Tradition: Mongolian Mythology
Alternative Names: None recorded
Category: Insect
The Myth
The giant mosquitoes of Mongolian mythology are monstrous insects created by evil spirits and demons. They are described as being as large as scrawny horses, with enormous bodies and a loud, persistent buzzing. Their appearance is terrifying, and they are capable of overwhelming the landscape in vast swarms. According to the legend of the infant hero Bukhe Beligte, these creatures were created to torment him while he slept on a hilltop.
Although only a few days old, Bukhe Beligte was already fighting supernatural enemies. After defeating two black ravens with iron beaks and talons, he was left alone on the hilltop for another night. He prepared seventy snares around his sleeping place. His cries shook the earth, prompting nine hundred evil spirits and ninety black demons to create two giant mosquitoes. These monstrous insects came from a desolate, scorching land in the east, a place of marshy rivers, slippery slopes, and darkness, where demons and evil spirits made their home.
The two mosquitoes flew around the sleeping infant, pestering him with their buzzing. However, they became caught in the seventy snares he had prepared. Bukhe Beligte seized a black whip with eighteen tails and thrashed the enormous insects until they were reduced to a mass of ordinary mosquitoes and gnats, numerous enough to fill a river.
After defeating them, the infant pronounced a powerful oath. From that moment onward, the mosquitoes and gnats would live among the stems of grasses, buzzing about in search of food. Their transformation explained how the terrifying horse-sized insects of the ancient world became the smaller, numerous pests found among vegetation.
Bukhe Beligte celebrated another victory, declaring that he had defeated three enemies before reaching the age of three days. He then fell into a deep sleep. Yet his extraordinary strength continued to trouble his parents. Because of the terrible stench that accompanied him, they eventually abandoned him in a bears’ den. When his father returned the following morning, the boy ran to embrace him. The infant had already killed the black bear that lived there, revealing once again that even at such a young age, Bukhe Beligte possessed immense supernatural power.
Sources
“The Second Branch: Geser Comes Down to Earth (Part 1).” Buryat-Mongol. Internet Archive Wayback Machine, archived June 28, 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20070628230811/http://www.buryatmongol.com/halaa2.html