{"collection":"Ancient Near East","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/ane/iai/iai09.htm","path":"ane/iai/iai09.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/ane/iai/iai09.htm","text":"The night is fleeing from the light of dawn,\n Which dimly falls upon the palace lawn;\n The King upon his royal dum-khi\u00a01 sleeps,\n And to his couch again Queen Ishtar creeps.\n In spite his dream to dismal thoughts she turns,\n Her victim tosses, now with fever burns:\n He wildly starts, and from his dum-khi springs,\n While loud his voice throughout the palace rings:\n \"Ho! vassals! haste to me! your King!\" he cries,\n And stamping fiercely while, his passions rise.\n The sukh-li\u00a02 and masari\u00a03 rush in:\n \"What trouble, Sar? have foes here come within?\n Then searching around they in his chamber rush,\n And eagerly aside the curtains push.\n The King yet paces on the floor with strides\n That show the trouble of his mind, and chides\n Them all as laggards; \"Soon the sun will rise:\n My steed prepared bring hence!\" he turning cries.\n He mounts and gallops through the swinging gates,\n Nor for attendance of his vassals waits.\n Nor turns his face toward the nam-za-khi,\u00a04\n Who quickly opened for the King to fly\n Without the gates; across the plains he rides\n Away unmindful where his steed he guides.\n The horse's hoofs resound upon the plain\n As the lone horseman with bewildered brain,\n To leave behind the phantoms of the night,\n Rides fiercely through the early morning light,\n Beyond the orange orchards, citron groves,\n 'Mid feathery date-palms he reckless roves.\nThe fields of yellow grain mid fig-trees flash\n Unseen, and prickly pears, pomegranates, dash\n In quick succession by, till the white foam\n From his steed's mouth and quiv'ring flanks doth come;\n Nor heeds the whitened flowing mane, but flies,\n While clouds of dust him follow, and arise\n Behind him o'er the road like black storm clouds,\n While Zu\u00a05 the storm-bird onward fiercely goads\n The seven\u00a06 raven spirits of the air,\n And Nus-ku\u00a07 opens wide the fiery glare\n Of pent-up lightnings for fierce Gibil's\u00a08 hand,\n Who hurls them forth at Nergal's\u00a09 stern command,\n And Rimmon\u00a010 rides triumphant on the air,\n And Ninazu\u00a01 for victims doth prepare,\n The King rides from the road into the wild,\n Nor thought of danger, his stern features smiled\n As the worn steed from a huge lion shied,\n Which turning glanced at them and sprang aside;\n Now Zi-pis-au-ni\u00a02 fly before the King.\n And yellow leopards through the rushes spring.\n Upon Euphrates' banks his steed he reins,\n And views the rosy wilds of Sumir's plains.\nHe looked toward the east across the plain\n That stretched afar o'er brake and marshy fen,\n And clustering trees that marked the Tigris' course;\n And now beyond the plain o'er fields and moors,\n The mountain range of Zu\u00a03 o'er Susa's land\n Is glowing 'neath the touch of Samas' hand;\n For his bright face is rising in the east,\n And shifting clouds from sea and rising mist,\n The robes of purple, violet and gold,\nWith rosy tints the form of Samas fold.\n The tamarisk and scarlet mistletoe,\n With green acacias' golden summits glow,\n And citron, olives, myrtle, climbing vine,\n Arbutus, cypress, plane-tree rise divine;\n The emerald verdure, clad with brilliant lines,\n With rose-tree forests quaffs the morning dews..\n The King delighted bares his troubled brow,\n In Samas' golden rays doth holy bow.\n But see! a shadow steals along the ground!\n And trampling footsteps through the copses sound,\n And Izdubar, his hand placed on his sword,\n Loud cries:\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\"Who cometh o'er mine Erech's sward?\"\n An arm\u00e8d warrior before him springs;\n The King, dismounted, his bright weapon swings.\n \"'Tis I, Prince Dib-bara,\u00a04 Lord Izdubar,\n And now at last alone we meet in war;\n My soldiers you o'erthrew upon the field,\n But here to Nuk-khu's\u00a05 son thine arm shall yield!\n The monarch eyes the warrior evil-born,\n And thus replies to him with bitter scorn:\n \"And dost thou think that Samas' son shall die\n By a vile foe who from my host did fly?\n Or canst thou hope that sons of darkness may\n The Heaven-born of Light and glory slay?\n As well mayst hope to quench the god of fire,\n But thou shalt die if death from me desire.\"\n The giant forms a moment fiercely glared,\n And carefully advanced with weapons bared,\n Which flash in the bright rays like blades of fire,\n And now in parry meet with blazing ire.\n Each firmly stood and rained their ringing blows,\n And caught each stroke upon their blades, till glows\n The forest round with sparks of fire that flew\n Like blazing meteors from their weapons true;\nAnd towering In their rage they cautious sprung\n Upon each, foiled, while the deep Suk-ha\u00a06 rung.\n At last the monarch struck a mighty blow,\n His foeman's shield of gold, his blade cleft through;\n And as the lightning swung again his sword,\n And struck the chieftain's blade upon the sward,\n A Sedu springs from out the tangled copse,\n And at his feet the sword still ringing drops.\n The King his sword placed at his foeman's throat\n And shouted:\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\"Hal-ca\u00a07 to yon waiting boat!\n Or I will send thy body down this stream!\n Ca is-kab-bu! va kal-bu!\u00a08 whence you came!\n The chief disarmed now slunk away surprised,\n And o'er the strength of Sar-dan-nu\u00a09 surmised.\n The King returns, and rides within the gate\n Of Erech, and the council entered late.\n29:1 \"Dum-khi,\" couch.\n29:2 \"Su-khu-li rabi,\" attendants of the King.\n29:3 \"Masari,\" guards of the palace.\n29:4 Nam-za-ki,\" openers of the gates.\n30:5 \"Zu,\" the divine bird of the storm-loud the god worshipped by Izdubar, the god who stole the tablets of heaven.\n30:6 The seven wicked spirits in the form of men with faces of ravens.\n30:7 \"Nus-ku,\" the gate-keeper of thunder.\n30:8 \"Gibil,\" the god of fire and spells and witchcraft.\n30:9 \"Ner-gal,\" director of the storms, the giant King of War, the strong begetter.\n30:10 \"Rimmon,\" the god of storms and hurricanes.\n30:1 \"Nin-a-zu,\" the goddess of fate and death.\n30:2 \"Zi-pis-au-ni,\" spirits of the papyri, or reeds.\n30:3 Mountain range of Zu. The ancient name is unknown, but as Susa takes its name from Zu, the divine bird of the storm-cloud, we have given the mountains of Susiana their probable ancient name.\n31:4 \"Dib-bara\" (\"the darkening one\"), the son of Nuk-khu. He is supposed to have been the viceroy of Khumbaba, and led the attack upon Erech.\n31:5 \"Nuk-hu,\" or \"Nuk-khu,\" the god of darkness and sleep. He is sometimes called \"Cus-u.\"\n32:6 \"Suk-ha,\" wood or grove, or a forest.\n32:7 \"Hal-ca!\" \"Go!\"\n32:8 \"Ca is-kab-bu! va kal-bu!\" \"Thou fool and dog!\" \"Ca\" (\"thou\") is the short form of \"cat-ta\" or \"ca'a\"; generally it appears as \"at-ta.\"","title":"Ishtar and Izdubar: Alcove I: Column II. The King's Second Dream","type":"page"}