(translation by Nikolai Gumilyov)
Siduri Sabean sits on the throne of the sea,
She sits, the gods are favorable to her,
They gave her a necklace, they gave her a belt,
It is completed with a veil and hidden with a veil.
Gilgamesh rushed like a wild buffalo,
Shrouded in skin, his body is the body of a god,
The chest is filled with sorrow,
His face is similar to the face of someone leaving on a long journey.
The Sabaean woman sees him from afar,
He speaks in his heart, convinces himself:
“Perhaps the one who comes is a destroyer.
Where did he come to my domain from?
The Sabaean woman saw him and closed the door,
She closed the doors and bolted them.
Gilgamesh planned to enter these doors,
He raised his head, unhooked the ax,
He says the following word to the Sabaean woman:
“What did you see? You closed the doors!
I’ll knock down the doors and break the bolt.”
The Sabaean woman says to Gilgamesh:
“Why is your heart beating, your gaze downcast,
Why are you running across the field?
Gnlgamesh addresses the Sabaean woman with a word:
Eabani, my brother, desert panther,
Now his fate has been fulfilled,
Am I not the same? Will the same thing happen to me?
Ever since I wandered as a bird of the desert,
Maybe there are fewer stars in the sky,
For so many long years I was asleep.
May I see the sun, be saturated with light,
From the abundant light there is darkness,
May the dead see the radiance of the sun!
Show me, Sabaean, the way to Ut-napishtim,
What is its sign, tell me this sign;
If possible, I will sail across the sea,
If it’s not possible, I’ll go to the field.
The Sabaean woman says to Gilgamesh:
“There is no way to get there, Gilgamesh,
No one has sailed across the sea since ancient times;
Shamash did it, and no one will dare again.
The transition is difficult, the road is difficult,
Deep are the waters of death that block the approaches!
Where will you, Gilgamesh, cross the sea?
What will you do when you enter the waters of death?
There is, Gilgamesh, Ur-Ea, the boatman of Ut-napishtim,
With them are the “brothers of the stones”, in the forest he collects herbs,
Let him see your face!
If you can, swim with them; You can’t, come back!
But why, Gilgamesh, do you wander so much?
You won't find the immortality you want!
When the human race was created by the gods,
They ordered death to the human race
And they saved life in their hands.
You, Gilgamesh, fill your stomach,
Have fun both day and night,
Have a holiday every day
Be happy and cheerful every day,
May your robes be magnificent,
The head is anointed, the body is washed,
Admire the child who grabs your hand
Let your wife fall to your chest!”
Gilgamesh heard the Sabaean word,
He hung his ax and went ashore,
Ur-Ea there was a story, the boatman Ut-papishtim,
Ur-Ea looks into his eyes,
Ask Gilgamesh:
What's your name? Tell it to me!
I am Ur-Ea, the boatman of Ut-napishtim!
Gilgamesh opens his mouth and answers:
"I am Gilgamesh! That's my name!
From the home of the gods I came here
A long way from the sunrise.
And now, Ur-Ea, when I see your face,
Show me the way to the hermit Ut-napishtim."
The boatman Ur-Ea answers Gilgamesh as follows:
Your hands, Gilgamesh, have accomplished a lot,
“The Stone Brothers” have been defeated by you;
Raise your axe, Gilgamesh,
Cut out sixty cubits of poles,
Rip off the bark from them and put them on the shore.”
And when Gilgamesh did this,
He and Ur-Ea boarded the ship,
The ship was pushed onto the waves and set off.
Their journey is for a month. On the third day we looked:
Ur-Ea entered the waters of death.
Ur-Ea says to Gilgamesh:
“Gilgamesh, move ahead, work as a pole,
May your hands not touch the waters of death!”
Gilgamesh broke the pole, one, and the second, and the third,
He broke a hundred and twenty poles in all,
Gilgamesh took off his clothes,
I erected the mast with my own hands.
Ut-napishtim looks from afar,
Speaks in his heart, pronounces the word,
He holds advice to himself:
“Why are the ship’s poles broken?
Someone beyond my control is standing on the ship.
He's not quite a man on the right side,
I look and see that he’s not entirely human!”
Ut-napishtim says to Gilgamesh:
“What happened to your power? Why is your gaze lowered?
Why is your heart beating and wrinkles appearing on your forehead?
Gilgamesh answers Ut-napishtim:
“I said - I will see Ut-napishtim, about whom there is glory,
And I rose and went through all the countries,
I crossed difficult mountains,
Swam across all the depths of the sea,
No good wind blew in my face,
I plunged myself into poverty, filled my limbs with pain,
I did not enter the house of the Sabaean woman, my clothes were rotten!
Gorge bird, lion and jackal, deer and panther
They served as food for me, their skins pleased my heart.
Let the one who is satisfied lock the doors,
Joy flew away from me, I reached the border of sorrow.”
Ut-napishtim says to Gilgamesh:
“Are we building houses forever? Are we working forever?
Do brothers part with each other forever?
Does hatred enter the heart forever?
Do rivers forever flood the plains?
Have the birds seen the sun forever?
Since ancient times there has been no immortality on earth,
The dead and the sleeping are similar to each other,
Both do not know the face of death.
Master and servant are equal before her,
The Anunnaki, the great gods, hide it,
Mametu, mistress of fate, rules with them,
Life or death they indicate
They don’t let you guess the hour of death.”
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru