master lamp
Meister Lampe is the name for a rabbit as it is used in old German and in fables and fairy tales .
Originally, e.g. B. in the animal pos Reynke de vos , most of the animals in the fables had male first names: the hare was called Lamprecht, the fox Reineke (North German form of Reinhard), the bear Petz (pet form of Bernhard) etc.
The shortening from Lamprecht to "Lamp" was certainly promoted by the observation that when the hares run , their lighter undercoat (compared to the main fur) rises visibly into the air. When the rabbit moves away from the viewer, the impression of constant lighting is created, which is reminiscent of a lamp.
Hare's lamp
In the hunter's language , the white spot on the underside of the hare's tail is called a lamp . When hobbling on the run, the hares straighten their tails so that the white spot is clearly visible to the pursuers.
Experiments showed that in video games, participants had more difficulty tracking rabbits if the spot was noticeably white instead of fur-colored. The sudden disappearance of the bright spot when hooking the hook caused irritation, which gave the hooking rabbit in the video game a little time gain. These test results support the assumption that the "sudden disappearance of the conspicuous lamp" protects the rabbit from pursuers on its escape.
Web links
- Harris, Joel Chandler ; Boelitz, Martin ; Liebenwein, Maximilian : Meister Lampe's funny pranks and adventures Nuremberg 1904.
Individual evidence
- ↑ What the rabbit needs his lamp for. Der Standard, August 17, 2013, accessed August 19, 2013 .