Tablet V
Then they crossed the moat, that surrounds the cedar forest, and entered under the canopy of trees. Everything is quiet around. Humbaba sneaked up to the heroes inaudibly. Humbaba’s powerful body was dressed in magical robes, which radiate death to the heroes. But what is it? A storm suddenly struck from the clear sky. Shamash, noticing the danger, released eight winds. Thunders are rumbling. Lightning is crossing like the giant swords. Humbaba started spinning like a splinter in a whirlpool. A terrible cry escaped from his open mouth. And a plea for mercy is with this cry.
– Don’t listen to him, my friend, – Enkidu said. – This evil monster is worthy to die. But it is necessary first to render harmless his clothes, which radiating death. Without them, Humbaba is not terrible.
– Oh no! – Gilgamesh answered. – If you catch a bird, the chicks won’t scatter. They will gather around, and we can easily defeat them.
By Rama, CC BY-SA 3.0 fr, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=52666481
Gilgamesh raised his ax, weighing three talents, drew his sword from his belt, and struck Humbaba right in the back of the head. Enkidu raised his ax, he struck Humbaba in the chest. On the third powerful blow, Humbaba fell to the ground. The monsters’ parts had moved no longer. And the cedars suddenly swayed and groaned like people, because their guardian died.
– Now let’s take on the chickens! – said Gilgamesh, and at once he tore off one piece of the robe from Humbaba’s body off and threw it into a pit of water. And the water started boiling in the pit, emitting hot steam. Enkidu threw a net over the other six robes, which crawled like snakes on the grass, and threw them into the same pit.
– Now let’s get down to the cedars! – said Gilgamesh, and he hit the trunk with an ax. The cedar forest shook with the impact. Covering his face with his hands, Enkidu fell to the ground: “What are you doing, my friend?! You destroy a living body. I smell blood. It is similar to human blood, only in a different color.
Tablet VI
Enkidu, immersed in sleep, wandered with the gazelles across the steppe. Gilgamesh, awakening, washed, threw his curls from the forehead onto the back, took off everything dirty, and put on clean clothes. Shining with the beauty, he sat down next to his sleeping friend. Ishtar descended from the sky. Something stirred in the heart of the fierce lioness that seemed new to her, although this feeling had visited her many times before. And she turned to the hero with these words:
I want, Gilgamesh, that you become my husband. As a gift, you will receive a chariot from me – golden wheels, amber drawbars. And hurricanes of mighty mules will be harnessed into it. They will take you to our house. And as soon as you enter it, the cedars’ resin will do you drunk with the aroma. You will see what is inaccessible to others. You will sit on the gold throne, and earthly kings and rulers will kneel before you. The hills and plains will pay tribute to you. Goats and sheep will give you twins and triplets. Your donkey, even with a load, will overtake the onager. Your chariots will be the first in the run, and there will be no equal to oxen under the yoke in the world.
By Sailko – CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=77568210
– Shut up! I will not marry you! – Gilgamesh interrupted the goddess. – You are like a brazier that goes out in the cold. You are a thin door that lets the wind in. The house that collapsed on the owner, the elephant trampled on its blanket, the resin with which the porter was scalded, the fur full of holes, the sandal shaking the leg. You’d better remember who you loved and who kept your gratitude for your love. Tammuz, whom you loved first, suffers year after year. You loved the allalu bird – you beat him, broke his wings. He lives in the middle of the forest, filling him with a cry: “Wings! Where are my wings?” You loved the mighty lion. What he got out of love – only many traps in the steppe. You loved the horse, who was brave in battles. You drove him into the stable, rewarded him with a bridle and a whip, deprived the clear streams, gave him drink with muddy water, and ordered him to ride until he fell. You also gave your love to the goat herder. He baked cakes in the ashes for you and brought suckers every day. You turned him into a wolf. The helpers chase him, the dogs, guarding the sheep, grab him by the thighs. Ishulana, the keeper of the father’s garden, was loved by you. He brought the bunches of dates to your bed in the mornings. He rejected your claims, and you turned him into a spider, forced to weave a web between trees, and be afraid of the earth. Now your lust has turned to me. You will treat me as with those.
Hearing these speeches, the goddess was furious, she soared into the sky with a wasp and appeared before the heavenly throne of Anu:
– Oh, my father! – She screamed, sobbing. – Gilgamesh insulted me. He listed all my sins and put me to shame. Let him be punished.
– But you were the first to insult the king with your proposal.
– Let him be punished! – the goddess roared. – Make a bull to trample the wicked Gilgamesh in his chambers. If mortals insult us, immortals, the gifts that they bring daily will become scarce, your throne will shake, my father! Therefore, you must help in my revenge. If you do not wish, I will descend into the lower kingdom and release the dead so that they devour all the living.
– I agree! – Anu said in dismay, – there will be a bull for you, just leave the dead in the lower world so that they do not mix with the living.
By a wave of the hand, the lord of heaven created a mighty bull. The goddess drove him straight to the ground in the hated city. Reaching the Euphrates, the bull drank its water in seven gulps, and on dry land, he entered Uruk. From his breath, a pit appeared. One hundred men fell into this pit. His second breath opened another hole. Two hundred Urukians died in it. Hearing the noise, the friends went out to meet the bull. Enkidu, rushing from behind, seized the bull by the tail, and the bull turned.
Gilgamesh stabbed him between the horns with a dagger. The bull fell to the ground, already lifeless. With the same dagger, Gilgamesh ripped open the side of the bull and pulled out a huge heart. He brought it as a gift to Shamash.
By U0045269 – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=45548560
Climbing the wall of Uruk, Ishtar the goddess shouted: – Woe to you, Gilgamesh! You disgraced me by killing the bull! Enkidu heard these speeches, tore the tail of the bull, and threw right in the face of the goddess with the words: – If you were closer, I would have dealt with you in my own way. I would have wrapped you with the intestines of the bull that you let loose on Uruk.
The goddess sobbed and called upon the harlots of the city, that they were faithfully serving her, to mourn the bull. Gilgamesh called the masters to prepare the bull’s horns. They may include six measures of oil. The hero gave this oil to his father Lugalbanda, and fixed the horns over the bed. Washing their hands, they passed through the crowded streets of Uruk. Then Gilgamesh made a great feast in the palace. Tired, the heroes fell asleep nearby.