Publisher's Synopsis
The meaning of the beginning has produced a work that is outstanding both in simplicity of it's language and the presentation and depth of it's philosophical insights. This book explores popular thought as it ranges from the existence of God, creation, the beginning of sun and moon, humans and their habits, their institution and various culture traits.
Such popular thought has the actions often dressed up in the Gard of animals for, as they say "No folktale misses (does without) the tortoise." In this collection, other actors come into play: God, gods, men and women. Many customs are explained or justified as well as peculiar values and vices of society. Above all, it is a book of origins, the origins of death, the tortoise mosaic shell, women's beardless, the lizard silent nodding, the he-goat's body odour, et cetera. But this book, ostensibly describing the above named object and phenomena and their origins, is really about none of them. None of the stories of animals is of animals. A lot of the zoological details are really just good anthropology. Animals are being used to describe, criticize, and to comment on the human condition. Of course, at the level of description, this is good entertainment. But there is more than entertainment, and their is more than anthropology. Some of this is also social commentary. the story of why woman was created, and why and how women lost the power to rule are clearly only thinly veiled jibes aimed at men and women entangled in gender wars. All in all, the stories constitute a masterstroke of humor, irony and social comment, and to all those who are seeking to know more about the genesis of the world, i recommend this book.
