It is truly amazing what this Pennsylvania woodchuck has accomplished! What other rodent could boast such publicity? Actually, there is another rodent, and he resides in Germany. He is known as Siebenschläfer.
Many believe that June 27th is the German equivalent to America's February rodent experience. The Farmer's Almanac (Bauernregel) states:
Regnet's am Siebenschläfertag, so regnet's sieben Wochen danach.Loosely translated, it means "Should it rain on this rodent's day, it will continue to rain for seven weeks."
Interestingly, however, this calendar occasion has nothing to do with its animal namesake. On the contrary! This day is a reminder of the martyrdom of seven Christian brothers who were persecuted for their faith by the Roman Emperor Decius, who gripped the empire with an iron fist from 249 to 251 AD. In a move that is reminiscent of King Nebuchadnezzar's arrogance, this emperor demanded sacrifices to an anti-Christian deity from a community that had strong Christian leanings.
Seven brothers, named Dionysius, Johannes, Konstantinus, Maximianus, Malchus, Marcianus, and Serapion stood up against the decree and refused to offer any sacrifices to the pagan deity Decius had instituted. It is said that the seven brothers fled into a nearby cave and hid from the emperor.
All good things must come to an end, and Decius soon learned of the brothers' whereabouts and in a fit of rage ordered that the entrance to the cave be closed off. The brothers were inside, asleep. At this point the folklore takes over, and it is said that the brothers did not wake up until the entrance to the cave was cleared again -- some 200 years later.
When they awoke, they found everything changed, and were almost apprehended as forgers. When they could prove, however, that they were truly alive during the time of Decius, the then-current emperor Theodosius, who ruled from 408 to 450, was informed of this apparent miracle. He quickly visited the seven brothers and was amazed at their testimony of faith. At that time they shared the truth of the resurrection of the dead with Theodosius:
Wie das Kind im Leib der Mutter liegt, keinen Schaden empfindet und lebt, so waren auch wir am Leben; wir lagen da, schliefen und spürten nichts.Roughly translated, they told the emperor that "as the unborn child sleeps inside the body of the mother, not feeling any pain yet living, so we also were alive, laying asleep, and feeling nothing."
As soon as they had shared this mystery with the emperor, all seven died suddenly. Thus Siebenschläfer does not refer to the mammal of the same name but to "seven sleepers"!
Who knew?
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