This paper is a detailed study of a short bilingual proverb about exotic animals.
It is suggested that one of these animals is an Indian rhinoceros, and that the
proverb is the earliest textual reference to this animal in world history. In support
of this suggestion a comprehensive investigation of the evidence for rhinoceroses
in Mesopotamia is presented, and a wide array of comparative material from
ancient Greece, Rome, India, China, Persia, and Arabia is adduced. Alongside
the discussion of the animals involved, the form and structure of the proverb is
investigated, with consideration of the ways in which its poetic quality influenced
its construction, and of the nuances behind the concluding simile.
Keywords
MesopotamiaProverbBilingualAnimalsDonkeyConstruction of MeaningPoetic