The eagle has lost favor with Shamash. Enmity has arisen between the eagle and the serpent, and, curiously enough, the latter stands under the protection of the sun-god. What the cause of the enmity between eagle and serpent was, may have been recounted in a missing portion of the tablet. The eagle forms a plan of destroying the serpent's brood. He is warned against this act by a young eagle, who is designated as a 'very clever young one.'
Do not eat, O my father, the net of Shamash is laid (?);
The trap, the ban of Shamash, will fall upon thee and catch thee.
Who transgresses the law of Shamash, from him Shamash will exact revenge.
But the eagle, we are told, paid no heed to the warning.
He descended and ate of the young of the serpent.
The serpent appeals to Shamash. He tells the sun-god of the cruel deed of the eagle:
See, O Shamash, the evil that he has done to me.
Help (?), O Shamash, thy net is the broad earth.
Thy trap is the distant heavens.