Personal blog of Dorji Wangchuk alias Kuliśeśvara (Germany). It is for pure speculations and reflections.
May 30, 2014
འདྲེ་ཤིག།
Did you know the Tibetan word for bedbug is ’dre shig and that it actually means “monster/demon (or monstrous/demonic) louse.” Jäschke has it as “devil’s louse.”
Well, D, if a khyi-shig is a flea, this is starting to make sense. It's a kind of lousy bug that especially tortures the 'dre spirits. You know that William Blake in one of his more famously intense moments drew a portrait of a "flea ghost," by which I guess he meant the ghost of a dead flea.
But with this 'dre-shig we have a "ghost flea" - and that has to be a animal of a different stripe. I didn't know this word existed, but it should come in handy when I'm in the U.S. where they say bedbugs are spreading like wildfire. Better run. I feel an itch coming on. Yours, D
Well, D, if a khyi-shig is a flea, this is starting to make sense. It's a kind of lousy bug that especially tortures the 'dre spirits. You know that William Blake in one of his more famously intense moments drew a portrait of a "flea ghost," by which I guess he meant the ghost of a dead flea.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/blake-the-ghost-of-a-flea-n05889/
But with this 'dre-shig we have a "ghost flea" - and that has to be a animal of a different stripe. I didn't know this word existed, but it should come in handy when I'm in the U.S. where they say bedbugs are spreading like wildfire. Better run. I feel an itch coming on.
Yours,
D
Dear D, haha! Finally a sign of life from you after a dead long silence. Hope all is well with you. See you soon.
ReplyDeleteD.