Difference between revisions of "Transcendent Pig"
newimport>DianeDuane m |
newimport>DianeDuane |
||
| Line 8: | Line 8: | ||
...and even the Powers that Be are notably silent on the subject. It's said that none of them can remember having created the Pig (which casts the obvious uncertainty over the word "creature" as applied to him). He seems -- so the [[Wizard's Manual | Manual]] says -- to have always been here, or been around. | ...and even the Powers that Be are notably silent on the subject. It's said that none of them can remember having created the Pig (which casts the obvious uncertainty over the word "creature" as applied to him). He seems -- so the [[Wizard's Manual | Manual]] says -- to have always been here, or been around. | ||
| − | ...As might be expected of any being with such a peculiar, extensive, and clouded history, the Pig goes by many names and bears a host of epithets. He has been called "the Insoluble Enigma", ... | + | ...As might be expected of any being with such a peculiar, extensive, and clouded history, the Pig goes by many names and bears a host of epithets. He has been called "the Insoluble Enigma", ... |
| + | But his name is a point on which there's some disagreement. Though wizards who meet him are frequently introduced to him as "Chao", it's not certain whether this is his personal name, or just another epithet: "chao" is simply a Chinese word for "pig". | ||
| + | |||
| + | |||
| + | There are a few references to the Pig in Earthly mythology, including one in which he is accused of having devoured Erlang Shen (二郎神) -- a being who may have been a minor god or demigod, since he is described in some versions of the story to have a nephew of the Jade Emperor. Devouring anyone without good reason seems rather out of character for the Pig, so it's possible that this story has been confused with some other, or that the Pig has been inserted into it as a replacement for some other little-understood being. | ||
{{stub}} | {{stub}} | ||
Revision as of 15:26, 14 January 2006
This most unusual creature -- if he is a creature -- is, in both nature and provenance, one of the most enigmatic in the entire field of errantry.
The first references to him on Earth occur in a rare few Chinese documents of the early X dynasty, where he is referred to as 卓越的豬 (the word "transcendent" can also be rendered as "remarkable").
...and even the Powers that Be are notably silent on the subject. It's said that none of them can remember having created the Pig (which casts the obvious uncertainty over the word "creature" as applied to him). He seems -- so the Manual says -- to have always been here, or been around.
...As might be expected of any being with such a peculiar, extensive, and clouded history, the Pig goes by many names and bears a host of epithets. He has been called "the Insoluble Enigma", ...
But his name is a point on which there's some disagreement. Though wizards who meet him are frequently introduced to him as "Chao", it's not certain whether this is his personal name, or just another epithet: "chao" is simply a Chinese word for "pig".
There are a few references to the Pig in Earthly mythology, including one in which he is accused of having devoured Erlang Shen (二郎神) -- a being who may have been a minor god or demigod, since he is described in some versions of the story to have a nephew of the Jade Emperor. Devouring anyone without good reason seems rather out of character for the Pig, so it's possible that this story has been confused with some other, or that the Pig has been inserted into it as a replacement for some other little-understood being.