Hello, world. I’m MacDara Conroy, and this is my blog.


Elephants and Turtles

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.