Читать книгу Artemis - Jean Shinoda Bolen - Страница 13

In the kingdom of Arcadia, the king is eagerly awaiting the birth of his first-born. When the new baby proves not to be the son and heir he expects, he vents his anger on his unwanted daughter and orders a shepherd to take her to a nearby mountain and leave her there to die of exposure or an attack by a wild animal. Atalanta begins her life unwanted and rejected. But what was intended as the end of her life in fact turns out to be an unusual beginning.

The shepherd does as he is told. He takes the baby and places her among the rocks on the mountain. Atalanta wails; she is hungry, wet, and cold. Her cries attract a mother bear whose den is somewhere nearby. Whether out of curiosity or maternal instinct, the bear investigates and sniffs the baby. Atalanta grasps the fur of the bear and the human infant and mother bear bond. The mother bear takes the baby to her den, suckles her, and keeeps her warm. It was said that the goddess Artemis sent the bear.

Bear cubs are small and helpless when they are born. Like human babies, they cannot survive without maternal care. They grow to adulthood faster than human babies, however, so Atalanta is raised with a succession of cubs as siblings. In another version of the tale, when she is able to walk, she is found by hunters who raise her and teach her to hunt and speak.