Read Gilgamesh : A New Rendering in English Verse Online
Authors: David Ferry
Then veiled Siduri replied to Gilgamesh:
“Who is the mortal who can live forever?
The life of man is short. Only the gods
can live forever. Therefore put on new clothes,
a clean robe and a cloak tied with a sash,
and wash the filth of the journey from your body.
Eat and drink your fill of the food and drink
men eat and drink. Let there be pleasure and dancing.”
But Gilgamesh replied to the tavern keeper:
“Tell me the way to find the only one
of men by means of whom I might find out
how death can be avoided. Tell me the way.
What are the signs of the way to Utnapishtim?
If I must cross the sea, I will cross the sea.
If not, I will wander in unknown places, seeking.”
The tavern keeper replied to Gilgamesh:
“Not from the beginning of time has anyone ever
been able to go across the glittering sea.
Shamash alone, the Sun, crosses the sea.
He is the only one. Nobody else.
The waters are treacherous, crossing the waters is fearful,
and far out in the waters, forbidding the way,
there slide the other waters, the waters of death.
Urshà nabi the boatman dwells out there,
on an island out there somewhere in the waters.
What will you do if you get as far as his island?
He guards the Stone Things and he searches out,
there in the island forest, the Urnu-Snakes.
What will you do if you get to his far-off island,
far out in the treacherous waters? Let Urshà nabi
look at the face of Gilgamesh. Perhaps
he will take you with him across the waters of death;
if not, then Gilgamesh must abandon the crossing.”
After he crossed the treacherous glittering waters
as far as the island where Urshà nabi was,
Gilgamesh raised his ax and drew out his dagger
and entered the island forest. He got to the place
where the Stone Things were, and fell upon them and broke them.
The boatman in the forest heard the noises
of dagger and ax; there was confusion of battle.
Gilgamesh fought a wingèd adversary
that gloried over him in the confusion.
Then Gilgamesh pinioned the wings of the adversary.
He took the broken Stone Things and stowed them away,
together in the boat with the Urnu-Snakes.
iii
Urshà nabi the boatman said to him:
“Your face is bitten by hunger or by sorrow.
Why do you look like one who has undergone
a terrible journey? Why do you look like one
who grieves? Why do you wear the skin of a beast?
Why is it that you roam the wilderness?”
And Gilgamesh replied then to the boatman:
“I look like one who has undergone a journey,
like one whose grief lives in his heart, and I wander
the wilderness wearing the skin of a beast because
I grieve for the death of Enkidu the companion,
he who has fought with lions and with wolves.
Together we made the journey across the mountains
through the dangerous passes to the Cedar Forest;
born in the wilderness, Enkidu made a shelter
against the winds that blew across the mountains;
together we slew Huwawa the guardian demon;
we fought the Bull of Heaven together and killed him.
Enkidu, the companion, whom I loved,
who went together with me on the journey
no one has ever undergone before,
now Enkidu has undergone the fate
the high gods have established for mankind.
Seven days and nights I sat beside the body,
weeping for Enkidu beside the body,
and then I saw a worm fall out of his nose.
I roam the wilderness because of the fear.
Enkidu, the companion, whom I loved,
is dirt, the companion Enkidu is clay.
Must I die too? Must Gilgamesh be like that?”
Gilgamesh spoke and said then to the boatman:
“Tell me the way to find the only one
of men by means of whom I might find out
how death can be avoided. Tell me the way.
What are the signs of the way to Utnapishtim?
If I must cross the waters of death, I will.
If not, I will wander in unknown places, seeking.”
Urshà nabi replied to Gilgamesh:
“With your own hands you have made the crossing harder.
You broke the talismans, you broke the Stone Things;
you took the Urnu-Snakes, which is forbidden.
Take up your ax, go back into the forest.
Cut sixty poles and then cut sixty more,
each pole of sixty cubits; fit them with rings
to strengthen them for poling; find pitch
to seal the wood against the waters of death.
When you have finished, bring me back the poles.”
So Gilgamesh went back into the forest,
cut sixty poles and then cut sixty more,
banded the poles, and sealed them against the waters,
and then brought back to the boatman what he had made.
Then Gilgamesh and Urshà nabi embarked
on the little boat and made the perilous journey,
by the third day sailing as far as would have been
a two months' sail for an ordinary boat.
And they arrived at the place of the waters of death.
Urshà nabi then said to Gilgamesh:
“Let us make our way using the punting poles.
Be sure your hands touch nothing of the water.”
So Gilgamesh took up a punting pole
to pole the little boat through the waters of death,
and after a time the wooden pole was broken
because of the might of Gilgamesh the king
poling the little boat through the deadly waters.
And so it was with a second pole, and a third,
a fourth pole, a fifth, and a sixth, and a seventh also;
and so it was with sixty poles, and then
with a sixty-first, and sixty-second, and -third,
and a sixty-fourth, and -fifth, through the death waters,
till all the poles were broken because of his might.
Then Gilgamesh stripped himself and as a sail
held up the animal skin he had been wearing,
and so the little boat sailed on the waters.
iv
The old man standing on the faraway shore
gazed at a little boat approaching. He gazed
at a boat approaching across the waters of death,
and wondering said to himself, consulting his heart:
“The Stone Things have been broken, and there is one
other than Urshà nabi in the boat.
I gaze and gaze across the waters of death
but I cannot tell who sails in the boat approaching.”
The old man spoke and said to Gilgamesh:
“Your face is bitten by hunger or by sorrow.
Why do you look like one who has undergone
a terrible journey? Why do you look like one
who grieves? Why do you wear the skin of a beast?
Why is it that you roam the wilderness?”
And Gilgamesh spoke to the old man and said:
“I look like one whose grief lives in his heart,
because of the death of Enkidu the companion.
Together we made the journey across the mountains
through the dangerous passes to the Cedar Forest;
he told me how the dreams were fortunate;
together we made the festal gate of cedar.
We fought the Bull of Heaven together and killed him,
and after we killed the Bull sat down and rested.
Two brothers, we washed our hands in the calm waters.
Enkidu, the companion, whom I loved,
who went together with me on the journey
no one has ever undergone before,
now Enkidu has undergone the fate
the high gods have established for mankind.
I saw the worm drop out of Enkidu's nose.
Must I die too? Must I too be like that?
I wandered the desert seeking Utnapishtim,
he who is called by men the Faraway;
I lived on the flesh of beasts I hunted down,
lions, and tigers, the bear, the hyena, the panther;
I wore the skins of beasts I had hunted down.
There was no sleep for me in the deserts or mountains.
The tavern keeper shut her door against me.
I lay in the dirt as if I were a beast.”
The old man spoke and said to Gilgamesh:
“You who were born the son of a goddess mother,
why do you grieve because of a mortal father?
How long does a building stand before it falls?
How long does a contract last? How long will brothers
share the inheritance before they quarrel?
How long does hatred, for that matter, last?
Time after time the river has risen and flooded.
The insect leaves the cocoon to live but a minute.
How long is the eye able to look at the sun?
From the very beginning nothing at all has lasted.
See how the dead and the sleeping resemble each other.
Seen together, they are the image of death.
The simple man and the ruler resemble each other.
The face of the one will darken like that of the other.
The Annunaki gathered in assembly;
Mammetum, Mother Goddess, she was with them.
There they established that there is life and death.
The day of death is set, though not made known.”
TABLET XI
Gilgamesh spoke and said to the old man then:
“When I looked at you I thought that you were not
a man, one made like me; I had resolved
to challenge you as one might challenge a demon,
a stranger-adversary. But now I see
that you are Utnapishtim, made like me,
a man, the one I sought, the one from whom
I might find out how death can be avoided.
Tell me then, father, how it came about
that you were admitted to the company
of gods, who granted you eternal life.”
The father Utnapishtim spoke and said:
“I will tell Gilgamesh the king the story;
a secret of the gods I will disclose.
There was an ancient city, Shuruppakâ
you know of itâmost fortunate of cities,
god-favored, on the banks of the Euphrates.
The gods in heaven decided in their council
to bring the flood down on the fortunate city.
They sat in secret council together, deciding.
Anu was there, the councilor Enlil,
Ninurta of the Silence, and there also
was the god Ennugi, monitor of canals.
And there was Ea, cleverest of the gods.
The voice of Ea telling me the secret
came whispering through the reed walls of my house:
âYou reed house walls, listen and hear me whisper;
listen and be attentive to what I tell you.
Utnapishtim, son of Ubartutu,
abandon your house, abandon what you possess,
abandon your house and build a boat instead.
Seek life instead of riches, save yourself.
Take with you, on the boat you build, an instance
of each thing living so that they may be
safe from obliteration in the flood.
Perform the construction of the boat with care.
Let the length of the boat and the width of the boat be equal.
Roof over the boat as the abyss is roofed.'
The whispering voice spoke through the rustling walls:
âYou reed house walls, listen and hear what I say.'
I listened and heard and spoke to the whispering voice:
âI hear what you say. What will I tell the others?
What will I tell the old men and the people?'
Ea the god whispered to me, his servant:
âTell them you can no longer live in the city,
because you are out of favor with Enlil.
The city is the city of Enlil,
and therefore Utnapishtim, whom he hates,
must find another domicile and another
god who will be his patron and protector,
and you have therefore decided to depart
from Shuruppak and seek another home.
Tell them Ea the god will be your patron,
whose domicile is Apsu the abyss.
Under the roof of Apsu is where you go.
As for the city, fortunate Shuruppak,
in the morning dawning, abundance will then rain down:
there will be plenty, a flood of bounty, the city
teeming with heaven's profusion, game birds falling,
fishes unheard-of before in song or story,
tumbling loaves of fresh-baked morning bread;
grain will come showering in from all the grain fields;
a harvest of everything, yes, more than enough.
These are the things to tell the elders and people.'
“In the first hours of the early morning dawning,
all the people came out for the boat-building,
the little children, the weak as well as the strong,
everyone carrying something: asphalt, and oil,
and pitch, the best of timber with which to build.
Day after day I labored building the boat.
Ten times a dozen cubits were the walls;
ten times a dozen cubits was each deck.
There were six decks; the cabin was divided
into nine compartments. I made up the plans;
I drew a picture of them for our guidance.
I hammered the boat together, and plugged the holes
with water plugs to keep the water out.
I made the bitumen pitch in the pitch kiln,
three
sar
of bitumen pitch to caulk the hull
and, to be certain, three
sar
to caulk the inside.
I counted punting poles and put them aboard;
I had the basket bearers stow the supplies
of oil and foodstuffs, everything I needed.
As for the people who came to help in the work