I like the way animals are depicted in myths all over the world. Every culture seems to attribute its animal world with a unique set of characteristics that are very different and yet very alike. Sounds paradoxical, but that’s the way myths are, I guess.
In India for instance we worship and fear the elephant. We also believe that the elephant is an animal that is easily tricked. Stories about Ganesha (also known as the elephant god) are popular all over the country. But we also have a myth – I think it is from Orissa – where the elephant is shown in a completely different light. They are shown as animals that possess a drunken wilfulness that is ultimately self destructive.
The story goes that there was a time that elephants had wings. They flew the skies with free abandon and often, oblivious to the bulk they carried, perched themselves on trees, huts and mountain tops. While the mountains bore their weight with ease, trees and houses were not as fortunate. They came crashing down with a frequency that angered the men and the gods. And finally there came a day when man decided that enough was enough and appealed to the gods. The gods lent a sympathetic ear and a plan was hatched.
Now it is public knowledge that elephants like their food and drink. So the people got together and invited all the elephants to a feast that lasted several days and nights until all the elephants lay down in a drunken stupor. Man who had been waiting for this moment went around chopping off their wings. Naturally when sleep wore off, the elephants were outraged and went to the gods to seek revenge against man. But it was too late and they realised that they had been tricked by both man and god.
Now for a story about elephants in African myths…
3 comments:
Wow! Didn't know this about elephants. I always imagined them as wise, gentle and motherly creatures.
i know, fascinating creatures these. perhaps the myths refer to some dinosaur ancestors...
Hi,Just wanted to add one for you about the mountains. In the Darjeeling and Sikkim areas, there is a reverence for the mountains that touches us plains people when we visit. They are the Lords of the Earth, who protect and guard the land and the peoples.
I have been reading "Lepcha, my vanishing tribe", by A.R. Foning, and am posting some information collected from this wonderful book:
Kanchenjungha is a great Lord, created by It-bu-moo or It-moo, the Great Mother. Known by the Rong-folk (Lepcha) as Kongchen, he is regarded as kind and compassionate, the guardian deity of the Rong-folk who worship him. Surrounding Kongchen are other great lords, who each have duties to fulfil. One of the mountains, Pun Yang Chyu leads to the opening to the realm of the Gods. It is said that this mountain holds within it a rich treasure of seeds which no mortal can ever find. When our world is destroyed by too many evil deeds thoughts and actions, Pun Yang Chu will release these seeds to regenerate the world. "Therefore it is said that Pun Yang Chyu, like a true watchman,keeps his 'Anyur zang zang'... 'his ears pricked up like an animal',trying to detect the slightest suspicious sound.
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