Gilgamesh went abroad in the world, but he 1)
with none who could understand his arms till he came to Uruk. But the
men of Uruk 2)
in their houses. 'Gilgamesh sounds the tocsin for his amusement, his arrogance 3)
no bounds by day or night. No son is left with his father, for Gilgamesh 4)
them all, even the children; yet the king 5)
be shepherd to his people. His lust leaves no virgin to her lover, neither the
warrior's daughter nor the wife 6)
the noble; yet this is the shepherd of the city, wise, comely, and resolute.'
The gods 7)
their lament, the gods of heaven cried to the Lord of Uruk, to Anu the god of
Uruk: 'A goddess made him, strong 8)
a savage bull, none can withstand his arms. No son is left with his father, for
Gilgamesh takes them all; and lust leaves no virgin to her love, neither the
warrior's daughter nor the wife 9)
her lover.' When Anu had heard their lamentation the gods cried to Aruru, the
goddess of creation, ' You 10)
him, O Aruru, now create his equal; let it be as like him as his 11)
reflection, his second self, stormy heart for stormy heart. Let them
contend together and leave Uruk in quiet.'
So the goddess 12)
an image in her mind, and it was of the stuff of Anu of the firmament. She
dipped 13)
hands in water and pinched off clay, she let it fall in the wilderness, and
noble Enkidu was created. There was virtue 14)
him of the god of war, of Ninurta himself. His body was rough, he 15)
long hair like a woman's; it waved like the hair of Nisaba, the goddess of corn.
His body was covered with matted hair like Samuqan's, the god of cattle. He was
innocent of mankind; he 16)
nothing of the cultivated land.
Enkidu ate grass in the hills with the gazelle and
lurked with wild beasts at the water-holes; he had joy of the water with the
herds of wild game. But 17)
was a trapper who met him one day face to face at the drinking hole, for the
wild game had entered his territory. On three days he met him face to face, and
the trapper was frozen with fear. He 18)
back to his house with the game 19)
he had caught, and he was dumb, benumbed with terror. His face was 20)
like that of one who had made a long journey.
