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Friday, January 28, 2011

This may come in handy (myths & Legends)

* If faced with a Cerberus, Would you know what to do?220px-Cerbere
* When a Chinese Farmer, wants it to rain, who do they call?
* What Scared the Scylla so much she threw herself into the sea?
* Why should you follow an Alicanto, But with caution?
* What can you use a Gillygaloo’s egg for?
* Why is alcohol the best deterrent against a Hidebehind?
* And finally, Why we should thank the Lamed Wufniks for our continued survival? ( although we can’t directly)
scylla wiki


For your answer to these questions and much, much more, I bring you – Jorge Luis Borges’ “The Book of Imaginary Beings”. This pocket sized book from those purveyors of fine literature - Penguin modern classics, could one day save your bacon. Need to pull up a Mandrake root? this book will show you how, Wondering why you’re always running out of ink? this book has the answer.




In fact this could be the only book you ever need – You’d be a Mermecolion to think you could live without it!!!.
-Cerberus- William Blake
Cerberus, watercolour by William Blake
Jorge Luis Borges “ The Book of Imaginary Beings”
Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo, born on 24/8/1899, best known as Jorge Luis Borges was an Argentine writer, essayist and poet. He was born in Buenos Aires and in 1914 he & his family moved to Switzerland, where he went to school, he returned to Argentina in 1921 and began publishing his poems and essays. In 1955 he was appointed director of the Biblioteca Nacional (National Public Library) and held the professor of Literature position at the University of Buenos Aires. In 1961 he received his first International Publishers Prize (Prix Formentor), which brought him international acclaim & led to his work being translated and published throughout the world. On the staircase of the Tower of Victory in Chitor there has lived since the beginning of time.............


He  wrote and edited the Book of Imaginary Beings in 1957 as the Handbook of Fantastic Zoology (original Spanish title Manual de zoologĂ­a fantástica), further expanding it in 1967 and again in ‘69 with the title “ El libro de los seres imaginarios” ( The Book of Imaginary Beings). This, the English version, was created in collaboration with the translator Norman Thomas di Giovanni, and contains the descriptions of 120 mythical beasts from the folklore and literature of most of the nations on this planet.
In the preface to the 1967 edition, Borges states – “ The title of this book would justify the inclusion of Prince Hamlet, of the point, of the line, of the surface, of the n-dimensional hyper planes  and hyper volumes , of all generic terms, and perhaps of each one of us and of the Godhead. In brief, the sum of all things – the Universe.”
He then goes on to say that in compiling this compendium it was limited to creatures immediately suggested by the words “Imaginary Beings” and that the handbook is compiled from fauna conceived by the human imagination through time and space.
“We are ignorant of the meaning of the dragon in the same way that we are ignorant of the meaning of the universe, but there is something in the dragon’s image that fits man’s imagination, and this accounts for the dragon’s appearance in different places and periods.”
Jorge Luis Borges also stated that this book, like all miscellany, shouldn’t be read straight through; he would rather the reader should dip into the pages at random -  “just as one plays with the shifting patterns of a Kaleidoscope.”
dragon

             
The Answers
* Feed him honey cakes, literally -  “ a sop to Cerberus”  The  ancient Greeks suggested that you take a small bag of honey cakes along - as a "sop," or cake dipped in honey - to assuage the appetite of the snarling monster. Cerberus would gobble up the sop and let you climb aboard the boat to the underworld
 * The Shang Yang – long ago, children hopped up & down on 1 leg, wrinkled their brows and repeated “It will thunder, it will rain, cause the Shang Yang’s here again”.

* the easy answer here is herself. Usual tale God falls in love with beautiful nymph, Goddess gets jealous, turns nymph into hideous monster
* The Alicanto, is a mine shaft dwelling bird that feeds upon gold. If you can follow the bird without being caught, you can find silver or gold. But, if  you’re discovered, the bird will guide you off a cliff  to certain death.
* Gillygaloo- is a  bird which nests on mountain slopes and lays square eggs, when boiled they can be used as dice.
* The Hidebehind, is a strange nocturnal woodland creature, that preys on humans. As the name suggests it is noted for its ability to conceal itself. When an observer attempts to look directly at it, the creature hides behind an object or even the observer themselves &  therefore can't be directly seen. The best known deterrent is alcohol which it has a string aversion to.

* There are precisely thirty-six Lamed Wufniks in existence. It is said that, without knowing it, they support the universe and affirm God. Mystical Hasidic Judaism as well as other segments of Judaism believe that there is the Jewish tradition of 36 righteous people whose role in life is to justify the purpose of humankind in the eyes of God. Tradition holds that their identities are unknown to each other and that, if one of them comes to a realization of their true purpose then they may die and their role is immediately assumed by another person:

Chimera Apulia_Louvre

13 comments:

  1. I have wanted to read some Borges for a long time-perhaps I will start with this work-great post-I am enrolled in the read a myth challenge and will, I hope, soon be posting about the Bacchae for it

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  2. Fascinating - I've heard of the book but never read it. I only know of mandrake root from John Donne's poem Go and Catch a Falling Star
    Get with child a mandrake root
    Tell me where all past years are
    Or who cleft the devil's foot

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  3. Mandrake roots have been brought into the knowledge of the reading world by their part in the Harry Potter series!

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  4. @mel u: Hi Mel, the obvious choice is Labyrinths, but this or The Book of Sand would be great choices. The Book of Sand contains many tales, such as the " Utopia of a tired man" & "The Mirror & the Mask" as well as the title story the Penguin 20c classics version I have also contains The Gold Of The Tigers, a collection of Borges poetry, so worth getting.

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  5. @Tom C: Hello Tom, it also features in the bible, Mandragola a play by Machiavelli, Shakespeare, Hanns Heinz Ewers, Thomas Pynchon, Samuel Beckett, Ezra Pound, DH Lawrence, William S Burroughs, plus a load more ( thanks Wikipedia)

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  6. @mel u: Mandrake belongs to the the nightshade family (Belladonna - deadly nightshade) & contains highly toxic hallucinogenic compounds, so the long been used in magic rituals, & because the root contains Bifurcations they can be said to resemble human figures. These two attributes alone are enough to have myths created about them, without taking into account everything else mentioned in regard to this family of plants.

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  7. I love that the Borges book uses the Arcimboldo painting on its cover! The two works seem like a perfect pairing.

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  8. The first collection sounds like a perfect read for the Read A Myth challenge! And, The Book Of Imaginary Beings sounds like something J. K. Rowling devoured as preparation for her Harry Potter series.

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  9. Wow, a Borges I've missed - and a great blog I've found. I look forward to enjoying this new addition to my Borges collection, as soon as it arrives, with dram or two :] of my current malt favorite - Glenrothes select reserve. Thanks.

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  10. You have made me reconsider my list for Read A Myth again! This book looks like something I'd love!

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  11. HI LTR,it's quite amazing where Arcimboldo turns up, album covers, harry potter, Roberto Bolano's 2666, it appears his legacy lives on.

    ciao Bellezza, gilgamesh is a really good tale & as for the Borges book, I wouldn't be at all surprised if JK had a copy lying around somewhere.

    Hi Angus, my personal favourite is book of sand/ gold of the tigers. As for the malt I'm a fan of Ardbeg 17 yr old or the uigeadail, if I fancy a speyside i quite like the Aberlour A'bunadh. if you like the Glenrothes, have you tried Yamazaki 12yr old, if not you may enjoy it.

    Hello Connolly-Ahern, thanks for the comment, I believe the central part of these challenges is to learn about new books & writers, this is why i love blogging- reading which I've always perceived as a solitary affair turns out to be a community

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  12. Oh, this sounds fascinating! I read Labyrinths some time ago and it instantly became one of my favourite books ever. I'd been thinking of reading some of his non-fiction work, but hadn't been sure about which one to start with. I think I might have a go at The Book of Imaginary Beings.

    You've reviewed a lot of books that are on my to-read list... so I hope you don't mind that I'm going to follow you. (:

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  13. @R: Hello R, the book of sand is a good one, the version I have is a penguin modern classic & has the Gold of tigers with it.

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