1-13 In those days, in those far remote days, in those nights, in those faraway nights, in those
years, in those far remote years, at that time the wise one who knew how to speak in elaborate
words lived in the Land; Curuppag, the wise one, who knew how to speak with elaborate words
lived in the Land. Curuppag gave instructions to his son; Curuppag, the son of Ubara-Tutu gave
instructions to his son Zi-ud-sura: My son, let me give you instructions: you should pay attention!
Zi-ud-sura, let me speak a word to you: you should pay attention! Do not neglect my instructions!
Do not transgress the words I speak! The instructions of an old man are precious; you should
comply with them!
14You should not buy a donkey which brays; it will split (?) your midriff (?).
15-18You should not locate a field on a road; ……. You should not plough a field at (1 ms.
adds: a road or) a path; ……. You should not make a well in your field: people will cause damage
on it for you. You should not place your house next to a public square: there is always a crowd (?)
there.
19-20You should not vouch for someone: that man will have a hold on you; and you yourself, you
should not let somebody vouch for you (1 ms. adds:: that man will despise (?) you).
21You should not make an inspection (?) on a man: the flood (?) will give it back (?) to you.
22-27 You should not loiter about where there is a quarrel; you should not let the quarrel make
you a witness. You should not let (?) yourself …… in a quarrel. You should not cause a quarrel;
……. …… the gate of the palace ……. Stand aside from a quarrel, …… you should not take (?)
another road.
28-31You should not steal anything; you should not …… yourself. You should not break into a
house; you should not wish for the money chest (?). A thief is a lion, but after he has been caught,
he will be a slave. My son, you should not commit robbery; you should not cut yourself with an
axe.
32-34You should not make a young man best man. You should not …… yourself. You should not
play around with a married young woman: the slander could be serious. My son, you should not
sit alone in a chamber with a married woman.
35-38You should not pick a quarrel; you should not disgrace yourself. You should not …… lies;
……. You should not boast; then your words will be trusted. You should not deliberate for too long
(?); you cannot bear …… glances.
39-41You should not eat stolen food with anyone (1 ms. has instead: a thief). You should not
sink (?) your hand into blood. After you have apportioned the bones, you will be made to restore
the ox, you will be made to restore the sheep.
42-43You should not speak improperly; later it will lay a trap for you.
44-46You should not scatter your sheep into unknown pastures. You should not hire someone’s
ox for an uncertain ……. A safe …… means a safe journey.
47You should not travel during the night: it can hide both good and evil.
48You should not buy an onager: it lasts (?) only until the end of the day.
49You should not have sex with your slave girl: she will chew you up (?).
50You should not curse strongly: it rebounds on you.
51-52You should not draw up water which you cannot reach (1 ms. has instead: grasp): it will
make you weak. 1 line unclear
53 You should not drive away a debtor: he will be hostile towards you.
54-57 You should not establish a home with an arrogant man: he will make your life like that of a
slave girl. You will not be able to travel through any human dwelling without be being shouted at:
“There you go! There you go!”
58-59 You should not undo the …… of the garden’s reed fence; “Restore it! Restore it!” they will
say to you.
60 You should not provide a stranger (?) with food; you should not wipe out (?) a quarrel.
61-62 My son, you should not use violence (?); ……. You should not commit rape on someone’s
daughter; the courtyard will learn of it.
63-64 You should not drive away a powerful (1 ms. has instead: strong) man; you should not
destroy the outer wall. You should not drive away a young man; you should not make him turn
against the city.
65-66 The eyes of the slanderer always move around as shiftily as a spindle. You should never
remain in his presence; his intentions (?) should not be allowed to have an effect (?) on you.
67 You should not boast in beer halls (1 ms. has instead: breweries) like a deceitful man: (1
ms. adds: then your words will be trusted.)
68-72 Having reached the field of manhood, you should not jump (?) with your hand. The warrior
is unique, he alone is the equal of many; Utu is unique, he alone is the equal of many. With your
life you should always be on the side of the warrior; with your life you should always be on the
side of Utu.
73-75 Curuppag gave these instructions to his son. Curuppag, the son of Ubara-Tutu, gave these
instructions to his son Zi-ud-sura.
76-82 A second time,Curuppag gave instructions to his son. Curuppag, the son of Ubara-Tutu
gave instructions to his son Zi-ud-sura: My son, let me give you instructions: you should pay
attention! Zi-ud-sura, let me speak a word to you: you should pay attention! Do not neglect my
instructions! Do not transgress the words I speak! (1 ms. adds the line: The instructions of an
old man are precious; you should comply with them! )
83-91The beer-drinking mouth ……. My little one ……. The beer-drinking mouth ……. Ninkasi …….
5 lines unclear
92-93Your own man will not repay (?) it for you. The reed-beds are ……, they can hide (?)
slander.
94-96The palace is like a mighty river: its middle is goring bulls; what flows in is never enough to
fill it, and what flows out can never be stopped.
97-100 When it is about someone’s else bread, it is easy to say “I will give it to you”, but the time
of actual giving can be as far away as the sky. If you go after the man who said “I will give it to
you”, he will say “I cannot give it to you — the bread has just been finished up”.
101-102 Property is something to be expanded (?); but nothing can equal my little ones.
103-105 The artistic mouth recites words; the harsh mouth brings litigation documents; the sweet
mouth gathers sweet herbs.
106-108The garrulous (1 ms. has instead: liar) fills (?) his bread bag; the haughty one brings
an empty bag and can fill his empty mouth only with boasting.
109 Who works with leather will eventually (?) work with his own leather.
110The strong one can escape (?) from anyone’s hand.
111-114 The fool loses something. When sleeping, the fool loses something. “Do not tie me up!”
he pleads; “Let me live!” he pleads.
115-117 The imprudent decrees fates; the shameless one piles up (?) things in another’s lap: “I
am such that I deserve admiration”.
118 A weak wife is always seized (?) by fate.
119-123 If you hire a worker, he will share the bread bag with you; he eats with you from the
same bag, and finishes up the bag with you. Then he will quit working with you and, saying “I
have to live on something”, he will serve at the palace.
124-125 You tell your son to come to your home; you tell your daughter to go to her women’s
quarters.
126 You should not pass judgment when you drink beer.
127 You should not worry unduly about what leaves the house.
128-130 Heaven is far, earth is most precious, but it is with heaven that you multiply your goods,
and all foreign lands breathe under it.
131-133 At harvest time, at the most priceless time, collect like a slave girl, eat like a queen; my
son, to collect like a slave girl, to eat like a queen, this is how it should be.
134-142 Who insults can hurt only the skin; greedy eyes (?), however, can kill. The liar, shouting,
tears up his garments. Insults bring (?) advice to the wicked. To speak arrogantly is like an
abscess: a herb that makes the stomach sick. 1 line is unclearMy words of prayer bring
abundance. Prayer is cool water that cools the heart. Only (?) insults and stupid speaking receive
the attention of the Land.
143-145 Curuppag gave these instructions to his son. Curuppag, the son of Ubara-Tutu, gave
these instructions to his son Zi-ud-sura.
146-152A third time, Curuppag gave instructions to his son. Curuppag, the son of Ubara-Tutu
gave instructions to his son Zi-ud-sura: My son, let me give you instructions: you should pay
attention! Zi-ud-sura, let me speak a word to you: you should pay attention! Do not neglect my
instructions! Do not transgress the words I speak! (Some mss. add the line: The instructions
of an old man are precious; you should comply with them! )
153You should not beat a farmer’s son: he has constructed (?) your embankments and ditches.
154-164You should not buy a prostitute: she is a mouth that bites. You should not buy a houseborn
slave: he is a herb that makes the stomach sick. You should not buy a free man: he will
always lean against the wall. You should not buy a palace slave girl: she will always be the
bottom of the barrel (?). You should rather bring down a foreign slave from the mountains, or you
should bring somebody from a place where he is an alien; my son, then he will pour water for you
where the sun rises and he will walk before you. He does not belong to any family, so he does not
want to go to his family; he does not belong to any city, so he does not want to go to his city. (1
ms. adds 2 lines: He cannot knock at the door of ……, he cannot enter …….) He will not ……
with you, he will not be presumptuous with you.
165-167My son, you should not travel alone eastwards. Your acquaintance should not …….
168-169 A name placed on another one ……; you should not pile up a mountain on another one.
170-171Fate is a wet bank; it can make one slip.
172-174The elder brother is indeed like a father; the elder sister is indeed like a mother. Listen
therefore to your elder brother, and you should be obedient to your elder sister as if she were
your mother.
175-176You should not work using only your eyes; you will not multiply your possessions using
only your mouth.
177 The negligent one ruins (?) his family.
178-180The need for food makes some people ascend the mountains; it also brings traitors and
foreigners, since the need for food brings down other people from the mountains.
181-182A small city provides (?) its king with a calf; a huge city digs (?) a house plot (?).
183-188…… is well equipped. The poor man inflicts all kinds of illnesses on the rich man. The
married man is well equipped; the unmarried makes his bed in a haystack (?). He who wishes to
destroy a house will go ahead and destroy the house; he who wishes to raise up will go ahead
and raise up.
189-192By grasping the neck of a huge ox, you can cross the river. By moving along (?) at the
side of the mighty men of your city, my son, you will certainly ascend (?).
193-201When you bring a slave girl from the hills, she brings both good and evil with her. The
good is in the hands; the evil is in the heart. The heart does not let go of the good; but the heart
cannot let go of the evil either. As if it were a watery place, the heart does not abandon the good.
Evil is a store-room ……. (1 ms. adds: 2 lines unclear)May the boat with the evil sink in the
river! May his waterskin split in the desert!
202-203A loving heart maintains a family; a hateful heart destroys a family.
204-207To have authority, to have possessions and to be steadfast are princely divine powers.
You should submit to the respected; you should be humble before the powerful. My son, you will
then survive (?) against the wicked.
208-212You should not choose a wife during a festival. Her inside is illusory (?); her outside is
illusory (?). The silver on her is borrowed; the lapis lazuli on her is borrowed (1 ms. has
instead the line: ……; the jewellery on her is borrowed, the jewellery on her is borrowed). The
dress on her is borrowed; the linen garment on her is borrowed. With …… nothing (?) is
comparable.
213-214 You should not buy a …… bull. You should not buy a vicious bull; …… a hole (?) in the
cattle-pen …….
215 One appoints (?) a reliable woman for a good household.
216-217You should not buy a donkey at the time of harvest. A donkey which eats …… will ……
with another donkey.
218-219 A vicious donkey hangs its neck; however, a vicious man, my son, …….
220 A woman with her own property ruins the house.
221A drunkard will drown the harvest.
222-234 A female burglar (?) …… ladder; she flies into the houses like a fly. A she-donkey …… on
the street. A sow suckles its child on the street. A woman who pricked herself begins to cry and
holds the spindle which pricked (?) her in her hand. She enters every house; she peers into all
streets. …… she keeps saying “Get out!” She looks around (?) from all parapets. She pants (?)
where there is a quarrel. 2 lines unclear
235-241Marry (?) …… whose heart hates (?). My son, …… 4 lines unclearA heart which
overflows with joy …….
242-244Nothing at all is to be valued, but life should be sweet. You should not serve things;
things should serve you. My son, …….
245 You should not …… grain; its …… are numerous.
246-247 You should not abuse a ewe; otherwise you will give birth to a daughter. You should not
throw a lump of earth into the money chest (?); otherwise you will give birth to a son.
248-249 You should not abduct a wife; you should not make her cry (?). The place where the wife
is abducted to …….
251 “Let us run in circles (?), saying: “Oh, my foot, oh, my neck!”. Let us with united forces (?)
make the mighty bow!”
252-253 You should not kill a ……, he is a child born by ……. You should not kill …… like ……; you
should not bind him.
254 The wet-nurses in the women’s quarters determine the fate of their lord.
255-260 You should not speak arrogantly to your mother; that causes hatred for you. You should
not question the words of your mother and your personal god. The mother, like Utu, gives birth to
the man; the father, like a god, makes him bright (?). The father is like a god: his words are
reliable. The instructions of the father should be complied with.
261 Without suburbs a city has no centre either.
262-263 My son, a field situated at the bottom of the embankments, be it wet or dry, is
nevertheless a source of income.
264 it is inconceivable (?) that something is lost forever.
265…… of Dilmun ……
266-271 To get lost is bad for a dog; but terrible for a man (1 ms. has instead: An unknown
place is terrible; to get lost is shameful (?) for a dog). On the unfamiliar way at the edge of the
mountains, the gods of the mountains are man-eaters. They do not build houses there as men do;
they do not build cities there as men do. 1 line unclear
272-273 For the shepherd, he stopped searching, he stopped bringing back the sheep. For the
farmer (?), he stopped ploughing the field. 1 line unclear
274-276 This gift of words is something which soothes the mind ……; when it enters the palace, it
soothes the mind ……. The gift of many words ….. stars.
277 These are the instructions given by Curuppag, the son of Ubara-Tutu.
278-280 Praise be to the lady who completed the great tablets, the maiden Nisaba, that
Curuppag, the son of Ubara-Tutu gave his instructions!