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The Magic Skin-Part33_Honore de Balzac(1799-1850)_Translated Works(翻译文学)-第2页

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nowadays for making sheaths. This, as you are doubtless aware, is the

hide of the raja sephen, a Red Sea fish."



"But this, sir, since you are so exceedingly good----"

"This," the man of science interrupted, as he resumed, "this is quite



another thing; between these two shagreens, sir, there is a difference

just as wide as between sea and land, or fish and flesh. The fish's



skin is harder, however, than the skin of the land animal. This," he

said, as he indicated the talisman, "is, as you doubtless know, one of



the most curious of zoological products."

"But to proceed----" said Raphael.



"This," replied the man of science, as he flung himself down into his

armchair, "is an ass' skin, sir."



"Yes, I know," said the young man.

"A very rare variety of ass found in Persia," the naturalist



continued, "the onager of the ancients, equus asinus, the koulan of

the Tartars; Pallas went out there to observe it, and has made it



known to science, for as a matter of fact the animal for a long time

was believed to be mythical. It is mentioned, as you know, in Holy



Scripture; Moses forbade that it should be coupled with its own

species, and the onager is yet more famous for the prostitutions of



which it was the object, and which are often mentioned by the prophets

of the Bible. Pallas, as you know doubtless, states in his Act.



Petrop. tome II., that these bizarre excesses are still devoutly

believed in among the Persians and the Nogais as a sovereign remedy



for lumbago and sciatic gout. We poor Parisians scarcely believe that.

The Museum has no example of the onager.



"What a magnificent animal!" he continued. "It is full of mystery; its

eyes are provided with a sort of burnished covering, to which the



Orientals attribute the powers of fascination; it has a glossier and

finer coat than our handsomest horses possess, striped with more or



less tawny bands, very much like the zebra's hide. There is something

pliant and silky about its hair, which is sleek to the touch. Its



powers of sight vie in precision and accuracy with those of man; it is

rather larger than our largest domestic donkeys, and is possessed of



extraordinary courage. If it is surprised by any chance, it defends

itself against the most dangerous wild beasts with remarkable success;



the rapidity of its movements can only be compared with the flight of

birds; an onager, sir, would run the best Arab or Persian horses to



death. According to the father of the conscientious Doctor Niebuhr,

whose recent loss we are deploring, as you doubtless know, the



ordinary average pace of one of these wonderful creatures would be

seven thousand geometric feet per hour. Our own degenerate race of



donkeys can give no idea of the ass in his pride and independence. He

is active and spirited in his demeanor; he is cunning and sagacious;



there is grace about the outlines of his head; every movement is full

of attractive charm. In the East he is the king of beasts. Turkish and



Persian superstition even credits him with a mysteriousorigin; and

when stories of the prowessattributed to him are told in Thibet or in



Tartary, the speakers mingle Solomon's name with that of this noble

animal. A tame onager, in short, is worth an enormousamount; it is



well-nigh impossible to catch them among the mountains, where they

leap like roebucks, and seem as if they could fly like birds. Our myth



of the winged horse, our Pegasus, had its origindoubtless in these

countries, where the shepherds could see the onager springing from one



rock to another. In Persia they breed asses for the saddle, a cross

between a tamed onager and a she-ass, and they paint them red,



following immemorialtradition. Perhaps it was this custom that gave

rise to our own proverb, 'Surely as a red donkey.' At some period when



natural history was much neglected in France, I think a traveler must

have brought over one of these strange beasts that endures servitude



with such impatience. Hence the adage. The skin that you have laid

before me is the skin of an onager. Opinions differ as to the origin



of the name. Some claim that Chagri is a Turkish word; others insist

that Chagri must be the name of the place where this animal product






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