ember, and will not
forget them for ever. Let the other gods come quickly to take part in
the offering. Bel shall have no part in the offering, for he was not
wise: but he has caused the deluge, and he has devoted my people to
destruction." Bel himself had not recovered his temper: "When he arrived
in his turn and saw the ship, he remained immovable before it, and his
heart was filled with rage against the gods of heaven. 'Who is he who
has come out of it living? No man must survive the destruction!'" The
gods had everything to fear from his anger: Ninib was eager to exculpate
himself, and to put the blame upon the right person. Ea did not disavow
his acts: "he opened his mouth and spake; he said to Bel the warrior:
'Thou, the wisest among the gods, O warrior, why wert thou not wise, and
didst cause the deluge? The sinner, make him responsible for his sin;
the criminal, make him responsible for his crime: but be calm, and do
not cut off all; be patient, and do not drown all. What was the good of
causing the deluge? A lion had only to come to decimate the people.
What was the good of causing the deluge? A leopard had only to come to
decimate the people. What was the good of causing the deluge? Famine
had only to present itself to desolate the country. What was the good
of causing the deluge? Nera the Plague had only to come to destroy the
people. As for me, I did, not reveal the judgment of the gods: I caused
Khasisadra to dream a dream, and he became aware of the judgment of the
gods, and then he made his resolve.'" Bel was pacified at the words of
Ea: "he went up into the interior of the ship; he took hold of my hand
and made me go up, even me; he made my wife go up, and he pushed her to
my side; he turned our faces towards him, he placed himself between
us, and blessed us: 'Up to this time Shamashnapishtim was a man:
henceforward let Shamashnapishtim and his wife be reverenced like us,
the gods, and let Shamashnapishtim dwell afar off, at the mouth of the
seas, and he carried us away and placed us afar off, at the mouth of the
seas.'" Another form of the legend relates that by an order of the god,
Xisuthros, before embarking, had buried in the town of Sippara all the
books in which his ancestors had set forth the sacred sciences--books
of oracles and omens, "in which were recorded the beginning, the middle,
and the end. When he had disappeared, those of his companions who
remained on board, seeing that he did not return