巴蛇

The Classic of the Regions Within the Seas, South: the Ba serpent eats elephants, and after three years spits out the bones. A gentleman who consumes it is free of diseases of the heart and belly. The snake is blue, red, and black. Another account says it is a black snake with a blue head, west of the rhinoceros. The Ba serpent is the snake of Ba. Ba is modern Chongqing and eastern Sichuan. The state of Ba was strong in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, and was destroyed by Qin. The Ba totem is sometimes given as the snake, sometimes the tiger. The character ba, in oracle bone and bronze script, looks like a snake with an open mouth. So "Ba serpent" may not mean "a snake from Ba." It may mean "the snake the Ba people worshipped." Now, eating an elephant. Can a snake eat an elephant? Start with snake anatomy. A snake's skull is nothing like a mammal's. The lower jaw is not one bone but two, joined at the chin by elastic ligament, and the two halves can spread apart. The quadrate bone rotates, dropping the jaw. The upper jaw can also extend forward. So a snake does not "open its mouth wide." It takes its mouth apart. To swallow, it walks the two halves of the lower jaw forward alternately, drawing the prey into the throat a little at a time. The whole process looks like two hands turning a sock inside out. An adult Asian elephant weighs three to four thousand kilograms. A reticulated python, the longest on record at nearly ten metres, weighs a bit over a hundred. The largest prey it can take is a deer, or a small pig. An elephant will not go down. But a calf? A newborn Asian elephant stands eighty centimetres at the shoulder and weighs about a hundred kilograms. A six-metre python could, in theory, swallow a hundred-kilogram prey item. So "eats elephants" may be true — if the elephant is a calf. And "after three years spits out the bones" deserves more attention. Digesting large prey takes days to weeks. The acid is extremely strong and can soften bone. But a hundred-kilogram meal has far too much bone to sit inside a snake for three years. So what does "three years" mean? Possibly: after swallowing an elephant, it does not need to eat for three years. Snake metabolism is extraordinarily low. A python can go months between meals. There are records of ball pythons fasting for over a year. Three years is hyperbole, but the direction is right: snakes are among the most fuel-efficient predators on earth. So the real content of the line may be: a Ba serpent can eat an elephant at one sitting, and then not eat for three years. "A gentleman who consumes it is free of diseases of the heart and belly." Consume means eat. The gentleman who eats it does not get diseases of the heart and belly. Snake medicine is one of the oldest traditions in China. The Divine Farmer's Materia Medica lists snake slough, black snake, and white-banded snake. Snake meat is held to dispel wind-damp and open the channels; the gall to brighten the eyes and resolve phlegm. "Diseases of the heart and belly" was a broad category: stomach trouble, heart pain, abdominal pain, parasites, food stagnation. Snake meat is high protein, low fat, and rich in enzymes. Before refrigeration, a snake kept well, and was an important protein source in mountain country. But "a gentleman consumes it" has a problem: a gentleman does not enter the kitchen. Mencius has it that the gentleman keeps away from the kitchen. So "consumes it" may not mean eating snake meat. It may mean taking a snake-based medicine. Medicine is something a gentleman may take. Which turns a man-eating serpent into a remedy. Then the colours: "blue, red, and black." One snake, simultaneously blue, red, and black. Real pythons can carry three colours. A reticulated python is grey-green or yellow-brown, with a black net pattern over pale blotches. In the light those read as blue, red, and black. "Another account says a black snake with a blue head." Two versions, one with three colours and one with two. The recorder heard different accounts in different places and wrote both down. That is the textual condition of the Shanhaijing. It is not a book. It is a pile of notes. Finally, Baling. Where did the bones go? Guo Pu's commentary says: after the Ba serpent died, its bones became a mound — Baling. Baling is modern Yueyang in Hunan. There is a Mount Baling by Lake Dongting. A snake's bones piled into a hill, the hill became a place name, and the name has been in use for more than a thousand years. This is a very Chinese move: nail the myth to the map. You go to Yueyang, you see a hill called Baling. You ask why it is called Baling, and someone says: in ancient times there was a snake that swallowed an elephant, spat out the bones three years later, and the bones made this hill. There is no evidence for the story. But it links three things: a place name, a myth, and a geographical fact. The geographical fact: there were elephants around Dongting. Three thousand years ago the Dongting basin was warmer and wetter than now, with Asian elephant, rhinoceros, and crocodile. Elephant bones have come out of archaeological sites in Hunan and Hubei. So the background of "the Ba serpent eats elephants" is a real tropical fauna. A snake, an elephant, a pile of bones, a hill, a place name. Of the five, only the middle three are false.

"งูบากินช้าง สามปีจึงคายกระดูกออกมา ผู้มีคุณธรรมกินแล้วไม่เป็นโรคในทรวงอกและท้อง งูนี้มีสีเขียว แดง ดำ" "บา" คือแคว้นปา บริเวณฉงชิ่งและตะวันออกของเสฉวนในปัจจุบัน กินช้างได้จริงหรือ? กะโหลกงูต่างจากสัตว์เลี้ยงลูกด้วยนม: ขากรรไกรล่างเป็นสองชิ้นเชื่อมด้วยเอ็นยืดหยุ่น แยกซ้ายขวาได้ กระดูกข้อต่อขากรรไกรหมุนได้ ขากรรไกรบนยื่นไปข้างหน้าได้ งูไม่ได้ "อ้าปากกว้าง" แต่ "ถอดปากออก" แล้วใช้ขากรรไกรสองซีกไล่กัดทีละข้าง ดึงเหยื่อเข้าคอ เหมือนสองมือกลับถุงเท้า ช้างเอเชียโตเต็มวัยหนักสามถึงสี่พันกิโลกรัม เหยื่อใหญ่สุดของงูเหลือมคือกวางหรือหมูเล็ก แต่ลูกช้างแรกเกิดหนักราวหนึ่งร้อยกิโลกรัม — งูยาวหกเมตรอาจกลืนได้ในทางทฤษฎี "สามปี": งูย่อยอาหารใหญ่ใช้เวลาหลายวันถึงหลายสัปดาห์ ไม่ใช่สามปี แต่เมตาบอลิซึมของงูต่ำมาก อิ่มครั้งเดียวอยู่ได้หลายเดือนถึงเป็นปี "สามปี" จึงเป็นการพูดเกิน แต่ทิศทางถูก: งูประหยัดพลังงานที่สุดในหมู่ผู้ล่า "กินแล้วไม่เป็นโรค": เนื้อและน้ำดีงูใช้เป็นยาแผนจีนโบราณมาแต่ยุคก่อนประวัติศาสตร์ "สีเขียว แดง ดำ": งูเหลือมจริงมีลายตาข่ายดำบนพื้นเขียวอมเทา ในแสงหนึ่งอ่านเป็นสามสีได้ และตำนานเล่าว่าเมื่องูตาย กระดูกของมันกลายเป็นเนินเขา ชื่อ "ปาหลิง" ที่เมืองเย่วหยาง มณฑลหูหนาน ชื่อสถานที่หนึ่ง ได้มาจากกระดูกของงูหนึ่งตัว และพื้นที่มีช้างจริง: สามพันปีก่อนลุ่มน้ำต้งถิงอบอุ่นชื้น มีช้าง แรด จระเข้ พบกระดูกช้างในแหล่งโบราณคดีหูหนานและหูเป่ย์

"Ular Ba makan gajah, dan selepas tiga tahun memuntahkan tulangnya. Orang berbudi yang memakannya bebas daripada penyakit jantung dan perut. Ular ini biru, merah dan hitam." "Ba" ialah negeri Ba, kawasan Chongqing dan timur Sichuan hari ini. Bolehkah ular makan gajah? Tengkorak ular berbeza daripada mamalia: rahang bawah dua keping disambung ligamen kenyal, boleh terbelah kiri kanan; tulang kuadrat berputar; rahang atas boleh menganjur ke depan. Ular bukan "membuka mulut luas", tetapi "menanggalkan mulutnya", lalu mengheret mangsa masuk sedikit demi sedikit seperti dua tangan membelek stoking. Gajah Asia dewasa berat tiga hingga empat ribu kilogram; mangsa terbesar ular sawa ialah rusa atau babi kecil. Tetapi anak gajah baru lahir berat kira-kira seratus kilogram — ular sepanjang enam meter mungkin boleh menelannya secara teori. "Tiga tahun": pencernaan mangsa besar mengambil hari hingga minggu, bukan tiga tahun. Tetapi metabolisme ular sangat rendah; selepas makan besar ia boleh bertahan berbulan-bulan hingga setahun. "Tiga tahun" hiperbola, tetapi arahnya betul: ular antara pemangsa paling cekap tenaga. "Makan, tidak kena penyakit": daging dan hempedu ular telah digunakan sebagai ubat dalam perubatan Cina sejak zaman purba. "Biru, merah, hitam": ular sawa sebenar mempunyai corak jaring hitam di atas dasar hijau kelabu; dalam cahaya tertentu terbaca tiga warna. Dan legenda mengatakan apabila ular itu mati, tulangnya menjadi sebuah bukit bernama Baling di Yueyang, Hunan. Satu nama tempat daripada tulang seekor ular. Dan kawasan itu memang ada gajah: tiga ribu tahun lalu lembangan Dongting lebih hangat dan lembap, dengan gajah, badak dan buaya. Tulang gajah ditemui di tapak arkeologi Hunan dan Hubei.

"Xà Ba ăn voi, ba năm sau mới nhả xương ra. Người quân tử ăn vào thì không mắc bệnh tâm phúc. Rắn này màu xanh, đỏ, đen." "Ba" là nước Ba, vùng Trùng Khánh và đông Tứ Xuyên ngày nay. Rắn có ăn được voi không? Hộp sọ rắn khác thú: xương hàm dưới là hai mảnh nối bằng dây chằng đàn hồi, tách trái phải được; xương vuông xoay được; hàm trên duỗi ra trước được. Rắn không "há miệng to" mà "tháo miệng ra", rồi dùng hai nửa hàm dưới luân phiên kéo con mồi vào cổ họng, như hai bàn tay lộn chiếc tất. Voi châu Á trưởng thành nặng ba đến bốn nghìn ki-lô-gam; mồi lớn nhất của trăn là hươu hoặc lợn nhỏ. Nhưng voi con mới sinh nặng khoảng một trăm ki-lô-gam — trăn dài sáu mét có thể nuốt được về lý thuyết. "Ba năm": tiêu hóa mồi lớn mất vài ngày đến vài tuần, không phải ba năm. Nhưng trao đổi chất của rắn rất thấp; no một bữa có thể nhịn nhiều tháng đến một năm. "Ba năm" là nói quá, nhưng hướng đúng: rắn là một trong những kẻ săn mồi tiết kiệm năng lượng nhất. "Ăn vào không bệnh": thịt và mật rắn đã được dùng làm thuốc từ rất sớm. "Xanh, đỏ, đen": trăn thật có vằn lưới đen trên nền xanh xám; dưới ánh sáng nhất định đọc thành ba màu. Truyền thuyết kể khi rắn chết, xương nó thành một gò tên Baling ở Nhạc Dương, Hồ Nam. Một địa danh từ xương một con rắn. Và vùng ấy thật sự có voi: ba nghìn năm trước lưu vực Động Đình ấm ẩm hơn, có voi, tê giác, cá sấu. Xương voi đã được khai quật ở Hồ Nam và Hồ Bắc.

"Ular Ba makan gajah, dan setelah tiga tahun memuntahkan tulangnya. Orang berbudi yang memakannya bebas dari penyakit jantung dan perut. Ular ini biru, merah, dan hitam." "Ba" adalah negeri Ba, kawasan Chongqing dan timur Sichuan sekarang. Bisakah ular makan gajah? Tengkorak ular berbeda dari mamalia: rahang bawah dua keping disambung ligamen kenyal, bisa terbelah kiri kanan; tulang kuadrat berputar; rahang atas bisa menjulur ke depan. Ular bukan "membuka mulut lebar", melainkan "melepas mulutnya", lalu menyeret mangsa masuk sedikit demi sedikit seperti dua tangan membalik kaus kaki. Gajah Asia dewasa berat tiga sampai empat ribu kilogram; mangsa terbesar ular piton adalah rusa atau babi kecil. Tetapi anak gajah baru lahir berat sekitar seratus kilogram — ular sepanjang enam meter mungkin bisa menelannya secara teori. "Tiga tahun": pencernaan mangsa besar butuh hari hingga minggu, bukan tiga tahun. Tetapi metabolisme ular sangat rendah; setelah makan besar ia bisa bertahan berbulan-bulan hingga setahun. "Tiga tahun" hiperbola, tetapi arahnya benar: ular salah satu pemangsa paling hemat energi. "Makan, tidak kena penyakit": daging dan empedu ular telah dipakai sebagai obat dalam pengobatan Cina sejak zaman purba. "Biru, merah, hitam": ular piton sungguhan punya corak jaring hitam di atas dasar hijau kelabu; dalam cahaya tertentu terbaca tiga warna. Dan legenda mengatakan ketika ular itu mati, tulangnya menjadi bukit bernama Baling di Yueyang, Hunan. Satu nama tempat dari tulang seekor ular. Dan kawasan itu memang punya gajah: tiga ribu tahun lalu cekungan Dongting lebih hangat dan lembap, dengan gajah, badak, dan buaya. Tulang gajah ditemukan di situs arkeologi Hunan dan Hubei.