As he walked in the Garden by the edge
of the sea, Shamash the Sun saw him. He
saw that Gilgamesh was dressed in the skins
of animals and that he ate their flesh. He was
distressed, and he spoke to himself and said,
nor will, as long as the winds drive over the
sea.> And to Gilgamesh he said, never find the life for which you are search-
ing.> Gilgamesh said to glorious Shamash,
over the wilderness, am I to sleep and let the
earth cover my head for ever? Let my eyes
see the sun until they are dazzled with look-
ing. Although I am no better than a dead man,
still let me see the light of the sun.>

When the ferryman remarked on the kingšs
weary appearance, Gilgamesh replied, should not my cheeks be starved and my face
drawn? Despair is in my heart, and my face
is the face of one who has made a long journey.
I was burned with heat and cold. Why
should I not wander over the pastures?
...Enkidu my brother whom I love, the end
of mortality has overtaken him. I wept for
him seven days and nights until the worm
fastened on him. Becouse of my brother I am
afraid of death, because of my brother I stray
through the wilderness. His fate lies heavy
upon me. How can I be silent, how can I
rest? He is dust and I too shall die and be
laid in the earth for ever.>

At long last Gilgamesh found Utnapishtim
the Faraway. He addressed him as Father
and posed the question concerning the living and
the dead. He confided in the survivor and
told him of the life he sought. Utnapishtim
replied elliptically and hyperbolically at one,
saying: build a house to stand for ever, do we seal a
contract to hold for all time? Do brothers di-
vide an inheiritance to keep for ever, does the
flood-tide of rivers endure? It is only the
nymph of the dragon-fly who sheds her larva
and sees the sun in glory. From days of old
there is no permanence. The sleeping and the
dead, how alike they are, they are like a
painted death. What is there between the master and the sevant when both have fulfilled their doom?
When the Annunaki, the judges,
come together, and Mammetun, the mother
of destinies, jointly decree the fates of
men. Life and death they allot but the day of
death they do not disclose.>

And Gilagmesh replies: O Utnapishtim, where shall I go? Already
the thief in the night has hold of my limbs,
death inhabits my room; whereever my foot
rests, there I find death.>