Barbary pig

Question

He defended a rabbit warren against rats, with nothing but the odour of a little Barbary pig that he placed there. ...

This is a quote from an English translation of Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. Does anyone know what a Barbary pig is, or why its odour should deter rats?

(they seem to have left this detail out of the musical version...)

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

There seem to be a number of recommended rat repellents, including--

'Shake-Away rat repellent -- a strong, granular deterrent that contains the scent of the pests most feared predators, the fox and bobcat.'

But I cannot find any that include boar taint. Good luck to other researchers.

Pieanne · Answer

Hello, Khoff! I found another "Barbary pig" here http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/molesworth/room/room-II.html if you scroll down to about 2/3 of the page. This one's supposed to be a kid's pet, so I don't know about the smell...

Mister Micawber · Answer

Hmm. According to that 1879 novel, it's a guinea pig-- that is, at least Molesworth's character calls the pet guinea pig a cochon de Barbarie-- but according to Wikipedia (below), the French for guinea pig is cochon d'Inde (or cobaye):

"Whatever the reason, this perception of pigginess occurred in many languages other than ; the word for them is Meerschweinchen, literally "Little Sea Pigs" (sailing ships stopping to reprovision in the New World would pick up stores of guinea pigs, which provided an easily transportable source of fresh meat), the word for them is morskaja svinka (Sea Pig; ??????? ??????), the word is http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Cochon_d%27Inde, (Indian pig), the common Spanish word is 'conejillo de Indias' (Indian bunny rabbit), the used to call it http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/guinees_biggetje (Guinean piglet), in Sweden they are called marsvin (a combination of the Latin word http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mare for ocean, and Swedish svin which means pig) and in they are called 'indika xoiridia' (Small Indian Pigs ; ??d??? ?????d?a). The http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binomial_nomenclature of a common species is Cavia porcellus, with porcellus being for 'little pig.' "

So the character must have been referring to another animal? Curiouser and curiouser.

PS: Cannot get into this site, but I found this intriguing excerpt:

With that he sang with quite a French entrain and English
accent the famous song of the day, called "Le Cochon de Barbarie."

Pieanne · Answer

Threepod might know...

Khoff · Answer

So a Barbary pig is a guinea pig! I thought that might be the case, as guinea pigs seem to have a wide variety of names, but how could you deter rats by placing a guinea pig near a rabbit warren? Wouldn't the rats be as dangerous to a guinea pig as they would be to rabbits? Why would the guinea pig just stay there? Or perhaps I'm reading the quote wrong, and it was only the "odour of a little Barbary pig," and not the pig itself, that he "placed there"?

By the way - Pieanne - the writing style of the story you quoted reminded me a lot of Threepod! Neeble," cried Jeanne, "Oh, my cousin, is Neeble your pet? Why, he is a 'cochon de Barbarie!' O the dear little fellow! We could not – at least papa and mamma could not – read what he was. And have you brought him all the way, my cousin, and do you love him very much? Marcelline, Marcelline, oh, do give us some milk for the cochon de Barbarie – oh, see, Marcelline, how sweet he is!"

Perhaps this is where Threepod learned his English, as well as his love of the cochons de Barbarie! Next thing you know, Jeanne will be asking Marcelline for some sausage and eggs for Neeble!

Pieanne · Answer

LOL!

(must tell you I've NEVER heard of a "cochon de Barbarie". "Figues de Barbarie", oui...Is there a connection... ? ) This one seems to be a male, though, otherwise it would be "une cochonne de Barbarie".

I wasn't sure about typing the link to the text here, though, with those "Chéri" (Darling), I was wondering what it was leading to...

MrPedantic · Answer

Here (for Threepod's benefit) is the original:

http://www.livresse.com/Livres-enligne/lesmiserables/010503.shtml

It seems to me that he puts the whole guinea pig in the warren – not just its smell.

No doubt a country custom...

MrP

MrPedantic · Answer

PS Our squeaky little friend is in the 4th para down.

Mister Micawber · Answer

Yes, but is it a guinea pig? Does the original text give any other indication of what the species might be? I don't trust Ms. Molesworth's zoology.

Khoff · Answer

MrP - thanks for posting the link to the French text - I'm sure there will be other oddities I will want to check against the original.  I think I remember a passage where Marius has lost his lodgings and goes to stay with a student friend, and announces (in the translation) "I've come to sleep with you."  I was wondering if it sounds more innocuous in the French.

Barbary pig

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