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    "endpoint": "/api/sources/epic-of-gilgamesh/06-the-fourth-tablet-the-arrival-at-the-gate-of-the-forest.json"
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  "work": {
    "slug": "epic-of-gilgamesh",
    "name": "Epic of Gilgamesh"
  },
  "parents": [],
  "chapter": {
    "num": 6,
    "slug": "06-the-fourth-tablet-the-arrival-at-the-gate-of-the-forest",
    "title": "The Fourth Tablet: The Arrival at the Gate of the Forest",
    "of": 14,
    "words": 846,
    "text": "## The Fourth Tablet: The Arrival at the Gate of the Forest\n\n\n\n#### THE FOURTH TABLET.\n\n##### THE ARRIVAL AT THE GATE OF THE FOREST.\n\n(*Of Column I about ll. *1-36* are mutilated or missing, there being actually the beginnings of only sixteen lines. When the text becomes connected the heroes have reached the Gate of the Forest*).\n\n*Column I*.\n\n(*Enkidu addresses the Gate*).\n\n36. 1Enkidu lifted [his eyes] . . . and spake with the Gate as [’t were human(?)]:\n\"O thou Gate of the Forest without understanding(? . . .\nSentience which thou hast not, . . . .\n\n\n40.I for (full) forty leagues have admired thy [wonderful] timber,\n(Aye), till I sighted the towering Cedar . . . .\n(O but) thy wood hath no peer (in the country) . . .\nSix *gar* thy height, and two *gar* thy breadth . . .\n45.(Sooth, but) thy stanchion (?), thy socket (?), 1 thy pivot (?), thy lock (?), and thy shutter (?),\n[(All of them) must have been fashion’d for thee] in the City of Nippur!\nO, if I had but known, O Gate, that this was [thy grandeur],\nThis, too, the grace [of thy structure], then either an axe had I lifted\n50.Or I had . . . or bound together . . . .\"\n\n(*Of the next Column remains a fragment, and that only presumed to belong to one of the above fragments from its appearance, which speaks of terror, a dream, and sorrow: \"let me pray the gods . . . . may thy? god be . . . the father of the gods.\" Again, of the third Column there is only a small portion left of the right half *(*this fragment, too, being also presumed to belong to the same tablet as that above-mentioned*)*, speaking of Gilgamish, the Forest, and Enkidu. The fourth Column is entirely lost. Of Column V the latter part survives, in this case without any uncertainty. After a few broken lines it runs as follows, the first speaker being probably Enkidu, and the scene the Gate of the Forest*):\n\n6.\". . . [O, haste] thee, withstand him, he will not [pursue(?) thee],\n[We will] go on down into the wood not daunted, together (?)].\n. . . Thou shall put on seven garments ..\n. . . putting on, and six . . . (?) . . . \"\n10.He like a mighty wild bull . . .\nFlung he the Portal afar, and [his] mouth was fill’d (with his challenge),\nCried to the Guard of the Forest: \"Up (?) . . . !\n[’Tis I will challenge] Humbaba like to a . . .\"\n\n(*A small gap*.)\n\n*Column VI*.\n\n(*Enkidu is speaking*)\n\n\"Trouble (?) [I foresee(?)] wherever I go . . . .\n5.O my friend, I have [seen] 2 a dream which un- . . . .\"\nThe day of the dream he had seen fulfilled . . . . 3\n\n\n(Enkidu is stricken with fear at thought of the combat).\nEnkidu lay for a day, [yea, a second]—for Enkidu [lying]\n10.(Prone) on his couch, was a third and a fourth day . . ., a fifth, sixth and seventh,\nEighth, ninth, [and tenth]. While Enkidu [lay in his] sickness . . ., th’ eleventh,\n(Aye, till) the twelfth . . . on [his] couch was Enkidu [lying].\n15.Call’d he to Gilgamish, . . . . . . . . .\n\"(O but), my comrade, . . . hateth me . . because within Erech\nI was afraid of the combat, and . . . My friend, who in battle . . .\"\n\n(*A small gap in which Gilgamish has answered. Enkidu replies*):\n\n26.[Enkidu open’d] his [mouth] and spake [unto Gilgamish, saying]:\n(\"Nay, but), [my friend, let us no wise] go down [to the depths of the Forest],\n(For) ’tis my hands [have grown weak], and [my arms] are stricken with palsy.\"\n\n________________________________\n\nGilgamish open’d his mouth and spake [unto Enkidu], saying:\n30.\"Shall we, O friend, [play] the coward? . . . . . .\n. . . . thou shalt surpass them all(?) . . . .\n[Thou, O] my friend, art cunning in warfare, art [shrewd(?)] in the battle,\n(So) shalt thou touch the . . . and of [death] have no terror,\n\n(*Two difficult and mutilated lines*).\n\n[So that] the palsy (now striking) thine arms [may] depart, and the weakness\nPass [from thy hands]! [Be brave(?)] and resist! O my comrade, together\nWe will go down—let the combat [in no wise diminish(?)] thy courage!\n40.O forget death, and be fearful(?) of nothing(?) . . (for he who is) [valiant(?)],\nCautious (and) careful, by leading [the way] hath his own body guarded,\n(He ’tis) will safeguard a comrade.\"\n                                   A name by their [valour(?)] . .\nThey will establish. (And now) they together arrive at the barrier(?),\n[Still’d into silence(?)] their speech, and they themselves (suddenly) stopping.\n\n#### Footnotes\n\n26:1 Assyrian Version.\n\n27:1 Text has \"and\".\n\n27:2 Or \"the dream will be [fulfill’d].\"\n\n27:3 One text adds a horizontal line here.",
    "project_translation": false,
    "license": null,
    "methodology_url": null
  }
}