Gilgamesh: The New Translation

by Anonymous

Then Gilgamesh spoke these words unto Enkidu, “Shall I not fight Humbaba, the Fierce, because I am afraid of facing Death? Shall I be accounted a coward? I think not. It is only through deeds of glory that I will achieve eternal renown. To every warrior is Death preferable to Dishonor.

Judge fairly the grievances and petitions of the weak and poor, and let not the strong and wealthy gain unjust advantage.

The life of a man is as easily broken as a reed in a thicket of cane. Death all too soon cuts down, in their prime, the handsome youth and the comely maiden. No one beholds the face of Death. No one hears the voice of Death. But pitiless and unyielding Death cuts down all. Everything is impermanent.

All is transitory. The sleeping and the dead, how alike they are. They both portray the image of Mortality. No distinction is there between master and servant when both have reached the end of their allotted life span and breathed their last.

Gilgamesh said, “Saw you the young man who uncovered not the loins of his wife?” Enkidu said, “I saw him.” Gilgamesh said, “How fares he?” Enkidu said, “For all eternity does he knot ropes and then does he undo these knots. And, for all eternity, does he cry over this.”

The Biblical point of view is that he who drinks wine becomes drunk; the Babylonian says if you drink wine you become happy.