Contents page Hergé Biography 2
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- 5. THE YETI
- A Yeti History
Bringing Tibet to OvalIn the second week of the rehearsals, director Rufus Norris invited Tenzin Saphel from Tibet House into the Tintin rehearsal rooms near Kennington Park. Tibet House is a London based organisation set up by the Tibetan Government in exile to promote Tibetan culture and political resistance to the Chinese occupation. Norris was keen to be accurate in his portrayal of Tibet, and wanted to give his company a shared experience of its culture. Samphel conducted a lengthy question and answer session with the full company. Then Samphel went on to describe several Buddhist rituals, and to teach the actors playing the porters and monks some Tibetan phrases. He also demonstrated several prayer positions, which are utilised in the show by Tharkey and the monks. 5. THE YETIWhat On Earth Is A Yeti? The legendary yeti (aka the abominable snowman) is a large bipedal primate thought by some to live in the Himalayas. Its Western name is derived from both the Tibetan ‘gYa’dred’, pronounced yeh-teh, meaning “little man-like animal”, and yettin, the Old English word for an orc or troll. Scientists remain resolutely unimpressed by the evidence put forward for the existence of the elusive creature. Experts normally put a belief in the yeti down to hoaxes, superstition, and the regular misidentification of more mundane creatures. Nevertheless the yeti remains one of the most famous creatures in cryptozoology (the study of beasts unclassified by science). To die-hard yeti enthusiasts, compelling physical evidence such as tracks and nests provide proof of an as yet unknown primate, an evolutionary remnant of evolution (perhaps the supposedly extinct ape Gigantopithicus), or even an unclassified type of brown bear. A Yeti HistoryFor hundreds of years, natives in the Himalayas have been telling stories about a humanoid monster that stalks the mountain ranges. However, elements of this rich and complex mythology only filtered through to the west in the 1800s, as British travellers began sending their dispatches home. 1832 Trekking in Nepal, intrepid British explorer BH Hodgson sends reports of a tall, bipedal creature covered with long dark hair. Hodgson does not see the creature himself - instead it is sighted by his terrified Nepalese guides. Hodgson inexplicably concludes the beast is an orang-utan. 1889 LA Wadell (another intrepid British explorer) publishes his Among the Himalayas, containing reports of a hulking ape-like creature and the discovery of large footprints in the snow. Wadell is unimpressed by the natives’ stories. He concludes the so-called yeti is in fact a bear. The frequency of yeti sightings increases throughout the 20th century, as Westerners begin making determined attempts to climb the many mountains in Tibet and Nepal. 1921 Lieutenant Colonel CK Howard-Bury creates the nickname the abominable snowman entirely by mistake. The blunder occurred when Howard-Bury’s Everest expedition encountered many footprints at the inhospitable altitude of 20,000 feet. Howard-Bury excitedly related his discovery to a bungling journalist from the Calcutta Statesman, who misreported the story. The sherpas had said “meh-teh” (meaning “manlike thing that is not a man”) but the reporter wrote “metoh-kagmi”, which translates roughly as ‘abominable snowman’. 1925 Photographer NA Tombazi provides a detailed description of a naked, upright, darkly coloured, dwarf-like creature, seen from 300 yards. Returning to camp Tombazi discovers human-like prints that are only six inches long by four inches wide. 1942 After escaping from a Siberian prison. Slawomir Rawiz reports seeing two large, ape-like creatures while crossing the Himalayas. He claims to have observed the creatures for several hours from a distance of just 100m. However, it should be pointed out that many critics disbelieve Rawiz’s escape story, let alone the fact that he spend four hours watching a couple of yetis strolling around. 1950 Yeti-mania takes off in the British press with the publishing of Eric Shipton’s sensational photographs of large prints at 60,000 feet up the side of Everest. Detractors claim they are the prints of an everyday creature that have been enlarged and distorted by the melting snow. 1953 Sir Edmond Hilary scales Mount Everest and reports seeing large footprints. 1957 American oil millionaire Tom Slick (that really was his real name) funds a series of missions to find the beast. After an exhaustive search one expedition returns with a piece of suspected yeti faeces. Lab analysis shows it contains an unidentified parasite. Bernard Heuvelmans writes, ‘Since each animal has its own parasites, this indicates that the host animal is equally an unknown animal.’ 1959 According to outlandish Hollywood gossip, actor Jimmy Stewart smuggles the remains of a supposed yeti (the so-called ‘Pangboche Hand’) to London from India by hiding it in his hand luggage. 1970 Mountaineer Don Williams gives the most comprehensive account of the mysterious creature yet, including odd cries, footprints, scared sherpas, dark shapes moving outside tents in the night, and a sighting through binoculars. 1998 By now people have grown unbelievably bored of yeti stories. However, the reports keep coming, with Craig Calonica reporting two ape-like bipedal creatures on Mount Everest. 2005 Walt Disney World Florida opens roller coaster Expedition Everest featuring a 25-foot tall animatronic yeti. The once majestic beast is now an amusement attraction. To this day there remains no concrete evidence that the fearsome creature actually exists. However it must be stated that the Himalayas are remote and sparsely populated, and that there is far greater chance of the yeti existing than other legendary creatures such as the Loch Ness Monster or North America’s Bigfoot. Directory: sites -> default -> files -> documents -> Resource packs Resource packs -> In the Red and Brown Water documents -> - documents -> Cbp and Trade Automated Interface Requirements Appendix: pga december 22, 2015 documents -> Ace abi catair customs and Trade Automated Interface Requirements documents -> Ace abi catair customs and Trade Automated Interface Requirements documents -> Mobile audio/video recording systems documents -> The south australian government gazette documents -> All public acts appearing in this gazette are to be considered official, and obeyed as such documents -> Union interparlementaire inter-parliamentary union Download 341.78 Kb. 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