efore applying
to the goddess for her help, he thought it best to secure the mediation
of the god Ningirsu and the goddess Gatumdug, in order that they should
use their influence with Nina to induce her to reveal the interpretation
of the dream. So the patesi set out to the temple of Ningirsu, and,
having offered a sacrifice and poured out fresh water, he prayed to the
god that his sister, Nina, the child of Eridu, might be prevailed upon
to give him help. And the god hearkened to his prayer. Then Gudea made
offerings, and before the sleeping-chamber of the goddess Gatumdug he
offered a sacrifice and poured out fresh water. And he prayed to the
goddess, calling her his queen and the child of the pure heaven, who
gave life to the countries and befriended and preserved the people or
the man on whom she looked with favour.

"I have no mother," cried Gudea, "but thou art my mother! I have no
father, but thou art a father to me!" And the goddess Gatumdug gave
ear to the patesi's prayer. Thus encouraged by her favour and that of
Ningirsu, Gudea set out for the temple of the goddess Nina.

On his arrival at the temple, the patesi offered a sacrifice and poured
out fresh water, as he had already done when approaching the presence of
Ningirsu and Gatumdug. And he prayed to Nina, as the goddess who divines
the secrets of the gods, beseeching her to interpret the vision that had
been sent to him; and he then recounted to her the details of his dream.
When the patesi had finished his story, the goddess addressed him and
told him that she would explain the meaning of his dream to him. And
this was the interpretation of the dream. The man whose stature was so
great that it equalled the heavens and the earth, whose head was that
of a god, at whose side was the divine eagle, whose feet rested on the
whirlwind, while a lion couched on his right hand and on his left, was
her brother, the god Ningirsu. And the words which he uttered were an
order to the patesi that he should build the temple E-ninnu. And the sun
which rose from the earth before the patesi was the god Ningishzida,
for like the sun he goes forth from the earth. And the maiden who held
a pure reed in her hand, and carried the tablet with the star, was her
sister, the goddess Nidaba: the star was the pure star of the temple's
construction, which she proclaimed. And the second man, who was like a
warrior and carried the slab of lapis lazuli, was the god Nindub, and the
plan o