s, the loincloth which hid his nakedness: until
he should reach the end of his journey, he was not to put off the
loin-cloth, however ragged; then alone was he to have a clean one." The
cure effected, Gilgames goes again on board his bark, and returns to the
place where Shamashnapishtim was awaiting him.

Shamashnapishtim would not send his descendant back to the land of the
living without making him a princely present. "His wife spoke to him,
to him Shamashnapishtim, the inhabitant of distant lands: 'Gilgames has
come, he is comforted, he is cured; what wilt thou give to him, now that
he is about to return to his country?' He took the oars, Gilgames, he
brought the bark near the shore, and Shamashnapishtim spoke to him, to
Gilgames: 'Gilgames, thou art going from here comforted; what shall I
give thee, now that thou art about to return to thy country? I am about
to reveal to thee, Gilgames, a secret, and the judgment of the gods I am
about to tell it thee. There is a plant similar to the hawthorn in its
flower, and whose thorns prick like the viper. If thy hand can lay hold
of that plant without being torn, break from it a branch, and bear it
with thee; it will secure for thee an eternal youth.'Gilgames gathers
the branch, and in his joy plans with Arad-Ea future enterprises:
'Arad-Ea, this plant is the plant of renovation, by which a man
obtains life; I will bear it with me to Uruk the well-protected, I will
cultivate a bush from it, I will cut some of it, and its name shall
be, "the old man becomes young by it;" I will eat of it, and I shall
repossess the vigour of my youth.'" He reckoned without the gods, whose
jealous minds will not allow men to participate in their privileges.
The first place on which they set foot on shore, "he perceived a well of
fresh water, went down to it, and whilst he was drawing water, a serpent
came out of it, and snatched from him the plant, yea--the serpent rushed
out and bore away the plant, and while escaping uttered a malediction.
That day Gilgames sat down, he wept, and his tears streamed down his
cheeks he said to the mariner Arad-Ba: 'What is the use, Arad-Ea, of my
renewed strength; what is the use of my heart's rejoicing in my return
to life? It is not myself I have served; it is this earthly lion I have
served. Hardly twenty leagues on the road, and he for himself alone has
already taken possession of the plant. As I opened the well, the plant
was lost to me, and the genius of t