Great Nippur, and E-Kur and Ki-Ur with Girsu have perished in flame, Then harken, oh, powerful Enlil, and restore them to greatness and fame. Oh, then shall thy cities exalt thee, thy harems, thy children, thy lands, The doves which fly over the towers, the temples that rise from the sands. We pray that thy days may be lengthened, thy cities, like mountains, arise; Then open thy ears, mighty Enlil, to thy children's most sorrowful cries. Listen to Nin-Mar, its Mistress, I sigh, I sigh; Enlil, to thee I cry, cry, cry. The Atout of the Tower typifies the money pip of the cards, with all of its mundane significances, so its meaning is easily translated as intending sorrow, destruction, vice, descent, perverseness, wickedness, degeneration. Ayin is the letter of _la maison de dieu_, or _le feu de ciel_, as the card is variously called, and both its design and its complementary letter express all that is crooked, bad, and false. XVII. LE STELLE (The Stars) This Atout shows a young woman "beneath the mystery of the stars," the seven stars of the Bible, that were the seven planets of antiquity. The name star is derived from that of Ishtar, the great Babylonian goddess. The central and most brilliant star on the Atout represents Mercury as the god of speech, or the transmitter of the wishes of gods to men, or Nebo, "the writer on the tablets of Fate." The Dog Star was called Thoth by the Egyptians, who also considered this god the author of speech, language, and writing, like his predecessor, Nebo, whose mountain was at the plain of Moab, (Deuteronomy xxxiv:1), and he also had the same planet dedicated to him. He, the differentiating letter, means voice or speech, just as Nebo, or Nabi, means prophet, proclaimer. Hebe, who succeeded Mercury, as cupbearer to the gods, represents him here dispensing the essence of life equally between two jugs; and, to carry the resemblance still further, the picture recalls oblations to Osiris, which were typical of the mingling of life and power, as exemplified by pouring out water when standing on the earth. Thus, two of the elements are shown, a third one having been represented in the lightning of the preceding card. The different connections between the ceremonies of the ancients with the Cup and the cupbearer have been described in the chapter relating to that emblem. On some of the oldest of the Atouts, before their designs became confused by ignorant artists, when some of the most distinctive emblems were omitted, or altered, a gazelle stands behind the woman. This still further shows the connection of this card with old Egyptian legends, for it was said that the gazelle gave warning of the rising of the Nile, by fleeing to the desert, even before the inhabitants expected the flood. The gazelle is sacred to Osiris. This animal is also retained on one of the pip cards of the Spanish pack. The Stars typify immortality, creation, hope, song,