Let us now take up the detailed analysis,
first of the Pennsylvania tablet and then of the Yale tablet. The
Pennsylvania tablet begins with two dreams recounted by Gilgamesh
to his mother, which the latter interprets as presaging the coming
of Enkidu to Erech. In the one, something like a heavy meteor falls
from heaven upon Gilgamesh and almost crushes him. With the help of
the heroes of Erech, Gilgamesh carries the heavy burden to his mother
Ninsun. The burden, his mother explains, symbolizes some one who,
like Gilgamesh, is born in the mountains, to whom all will pay homage
and of whom Gilgamesh will become enamoured with a love as strong as
that for a woman. In a second dream, Gilgamesh sees some one who is
like him, who brandishes an axe, and with whom he falls in love. This
personage, the mother explains, is again Enkidu.
Langdon is of the opinion that these dreams are recounted to
Enkidu by a woman with whom Enkidu cohabits for six days and seven
nights and who weans Enkidu from association with animals. This,
however, cannot be correct. The scene between Enkidu and the woman
must have been recounted in detail in the first tablet, as in the
Assyrian version, [30] whereas here in the second tablet we have the
continuation of the tale with Gilgamesh recounting his dreams directly
to his mother.
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