Chapter IX.
BABYLONIAN FABLES.

Fables.—Common in the East.—Description.—Power of speech in animals.—Story of the eagle.—Serpent.—Samas.—The eagle caught.—Eats the serpent.—Anger of Birds.—Etana.—Seven gods.—Third tablet.—Speech of eagle.—Story of the fox.—His cunning.—Judgment of Samas.—His show of sorrow.—His punishment.—Speech of fox.—Fable of the horse and ox.—They consort together.—Speech of the ox.—His good fortune.—Contrast with the horse.—Hunting the ox.—Speech of the horse.—Offers to recount story.—Story of Istar.—Further tablets.

Combined with these stories of the gods, traditions of the early history of man, and accounts of the Creation, are fragments of a series in which various animals speak and act. As these resemble the beast-fables of other races, more especially the African, they may be conveniently classed under the general heading of “Fables.” The idea that animals can speak, or have spoken in some former age of the world, even occurs in Genesis, where we have a speaking serpent; in Numbers, where Balaam’s ass reproves his master; and in the stories of Jotham and Joash, where the trees are made to talk; as also in the Izdubar legends, where the trees answer Hea-bani.

Four fables have been preserved among the fragmentary records of Assur-bani-pal’s library.

The first contained at least four tablets each having four columns of writing. Two of the acting animals in it are the eagle and the serpent.

The second is similar in character, the leading animal being the fox or jackal, but there are only four fragments of it; it may belong to the same series as the fable of the eagle.

The third is a single tablet with two columns of writing, and contains a discussion between the horse and ox.

The fourth is a single fragment in which a calf speaks, but there is nothing to show the nature of the story.

I. The Story of the Eagle.

This story appears to be the longest and most curious of the fables, but the very mutilated condition of the various fragments gives as usual considerable difficulty in attempting a translation of it. One of the actors in the story is an ancient monarch named Etana, who, like Ner, ruled over Babylon in the mythical period that followed the Deluge, and whose phantom was believed to sit, crowned, on a throne in Hades along with the shades of the other heroes of old time. The story of Etana was supposed to have been written by an early poet named Nis-Sin.

It is impossible to determine the proper order of the fragments of the story owing to their mutilated condition; they must therefore be translated as they come.

K 2527.

Many lines lost at the commencement.

Reverse.

On another fragment are the following few words:—

Obverse.

Reverse.

The next fragment, K 2606, is curious, as containing an account of some early legendary story in Babylonian history. This tablet formed the third in the series, and from it we gain part of the title of the tablets.

K 2606.

Reverse.

Many lines lost.

The next fragment is a small portion probably of the fourth tablet.

Such are the principal fragments of this curious legend. According to the fragment K 2527, the serpent had committed some sin for which it was condemned by the god Samas to be eaten by the eagle; but the eagle declined the repast.

After this, some one, whose name is lost, baits a trap for the eagle, and the bird going to get the meat, falls into the trap and is caught. Now the eagle is left, until dying for want of food it is glad to eat the serpent, which it takes and tears open. The other birds then interfere, but the tablet is too mutilated to allow us to discover for what purpose.

The other fragments concern the building of some city, Etana being king, and in these relations the eagle again appears; there are seven spirits or angels principal actors in the matter, but the whole story is obscure at present, and a connected plot cannot be made out.

This fable has evidently some direct connection with the mythical history of Babylonia, for Etana is mentioned as an ancient Babylonian monarch in the Izdubar legends. He seems to be the Titan of the Greek writers, who lived after the Deluge and made war against Kronos or Hea shortly after the confusion of tongues. The city built by Etana may be the city mentioned in Gen. xi. 4 as built at the same time as the Tower of Babel. If the Sibyl can be trusted Titan was a contemporary of Prometheus, in whom we may perhaps see the Inninna of the cuneiform inscription. That Etana was closely associated with the story of the Deluge appears plain from the fact that he ruled at Surippak, the home and kingdom of the Chaldean Noah. The legend of Etana seems in the fable to be put into the mouth of the eagle.

II. Story of the Fox.

The next fable, that of the fox, was ascribed to an author called Lal-Merodach, the son of Eri-Turnunna, but the fragments are so disconnected that they must be given without any attempt at arrangement.

K 3641.

Column I.

(Columns II. and III. lost.)

Column IV.

The next fragment has lost the commencements and ends of all the lines.

The following fragment is in a similar condition.

The fourth fragment contains only five legible lines.

The last fragment is a small scrap, at the end of which the fox petitions Samas to spare him.

The incidental allusions in these fragments show that the fox was even then considered cunning, and the animal in the story was evidently a watery specimen, as he brings tears to his assistance whenever anything is to be gained by it. He had offended Samas by some means and the god sentenced him to death, a sentence which he escaped through powerful pleading on his own behalf.

III. Fable of the Horse and Ox.

The next fable, that of the horse and the ox, is a single tablet with only two columns of text. The date of the tablet is in the reign of Assur-bani-pal, and there is no statement that it is copied from an earlier text. There are altogether four portions of the text, but only one is perfect enough to be worth translating. This largest fragment, K 3456, contains about one-third of the story.

K 3456.

(Several lines are lost at the commencement.)

Here the ox describes the state of the country during the drought of summer, and makes a league with the horse, apparently for the purpose of sharing with him the same pastures. Most of the speeches, however, made by the two animals are lost or only present in small fragments, and the story recommences on the reverse with the end of a speech from the horse.

It appears from these fragments that the story described a time when the animals associated together, and the ox and horse fell into a friendly conversation. The ox, commencing the discussion, praised himself; the answer of the horse is lost, but where the story recommences it appears that the ox objects to the horse drawing the chariot from which he himself is hunted, and the horse ultimately offers to tell the ox a story, the ox choosing the story called “Behold Istar,” probably some story of the same character as that of Istar’s descent into Hades.

It is uncertain if any other tablet followed this; it is, however, probable that there was one containing the story told by the horse. Although there is no indication to show the date of this fable, the fact that it is not stated to have been copied from an older document seems to show that it is not earlier than the time of Assur-bani-pal. The loss of the tablet containing the story of Istar, told by the horse to the ox, is unfortunate. The last fable is a mere fragment similar to the others, containing a story in which the calf speaks. There is not enough of it to make it worth translation.