The lion and the mouse
The lion and the mouse is an animal fable that is described in the context of an ancient Egyptian - demotic story in the papyrus The Homecoming of the Goddess . The fable shows strong parallels to the Aesop story The Lion and the Mouse . In contrast to the Aesop tale, the ancient Egyptian fable has a previous plot that is devoted to the ominous influence of humans, with the mouse later proving to be the savior of the lion who was caught in a pitfall by a hunter.
Dating the animal fable
The fable was written in several demotic versions that date from the second century AD. In addition, there is a later tradition in Greek from the third century AD, which was probably based on the demotic models. However, the narrative is based on an older model, the date of which is difficult to estimate.
Some older forms of language, which the writer has to explain to the reader because they are incomprehensible, allow parts of the original text to go back to the time of the New Kingdom (1550 BC to 1070 BC). This assumption is supported by a Ramesside ostracon on which the contents of the animal fable The Two Jackals were written, which was also part of the story The Homecoming of the Goddess .
content
prehistory
Once upon a time there was a lion on a mountain who met a panther whose skin was peeled off. The panther, half dead, explained to the lion that a human was responsible. According to his report, the panther warned the lion with the words: “ May you not meet a human; may you not be at the mercy of him, the human being . ”When the lion heard this, he became angry with the human beings and looked for them. On the way he met a horse that was circling; a donkey that had a holding device in its mouth; a bull with its horns clipped; on a cow whose nostrils were pierced; on a bear with its claws pulled and its fangs torn out, and another lion that lay injured on a tree. All reported that the human was to blame for their predicament and repeated the panther's warning. The lion therefore swore to himself: Oh man, if you were at my mercy, I would do you the same suffering that my companions experienced through you .
The mouse as a savior
On its way the lion, meanwhile very hungry, met a mouse. When he was about to catch and eat her, the mouse spoke to the lion and a discussion developed between the two of them:
“The mouse said:“ Oh no, my lord lion, if you eat me, you will not be full. If you let me go, your hunger won't change either. But if you give me my breath as a gift, I will give you your own breath as a gift. If you save me from ruin, I will let you escape your danger ”. The lion laughed and asked, “What can you ultimately do for me? Is there anyone on earth who could harm me? ”But the mouse swore her oath:“ I will let you escape your danger when it occurs. ”The lion thought:“ If I eat the mouse, I won't be very full "And gave the mouse freedom."
The lion, who then continued his search for humans, fell into a pitfall that a hunter had dug. Escape was not possible. The lion was lured into a cage-like structure by its hunter and then pulled upwards. Once there, the lion was tied up in a cage-like mesh with leather straps. Fate wanted to teach the arrogant lion a lesson, because when the lion was lying on the mountain, worried and unable to escape, the mouse released by the lion appeared before him at the seventh hour of the night.
"The mouse said:" Do you recognize me? I am the little mouse that you gave her life as a gift. I came to save you from your danger. It is good to do the one who does it. ”The mouse put its snout on the lion's fetters and chewed through the fresh leather. She then hid in the mane of the lion who jumped up to the mountain with her. The little mouse, as there is nothing weaker on the mountain, which gave the lion, as there is nothing stronger on the mountain, a boon of fate as a miracle. "
Origin of the animal fable
Hunting technique
Dieter Kurth compared the contents of the Greek and demotic tradition with the hunting technique of different cultures with regard to the description of the capture of the lion and its subsequent liberation. The statements in ancient Egyptian sources are only limited to the killing of a lion. On the other hand, there is no explicit report on the trapping methods, including other animal species. In the famine stele , however, a formulation was used that gives a rough insight into the methodology: "All lion catchers in the desert". The ancient Egyptian word “sixth”, which stands for “to catch”, can also be applied in its meaning to the statement “to catch with a net”. Further evidence suggests that in ancient Egypt lions were not only killed, but also caught in traps.
More details of the fishing technique of different peoples have been preserved in the ancient sources. Oppianos from Apamea , who worked in the third century AD and is therefore very closely related to the writing of this fable, explained three different fishing practices in most detail in his work "Kynegetika" (4, 77–112). The Nubian hunters repeatedly attacked the lion until he sank to the ground, visibly exhausted, and could then be tied up. In Mesopotamia , the hunters laid out a circular safety net that was attached to posts and had a large opening. The lion was driven through the opening into the safety net by noise and with burning torches. However, the Nubian and Mesopotamian fishing technique is not part of the animal fable. The Libyan method, on the other hand, shows striking parallels: the hunters first dug a round pit on a lion path, in the middle of which a pole was set, on which a tied live lamb served as bait. To prevent the lion from recognizing the pit, a stone wall around the pit acted as a privacy screen. Lured by the bleating of the lamb, the hungry lion jumped over the stone wall and fell into the pit. Then the hunters came and lowered a braided cage attached to several leather straps, in the middle of which lay a piece of meat as an additional attractant. After the lion got into the cage, he was trapped and pulled up.
Special Greek language forms, which refer to a net-like cage structure, prompted Dieter Kurth to reconstruct the hunting technique, which connects both the tradition and the measures actually described. A net made of ropes or leather straps had an open space at the ends, one end being lowered to the bottom of the pit. Shorter straps keep the roof of the safety net in suspension. At the moment when the lion entered the open device of the safety net on the ground, the associated lower straps were pulled upwards, which causes the safety net to close. This construction requires four long and four short straps to carry the lion's weight. Wooden cages are out of the question because the thick rods cannot be braided, and such a cage would be unwieldy and difficult to use in open terrain over long distances due to its heavy weight. In addition, the Greek tradition excludes the term "wooden cage". The documented images of captive lions in wooden cages related to onward transport by land or sea, mostly for Roman arenas. For the construction of those transport cages, oak wood was used according to the descriptions.
See also
literature
- Dieter Kurth: A Semitic loan word in the demotic. In: Nicole Kloth: It will be put down as a document: Festschrift for Hartwig Altenmüller on his 65th birthday. Buske, Hamburg 2003, ISBN 3-87548-341-3 , pp. 247-262.
- Friedhelm Hoffmann , Joachim Friedrich Quack : Anthology of demotic literature (= introductions and source texts on Egyptology . Volume 4). Lit, Berlin 2007, ISBN 3-8258-0762-2 .
- Walter Wreszinski: Lion hunt in ancient Egypt. Hinrichs, Leipzig 1932.