Zoological Mythology Volume I Part 28

[699] Professor Benfey, in his learned Einleitung to the _Pancatantram_, p. 268, says that the disguise by means of the skin of an a.s.s is found in a Latin poem of the fifteenth century.

[700] "Addo ex Conrado Lycosthene in libro de ostentis et prodigiis hanc iconem quam hippokentauri esse credebam, ipse vero (nescio ex quo) Apothami vocat, Apothami (inquit) in aqua morantes, qui una parte hominem, alia vero caballum sive equum referunt. Sic etiam memoriae tradiderunt mulieres esse capite plano sine crinibus, promissas autem barbas habentes. Atqui ea descriptio plane ad Onocentauros pertinere videtur, quos Aelia.n.u.s et Philes sic fere delineant. Quae vero de Onocentauro fama accepi, haec sunt: Eum homini ore et promissa barba similem esse, simul et collum et pectus, humanam speciem gerere; mammas distantes tamquam mulieris ex pectore pendere; humeros, brachia, digitos, humanam figuram habere; dorsum, ventrem, latera, posteriores pedes, asino persimiles et quemadmodum asinum sic cinereo colore esse; imum ventrem leviter exalbescere: duplicem usum ei ma.n.u.s praestare; nam celeritate ubi sit opus eae ma.n.u.s praecurrunt ante posteriores pedes; ex quo fit, ut non caeterorum quadrupedum cursu superetur. Ac ubi rursus habet necesse vel cib.u.m capere vel aliud quidpiam tollere, qui ante pedes erant ma.n.u.s efficiuntur, tumque non graditur, sed in sessione quiescit: Animal est gravi animi acerbitate; nam si capiatur, non ferens servitutem, libertatis desiderio ab omni cibo abhorret, et fame sibi mortem consciscit, licet pullus adhuc fuerit. Haec de Onocentauro Pythagoram narrare testatur Crates, ex Mysio Pergamo profectus;" Aldrovandi, _De Quadrupedibus_, i.--In the Indian satyrs described by Pliny, in the seventh book of his _Natural History_, we find represented an a.n.a.logous animal: "Sunt et satyri subsolanis Indorum montibus (Cartadulonum dicitur regio) pernicissimum animal, turn quadrupes, turn recte currens, humana effigie, propter velocitatem nisi senes aut aegri, aut capiuntur." Evidently this refers to some kind of monkey (probably the orang-outang); but as the myth of the monkey does not differ much from that of the a.s.s, as we shall see, even the Hindoo gandharvas is represented as a monkey.--"In _A. V._ iv. 37, 11, the gandharvas, a cla.s.s of G.o.ds, who are described as hairy, like dogs and monkeys, but as a.s.suming a handsome appearance to seduce the affections of earthly females, are implored to desist from this unbecoming practice, and not to interfere with mortals, as they had wives of their own, the Apsarases;" Muir's _Sansk?it Texts_, v.

309.--We have the monkey-gandharvas and the warrior-gandharvas in the Vedic hymns, the warrior-monkey in the _Ramaya?am_, and the warrior-kentauros and warrior-a.s.s in h.e.l.lenic myths.

[701] We also read of the a.s.s that dances, which reminds us of the gandharvas in their capacity of heavenly musicians and dancers, who teach the G.o.ds how to dance. Nor is it perhaps without reason that the author of precepts for dancers and mimics is named _K?icacvas_: k?icacvas means, as we already know, he who possesses a lean horse, or simply the lean horse. Between the lean horse, the mule, and the a.s.s, the distance is short; nor can we overlook the fact that in the gandharvas K?ica.n.u.s is recognised as he who causes to become lean, which calls us back to the monster who makes horses grow lean, to the monster of horses, the ugly horse, the horse-monster, who destroys the golden ears of the fields, making them dry up, like the monster cush?as, or the destroyer of riches, like the Zend Kerecani.--In the before-quoted book, _Laus Asini_, the author says in jest, "Forta.s.sis Pegasum fuisse asinum;" and in this jest a great truth is contained.

[702] Kada yogo va?ino rasabhasya yena ya?na? nasatyopayatha?; _?igv._ i. 34, 9.

[703] Vi?upatmabhir acuhemabhir va devana? va ?utibhi? cacadana tad rasabho nasatya sahasram a?a yamasya pradhane ?igaya.

[704] Yatra rathasya b?ihato nidhana? vimocana? va?ino rasabhasya; _?igv._ iii. 53, 5.

[705] Nava?ina? va?ina hasayanti na gardabham puro acvan nayanti; _?igv._ iii. 53, 23.

[706] Gardabharathenacvina uda?ayatamacvinavacnuvata? yadacvina uda?ayatamacvinavacnuvata? tasmatsas?ita?avo dugdhadoha?

sarveshametarhi vahananamanacish?o retasastvasya virya? naharatam tasmatsa dvireta va?i; _ait. Br._ iv. 2, 9.

[707] _Ueber den Zusammenhang indischer Fabeln mit griechischen_, Berlin, 1855.

[708] St Jerome, in the Life of Saint Hilarion: "Ego, inquit, Aselle, faciam ut non calcitres necte hordeo alam, sed paleis; fame te conficiam et sitis gravi onerabo pondere; per aestus indagabo et frigore, ut cib.u.m potius quam lasciviam cogites."--St Paulinus wrote, "Sit fortis anima mortificans asinum suum."--In Italian, too, there is a low term by which we say, _il mio asino_, instead of _il mio corpo_.

[709] A. c. i. m. t.,--p?na seu mulcta, quae reis irrogari solebat, ut colligitur ex decreto Nepesini populi ann. 1134.--Iis et maxime maritis, qui a suis vapulabant mulieribus; quod eo usque insaniae deventum erat, ut si maritus aufugisset, proximior vicinus eam ipse p?nam luere teneretur; quem morem non omnino periisse audivi. Du Cange, whose words these are, gives several examples of a similar chastis.e.m.e.nt.--In the _Tuti-Name_, ii. 20, a certain man complains to a sage that he has lost his a.s.s, and begs the wise man to find it again for him; the latter points out a man who grew old without having known love; he who does not love is a fool.--It is a remarkable fact that the a.s.s, generally considered a very l.u.s.tful animal, is sometimes despised as unadapted to make fruitful, and the reason of this is given by Aldrovandi (_De Quadrupedibus_, i.)--Quamvis modo libidine maxime pruriat, ob verendi tamen enormitatem, qua supra modum praeditus est, ad generandum admodum segnem esse compertum est, sicuti et homines qui simili genitalis productione conspicui sunt, quod in emissione per eam longitudinem s.e.m.e.n transmeans hebetetur et frigidius fiat. Testaturque aelia.n.u.s inter causas cur aegyptii asinos odere, et hanc quoque accedere putari, quod eum populi praedicti omnes f?cundos animantes colant, asinus minime f?cundans nullus in honore sit.

[710] Sam, indra, gardabham m?i?a nuvantam papayamuya; _?igv._ i. 29, 5.

[711] Quoted by Weber, _Ueber den Zusammenhang indischer Fabeln mit griechischen_, where the braying a.s.s would also appear to be born of the omniform monster: "Entsteht, nach c. xii. 7, 1, 5, nebst Ross und Maulthier, aus dem Ruhm (yacas, which, however, may perhaps here also simply mean splendour), welcher dem Ohr des getodteten Vicvarupa Tvash?ra entfloss, worin der Bezug auf sein lautes Geschrei wohl nicht zu verkennen ist."--We have already seen, in the Russian stories quoted in the preceding chapter, how the two hors.e.m.e.n who protect the hero come out of the ears of the grey horse, and how the hero himself, entering by one ear, and coming out of the other, finds a heroic horse. Here we can, perhaps, detect an allusion to the long-eared a.s.s, in the same way as in the appellation of acrutkar?as, or the ear which listens, given to Indras (_?igv._ i. 10, 9), the long-eared Indras may possibly be a form representing the long-eared Midas, or the a.s.s with long ears.

[712] Gati? khara ivacvasya supar?asyeva pakshi?a? anagantu? na cakto 'smi ra?yam tava mahipate.

[713] _Ramay._ ii. 71.

[714] _Ramay._ iii. 38, 48.

[715] _Ib._ v. 12.

[716] vi. 74.

[717] Kravyada? picaca?, in the _Atharvavedas_, viii. 2, 12.

[718] Cfr. also the _Tuti-Name_ of Rosen, ii. 218, for the musical a.s.s; and the same, ii. 149, for the a.s.s in a lion's skin.

[719] xli. 28.--Cfr. the _Khorda Avesta_, Spiegel's _Einleitung_, p.

54: "Dort ist der dreibeinige Esel der in der Mitte des Sees steht und mit seinem Geschrei die bosen Wesen vertreibt und alles Wa.s.ser, das mit unreinen Wesen und Dingen in Beruhrung kommt, sogleich reinigt."

[720] Readers of Dante are acquainted with the trumpet of the devil Malacoda, which is used in the same way as the fool uses his in the Mongol story.

[721] In Menander, quoted by Aulus Gellius, a husband complains of the injuries done him by his wife, using the proverb, "The a.s.s amongst the monkeys." Monkeys are well known for their impudent lasciviousness; the a.s.s, who represents the phallos, among this lascivious fraternity finds himself often in the condition of an impotent and weak husband.

[722]

Lampsacus huic soli solita est mactare Priapo.

Apta asini flammis indicis exta damus.

Quem tu diva memor de pane monilibus ornas; Cessat opus; vacuae conticuere molae.

--Ovidius, _Fasti_, vi.

[723] From the myth of the a.s.s, as a musician and judge of music, is derived the Tuscan game of the a.s.s, which is thus described by Signor Fanfani in his _Vocabolario dell' Uso Tuscano_, Firenze, 1863:--"Each member of the party chooses an animal whose voice or song he must imitate. The head player represents the a.s.s, and is the king of the other animals. When the head player, sitting in the middle, calls one of the animals who encircle him, the dog, for instance, this animal must bark; when he calls the c.o.c.k, it must cry chicchiricu; when he calls the ox, he who represents it must bellow, and so on. When the a.s.s brays, then all the animals emit their respective cries. Whoever laughs, or omits to give forth the voice or song of the animal which he represents, pays a forfeit."

[724] Ovidius, _Metam._ xi. 180.

[725] According to the _Annals of Padova_, cited by Berrardino Scardeone, in Aldrovandi. _De Quadrupedibus_, i.

[726] The German proverb, "Wald hat Ohren, Feld hat Gesicht," is well known. Cfr. the varieties of this proverb upon the ears of the forest, in the third vol. pp. 120 and 173, of Uhland's _Schriften zur Geschichte der Dichtung und Sage_, Stuttgart, 1866.

[727] The reader is acquainted with the myth of the nymph Syrinx, beloved of Pan, who was changed into a cane or reed, from which Pan made a flute. We find the leaf of the cane in connection with the a.s.s in Hungarian tradition. A singular indentation can be observed upon the leaves of the cane, which has a great resemblance to the mark of three teeth. To explain this strange mark the Hungarian people narrate, that the a.s.s of the Redeemer once bit the leaf of a cane, but as Christ was in a hurry, the a.s.s was unable to eat the leaf, and so it happened that its three teeth only left the mark of the bite upon the cane. From that time forward every leaf of a cane bears record to this. The two lines which stretch down the two flanks of the a.s.s are said in Hungary to be caused by the blood of our Redeemer. The popular belief in Ireland is that these lines remain as a memorial of Christ having once struck the a.s.s.--Cfr. the chapter on the Peac.o.c.k and that on the Eel, where we shall find the hero and the heroine again transformed into canes.

[728] The loss of heart or courage is expressed in Italian by the low term "Qui mi casca l'asino" (here my a.s.s falls). This expression, however, may perhaps be of h.e.l.lenic origin; the equivoque between the two equisonant expressions, "ap' onou" and "apo nou" is well-known; whence to fall off the a.s.s and to fall from one's mind became synonymous.

[729] There is an unpublished story which I heard narrated at Antignano, near Leghorn, of a mother who has a silly son named Pipetta. The latter asks his mother for a quattrino (a small coin) to buy a vetch, and afterwards a bean, because it grows higher; he sows it, and it attains a marvellous height. Climbing up the bean-stalk he comes to the gates of paradise, which are opened to him, but St Peter sends him back; he then finds the entrance to h.e.l.l, which he wishes to visit. The devil shows him all the sights; the two then play at cards, and Pipetta wins a sackful of souls. The devil fears that Pipetta will empty h.e.l.l, so he allows him to depart with the sack, and an a.s.s which throws gold from its tail; he mounts up to heaven, and consigns the sack of souls to St Peter. The story ends with the usual exchange of a.s.ses at the inn where Pipetta sleeps upon his descent from the beanstalk.

[730] _Biblion Istorikon_, i. 116.--It is added, that when t.i.tus remonstrated with his father on his avarice, Vespasian made him smell the gold for which the horse's dung had been sold, asking him whether it smelt bad.--In the Mongol story we saw the fool who goes out with his a.s.s and hides it in a cavern afterwards despoiling a merchant's caravan.--_Tzetzas_, i. 128, records the existence in Phrygia of a village called "a.s.s's-ears" (e klesis onou ota), inhabited by robbers, and belonging to Midas; he thinks, moreover, that Midas was surnamed the large-eared on account of this village of his.

[731] vi. 105.

[732] Kleitas onon hekatombas, xi. 51.

[733] In _Anton. Liberalis_ we find a long narrative from which we gather that Apollo would only suffer the a.s.s to be sacrificed to him among the Hyperboreans.

[734] I read on this subject in the curious volume _Laus Asini_, printed at Leyden by Elzevir, the following notice: "Si quis graviter a scorpione ictus, id in aurem insusurret asino, ex tempore curetur."

[735]

"Te senior turpi sequitur Silenus asello Turgida pampineis redimitus tempora sertis Condita lascivi deduc.u.n.t orgya mystae."

--Seneca, _dipus_.

[736] Tam uhathur naubhir atmanvatibhir antarikshaprudbhir apodakabhi?; strophe 3.--Cfr. strophe 4th and 5th of the same hymn.

[737] Another reason is also a.s.signed for the honour given to the a.s.s in heaven: the a.s.s and Priapos contend together as to who is superior; Priapos defeats the a.s.s, and Dionysos takes pity upon the vanquished, and places it in heaven among the stars.

[738] _Laus Asini_, Ludg. Batavorum, ex officina Elzeviriana.

[739] "Conferre aliquid et candori in mulierum cute existimatur.

Poppaea certe Domitii Neronis conjux quingentas sec.u.m per omnia trahens faetas balnearum etiam solio totum corpus illo lacte macerabat, extendi quoque cutem credens;" _Aldrov._ To which custom Juvenal alludes in his 6th satire:

"Atque illo lacte fovetur Propter quod sec.u.m comites educit asellas Exul hyperboreum si dimittetur ad axim."

[740] "Finitis laudibus, surgit quidam archipresbyter, retro se ascendit asinum preparatum a curia; quidam cubicularius tenet in capite asini bacilem c.u.m xx. solidis denariorum," &c.; in Du Cange, the work quoted before, _s. v. cornomannia_.--We also find in Du Cange that a soldier was called in the middle ages "caput asini, pro magnitudine capitis et congerie capillorum."

[741] In the _Pentamerone_, iii. 8, the night is called "l'aseno de l'ombre."