How Uktash Met Nassur كتاب · المقتنيات

The old King of Urduk was dying. He had three sons, all of them brave warriors, all fit to be their father's heir. So the king ordered all three of them to go into the world and be tested by fate.

Two older sons went to the west, where there were other great cities and many opportunities for adventures. But the youngest one, Uktash, travelled to the east, where a scorched and lifeless land lay. His brothers laughed at him and were sure they would never see him again, but Uktash did not change his mind.

He had many adventures in the scorched land and sheer luck saved him from certain death more than once. And then he met Nassur, the silver serpent-god. 'Do you not fear me?' Nassur asked, surprised. 'I do,' Uktash nodded, 'but I have never seen anything more beautiful than your silver skin. So I set my fear aside.'

But Nassur was not impressed by this answer. He devoured Uktash, slithered down among the rocks and there he shed his silver skin.

Years later, Uktash's brothers, one of whom was already the King of Urduk, travelled to the east in search of Uktash. They did not find him, but stumbled upon a rich silver vein that had once been Nassur's skin. They started mining it, and this discovery made Urduk even richer and even safer from the vrakhiri.