Lilitu

Before the stars were born Before people built great cities The great mountain Atlen shook And bled fiery blood As it gave birth to Lilitu The land all around burned Many animals and people died When Lilitu opened her eyes Lilitu saw the ashes of her birth And wept tears like rain Lilitu's tears became rivers and streams Flowers grew where Lilitu walked Trees grew where Lilitu sat The ashes became fertile soil And an orchard became Lilitu's home In Lilitu's orchard many animals are People came to live in paradise Lilitu gave them grain and taught them to harvest Lilitu made bread and beer The people rejoiced, ate and drank One day a great prince came to the land of Atlen He spied Lilitu and wooed her But Lilitu spurned and rejected him The great prince became very angry He spied two lions and killed them both Lilitu wept for the lions She cradled their heads in her arms The lions awoke to her tears The lions licked away her tears and became strong They became Lilitu's loyal friends The great prince saw this And again he wooed Lilitu But Lilitu became a bird She flew away from him Angry, the prince began hunting birds Lilitu saw this and was upset To spite the prince she spat at him And mated with a serpent Lilitu gave birth very quickly Her child was like no other The child had six arms The child had a serpent's tail The child was very strong Lilitu called the child a marilitu The Marilitu attacked the great prince The great prince and the marilitu fought The fought day and night For night after night And day after day But neither could win the fight Lilitu saw this and mated again Another marilitu was born And another and another Two hundred and sixteen were born In fear the great prince ran away The people of the orchard rejoiced The marilitu's farmed the land The marilitu's protected the people But the great prince swore vengeance He cursed the mountain Atlen and its land Atlen became angry at this curse The mountain and the land shook Atlen shook and bled and cried Its fiery blood made fires And its tears made floods Afraid Lilitu turned into a great bird She grasped people in her feet She carried animals on her back The marilitu's and the lions carried people too Together they fled the land of Atlen Lilitu went west and east Lilitu went north and south Finally she came to dry land The people thanked Lilitu greatly The people built statues in her honour Lilitu wept for her lost home Her tears formed two rivers The rivers joined together They flowed into the ocean The people grew grain by the river The people grew great orchards They built buildings and towers of stone The people grew healthy and the land rich Merchants from far places travelled there News of the wealth of the land grew The great prince heard of the land He sent his heralds to inquire of its lady But Lilitu fed his heralds to her lions The great prince sent an army But the marilitu's destroyed his army Finally the great prince went When he saw the beautiful orchards When he saw the six-armed marilitus The great prince knew the lady was Lilitu In fear he disguised himself as a woman The great prince went to Lilitu's temple His disguise fooled the people But the lions knew his scent The two lions warned Lilitu So Lilitu prepared a trap Lilitu summoned thirty-six young men She filled a hall with thirty-six silver platters She ordered thirty-six beasts slaughtered At last she was ready She invited the people to the feast People came from all over the land The great prince came too The great prince arrived in disguise But Lilitu knew him eagerly She welcomed him as an honoured guest The great prince accepted her hospitality He sat before all the people The thirty-six young men were brought forth "Please choose a man," Lilitu commanded Not wanting to be rude the great prince chose one Lilitu bade the great prince to sit beside the young man The silver platters were brought forth The people feasted on the meat of thirty-six beasts Great gifts were brough forth Lilitu gave the gifts to the great prince Confused the great prince accepted Then the feast was finally over Curious, the great prince questioned Lilitu "Do you always give such grand gifts to strangers?" "Only when someone is married," Lilitu answered Realizing what had happened the great prince became angry He ripped off his disguise He drew his sword and his dagger "Why have you made me marry this man?" he demanded "Because you can never marry me," Lilitu answered Enraged the great prince attacked Lilitu The two fought endlessly for Lilitu was very strong Whenever the prince would get too bold Lilitu would change into a bird The great prince fell to the ground and wept in despair The great prince professed his love He promised that he would never quit He prepared to cut his own throat Finally Lilitu grew tired of this game She felt pity for the great prince "I will grant you one kiss," Lilitu declared Desperate the great prince accepted The moment the great prince's kiss had been dealt His body flooded with life and then death So great was the pleasure of one kiss that he died Lilitu wept for the great prince But the great prince remained dead Saddened Lilitu knew she could never love No mortal man could taste her kiss and live Her tears brought life, but her kiss brought death