Beautiful Inanna, Queen of Heaven, daughter of the bright moon god Nanna, lived in a palace at the edge of the sky. When she descended to the ground, from each of her touches the soil was covered with greenery and flowers. The goddess had no equal in beauty, and both the divine shepherd Dumuzi and the divine farmer Enkimdu fell in love with her. Both of them wooed the lovely maiden, but she hesitated and delayed answering. Her brother, the sun god Utu, tried in every possible way to persuade her to turn her gaze to the meek Dumuzi.
Sister, may the shepherd become your husband!
Maiden Inanna, why don’t you want to?
His cream is good, his milk is excellent,
Is everything that the shepherd’s hand produces beautiful?
Inanna, may Dumuzi be your husband!
You, who are all adorned with shining stones, why don’t you want to?
His cream is good, you will drink it with him,
You, the shadow of kings, why don’t you agree?
But Inanna seems to be in love with the farmer Enkimdu.
- Let the shepherd not be my husband!
He won’t cover me with a blanket of his new wool!
To lie down with him alone - I won’t say a word!
I, a virgin, may the farmer take me!
The farmer who grows abundant herbs,
A farmer who grows abundant grains!
Utu insists and describes to his sister all the advantages of a shepherd's work over a farmer's work. However, the stubborn goddess remains adamant. She says that she much prefers Enkimdu, who covers the earth with lush greenery and grows ripe ears of corn.
Then the rejected groom Dumuzi himself comes to Inanna and in his passionate speech he manages to prove the superiority of his property compared to that of his rival. The goddess is duly impressed by his words, and she invites the shepherd the next day to the house of her mother Ningal to obtain her consent to the marriage.
The happy groom is walking along the river bank and unexpectedly meets Enkimdu. Dumuzi is excited and very determined. He is ready to fight with his opponent, but the good-natured farmer replies that if Inanna preferred the shepherd, then that is her right and he does not intend to interfere. He offers Dumuzi friendship, which he happily accepts.
The next day, Ningal agreed to the marriage of her daughter Inanna and the shepherd Dumuzi.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru