Spake to the warlike Bel:—­
     Thou art the valiant leader of the gods,
     Why hast thou heedlessly wrought, and brought on the flood? 
     Let the sinner bear his sin, the wrongdoer his wrong;
     Yield to our request, that he be not wholly destroyed. 
     Instead of sending a flood, send lions that men be reduced;
     Instead of sending a flood, send hyenas that men be reduced;
     Instead of sending a flood, send flames to waste the land;
     Instead of sending a flood, send pestilence that men be reduced. 
     The counsel of the great gods to him I did not impart;
     A dream to Hasisadra I sent, and the will of the gods he learned. 
         Then came right reason to Bel,
         Into the ship he entered,
         Took my hand and lifted me up,
         Raised my wife and laid her hand in mine,
         To us he turned, between us he stepped,
         His blessing he gave. 
         Human Hasisadra has been,
         But he and his wife united
         Now to the gods shall be raised,
         And Hasisadra shall dwell far off at the mouth of the streams. 
         Then they took me and placed me
         Far off at the mouth of the streams.

V. THE EAGLE AND THE SNAKE

To Samas came the snake and said:—­
The eagle has come to my nest, my young are scattered. 
See, O Samas, what evil he has done me. 
Help me, thy nest is as broad as the earth,
Thy snare is like the heavens,
Who can escape out of thy net? 
Hearing the snake’s complaint,
Samas opened his mouth and spake:—­
Get thee on thy way, go to the mountain. 
A wild ox shall be thy hiding-place. 
Open his body, tear out his inward parts,
Make thy dwelling within him. 
All the birds of heaven will descend, with them will

          come the eagle,

Heedless and hurrying on the flesh he will swoop,
Thinking of that which is hidden inside. 
So soon as he enters the ox, seize his wing,
Tear off his wing-feathers and claws,
Pull him to pieces and cast him away,
Let him die of hunger and thirst. 
So as the mighty Samas commanded,
Rose the snake, went to the mountain,
There he found a wild ox,
Opened his body, tore out his inward parts,
Entered and dwelt within him. 
And the birds of heaven descended, with them came the eagle. 
Yet the eagle, fearing a snare, ate not of the flesh with

          the birds. 

The eagle spake to his young:—­
We will not fly down, nor eat of the flesh of the wild ox. 
An eaglet, keen of eye, thus to his father spake:—­
In the flesh of the ox lurks the snake

          [The rest is lost.]

     VI.  THE FLIGHT OF ETANA