Macrolog Arts & Culture
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.
Mon 20 Jan 2003 at 23:00 ·
Comments
Comments are closed or not available for this entry. If you still wish to make a comment you can , citing this entry in the subject line.
About
This is the personal website of MacDara Conroy, a production journalist, music writer and mediavore in Dublin, Ireland. Read more »
Details
You are reading Elephants and Turtles, a Macrolog entry by MacDara Conroy. It is filed under Arts & Culture, and was published in January 2003.
Tags
Context
This day in history: 20 January
Continuum
↑ Wed 22 Jan 2003 at 22:56
→ Mon 20 Jan 2003 at 23:00
↓ Sun 19 Jan 2003 at 12:39