In his dream, Enkidu saw the gods taking counsel together to decide which of the two was to die. Fate fell on Enkidu. Enkidu lay stretched out before Gilgamesh, his tears ran down in streams. He set to cursing the hunter and the courtesan who took him away from innocence, the easy life he was living in the wilderness among the wild beasts. Gilgamesh opened his mouth and said to Enkidu: “My brother, my beloved brother, why did they choose you and not me?” Enkidu said to his friend everything he had in his heart: “Listen, my friend, to the dream I had last night: the heavens roared and earth rumbled back an answer. Between them stood I in front of an awful being. The sombre-faced-man-bird. His foot was a lion’s foot, his hand was an eagle’s talon. He fell on me and his claws were in my hair, he held me fast and I smothered, then he transformed me so that my arms became wings covered with feathers. He turned his stare towards me and led me away to the house of darkness, to the dwelling of Irkalla*. ...