The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature
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1-10. (cf. 6.1.07.1, 6.2.1: Ni 9824 Seg. A ll. 1-2, 6.2.3: UET 6/2 356 ll. 3-8) "In those places which have been destroyed, let more places be destroyed. And in those places which have not been destroyed, let a breach be made there. Let his place become like chopped-up turnips!" -- Their rituals were alienated. Where there were bonds, that place was destroyed. Their place in the universe was eradicated. -- You should not alienate their rituals! Where there are bonds, you should not destroy the place! You should not eradicate their place in the universe. You should not move the oxen from their places!
11-12. (cf. 6.1.26.c10, 6.2.3: UET 6/2 292 ll. 1-2) Let me tell you about my fate: it is an insult. Let me explain it to you: it is a disgrace.
13-14. Were I to tell my neighbour about my fate, he would heap insults upon me.
15. (6.2.1: Ni 9824 Seg. A l. 4) I looked into the water. My destiny was drifting past.
16. I was born on an ill-fated day.
17. (cf. 6.2.1: Ni 4300 Seg. A l. 4) My fate is her voice: my mother can change it.
18. An acquaintance has gone up onto the roof to them.
19. The neighbour is on friendly terms with my mother in her house.
20-21. I am one whose fate has not been determined, confronted by a waif. "I will be the one who knows how to settle the account; let me take my position in front of you," she said to me.
22-23. I am one whose fate has not been determined, confronted by a sickness demon. "I am one who knows wealth and possessions; let me take my position in front of you," he said to me.
24-26. (cf. 6.1.07.70) Fate is a dog -- well able to bite. Like dirty rags, it clings, saying: "Who is my man? Let him know it."
27. Fate is a cloth stretched out in the desert for a man.
28. Fate is a raging storm blowing over the Land.
29. {Hard work} {(1 ms. has instead:) Fate} is a dog walking always behind a man.
30. The poor man must always look to his next meal.
31. The belching poor man should not look scornfully at the rich man.
32. How can a poor man who doesn't know how to cultivate barley manage to cultivate wheat?
33. The poor man is not appreciated.
34. The poor man chews whatever he is given.
35-36. (cf. 6.1.26.d4) He didn't plough the field during winter. And at harvest time he turned his hand to carding.
37. ...... incense burners ...... a multitude of houses.......
38-39. (cf. 6.1.17.b5) When someone is poor ......, they dine on the broth of the human breast.
40-41. (cf. 6.1.17.b4) The poor man does not strike his son a single blow; he does not ...... highly forever.
42-43. The poor man ...... arrogance toward his patron.
44. Not all the households of the poor will bow down together.
45. The word of a poor man is not accepted.
46-47. (cf. 2.34A, 6.1.22: l. 236, 6.2.3: UET 6/2 260 l. 1) Moving about defeats poverty. He who knows how to move around becomes strong. He will live longer than the sedentary man.
48-51. How lowly is the poor man! The area around the oven is a mill-house to him. His torn clothes will not be repaired. That which he has lost will not be searched for.
52-53. The poor man is this lowly: his debts are paid off with what is taken from his mouth.
54. A poor man chewing at silver.
55. The poor are the weak in the Land.
56-57. It is the companion of the poor. It is the weakness of the widows.
58-59. The face of the poor man is set as though he were having to sit in the face of the storm.
60. (cf. 2.28, 6.1.22: l. 236, 6.2.3: UET 6/2 260 l. 1) Moving about defeats poverty.
61-64. (A man speaks:) Were I to give food to the man who roves about, how could I bring it to him who does not rove about? (A woman speaks:) Were I to give food to the man who roves about, how could I bring it to him who does not rove about?
65-66. ...... a tablet ...... a scribe himself .......
67. (cf. 6.1.11.146, 6.2.3: UET 6/2 267 ll. 1-2) You are a scribe and you do not know your own name? Shame (?) on you!
68-69. (cf. 6.2.3: UET 6/2 268 ll. 1-2) If a scribe knows only a single line but his handwriting is good, he is indeed a scribe!
70-71. (cf. 6.2.3: UET 6/2 268 ll. 3-4, 6.2.3: UET 6/2 290, 6.2.3: UET 6/3 452 ll. 1-2) If a singer knows only one song but makes the sound pleasant, he is indeed a singer!
72. (cf. 6.2.3: UET 6/3 452 l. 3) A scribe whose hand can follow dictation is indeed a scribe!
73. A singer whose voice is not sweet is a wretch among singers!
74. (cf. 5.4.02: l. 95, 5.4.03: l. 9) A wretched scribe, the most backward in the school!
75. A scribe without a hand. A singer without a throat.
76. You are an outstanding scribe; you are no lowly man.
77-78. The pupil of a master, like cornelian pierced through its side. He is indeed a scribe!
79. That which is pierced through its side is indeed lapis lazuli!
80. What kind of a scribe is a scribe who does not know Sumerian?
81. Someone who cannot produce "a-a" -- from where will he achieve fluent speech?
82. (cf. 6.2.3: UET 6/2 269) A scribe who does not know Sumerian -- from where will he produce a translation?
83-84. The scribe trained in counting is deficient on clay. The scribe skilled with clay is deficient in counting.
85. You are a ...... scribe .......
86. A chattering scribe's guilt is great.
87-88. A junior scribe is too concerned with feeding his hunger; he does not pay attention to the scribal art.
89-95. (cf. 6.2.3: UET 6/2 267 ll. 5-7) A disgraced scribe becomes an incantation priest. A disgraced singer becomes a flute-player. A disgraced lamentation priest becomes a piper. A disgraced merchant becomes a con-man. A disgraced carpenter becomes a man of the spindle. A disgraced smith becomes a man of the sickle. A disgraced mason becomes a hod-carrier.
96. A barber who knows Sumerian.
97. ...... Sumerian .......
98. A scribe who does not know how to grasp the meaning -- from where will he produce a translation?
99. When a singer's voice is sweet, he is indeed a singer.
100. The fox lies (?) even to Enlil.
101. 1 line fragmentary
102. (cf. 6.2.1: Ni 3318 ll. 2-3) The vixen quenched her thirst but still her {teats} {(1 ms. has instead:) motherly teats} were dry of milk.
103. (cf. 6.2.1: Ni 3318 ll. 4-5) Each fox is even more of a fox than its mother.
104. (cf. 6.2.1: Ni 3318 l. 6, 6.2.5: P 374) If the hearing of the fox is bad, its foot will be crippled.
105-106. (cf. 6.1.08.b26) The fox's tail is heavy: it carries a harrow.
107. (cf. 6.1.08.b27) The fox's door-bolt is a wooden beam.
108-109. (cf. 6.1.23.7) The fox could not build his own house, so he got a job at his friend's house as a construction worker.
110. The crab's house became filled with water, so she went to her girlfriend's house to .......
111-112. The fox watered (?) the barley with rush (?) water: "Nature has changed its mind."
113. A fox trod on the hoof of a wild bull: "It didn't hurt (?)!"
114-115. The fox had a stick: "Whom shall I hit?" He carried a seal: What can I challenge?
116-117. (cf. 6.2.3: UET 6/2 216) The fox, having urinated into the sea, said: "The whole of the sea is my urine!"
118. (cf. 6.2.3: UET 6/2 214) He has not yet caught the fox but he is already making a neck-stock for it.
119-126. The fox said to his wife: "Come! Let us crush Unug between our teeth like a leek; let us strap Kulaba on our feet like sandals!" Before they had yet come within a distance of 600 nindan from the city, the dogs began to howl from the city. -- Geme-Tummal! Geme-Tummal! Come with me to your place! Wicked things are howling at us from the city!
127. How clever the fox is! He hoots (?) like the culu bird.
128. (cf. 6.1.07.89) Tell a lie and then tell the truth: it will be considered a lie.
129. (cf. 5.4.01: l. 66, 5.4.02: l. 69) He who always lies is a messenger from distant places.
130. Donkeys are being ordered; sacks are being hired.
131-132. Your helpless donkey's speed has left him. O Enlil, your helpless man's strength has left him.
133-134. My donkey was not destined to run quickly; he was destined to bray!
135-136. The donkey roared (?); its owner gasped (?): "We must get up and away from here! Quickly! Come!"
137. (cf. 5.1.2: l. 162, 5.4.02: l. 127) A donkey eating its own bedding.
138. A donkey beating its penis against its belly.
139. For a donkey there is no stench. For a donkey there is no washing with soap.
140. A widow donkey distinguishes itself by breaking wind.
141. One does not marry a three-year-old wife, as a donkey does.
142-143. Two Akkadians lost a donkey. One went after it while the other wasted the day. The one who just sat around -- the fault was his.
144. (6.2.1: Ni 9824 Seg. A l. 3) An ox is walking around (?); a mace is .......
145. (cf. 6.1.26.d8) Lying next to each other on a stake.
146. He is deceitful, like an ox fleeing the threshing-floor.
147. (cf. 6.1.05.17, 6.1.26.d6) Furrows are pleasant to a threshing ox.
148. (cf. 6.1.26.d5) An ox following round the threshing-floor is not planting seed.
149-150. (cf. 6.1.26.d5) He who eats during the harvest is not removing clods. He who tears out weeds (?) is not sowing seed.
151. Your dancing (?) ...... is like wild cattle grazing.
152. (cf. 6.1.26.d10) If the ox kicks up dust, it gets flour in its own eyes.
153. While the ox is ploughing, the dog is spoiling the deep furrows.
154. An ox with diarrhoea -- its dung is a long trail!
155-156. (cf. 6.1.07.81, 6.2.3: UET 6/3 31 ll. 5-6) A stranger's ox eats grass, while my ox lies hungry.
157. Once I had escaped the wild bull, the wild cow confronted me.
158-159. ...... is an ox-driver; the stranger's ox is our ox-driver.
160. The milk will be carried away; that milk is near ......!
161. To the lamentation priest the field lies adjacent to the house.
162. The lamentation priest is the whole (?) of the boat.
163-164. The lamentation priest {hurled his son into the water} {(1 ms. has instead:) gave his son to the water}: "May the city build like me! May the Land live like me!"
165-166. The lamentation priest wipes his bottom: "One should not remove what belongs to my mistress Inana."
167-170. (cf. 6.1.22: ll. 280-283) When the lamentation priest met a lion in the desert: "Let him come to the town ......, to the gate of Inana, where the ...... dog is beaten with a stick. What is your brother doing in the desert?"
171-173. The lamentation priest ...... to his house ...... let me ...... 1 line fragmentary ...... for someone.
174-176. (cf. 6.1.11.8-9) {Although the lamentation priest's grain boat was sinking, he was walking on dry land. 1 line fragmentary} {(1 ms. has instead:) When the lamentation priest's boat ...... Enki ....... 2 lines fragmentary}
177. It is the food of a lamentation priest: the pieces are big but the weight is small.
178-181. The slave of the lamentation priest wails constantly in the market-place: "My food ration is big in size but small in weight. Let me tell you about the size of my food ration -- a lance strikes it constantly throughout the city quarter."
182. A lamentation priest whose incantations do not sound sweet is highly regarded among lamentation priests!
183-184. Slavering dogs waiting for instructions (?) ......: "Where are you going? Come back! Stay!"
185. Unruly (?), scowling dogs belong to the shameless man.
186. A sniffing dog entering all the houses.
187-188. A dog eating unclean food is a dog which leaves nothing for the next (?) day.
189. A dog eating ...... ate a pig in the market-place; ...... jar .......
190. The smith's dog could not overturn the anvil, so it overturned the water-pot.
191. Patting the neck of a treacherous dog -- patting from the back of the neck.
192. A dog which knows no home.
193. The dog thinks it is clever, but to its master .......
194. A dog descends, a lance descends -- each does damage (?).
195. (cf. 5.1.2: l. 161) The dog licks its shrivelled penis with its tongue.
196. (cf. 6.1.01.65, 6.2.3: UET 6/2 221) In the city with no dogs, the fox is boss.
197. (cf. 6.1.01.66, 6.2.5: UIOM 1999) In the city of the lame, the cripple is a courier.
198. (cf. 6.1.22: ll. 233-235) How does a cripple stand up?
199. The good thing is to find it; the bad thing is to lose it.
200-201. I have found it -- a cause for celebration! I have lost it -- my heart does not ache!
202. (cf. 6.1.07.98) The good thing is the beer. The bad thing is the journey.
203. For his pleasure he got married. On his thinking it over he got divorced.
204-205. Their pleasure -- their discomfort. Their discomfort -- their pleasure.
206-207. (cf. 6.1.04.56, 6.1.11.131) Says the man lying on the roof to the man living in the house: "It is too bright up here!" unknown no. of lines missing
1-2. (cf. 6.1.26.d13) A field should not be expanded. Barley ...... for him.
3. (cf. 6.1.26.d2) ...... collected firewood .......
4-5. (cf. 6.1.11.6, 6.1.22: l. 80, 6.1.26.d3) Collecting firewood is for the strong man; the weak man waits for him on dry land.
6-7. (cf. 6.2.3: UET 6/2 293) He who shaves his head acquires ever more hair. And he who gathers firewood acquires ever more grain.
8-9. (cf. 6.1.19.b4, 6.1.24.3) He who destroys houses destroys reeds. He who destroys a house destroys gold.
10-11. A ...... not returned and not placed in water -- its ...... cannot be eaten.
12-13. (cf. 6.1.19.b3) {Walk like a lord, walk at the front. Walk like a slave, walk like a lord.} {(1 ms. has instead:) Build like a lord, build like a slave. Build like a slave, build like a lord.} {(another ms. has instead:) Walk like a lord, walk like a slave. Walk like a slave, walk like a lord.}
14-15. Hand added to hand, and a man's house is built up. Stomach (?) added to stomach (?), and a man's house is destroyed.
16. The hoe cannot cut firewood. The pitchfork cannot cut firewood.
17.
18. The mother who has given birth to eight young men lies down exhausted.
19. (= Alster 1997 2.142 = 6 Sec. A 1; cf. 6.1.23.7, 6.1.25.7) The house built by the upright man is destroyed by the treacherous man.
20-21. (= Alster 1997 2.143 = 6 Sec. A 2; cf. 6.1.14.17) If a household acquaintance has been exposed to harm, the matter is investigated.
22-23. (= Alster 1997 2.144 = 6 Sec. A 3) Let there be unused land adjacent to a house; let there be a threshing-floor adjacent to a field.
24. (= Alster 1997 2.145 = 6 Sec. A 4) Let the elders ...... his house, like a house on the outskirts of the city.
25-27. (= Alster 1997 2.146 = 6 Sec. A 5) One finds no rest (?) in a house in which a wife does not speak, in which the head of the household (?) does not utter joyous words.
28-29. (= Alster 1997 2.147 = 6 Sec. A 6) 2 lines fragmentary
30. (= Alster 1997 2.148 = 6 Sec. A 7) 1 line fragmentary
31-32. (= Alster 1997 2.149 = 6 Sec. A 8; cf. 6.1.11.69, 6.1.26.d15) Those who live near the water look into the heart of the mountains. They don't look in their own direction.
33-34. (= Alster 1997 2.150 = 6 Sec. A 9 = Veldhuis 2000 2.150; cf. 6.1.11.70) Adapa knows no loss. ...... in the heart of the mountains.
35. (= Veldhuis 2000 2.151) 1 line fragmentary
36-37. (= Veldhuis 2000 2.152) 1 line fragmentary ...... someone in the river .......
38. (= Alster 1997 2.153 = 6.1; cf. 6.1.14.21) The palace is an ox; catch it by the tail!
39. (= Alster 1997 2.154 = 6.2; cf. 5.6.1: l. 94) The palace is a huge river; its interior is a goring bull.
40-42. (= Alster 1997 2.155 = 6.3; cf. 6.1.28.24, 6.2.3: UET 6/2 209 ll. 1-3, 1.8.1.5: ll. 193-199) The palace is a forest. The king is a lion. Nungal overwhelms men with a huge battle-net. Oh Utu, accept my prayer.
43. (= Alster 1997 2.156 = 6.4; cf. 6.1.14.23, 6.1.25.8) The palace is a slippery place which catches those who do not know it.
44-47. (= Alster 1997 2.157 = 6.5; cf. 6.1.14.20, 6.1.25.11, 6.2.3: UET 6/2 317) The palace cannot avoid the waste land. A barge cannot avoid straw. A freeborn man cannot avoid corvée work. A king's daughter cannot avoid the tavern.
48-49. (= Alster 1997 2.158 = 6.6; cf. 6.1.14.22, 6.1.17.b9, 6.1.25.10) The palace -- one day a mother giving birth, the next day a lamenting mother.
50-51. (= Alster 1997 2.159 = 6.7) Through building my house I incurred debt, so I could not afford to cultivate the field I had sowed with seed.
52. (= Alster 1997 2.160 = 6.8) May you be a household built up by twin sons.
53. (= Alster 1997 2.161; cf. 6.1.03.165, 6.1.25.8) I would rather go home.
54. (= Alster 1997 2.162 = 6.8) Those who enter his house are fifty.
55. (= Alster 1997 2.163 = 6.9) Whom can I bring to a house whose offspring have been annihilated?
56. (= Alster 1997 2.164 = 6.10) I don't return to a house whose master is not at home.
57. (= Alster 1997 6.11) 1 line fragmentary unknown no. of lines missing
1. (= Veldhuis 2000 6.20) When the land is given (?), ...... is its dry land.
2. (= Veldhuis 2000 6.21) A bird in the sky is as good as an um bird.
3. (= Veldhuis 2000 6.22) A fish in the deep is as good as a carp in the reeds.
4. (= Veldhuis 2000 6.23) Four-legged creatures are as good as marsh rats.
5. (= Veldhuis 2000 6.24) All the birds flew away, and their mother alone stayed.
6. (= Alster 1997 6.25) Ninazu, a bird flying around is your share.
7. (= Alster 1997 6.26) In the fowler's trap (?) is what he eats.
8. (= Alster 1997 6.27) He who lives from birds and fish cannot sleep.
9. (= Alster 1997 6.28) What did the ...... bird do?
10. (= Alster 1997 6.29) {The um bird's voice is unpleasant.} {(1 ms. has instead:) ...... sticking out its backside .......}
11. (= Alster 1997 6.30) The um bird's forehead is not .......
12. (= Alster 1997 6.31; cf. 6.1.19.d4) He sneaks into the water like an um bird.
13. (= Alster 1997 6.32; cf. 6.2.2: MDP 27 206 l. 1, 6.2.3: UET 6/2 244 ll. 1-2, 6.2.3: UET 6/3 80 l. 4) The wood pigeon's (?) voice is the glory of the garden.
14. (= Alster 1997 6.33; cf. 6.2.2: MDP 27 206 l. 3, 6.2.3: UET 6/2 244 ll. 3-4, 6.2.3: UET 6/3 80 l. 6) The francolin's voice is the glory of the fields.
15. (= Alster 1997 6.34) The voice of the ...... is the glory of the palace. unknown no. of lines missing
1. (= Alster 1997 6.37) Offerings are the glory of the gods.
2. (= Alster 1997 6.38) The fish of the marshes added (?) ...... to the ...... bird.
3. (= Alster 1997 6.39; cf. 6.1.07.30) The arabu fowl was not eaten in time.
4. (= Alster 1997 6.40) {1 line fragmentary} {(1 ms. has instead:) 1 line fragmentary}
5. (= Alster 1997 6.41) {...... does not come back, it comes back from the oven.} {(1 ms. has instead:) 1 line fragmentary}
6. (= Alster 1997 6.42; cf. 6.1.07.27) Let the head of a suhur carp be eaten with the head of a {macguracec fish} {(1 ms. has instead:) ...... bird}.
7. (= Alster 1997 6.43; cf. 6.1.11.26) Now, you should not sleep in the reed beds: the marsh rats will eat you.
8. (= Alster 1997 6.44) 1 line unclear
9. (= Alster 1997 6.45) Don't pour water into a river. The rats will come up.
10-13. (= Alster 1997 6.46) ...... an u bird, ...... cut and carried a single swallow away. ...... its food.
14. (= Alster 1997 6.47) Like a ...... bird, I will strike your beard in anger.
15-16. (= Alster 1997 p. 153 CBS 11335 5) 2 lines fragmentary
17-19. (= Alster 1997 6.48; cf. 6.2.5: P 376) Two esig birds, two {gusura fish} {(1 ms. has instead:) gusura birds}, three suhur carp, two ectub carp, and two suhur carp, {(1 ms. adds:) two} sea fish, are present on Enlil's offering table.
20-21. (= Alster 1997 6.49) May ...... fish oil and bird oil on your shoulders for the offering basket of Enlil.
22-24. (= Alster 1997 6.50; cf. 6.1.07.78) Who {moved} {(1 ms. has instead:) removed} the dust? Who caulked the boat? Who ...... while they sat singing?
25. (= Alster 1997 6.51) 1 line fragmentary
26. (= Alster 1997 6.52) 1 line fragmentary
27. (= Alster 1997 6.53) 1 line fragmentary unknown no. of lines missing