Semitic magic : its origins and development

THE LEGEND OP THE WOEM. xliii
an ingenuous belief in abracadabra. Tbese spells, brief
though they be, often reveal some little superstition, some
remnant of folk-tale, which sometimes reappear in the
traditions of the dwellers in modern Irak. The belief in
little worms that eat the teeth is current in Mesopotamia,
in China, and among the Malays, and yet it can be
shown to have existed in Babylonia two thousand years
ago and more. This is the cuneiform legend:
" After Anu [had created the Heavens],
The Heavens created [the Earth],
The Earth created the Kivers,
The Kivers created the Canals,
— '
The Canals created the Marshes,
The Marshes created the Worm.
Came the Worm (and) wept before the Sun-god,
Before Ea came her tears.
' What wilt thou give me for my food,
What wilt thou give me for my devouring
' I will give thee ripe figs,^
And scented . . . wood.' ^
' What are these ripe figs to nie,
Or scented . . . wood ?
Let me drink among the teeth.
And set me on the gums(?),
That I may devour^ the blood of the teeth,
And of their gums (?) destroy the strength (?),•*
Then shall I hold the bolt of the door.
' Since thou hast said this, worm,
Ea shall smite thee with the might of his fist.
^ Literally 'destroy.'
2 In my translation in Devils and Evil Spirits this was probably
incorrectly translated as ' dried bones.' is-ma is the word in question,
and I read it as a Semitic word is-7na, connected with ' D^^ bone.'
More probably it should be regarded as an ideogram for tittu (see
Muss-Arnolt, Dictiojiary^ sub voce), i.e. Jl^J^ri
^ The line is difficult because of an unusual ideogram.
* Kusasiy unknown elsewhere.
.
^ ?