狗取谷种神话起源考

Research on the Origin of the Myth about the Dog Getting Rice Seeds

狗取谷种的神话是物种起源神话中比较引人注目的一个类型,其故事结构与盘瓠神话十分相似,具有发生学上的关系,但仅从这两个故事本身难以断定其产生的先后。盘瓠神话与蚕马神话也十分相似,从盘瓠神话的一些细节可以判断出它是从蚕马神话演变而来,蚕马神话更为原始。因此,可以推断,狗取谷种的神话当来源于蚕马神话,并经历了盘瓠神话这一中间传播环节。

As a typical example of myths about origin of species, the myth about the dog getting rice seeds is similar to the Panhu Myth in structure. They are embryologically related but it is hard to tell which one appeared first. By comparing the Panhu Myth with another older myth–the Canma Myth–it can be inferred that the Panhu Myth is the transitional form between the myth about the dog getting rice seeds and the Canma Myth.