Donkey Quotes
From the Mamluk Levant
Descriptions of Donkeys, Mules, and Horses in the 13th century Damascene Manuscript Kitāb Naʿt al-Ḥayawān (The Book of Animal Descriptions)
The quotes below are intended to show how people in the Mamluk period thought about donkeys, mules, and horses. I have selected and translated a few sentences from each section of the manuscript. For the modern reader, these descriptions will likely sound unfamiliar, to say the least. I have removed some sentences that were extremely absurd or politically incorrect.
Excerpts from “The Description of Donkeys”:
نعت الحمار
الحمار في طبيعته معرفة صوت الانسان الذي اعتاد استماع صوته ثم لا يضل عن طريق سلكه مرة ولا يخطيه وأن ضل صاحبه الطريق هداه وحمله على المحجة فأما حدة السمع فليس في البهايم أحدّ سمعا منه وما في الحيوان من ينزوا على غير جنسه فيلقح فيه شيهه سوى الحمار الأهلي ومن طباعه محبة الكلب
The donkey can distinguish the sound of a specific human’s voice if accustomed to hearing it. He does not lose his way on a road he has taken once before, neither does he mistake it. And if his driver lost the way, the donkey will show him and carry him to the correct path. As for his hearing, there is no animal with more acute hearing than him. There is no animal who humps an animal of a different species and impregnates it with an offspring that looks like him other than the donkey. It is of his nature to like dogs.
Excerpts from “The Benefits of Donkeys”:
منافع الحمار
لحمه غليظ يحدث لمدمنه الوبا والنسيان ... طحاله اذا جفف في الظلّ وتُرك في جلد غزال أهلي وعُلق على انسان صار له جاهًا عظيمًا وحبًّا
The donkey’s meat is tough, and if regularly consumed, it causes disease and dementia… His spleen, if dried in the shade and put in a domestic gazelle’s skin, and hung on a human, it will give the human great prestige and love.
Excerpts from “The Description of Mules:”
نعت البغل
هذا جنس هجين قد أنبَأنا انّه لا يلد وهو صبور ألوف لكل دابّة وهو أهدى الدواب الى الطريق التي سلكها مرّة واحدة وهو عدو الذيب محبا لسايسه رديّ اللحم يُمرض أكله ومتى شمّ البغل بول البغلة هرم سريعًا
This is a hybrid animal. We have been told that it cannot give birth. It is patient and tame with other animals, and it always knows its way back on a road it has previously taken. It is an enemy of the wolf, and it loves its muleteer, Its meat is bad and makes people sick. Whenever it smells the piss of a female mule, it ages faster.
Excerpts from “The Benefits of Mules:”
منافع البغال
جلد البغل اذا اُخذ وجُعل فيه وسخ أذن البغلة وعُلّق على امرأة أيّامًا حملت ... قلب البغل اذا ذُوّب ومسح به الأطراف نفع من البرد... حافر البغلة اذا أمسكته امرأة لم تحبل حافر البغل من رجله اليسرى اذا دّخن به البيت مات الفار.
Mule skin, when you put in it wax from the ear of a female mule, and then hang it on a woman for several days, the woman will get pregnant… The heart of a mule, if melted and scrubbed onto one’s limbs, is beneficial against cold… The hoof of a mule, if held by a woman, will prevent her from getting pregnant. If used to smoke the house, the left hind hoof of a mule will kill the mouse.
Excerpts from “The Description of Donkeys”:
نعت الحمار
الحمار في طبيعته معرفة صوت الانسان الذي اعتاد استماع صوته ثم لا يضل عن طريق سلكه مرة ولا يخطيه وأن ضل صاحبه الطريق هداه وحمله على المحجة فأما حدة السمع فليس في البهايم أحدّ سمعا منه وما في الحيوان من ينزوا على غير جنسه فيلقح فيه شيهه سوى الحمار الأهلي ومن طباعه محبة الكلب
The donkey can distinguish the sound of a specific human’s voice if accustomed to hearing it. He does not lose his way on a road he has taken once before, neither does he mistake it. And if his driver lost the way, the donkey will show him and carry him to the correct path. As for his hearing, there is no animal with more acute hearing than him. There is no animal who humps an animal of a different species and impregnates it with an offspring that looks like him other than the donkey. It is of his nature to like dogs.
Excerpts from “The Description of Mares:”
نعت الفرس
من طباع الفرس الزهو في المشي والمرح والجدّ في الاحتصار تحت فارسه ويعجبه ركوبه ويعرف المصيبة وهو محب للنزو غير محب للأولاد غيور ومن خاصّته أنّه اذا وطى على وطى الذيب ارتعد وخرج من جسده بخار
It is the nature of the mare to strut, and to have fun, and to act seriously under its rider. The mare likes to be ridden, and it can sense disaster [death]. It likes humping but is not fond of children, and one of its special characteristics is that if it steps on the trail of a wolf, it shivers and steam comes out of its body.
