Waking up, I invited Enkidu and his future wife Shamhat to the palace
dining room. He had recruited the best cooks in all of Babylon for this
breakfast. We had to eat the best food, and as much as possible, in order to
have the necessary strength. We didn't know what beasts we were going to face,
therefore, being well prepared was essential.
While we were eating, I asked Enkidu:
—Where will we go first?
"We could go to the Cedar Forest," he answered. It is a
beautiful place, I visited it constantly myself. However, he couldn't do much,
because that forest has an extremely powerful guardian.
—A guardian?
-Yeah. There are rumors that the Abode of the Gods is located there.
Therefore, the god Enlil placed a fearsome monster as guardian.
—How powerful is it? —I asked again.
—His name is Humbaba. I myself was able to see it several times before I
stopped visiting the place, this being the main reason for this.
—But… how powerful is it? —Enkidu still did not answer me. He seemed to
regret having mentioned that place to me.
"Now that I think about it... That's not a very good idea," he
replied.
-Because?
—That demon is huge, Gilgamesh! He would tear us to pieces in the blink
of an eye. He is as big as the walls you built in Uruk, he can break huge trees
with great ease, and the whole earth shakes when he walks.
—I did not know you as someone cowardly, Enkidu—I did not know where
that wild instinct that I saw in him when I met him had disappeared.
—I'm not a coward, I'm just trying to warn you that perhaps we are not
enemies for that beast.
"Well, if we are not enemies for him, we will die like true
legends," I replied.
We finished eating and headed towards the Cedar Forest. Before leaving,
the council of elders of Uruk came to visit me. The head of the council,
Hanish, wanted to warn me of the dangers lurking in that forest.
—My king, do not go to that place. "Terrible beasts created by the gods
themselves reside there," said the old man.
—We are the most powerful men on Earth! Do not doubt our strength! —I
reproached him indignantly.
I looked thoughtfully at the old man for a moment and an idea ran
through my head. I approached him to give him what would perhaps be my last
order as king. However, I did not want the rest of the council to hear this
order, so I decided to tell them in a whisper:
—If I don't return, I want Ukubu to take command of Babylon, because
except for me, he was always the strongest in the kingdom. And if perhaps only
Enkidu returns, make him king.
Old Hanish looked at me with concern, as for the first time he had seen
me doubting myself. Well, after everything Enkidu told me, even I began to fear
that beast. However, I had to keep this feeling deep within my being, since I
did not want to make Enkidu regret it.
The two of us finally left towards the forest. We knew that the road was
going to be long and tiring, however, it was part of the adventure. But along
the way, we decided to make a stop at the temple of the god Shamash to receive
his blessings. I always felt that he was the god who watched over me the most,
and now I needed his help more than ever.
As we left the temple, as we walked, Enkidu said to me:
—Gilgamesh, I'm no coward, but I admit that I don't have a good feeling
about this.
—Don't be scared, we are strong, brave, and we are both practically
demigods. "A demon like Humbaba won't be able to defeat us," I tried
to reassure him.
"If something happens, I want you to know that, despite such a
short time, I truly see you as a brother," he told me with a sad
expression on his face.
—I say the same, dear friend...
—My dear Shamhat told me a lot about you before I met you. He told me
that you were proud, arrogant, oppressive...
-Thank you so much! —I interrupted him as a joke.
—But he also told me that you were wise, powerful and with a big heart.
—Big heart? —I asked, puzzled.
Without understanding much, I saw him looking at me with a smile on his
face. What had Shamhat told him? I thought.
"She was right..." He hinted something again, but he still
didn't tell me.
—I was right about what?! —His attitude began to bother me.
—You are good, Gilgamesh. You want to appear selfless and proud. Maybe
I'm wrong and your pride is somewhat part of you, but you're not selfless at
all.
-What are you saying?! —I was already feeling somewhat uncomfortable
from the conversation.
—Stop pretending! -he exclaimed-. Yes, your pride corrupted your heart
over time. But don't say that you are selfless, that you don't care about your
people or other people. You made great changes for your entire population,
giving wealth and food to everyone. Many hate you, but deep down they thank you
for everything.
"I'm only doing my duty as king..." I corrected.
—Of course... And when you cried non-stop for your father, didn't you
care about anyone either?
—Don't you dare...!
Silence made a strong appearance at that moment, stopping speaking to us
for a long time.
We continued walking for hours without stopping. There was little left
to reach our destination, which was on the side of a large mountain. Besides,
we had come a long way and it was getting dark, so it was time to rest.
"We'll rest here for a while," I told him without even looking
at him.
Later we lit a fire to warm ourselves and cook. Since we didn't want to
waste time hunting, we had brought fresh meat from the palace. However, I had
never cooked in my life, since they have always done it for me, so we decided
that it would be better for Enkidu to be in charge of that task.
"My brother, I didn't want to offend you," he told me while we
ate.
—Calm down... Nothing happens. Maybe you're right, maybe I don't even
know myself that much. Or maybe I do look like something I'm not, who knows?
These things have to be discovered little by little.
After dinner we lay down on the fine grass that surrounded the mountain.
We were so comfortable that it didn't take us even five minutes to fall asleep.
However, among so much comfort, some strange dreams tormented my night,
specifically three. I woke up in each one of them, but I went back to sleep
without giving them much importance.
"I had three very strange dreams," I told Enkidu as soon as we woke up
in the morning. I think they are premonitory dreams sent by Shamash thanks to
our prayers.
-For example? -asked
—In the first one I dreamed that the great mountain fell on us. Does it
mean that the great Humbaba will crush us?
-I don't believe it. What the great Shamash wants to teach you is the
defeat of Humbaba. "The mountain represents him falling before us,"
he responded.
-I don't know what to say...
—Believe me Gilgamesh, we will win this battle. We have to do it anyway,
it's the only option there is," he tried to reassure me.
—In the second I dreamed that I was fighting a great bull that split the
ground with its breath.
—Don't worry, that means that Shamash will send us help for this
difficult battle.
For every dream he told, Enkidu tried to find a good meaning. I suppose
to reassure myself, since it was impossible for him to know the veracity of his
theories.
—In the third I dreamed that the sky split, causing terrible storms. The
earth shook so much that it made cracks as big as the mountain itself. And
after all this destruction, the world turned into ashes.
—Don't worry, Gilgamesh... That means that we will live a long time, so
long that we will even be able to witness the end of the world.
—But… Only the gods are eternal.
"I said that we will live a long time, not that we will be
immortal," he corrected himself.
—It doesn't matter, I'm not afraid of that demon.
We set off again to find Humbaba's whereabouts. Since there was little
left to go into the forest, we stopped before to chat about the battle.
—Any strategy? -asked
—No, none... We will fight together, we can do it!
Our stop was interrupted by a chilling roar. This one came from the
forest, and it didn't sound like an ordinary animal at all. Not even Enkidu's
roar produced such a chill as that beast's.
—It has to be him! —said Enkidu as he began to run towards the source of
the roar.
—Wait! Don't go alone!
I proceeded to quickly follow his steps, however, I couldn't stop
thinking about our lack of strategy. We had rushed like a gazelle to the lion,
being even more clumsy than the gazelles.
As I followed him I saw Enkidu standing still, not moving a muscle. He
turned his head slowly to look at me, and in that moment I could see the fear
on his face for the first time. I did not understand what or who could cause
such fear in Enkidu, until I raised my head.
I could appreciate the enormous and terrifying size of Humbaba. It was
larger than even the oldest cedars in the forest, its breath scared away all
the nearby birds and animals, and its presence made all the air that covered
the mountain vibrate.
—Is it him? —I asked, standing motionless before that panorama.
"Yes... He is Humbaba," Enkidu answered in the same state as
me.
—Do you think I haven't seen you? —said the enormous beast, leaving both
of them surprised. His voice softened every muscle in my body.
—Do you know we're here? —I whispered to Enkidu.
—Of course I know, you bastards! —Humbaba spoke again. He did it in an
aggressive way, as if he were always irritated.
He began to insult us constantly, while he got closer little by little.
His intentions were clear, he wanted to kill us instantly. Every step he took
made us doubt our strength, for the first time, both I and Enkidu, felt
fear.
—We better go… said Enkidu.
—No! Don't be a coward! We will fight as brothers until death decides to
take us.
Hearing my words, he lunged to attack the demon in the blink of an eye.
Well, I knew that if he were to die, he would do so with me. She put strength
into her legs, jumped up and hit him right in his ugly face. However, as Enkidu
returned to the ground, we realized that Humbaba was not affected by the blow
at all.
—But don't go alone! —I yelled at him as I joined the battle.
I grabbed my ax that I had brought with me to chop firewood and didn't
hesitate to attack him too. I went straight for the legs, since I knew how
important it was to unbalance him. Although these seemed to be made of
unbreakable rock, by applying a lot of force he could cut them slightly.
—Of all the weapons you have... Have you taken a simple ax?! —Enkidu
reproached me, disappointed for such carelessness.
—If I had taken weapons, where would the fun be?
—Unfortunates! Humbaba roared.
In a fit of rage, he began to destroy everything in his path. And in a
single lunge, he broke all the trees around him. However, thanks to our small
size compared to him and our agility, we managed to dodge each of his attacks.
—Gilgamesh, unbalance him a little more!
Said and done, I put all the strength I had into a new attack with the
ax at his legs. I managed to knock him off balance briefly, but long enough for
Enkidu to launch a powerful attack with his fist right in the chest. To our
delight, this caused the downfall of Humbaba.
-Now! —I shouted, running towards the giant's neck.
All the power of those attacks was in vain, as he got up surprisingly
quickly. We had only managed to increase his fury, bordering on madness. At
that moment, I knew that that enemy was different from everything on earth. No
one had ever made me doubt my strength as much as he did.
-Runs! —Enkidu told me while he showed me some large trees with his
finger.
I instantly understood his plan, apparently he wanted us to use them as
a hideout for the battle. There I remembered all the combat strategies that my
father Lugalbanda and my mentor Ukubu taught me. I also remembered that hiding
was not cowardice, but the best strategy for ambushing.
"He's going to hear us, he hears everything that happens in this
forest." I didn't doubt my comrade's plan, but I knew that everything that
happened in the forest also happened through Humbaba's ears.
Enkidu with his animal instinct, quickly climbed the largest of the
cedars. I proceeded to follow him, although it took me a little longer, since I
did not possess his wild qualities. Those moments that it had taken to climb
the tree were enough to attract Humbaba's attention, realizing our location.
—Are you planning to flee? Damn rats!
I was blocked again when I saw the giant approaching. I did not
understand the reason for my weakness in that battle. Although I had been a
conceited person all my life, I was not able to recover my characteristic pride
in those moments. Even Enkidu was contributing much more to the fight than me,
causing me to feel even more useless.
"Gilgamesh!" —My great friend realized my poor performance in
battle—. Where is the fearsome king of Babylon? You are strong, you even
defeated me. You are the most powerful person that exists on earth.
—But… —the words didn't even come out.
—Focus! You have no doubts, you are Gilgamesh, king of Babylon!
Because of me, I caused a slight diversion in Enkidu's attention. The
consequences were almost fatal at that time, as he received the full impact of
Humbaba's blow. Since it was in the highest part of the tree, whose height
reached one hundred meters, it was thrown a great distance, with severe
consequences. Well, Enkidu was seriously injured, so much so that he could not
even continue moving.
—Enkidu! —I screamed. The image of Enkidu receiving such a blow reached
the depths of my heart.
Anger consumed me completely, mercilessly attacking the demon. I began
to move as fast as lightning, throwing rapid blows all over his body.
Furthermore, in my favor came strong winds that made Humbaba desperate. I knew
instantly that this violent storm was the work of Shamash, giving us his help
in answer to our prayers.
-Miserable! —Humbaba shouted madly.
I put all my remaining energy into a single swing with my axe, attacking
the heel of it. The power of my attack was so great that I managed to knock him
completely to the ground. I also looked at Enkidu who was still unable to move
from the ground. This only increased my fury and I lunged at his neck, holding
my ax ready to finish him off.
—Please don't do it! —He began to beg me for his life—. I will give you
everything you want, I will make you king of this forest and I will cut down
for you all the trees you want.
—Don't listen to him, kill him! —I heard Enkidu shouting with his last
breath.
—No! Don't do it, you damned bastard! —Apparently, the demon had
suddenly changed his mood, going from begging for his life to insulting us
again—. I curse you both!
To stop him from talking, I decided that it would be best to cut off his
head as soon as possible. After this unpleasant act, I ran to Enkidu to check
his condition, which was not good at all. His arm had been immobilized and he
could barely move his neck.
-Are you OK?
"Yes, I will survive..." he answered with difficulty.
I breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this, as I honestly didn't feel
prepared to lose the only real friend I had in my entire life. After a while,
Enkidu was almost completely healed. I was impressed by his healing ability,
without a doubt, it was a gift that anyone would desire.
"I need to cut down some cedars," said Enkidu.
-So that?
—Do you remember when I told you about certain rumors about the Abode of
the Gods? -asked-. After all, Humbaba was the guardian of that place.
-Yeah! —I responded, eager to find her. Do you know where it is?
—No... But I will cut down some cedars in honor of the god Enlil.
—Why would the great Enlil want your trees?
—Not cedars, idiot! I will use the wood to build a large gate at the
entrance to the forest. So maybe, he could excuse us for killing Humbaba.
—But… Does the Abode of the Gods really exist? I asked. Or is it just a
myth?
—There are legends that are better left buried in doubt, Gilgamesh. We
have provoked enough the fury of the gods by killing that unfortunate man,
don't you think?
—Yes, you are right, my brother. Thank you for accompanying me on this
adventure, above all, for fighting alongside me and helping me with that
depression I had.
-You are welcome! —Enkidu told me, happy to have each other and
appreciate us as true comrades.
After this little talk, we proceeded to cut the cedars for the forest
gate. It took us little time to build it, since with our strength we hardly had
any difficulties in the process.
—Let's go back to Uruk! —I wanted to return home soon.
—Yes! I miss Shamhat.
—Enjoying our victory, we began the journey back to Uruk. A joy that was
not going to take long, since this battle was going to have important
consequences in the eyes of the gods.