Tradition / Region: European Mythology, French Mythology
Alternate Names: The Lean Cow; Chichivache
Category: Cow
The Myth
There is said to wander the world a strange and miserable creature known as the Chichevache, the Lean Cow.
Its body is gaunt and skeletal, nothing but hide stretched over bone, and it roams in constant hunger. The reason for its suffering is the strange food upon which it must live. The Chichevache feeds only on wives who are perfectly obedient, patient, and faithful.
Because such women are rarely found, the creature is nearly always starving. Wherever it appears, people understand at once why it looks so thin: if there were many such wives in the world, the cow would grow fat and strong, but instead it wanders weak and wasted.
The Chichevache is said to have a counterpart, another strange beast known as the Bicorn, which feeds on good and long-suffering husbands. Unlike the Lean Cow, this creature is well fed, for such husbands are plentiful.
Thus the Chichevache continues to roam, a pitiful cow driven by hunger, and its thin body serves as a reminder to those who see it that the world offers it little to eat.
Gallery
Sources
Brewer, E. Cobham. (1898). Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. p. 133.
Pantheon contributors. (n.d.). Chichevache. In Pantheon: Encyclopedia Mythica, from https://pantheon.org/articles/c/chichevache.html
Interpretive Lenses
Religious Readings
- Christian Ascetic Deep Dive
Philosophical Readings
- Nietzschean Deep Dive
Psychological Readings
- Jungian Deep Dive
Esoteric Deep Dive
- Hermetic Deep Dive
Political / Social Readings
- Marxist Deep Dive