Reference to Alexander and Bucephalus in Rushdie Novel

[jan]

On pp. 73-74 of Shalimar the Clown by Salman Rushdie are two paragraphs which make reference to both Bucephalus and Alexander. I will paraphrase the reference rather than quote directly but I found it so interesting that I checked the book out to read more from it than just these two paragraphs about Alexander's interest in giant ants in Northern India."....in a village named Buffliaz after Alexander the Great's legendary horse Bucephalus, who according to legend had died in that very spot centuries ago. In that hill town, as Abdullah Noman was well aware, Bucephalus was still revered as a semidivinity, and it was Firdaus's Buffliazi blood that had risen in her cheeks when her husband jeered dismissively at warhorses." It goes on in next paragraph to explain that it was easy to rile Firdaus by speaking dismissively of giant ants. It seems that Herodotus had written about the gold-digging ants in India and Alexander's scientists had believed him. So Rushdie in his inimitable style describes the furry ants, smaller than dogs, but larger than foxes, that are prevalent, and when Alexander's generals discover them, they decide to stay in the region, living the life of the idle rich, and even Alexander himself restocked his own warchest before moving on...Salman Rushdie, Shalimar the Clown, pp. 73-74, Boonyi chapter.