'Secrets of taming elephants of the Central people 400 years ago

At the beginning of the 17th century, meaning that more than 400 years ago, there was an Italian coming to Dang Trong (the area from the south of Gianh River in Quang Binh, extending to Phu Yen). For nearly five years, Cristophoro Borri has reviewed and commented on the country and people of Vietnam. Then in 1621-1622 he wrote a very optimistic report, very affectionate.

Dang Trong forest has many elephants, but people cannot use it because they do not know how to catch and train them. So the elephants had to be tamed and taught from a neighboring country. Elephants here are more than two elephants in An Do. Its legs and footprints leave a diameter of about half a meter. Teeth protruding from the mouth called ivory are 4.7m long. It is a male elephant.

The infantry force in the ceremony of Nam Giao sacrifice in 1924.

The elephant's ivory is much shorter. So it is easy to see how much the elephant in Dang Trong is bigger than the elephant people still march in Europe: The ivory of European elephants is not yet 0.8m.

According to Cristophoro Borri, the Dang Trong elephant can live for hundreds of years.

Elephants live for years. Once I asked the age of an elephant I met, the pedal manager was 60 years old overseas and 40 in Dang Trong. Because I have moved many times on the elephant back in Dang Trong so I can tell some strange stories, but it is as follows.

Animals just stand asleep

Elephants often carry up to 13 or 14 people, in the following manner. Just as we win on horseback, people also put a large armchair on the back of a elephant, including four seats, and people are tied with iron bolts underneath the elephant's belly like saddles and horse belts.

Peng had doors open on both sides and could hold six people, sitting in two rows, three people in a row, one sitting in the back with two more people, and finally the one sitting on the elephant's head to control and command called a statue.

It's not that I just walked on the road like this, but there were a few times when I followed the waterway, through a sea branch far from the mainland about 1km away. It is miraculous for people who have never seen it, to witness a huge, very large mass of meat, carrying such a large weight, wading in the water like a boat with a paddle.

The steward set up a 'house' on the elephant's back.

In fact, it is also very extreme, partly because it has to carry a large block, partly because it is difficult to breathe so that it can be relieved and be cool, it uses a tap to take water and bounce very high making people feel like a child Whale in the sea.

Because it is so big, it is very difficult to bend. But it needs to stoop to allow passengers to come up and down. It never stifles without the command of the steward. And if while he stooped down and anyone was too lethargic to take time, or if he still greeted friends or did other things, he immediately stood up because he couldn't wait. So it is very uncomfortable to hold that position for a long time.

There is nothing to be surprised about when the statue ordered and it arranged to make it into a ladder, it can be said so, it is very convenient for people to climb up the platform. To be the first rank, it gives the foot quite high to the earth. It raised its ankles quite far to be the second step, and to be the third tier, it folded its knees. The fourth step is that the bone on the side is slightly raised, then it takes the hose to support you and takes you to the chain tied at the waist.

It is clear here that the confusion of those who have spoken and left the comment that elephants cannot bend, nor can they lie, so it is the only way to catch the tree that they use to rely on. sleep, because when the tree falls, it falls down and it stays awake like that, so it is good for the hunter.

The king's elephant is much better decorated.

It was all a myth or because actually when he slept, he never lay down, the posture was inconvenient for him and as hard as we said. So, he always sleeps and heads.

When there is war and battle, people lift the roof to make a hut to carry soldiers with crossbows, with guns and sometimes with cannons. Elephants do not lack the strength to carry because they are very strong animals. It was I who saw one of the children carrying heavy objects, another moved a large gun, another one alone pulled up to ten boats, one after the other, skillfully between the ivory pairs, and put into the sea.

I also saw other children pulling big trees without much hard work as if we extracted lettuce or lettuce. They are also easy to throw into the ground and topple houses, destroying every street when ordered in battle to sabotage enemy troops, and in peacetime to prevent the fire from burning when there is a fire.

Giant but afraid . thorns

It is long compared to the height of its body, so it does not need to be tilted or bent, it is easy to pick up underground objects at will. It consists of many bundles of tendons that are twisted and twisted together, one of which makes it very flexible and easy to turn around when needed to hold very small items, and on the other hand makes it hard and strong. Its whole body is covered with hard and rough skin, ash colored.

Every day he usually traveled about twelve miles. For those who are unfamiliar, its transport is uncomfortable, as well as people who are not used to the seas getting seasick because the boat is stalled.

As for the elephant's prudence, I will tell more wonderful things than people often tell, to say that the person who said this sentence is very reasonable: 'In the giant animals, no one is as wise as elephants'. I have seen it do things for people to think it has intelligence and wisdom.

First of all, even though the statue used an iron tool for as long as four hands at the head, there were hooks to strike and stab the provincial elephant and pay attention to the commandment, but often they controlled and commanded by words, so much as it seems to understand language. And there are some who know three or four languages ​​very difficult depending on the territory and the country in which it lived.

In feudal society, elephants are highly respected and sculpted in tombs.

For example, the elephant took me to understand the national language where it was born, and then mastered the Cochinchina where it was. Everyone was surprised to see the statue talking to the elephant, telling him about the itinerary and path, passing where, stopping and resting, and finally detailing all the things it had to do in day.

And elephants do their part precisely as a person with conscience and judgment can do it. So after watching the elephant as if he knew where to go, he kept straightening and executing it by the shortest path, without hesitation due to the familiar way of looking; not be surprised because of meeting big river, old forest or high mountain. It assumes that it is easy to overcome, it goes on the road and follows the route, overcoming all difficulties.

If you meet the river, it must either go to a shallow place or wade in the big water. If it had to go through the forest, it would crush the branches, use a hose to spit it into a wide and easy road, and no matter how dense the forest would be, if the elephant had passed and opened the way. All these elephants follow orders from the chief, easily, quickly and diligently.

There is only one inconvenience for this animal and makes it miserable, that is when there are spikes or similar objects stabbing into its feet which are soft and sensitive, though it carefully takes steps , when crossing dangerous places. Once in the journey of seven or eight elephants to follow each other, I heard that the statues of each person told their elephants to be cautious when they set foot because they would have to cross a yard for about a mile. The sand in it often has spines.

Hearing that, the elephants all bow their heads, widening their eyes as if people were struggling to find something small to fall. They walked step by step, very attentively, during the dangerous journey, until they heard that they were no longer afraid, they then raised their heads and continued their journey as before.

At what point does the elephant become 'incurable'?

The next day had to be parked in a place where there were no trees so each of the statues brought a bunch of fresh and big trees for elephants. I am very excited to see if a child uses a tap to get a tree more skillfully than other children, then use peeled teeth and eat very quickly, very well as we eat figs or another fruit. The next day, I sat chatting with other passengers, about twenty people.

Pictures of elephants fighting with tigers for the king to see.

I told them about my special interest when I saw the elephant eating the branches well. At that time, the steward who ordered the elephant's owner loudly called the elephant with its name 'Gin', and since it was a bit far away, he lifted his head and listened to see what people wanted to say to him.

The steward said to him, "You please please take this way, yesterday you enjoyed watching me eat, now you take a tree like a tree yesterday and come in front of him and do like you did '. The steward just finished speaking, the elephant came in front of me, wrapped a tree trunk, then looked at me among the others, held me up and peeled and ate, then bowed to me and retreated as if to smile laugh, with signs of pleasure and joy.

As for me, I was very surprised to see where an animal is capable of knowing and executing what people command it to be. In fact, it only obeys its master or its owner. It also does not let strangers climb on rides. If he sees it, he will throw it to the ground and use the hose to kill him. Therefore, when someone has to climb up, the spectator takes his ear to cover his eyes. Its ears are big and ugly.

When he refused to listen to the commandment and did not hurry and follow it, the steward stood on his head with his legs, beating and treating it very badly, very resolutely, whipping his forehead with his whip. Once, we all went with an elephant to take us, the manager beat it like we just said, every time we whipped it, we thought it would throw us to the ground.

According to the way of 'longing' for the king's bed, 'longing for the king', then in the picture of the French, it must be 'long statue', 'the elephant of the king'.

Usually people lashed six to seven in the middle of its forehead, and were so strong that they made their elephants shiver. Admittedly, he was very patient.

There is only one case where it does not obey the statues and anyone. That is when he does not suddenly move the male, because he does not seem to control himself at that time. He refuses to take anyone, takes the hose to throw it and everyone in it, it kills, it destroys and breaks.

Often the forebears know a few signs. Immediately, everyone went to the ground, unraveled it and left it alone in a remote place until it ceased. Then, as if he had caused confusion and was ashamed of himself, he bowed his head to beat like a criminal.

In the old days, people used elephants to be very useful in battle, and any army that fought with such animals was really scary. But since the Portuguese found a way to throw fire and torch into their noses, they made them more harmful than before.

"Because they cannot withstand the fire that stings their eyes, they run away and break the army, killing and destroying all that stand in their way. The elephants are only afraid of two other animals, elephants. Forest and rhino, it can win the rhino, but for wild elephants, it usually gives up . '.

According to Cristophoro Borri, rhino is an animal with something like a cow and a horse, but as big as a baby elephant.'It's full of scales like bibs to cover itself. It had only one horn in the center of the forehead, straight and shaped like a pyramid, and the legs and nails were like cows.

When I was in Salma a commune in Quy Nhon province, there was one officer who went to hunt rhinos in the forest near our house the other time. He brought along more than 100 people, part of walking, a horse ride with eight or 10 elephants.

The rhinoceros comes out of the forest and a large number of enemies, it not only does not appear frightened but also gains all the strength of anger to come. So the dispersed army made two wings to let the rhino get in the middle and ran to the rear with a mandarin waiting to kill it.

The officer sat on the back of the elephant, the elephant tried to grab the hose to grab the rhino, but it couldn't be helped because the rhino jumped around, tried to use the horn to stab the elephant. The officer knew the rhino because of the scales so it was not easy to get hurt if he just hit the side. He waited until it jumped and exposed his belly, at which time he aimed, and very skillfully, he threw the spear from the belly to the back, amid the cheering shout of the army.

Without waiting for anything, they immediately whipped a large pile of firewood, set fire to it, while waving the burnt animal and cooked meat, they danced around, each one following each other to ripen and eat the meat gradually. draw. Then they removed the heart, the liver and the brain to remove the auntess who had retreated a bit now, in a quite high place, delighted and excited to watch the fun.

As for me, I am in the game, I also have a part and my part is an animal claw for me, it also has effects and properties like elephant nails, used as a wonderful anti-poisoning medicine '.