Budapest bits: Devil Is Getting Married

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Devil Is Getting Married

Since I was a child I've liked it very much when the rain is falling and the sun is shining at the same time. I have just learned that it is called a sunshower. In Bulgaria they say that the devil is getting married in these cases or that the bear is getting married. The question is if there are different devils who get married or one devil gets married and then divorced in the meantime to be able to get married again or just there is one polygamous devil who acquires wife after wife. Or maybe the devil marries the bear.

Last weekend the devils and bears got married once again in Buda. These are pictures from our balcony.

Both pictures are taken from our terrace on Tulipan str. 16

A short consultation in Wikipedia reveals that in different cultures different animals get married: monkey (South Africa), jackal (Hindi and Bengali), rats (Arab), tiger (Korea), fox (Kerala and Japan), elves (Filipinos).

Isn't it fascinating that so many cultures liken sunshower to an animal wedding? Does anyone have a theory why this is the case?

Ah, in Poland they say that the witch is making butter. Maybe she is preparing a gift for the devil's wedding...

6 comments:

I_am_Tulsa said...: Lovely photos! I kind of like this type of weather...

I was going to say "fox in Japan"! but you already found that out!
I have no idea why people explain things this way but in Japan the fox is thought of as a "trickster". They are magical animals that often disguise themselves as humans and trick the unassuming person into doing silly things etc...; April 24, 2009 at 1:33 AM
Anonymous said...: thats so true!
ive always wondered why my twittery old aunties would say
"dont go outside - its Sheeyaler Biya!" (A fox's wedding, im part bengali)

but i had no clue that other cultures did that too - that says allot towards the one world theory. That all humans came from the same place originally.

pretty cool i think :); April 24, 2009 at 1:44 AM
Delwyn said...: I have no ideas but know that as kids we would dance around and sing "a sunshower a sunshower!"

Perhaps it's the rare combination of the sun and the rain that we find so thrilling...
Happy days; April 24, 2009 at 4:28 AM
Delwyn said...: Ruslan, I just checked the prevoius post.
Are Boris and Jelica ok? I hope so and send best wishes to you all.; April 24, 2009 at 4:31 AM
ceecee said...: Hope little Boris is feeling better and will be home soon.
I've never heard of these expressions before! I especially like the one from Poland about the witch making butter.
Best wishes -
Catherine; April 24, 2009 at 4:47 PM
Ruslan said...: Dear all,

Thank you for the comments and the wishes. Boris is still in hospital but he is getting better although he still has this colicky pain in the stomach from time to time.

Tulsa, I think your explanation is quite good as to why a fox is used in Japan.

Controversial Demons, welcome. I'll check out your blog.

Delwyn, thanks for asking about Boris. Yes, it seems a sunshower is favourite for all of us.

Catherine, the witch and the butter is quite cool, I agree,; April 24, 2009 at 9:13 PM