Gilgames, however, rejected the offer of the goddess in scorn, and taunted her with her fickleness and cruelty and the miserable end of all who had loved her in the past— “Tammuz, the spouse of thy youth, thou ordainest weeping for him year by year. The bright-coloured wood-pigeon didst thou love; thou didst smite him and break his wings; in the woods he sits and cries, ‘O my wings!’ Thou didst love a lion perfect in might; seven times seven didst thou dig for him a pit. Thou didst love a horse, glorious in battle; whip and spur and bridle didst thou decree for him. Fourteen hours didst thou make him gallop; weariness and thirst didst thou lay upon him; for his mother, the goddess Silili, thou ordainest weeping. Thou didst love the shepherd Tabulu, who poured out the salt continually for thee; day by day did he slay for thee the sucklings. Thou didst smite him, and change him into a wolf. His own shepherd-boys drove him away, and his own dogs bit his flesh. Thou didst love Isullanu, the gardener of thy father, who was ever bringing thee fruit; day by day he made bright thy dish; thou didst lift thine eyes to him, and speak softly to him: ‘Isullanu mine, let us eat the gourds together; put forth thine hand and touch one ...’ Isullanu answered her: ‘Of me what requirest thou? Has my mother not baked, have I not eaten, that I should eat such food? Thorns and thistles are hidden therein’ (?). When thou didst hear these his words, thou didst smite him, and change him into a column (?), and didst plant him in the midst of [the garden?].” Istar flew to her father Anu in heaven, and demanded from him vengeance upon Gilgames for the slight he had put upon her. Accordingly a monstrous bull was created, which ravaged the country, and threatened the life of Gilgames himself. But Gilgames was more than a match for the monster. With the help of Ea-bani the bull was slain, and its huge horns carried in triumph through the streets of Erech; while Istar stood in impotent rage on the walls of the city, lamenting the death of the bull, and calling on her harlot priestesses to weep over it with her. But the death of “the divine bull” had evil consequences for the two heroes. The curse of Istar falls upon them; Gilgames himself is smitten with a grievous sickness, and Ea-bani dies after lingering in pain for full twelve days. Gilgames is inconsolable; vainly he protests against the law of death which carries away the strong equally with the weak, the hero equally with the common man. The ninth book thus begins— “Gilgames for his friend Ea-bani weeps bitterly and lies outstretched upon the ground. “’Shall I not die like Ea-bani? Grief has entered my body; I fear death, and lie outstretched upon the ground.’ ”