As the fish were formed out of water, and the birds out of boggy earth
well mixed with water, so the mammals were formed out of solid
earth,[140] and as leviathan is the most notable representative of the
fish kind, and ziz of the bird kind, so behemot is the most notable
representative of the mammal kind. Behemot matches leviathan in
strength, and he had to be prevented, like leviathan, from multiplying
and increasing, else the world could not have continued to exist; after
God had created him male and female, He at once deprived him of the
desire to propagate his kind.[141] He is so monstrous that he requires
the produce of a thousand mountains for his daily food. All the water
that flows through the bed of the Jordan in a year suffices him exactly
for one gulp. It therefore was necessary to give him one stream
entirely for his own use, a stream flowing forth from Paradise, called
Yubal.[142] Behemot, too, is destined to be served to the pious as an
appetizing dainty, but before they enjoy his flesh, they will be
permitted to view the mortal combat between leviathan and behemot, as a
reward for having denied themselves the pleasures of the circus and its
gladiatorial contests.[143]
Leviathan, ziz, and behemot are not the only monsters; there are many
others, and marvellous ones, like the reem, a giant animal, of which
only one couple, male and female, is in existence. Had there been more,
the world could hardly have maintained itself against them. The act of
copulation occurs but once in seventy years between them, for God has
so ordered it that the male and female reem are at opposite ends of the
earth, the one in the east, the other in the west. The act of
copulation results in the death of the male. He is bitten by the female
and dies of the bite. The female becomes pregnant and remains in this
state for no less than twelve years. At the end of this long period she
gives birth to twins, a male and a female. The year preceding her
delivery she is not able to move. She would die of hunger, were it not
that her own spittle flowing copiously from her mouth waters and
fructifies the earth near her, and causes it to bring forth enough for
her maintenance. For a whole year the animal can but roll from side to
side, until finally her belly bursts, and the twins issue forth. Their
appearance is thus the signal for the death of the mother reem. She
makes room for the new generation, which in turn is destined to suffer
the same fate as the generation that went before. Immediately after
birth, the one goes eastward and the other westward, to meet only after
the lapse of seventy years, propagate themselves, and perish.[144] A
traveller who once saw a reem one day old described its height to be
four parasangs, and the length of its head one parasang and a
half.[145] Its horns measure one hundred ells, and their height is a
great deal more.[146]
One of the most remarkable creatures is the "man of the mountain," Adne
Sadeh, or, briefly, Adam.[147] His form is exactly that of a human
being, but he is fastened to the ground by means of a navel-string,
upon which his life depends. The cord once snapped, he dies. This
animal keeps himself alive with what is produced by the soil around
about him as far as his tether permits him to crawl. No creature may
venture to approach within the radius of his cord, for he seizes and
demolishes whatever comes in his reach. To kill him, one may not go
near to him, the navel-string must be severed from a distance by means
of a dart, and then he dies amid groans and moans.[143] Once upon a
time a traveller happened in the region where this animal is found. He
overheard his host consult his wife as to what to do to honor their
guest, and resolve to serve "our man," as he said. Thinking he had
fallen among cannibals, the stranger ran as fast as his feet could
carry him from his entertainer, who sought vainly to restrain him.
Afterward, he found out that there had been no intention of regaling
him with human flesh, but only with the flesh of the strange animal
called "man."[146] As the "man of the mountain" is fixed to the ground
by his navel-string, so the barnacle-goose is grown to a tree by its
bill. It is hard to say whether it is an animal and must be slaughtered
to be fit for food, or whether it is a plant and no ritual ceremony is
necessary before eating it.[150]
Among the birds the phoenix is the most wonderful. When Eve gave all
the animals some of the fruit of the tree of knowledge, the phoenix was
the only bird that refused to eat thereof, and he was rewarded with
eternal life. When he has lived a thousand years, his body shrinks, and
the feathers drop from it, until he is as small as an egg. This is the
nucleus of the new bird.[151]
The phoenix is also called "the guardian of the terrestrial sphere." He
runs with the sun on his circuit, and he spreads out his wings and
catches up the fiery rays of the sun.[152] If he were not there to
intercept them, neither man nor any other animate being would keep
alive. On his right wing the following words are inscribed in huge
letters,[153] about four thousand stadia high: "Neither the earth
produces me, nor the heavens, but only the wings of fire." His food
consists of the manna of heaven and the dew of the earth. His excrement
is a worm, whose excrement in turn is the cinnamon used by kings and
princes.[152] Enoch, who saw the phoenix birds when he was translated,
describes them as flying creatures, wonderful and strange in
appearance, with the feet and tails of lions, and the heads of
crocodiles; their appearance is of a purple color like the rainbow;
their size nine hundred measures. Their wings are like those of angels,
each having twelve, and they attend the chariot of the sun and go with
him, bringing heat and dew as they are ordered by God. In the morning
when the sun starts on his daily course, the phoenixes and the
chalkidri[154] sing, and every bird flaps its wings, rejoicing the
Giver of light, and they sing a song at the command of the Lord.[155]
Among reptiles the salamander and the shamir are the most marvellous.
The salamander originates from a fire of myrtle wood[156] which has
been kept burning for seven years steadily by means of magic arts. Not
bigger than a mouse, it yet is invested with peculiar properties. One
who smears himself with its blood is invulnerable,[157] and the web
woven by it is a talisman against fire.[158] The people who lived at
the deluge boasted that, were a fire flood to come, they would protect
themselves with the blood of the salamander.[159]
King Hezekiah owes his life to the salamander. His wicked father, King
Ahaz, had delivered him to the fires of Moloch, and he would have been
burnt, had his mother not painted him with the blood of the salamander,
so that the fire could do him no harm.[160]
The shamir was made at twilight on the sixth day of creation together
with other extraordinary things.[161] It is about as large as a barley
corn, and it possesses the remarkable property of cutting the hardest
of diamonds. For this reason it was used for the stones in the
breastplate worn by the high priest. First the names of the twelve
tribes were traced with ink on the stones to be set into the
breastplate, then the shamir was passed over the lines, and thus they
were graven. The wonderful circumstance was that the friction wore no
particles from the stones. The shamir was also used for hewing into
shape the stones from which the Temple was built, because the law
prohibited iron tools to be used for the work in the Temple.[162] The
shamir may not be put in an iron vessel for safe-keeping, nor in any
metal vessel, it would burst such a receptacle asunder. It is kept
wrapped up in a woollen cloth, and this in turn is placed in a lead
basket filled with barley bran.[163] The shamir was guarded in Paradise
until Solomon needed it. He sent the eagle thither to fetch the
worm.[164] With the destruction of the Temple the shamir vanished.[165]
A similar fate overtook the tahash, which had been created only that
its skin might be used for the Tabernacle. Once the Tabernacle was
completed, the tahash disappeared. It had a horn on its forehead, was
gaily colored like the turkey-cock, and belonged to the class of clean
animals.[166] Among the fishes there are also wonderful creatures, the
sea-goats and the dolphins, not to mention leviathan. A sea-faring man
once saw a sea-goat on whose horns the words were inscribed: "I am a
little sea-animal, yet I traversed three hundred parasangs to offer
myself as food to the leviathan."[167] The dolphins are half man and
half fish; they even have sexual intercourse with human beings;
therefore they are called also "sons of the sea," for in a sense they
represent the human kind in the waters.[163]
Though every species in the animal world was created during the last
two days of the six of creation,[169] yet many characteristics of
certain animals appeared later. Cats and mice, foes now, were friends
originally. Their later enmity had a distinct cause. On one occasion
the mouse appeared before God and spoke: "I and the cat are partners,
but now we have nothing to eat." The Lord answered: "Thou art
intriguing against thy companion, only that thou mayest devour her. As
a punishment, she shall devour thee." Thereupon the mouse: "O Lord of
the world, wherein have I done wrong?" God replied: "O thou unclean
reptile, thou shouldst have been warned by the example of the moon, who
lost a part of her light, because she spake ill of the sun, and what
she lost was given to her opponent.[170] The evil intentions thou didst
harbor against thy companion shall be punished in the same way. Instead
of thy devouring her, she shall devour thee." The mouse: "O Lord of the
world! Shall my whole kind be destroyed?" God: "I will take care that a
remnant of thee is spared." In her rage the mouse bit the cat, and the
cat in turn threw herself upon the mouse, and hacked into her with her
teeth until she lay dead. Since that moment the mouse stands in such
awe of the cat that she does not even attempt to defend herself against
her enemy's attacks, and always keeps herself in hiding.[171] Similarly
dogs and cats maintained a friendly relation to each other, and only
later on became enemies. A dog and a cat were partners, and they shared
with each other whatever they had. It once happened that neither could
find anything to eat for three days. Thereupon the dog proposed that
they dissolve their partnership. The cat should go to Adam, in whose
house there would surely be enough for her to eat, while the dog should
seek his fortune elsewhere. Before they separated, they took an oath
never to go to the same master. The cat took up her abode with Adam,
and she found sufficient mice in his house to satisfy her appetite.
Seeing how useful she was in driving away and extirpating mice, Adam
treated her most kindly. The dog, on the other hand, saw bad times. The
first night after their separation he spent in the cave of the wolf,
who had granted him a night's lodging. At night the dog caught the
sound of steps, and he reported it to his host, who bade him repulse
the intruders. They were wild animals. Little lacked and the dog would
have lost his life. Dismayed, the dog fled from the house of the wolf,
and took refuge with the monkey. But he would not grant him even a
single night's lodging; and the fugitive was forced to appeal to the
hospitality of the sheep. Again the dog heard steps in the middle of
the night. Obeying the bidding of his host, he arose to chase away the
marauders, who turned out to be wolves. The barking of the dog apprised
the wolves of the presence of sheep, so that the dog innocently caused
the sheep's death. Now he had lost his last friend. Night after night
he begged for shelter, without ever finding a home. Finally, he decided
to repair to the house of Adam, who also granted him refuge for one
night. When wild animals approached the house under cover of darkness,
the dog began to bark, Adam awoke, and with his bow and arrow he drove
them away. Recognizing the dog's usefulness, he bade him remain with
him always. But as soon as the cat espied the dog in Adam's house, she
began to quarrel with him, and reproach him with having broken his oath
to her. Adam did his best to pacify the cat. He told her he had himself
invited the dog to make his home there, and he assured her she would in
no wise be the loser by the dog's presence; he wanted both to stay with
him. But it was impossible to appease the cat. The dog promised her not
to touch anything intended for her. She insisted that she could not
live in one and the same house with a thief like the dog. Bickerings
between the dog and the cat became the order of the day. Finally the
dog could stand it no longer, and he left Adam's house, and betook
himself to Seth's. By Seth he was welcomed kindly, and from Seth's
house, he continued to make efforts at reconciliation with the cat. In
vain. Yes, the enmity between the first dog and the first cat was
transmitted to all their descendants until this very day.[172]
Even the physical peculiarities of certain animals were not original
features with them, but owed their existence to something that occurred
subsequent to the days of creation. The mouse at first had quite a
different mouth from its present mouth. In Noah's ark, in which all
animals, to ensure the preservation of every kind, lived together
peaceably, the pair of mice were once sitting next to the cat. Suddenly
the latter remembered that her father was in the habit of devouring
mice, and thinking there was no harm in following his example, she
jumped at the mouse, who vainly looked for a hole into which to slip
out of sight. Then a miracle happened; a hole appeared where none had
been before, and the mouse sought refuge in it. The cat pursued the
mouse, and though she could not follow her into the hole, she could
insert her paw and try to pull the mouse out of her covert. Quickly the
mouse opened her mouth in the hope that the paw would go into it, and
the cat would be prevented from fastening her claws in her flesh. But
as the cavity of the mouth was not big enough, the cat succeeded in
clawing the cheeks of the mouse. Not that this helped her much, it
merely widened the mouth of the mouse, and her prey after all escaped
the cat.[173] After her happy escape, the mouse betook herself to Noah
and said to him, "O pious man, be good enough to sew up my cheek where
my enemy, the cat, has torn a rent in it." Noah bade her fetch a hair
out of the tail of the swine, and with this he repaired the damage.
Thence the little seam-like line next to the mouth of every mouse to
this very day.[174]
The raven is another animal that changed its appearance during its
sojourn in the ark. When Noah desired to send him forth to find out
about the state of the waters, he hid under the wings of the eagle.
Noah found him, however, and said to him, "Go and see whether the
waters have diminished." The raven pleaded: "Hast thou none other among
all the birds to send on this errand?" Noah: "My power extends no
further than over thee and the dove."[175] But the raven was not
satisfied. He said to Noah with great insolence: "Thou sendest me forth
only that I may meet my death, and thou wishest my death that my wife
may be at thy service."[176] Thereupon Noah cursed the raven thus: "May
thy mouth, which has spoken evil against me, be accursed, and thy
intercourse with thy wife be only through it."[177] All the animals in
the ark said Amen. And this is the reason why a mass of spittle runs
from the mouth of the male raven into the mouth of the female during
the act of copulation, and only thus the female is impregnated.[178]
Altogether the raven is an unattractive animal. He is unkind toward his
own young so long as their bodies are not covered with black
feathers,[179] though as a rule ravens love one another.[180] God
therefore takes the young ravens under His special protection. From
their own excrement maggots come forth,[181] which serve as their food
during the three days that elapse after their birth, until their white
feathers turn black and their parents recognize them as their offspring
and care for them.[182]
The raven has himself to blame also for the awkward hop in his gait. He
observed the graceful step of the dove, and envious of her tried to
enmulate it. The outcome was that he almost broke his bones without in
the least succeeding in making himself resemble the dove, not to
mention that he brought the scorn of the other animals down upon
himself. His failure excited their ridicule. Then he decided to return
to his own original gait, but in the interval he had unlearnt it, and
he could walk neither the one way nor the other properly. His step had
become a hop betwixt and between. Thus we see how true it is, that he
who is dissatisfied with his small portion loses the little he has in
striving for more and better things.[163]
The steer is also one of the animals that have suffered a change in the
course of time. Originally his face was entirely overgrown with hair,
but now there is none on his nose, and that is because Joshua kissed
him on his nose during the siege of Jericho. Joshua was an exceedingly
heavy man. Horses, donkeys, and mules, none could bear him, they all
broke down under his weight. What they could not do, the steer
accomplished. On his back Joshua rode to the siege of Jericho, and in
gratitude he bestowed a kiss upon his nose.[134]
The serpent, too, is other than it was at first. Before the fall of man
it was the cleverest of all animals created, and in form it resembled
man closely. It stood upright, and was of extraordinary size.[185]
Afterward, it lost the mental advantages it had possessed as compared
with other animals, and it degenerated physically, too; it was deprived
of its feet, so that it could not pursue other animals and kill them.
The mole and the frog had to be made harmless in similar ways; the
former has no eyes, else it were irresistible, and the frog has no
teeth, else no animal in the water were sure of its life.[186]
While the cunning of the serpent wrought its own undoing, the cunning
of the fox stood him in good stead in many an embarrassing situation.
After Adam had committed the sin of disobedience, God delivered the
whole of the animal world into the power of the Angel of Death, and He
ordered him to cast one pair of each kind into the water. He and
leviathan together thus have dominion over all that has life. When the
Angel of Death was in the act of executing the Divine command upon the
fox, he began to weep bitterly. The Angel of Death asked him the reason
of his tears, and the fox replied that he was mourning the sad fate of
his friend. At the same time he pointed to the figure of a fox in the
sea, which was nothing but his own reflection. The Angel of Death,
persuaded that a representative of the fox family had been cast into
the water, let him go free. The fox told his trick to the cat, and she
in turn played it on the Angel of Death.[187] So it happened that
neither cats nor foxes are represented in the water, while all other
animals are.[188]
When leviathan passed the animals in review, and missing the fox was
informed of the sly way in which he had eluded his authority, he
dispatched great and powerful fish on the errand of enticing the truant
into the water. The fox walking along the shore espied the large number
of fish, and he exclaimed, "How happy he who may always satisfy his
hunger with the flesh of such as these." The fish told him, if he would
but follow them, his appetite could easily be appeased. At the same
time they informed him that a great honor awaited him. Leviathan, they
said, was at death's door, and he had commissioned them to install the
fox as his successor. They were ready to carry him on their backs, so
that he had no need to fear the water, and thus they would convey him
to the throne, which stood upon a huge rock. The fox yielded to these
persuasions, and descended into the water. Presently an uncomfortable
feeling took possession of him. He began to suspect that the tables
were turned; he was being made game of instead of making game of others
as usual. He urged the fish to tell him the truth, and they admitted
that they had been sent out to secure his person for leviathan, who
wanted his heart,[189] that he might become as knowing as the fox,
whose wisdom he had heard many extol. The fox said reproachfully: "Why
did you not tell me the truth at once? Then I could have brought my
heart along with me for King Leviathan, who would have showered honors
upon me. As it is, you will surely suffer punishment for bringing me
without my heart. The foxes, you see," he continued, "do not carry
their hearts around with them. They keep them in a safe place, and when
they have need of them, they fetch them thence." The fish quickly swam
to shore, and landed the fox, so that he might go for his heart. No
sooner did he feel dry land under his feet than he began to jump and
shout, and when they urged him to go in search of his heart, and follow
them, he said: "O ye fools, could I have followed you into the water,
if I had not had my heart with me? Or exists there a creature able to
go abroad without his heart?" The fish replied: "Come, come, thou art
fooling us." Whereupon the fox: "O ye fools, if I could play a trick on
the Angel of Death, how much easier was it to make game of you?" So
they had to return, their errand undone, and leviathan could not but
confirm the taunting judgment of the fox: "In very truth, the fox is
wise of heart, and ye are fools."[190]