The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion (Third Edition, Vol. 08 of 12)Frazer, James George
Religion
The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion (Third Edition, Vol. 08 of 12)
Frazer, James George
Magic; Mythology; Religion; Superstition
(M173) A like respect is testified for other dangerous creatures by the
hunters who regularly trap and kill them. When Caffre hunters are in the
act of showering spears on an elephant, they call out, “Don’t kill us,
great captain; don’t strike or tread upon us, mighty chief.”(659) When he
is dead they make their excuses to him, pretending that his death was a
pure accident. As a mark of respect they bury his trunk with much solemn
ceremony; for they say that “the elephant is a great lord; his trunk is
his hand.”(660) Before the Amaxosa Caffres attack an elephant they shout
to the animal and beg him to pardon them for the slaughter they are about
to perpetrate, professing great submission to his person and explaining
clearly the need they have of his tusks to enable them to procure beads
and supply their wants. When they have killed him they bury in the ground,
along with the end of his trunk, a few of the articles they have obtained
for the ivory, thus hoping to avert some mishap that would otherwise
befall them.(661) Among the Wanyamwezi of Central Africa, when hunters
have killed an elephant, they bury his legs on the spot where he fell and
then cover the place with stones. The burial is supposed to appease the
spirit of the dead elephant and to ensure the success of the hunters in
future undertakings.(662) When the Baganda have killed an elephant, they
extract the nerve from the tusk and bury it, taking care to mark the place
of the burial. For they think that the ghost of the dead elephant attaches
itself to the nerve, and that if a hunter were to step over the nerve, the
elephant’s ghost would cause him to be killed by an elephant the next time
he went forth to hunt the beasts.(663)
(M174) In Latuka, a district of the Upper Nile, lions are much respected,
and are only killed when they prove very troublesome and dangerous. There
used to be in this region a Lion-chief, as he was called, who professed to
have all lions under his control, and who actually kept several tame lions
about his house. Whenever a lion was accidentally caught in a trap near
the station of the Egyptian Government, this man would regularly present
himself and demand the release of the noble animal. The favour was always
granted, and planks were let down into the pit to enable the imprisoned
lion to clamber up and escape.(664) Amongst some tribes of Eastern Africa,
when a lion is killed, the carcase is brought before the king, who does
homage to it by prostrating himself on the ground and rubbing his face on
the muzzle of the beast.(665)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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