Читать книгу The Element Encyclopedia of Magical Creatures: The Ultimate A–Z of Fantastic Beings from Myth and Magic - John Matthews - Страница 21

Accounts of this animal were brought back by 16th-century European travellers to the Malay Peninsula. Described as female, with a single horn growing from its forehead, these were probably the result of a half-glimpsed Javan or Sumatran rhinoceros. Like the Unicorn, a powder made from the horn served both as an aphrodisiac and as an antidote to poison. However, since the Unicorn was invariably represented as male, and since there was only ever one in existence at any time, the Abath seems to have developed independently from the European myths of the one-horned creature. (See also Alicorn, Chio-Tuan, Ki-Lin.)