The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature
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This composition: composite text
1. (cf. 6.2.3: UET 6/2 291 ll. 1-2, 6.2.5: YBC 8713 ll. 1-2) Who can compete with righteousness? It creates life.
2. (cf. 6.2.3: UET 6/2 291 l. 3, 6.2.5: YBC 8713 l. 3) If wickedness exerts itself, how will Utu succeed?
3. You should not cut the throat of that which has already had its throat cut.
4. You should not say to Ninjiczida: "Let me live!"
5. Do not make me pass through the gate!
6. (cf. 6.2.3: UET 6/2 265 l. 1) What has submitted will exhibit resistance.
7. (cf. 6.2.5: YBC 4677 ll. 6-7) What has been destroyed belongs to a god. No one is able to take it away.
8-9. "Though I still have bread left over, I will eat your bread!" Will this endear a man to the household of his friend?
10-11. (cf. 6.1.22: ll. 140-145, 6.2.3: UET 6/2 239, 6.2.3: UET 6/2 320, 6.2.3: UET 6/2 339 + UET 6/3 235 Seg. B l. 2) If bread is left over, the mongoose eats it. If I have any bread left over, then a stranger will eat it.
12. My things changed things.
13-14. You don't speak of that which you have found. You talk only about what you have lost.
15-16. Something which has never occurred since time immemorial: a young woman did not fart in her husband's embrace.
17. It is a thing of short duration.
18. Whatever it is that hurts you, don't talk to anyone about it.
19-20. Wealth is far away, poverty is close at hand.
21. (cf. 6.2.5: YBC 4677 l. 5) He who possesses many things is constantly on guard.
22. Possessions make trust of crucial importance.
23-24. Possessions are flying birds -- they never find a place to settle.
25. Good fortune {is embedded in} {(3 mss. have instead:) reinforces} organisation and wisdom.
26-27. What is eaten for today (?) was put there by the dog. What is eaten by the dog was put there for today (?).
28. {One shouldn't} {(1 ms. has instead:) I will not} scorn bread which has turned bad.
29. Give out only half a loaf voluntarily!
30. (cf. 6.2.3: UET 6/2 261 and UET 6/2 262, 6.2.3: UET 6/2 339 + UET 6/3 235 Seg. B l. 3, 4.14.1: l. 144) To be wealthy and insist (?) on demanding more is abominable.
31. 1 line fragmentary
32. 1 line unclear
33. Let him decree the fates while consuming what you have made.
34. I always seem to be speaking about unpleasant things.
35. When a purchase is settled it is soon out of mind.
36. He did something never seen before.
37-38. (cf. 6.1.07.82) That which does not eat grass is a wild bull of the mountains. That which does not drink water is a gazelle of the mountains.
39. (cf. 6.1.07.37) One does not return borrowed bread.
40. The herald rejoices when the estate makes expenditures.
41. The steward rejoices when the estate increases its income.
42. ...... slave ...... bought .......
43. Don't pick things now; they will bear fruit later.
44-45. Who will listen to your translations?
46. What you are doing is a small accomplishment. That man is not doing a man's work.
47-50. Bread is served but it is not used for wiping. Water is poured out, and then drunk by the ground. In the nether world, the most honoured place, since it is water and food, it is called a water libation.
51. He broke it like bread and mixed it with .......
52-53. (cf. 6.1.19.f4, 6.2.1: Ni 4469 Seg. A ll. 1-4) Let his bread be foul food; no man should eat it.
54. Let his food be bread and ...... eggs, so that it clogs his throat.
55. Let his food be ...... bones, so that it sticks in his throat.
56. Let his food be ...... meat, so that it ...... his throat.
57. (cf. 1.103) He who eats too much ...... cannot .......
58. Break a bit of your lunch off for me like a .......
59. ...... a thick piece of bread ...... mixed it with fat.
60. Although the chickpea-flour of the home-born slaves ...... is mixed with honey and ghee, there is no end to their lamentations.
61. (cf. 6.1.19.f6) Barley flour, in the fields, is meat and butter.
62. Whatever food is available in the fields is to be eaten alone.
63. Chickpea-flour is appropriate for every woman in the palace.
64. His bread is finished.
65. (cf. 6.1.26.c4) There is no baked cake in the middle of the dough.
66-67. (cf. 6.1.26.c5) My heart urged me to bake two loaves out of a half. My hands were unable to take them out of the oven.
68. Bread is the boat, water is the punt-pole.
69-70. Give me my tools and I will launch my boat.
71-73. Let the poor man die, let him not live. When he finds bread, he finds no salt. When he finds salt, he finds no bread. When he finds meat, he finds no condiments. When he finds condiments, he finds no meat. {(2 mss. add:) When he finds oil, he finds no jar. When he finds a jar, he finds no oil.}
74-75. When he walks on the streets no one greets him. And when he comes home to his wife, "Bad Name" is what he is called.
76. (cf. 6.1.25.5) The lives of the poor do not survive their deaths.
77-78. (cf. 6.1.19.f5) For morsels of bread and fine onions, the food of the school (?).
79-80. For morsels of bread and fine onions, ...... 1 line fragmentary
81. 1 line fragmentary
82. 1 line fragmentary unknown no. of lines missing
1-5. 5 lines fragmentary
6-7. 2 lines fragmentary
8-9. 2 lines fragmentary
10-11. 2 lines fragmentary
12. (cf. 6.1.02.118, 6.2.3: UET 6/2 221) In the city where there are no dogs, the fox is boss.
13. (cf. 6.1.02.119, 6.2.5: UIOM 1999) In the city of the lame, a cripple is the courier.
14-15. The city's fate cannot be determined; its book-keeper is a merchant.
16. (cf. 6.1.14.15, 6.1.25.6) You should drive them like pack-asses into a death-stricken city.
17-18. When you are expelled from a city, that city and its king are carried off.
19. (cf. 6.1.07.121) The songs of a city are its diviners.
20. 1 line fragmentary
21-23. When I enter a sleeping city, the city will be filled with blood. When I board a deep-draught boat, it will go aground.
24. The merchant left the city and the market broke up.
25. Things may be traded in the city but it is the fisherman who brings in the food supply.
26-28. The name of the city is Idibi. Its king's name is Didibi. Its queen's name is No-good-at-all.
29. (cf. 6.1.07.12) Like a clod thrown into the water, may it be destroyed as it disintegrates.
30. Beer is a bull. The mouth is its threshold.
31. He hurled his insult. He laid his curse.
32-33. (cf. 6.1.26.a13) To a curse that is uttered, a curse is not reciprocated. {A curse which is reciprocated will be retaliated against with yet another curse.} {(1 ms. has instead:) The curse with which I would respond would cause another curse to be uttered.}
34-35. (cf. 6.1.26.c11) It is an insult resulting from an insult. It is a curse resulting from a curse. It is the constant renewal of destiny.
36. (cf. 6.1.07.28) To accept a verdict is possible. To accept a curse is impossible.
37. What has been spoken in secret will be revealed in the women's quarters.
38-39. (cf. 6.1.26.a11, 6.2.3: UET 6/2 302, 6.2.5: YBC 8713 ll. 4-5) When a trustworthy boat is sailing, Utu seeks out a trustworthy harbour for it.
40-41. When a dishonest boat is sailing, it runs aground.
42-43. The oars of a boat ...... sink ...... someone will ask ...... like a raft.
44-45. A ferryboat sank at Zabalam. "Oh Utu of Larsa, who pulled out the mooring stake?"
46. A boatman -- belligerence.
47. (cf. 6.1.07.21) If the boat sinks, I will pull out the cargo.
48. (cf. 6.1.07.42) Like a boat, he always floats up in the water.
49-50. ...... a deep-draught (?) boat ...... it should be a boat of sixty gur capacity .......
51. My girlfriend's heart is a heart made for me.
52. Who can reveal the heart that is ...... made for me?
53. ...... my heart ...... let me go to that place.
54-55. 2 lines fragmentary
56. (cf. 6.2.1: Ni 13186 Seg. B l. 2) In my heart you are a human being, but in my eyes you are not a man.
57-58. (cf. 6.1.22: ll. 201-202) When the heart overflows, it is lamentable. {He who can keep it in his heart is a prince.} {(1 ms. has instead:) I am a prince who can keep it in the heart.}
59-60. (cf. 6.1.07.104, 6.1.11.53) Those who get excited should not become foremen. A shepherd should not become a farmer.
61-62. What comes out from the heart of the tree is known by the heart of the tree.
63-64. He is at ease, he is pleased, he makes a living, he offers a prayer.
65. (cf. 6.1.07.51) Whether he ate it or not, the seed was good.
66-67. He broke it into pieces and sated his hunger. He wiped his hands and belched.
68. He who drinks beer drinks water.
69. (cf. 1.44) He who eats too much cannot sleep.
70. (cf. 6.1.11.54, 6.1.15.c3, 6.1.26.b4, 6.1.28.8) If one pours oil into the inside of a sceptre {(2 mss. add:) nobody will know.}
71-72. A heart never created hatred; speech created hatred.
73-77. The water dried up from the water meadows; there were no fishermen there. The fisherman caught no fish. The fisherman's wife ...... could not bring it to her female friend's chamber.
78-80. Let it be plentiful, so that it is not deficient. Let it be excessive, so that it does not have to be supplemented. Let it be piping hot, so that it does not become cold.
81-82. Inwardly a ewe, outwardly a ewe, a most fecund spouse: "Let the shepherd perish, but may you not perish."
83-85. (cf. 6.1.11.39) You cannot butt me with your horns! Who is it that you are butting? You cannot kill me -- I am running away!
86. 1 line fragmentary
87-88. 2 lines fragmentary
89. Across the heavens (an bal), across the earth, litter (anba) is distributed (anba) over the earth.(based on puns)
90. 1 line unclear
91. 1 line fragmentary
92. 1 line fragmentary
93. A trough for kneading dough, not kept clean.
94. A trough from which the pigs eat.
95. 1 line fragmentary
96. 1 line fragmentary
97-98. ...... in their backside ...... something ....... unknown no. of lines missing
1-2. 2 lines fragmentary
3-5. (cf. 6.1.14.41, 6.1.22: l. 33, 6.1.23.2) My husband heaps up for me, my child measures out for me; let my lover pick the bones from the fish for me.
6. (cf. 6.1.14.42, 6.1.19.c6, 6.1.22: l. 34, 6.2.3: UET 6/2 284) A plant as sweet as a husband does not grow in the steppe.
7-8. {...... pleasing ...... divorce .......} {(1 ms. has instead:) 2 lines fragmentary}
9-13. (cf. 6.1.22: ll. 146-147, 6.1.23.9, 6.2.3: UET 6/2 210) In the sky there is the raven; on the earth there is the mongoose; in the desert there is the lion ......; my husband! Where shall I go?
14-15. 2 lines fragmentary unknown no. of lines missing
1. 1 line fragmentary
2-3. ...... the brothers in anger destroyed their father's estate.
4-6. (cf. 6.2.3: UET 6/2 306) Oh my sister, if there were no outdoor shrines, and, oh my mother, if there were no river as well, I would be dying of hunger.
7-9. (cf. 6.2.3: UET 6/2 301) Thus my mother and my younger sister act toward me; ...... am I so deficient in judgment that I should offer my cheek to her?
10. You are not one who stays in one place, you are one who is everywhere.
11-12. (cf. 6.1.19.c3, 6.1.22: ll. 87-88, 6.1.28.4) Accept your lot and make your mother happy. Run fast and make your god happy.
13-14. (cf. 6.1.19.c4) Marry a wife according to your choice. Have children to your heart's content.
15-17. (cf. 6.1.19.c5) May Inana make a hot-limbed wife lie with you! May she bestow upon you broad-shouldered sons! May she seek out for you a happy place!
18-19. Girl, your brother cannot choose for you; whom do you choose?
20-21. Girl, your brother is like me. A brother should let you live as would I.
22-23. (cf. 6.1.11.7) Like my own affairs, antimony paste (?) is air: let ...... fat be eaten in the mist.
24-26. (cf. 6.1.14.40, 6.1.28.17) When I married a malicious husband, when I bore a malicious son, an unhappy heart was assigned to me.
27-28. ...... who does not ...... has no cause for celebration.
29-30. (cf. 6.1.03.9, 6.1.16.b5, 6.1.22: ll. 26-27, 6.1.23.7) He who does not support a wife, he who does not support a child, has no cause for celebration.
31-32. (cf. 6.1.14.44) A malicious wife living in the house is worse than all diseases.
33-35. (cf. 6.1.07.93) Conceived by no father, conceived by no mother, the enbar reed came out of the eye of the storm.
36-37. A male aroused eats salt. A female aroused is dragged in the mud (?).
38-39. A disorderly son -- his mother should not have given birth to him. His god should not have created him.
40-41. My wife said "Unfaithful!" to me -- shall I go chasing after women's genitals?
42. (cf. 6.1.23.7) An unfaithful penis matches (?) an unfaithful vagina.
43-44. (cf. 6.1.14.39) Marrying is human. Having children is divine.
45-46. ...... born ...... superior .......
47. ...... his mother ...... dishonest young man .......
48. Inana .......
49-50. What ......? A tradesman gave it to me .......
51-52. (cf. 6.1.03.65, 6.1.17.b8, 6.1.22: ll. 194-196) Oh merchant, how you use up silver! And how you use up barley!
53-54. At the top it is a wild cow, at the bottom it is a fish. At the top it is shattered potsherds, at the bottom it is half a cubit.
55-56. (cf. 6.1.07.22) I visit it by day, I visit it at nightfall. I always stand by the lamentation drum!
57-58. 2 lines fragmentary
59-60. (cf. 6.1.14.46a) Sons-in-law -- what have they brought? Fathers-in-law -- what have they disposed of?
61-62. (cf. 6.2.3: UET 6/2 334) She who says "My expense" is her girl friend. An interfering neighbour is the one with whom she quarrels.
63-64. 2 lines fragmentary
65-66. In the seventh month he did not slaughter (?) a pig. In the sixth month he did not put on a new turban.
67-69. A sheep ...... to her girl friend ...... 1 line fragmentary
70-71. (cf. 6.1.07.47) I walk about, I don't get tired. I keep moving, I don't sleep.
72-74. (cf. 6.1.07.49) When the rags have been cut up, when the barley is lying in the dust, what is there left to get?
75-76. (cf. 6.1.07.52) I am a lady who wears large garments. Let me cut my loincloth!
77-78. (cf. 6.1.07.53) You are the master of a broad river. You are eating .......
79-80. When you are eating, may nothing lack. When you are in need of water, may things not dry up.
81-82. 1 line fragmentary ...... drinking .......
83. ...... pleasant thing ....... approx. 2 lines missing
86-87. (cf. 6.1.07.76) My cry of joy ...... by the nether world, but my mental powers are not thereby taken away.
88. {Let not my mental powers ...... be diminished.} {(1 ms. has instead:) ...... far off ...... deficient .......}
89-90. A chattering girl is silenced by her mother. A chattering boy is not silenced by his mother.
91-92. His gathered brushwood will be carried off. His destroyed parapet {will} {(1 ms. has instead:) will not} be plundered.
93-94. (cf. 6.1.07.74) The ferryboat is ...... too many men. "My man shall not board it!"
95-97. You don't know how to spread it out. How your tresses hang down! Your hair ...... one cubit ....... My lady, you ...... not .......
98. Food is the matter, water is the matter.
99-100. (cf. 6.1.19.c9) Fatty meat is good. Fatty mutton is good. -- What shall {I} {(1 ms. has instead:) we} give the slave girl?
102. (cf. 6.1.21.c3) Let her eat the ham of a pig!
103-105. You are pouring the fat from the meat, you are pulling out the roasted barley -- when you carry the cooking pot, watch out for your feet!
106-108. (cf. 6.2.3: UET 6/2 303) To be sick is acceptable; to be pregnant is painful; but to be pregnant and sick is just too much.
109-110. She has risen high, but cannot go on. She is low, but cannot rise.
111-113. A brewing (?) trough not previously tried is put to the test by means of salt. A mixing jar (?) not previously tried is put to the test by means of water. A son-in-law whose behaviour (?) is unknown is put to the test by means of quarrels.
114-118. In the darkness ...... painted (?) 1 line fragmentary someone ...... attractiveness .......
119-123. A daughter-in-law ...... 3 lines fragmentary girl .......
124-128. 5 lines fragmentary
129-131. 3 lines fragmentary
132-135. ...... beloved ...... lives ...... beloved ...... lives .......
136-140. 3 lines fragmentary ...... don't cover the ...... with your hand.
1-4. (= Alster 1997 p. 26 YY) 4 lines fragmentary
1-3. (= Alster 1997 p. 16 Y) 3 lines fragmentary
1-2. (= Alster 1997 p. 6 AA 1-2) ...... hate ...... may he .......
3-4. (= Alster 1997 p. 6 AA 3-4) ...... like ...... it is yours.
5-6. (= Alster 1997 p. 6 AA 5-6, N 5138 1-2) 1 line fragmentary mix .......
7-8. (= Alster 1997 p. 6 N 5138 3-4) Let there be ...... 1 line fragmentary