Page:The Chaldean Account of Genesis (1876).djvu/169

 2.

3. the people of the birds

4.

5. angrily he spake

6. angrily I speak

7. in the mouth of Shamas the warrior

8. the people of the birds

9. The eagle his mouth opened and

10. Why comest thou

11. Etana his mouth opened and

12. speech? he

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 Shamas to be eaten by the eagle; bat 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 tares open. The other birds then take offence, and desire that the eagle should be excluded from their ranks.

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