As I passed those deadly waters I could see a house in the middle of
nowhere, I knew instantly that this must be the home of Utnapishtim. Elated at
having concluded my quest I quickly approached to search for the legendary
immortal.
—Is there anyone? —I asked out loud.
-Who are you? —a male voice was heard from inside—. How did you get
here?
The door opened and a man with the appearance of about seventy years old
appeared. I was quite surprised, because it is not what I had expected the
immortal Utnapishtim to be like.
—I am Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, the powerful demigod that everyone knows
and respects.
—Excuse me, there isn't as much information from the outside world as I
would like...
—How come you are immortal? I asked. You have the appearance of any
other common man.
—What should an immortal look like, according to you? —he responded with
a sarcasm question.
—To be honest, even I don't know what I expected...
—Do you seek immortality, young Gilgamesh? -asked.
—That's right, I long for what you have. What is your secret?
He invited me in and later brought me a chair to sit on. Inside was also
his wife, a very kind and attentive woman. She brought me hot tea and put a lot
of food on the table.
"Eat something, it seems like your trip has been very hard,"
she said.
"I will tell you the story of our immortality, young king."
Utnapishtim sat in his chair and proceeded to tell me his story.
—Are you both immortal? —I asked, because I thought that only he had
that blessing.
—That's right, both me and my wife are.
"I'm all ears..." I said excited to hear the story.
—A long time ago there was a city called Shurupak, it was located on the
banks of the Euphrates River. Humans and gods coexisted there, however, one day
the god Enlil decided to wipe out humanity using a powerful flood. Humans began
to multiply too much, therefore, the noise they made bothered the god Enlil.
—And he eliminated them all? —I asked, eager to continue listening to
the story.
—Almost everyone... I don't know what they saw in me, but for some
reason some gods warned me about this event. They advised me to dismantle my
house and use its wood to build an ark, in which I, my wife and a pair of each
animal should climb. A large black cloud emerged from the horizon that obscured
every corner of light and the powerful south wind blew all day and all night.
The flood was so violent that it drowned all the people who remained on land.
"So much cruelty..." I was taken aback by Utnapishtim's story.
—Even the gods themselves were frightened by this catastrophe that,
because of Enlil, was destroying life. But surprisingly, they regretted that
decision, but it was too late, given that the storm lasted six days and none of
them could stop it.
—But why did they grant you immortality? —I asked.
"All in good time, young Gilgamesh," he answered very calmly.
After the terrible catastrophe, I stopped on land and made certain sacrifices
so that the gods would notice me again. Unfortunately, the first god to appear
was Enlil, who did not regret his slaughter at all.
—Enlil granted you immorality? —I asked again.
—To my surprise, yes. As a reward he took my hand and that of my wife,
recited a strange magical ritual and granted us immortality.
—So how do I get that blessing?
"Do not be offended by my words, young king, but you do not deserve
eternal life," Utnapishtim said to discourage me.
—What do you know about me?! —I reproached him—. I am as worthy as
anyone, even more so!
—Show me your determination. You will have to stay awake for 6 days and
seven nights.
Trusting in myself, I accepted the challenge without thinking about it.
Three days passed and the dream began to cause multiple negative effects such
as: lack of energy, hallucinations with my late friend Enkidu, headaches and
obviously severe drowsiness. On the fourth day I fell asleep, failing the test
that Utnapishtim imposed on me.
—I'm sorry, I told you that you were not worthy of immortality.
I deeply regretted this failure, since I had lost my hopes of obtaining
eternal life. Now I knew that wherever I went death would go with me, waiting
anxiously to take my precious life.
—Go back to Uruk, young king, you have nothing to do here —Utnapishtim
kept reminding me of my failure.
—I want another chance, please! —I asked desperately.
-No! If you were not able to meet a challenge as easy as staying awake,
how are you going to deserve eternal life?
—Don't be so cruel to him! —His wife got into the conversation—. This
young man has accomplished great feats to get here.
—I can't give him immortality! —he exclaimed.
"At least offer him something to proudly return to his
kingdom," the kind woman asked.
—Okay, I will reveal to you a plant that is hidden, Gilgamesh. Its
magical properties will make you ten years old again, as this plant restores
youth to anyone.
-Great! —I shouted euphorically. Where do I find it?
—You will have to return to Urshanabi, since this plant is located in
the depths of the sea, exactly two hundred meters from my house. You will have
to calculate the distances and find the plant before nightfall.
I said goodbye to Utnapishtim and his wife, thanking them from the
bottom of my heart for their help. I quickly proceeded to look for old
Urshanabi to help me look for the magic plant.
"I told you that you won't be able to escape death." Even he
seemed to regret my failure.
—I'm going to look for a magical plant that Utnapishtim offered me its
location.
"It's okay," he seemed ready to help me. I will help you only
because of your effort and the difficult path you had to travel.
After arriving exactly at the location that had been indicated to me, I
dove into the depths of the sea to find its whereabouts. It was not as
difficult as I thought, because thanks to my strength and will, I was able to
find it in several minutes.
—I have it! —I shouted euphorically as I returned to the surface.
—Even if you are young again, remember that death is waiting for you.
Youth does not guarantee life, it simply can last longer than old age.
My joy was greater than the fear that Urshanabi tried to instill in me,
since at least if I have not achieved immortality, at least I would return a
few years of youth to my body.
"As soon as we get to land I have to visit someone," I said,
thinking of Siduri.
—That's better! —he answered—. You must live life and its pleasures,
enjoy what you have left and never fear death again, it may not be as bad as
you think.
—But you yourself tried to instill fear in me all this time —I was confused by his words.
—That's right, so you know that one day it will come to you. However, I
never said this would be terrible or something bad.
After making the long journey again, we stopped on land near the Siduri
tavern. I ran excitedly to tell him the news and propose what I had promised
him some time ago.
—Wow, you're back! —There is no doubt that she was surprised by my
return, and with tears in her eyes she hugged me tightly.
—Yeah! —I also hugged her tightly, feeling a deep love that I had never
felt before.
—What will we do now? -asked.
I knelt in front of her, took her hand in mine and made her the big
proposal:
—Siduri, do you want to marry me?
—Clear! —He accepted and kissed me with passion.
She grabbed her things and the two of us headed back to Uruk. The road
was smooth and smooth, therefore the trip happened quite quickly.
—This is my beloved kingdom —I told him, excited to show him
the entire city of Uruk.
As soon as I arrived at the palace I quickly went to take a bath,
because after this long adventure I had made my body more dirty than normal. I
left the magic plant a few meters away while I bathed in the backyard of the
palace, enjoying the fresh air and the smell of the flowers. After a few
minutes passed, I heard a strange sound, like a snake crawling in a hurry. As
soon as I turned my head I saw my hopes destroyed in a few seconds, because a
snake was eating the magical plant.
—No! —My scream was so loud that it echoed throughout the palace.
I ran desperately to catch the snake, however, it managed to get out
through a hole just outside. Although I tried to chase her, I lost sight of her
completely. At that precise moment, I remembered everything that the boatman
Urshanabi had told me. I mourned for a long time, having as my only consolation
the moral support of my future wife Siduri.
—Now that I think about it, only you could have used the
plant —he told me on the third day, trying to end my sadness. So while I
would grow old you would be young. Maybe fate wanted this to happen.
—You are right, my dear.
The good part of that event was the important lesson that I took away,
since I was able to understand that immortality or trying to extend life,
sooner or later, will end in deep sadness.