May her mouth be wax[390] (?), her tongue honey.
May the word causing my misfortune that she has spoken dissolve like wax (?).
May the charm that she has wound up melt like honey,
So that her magic knot be cut in twain, her work destroyed,
All her words scattered across the plains
By the order that the gods have given.
The section closes with the ordinary request of the exorciser to the victim: "Recite this incantation." It will be seen how closely the principle of sympathetic magic is followed. The individual having been bewitched by means of certain herbs concocted probably into potions, other herbs are prepared by the exorciser as an antidote. The emphasis laid upon purification, too, is noteworthy. There are numerous synonyms employed for which it is difficult to find the adequate equivalent in English. The terms reach out beyond the literal to the symbolical purification. The victim wishes to become pure, cleansed of all impurities, so that he may be resplendent as the gods are pure, brilliant, and glorious, pure as the water, brilliant and glorious as the fire.
The length of the formulas varies. Often they consist only of a few lines. So the one immediately following appeals to Gilgamesh in these words:
Earth, Earth, Earth,
Gilgamesh is the master of your witchcraft.