Rendering in English Verse
Page 2
for a very long time, not knowing what to do.
Then Shamhat, the harlot, the temple prostitute,
said: “Enkidu, this is the food and drink
men eat and drink. Eat and drink your fill.”
So Enkidu ate his fill of the cooked food,
and drank the beer. Seven jugs of the beer
and he was suddenly joyful, and sang aloud.
Then he washed his hairy body, anointed himself
with oil, and dressed his body in new clothes,
so that he looked as beautiful as a bridegroom.
He took up a weapon to guard the flocks and shepherds
against the wolves and lions that preyed upon them.
Therefore, at night, with Enkidu to guard them,
the shepherds could lie down in peaceful sleep.
ii
One day a stranger came into the camp
bearing a richly decorated platter,
and Enkidu asked Shamhat to question him.
“Where are you going? Where are you hurrying to?”
The young man opened his mouth and said to them:
“I am going to the wedding feast in Uruk,
bearing delicious offerings on the platter,
ceremonial offerings for the feast.
Before the husband, Gilgamesh will lie
in pleasure with the bride in the marital chamber.
There is no withstanding the aura or power of the desire
of the Wild Ox Gilgamesh, the strongest of all.”
Then Enkidu was full of anger and said:
“Take me to Uruk, the city of Gilgamesh,
whose aura and power cannot be withstood.
I will cry out in Uruk, challenging him:
‘It is I, Enkidu. The strength of the wild man
born in the wilderness cannot be withstood.’”
So they set out for the wedding feast in Uruk.
iii
Enkidu entered Uruk; then, amazement
crowded the streets at the sight of the size of him,
the strength and beauty, the likeness to Gilgamesh.
“One has appeared worthy of Gilgamesh,
stormy heart to struggle with stormy heart.”
“The wedding feast of the goddess of love is ready.”
Enkidu stood, guardian on the threshold
of the marital chamber, to block the way of the king,
the aura and power of the Wild Ox Gilgamesh,
who was coming to the chamber to take the bride.
Stormy heart struggled with stormy heart
as Gilgamesh met Enkidu in his rage.
At the marital threshold they wrestled, bulls contending;
the doorposts shook and shattered; the wrestling staggered,
wild bulls locked-horned and staggering staggered wrestling
through the city streets; the city walls and lintels
shuddered and swayed, the gates of the city trembled
as Gilgamesh, the strongest of all, the terror,
wrestled the wild man Enkidu to his knees.
And then the rage of Gilgamesh subsided.
He turned his chest away. Enkidu said:
“You are the strongest of all, the perfect, the terror.
The Lady Wildcow Ninsun bore no other.
Enlil has made you sovereign over the city.”
Then Enkidu and Gilgamesh embraced,
and kissed, and took each other by the hand.
iv
Enkidu listened as Rimat-Ninsun spoke
to Gilgamesh her son: “Enkidu has neither
father nor mother; there is no one to cut
the wild man’s hair. He was born on the grasslands and grazed
with gazelles and the other beasts on the grass of the grasslands;
Enkidu, the companion, will not forsake you.”
Enkidu listened, and wept, and felt his weakness.
Then Enkidu and Gilgamesh embraced,
and kissed, and took each other by the hand.
v
Enkidu spoke these words to Gilgamesh:
“Huwawa’s mouth is fire; his roar the floodwater;
his breath is death. Enlil made him guardian
of the Cedar Forest, to frighten off the mortal
who would venture there. But who would venture
there? Huwawa’s mouth is fire; his roar
is the floodwater; he breathes and there is death.
He hears the slightest sound somewhere in the Forest.
Enlil made him terrifying guardian,
whose mouth is fire, whose roar the floodwater.
Helpless is he who enters the Cedar Forest.”
But Gilgamesh replied: “Who is the mortal
able to enter heaven? Only the gods
can live forever. The life of man is short.
What he accomplishes is but the wind.
Where is the courage that you used to have?
Where is the strength? It is Gilgamesh
who will venture first into the Cedar Forest,
and you can follow after, crying out:
‘Go on, go forward, go on, embrace the danger!’
You who have fought with lions and with wolves,
you know what danger is. Where is your courage?
If I should fall, my fame will be secure.
‘It was Gilgamesh who fought against Huwawa!’
It is Gilgamesh who will venture into the Forest
and cut the Cedar down and win the glory.
My fame will be secure to all my sons.”
vi
So the two warriors went to the armor makers,
who made them weapons as they watched them work,
axes, and swords, and adzes, weighty and mighty,
making each of them ready for the adventure.
The people gathered at the Seven-Bolt Gate,
and Gilgamesh, the king of Uruk, said:
“It is Gilgamesh who will venture into the Forest
and cut the Cedar down and win the glory.
My fame will be secure to all my sons.
The journey I will undergo has never
been undergone before. Give me your blessing.
I will return to celebrate the feast
of the New Year. Uruk will shout in praise.”
The old men of the city said to him:
“Gilgamesh the king is a young man. His valiant
heart is restless and does not know its danger.
Huwawa’s mouth is fire; his roar is the roar
of the floodwater; he breathes and there is death.
Helpless is he who enters the Cedar Forest.”
Gilgamesh, the king of Uruk, said:
“It is Gilgamesh who will venture into the Forest.”
The old men said: “Though you are strongest of all,
do not put all your trust in your own strength.
Let Enkidu, who knows the way to the Forest,
who knows the wilderness, let him go first.
Enkidu the companion will not forsake you.
Let him go first to find the way through the passes.
Let him whose heart delights in water find
the hidden wilderness places where the cold
pure secret of the earth may be disclosed
to quench your thirst. Offer to Shamash water.
May the god Shamash grant you your desire.
Be mindful of your father, Lugalbanda.
Be mindful of his memory. May he protect you.”
Then Enkidu spoke and said to Gilgamesh:
“It is your restless heart’s desire to venture
into the Cedar Forest. Enkidu
the companion will not forsake you. Let Enkidu,
who knows the wilderness, and knows the way
to the Cedar Forest, let Enkidu go first
to find the way through the passes and find the water
to quench your thirst and offer to the god.”
vii
Then Gilgamesh and Enkidu together
went to the palace, Egalmah, to Ninsun
the All-knowing, mother of Gilgamesh.
Gilgamesh told his mother about the adventure,
how it is Gilgamesh who would kill Huwawa,
and cut the Cedar down and win the glory.
Ninsun listened grieving to what he said,
and then went grieving to her chamber where
she purified herself and put on garments
suitable to her task, and sprinkled ritual
water on the ground. She mounted the stairs
to the palace roof and at the altar burned
and offered offerings of plants, fragrant
and sacred, to propitiate the god:
“Why have you given my son a restless heart?
No one has ever undergone the journey
that he will undergo. Huwawa’s mouth
is fire. O Shamash, my son Gilgamesh
is going to the Forest on your errand,
to kill the demon hateful to the sun god.
When Shamash sees him setting out on the road,
or in the mountain passes, or entering
the Forest, may Shamash guard and keep him safe.
And may the stars, the watchmen of the night,
watch over Gilgamesh and the companion.”
Rimat-Ninsun, the mother of Gilgamesh,
in the company of the votaries of the temple,
spoke and said to Enkidu the companion,
placing a sacred pendant about his neck:
“Though not my son, here I adopt you son,
not to forsake my son in the future danger.”
Then from the Seven-Bolt Gate the two departed,
hearing the warnings and blessings of the city.
TABLETS IV AND V
i
The two of them traveled fifty leagues a day,
never resting except at night trying
to rest, stopping only once a day to eat;
in three days’ walk a hundred and fifty leagues,
a three weeks’ walk for an ordinary man.
The third day Enkidu found the hidden water
to quench their thirst and offer to the god.
They dug a well and drank their fill and offered
a libation to the god. Then Gilgamesh
climbed to a high place on the mountainside
and offered the god an offering of flour:
“May the mountain bring a fortunate dream from Shamash.”
They made camp there that night and Enkidu
prepared a sleeping place, prepared a shelter
against the wind that blew along the mountain.
The two of them sheltered themselves against the wind.
After a time the oblivion of sleep
poured in upon the king, the strongest of all.
He slept, but at midnight suddenly awoke,
and awakened the companion, Enkidu:
“Did you call out to me, just now, in the night?
Why did I waken? Was it you that touched me?
Was it a god went through the camp? A dream?
What makes my skin creep? I had a dream.
I dreamed we were going through a mountain gorge
and the huge mountain fell down on the two of us.
We were as little as flies compared to the mountain.”
Enkidu, born in the wilderness, replied:
“The dream you dreamed tonight is fortunate.
The mountain that you dreamed about is Huwawa.
Huwawa will fall down like a mountain and die.
His dead body will lie on the plain like a mountain.”
On the next day they traveled fifty leagues,
and fifty leagues a day for two days more.
Then Enkidu found the water. They dug a well
to quench their thirst and offer to the god,
and Gilgamesh offered his offering of flour:
“May Shamash grant a fortunate dream tonight.”
Enkidu, born in the wilderness, made a shelter.
The two of them sheltered themselves against the wind.
After a time the oblivion of sleep
poured in upon the king. He fell asleep,
but at midnight suddenly woke up, disturbed,
and said to the companion, Enkidu:
“Did you call out to me in the night? Was it you
that touched me? Was it a god went through the camp?
In the dream I had, a great bull head was thrashing
over my body in glory, and bellowing
over me, me helpless on the ground; the breath
of the bull snout breathed on me; the bellowing
bull noise shook the earth and broke it open;
the choking dust rose up and filled the dream.
Then one brought water to me in my dream.”
“The dream you dreamed tonight is fortunate.
The bull you dreamed of in your dream is not
the demon enemy guardian of the Forest.
The bull is Shamash. The wrestling is his blessing.
The one who brought you water is your father.”
On the next day they traveled fifty leagues,
in three days’ time one hundred and fifty leagues,
a three weeks’ walk for an ordinary man.
Then Enkidu found the place to dig a well
to quench their thirst and offer to the god,
and Gilgamesh made his offering of flour:
“May Shamash grant a fortunate dream tonight.”
Enkidu, born in the wilderness, made a shelter.
The two of them sheltered themselves against the wind
and a shower of rain that passed across the mountain.
After a time the oblivion of sleep
poured in upon the king. He slept, but at midnight
suddenly awoke, and said to the companion:
“Did you call out to me, just now, in the night?
Why did I waken? Was it you that touched me?
Was it a god went through the camp? A dream?
What makes me fearful? I had a dream.
The earth shook and the sky shook; and a white glare
filled up the sky, and then there was nothing at all
but silence and darkness, and after that the lightning
broke out and the thunder everywhere, and then
the rain was fire that was raining down,
and then the rain was ashes raining down.
Let us go back from the mountain, down to the plain.
Let us consider all these things together.”
But Enkidu once again told Gilgamesh
that the dream he had dreamed that night was fortunate.
So day after day they journeyed on to the Forest.
There were other dreams that disturbed the sleep of the king,
night after night as they journeyed to the Forest,
and Enkidu always said they were fortunate.
Gilgamesh, weeping, prayed to the god Shamash:
“Be mindful of the promise asked in Uruk.
Guard and protect those who go on your errand,
to kill the demon hateful to the god.
Protect us as we pass through fearfulness.”
There was a noise in the sky that spoke and said:
“Seven terrors are the garments of Huwawa.
The aura of Huwawa is the terrors.
Helpless is he who enters the Cedar Forest
when the demon wears the seven. Hurry, Huwawa
has not put on the seven. He wears but one.”
ii
They came to the Cedar Forest that grew upon
the sides of the Cedar Mountain, throne of Irnini,
forbidden dwelling place of immortal gods.
This was the place the guardian demon guarded
to frighten away the daring mortal who
would ventur
e there. But who would venture there?
This was the place Huwawa was; Huwawa’s
breath is death. Beautiful is the Forest;
green upon green the cedars; fragrant the air
with the fragrance of cedar trees; the box that grew
along the silent walks of the guardian demon,
shadowed and still, utterly still, was fragrant.
Then Gilgamesh was afraid, and Enkidu
was afraid, and they entered into the Forest, afraid,
the two of them together, and felled some cedars.
The guardian of the Cedar Forest roared.
Then followed confusions of voices and also of hearts.
“The life of man is short.” “Helpless is he
who enters the Forest.” “Protect us as we pass
through fearfulness.” “Where is the strength, the courage?”
Always the face of Huwawa was somewhere there.
There was the noise of swords, daggers, and axes,
confusions of noises in the Cedar Forest.
Then Gilgamesh saw the face of Huwawa the demon
and fled from the face, hiding himself away,
and Enkidu found him and said: “Two people, companions,
they can prevail together against the terror.”
There was the noise of swords, daggers, and axes,
confusions of noises in the Cedar Forest.
Always the face of Huwawa was somewhere there.
The guardian of the Forest roared, and then
the companions fought each other in the confusions
of hearts, confusions of noises, swords, and axes.
Then Enkidu saw the face of Huwawa the demon
and fled from the face, hiding himself away,
and Gilgamesh found him and said: “Two people, companions,
they can prevail together against the terror.”
Then Gilgamesh said: “The face of Huwawa keeps changing!”
Enkidu said: “You are the strongest of all.”
Gilgamesh, weeping, cried out to the god Shamash:
“Protect us as we pass through fearfulness.”
Then Shamash heard the prayer of Gilgamesh
and raised up thirteen storms against Huwawa;
the Wind of Simurru and the North Wind and the South
Wind and the West Wind and the East Wind and the Bone-
Cold Wind and the Great Storm Wind and the Great Snow Wind
and the Ice Wind and the Sand Wind and the Screaming
Wind and the Devil Wind and the Bad Wind;
he raised up thirteen storms to beat against
the face of the aura of the demon Huwawa,
beating their tempest feet upon the earth
and breaking the earth wide open, splitting the mountains,
lightning and thunder revolving everywhere.