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Story of the Bible Animals. John George Wood
Читать онлайн.Название Story of the Bible Animals
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Автор произведения John George Wood
Жанр Философия
Издательство Public Domain
The proportions of the Weasel are extremely small, a full-grown male not exceeding ten inches in length. The color of its fur is bright reddish-brown on the upper parts of the body, and the under-portions are pure white. The audacity and courage of this little animal are really remarkable. It seems to hold every being except itself in the most sovereign contempt, and, to all appearances, is as ready to match itself against a man as against a mouse.
It is a terrible foe to many of the smaller animals, such as rats and mice, and performs a really good service to the farmer in destroying many of these farmyard pests. The Weasel is specially dreaded by rats and mice, because there is no hole through which they can pass that will not also admit the passage of their enemy; and, as the Weasel is most persevering and determined in pursuit, it seldom happens that rats or mice escape when their little foe has set itself fairly on their track.
WEASELS.
Not only does the Weasel pursue its prey through the windings of the burrows, but it will even cross water in the chase. When it has at last reached its victim, it leaps upon the devoted creature and endeavours to fix its teeth in the back of the neck, where it retains its deadly hold in spite of every struggle on the part of the wounded animal. If the attack be rightly made and the animal a small one, the Weasel can drive its teeth into the brain and cause instantaneous death.
The Weasel is very fond of eggs, and young birds of all kinds. It is said that an egg that has been broken by a Weasel, can always be recognized, by the peculiar mode which the little creature employs for the purpose.
Instead of breaking the egg to pieces or biting a large hole in the shell, the Weasel contents itself with making quite a small aperture at one end, through which it abstracts the liquid contents.
A curious example of the courage of the Weasel, is related by a gentleman who while crossing a field at dusk, saw an owl pounce upon some object on the ground, and carry it in the air.
In a short time the bird showed signs of distress, trying to free itself from some annoying object by means of its talons, and flapping about in a very bewildered manner.
Soon afterwards the owl fell dead to the earth; and when the spectator of the aërial combat approached, a weasel ran away from the dead body of the bird, itself being apparently uninjured. On examination of the owl's body, it was found that the Weasel, which had been marked out for the owl's repast, had in its turn become the assailant, and had attacked the unprotected parts which lie beneath the wings. A considerable wound had been made in that spot, and the large blood-vessels torn through.
THE BITER BIT.
THE BADGER
Difficulty in identifying the Tachash of Scripture—References to "Badgers' skins"—The Dugong thought to be the Badger—The Bedouin sandals—Nature of the materials for the Tabernacle—Habits of the Badger—The species found in Palestine—Uses of the Badgers' skins—Looseness of zoological terms.
Until very lately, there was much difficulty in ascertaining whether the word Tachash has been rightly translated as Badger. It occurs in several parts of the Scriptures, and almost invariably is used in relation to a skin or fur of some sort. We will first examine the passages in which the Badger is mentioned, and then proceed to identify the animal.
Nearly all the references to the Badger occur in the book of Exodus, and form part of the directions for constructing the Tabernacle and its contents. The first notice of the word occurs in Exodus xxv. 5, where the people of Israel are ordered to bring their offerings for the sanctuary, among which offerings are gold, silver, and brass, blue, purple, and scarlet, fine linen, goats' hair, rams' skins dyed red, badgers' skins, and shittim wood—all these to be used in the construction of the Tabernacle. Then a little farther on, in chapter xxvi. 14, we find one of the special uses to which the badgers' skins were to be put, namely, to make the outer covering or roof of the tabernacle. Another use for the badgers' skins was to form an outer covering for the ark, table of shewbread, and other furniture of the Tabernacle, when the people were on the march.
In all these cases the badger-skin is used as a covering to defend a building or costly furniture, but there is one example where it is employed for a different purpose. This passage occurs in the book of Ezekiel, chapter xvi. 10. The prophet is speaking of Jerusalem under the image of a woman, and uses these words, "I anointed thee with oil; I clothed thee also with broidered work, and shod thee with badger's skin, and I girded thee about with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk. I decked thee also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain upon thy neck, and I put a jewel on thy forehead, and earrings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thine head."
So we have here the fact, that the same material which was used for the covering of the Tabernacle, and of the sacred furniture, could also be used for the manufacture of shoes. This passage is the more valuable because of an inference which may be drawn from it. The reader will see that the badger-skin, whatever it may have been, must have been something of considerable value, and therefore, in all probability, something of much rarity.
In the present instance, it is classed with the most luxurious robes that were known in those days, and it is worthy of special mention among the bracelet, earrings, necklace, and coronal with which the symbolized city was adorned. If the reader will now refer to the passage in which the children of Israel were commanded to bring their offerings, he will see that in those cases also the badger-skins were ranked with the costliest articles of apparel that could be found, and had evidently been brought from Egypt, the peculiar home of all the arts; together with the vast quantity of gold and jewels which were used for the same sacred purpose.
Now we find that the badger-skins in question must possess three qualities: they must be costly, they must be capable of forming a defence against the weather, and they must be strong enough to be employed in the manufacture of shoes. If we accept the word Tachash as signifying a Badger, we shall find that these conditions have been fulfilled.
But many commentators have thought that badger-skins could not have been procured in sufficient numbers for the purpose, and have therefore conjectured that some other animal must be signified by the word Tachash.
A species of dugong (Halicore hemprichii) is the animal that has been selected as the Badger of the Scriptures. It is one of the marine mammalia, and always lives near the shore, where it can find the various algæ on which it feeds. It is a gregarious animal, and, as it frequently ascends rivers for some distance, it may be captured in sufficient numbers to make both its flesh and skin useful. Moreover, it is of considerable size, fourteen or fifteen feet in length being its usual dimensions, so that a comparatively small number of the skins would be required for the covering of the Tabernacle.
That shoes can be made of it is evident from the fact that at the present day shoes, or rather sandals, are made from its hide, and are commonly used by the Bedouins. But the very qualities and peculiarities which render it a fit material for the sandal of a half-naked Bedouin Arab, who has to walk continually over hard, hot, sandy, and rough ground, would surely make it unsuitable for the delicate shoes worn by a woman of rank who spends her time in the house, and the rest of whose clothing is of fine linen and silk, embroidered with gold and jewels. In our own country, the hobnailed shoes of the ploughman and the slight shoe of a lady are made of very different materials, and it is reasonable to conjecture that such was the case when the passage in question was written.
Then Dr. Robinson, who admits that the hide of the dugong could hardly have been used as the material for a lady's shoe, thinks that it would have answered very well for the roof of the Tabernacle, because it was large, clumsy, and coarse. It seems strange that he did not also perceive that the two latter qualities would completely disqualify such skins for that service. Everything clumsy and coarse was studiously prohibited, and nothing but the very best was considered fit for the Tabernacle of the Lord. By special revelation, Moses was instructed to procure, not merely the ordinary timber of the country for the framework—not