Tonight I read a short story by Donald Barthelme, entitled See The Moon?, and came upon a passage that seemed strangely familiar (from Sixty Stories, p.105):
“”Upon what does the world rest?” I asked.
“Upon an elephant,” he said.
“Upon what does the elephant rest?”
“Upon a tortoise.””
As my cerebral cogs turned, a nimble search with Google brought up the following description of Terry Pratchett’s famous (infamous?) Discworld:
“The world travels through space on the backs of four elephants that stand on the back of a giant turtle.”
Mere coindicence?
Maybe so, as both – upon further hasty research – appear to have been influenced by Hindu mythology.
One should learn something new like this every day.