The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion (Third Edition, Vol. 11 of 12)Frazer, James George
Religion
The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion (Third Edition, Vol. 11 of 12)
Frazer, James George
Magic; Mythology; Religion; Superstition
(M114) In a Mongolian story the hero Joro gets the better of his enemy the
lama Tschoridong in the following way. The lama, who is an enchanter,
sends out his soul in the form of a wasp to sting Joro’s eyes. But Joro
catches the wasp in his hand, and by alternately shutting and opening his
hand he causes the lama alternately to lose and recover
consciousness.(395) In a Tartar poem two youths cut open the body of an
old witch and tear out her bowels, but all to no purpose, she still lives.
On being asked where her soul is, she answers that it is in the middle of
her shoe-sole in the form of a seven-headed speckled snake. So one of the
youths slices her shoe-sole with his sword, takes out the speckled snake,
and cuts off its seven heads. Then the witch dies.(396) Another Tartar
poem describes how the hero Kartaga grappled with the Swan-woman. Long
they wrestled. Moons waxed and waned and still they wrestled; years came
and went, and still the struggle went on. But the piebald horse and the
black horse knew that the Swan-woman’s soul was not in her. Under the
black earth flow nine seas; where the seas meet and form one, the sea
comes to the surface of the earth. At the mouth of the nine seas rises a
rock of copper; it rises to the surface of the ground, it rises up between
heaven and earth, this rock of copper. At the foot of the copper rock is a
black chest, in the black chest is a golden casket, and in the golden
casket is the soul of the Swan-woman. Seven little birds are the soul of
the Swan-woman; if the birds are killed the Swan-woman will die
straightway. So the horses ran to the foot of the copper rock, opened the
black chest, and brought back the golden casket. Then the piebald horse
turned himself into a bald-headed man, opened the golden casket, and cut
off the heads of the seven birds. So the Swan-woman died.(397) In a Tartar
story a chief called Tash Kan is asked where his soul is. He answers that
there are seven great poplars, and under the poplars a golden well; seven
_Maralen_ (?) come to drink the water of the well, and the belly of one of
them trails on the ground; in this _Maral_ is a golden box, in the golden
box is a silver box, in the silver box are seven quails, the head of one
of the quails is golden and its tail silver; that quail is Tash Kan’s
soul. The hero of the story gets possession of the seven quails and wrings
the necks of six of them. Then Tash Kan comes running and begs the hero to
let his soul go free. But the hero wrings the last quail’s neck, and Tash
Kan drops dead.(398) In another Tartar poem the hero, pursuing his sister
who has driven away his cattle, is warned to desist from the pursuit
because his sister has carried away his soul in a golden sword and a
golden arrow, and if he pursues her she will kill him by throwing the
golden sword or shooting the golden arrow at him.(399)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account