Zoological Mythology Volume I Part 25

[638] Iasya sa?sthe na v?i?vate hari samatsu catrava?; _?igv._ i. 5, 4.

[639] Acvyo varo abhavas tad indra; _?igv._ i. 32, 12; and the Hindoo commentator notes that Indras chased the enemy as the tail of a horse shakes off the insects that place themselves upon it, which it is much more natural to believe of the tail of Indras's horse, which is covered with milk, b.u.t.ter, honey, and ambrosia.

[640] _?igv._, the hymn quoted before, i. 84, 13, 14; Agnis, too, is honoured as a tailed horse (varavantam acvam), _?igv._ i. 27, 1.

[641] ?i?ipya? cyenam prus.h.i.+tapsum ac.u.m cark?ityam aryo n?ipati? na curam--vatam iva dhra?antam--uta smasya tanyator iva dyor ?ighayato abhiyu?o bhayante yada sahasram abhi s.h.i.+m ayodhid durvartu? sma bhavati bhima ?in?an; _?igv._ iv. 38, 2, 3, 8.

[642] Avakramanta? prapadair amitran; _?igv._ vi. 75, 7.

[643] vi. 49.

[644] Cfr. Simrock, _Handbuch der Deutschen Mythologie_, p. 375, and Rochholtz, the work quoted before.

[645] _Afana.s.sieff_, ii. 24.

[646] _Ib._ v. 6.

[647] _Ib._ v. 35.

[648] Povishe liessu stajacavo, ponisze ablaka hadiacavo.

[649] For instance, in the _Pentamerone_, iii. 7, where the king of Scotland sends Corvetto to steal the horse of the ogre who lives ten miles distant from Scotland: "Haveva st' Huorco no bellissimo cavallo, che pareva fatto co lo penniello, e tra le autre bellizze no le mancava manco la parola." When Corvetto carries off the horse, it cries out, "A l'erta ca Corvetto me ne porta."--Cfr. also the _Pentamerone_, iii. 1.--Not only has the horse the gift of speech, but the chariot too: in the seventh book of the _Ramaya?am_, 44, the chariot Pushpakam speaks to Ramas, and says to him that he alone is worthy of driving it.

[650] _Afana.s.sieff_, vi. 46.--Cfr. also v. 22, and the 26th of the _Novelline di Santo Stefano di Calcinaia_.

[651] i. 61, 15.

[652] Anacvo ?ato anabhicur arva; _?igv._ i. 152, 5.

[653] Cfr. Menzel, _Die Vorchristliche Unsterblichkeits-Lehre_.

[654] Sapta svasara? suvitaya surya? vahanti harito rathe; _?igv._ vii. 66, 15.

[655] Adha kratva maghavan tubhya? deva anu vicve adadu? somapeyam yat suryasya harita? patanti? purah satir upara etace ka?; _?igv._ v. 29, 5.

[656] a no nava matina? yatam paraya gantave, yun?atham acvina ratham; _?igv._ i. 46, 7.

[657] Krandad acvo nayamano ruvad gaur antar duto na rodasi carad vak; _?igv._ i. 173, 3.

[658] Gh?itaccuta? svaram asvarsh?am; _?igv._ ii. 11, 7.

[659] ... in equae genitalem partem demissam manum, c.u.m ad eum loc.u.m ventum esset, naribus equi admovit, quo odore irritatus ante omnes hinnitum edidit, auditoque eo s.e.x reliqui summae potestatis continuo equis dilapsi candidati, ut mos est Persarum, humi prostratis corporibus Darium regem salutarunt; Valerius Maximus, _Mem._ vii.; _Herodotus_, iii. 87. Herodotus also refers to another variation of the same anecdote, where he adds, that at the first dawn of day it lightninged and thundered.

[660] Devi ?ira rathanam; _?igv._ i. 48, 3.--cata? rathebhi?

subhagosha iya? vi yaty abhi ma.n.u.shan; i. 48, 7.

[661] Upa tmani dadhano dhury ac.u.n.t sahasra?i catani va?rabahu?; _?igv._ iv. 29, 4.

[662] Cfr. _?igv._ iv. 3, 11; iv. 13, 3.

[663] Cfr. Bohtling u. Roth, _Sansk?it Worterbuch_, s. v. _acvin_.

[664] Kuhn u. Schwartz, p. 330.--The English proverbial expression, "a mare's nest," now used to denote an impossibility, probably originally referred to a real myth.

[665] _Kunegetikon_, i. 284.

[666] ii. 3.--"Allecordatose d'haver 'ntiso na vota da certe stodiante, che le cavalle de Spagna se'mprenano co lo viento;" and the story goes on to speak of the ogre's surprise, who, seeing a beautiful maiden in his garden, "penzaie che lo s.h.i.+avro de lo pideto, havesse 'ngravedato quarche arvolo, e ne fosse sciuta sta penta criatura; perzo abbracciatala co gran'ammore, decette, figlia mia, parte de sto cuorpo, s.h.i.+ato de lo spireto mio, e chi me l' havesse ditto mai, che co na ventosetate, havesse dato forma a ssa bella facce?" Varro seriously wrote: "In faetura res incredibilis est in Hispania, sed est vera, quod in Lusitania ad Oceanum in ea regione, ubi est oppidum Olyssipo monte Tagro, quaedam e vento concipiunt equae, ut hic gallinae solent, quarum ova hypanemia appellant, sed ex his equis qui nati pulli, non plus triennium vivunt."

[667] Rathebhir acvapar?ai?; _?igv._ i. 88, 1.--In Horace, _Carm._ i.

14--

"Namque Diespiter, Igni corusco nubila dividens, Plerumque per purum tonantes Egit equos, volucremque currum."

[668] Acru?i casya mumucurva?ina?; _Ramay._ vi. 75.

[669] In the corresponding Italian stories, the hero or heroine, punished for some indiscretion, must, before being pardoned, wear out seven pairs of iron shoes, and fill seven flasks with their tears.

[670] Proximus diebus equorum greges, quos in trajiciendo Rubicon Marti consacraverat, ac sine custodibus vagos dimiserat, comperit pabulo pertinacissime abstinere, ubertimque flere.

[671] xvii. 426.

[672] iii. 740.

[673] V?isha tva v?isha?a? vardhatu dyaur v?isha v?ishabhyam vahase haribhyam sa no v?isha v?isharatha? sucipra v?ishakrato v?isha va?rin bhare dhah; _?igv._ v. 36, 5.--In Piedmont there exists a game of conversation, consisting in the description of the presents which one intends making to one's bride, in which description the letter _r_ must never enter; he who introduces it loses the game.

[674] V?ishayam indra te ratha uto te v?isha?a hari; _?igv._ viii. 13, 31.

[675] Apam phenena namuce? cira indrod avartaya?; _?igv._ viii. 14, 13.

[676] It is also called the canine cough, and it is believed on this account that it is cured when the children are made to drink where a dog has been drinking.

[677] _De Quadrupedibus_ i.

[678] Du Cange, _Gloss. Mediae et Infimae Latinitatis_, s. v. _caballus_.

[679] V?shapa?ayo 'cva?; _?igv._ vi. 75, 7.

[680] Karotarac chaphad acvasya v?ish?a? cata? k.u.mbha? asincata?

suraya?; _?igv._ i. 116, 7.

[681] "One spot on the margin of Lake Regillus was for many ages regarded with superst.i.tious awe. A mark, resembling in shape a horse's hoof, was discernible in the volcanic rock; and this mark was believed to have been made by one of the celestial chargers."--Macaulay, Preface to the _Battle of the Lake Regillus_.

[682] _Afana.s.sieff_, iv. 45.

[683] The milk of white mares, which, according to Olaus Magnus (i.

24) was poured into the ground by the king of the Goths every year, on the 28th of August, in honour of the G.o.ds, who received it with great avidity, would seem to be an announcement of the imminent rains of autumn; the horse loses his ambrosial humour, and his end is at hand.

[684] The Graeco-Latin proverb, "Equus me portat, alit rex," would seem also to have a mythical origin, and to refer to the mythical legend of the betrayed blind man, who carries the cunning hunchback or lame man; who sometimes only feigns lameness, in order to play off his practical jokes upon his companion.