Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-06-25
FISH IN THE MYTH
TALES OF THE FINNY TRIBE AS
OLD AS HISTORY.
From thc london Globe

| From the London Globe.
| We are so accustomed by this time to
being derived by ingenious and enthusiastic
savants from a whole menagerie of pre-ex-
| listing animalisms that we need feel no sur
| prise in finding fish among our ancestors.
| or to read that a MilesiaT philosopher
placed cur domic,le of origin inside fish, or
| that, according to an Australasion myth.
| the modest, unassuming mussel has the
honor of being our progenitor. Obviously,
this view of our nature carries us along the
path of involuntary cannibalism, beyond
| the point that Hamlet limited at in his spec
| ulation anent the fish and the king, and the
idea may well add a piquancy of hurnilia-
ton to the menus of "jours maigres." 1t is,
| indeed. to be feared that we do not treat
the fish with half the respect due to Its
position in that dim twilight world of yelled
truth and poetized type which call the
| realm of myth.
| There is, for instance, that strange Ma
hometan conception Of the Fish Nun, which
is to provide the first food for the destined
jewellers in Paradise, and the liver lobes
of which, reserved for the more distin-
| guished guests, suffice to feed 10000 per-
sens. Putting aside the import of the fish
| in Christian symbolism, and the theories
which have been advanced connecting this
symbolism with that of the pagan reli
aspects the fish played an important part
| In the cid theogonies. There was Dagon-
the fish On-of the Philistines, there were
the Chaldaean Cannes, the fish goddess Tir-
gaia, Semiramis the great queen, all rep
resented in semi-pscine form. as were the
| mermaidS and TritOnS; the association of
the fish with Venus Is familiar enough to
many who care little for the voluminous
| literature on the subject; the North Amer
leans have legend that it was due to the
guidance of divine fish, fish deity,
hot fhnNy bod %l~n;,
| land.
And then there IS the whole cycle Of
| stories about fish that have been caught,
and, when cut open, revealed at the precise
| psychological moment jewels-most fire.
| quently rings-on the recovery of which de-
pend kingdom, or heritage, honor, or
happiness. When the demon Sakhar. who
! had stolen the signet of Solomon and by
| its virtue usurped the kingdom, had reign
ed for the period allotted for the Wise
| Kings punishment, he threw the signet into
the sea; fish swallowed it, was caught,
| and served up to the exifed monarch who
was thus enabled to resume his sovereignty.
Polycrates, by way of propitiating fate,
| threw his most valued possession, seal,
| into the sea, and recovered 1t in a similar
way. 1t was a Goldfish which obligingly
sacrificed itself to return the ring that re-
| stored 1.-The Fortunate Farmers Daughter
| to her husbands favor; it was a salmon
| which, on the Intervention of ST. Kentigern,
| restored to the guilty but repentant queen
the diamond ring she had parted with as
love token. and which her justly Jealous
| spouse had recovered from the favored
Lothario and thrown into the Clyde-which.
as we know, accounts for the salmon and
| ring in the Of the city of Glasgow.
And the mention OF salmon reminds us-not
appropriately in connection with Tours
| maigres''-of one of Levers inimitable
stories. Father Tom LOTUS was travelling
by boat one Friday: THE dinner was not
| over good-but there was a beautiful cut OF
fried salmon just before me; this l slipped
quietly on my plate. observing to the COM
| pany Ladies and gentlemen this is fast
day with me'-when big fellow with RED
whiskers stopped across the table, cut my
| bit of fish in two halves, calling out as ne
carried off one: Bad scran to ye! Dye
think nobody has sowl to be saved but
| yourself?"
A good many stories not all quite so
| harmless are told about the dangerous fas-
| cination the salmon exercised in forbidden
| seasons on some of the gay viyeurs among
the old French abbes. and even Chicots
| experiment for eating fowls on 1ast Gay
by calling them carp does not err on the
| side of superfiuous reverence. Apropos OF
| carp it will be remembered that that hsh
| proyided Talleyrand with an opportunity
/ for one of his mordant witticisms 1t was
| a very fine fish that was served at dlnner
| where he was a guest, but, unfortunately
| # was cold. The host referred with par
donable pride to the size of the carp, re-
| marking that it came from his estate III
the country. But why did you not nave H
| IT cooked herec" inquired Talleyrand, Dlano-
| w. The tradition about the marks on the
| haddock and John Dory Is too familiar to
| hear repetition; the latter fish somehow m
| yariably reminds US of Ingoldsby and the
| visit of Rupert the Fearless to Lurllne'
| when
A Dory-faced page opened the dining room
| door,
And said bending his knee, Madame on a
| servi;"
| the paddock, too. recalls the unfortuna.e
| observation, 1T haven't seen haddock on a
| gentleman's table since l was BOY, at
| tributed to Poodle Byng, when dlnlns az
| Relvoir Castle. Turbot and crab ana sal
| mon and sprats all figure In Hoou " mn
| steal "Epicurean "reminiscences; CoWper
| bewailed the High Price OF FISH chienS'
| II would SEEM with reference to the iop-
| ster. the turbot recalls that most effectlVe
| "score'' the messenger boy erected over
| the famous but parsimonious dean OF 81.
| Patrick 1t would occupy too much space
| to recall the numerous references 10 anu
! theories about the orthodox salt nsh. DO
| much abuse has been heaped upon the I ,e
| of the Iuckless Cleopatra that one HRes
| IN remember that merry, innocent prank OF
| bers with it's healthy moral, Wheh Antony
| would waste his time angling, ana Geo
| natra sent a diver down to aff1x SAT- nsh
70 bis hook. And we should never for
| yet that of one species of cured hsh-tne
| barrinp-it Is said that lit mainly contrip.
! ted To transform a small and insignificant
| neople into a mighty nation, ana that lne
| Greatest emperor on earth thouSht /. no.
| beneath him to visit the tomb or the mum
| HE inventor of the process, ana there ~
| eat herring and drink a pledge 10 MS
pious memory
Il Eruit Foods.