Zoological Mythology Volume I Part 26

[685] The fable in _Phaedrus_, iv. 24, of the poet Simonides saved by the Dioscuri, is well known; but the G.o.ds punish the miser who refuses to give the reward that he had promised, not on their own account, but on account of the wrong done to the poet, whom they love. It is remarkable that, as the Latin legend shows us the horses of the Dioscuri perspiring, so Phaedrus represents the Dioscuri themselves as--

"Sparsi pulvere Sudore multo diffluentes corpore."

This sweat must be the crepuscular mists, in the same way as the poet Simonides, who alone escapes, being delivered by the Dioscuri, the ceiling of whose banqueting-hall he had ruined, seems to conceal an image of the sun saved from the night.

CHAPTER III.

THE a.s.s.

SUMMARY.

Glory has been pernicious to the a.s.s.--The purely stupid a.s.s not an ancient belief in India.--Eastern and Western a.s.ses; the a.s.s of an inferior quality pays the penalty of the reputation acquired in the East by his superior congener.--Christianity, instead of improving the condition of the a.s.s, has aggravated it.--The mediaeval hymn in honour of the a.s.s is a satire.--The a.s.s in the sacred ceremonies of the Church.--Physical and moral decadence of the a.s.s.--Indian names of the a.s.s; equivoques in language form myths.--Gardabhas and gandharbas.--Identification of the mythical a.s.s with the gandharvas; both are in connection with salutary waters, with perfumes or unguents, and with women.--The a.s.s which carries mysteries.--The flight into Egypt; the a.s.s laden; the old man, the boy, and the a.s.s.--Peau d'ane.--The onokentauros.--Urvaci and Pururavas in connection with the gandharvas; Cupid and Psyche in connection with the a.s.s.--The mythical a.s.s and the kentauros correspond, as well as the a.s.s and the gandharvas.--The Hindoo onocentaur and satyr; monkey and gandharvas as warriors.--Kentauros, gandharvas, and a.s.s in the capacity of musicians and dancers.--K?icacvas dancing-master.--K?ica.n.u.s and Kerecani.--Hybrid nature of the mythical a.s.s and of the gandharvas.--The Acvinau ride a.s.ses, and give youth to Cyavanas; the youthfulness of the a.s.s.--The Vedic a.s.s as a warrior.--The Vedic a.s.s flies.--The decadence of the a.s.s dates as far back as the Vedas; its explanation.--The phallic a.s.s and the punishment of the a.s.s for adulterers.--The braying of the a.s.s in heaven; Indras kills the a.s.s.--The funereal and demoniacal a.s.s of the Hindoos; the a.s.s picacas; the faces of parrots; equivoque originated by the words _haris_ and _harit_.--The golden a.s.s.--The a.s.s in love.--The a.s.s in the tiger's skin.--The a.s.s who betrays himself by singing.--The Zend lame a.s.s who brays in the water.--Rustem, devourer of a.s.ses.--The a.s.s's kick.--The fool and the a.s.s, the trumpet and the drum, the trumpet of Malacoda.--The king Midas in the Mongol story; the hero forced to speak, in order not to burst.--The a.s.s among the monkeys.--Midas, king of Phrygia, in connection with the a.s.s, with Silenos, Dionysos, the roses, gold, blades of corn, and waters.--The centaurs among the flowers.--The a.s.s awakens Vesta whilst she is being seduced.--Priapos and the a.s.s of Silenos.--The a.s.s as a musical umpire between the cuckoo and the nightingale.--Midas judges between Pan and Apollo.--The ears of King Midas; his secret revealed by the young man who combs his hair.--The Phrygian a.s.s held up to derision by the Greeks.--The Greek spirit of nationality still more pernicious to the a.s.s.--The a.s.s of Vicenza impaled.--Pan and the a.s.s.--Gandharvas and satyrs.--Pan and the nymphs.--Syrinx and the reed or cane; the leaf of the cane, and the a.s.s.--Pan chases away fear; the a.s.s's skin gives courage.--The a.s.s in h.e.l.l; golden excrements.--The heroic a.s.s and Pan.--Perseus who eats a.s.ses.--The a.s.s and the water of the Styx; the horned a.s.s.--The cornucopia.--a.s.s and goat.--The a.s.ses save the hero out of the water.--The a.s.ses in heaven.--The a.s.s carries the water of youth.--a.s.s's milk has a cosmetic virtue.--Youth and beauty of the a.s.s.--The deaths of the a.s.s.--The a.s.s carries wine and drinks water.--The a.s.s wet by the rain, the a.s.s's ears predict rainy weather.--The shadow of the a.s.s; the a.s.s's wool; lana caprina; to shear the a.s.s; the gold on the a.s.s's head.--Asini prospectus.--The a.s.s and the gardener.--The a.s.s chases the winds away.--The third braying or flatus of the a.s.s kills the fool.--The prophetic a.s.s; the kick of the a.s.s kills the lion; the a.s.s a good listener, who hears everything; the hero Oidin Oidon; the ears of Lucifer.

The a.s.s, in Europe at least, has had the misfortune to have been born under an evil star, a circ.u.mstance which must be reckoned to the account of the Greeks and Romans, whose humour it was to treat it as a sort of Don Quixote of animals. Its liability to be flogged has always increased with its celebrity, which, no one can deny, is great and indefeasible. The poor a.s.s has paid very dear, and continues to pay still dearer, upon earth for the flight which the fantasy of primeval men made it take in the mythical heavens. May this chapter--if it produce no other effect--have at least that of sparing the poor calumniated animal some few of the many blows which, given in fun, it is accustomed to receive, as if to afford a vent for the satirical humour of our race, and _ad exhilarandam caveam_.

The germ of the reputation the a.s.s has of being both a stupid and a petulant animal, acquired in Greece and in Italy, spreading thence into all the other parts of Europe, may already be found in the ancient myths of the Hindoos. Professor Weber,[686] however, has proved, in answer to Herr Wagener, that the idea of a stupid and presumptuous a.s.s, such as we always find it represented in the fables of the _Pancatantram_, was diffused in India by the Greeks, and is not indigenous to Hindoo faith and literature.

In India, the a.s.s was not a particular object of ridicule; and this was perhaps for the simple reason that the Eastern varieties of the asinine family are far handsomer and n.o.bler than the Western ones. The a.s.s in the East is generally ardent, lively, and swift-footed, as in the West it is generally slow and lazy, having no real energy except of a sensual nature. For if even the West (and especially the south of Europe) possesses a distinct species of a.s.s, which reminds us of the _multinummus_ a.s.s of Varro (in the same way as the East also, though exceptionally, has inferior varieties), the asinine mult.i.tude in Europe is composed of animals of a low type and a down-trodden appearance, and it is against them that our jests and our floggings are especially directed. This is the proverbial a.s.s's kick against the fallen; the poor outcast of the West dearly pays the penalty of the honours conceded to his ill.u.s.trious mythical ancestors of the East. We think that the a.s.s of which we hear heroic achievements related is the same as that which now humbly carries the pack; and since we no longer regard him as capable of a magnanimous action, we suppose that he (unfortunate animal!) appropriates to himself all these ancient glories out of vain presumption, for which reason there is no affront which we do not feel ent.i.tled to offer to him. Nor did Christianity succeed in delivering him from persecution,--Christianity, which, as it represents the Sun of nations, the Redeemer of the world, as born between the two musical animals, the ox and the a.s.s (who were to prevent His cries from being heard), and introduces the a.s.s as the saviour of the Divine Child persecuted during the night, and as the animal ridden by Christ, in his last entry into Jerusalem, invested him with more than one sacred t.i.tle which ought from its devotees to have procured for him a little more regard. Unfortunately, the same famous mediaeval ecclesiastical hymn which was sung in France on the 14th of January in honour of the a.s.s, richly caparisoned near the altar, to celebrate the flight into Egypt, was turned into a satire.

It must have been not without some gay levity that priest and people exclaimed "Hinham!" three times after the conclusion of the ma.s.s, on the day of the festival of the a.s.s.[687] Nor did the inhabitants of Empoli show him more reverence, when, on the eighth day after the festival of the _Corpus Domini_--that is, near the summer solstice--they made him fly in the air, amid the jeers of the crowd; nor the Germans, who, in Westphalia, made the a.s.s a symbol of the dull St Thomas, who was the last of the apostles to believe in the resurrection. The Westphalians were accustomed to call by the name of "the a.s.s Thomas" (as in Holland he is called "luilak") the boy who on St Thomas's Day was the last to enter school.[688] On Christmas Day, in the Carnival, on Palm-Sunday, and in the processions which follow the festival of _Corpus Domini_,[689] the Church often introduced the a.s.s into her ceremonies, but more in order to exhilarate the minds of her devotees than to edify them by any suggestion of the virtues it represents in the Gospels; so that, notwithstanding the great services rendered by the a.s.s to the Founder of the new religion, he not only received no benefit in return from Christianity, but became instead the unfortunate object of new attentions, which rather depressed than heightened his already sufficiently degraded social condition.

And so the Greeks and Romans first, and the Catholic priests afterwards, combined, by their treatment of him, to make the a.s.s more indifferent than he would otherwise have been to the pa.s.sion and spirited struggle for life shown in all the other animals. He was perhaps intended for a higher fate, if man had not come upon earth, and interfered too persistently to thwart his vocation. And probably his race gradually deteriorated, just because, having become ridiculous, few cared to preserve or increase his n.o.bleness. As the proverb said that it was useless to wash the a.s.s's head, so it seemed useless for man to endeavour to ameliorate or civilise his form: the physical decadence of the a.s.s was contemporary and parallel with his decline morally.

But although it was in Greece and Rome that the poor a.s.s was thrown completely down from his rank in the animal kingdom, the first decree of his fall was p.r.o.nounced in his ancient Asiatic abode. Let us prove this.

In the _?igvedas_, the a.s.s already appears under two different aspects--one divine and the other demoniacal--to which may perhaps be added a third intermediate or gandharvic aspect.

In the _?igvedas_, the a.s.s has the names of _gardabhas_ and _rasabhas_; in Sansk?it, also those of _kharas, cakrivant, ciramehin_, and _baleyas_.

It is important to notice how each of these designations tends to lapse into ambiguity; and ambiguity in words plays a considerable part in the formation of myths and popular beliefs.

Let us begin with the most modern designations.

_Baleyas_ may mean the childish one (from _balas_ = child, and stupid[690]), as well as the demoniacal (from _balis_; and indeed, besides being a name given to the a.s.s, _baleyas_ is also a name for a demon).

_Ciramehin_ is the a.s.s as _longe mingens_ (a quality which can apply to the a.s.s, but still more so to the rainy cloud).

_Cakrivant_ means he who is furnished with wheels, with round objects or t.e.s.t.i.c.l.es (an epithet equally applicable to the a.s.s and his phallos).

_Kharas_ signifies he who cries out, as well as the ardent one (and _kharus_, which ought to have the same meaning, signifies, according to the Petropolitan Dictionary, foolish, and horse; perhaps a.s.s too).

_Rasabhas_ is derived from the double root _ras_, whence _rasa_ = humour, juice, water, savour, sperm, and _rasa_ = din, tumultuous noise.

_Gardabhas_ comes from the root _gard_,[691] to resound, to bellow; but I think I can recognise in the word _gardabhas_ the same meaning as _gandharbas_ or _gandharvas_, and _vice versa_. The _gardabhas_ explains to me how the _gandharvas_ was conceived to be a musician; and the _gandharvas_ (a word which, I repeat, seems to me composed of _gandha_ + _arvas_, developed out of a hypothetic _?ivas_,[692] that is, he who walks in the unguent, or he who goes in the perfume) helps me to understand the proverb, "Asinus in unguento," and the corresponding legends. The equivocal word _rasabhas_, in its two meanings, seems to unite together the sonorous _gardabhas_ with the _gandharbas_ who likes perfumes, or the _gandharvo apsu_ (_gandharvas_ in the waters) of the _?igvedas_,[693] the guardian of the ambrosial plant.[694] The mythical a.s.s and the Vedic _gandharvas_ have the same qualities and the same instincts. The gandharvas, for instance, are represented in the _aitareya Br._ as lovers of women,[695] so much so that for a woman's sake they allow themselves to be deprived of the ambrosia (or somas); and it is also known from the story of Urvaci how jealous they are of their nymphs, the _apsaras_, or them who flow by on the waters (the clouds), and from the story of Hanumant, in the _Ramaya?am_, how greedy they are of their salutary herbs and waters.[696] The mythical and legendary a.s.s also has a foible for beautiful maidens; it is unnecessary to give the reason of this belief.[697] When Circe wishes to give, by means of an unguent, an a.s.s's head to Odysseus, we find an allusion to the loves of the a.s.s and the beautiful woman. When the Lucius of Apuleius, while endeavouring to change himself into a bird (another of the names by which the phallos is indicated), becomes instead, by means of the woman's unguent, an a.s.s, the a.s.s is another name for the phallical bird. And as the Vedic a.s.s delights in the _rasas_, or humour, water or sperm (the two words _rasas_ and _rasas_, derived from a common root, being easily interchangeable); as the mythical a.s.s, when it finds the ambrosia of the roseate morning aurora, once more becomes the splendid young sun; so the a.s.s of Apuleius, too, becomes Lucius again, or the luminous and handsome youth that he was before, as soon as he has an opportunity of feeding upon roses: he becomes an a.s.s for love of a woman, and regains his splendour in the rosy aurora. During the night, being subject to the enchantment of a beautiful fairy, the hero remains an a.s.s; and in the form of an a.s.s, and under an a.s.s's skin, he carries the priap?an mysteries, whence the expression of Aristophanes in the _Frogs_, "The a.s.s which carries mysteries" (onos agon musteria), the same mysteries as the Phallagia or Perifallia of Rome. In the Christian myth, this mystery is the flight of the new-born Divine Child into Egypt;[698] in the story of Perrault, it is the beautiful maiden, the evening aurora, the girl persecuted by her father and would-be seducer, who disguises herself during the night with an a.s.s's skin;[699] the beautiful girl evidently transfers her erotic sympathies to the a.s.s that loves her. Of loves such as these,--of an a.s.s with a maiden, or of the young hero and an a.s.s,--are born the monstrous onokentaurs and Empusa, now a beautiful maiden, and now the terrifier of children, who is represented with a.s.s's feet, because her mother was an a.s.s, and her father, Aristoxenes, enamoured of an a.s.s. It is now the evening aurora, now the dying sun, and now both, who, under the cloud of night, or in winter, are represented as covered with an a.s.s's skin. Professor Kuhn has already proved the close affinity, amounting to ident.i.ty, between the gandharvas and the h.e.l.lenic kentauroi, both of which come before us in connection with the inebriating drink; but the kentauros is essentially a hippokentauros, or, still better, an onokentauros,[700]

or centaur a.s.s. The fable of Cupid and Psyche in Apuleius, in its relation with the story of the a.s.s, perfectly agrees with the a.n.a.logous Hindoo fable of the loves of Pururavas and Urvaci, united with the story of the Gandharvas. Peau d'ane, Psyche, and Urvaci are therefore mythical sisters.

Professor Kuhn's proof of the ident.i.ty of the gandharvas and the kentauros being admitted, the ident.i.ty of the gardabhas with the gandharbas, and of the a.s.s with the gandharvas, seems to follow as a natural consequence. The myth of the kentauros, either hippokentauros or onokentauros, no less than the myth of the gandharvas, corresponds entirely with that of the a.s.s. The kentauros loves wine and women; he plays the lyre upon the car of Dionysos in conjunction with satyrs, nymphs, and bacchantes; he teaches on Mount Pelion music,[701] the science of health, and the prophetic art to the Dioscuri, which are all subjects that occur again with slight modifications in the Hindoo legends concerning the gandharvas, and in the fable of the a.s.s, as we shall prove hereafter.--But to return to the Hindoo myth; in the same way as the gandharvas has a hybrid nature, and shows himself at one time in the aspect of a demi-G.o.d, at another in that of a semi-demon, so the mythical a.s.s of India has now a divine nature, and now a human. The gandharvas is the guardian of riches and waters: inasmuch as he defends them from the demoniacal robbers, preserves them from mortals, and distributes them among the pious, he appears under a beneficent and divine aspect; inasmuch, on the other hand, as he carries them off and keeps them shut up like a miser, he resembles the monster that is fabled to guard fountains and treasures, the demon who keeps the waters shut up, the thieves who gather treasures together, and the devil, the master of all riches. For the same reason we already find in Hindoo tradition the beneficent a.s.s and his evil-doing congener. The sun (sometimes the moon also) in the cloud and the darkness of night is the same as the treasure in the cavern, the treasure in h.e.l.l, and the hero or heroine in the gloomy forest; and this cavern and h.e.l.l sometimes a.s.sume the form of an a.s.s's skin, or of an a.s.s simply. That which comes out of the cloud, and of the gloom, also comes out of the a.s.s; the soul of the a.s.s is the sun, or the hero or heroine, or the riches which he conceals. The Acvinau are often found in connection with the worthless horse, which afterwards becomes handsome by means of the ambrosia itself that the horse produces; the gandharvas, a more nocturnal and cloudy form, if I may use the expression, of the solar or lunar hero, are in near relation with the a.s.s, their _alter ego_, who enjoys the blessing of eternal youth. The Acvinau themselves, the two hors.e.m.e.n who have given youth to the old Cyavanas, rode upon a.s.ses before they rode upon horses. The myth of the gandharvas and that of the Acvinau, the myth of the horse and that of the a.s.s, are intimately connected: from the gandharvas the acvin comes forth; from the mythical a.s.s the horse comes out. This is unnatural in zoology, but it is very natural in mythology: the sun comes, now out of the grey shades of night, and now out of the grey cloud.

The Vedic hymns already present us with several interesting myths concerning the a.s.s.

The a.s.s of the Acvinau is swift; the devotees ask the Acvinau when they are to yoke it, that they may be carried by it to the sacrifice.[702] In another hymn, as the Acvinau are two, so are their a.s.ses two (rasabhav acvino?). Finally, the second strophe of the 116th hymn offers us a twofold significant particularity, viz., the a.s.s, that vanquishes a thousand in the rich battlefield of Yamas (or in the nocturnal battle, in the struggle in h.e.l.l, in which the a.s.s appears as a real warrior, joined with riches, and fighting for riches), and is helped by strong and rapid wings (in which it shows us the a.s.s that flies).[703]

The _?igvedas_ also represents the a.s.s of Indras as swift-footed.[704]

But in the same hymn we already see the reverse of the medal, that is to say, the swift ones who deride him who is not swift, the horses that are urged before the a.s.s.[705] The solar hero, towards morning, subst.i.tutes the horse for the a.s.s, or appears with horses, leaving the a.s.s or a.s.ses behind. We have learned in the preceding chapter how, in the heavenly race of the Vedic G.o.ds, the a.s.ses gained the palm of victory; but it was an effort superior to their powers. The _aitareya Br._ informs us that by this effort they lost their swiftness and became draught animals, deprived of honey, but yet preserving great vigour in their sperm, so that the male a.s.s can generate offspring in two ways, that is, mules by union with a mare, and a.s.ses by union with an a.s.s.[706] Here, therefore, the a.s.s is already considered an animal of an essentially phallical nature, which notion is confirmed by the precept of Katyayanas, recorded by Professor Weber,[707] which enjoins the sacrificing of an a.s.s to expiate violated chast.i.ty. To chastise the a.s.s, to sacrifice the a.s.s, must mean the same as to chastise and to mortify the body,[708] and especially the phallos; and the Eastern and Western punishment of leading adulterers about upon an a.s.s has the same meaning; the real martyr, however, in this punishment being the a.s.s, who is exposed to every kind of derision and ill-treatment. In the same way, the henpecked husband who allowed himself to be beaten by his wife, used, in several villages of Piedmont, only a few years ago, to be led about ignominiously upon an a.s.s: a husband who lets his wife impose upon him, and cannot subdue her, deserves to be chastised by means of an a.s.s; he is not a man, and his a.s.s, the emblem of his manly strength, must on this account suffer the punishment, because he has not shown himself able to a.s.sert his marital rights. The adulterer upon the a.s.s, and the silly husband upon the a.s.s, are punishments for phallic offences in, and in connection with, the person of that which represents the phallos: one is chastised for having wished, in this regard, to do too much, and the other for not having been able to do enough. On this account the condemned person was forced, in similar cases, to ride upon an a.s.s with his face turned towards the animal's tail, another image which is yet more manifestly phallical; whence the very name of the punishment, "asini caudam in manu tenere."[709] As to the other proverb which says, "He to whom the a.s.s belongs, holds him by the tail," it is explained by the narrative of a peasant who drew his a.s.s out of a swamp, taking it by the tail; but this story too seems to have a phallic signification.

The a.s.s, therefore, is already deposed from his n.o.ble place as a swift-footed courser in the _?igvedas_ itself. And in the _?igvedas_, too, where we have observed the a.s.s described as a warrior who fights for the G.o.ds, we find him in the demoniacal form of a disagreeable singer who terrifies the wors.h.i.+ppers of the G.o.d Indras; the latter is therefore requested by the poet to kill the a.s.s who sings with a horrible voice.[710] Here the a.s.s already appears as a real monster, worthy even of the steel of the prince of the celestial heroes himself, who prepares to combat him. The a.s.s, therefore, is already sacred to the monsters in the white Ya?urvedas.[711]

In the _Ramaya?am_,[712] the slowness of the a.s.s has already become proverbial. The modest Bharatas excuses himself from not being able to equal his brother Ramas in the science of government, just as the a.s.s, he says, cannot run like the horse, or other birds cannot fly like the vulture. The mythical a.s.s, moreover, appears in this epic poem[713] in a demoniacal and infernal aspect: Bharatas, in fact, dreams of seeing his dead father Dacarathas, in blood-coloured clothes, borne to the southern funereal region on a car drawn by a.s.ses; and we are told that when a man is seen upon a car drawn by a.s.ses, it is a sign of his departure for the abode of Yamas. Kharas, a word which, as we already know, means a.s.s, is also the name of a younger brother of the great monster Rava?as. Rava?as himself is drawn by a.s.ses upon a chariot adorned with gold and gems. These a.s.ses have the faces of the monster Picacas,[714] that is, faces of parrots, as Hanumant afterwards informs us when he speaks of the monsters which he has seen in Lanka, which he also says are as swift as thought.[715] We know that the coursers of Rava?as were a.s.ses, and therefore the a.s.ses with the faces of the Picacas, and the horses of the monsters with the faces of parrots, are the same. The monster Picacas, therefore, has the face of a parrot. How is it that the parrot is reared in India as a sacred bird? It appears to me that equivocation in language had something to do with the formation of this singular mythological image. The word _picacas_ is derived, like _picangas_, which means golden and red, from the root _pic_, to adorn; whence also the Vedic feminine _pic_, ornament, and the Vedic neuter, _pecas_, coloured tissue. The a.s.s picacas, who draw the chariot full of gold, are therefore themselves, at least in their face, in their foremost part, golden a.s.ses, or red like the colour of gold, red like the colour of the sun; in fact, we find kharas (the ardent) as the proper name of an attendant on the sun, and khara?cus or khararacmi?, he of the burning ray, as Sansk?it names of the sun. Kharaketus, he who has a burning ray, is also the name of one of the monsters in the _Ramaya?am_.[716] We therefore already see here the golden a.s.s and the infernal monster identified with the sun; and hence we are very near the monster with the parrot's face. In the preceding chapter we observed how the solar horse appears in the morning luminous at first in its foremost parts,--now in its legs, now in its face, now in its mane, which is called golden; it is only the head of the horse which is found in the b.u.t.ter; of Dadhyanc we perceive only his head in connection with the ambrosia. Thus of the nocturnal a.s.s, of the demoniacal a.s.s, of the demon himself, the picacas (the picacas are called carnivorous[717]), only the face is seen, in the same way as of the picacas, and of the horses belonging to the monsters, only the head is that of a parrot. But what connection can there be between the gold colour of the a.s.s picacas and the green colour of the parrot? The equivoque lies probably in the words _hari_ and _harit_, both of which, in the Hindoo tongue mean yellow, as well as green. Haris and hari signify the sun, and the moon, as being yellow; harayas and haritas are the horses of the sun; hari are the two horses of Indras and of the Acvinau, of whom we also know that they more usually rode upon a.s.ses. We thus arrive at the light-coloured a.s.ses, at the a.s.ses that are golden, at least in their foremost parts, that is, in the morning twilight, when after his nocturnal course, the solar horseman is on the point of arriving at his golden eastern destination, whence the head of the a.s.s which carries the divine horseman is illumined by him. But _haris_, besides signifying the solar hero as being yellow, also signifies the parrot as green; on this account the a.s.s or demon with a golden head was exchanged with the a.s.s or monster with the green head, or with the parrot's head. We shall see in the chapters concerning birds how the bird was often subst.i.tuted for the horse in the office of carrying the deity or the hero.

To conclude the subject of the Hindoo mythical a.s.s, it is certain that it existed in the heavens; it is certain that it flies in the sky, that it fights in the sky like a valiant warrior, that it terrifies its enemies in the sky with its terrible voice; that, in a word, it was a real and legitimate heroic animal. It is certain, moreover, that, considered under another aspect, it not only throws down the heroes, but carries them to h.e.l.l, serves the infernal monsters, and is found in connection with the treasures of h.e.l.l. Moreover, admitting, as I hope the reader will, my identification of the mythical a.s.s with the gandharvas, we have the a.s.s as dancer, the a.s.s as musician, the a.s.s who loves women, and the a.s.s in the odorous ointment and in the inebriating drink, the somas which occupies the place of the wine of the Dionysian mysteries, in which the h.e.l.lenic a.s.s took a solemn part.

In the fables of the _Pancatantram_, the a.s.s is partly modelled on the h.e.l.lenic type and partly preserves its primitive character. The fourth book shows us the a.s.s twice attracted towards the lion by the jackal, who induces him to believe that a beautiful female a.s.s is awaiting him. The a.s.s is distrustful and shows his fear, but the argument of the female a.s.s, upon which the artful jackal insists, overcomes his timidity. He is, however, cunning enough to send the jackal before him; and at the sight of the lion he perceives the jackal's treachery and turns, fleeing away with such rapidity that the lion cannot overtake him. The jackal returns to the a.s.sault, and convinces the a.s.s that he did wrong to abandon the beautiful female a.s.s when he was on the point of receiving her favours; and thus touching the tender chord of his heart, he goes on to a.s.sure him that the female a.s.s will throw herself into the fire or the water if she does not see him return. "Omnia vincit amor;" the a.s.s returns, and this time the lion surprises and tears him to pieces; upon which the lion, before partaking of his meal, goes to perform his ablutions and devotions.

Meanwhile the jackal eats the a.s.s's heart and ears, and makes the lion, on his return, believe that the stupid animal had neither the one nor the other, because if he had had them, he would not have returned to the dangerous spot after having once escaped. The lion declares himself to be perfectly satisfied with this explanation. Here we have a mixture in the a.s.s of swift-footedness, l.u.s.t, and stupidity, his stupidity being caused by his l.u.s.tfulness. Now, it is possible that his acquaintance with the h.e.l.lenic a.s.s may have induced the author of the _Pancatantram_ to embody in the a.s.s a quality which is generally attributed in fables of Hindoo origin to the monkey; but this is not absolutely necessary in order to explain the narrative of which we have now given the epitome.

On the other hand, in the fourth book of the _Pancatantram_, the fable of the a.s.s in the tiger's skin--an insignificant variety of the a.s.s in the lion's skin--was, as Professor Weber has already proved, taken from the aesopian fable. Another fable, in the fifth book, which tells us of the a.s.s who, being pa.s.sionately fond of music,[718] insisted upon singing, and was thus discovered and made a slave of, also seems to be of h.e.l.lenic origin. But, although the editing of these two Hindoo fables in a literary form had its origin in the knowledge of h.e.l.lenic literature, the original myth of the a.s.s-lion (haris, which is the horse of Indras, also means the lion), and that of the a.s.s-musician (as gandharvas and gardabhas), can be traced as far back as the Vedic scriptures.

In the Zendic _Yacna_,[719] I find a new proof, which appears to me a very satisfactory one, of the identification which I have proposed of the a.s.s with the gandharvas. I have already mentioned the gandharvas who guards over the somas in the midst of the waters, and I observed how the gandharvas k?ica.n.u.s of the Vedas, and the Zend kerecani who guards over the _hom_ in the _Vouru-Kasha_, have been identified. But the same office is fulfilled in the _Yacna_ by a three-legged a.s.s, that is, a lame a.s.s (or the solar horse who has become lame during the night, in the same way as the solar hero becomes lame, or a lame devil), who, by braying, terrifies the monsters and prevents them from contaminating the water.

In the first of the seven adventures of Rustem, in the _Shah-Name_ of Firdusi, the starving Rustem goes with his brave heroic horse to chase wild a.s.ses. The a.s.ses flee, but the hero's horse is swifter than they, and overtakes them; Rustem takes one by means of a la.s.so, and has it cooked, throwing away the bones. He then goes to sleep (_then_ sometimes expresses in the myths the interval of a whole day or of a whole year.--The hero does almost the same in his second adventure and in the book of _Sohrab_). While Rustem sleeps, a monstrous lion makes its appearance to surprise the hero; Rustem's heroic horse throws the lion down and tears it to pieces with its hoofs and teeth. This battle between the horse of the sleeping hero and the monster lion is an epic form of the fable which represents the animals as being terrified in the forest by the braying of the a.s.s, and of that of the lion itself killed by the a.s.s's kick. Probably the bones of the dead a.s.s, when preserved, gave heroic strength to Rustem's horse.

In the Mongol stories, of which we have on a previous occasion indicated the Hindoo origin, we find two other legends relating to the a.s.s. In the eighteenth Mongol story, a foolish man goes with his a.s.s to hang up some rice; he hides his a.s.s in a cave; some merchants pa.s.s by with their goods, and the fool sends forth, by means of a trumpet, such a sonorous shout, that the merchants, thinking brigands are hidden in the cavern, escape, leaving their goods in the a.s.s's possession. Here the fool and the a.s.s are already identified. The trumpet and the blowing made by the fool correspond to the braying of the a.s.s, of whom we shall soon see other miracles related. The sense of the myth is this: the solar hero in the night or in the cloud grows stupid; he becomes an a.s.s during the night or in the cloud; the cloud thunders, and the thunder of the cloud gives rise to the idea now of the braying and now of the flatus of the a.s.s (or the fool), now of a trumpet,[720] and now of a drum. We must not forget that the word _dundubhis_ which properly means kettledrum or drum, is also the name of a monster, and that Dundubhi is the proper name of the wife of a gandharvas, or of a gandharvi. The skin of the drum being made of an a.s.s's hide is one more reason why the thundering cloud, being very naturally likened to a drum, the thunder should be also considered now as a _flatus oris_, now as a _flatus ventris_ of the celestial a.s.s, or of the foolish hero who accompanies him.

In the twenty-second Mongol story we have a variety, though partly a less complete and partly a richer one, of the fable of the Phrygian king Midas. A king who has golden a.s.s ears, has his head combed every night with golden combs by young men, who are immediately after put to death (to comb the a.s.s's head is about the same as to wash it; but however much it is combed, the ears can never be abolished). One day a young man predestined to the highest honours, before going to comb the king's head, receives from his mother a cake made of her own milk and flour.

The young man offers the cake to the king, who likes it, and spares the youth's life on condition that he tells no one, not even his mother, the great secret, _viz._, that the king has golden ears. The youth promises to preserve silence, and makes a very great effort indeed to keep his promise, but this effort makes him seriously ill, so much so that he feels he will burst if he does not tell the secret. His mother then advises him to go and relieve his mind by whispering it into a fissure of the earth or of a tree. The young man does so; he goes into the open country, finds a squirrel's hole, and breathes gently down it, "Our king has a.s.s's ears;" but animals have understanding and can speak, and there are men who understand their language. The secret is conveyed from one to another, till the king hears that the young man has divulged it. He threatens to take his life; but relents when he hears from him how it happened, and not only pardons him, but makes him his prime minister.

The fortunate youth's first act is to invent a cap of the shape of the ears of an a.s.s, in order that the king may be able to conceal the deformity; and when the people see the king with a cap of this shape, it pleases them so much that they all adopt it; and so the king, by means of his young minister, is no longer obliged to live secluded, and in the constant tormenting dread of discovery, but lives at his ease and happily ever afterwards.

Having thus examined under its princ.i.p.al aspects the most popular Asiatic tradition relative to the a.s.s, let us now go on to epitomise the European tradition, and, if possible, more briefly; all the more that the reader, having, as I hope, now the key of the myth, will be of himself able to refer to it many a.n.a.logous particulars of Graeco-Latin tradition. I say Graeco-Latin alone, because the myth of the a.s.s among Slavonic and Germanic nations, where the a.s.s is little, if at all, known, had no especial and independent development. In Slavonic countries, the part of the a.s.s is generally sustained by Ivan the fool or Emilius the lazy one, as also by the bear or wolf, as in India it is often sustained by the monkey;[721] a.s.s, bear, wolf, and monkey, as mythical animals, represent almost identical phenomena.

Let us take the story of Midas again at its commencement.

Midas appears in _Herodotus_, not only as a king of Phrygia, but as a progenitor of the Phrygians. In the Tusculans of Cicero, the drunken satyr Silenos (originally another form of the same Midas, the satyrs having a.s.s's ears), the master of Dionysos, loses himself in the rose-garden belonging to Midas, before whom he is conducted, and by whom he is benevolently received and entertained, and then sent back with honour to the G.o.d, who, in grat.i.tude, concedes to Midas the gift of turning to gold everything that he touches, to such an extent as to affect the food that he wishes to eat and the water in which he bathes. This myth is probably of a complex nature. Midas ought, like the a.s.s, to turn to gold what he has eaten, that is, to turn his food and drink into excrements of gold, to fructify the golden ears of corn, _i.e._, in heaven, the solar rays. Cicero himself leads us to suppose that the myth of Midas is in relation with the ears of corn, when, in his first book _De Divinatione_, he says that the ants carried grains of wheat into the mouth of Midas when a child; these being symbols of abundance and of fecundity which are quite applicable to the mythical a.s.s. For although the common a.s.s is not a privileged f?cundator, the mythical a.s.s, in its capacity of a rain-giving cloud or ciramehin, is the best fertiliser of the fields. The sun, or gold, or treasure, comes out of the a.s.s-darkness or a.s.s-cloud. The a.s.s Lucius, after having eaten the roses of morning or the east, again becomes Lucius the luminous one (the sun). On this account the a.s.s Midas, too, who also delights in roses, turns to gold whatever he eats, as well as the dew or ambrosial fountain in which he bathes; the rosy becomes the golden; the sun comes out of the contact of the a.s.s of night with the aurora.

Servius, in his commentary on the sixth book of the _aeneid_, also tells us the centauri "in floribus stabulant," as the Hindoo gandharvas in the perfumes. These perfumes are rain and dew. The a.s.s crowned with loaves of bread[722] and flowers, in the Latin wors.h.i.+p of Vesta, who remembered the service rendered to her one day by the braying of the a.s.s, which aroused her from her sleep when some one was attempting to violate her, is another variety of the myth of the aurora who awakes out of the night, golden, that is, rich in golden oats and in golden wheat. The a.s.s itself is sacrificed, because, perhaps, it was the a.s.s itself that had made an attempt to deprive Vesta of her chast.i.ty; but having betrayed itself, as it often happens in fables, by its braying, it arouses Vesta, who punishes it by offering it in sacrifice. In a variation of the same story in the first book of Ovid's _Fasti_, where instead of Vesta we have the nymph Lothis asleep, the red Priapos, who wishes to violate her, also loses his opportunity, because the a.s.s of Silenos--

"Intempestivos edidit ore sonos,"

on which account it is killed by Priapos:

"Morte dedit p?nas auctor clamoris, et haec est h.e.l.lespontiaco victima sacra Deo."

The apologue is well known of the long-eared a.s.s, who, when called upon to judge between the nightingale and the cuckoo as to who has the sweetest voice, decides in favour of the cuckoo. The nightingale then appeals to man with the sweet song that we are all acquainted with.[723] In the myth of Midas, the Phrygian hero is given a.s.s's ears as a chastis.e.m.e.nt by Apollo, because, having been called upon to judge between the cithern or lyre of Apollo (whence the proverb "Asinus ad lyram") and the pastoral pipe (calamus agrestis) of Pan (who is represented as a horned and bearded satyr, with a tail and long ears), he p.r.o.nounced that the pan-pipes were the most harmonious instrument. Midas hides his ears in a red cap, but his comber lets out the secret, as in the Mongol story, and in a manner almost identical--

"Ille quidem celat, turpique onerata pudore Tempora purpureis tentat velare tiaris: Sed, solitus longos ferro resecare capillos, Viderat hoc famulus: qui, c.u.m nec prodere visum Dedecus auderet, cupiens efferre sub auras, Nec posset reticere tamen, secedit; humumque Effodit, et domini quales aspexerit aures, Voce refert parva: terraeque immurmurat haustae.

Indiciumque suae vocis tellure regesta Obruit, et scrobibus tacitus discedit opertis.

Creber arundinibus tremulis ibi surgere lucus C?pit; et, ut primum pleno maturuit anno, Prodidit agricolam: leni jam motus ab Austro Obruta verba refert; dominique coarguit aures."[724]