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Gilgamesh’s Nightmares
— So that is the end of the story? The friends will gladden each other and enjoy the riches of this most beautiful of towns?
— The people are not us. Nor are they animals, nor gods. They are never calm, never content. They cling to one another to head more swiftly for the abyss, they are incapable of straying from the path to oblivion.
— Gilgamesh thrashes about in bed as if feverish. In the morning he imagines phantoms are clawing at his heart. He does not know that it is his heart growing claws.
— Will Enkidu come to his aid?
— He will try. He will propose an outing, to quell Gilgamesh with battles and blood. The ruler of Uruk will dream of a falling star, and the fool Enkidu will not suspect that he himself is that star.
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Gilgamesh’s Nightmares
— So that is the end of the story? The friends will gladden each other and enjoy the riches of this most beautiful of towns?
— The people are not us. Nor are they animals, nor gods. They are never calm, never content. They cling to one another to head more swiftly for the abyss, they are incapable of straying from the path to oblivion.
— Gilgamesh thrashes about in bed as if feverish. In the morning he imagines phantoms are clawing at his heart. He does not know that it is his heart growing claws.
— Will Enkidu come to his aid?
— He will try. He will propose an outing, to quell Gilgamesh with battles and blood. The ruler of Uruk will dream of a falling star, and the fool Enkidu will not suspect that he himself is that star.
