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Gilgamesh and the Tavern-Keeper
| Translation: |
‘[My friend, whom I loved so deeply,]
who with me went through every danger,
Enkidu, whom I loved so deeply,
who with me went through every danger:
‘he went to the doom of mortal men.
Weeping over him day and night,
I did not surrender his body for burial —
"Maybe my friend will rise at my cry!" —
‘for seven days and seven nights,
until a maggot dropped from his nostril.
After he was gone I did not find life,
wandering like a trapper in the midst of the wild.
‘O tavern-keeper, I have looked on your face,
but I would not meet death, that I fear so much.’
Said the tavern-keeper to him, to Gilgamesh:
‘O Gilgamesh, where are you wandering?
‘The life that you seek you never will find:
when the gods created mankind,
death they dispensed to mankind,
life they kept for themselves.
‘But you, Gilgamesh, let your belly be full,
enjoy yourself always by day and by night!
Make merry each day,
dance and play day and night!
‘Let your clothes be clean,
let your head be washed, may you bathe in water!
Gaze on the child who holds your hand,
let a wife enjoy your repeated embrace!
‘For such is the destiny [of mortal men,]
that the one who lives . . . . . . . . . ’
[Said] Gilgamesh to her, [to the ale-wife:]
‘O tavern-keeper, why do you talk [this way?]
My heart is [still very] sick for my friend.
O tavern-keeper, why do you talk [this way?]
My heart is [still very] sick for Enkidu.
‘But you dwell, O tavern-keeper, on the shore [of the ocean,]
you are familiar with all [the ways across it.]
Show me the way, [O show me!]
If it may be done [I will cross] the ocean!’
Said the tavern-keeper to him, [to Gilgamesh:]
‘O Gilgamesh, never [before] was there one like you!
Who [but the Sun God] can travel [that journey?’]
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| Category: | Myths and Epics
-- Narratives featuring rulers or heroes/heroines
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| Publication: | Andrew George, The Epic of Gilgamesh (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 2000) 123-5 |
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| Available from: | Publisher's Web Site |
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| Edition: | A R George, The Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic (Oxford: OUP, 2003) pls. 17-19 |
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| Date: | 18th century BC |
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| Alternate Title: | The Wisdom of Shiduri (Siduri) |
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| Language: |
Akkadian
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| Medium: |
clay tablet
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| Find spot: |
Sippar (probably)
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| Record Number: | 35 |
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| Listing added: | 2007-06-15 10:30:14 |
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| Last Updated: | 2007-06-21 13:17:52 |
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| Submitted by: | Andrew George -- School of Oriental and African Studies, London
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