The Element Encyclopedia of Magical Creatures: The Ultimate A–Z of Fantastic Beings from Myth and Magic. John Matthews

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СКАЧАТЬ landed a Bunyip cub. His fellow hunters bade him throw the cub back as they could hear the mother Bunyip bellowing and rising out of the water. But Goondah had promised meat for his girlfriend. He ran with the cub until he reached his sweetheart, but he was being followed by rising water drawn up by the mother Bunyip. Dropping the cub, he headed for a red gum tree, which he climbed with his girlfriend. As the water swirled higher, he looked down at his feet to see that they were feet no longer and that he, his sweetheart and friends had been turned into black swans.

      The elders of a tribe wondered what had become of their young hunters, as they had not returned from hunting. On investigation, the elders found that the hunters’ tracks stopped at the edge of a lagoon. One elder dreamed that the missing men were held in a cave near the lagoon and a rescue was mounted. As he reached the far side of the lagoon, the elder discovered a cave entrance, but then two Bunyee Bunyee arose from the waters: four times the size of large dogs, covered with grey hair, with stumpy tails, four hooved legs, large teeth and tusks like a wild boar. The elder followed a line of footprints into the dark cave, stepping over many bones and there he found the missing hunters. They were grieved that he had been caught as well, but the elder had left instructions behind him, telling the rest of the rescue party to follow at a distance and listen well. With his yamstick he struck the ceiling of the cave until an answering sound of digging could be heard from above. A fishing net was passed down from above enabling the young men and their rescuer to be drawn up and escape from the devouring Bunyee Bunyees.

      The white settlers of Australia perceived the Bunyip more as a herbivorous grazing animal, with a dog-like face and long shaggy coat, although some have been reported with a long-maned neck. Sightings of dog-faced Bunyips come largely from Victoria and Australian Capital Territory, as well as a few off Tasmania. One report of 1852 described the dog-faced Bunyip as about 4 ft long with a bulldog-like head and black shaggy fur, while another report describes it as being the size of a full-grown sheepdog but with two wing-like flippers. A long-necked Bunyip was seen in 1847 by settler George Hobler. He said that it was about the size of a six-month-old calf, brown with a long pointed head set on a long neck. It pricked up its large ears on sight of George. It had a thick mane of hair from head to neck and two large tusks. Its gait as it began to retreat was awkward and shambling. George noted that the forequarters of the animal were very much larger in proportion to the hindquarters, and that it had a large tail. On examining the tracks, they appeared to be broad and square, very like the print an outstretched human hand would make in the muddy ground.

      The Bunyip is believed by some to be a form of extinct Australian marsupial, the diprotodon (Diprotodon australis), of rhinoceros size, that lived up until about 10,000 years ago and which may have survived as a kind of marsupial hippopotamus. Palaeon-tologists conjecture that the diprotodon may have had a dog-like face and a shaggy coat, both features of the Bunyip. Others have speculated that people saw a kind of seal or walrus that had adapted to inland waters. A recent Australian stamp was issued depicting the shaggy-coated, dog-faced Bunyip with scales on the upper part of its body, claws and a large tail.

      BURACH BHADI

      On the Western Isles of Scotland, Burach Bhadi was a serpentine leech or worm with nine eyes on the top of its head. Living in the shallow water inlets and lochs, it could make its way inland up streams and ditches. Whoever was riding beside these waters had to take care that the horse’s scent did not bring the Burach Bhadi to the surface. If it did, the great leech would attach itself to the horse’s legs pulling horse and rider under to be consumed at leisure. The Burach Bhadi is also known as the Wizard’s Shackle, from the way that its sucking mouth grapples on to the limbs of horses.

      BURATSCHE-AH-ILGS

      This shapeless Swiss monster was a mass of unformed tissue, described as being very like a stomach in shape. Around its body were set leering eyes from which flames darted. Buratsche-ah-Ilgs lived in the lake of Luschersee, renowned as being one of the gateways to hell, from which the monster most certainly must have escaped. Fishermen avoided the lake’s waters and shepherds were careful not to graze flocks around it for fear of filling this walking stomach.

      BURU

      The Buru is a reptilian monster that walks the swampy valleys of the Himalayas. In 1947, it was reported by the Apu Tani people to Professor Christopher van Funer-Haimendorf. They said that the monster was about 15 ft long from head to tail. It has a triangular head with flattened teeth, except for the four fangs in its upper and lower jaws. It has armour-plates along its back and tail, and stumpy legs with strong clawed feet. Its skin is a bluish-black, mottled all over, with a pale underbelly. Generally, the Buru keeps to itself and does not bother humans. Few have ever been seen. The description of the animal sounds very like a prehistoric dinosaur.

      BUSSE

      In medieval European lore, the Busse was a creature whose body was like that of a bull, though it had the antlers and head of a stag. This hybrid creature could change colour when it was being pursued, skilfully camouflaging its whereabouts to confuse the hunter. It was said to live in Scythia, the land where many marvellous creatures and peoples lived.

      BUTO

      This Egyptian snake goddess was worshipped in the Lower Egyptian delta at Buto. She was the nurse of Horus. Arising from the front of every Pharaonic crown, Buto is shown as the protective snake, the cobra in the rearing-up pose of the uraeus.

      BUTTERFLY

      The butterfly’s extraordinary metamorphosis has been a symbol in almost every culture of transformation and rebirth. For the Aztecs, the butterfly was especially associated with women who had died in childbirth. Such women were hailed with the same acclaim as warriors who fell in combat. The Aztec goddess of sacrifice Itzpapalotl was herself a butterfly goddess. Butterflies were also regarded as symbols of fire, because of the dance they do when many are swarming together, like the flames of a conflagration of colour. Among the Hopi in North America, the butterfly is one of the animals of the creator and so they perform Butterfly Dances in honour of the butterfly Kachina, with this prayer:

       Now for cornblossoms we wrestle, Now for bean-blossoms we wrestle. We are Youths, in the corn Chasing each other in sport. Playing with butterfly-Maidens. Come here! Thunder will move here, We shall summon the thunder here, That the maiden plants May help one another grow up.

      This song shows the close relationship between the butterfly and the process of pollination so important to the peoples of the south-western United States. Among the aborigines of Australia, butterflies are considered to be the returning souls of the dead. For the Maori however, the butterfly is a symbol of longevity and immortality. For the Greeks, the butterfly was the symbol of the soul or psyche. The story of the soul’s transformation from human to immortal status is told in the tale of Eros and Psyche. In Christian iconography, the butterfly is sometimes shown on the hand of the Christ Child as a symbol of his resurrection. For the Chinese, the butterfly is the emblem of immortality, joy and leisure. When it is shown with the plum, it signifies longevity. When it is depicted with the chrysanthemum it portrays beauty in old age. For the Japanese, the butterfly is the evanescent symbol of a vain woman, a faithless lover or a geisha who stays with no husband but is available to man after man.

      BWBACH

      The Bwbachod (plural) are the Welsh equivalent of the brownie. The Bwbach shares the same СКАЧАТЬ