Tablet III
The elders blessed the friends, and said words to the road: – You, Gilgamesh, do not hope for your strength. Be calm and accurate in movement. Let Enkidu walk ahead, because he knows paths of the steppes and finds a way to the cedars. Take care of your friend, Enkidu, on the uneven road give your elbow to him, and be the first in battles. You know their laws better. We entrust the king with you; you are obliged to return Gilgamesh. When friends left the city, the word came out of Gilgamesh’s mouth: “My friend, let’s visit Egalmakh to appear before the eyes of the great goddess Ninsun (patroness of shepherds and herds). There is nothing hidden to her in the world. Having appeared in Egalmakh, they entered Ninsun’s house. Gilgamesh said to her with a bow: – Oh mother! I stepped on the road, the outcome of which is in the fog. I want to fight Humbaba, with the formidable keeper of cedars. I will not return, as long as evil remains in the world. So raise up, goddess, to Shamash your gaze and voice! Ask for us before him! Leaving the heroes alone, the goddess went into their rooms. Ninsun washed her body with a soapy root, changed clothes and put on the worthy necklace. She girded it with a ribbon, crowned her head with a tiara and ascended the steps to the roof. There she made a libation in honor of Shamash and raised her hands to him: – Shamash, fair and bright, lighting heaven and earth. Why did you give Gilgamesh to me? Why did you put an indefatigable heart into his chest? Why push him to the road that threatens his life? Why does Gilgamesh need the fight with evil that nests in the world? But if you did so, take care of him! Remember our son, making your daily journey! When you go into darkness, entrust it to the guardians of the night! Saying the prayer, the goddess returned to the friends. She put the mascot around Enkid’s neck, and gave her son a magical loaf, baked by her, saying that he would be enough for both during the road.
Tablet IV
And the friends moved along the road of Shamash, kept by his eye. Having finished the day, they stopped at a halt, broke off a chunk of the loaf, then another chunk and ate. By morning, the loaf became round, as if it had just left the oven. Another day passed, and again the chunk was broken off, after it another was broken off and eaten. By morning, the loaf became round, as if it had just left the oven. Having done six weeks road during three days, they saw a mountain. Gilgamesh climbed a mountain to give her a prayer for a dream: – Mountain! Mountain! Send me a prophetic and auspicious dream in order to reach the target, without knowing fear, to find out whose victory the fight will end. Gilgamesh came down to the foot of the mountain and saw Enkidu. Without time wasting, Enkidu built a hut, looking like a bird’s nest, and made a bed of leaves. Gilgamesh crouched on the leaves, rested his chin on his knee, and the dream, the destiny of man, defeated the hero. Enkidu, sitting outside, guarded him vigilantly until he heard the excited voice of a friend at midnight. “You called me, my keeper?” – Gilgamesh asked Enkidu. – “If you didn’t call, why did I suddenly wake up? In my dream I saw a mountain under which you put a hut. We are standing near a steep cliff, and the mountain has fallen on us. Explain this dream, Enkidu!” Enkidu, turning away for a moment to hide his anxiety, began to interpret the dream: “My friend, your dream is beautiful, it is precious to us.” Everything that you saw in a dream does not inspire fear in me. We will seize the evil Humbaba, and tumble him down as if we would bring him down from the mountain. We will throw his remains to predators. Now we’ll lie down to meet Shamash in the morning and hear his word. At morning the friends went out to the road. At the end of the day, they stopped at a halt, dug a well in front of Shamash’s face and got water out of it. They broke off the chunk from the loaf, broke off another chunk, and quenched hunger and thirst. Gilgamesh felt into a dream again and, when waking up, told about the dream: “In the dream I saw the earth, all wrinkled deep, like an old man’s forehead. The animals were scared by something and escaped. I chased the bull, and grabbed its horn. He led me to a watering place. I bent drinking, and, rising back, did not see the bull.” “My friend! Your dream is beautiful” – Enkidu answered, – “You didn’t see the bull, but you saw the bright Shamash himself, that disappearing at the end of the day; you saw the God, that saved Lugalbanda when he stayed in the mountains. Shamash quenched your thirst that we would commit an act that the world had not known yet”. And again the friends moved along the road of Shamash, kept by his eye.
