Chapter 14 Twelve wild asses, domestic asses and mules

tireless laborer ★image When Cleinis of Babylon offered to sacrifice a donkey to Apollo, Apollo rejected the friendly offer, demanding that only sheep, goats, and heifers be used for the sacrifice.The refusal from Olypia (Note 1) is not very honorable in the history of admirable animals like donkeys. Obviously Apollo and donkeys had a festival.When King Midas judged the god Pan better than Apollo in a music competition, Apollo changed Midas's ears into donkey ears, which disturbed Midas deeply. No matter how rich he is, it doesn't help. 【Note 1】The place where the ancient Olympic Games were held. According to legend, the Games were created by the gods Zeus and Hercules.In the south of the highlands of Mount Kronos in Olympia, it gradually developed into a holy place for Zeus.

【Note 2】The king of Phrygia (Phrygia, now Turkey) in Greek mythology.Apollo made Midas grow donkey ears as punishment for judging Pan, the god Pan, for winning a musical competition.Henceforth Midas wore a tight-fitting cap to cover his donkey's ears so that no one but the barber could see them.However, the barber couldn't bear to keep this secret, so he dug a hole in the ground and whispered into it.As a result, reeds grew out of this burrow, and spread the secret in the breeze, and at last it was known to all that their king had ass ears. However, because the donkey once carried the god of wine Dionyses across the river to Dodona ([Note]) to seek the oracle, the donkey became a sacrifice to the god of wine.This incident helps the donkey elevate his status.The son of Dionyses and Aphrodite, the god of love, was Priapus, a young god of extraordinary lineage who became the patron saint of fertility and the forces of nature, and the donkey was used to consecrate One of his offerings.

【Note】The ruins of the temple of the ancient god Zeus.According to Herodotus' records, a black swan flew from Thebes in Egypt, and an oracle came in human language, indicating that a temple must be built there to worship Zeus. In the Bible, Mary, Abraham, Joseph, Job and Moses all rode donkeys.However, of all the passengers that donkeys have carried by far, the most famous is Jesus of Nazareth.Jesus believed that riding a donkey was a sign of modesty in a world where humans have long used galloping horses and galloping desert camels.However, the mount Jesus chose later became a symbol of the Fall.On the way to the gallows, criminals must hold on to the tail of the donkey and ride backwards to meet their tragic fate.In addition, prostitutes were punished by being forced to ride around the village naked on a donkey.

Like most other domestic animals, donkeys have been given layers of meaning.For Roman Catholics, Jesus' mount inevitably became a symbol of greed (a label many animals have been attached to).The same goes for Indians.In ancient times, donkeys symbolized stubbornness, stupidity and arrogance.But for the Greeks, it was a symbol of wisdom and a sacrifice to Bacchus, the god of wine.Sometimes Pan himself wears donkey ears (although usually he wears goat horns, ears or hind legs), a sign of insight and musical acuity.Even though other people hate donkeys so much, the Phrygians (Note) worship donkeys very much.Today, the word donkey is not a favorite word.

[Note] Phrygia is a region in ancient Anatolia (now Turkey's territory in Asia).According to Greek legend, the Phrygians invaded Anatolia from the Balkans during the Trojan War (early 12th century BC). None of this is new.As domestic animals reshape human culture and economy, and redefine human roles and potential, they must meet human needs, real and imagined.And whether it's a dignified image or a representation of the downright ridiculous, the donkey has it all. ★Wild donkey Three species of wild ass have existed since humans began keeping donkeys: the Turkmen or Persian wild ass, and the lesser-known Tibetan and African wild asses.Among them, the African wild ass is also the species name of the domestic donkey; in English, the domestic donkey can also be called donkey or burro; in fact, the word burro is synonymous with donkey in Spanish, and there is no difference between the two.The so-called jackass in English refers to a male donkey, and sometimes jack can be used in common; as for jennet, it refers to a female donkey.It is generally believed that the African wild ass was the ancestor of the domestic ass that exists today.

Whether in semi-arid or dry areas, wild asses can usually reproduce.In the absence of water, they can go farther than horses or zebras.Their social organization is very similar to that of zebras, but they are better able to survive less food and harsher environments than these beautifully striped cousins.Compared with other equines, donkeys are the most down-to-earth, but they are also the slowest.They are cautious and calm, and extremely hard-working. Among the three wild asses, why only the African wild ass is domesticated by humans is still an unsolved mystery.But Frederick.Frederich Zeuner has a different view.Zona, a livestock historian and author of the few standard references on the subject, considered the Persian wild ass to be an intermediate form between the true wild ass (African wild ass) and the horse.Crewton-Brock and others disagree with him; this, like other historical topics related to livestock, draws different conclusions from the same data.

As far as African wild asses are in contact with humans, their original distribution range is not too wide, from Morocco to Somalia, and some even reach some parts of the Arabian Peninsula.The distribution range of the Tibetan wild ass is even smaller, only appearing in Tibet and adjoining highlands about 9,000 to 10,000 feet high.In addition, the Persian wild ass ranges from modern Syria in the west (the wild ass here is now extinct) and Iraq, to ​​northeast China and India in the east (at least in the west).This shows that the Persian wild ass (or Turkmen wild ass, or many other names) had contact with many advanced cultures, so the opportunities for domestication may also be very large.

Although some scholars, like Zona, believe that the Persian wild ass was domesticated by the ancient Sumerians and other peoples, since there are no identifiable descendants of the wild ass, this seems unlikely.The offspring of a domestic donkey mated with an African wild ass are fertile, but offspring of a domestic donkey with a Persian or Tibetan wild ass are not.In modern times, some people mated domestic donkeys or horses with Persian wild asses to produce small, sterile mules.Wild asses everywhere are currently under pressure from overhunting by humans for sport or for their hides.Strictly speaking, the domestication of African wild asses to breed them may have been the only human effort to keep wild asses alive.Therefore, the domestic donkey has been regarded as one of the domestic animals brought into the house by human beings from the cold outdoors.

★When and where There may be three breeds of African wild asses, one of which is the extinct Northwestern type that did not survive the Roman occupation; the second is the Nubian type in the Northeast, which is almost extinct; The number of Somali type is also decreasing rapidly.In addition, at least one other European species lived in Italy and other places, but it was completely extinct before humans began to breed; their distribution range once spread throughout the European continent and even as far as the British Isles. The place where humans first raised African wild asses was almost certainly in the Nile Valley or Libya.Judging from the paintings in ancient tombs, the beginning of livestock breeding can be traced back to at least about 2600 BC.Donkey remains from Bronze Age sites in Palestine and pottery statuettes from Zhelico date back to between 3,000 and 2,500 BC.Zona pointed out that Damascus (damascus, [Note]) in cuneiform means the city of donkeys, and since then, donkeys have been continuously spreading to all parts of the world in the form of domestic donkeys.

【Note】Damascus is a city with a long history. It was captured by the Assyrian Empire in 732 BC and occupied by the Romans in 64 BC. Since then, it has flourished.In 1946 it became the capital of the Syrian Arab Republic. ★Realized donkey In many places, feral donkeys are so abundant that humans consider them a pest.In Australia, sitting in a cart and shooting donkeys is a traditional pastime to while away a boring Sunday afternoon; it's considered a form of target practice.In America's Grand Canyon and elsewhere, rescue teams must be formed to save the dwindling donkey population.Locals consider donkeys to be harmful to the habitat and to wildlife that live in dry or semi-arid areas.On isolated islands, without natural predators, donkeys are a real threat to local habitat, so once the donkeys are transported to the Galapagos or other remote archipelago, shooting is often the only solution to the problem.Seeing donkeys as vermin doesn't seem like the right attitude.But people in at least nine states across the American West have taken the same approach to rewilding horses.

Regardless of how farming got started, and regardless of how well people treated donkeys (or badly, there are various possibilities), donkeys did change in some way.I have been involved in two Grand Canyon rescues and have found donkeys to be really easy animals to work with.They are usually very gregarious and very gentle with children, often nuzzling people to beg for something to eat, and are willing to be hugged and petted.Their hoarse and high-pitched hiss is one of nature's most terrifying sounds, so they are also nicknamed the canary of the desert.The two donkeys that live in the field next to my study are really like pets and are hand-fed every day. However, the jackass that I call Pedro is actually in the Born in the wilds of the Grand Canyon. The appeal of donkeys, and the subsequent demand for them, is easy to imagine.Donkeys are stoic, undemanding, down-to-earth, and capable of carrying huge loads in the most difficult places and in every temperature range humans may encounter.They are easy to manage individually or in groups, and they are also easy to herd with other livestock.Even though they are quite stubborn, this small flaw is not hidden.The difference in size of donkeys is quite rare in the order of ungulates. For example, the Poitou donkey bred in France is both handsome and highly rated. Its size is similar to that of a horse, but there are also some that are bigger than sheep How many dwarf donkeys.Gray is the most common coat color for donkeys, however, black, white and even variegated strains have now been bred.The difference in the donkey's fur is almost determined by the place of residence, because they grow different fur according to the external environment. The donkey was once called the poor man's horse, which is actually a relative term. Many poor people have owned donkeys, because they are willing to carry him where he wants to go, and drag any goods for him. Turned from poverty to wealth. ★Mule A mule is the offspring of a cross between a male donkey and a female horse.By definition, a mule is supposed to be sterile; in fact, the word mule, in addition to being used to refer to this hybrid animal, can also refer to any kind of non-reproductive animal, especially those produced by cross-breeding.Reproductive mules were extremely rare; these hybrids were usually eliminated by competition, although a few probably survived.In 1984, a mule was said to have given birth to a calf in Nebraska, USA.Yet even if such things did happen, they were far too infrequent to shake our definition of a mule. If the sexes are reversed during breeding, and a male horse is mated with a female donkey, the offspring obtained are also non-reproductive 駃騠.Mules are more common than 駃騠, and are considered to be better working animals.In addition, there are mixed breeds of zebras and horses, zebras and donkeys. zebra), zebrule (a cross between a zebra and a mule), and various other names.They are rare, non-reproductive, and economically insignificant animals. Humans seem to have been breeding mules in Western Asia since about biblical times.Although mules are very stubborn (stubborn enough to put a donkey to shame), they are down-to-earth, strong, capable of carrying heavy loads and sick people, and are easy to handle.Sixty-four mules dragged the hearse of Alexander the Great from Babylon to Alexandria.Additionally, mules were frequently utilized by the Roman army; armies in World War I also used them frequently.Throughout human history, mules have provided contributions to mankind. [Note] BC 356︱323, the king of Macedonia and the greatest general in ancient times, at the age of 32, he had established a great empire from the Adriatic Sea to India, and later died in Babylon at the age of under the age of thirty-three.Alexander the Great dedicated his life to establishing a people's republic; he successfully shaped Greek as the world language of the East, and Greek culture, with his education, penetrated into Asian trade networks, new ports, and many cities named Alexandria. New cities prospered, thus producing the Age of Enlightenment in Greece, at the same time creating a precedent for Roman rule, and finally assisting the spread of Christianity from the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, making it a world religion.However, Alexander's attempt to integrate the peoples of the East and the West was ultimately unsuccessful. Today's urban residents may have never seen a live mule in their entire lives, and their knowledge of it is very limited. They only know that it looks like a horse or a donkey.In fact, some people don't even know the difference between a mule and a donkey.Of course, people do not question whether mules are domestic animals.Donkeys and mules are important to agriculture and transportation on every continent except Antarctica, although urbanites don't know much about them.Although humans depend less and less on them, their role in our development cannot be ignored.With the mechanization of farm and rural means of transport, there are about 21 million tractors in use worldwide, and the number of working donkeys should be close to 40 million.