Mythical beasts / Dragons

No matter where you live you have surely heard of dragons. There are dragons in myths, in fairy tales and in all forms of art. They look like reptiles with clawed legs and large teeth and they usually (but not always) have wings.

However, there seems to be a huge difference between the dragons of the East and the dragons of the West. Even the dragons' habitat is different in the two cultures. Eastern dragons almost all live in some sort of damp place, more likely a lake or the ocean. The Western dragons are said to be able to live in the deserts or even in fire.

Western dragons are depicted as fire breathing, maiden-eating, dangerous beasts and are seen as unwanted and something that the hero must get rid of. In fairy tales, the dragon lives in a cave and the hero has to go to the cave to kill it and this way he can get the reward (the king's daughter in about 95 percent of the cases.) The hero always wins, naturally.) This is a kind of standard depiction of the western dragon, apart from the fact that this one seems to be trying to burn up its own tail:

http://www.cit.gu.edu.au/~anthony/dungeon/balcony/

If you are interested in adventures try this multiple choice adventure story.

Eastern dragons are different. They can look just as fierce but they are not evil. They can fly although usually they don't have wings. This is an Eastern image of a dragon:

http://www.draconika.com/chinese.php

The dragon is the only mythical creature in the Chinese zodiac. If you were born in the year of the dragon (1916-1928-1940-1952-1964-1976-1988-2000) then you are said to have an inclination to be:

innovative, enterprising, flexible, self-assured, brave, conceited, tactless, quick-tempered, vigorous, decisive, arrogant, pioneering

Although not all of these are necessarily considered as virtues, the dragon is the sign of wealth, health and general good luck in China. People born under this sign make good kings(!!) military officers, artist, athletes, stockbrokers, company directors and explorers.


There are some dragons that do not fit very well into the dragon category. They either cannot fly or do not have fangs or just do not have the right colour. Yet, somehow there is a certain kind of "dragonness", which makes you call them dragons instead of just plain monsters or beasts. One of my favourite of that kind is Monty Python's "Legendary Black Beast of Arrrggghhh". The following scene shows the meeting of the ('almost dragon') beast and the brave knights. This beast has numerous eyes in its head, it doesn't seem to have a wing, nevertheless I would still call it a dragon. And its behaviour and the cave where it lives also make it fit the category of western dragon.




You can read the script of the video here.

There is a lot of debate going on whether dragons did (do?!?) exist for real. I would like to finish this entry on dragons with a dragon that is definitely real. This picture was taken by a satellite from space. It shows a reservoir built along a river in southern Siberia. It has been nicknamed 'Dragon Lake' for obvious reasons. The picture was taken in winter when the lake is frozen.



















If you would like to practice some of the vocabulary in this entry try to do these exercises.

Mythical beasts / The unicorn

I have always liked mythological beasts. In most myths, these creatures symbolize the shadow side of nature and the hero usually kills them (It is his duty, so no bitter tears are shed for the dragons and other similar beasts). Sometimes, mythological creatures are helpers or messengers. One of these more peaceful creatures is the unicorn. The unicorn looks like a horse (or in earlier stories like a deer) and it has a horn coming out from the middle part of his skull. Although a fierce creature, the unicorn is seldom hostile and it is often described as beautiful.


Unicorns were imagined and described quite differently throughout the ages.
This is an old image of a unicorn from the beginning of the seventeenth century. In this picture, the little goat-like beard and the deer-like hooves (cloven hooves) can be seen really well. According to legends, the unicorn can only be tamed by maidens.
















The Maiden and the Unicorn
(Domenico Zampieri, 1602)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:DomenichinounicornPalFarnese.jpg


There are more mystical unicorns in the history of art. Some depictions are quite surrealistic. 'The Happy Unicorn', painted by Salvador Dali in 1977, shows a horse-like animal with small trees growing out of its back and a flower at the end of its horn. Some parts of the figure are almost transparent, which creates a dreamlike atmosphere:













The Happy Unicorn
(Salvador Dali, 1977)
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Corridor/5177/art.html

The image of the unicorn appears in films, too. In the science-fiction film 'Blade Runner', the hero called Deckard daydreams about a unicorn. Deckard is a special cop, whose job is to terminate replicants (androids with a humanoid intelligence). These replicants are said to have implanted visions and feelings in their brains to give them something similar to what we call dreams and memories. So, Deckard dreams about a unicorn and we cannot be sure whether it is just a normal daydream or Deckard himself is a replica too, and the dream was just an implanted vision in his brain.



If you feel like it you can do some exercises about the words and expressions in this entry.

Here you can read a short story about a unicorn by James Thurber. In the story the slang expression 'booby hatch' is used. It is an institution for mentally ill people. Another expression used in the story is 'crazy as a jay bird', which means completely mad. Enjoy the story!

Hi

Here is a video which shows how Eric Cartman is getting along with his homeschool. He got the idea from a homeschool kid, who had decided to try the misery of public schools despite his parents' warning. As you can see Cartman has a strange idea about studying at home.

You can read the words of the video here.