Tablet IV: The Arrival at the Gate of the Forest

Enkidu lifted [his eyes] . . . and spake with the Gate as [’t were human(?)]:
"O thou Gate of the Forest without understanding(? . . .
Sentience which thou hast not, . . . .
I for (full) forty leagues have admired thy [wonderful] timber,
(Aye), till I sighted the towering Cedar . . . .
(O but) thy wood hath no peer (in the country) . . .
Six gar thy height, and two gar thy breadth . . .
(Sooth, but) thy stanchion (?), thy socket (?), thy pivot (?), thy lock (?), and thy shutter (?),
[(All of them) must have been fashion’d for thee] in the City of Nippur!
O, if I had but known, O Gate, that this was [thy grandeur],
This, too, the grace [of thy structure], then either an axe had I lifted
Or I had . . . or bound together . . . ."

". . . [O, haste] thee, withstand him, he will not [pursue(?) thee],
[We will] go on down into the wood not daunted, together (?)].
. . . Thou shall put on seven garments ..
. . . putting on, and six . . . (?) . . . "
He like a mighty wild bull . . .
Flung he the Portal afar, and [his] mouth was fill’d (with his challenge),
Cried to the Guard of the Forest: "Up (?) . . . !
[’Tis I will challenge] Humbaba like to a . . ."

"Trouble (?) [I foresee(?)] wherever I go . . . .
O my friend, I have [seen] a dream which un- . . . ."
The day of the dream he had seen fulfilled . . . .

Enkidu lay for a day, [yea, a second]—for Enkidu [lying]
(Prone) on his couch, was a third and a fourth day . . ., a fifth, sixth and seventh,
Eighth, ninth, [and tenth]. While Enkidu [lay in his] sickness . . ., th’ eleventh,
(Aye, till) the twelfth . . . on [his] couch was Enkidu [lying].
Call’d he to Gilgamish, . . . . . . . . .
"(O but), my comrade, . . . hateth me . . because within Erech
I was afraid of the combat, and . . . My friend, who in battle . . ."

[Enkidu open’d] his [mouth] and spake [unto Gilgamish, saying]:
("Nay, but), [my friend, let us no wise] go down [to the depths of the Forest],
(For) ’tis my hands [have grown weak], and [my arms] are stricken with palsy."

Gilgamish open’d his mouth and spake [unto Enkidu], saying:
"Shall we, O friend, [play] the coward? . . . . . .
. . . . thou shalt surpass them all(?) . . . .
[Thou, O] my friend, art cunning in warfare, art [shrewd(?)] in the battle,
(So) shalt thou touch the . . . and of [death] have no terror,

[So that] the palsy (now striking) thine arms [may] depart, and the weakness
Pass [from thy hands]! [Be brave(?)] and resist! O my comrade, together
We will go down—let the combat [in no wise diminish(?)] thy courage!
O forget death, and be fearful(?) of nothing(?) . . (for he who is) [valiant(?)],
Cautious (and) careful, by leading [the way] hath his own body guarded,
(He ’tis) will safeguard a comrade."
A name by their [valour(?)] . .
They will establish. (And now) they together arrive at the barrier(?),
[Still’d into silence(?)] their speech, and they themselves (suddenly) stopping.