The Dialogue of Pessimism

1his servant offers facile encouragements. When the master changes his mind and asserts the opposite, the servant is equally ready with facile discourage- ments. The master lapses into despair at the futility of life, and, when he finally asks what the best course for him to follow might be, the slave suggests

2Whether one reads the mood of this text as somber or light-hearted, it has a clear, universal appeal and is an original and effective composition.

3(1) “[Servant, listen to me].” “Yes, master, yes.” “[Quickly, get the charijot and hitch it up for me so I can drive to the palace."

4"[Drive, master, drive, it will briJng you where you want to go;

5the (others) will be outclassed, [the prince] will pay attention to you." (5) “[INo, servant], I will certainly not drive to the palace."

6“(Do not drive, mas]ter, do not drive. [The pr]ince will send you off on a mission, he will send you on a journey that* you do not know. He will expose you to discomfort [day and ni|ght."

7(10) "Ser[vant, listļen to me." “Yes, master, yes." "Quic[kly br]ing me water (to wash) my hands, give it to me so I can dine."

8"Di[ne], master, dine. Regular dining expands the inner self, [he who eats well]* is his own god. Shamash goes with him whose hands are washed." “No, [ser]vant, I will certainly not dine."

9“Do not dine, master, do not dine. Hunger, (then) eating, thirst,

10(then) drinking—this is what agrees with a man."

11“Servant, listen to me.” “Yes, master, yes." “Quickly get me the chariot and hitch it up so I can drive to the open country."

12*Drive, master, drive. The roaming man has a full stomach, the roving dog cracks open the bone, the roaming [bi]rd will find a nesting place, the wandering wild ram has all the [gra]|ss he wants.”* “No, servant, I will certainly not d[rive to the open

13country].” “Do not drive, master, do n[ot dri]|ve. (25) The roaming man loses his reason, the roving dog breaks his [te]eth(?), the roaming bird [puts] his home in the | ] of a wall, and the wandering wild ass has to live in the open."

14"Servant, listen to me." "Yes, master, yes." (30) "I am going to make a [household and have a so|n." “Do it, master, do it. [The man who makes] a household [| ] ...* "No, I will certainly

15«not» make a household." “Do not make a household. The one who follows such a course has broken up his father's household,

16[he has gone in] a door called ‘the noose’.* [The man with a wife and child is ...] credulous(?), two thirds a fool."^

17"Servant, listen to me." "Yes, master, yes." (40) "I will do something dishonest." "So, do it, master, do 1t. Unless you do something dishonest, what will [you] have to wear? Who will give you anything so you can fill [your] stomach?" "No, servant,

18I will certainly not do something dishonest.” “<Do not do it, master, do not do it^. The man who does something dishonest is executed or skinned alive or (45) blinded or apprehended or

19“Servant, listen to me.” “Yes, master, yes.” “I will fall in love with a woman.” “[So], fall in love, master, fall in love. The man who falls in love with a woman forgets sorrow and care.” “No, servant, I will certainly not fall in love with a woman.” "[Do not] fall in love, master, do not fall in love. A woman is a pitfall, a pitfall, a hole, a ditch, a woman is a sharp iron dagger that slashes a man’s throat.”

20Obscure. The word normally refers to a proverbially strong rope, perhaps meaning that the

21door cannot be opened again.

22Obscure and may not belong here.

23“Servant, listen to me.” “Yes, master, yes.” “Quickly bring me water (to wash) my hands, give it to me (55) so I can sacrifice to god." "Sacrifice, master, sacrifice. The man who sacrifices to his god makes a satisfying transaction, he makes loan upon loan."

24“No, servant, I will certainly not sacrifice to my god.” “Do not sacrifice, master, do not sacrifice. (60) You will train your god to follow you around like a dog. He will require of you rites or a magic figurine* or what have you."

25“Servant, listen to me.” “Yes, master, yes.” “I will make loans.”

26“So make them, master, [make them]. The man who makes loans, his grain is (still) his grain while his interest is profit.” “No, servant, I will certainly not make loans.” “Do not make them, master, do not make them. Loaning is [swee]t(?) as falling in love, getting back as pain[ful] as giving birth. They will consume your grain, be always abusing you, and finally they will swindle you out of the interest on your grain."

27(70) “Servant, listen to me.” “Yes, master, yes.” “I will do a good deed for my country.” “So do it, master, do it. The man who does a good deed for his country, his good deed rests in

28Marduk's basket.” “No, servant, I will certainly not do a good deed for my country.” (75) “Do not do it, master, do not do it.

29Go up on the ancient ruin heaps and walk around, look at the skulls of the lowly and great. Which was the doer of evil, and which was the doer of good deeds?”

30“Servant, listen to me.” “Yes, master, yes.” “What, then, is good?” “To break my neck and your neck and throw (us) in the

311. The meaning of this expression is unclear. The idea may be that if one distributes largesse, the recipient is god himself, so good will thereby accrue to the giver.

32river is good. Who is so tall as to reach to heaven? Who is so broad as to encompass the netherworld?” “No, servant, I will kill you and let you go first." "Then my master will certainly not outlive me even three days!"*

33Arad mitanguranni, (Dialogo fra schiavo e padrone nell'antica Mesopotamia) (Pisa, 1995).

34100; F. M. Fales, “Un nuova sguardo al ‘dialogo del pessimismo’ accadico," Annali Ca'Fostari 20

35M/2, 308a; von Soden, TUAT III/1, 160. (31) Text corrupt here, and inserts part of a section dealing with litigation. The latter is too fragmentary to be intelligible. I insert lines 32-33 at the of line 38; see BWL, 325. D'Agostino, Studies Cagni, 141, reconstructs this passage as lines