Gilgamesh and the Tree of Life吉尔伽美仆和生命之树

Once upon a time， many thousands of years ago， the city of Uruk in ancientSumer was ruled by a great king， King Gilgamesh， who was two-thirds god andone-third mortal1. King Gilgamesh had magical powers， perhaps not as many asother gods， but still， he had some. He loved his people and he loved his magicalpowers. He also loved a good fight and a good adventure. Now and then， KingGilgamesh left his kingdom in the hands of his trusty men， and went off lookingfor adventure. One of his favorite places to look was in the forbidden forest thatbordered2 the city of Uruk. You never knew what might happen in the forest. Butthat day， nothing much was happening.

King Gilgamesh sighed3 heavily. He sat down and stared at the mountaintops. No one had ever traveled to the mountains to see what was on the otherside， not even Gilgamesh. The King had heard stories， though， about a magicalplant of everlasting4 life that could be found on the other side of the mountains.King Gilgamesh started walking. After 40 days and 40 nights， he came to a passin the mountains. Two very huge demon5 scorpions6 guarded the pass.

“Go back， little man，”sneered7 the twin demon scorpions.

“Do you know who I am？”thundered8 Gilgamesh. “I am Gilgamesh theGod. Get out of my way， you stupid bugs.”

The demons knew the name of Gilgamesh. Some of the monsters that hadlimped9 through the pass told awful tales of the horrible Gilgamesh， pointing to amissing tail here and a ripped10 out claw there. Gilgamesh！ With a pop， thescorpions disappeared.

很久以前，数千年前，古代苏美尔的乌鲁克城由一位伟大的国王吉尔伽美什统治，他三分之二是神，三分之一是人。吉尔伽美什王也许没有其他神那么强的魔力，但他还是有一些魔力的。他爱他的子民，也爱他的魔力。他也喜欢精彩的打斗和冒险。吉尔伽美什王时不时地把他的王国托付给他信任的人，自己去寻求冒险。他最喜欢去搜寻的地方之一是乌鲁克城边的禁林。你永远不知道森林里会发生什么。但那天，什么也没发生。

吉尔伽美什王重重地叹了一口气。他坐下来，盯着山顶。从来没有人去山上看过山那边有什么，甚至吉尔伽美什也没有去看过。然而，这位国王听过一些关于山那边可以找到神奇的永生草的故事。吉尔伽美什王开始步行。40 天40夜后，他来到山里的一个隘口。两只非常巨大的蝎怪守卫着关口。

“回去吧，凡人。”两只蝎怪冷笑道。

“你知道我是谁吗？”吉尔伽美什怒吼道，“我是吉尔伽美什神。别挡我的路，你们这些愚蠢的虫子。”

魔物们知道吉尔伽美什的名字。一些一瘸一拐地穿过隘口的怪物指着这里缺失的尾巴和那里撕裂的爪子，讲述着可怕的吉尔伽美什的可怕故事。吉尔伽美什！砰的一声，蝎怪们消失了。

Gilgamesh crossed through the pass， and entered the kingdom on the other side.In the distance， he saw a beautiful palace. Near the palace was a rather large boat.The boat was tilted11 to one side， flat on the ground. There was no town， no river， nosea. There was only a boat and a palace. The king and Queen who lived in thepalace seemed very nice. They invited him to stay the night. Gilgamesh accepted.

Over dinner， the queen asked Gilgamesh if he was having a nice trip， as sheassumed12 he was out and about， visiting lands near his own kingdom of Uruk.

“I happened to notice your boat，”said Gilgamesh， mostly to change the subject.

“My boat！ ”smiled the King. “Isn’t she a beauty？ I built it after the godswarned me about the flood. I loaded13 the boat with every kind of plant and animal.When the rains came， I loaded my family as well. For six days and six nights， rainpoured down. It rained so hard that my boat was soon afloat. On the seventh day， itfinally stopped raining. It took a few days for the water to ease14 away. Then all theanimals and all the people walked off the boat. We built this palace， and scattered15the seeds to the winds. And that’s how the world began for the second time. We didit！ My Queen and I.”

Gilgamesh shook his head in wonder. The king’s accomplishments made hisown seem very small and unimportant. It occurred to him that if anyone knew wherethe plant of everlasting life might be found， this would be the person to ask.

The King hesitated16. He did know， but did he wish to tell this young man？ Thiswould take thought.

Gilgamesh thanked his hosts for a most delicious dinner and took himself tobed. He was so tired after his long walk that he slept for six days and six nights.While he slept， the Queen convinced17 her husband to tell Gilgamesh the secret ofeverlasting life.

“He seems like a good boy，”said the Queen. “He’s traveled so far. And helistened to your boat story without interrupting18 once.”

吉尔伽美什穿过隘口，进入了另一边的王国。在远处，他看到了一座美丽的宫殿。宫殿附近有一艘相当大的船。船向一侧倾斜，平放在地上。那儿没有城镇，没有河流，没有大海。那里只有一艘船和一座宫殿。住在宫殿里的国王和王后看起来人很不错。他们邀请他留宿。吉尔伽美什接受了。

晚餐时，女王问吉尔伽美什旅途是否愉快，因为她猜想他应该是在外出游玩，正参观自己乌鲁克王国附近的土地。

“我碰巧注意到了你的船。”吉尔伽美什说，这主要是为了转移话题。

“我的船！”国王微笑着说，“它很漂亮对不对？我是在众神警告我洪水来临后建造它的。我在船上装载了各种植物和动物。当大雨来临时，我也载上了我的家人。六天六夜，雨倾盆而下。雨下得很大，我的船很快就浮了起来。第七天，雨终于停了。过了几天，水才慢慢退去。然后所有的动物和所有的人都下了船。我们建造了这座宫殿，并将种子撒向风中。这就是世界第二次开始的原因。我们做到了！我和王后。”

吉尔伽美什惊讶地摇摇头。这位国王的成就使他自己显得微不足道。他突然想到，如果有人知道在哪里可以找到永生草，就应该问这个国王。

国王犹豫了一下。他确实知道，但他想告诉这个年轻人吗？这需要考虑。

吉尔伽美什感谢主人为他提供了一顿美味的晚餐，然后上床睡觉。长途跋涉之后，他累得睡了六天六夜。在他睡觉的时候，女王说服她的丈夫告诉吉尔伽美什永生的秘密。

“他看起来是个好人。”女王说，“他走了这么远。他听了你讲船的故事，一次也没打断。”

“That’s true，”nodded the King.“That was very polite of him.”

Which just goes to show that good manners do pay off. When Gilgamesh finallywoke up， and after a delicious breakfast of pancakes， the king told Gilgamesh how tofind the plant of everlasting life. “You have to dive into the deepest part of the ocean，”the king said.“Then，you have to beat the giant octopus19 and cut one branch only from the tree of life.”

“You have to dive into the deepest part of the ocean，”the king said.“Then，you have to beat the giant octopus19 and cut one branch only from the tree of life.”

Gilgamesh was excited. He could do that. He could dive to the deepest part ofthe ocean on one breath. In fact， he knew right where the giant octopus hung out.

Gilgamesh set off that very day， towards the ocean. Once there， he grabbed20some heavy rocks and dove to the bottom of the sea. Gilgamesh quickly hit theoctopus with the rocks he carried. While the octopus was stunned21， Gilgameshbroke off one branch from the tree of life， shot towards the surface of the sea， andswam to shore.

He was going to eat his plant right away. Then he thought he might hurry intotown， waving his prize. Then he decided what he really wanted to do was throw ahuge party， and then eat the tree of life and live forever！

Happily， he fell asleep， hugging his branch. While he was sleeping， the godssent a snake to steal the branch. Only true gods could live forever. Gods that wereonly two-thirds gods simply did not qualify22. The snake crawled quietly up toGilgamesh and ate the plant！ That was not what he was supposed to do. In anger，the gods punished the snake by making it crawl on its belly forever.

As for Gilgamesh， when he woke up and found the plant gone， he wasn’tworried. He knew he could dive down and get another branch whenever he wanted.So rather than dive down again right then， Gilgamesh headed for his hometown，wanting only a warm bath and a great dinner.

As time went on， Gilgamesh enjoyed many more adventures. But he neverseemed to find time to dive back down and get another branch from the tree of life.

“确实。”国王点点头说，“他真有礼貌。”

这就表明，礼貌是有回报的。当吉尔伽美什终于醒来，在吃了一顿美味的煎饼早餐后，国王告诉吉尔伽美什如何找到永生草。

“你必须潜入海洋的最深处。”国王说，“然后，你必须打败巨型章鱼，从生命之树上砍下一根枝条。”

吉尔伽美什很兴奋。他可以做到。他可以一口气潜入大海的最深处。事实上，他知道巨型章鱼在哪里出没。

吉尔伽美什当天就朝着大海出发了。一到那里，他就抓起一些沉重的岩石，潜向海底。吉尔伽美什很快用随身携带的石块击中了章鱼。当章鱼昏倒时，吉尔伽美什从生命之树上折下一根枝条，迅速冲上海面，游向岸边。

他打算马上吃掉他的永生草。然后他想他可以快点进城，挥舞着他的战利品。然后他决定，他真正想做的是举办一个盛大的派对，然后吃掉生命之树（的枝条），得到永生！

他高兴地抱着枝条睡着了。在他睡觉的时候，众神派了一条蛇来偷树枝。只有真正的神才能永生。只有三分之二是神的神根本没有资格。蛇悄悄地爬到吉尔伽美什面前，吃掉了树枝！这不是他应该做的。众神一怒之下惩罚了这条蛇，让它永远在地上爬行。

至于吉尔伽美什，当他醒来发现永生草不见了，他并不担心。他知道，只要他愿意，他就随时可以再潜水下去拿到一根枝条。因此，吉尔伽美什没有立即再次潜入海中，而是朝家乡走去，只想洗个热水澡，吃顿丰盛的大餐。

随着时间的推移，吉尔伽美什经历了更多的冒险。但他似乎再也没有抽出时间潜回海底，从生命之树上取下另一根枝条。

（英语原文选自：mesopotamia.mrdonn.org）