Abstract

The exemplum ‘Two Princes Born of a She-Bear’ from the Gesta Romanorum is unique in its joining of two different folktale types. Billed by twentieth-century editors as ‘Androcles and the Lion’, which reflects the story’s opening, the majority of the plot resembles the ‘Strong John’ narrative, also referred to as ‘Juan Oso’ or ‘John the Bear’, with its story of bestiality. Yet it differs from most of these tales of a bear–human child as well, first by changing a male bear abducting a human woman to a human father and bear mother, and then by having three children split along gendered lines into different species. Looking at this adaptation in light of the medieval encyclopedia tradition and ideas about human and non-human animals, this article argues that the text poses questions about the superiority of humans, the distinction of species, and the necessity of women. Although the story seems to make an effort to preserve ‘natural’ hierarchies, it also leaves open the possibility of dismantling them.

摘要

来自Gesta Romanorum的范例“母熊所生的两个王子”独特之处在于它结合了两种不同的民间故事类型。被 20 世纪的编辑称为“Androcles and the Lion”，这反映了故事的开头，大部分情节类似于“强约翰”的叙事，也被称为“胡安·奥索”或“熊约翰”兽交的故事。然而，它也不同于大多数熊-人类孩子的故事，首先是将绑架人类女性的雄性熊变成了人类的父亲和熊妈妈，然后将三个孩子按照性别划分为不同的物种。根据中世纪的百科全书传统以及关于人类和非人类动物的观点来看待这种改编，本文认为文本提出了关于人类优越性、物种区别和女性必要性的问题。