Lecture VIII. The Myths And Epics. 399
manhood, and asked him to be her bridegroom.“If thou wilt be
my husband,”she declared—
“I will let thee ride in a chariot of lapis-lazuli and gold,
thou shalt harness each day great mules (to thy yoke);
the odours of cedar shall enter our house ...
Kings, lords, and princes [shall bow] at thy feet;
[the increase] of mountain and plain shall they bring thee in
tribute.”Gilgames, however, rejected the offer of the goddess in scorn,
and taunted her with her fickleness and cruelty and the miserable
end of all who had loved her in the past—
“Tammuz, the spouse of thy youth,
thou ordainest weeping for him year by year.
The bright-coloured wood-pigeon didst thou love;
thou didst smite him and break his wings;
in the woods he sits and cries,‘O my wings!’
Thou didst love a lion perfect in might;
seven times seven didst thou dig for him a pit.
Thou didst love a horse, glorious in battle;
whip and spur and bridle didst thou decree for him.
Fourteen hours didst thou make him gallop;
weariness and thirst didst thou lay upon him; [435]
for his mother, the goddess Silili, thou ordainest weeping.
Thou didst love the shepherd Tabulu,
who poured out the salt continually for thee;
day by day did he slay for thee the sucklings.
Thou didst smite him, and change him into a wolf.
His own shepherd-boys drove him away,
and his own dogs bit his flesh.
Thou didst love Isullanu, the gardener of thy father,
who was ever bringing thee fruit;
day by day he made bright thy dish;
thou didst lift thine eyes to him, and speak softly to him: