(translation by Nikolai Gumilyov)
He washed the weapon, he polished the weapon,
Will spread fragrant curls down your back,
He threw off the dirty, threw the clean over his shoulders,
He placed a tiara on the head and pulled himself into the tunic.
And Lady Ishtar fixed her eyes on him,
She fixed her eyes on the beauty of Gilgamesh:
“Hey, Gilgamesh, from now on you are my lover!
I want to enjoy your lust.
You will be my husband, I will be your wife,
I will lay for you a chariot of lapis lazuli
With wheels of gold and spokes of rubies,
And you will harness huge horses to it;
Enter our monastery, into the incense of cedar,
And when you enter our abode,
Those who sit on thrones will kiss your feet,
All will fall before you, kings, princes and rulers,
The people of the mountains and plains will bring you tribute,
The herds will become fat, the goats will give birth to twins for you;
The mule will perform under a heavy burden,
Your mighty horse will propel your chariot
And be proud that he has no equal.”
Gnlgamesh opens his mouth and speaks,
Ishtar addresses the mistress:
"Keep your wealth for yourself,
Body and clothing decorations,
Save food and drink for yourself,
I eat your food, which is worthy of God,
And your drink is worthy of a ruler.
After all, your love is like a storm,
A door that lets rain and storm through,
The palace where heroes die,
Resin that scorches its owner.
Fur that waters its owner.
Where is the lover you would always love,
Where is the hero you will like in the future?
Here, I’ll tell you about your desires:
To the lover of your first youth, Tammuz,
You have appointed groaning for years and years!
You fell in love with a motley bird, shepherdess,
You beat her, you broke her wings,
And she lives in the thicket and shouts: wings, wings!
You fell in love with a lion, perfect in strength,
You dug traps for him seven and seven times again!
I fell in love with a horse famous in battle,
And she gave him a whip, a bit and spurs,
You gave him seven double hours of running
You judged him to be exhausted and then just get drunk,
Silili, his mother, you judged the sobs!
You loved the shepherd, the keeper of the flock,
He always offered incense before you,
Every day I killed a kid for you,
You beat him up, turned him into a hyena
And his own shepherds are chasing him,
His dogs are tearing his skin!
And your father’s gardener was dear to you, Ishullan,
Bringing you the jewels of the garden,
Every day you decorated your altar with flowers,
You raised your eyes to him and reached out to him:
My Ishullanu, full of strength, let us revel in love,
To feel my nakedness, stretch out your hand.”
And he said to Ishullan: “What do you want from me?
Didn't my mother bake? Have I not eaten?
And I must eat the food of shame and curses,
And the thorns of the bush serve as clothing for me.”
And as soon as you heard these speeches,
You beat him up, turned him into a rat
You told him to stay in his house,
He will not go up to the roof, he will not go down to the field.
And, having loved me, you will also change my image!
Ishtar heard these speeches,
Ishtar got angry and flew to the sky,
Ishtar appeared before her father Anu,
She appeared before Antu's mother and said:
"My father, Gilgamesh just cursed me,
Gilgamesh told my crimes,
My crimes, my spells."
Anu opens her mouth, and Lady Ishtar answers:
“Truly, you have caused many disasters,
And so Gilgamesh told your crimes
Your crimes, your spells."
Ishtar opens her mouth and answers her father, Anu:
“My father, let the bull of heaven be born,
The bull of heaven that will kill Gilgamesh.
If you do not fulfill this request,
I will break the gates that enclose the waters,
I will send all the winds across the earthly space,
And there will be fewer alive than dead.”
Anu opens her mouth, and Lady Ishtar answers:
“What do you want from me?
Can you rest on straw for seven years?
Can you gather ears of grain for seven years?
And have you eaten nothing but roots for seven years?”
Ishtar opens her mouth and answers her father, Anu:
“I will rest on straw for seven years,
I will collect ears of grain for seven years
And for seven years there are only roots,
If the bull of heaven kills Gilgamesh!
Anu listened to her requests, and the heavenly bull appeared,
Anu took him by the tail and threw him into Uruk from the sky.
He crushed a hundred people in his heavy fall,
He rose to his feet and killed five hundred people with his breath,
He saw Eabani and rushed at the hero,
But, grabbing the horns, Eabani bowed his muzzle,
He killed two hundred people in total with his second breath.
His third breath swept over the earth in vain,
Eabani threw him, and he gave up the ghost.
Eabani opened his mouth and said to Gilgamesh:
“My friend, we have defeated the heavenly beast,
Shall we now say that we will have no glory in our posterity?
And Gilgamesh, like a beautiful god,
Mighty and brave lord of Uruk,
Cuts the bull between the horns and the neck,
You cut the bull, takes out the bloody heart,
He places it at the foot of Shamash.
Heroes go to the foot of Shamash
And they sit down like brothers, next to each other.
Ishtar climbed the high wall of Uruk,
She climbed onto the ledge and said her curse:
“Curse Gilgamesh, who clothed me in mourning,
He and his Eabani killed my bull.”
And when Eabani heard this,
He pulled out the bull's leg and threw it in the goddess's face.
“Now I’ll catch you and do the same to you,
I’ll wrap your bull’s tripe all over you.”
Ishtar gathered both harlots and dancers,
Over the bull's leg she raised a lament with them.
And Gilgamesh called the joiners and carpenters together,
So that they admire the length of the bull's horns.
Thirty minutes of azure stones, their mass,
They are two double cubits deep,
And six measures of oil capacity for both.
He dedicates them to his deity Lugal-banda,
He carries them and hangs them in the temple of his lord.
Gilgamesh and Eabani wash their hands in the Euphrates,
And they set off and come to Uruk Square.
The people of Uruk gather, they are contemplated,
And Gilgamesh says to the maids of the house:
“Who is brilliant among the people?
Who is powerful among the people?
Gilgamesh is brilliant among the people,
Gilgamesh is powerful among the people!
People have learned the severity of our anger,
There is no one merry at heart,
I will direct the path of their hearts!”
Gilgamesh held a feast in his house,
People lie down on beds at night and doze off,
Eabani lies down and sees visions,
And he gets up and tells Gilgamesh.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru