one day with Vishnoo, the insolent ocean asked the god who the pigmy
was that strutted by his side. Vishnoo replied it was the patriarch
Agastya, who was going to restore earth to its true balance. Ocean, in
contempt, spat its spray in the pigmy's face, and the sage, in revenge
of this affront, drank the waters of the ocean, leaving the bed quite
dry.--Maurice.
AG'ATHA, daughter of Cuno, and the betrothed of Max, in Weber's opera
of _Der Freischütz._--See _Dictionary of Phrase and Fable._
AGATH'OCLES (4 _syl_.) tyrant of Sicily. He was the son of a potter,
and raised himself from the ranks to become general of the army.
He reduced all Sicily under his power. When he attacked the
Carthaginians, he burnt his ships that his soldiers might feel
assured they must either conquer or die. Agathoclês died of poison
administered by his grandson (B.C. 361-289).
Voltaire has a tragedy called _Agathocle_, and Caroline Pichler has an
excellent German novel entitled _Agathoclés_.
AGATHON, the hero and title of a philosophic romance, by C. M. Wieland
(1733-1813). This is considered the best of his novels, though some
prefer his _Don Sylvia de Rosalva_.
AGDISTES, the name given by Spenser to our individual consciousness or
self. Personified in the being who presided over the Acrasian "bowre
of blis."
That is our selfe, whom though we do not see
Yet each doth in himselfe it well perceive to bee.
Therefore a God him sage Antiquity
Did wisely make, and good Agdistes call--
Spenser, _Faerie Queene_, ii. 12.
AGDISTIS, a genius of human form, uniting the two senses and born of
an accidental union between Jupiter and Tellus. The story of Agdistis
and Atys is apparently a myth of the generative powers of nature.
AGED (_The_), so Wemmick's father is called. He lived in "the castle
at Walworth." Wemmick at "the castle" and Wemmick in business are two
"different beings."
Wemmick's house was a little wooden cottage,
in the midst of plots of garden, and the top of
it was cut out and painted like a battery mounted
with guns.... It was the smallest of houses,
with queer Gothic windows (by far the greater
part of them sham), and a Gothic door, almost
too small to get in at.... On Sundays he ran
up a real flag.... The bridge was a plank, and
it crossed a chasm about four feet wide and two
deep.... At nine o'clock every night "the gun
fired," the gun being mounted in a separate fortress
made of lattice-work. It was protected
from the weather by a tarpaulin ... umbrella.--
C. Dickens, _Great Expectations_, xxv. (1860).
AG'ELASTES (_Michael_), the cynic philosopher.--Sir W. Scott, _Count
Robert of Paris_ (time, Rufus).
AGESILA'US (5 _syl_.). Plutarch tells us that Agesilaus, king of
Sparta, was one day discovered riding cock-horse on a long stick, to
please and amuse his children.
A'GIB (_King_), "The Third Calender" (_Arabian Nights'
Entertainments_). He was wrecked on the loadstone mountain, which
drew all the nails and iron bolts from his ship; but he overthrew
the bronze statue on the mountain-top, which was the cause of the
mischief. Agib visited the ten young men, each of whom had lost
the right eye, and was carried by a roc to the palace of the forty
princesses, with whom he tarried a year. The princesses were then
obliged to leave for forty days, but entrusted him with the keys of
the palace, with free permission to enter every room but one. On the
fortieth day curiosity induced him to open this room, where he saw a
horse, which he mounted, and was carried through the air to Bag dad.
The horse then deposited him, and knocked out his right eye with a
whisk of its tail, as it had done the ten "young men" above referred
to.
AGITATOR (_The Irish_), Daniel O'Connell (1775-1847).
AGLAE, the unwedded sister in T. B. Aldrich's poem, _The Sisters'
Tragedy_ (1891).
Two sisters loved one man. He being dead,
Grief loosed the lips of her he had not wed,
And all the passion that through heavy years,
Had masked in smiles, unmasked itself in tears.
AGNEI'A (3 _syl_.), wifely chastity, sister of Parthen'ia or maiden
chastity. Agneia is the spouse of Encra'tês or temperance. Fully
described in canto x. of _The Purple Island_, by Phineas Fletcher
(1633). (Greek, _agneia_, "chastity.")
AG'NES, daughter of Mr. Wickfield the solicitor, and David
Copperfield's second wife (after the death of Dora, "his child wife").
Agnes is a very pure, self-sacrificing girl, accomplished, yet
domestic.--C. Dickens, _David Copperfield_ (1849).
AGNES, in Molière's _L'École des Femmes_, the girl on whom Arnolphe
tries his pet experiment of education, so as to turn out for himself
a "model wife." She is brought up in a country convent, where she
is kept in entire ignorance of the difference of sex, conventional
proprieties, the difference between the love of men and women, and
that of girls for girls, the mysteries of marriage, and so on. When
grown to womanhood she quits the convent, and standing one evening on
a balcony a young man passes and takes off his hat to her, she returns
the salute; he bows a second and third time, she does the same; he
passes and repasses several times, bowing each time, and she does as
she has been taught to do by acknowledging the salute. Of course,
the young man (_Horace_) becomes her lover, whom she marries, and M.
Arnolphe loses his "model wife." (See PINCH-WIFE.)
_Elle fait l'Agnès._ She pretends to be wholly unsophisticated and
verdantly ingenuous.--_French Proverb_ (from the "Agnes" of Molière,
_L'École des Femmes_, 1662).
_Agnes_ (_Black_), the countess of March, noted for her defence of
Dunbar against the English.
_Black Agnes_, the palfry of Mary queen of Scots, the gift of her
brother Moray, and so called from the noted countess of March, who was
countess of Moray (Murray) in her own right.
_Agnes_ (_St._), a young virgin of Palermo, who at the age of thirteen
was martyred at Rome during the Diocletian persecution of A.D. 304.
Prudence (Aurelius Prudentius Clemens), a Latin Christian poet of the
fourth century, has a poem on the subject. Tintoret and Domenichi'no
have both made her the subject of a painting.--_The Martyrdom of St.
Agnes_.
_St. Agnes and the Devil_. St. Agnes, having escaped from the prison
at Rome, took shipping and landed at St. Piran Arwothall. The devil
dogged her, but she rebuked him, and the large moor-stones between St.
Piran and St. Agnes, in Cornwall, mark the places where the devils
were turned into stone by the looks of the indignant saint.--Polwhele,
_History of Cornwall_.
_Agnes of Sorrento_, heroine of novel of same name, by Harriet Beecher
Stowe. The scene of the story is laid in Sorrento, Italy.
AGRAMAN'TE (4 _syl_.) or AG'RAMANT, king of the Moors, in _Orlando
Innamorato_, by Bojardo, and _Orlando Furioso_, by Ariosto.
AGRAWAIN (_Sir_) or SIR AGRAVAIN, surnamed "The Desirous," and also
"The Haughty." He was son of Lot (king of Orkney) and Margawse
half-sister of king Arthur. His brothers were sir Gaw'ain, sir
Ga'heris, and sir Gareth. Mordred was his half-brother, being the son
of king Arthur and Margawse. Sir Agravain and sir Mordred hated sir
Launcelot, and told the king he was too familiar with the queen; so
they asked the king to spend the day in hunting, and kept watch. The
queen sent for sir Launcelot to her private chamber, and sir Agravain,
sir Mordred, and twelve others assailed the door, but sir Launcelot
slew them all except sir Mordred, who escaped.--Sir T. Malory,
_History of Prince Arthur_, iii. 142-145 (1470).
AGRICA'NE (4 _syl._), king of Tartary, in the _Orlando Innamorato_, of
Bojardo. He besieges Angelica in the castle of Albracca, and is slain
in single combat by Orlando. He brought into the field 2,200,000
troops.
Such forces met not, nor so wide a camp,
When Agrican, with all his northern powers,
Besieged Albracca.
Milton, _Paradise Regained_, iii. (338).
AGRICOLA FUSILIER, a pompous old creole, a conserver of family
traditions, and patriot who figures in George W. Cable's
_Grandissimes_ (1880).
He seemed to fancy himself haranguing a
crowd; made another struggle for intelligence,
tried once, twice to speak, and the third time
succeeded: "Louis--_Louisian--a--for--ever!_"
and lay still. They put those two words on his
tomb.
AG'RIOS, Lumpishness personified; a "sullen swain, all mirth that in
himself and others hated; dull, dead, and leaden." Described in canto
viii. of _The Purple Island_, by Phineas Fletcher (1635). (Greek,
_agrios_; "a savage.")
AGRIPPINA was granddaughter, wife, sister, and mother of an emperor.
She was granddaughter of Augustus, wife of Claudius, sister of
Caligula, and mother of Nero.
[Illustration] Lam'pedo of Lacedaemon was daughter, wife, sister, and
mother of a king.
AGRIPY'NA or AG'RIPYNE (3 _syl._), a princess beloved by the "king
of Cyprus'son, and madly loved by Orleans."--Thomas Dekker, _Old
Fortunatus_ (a comedy, 1600).
AGUE-CHEEK _(Sir Andrew_), a silly old fop with "3000 ducats a year,"
very fond of the table, but with a shrewd understanding that "beef had
done harm to his wit." Sir Andrew thinks himself "old in nothing but
in understanding," and boasts that he can cut a caper, dance the
coranto, walk a jig, and take delight in masques, like a young
man.--Shakespeare, _Twelfth Night_ (1614).
Woodward (1737-1777) always sustained "sir Andrew Ague-cheek" with
infinite drollery, assisted by that expression of "rueful dismay,"
which gave so peculiar a zest to his _Marplot_.--Boaden, _Life of
Siddons_ Charles Lamb says that "Jem White saw James Dodd one evening
in _Ague-cheek_, and recognizing him next day in Fleet Street, took
off his hat, and saluted him with 'Save you, sir Andrew!' Dodd simply
waved his hand and exclaimed, 'Away, fool!'"
A'HABACK AND DES'RA, two enchanters, who aided Ahu'bal in his
rebellion against his brother Misnar, sultan of Delhi. Ahu'bal had a
magnificent tent built, and Horam the vizier had one built for the
sultan still more magnificent. When the rebels made their attack, the
sultan and the best of the troops were drawn off, and the sultan's
tent was taken. The enchanters, delighted with their prize, slept
therein, but at night the vizier led the sultan to a cave, and asked
him to cut a rope. Next morning he heard that a huge stone had fallen
on the enchanters and crushed them to a mummy. In fact, this stone
formed the head of the bed, where it was suspended by the rope which
the sultan had severed in the night.--James Ridley, _Tales of the
Genii_ ("The Enchanters' Tale," vi.).
AHASUE'RUS, the cobbler who pushed away Jesus when, on the way to
execution. He rested a moment or two at his door. "Get off! Away with
you!" cried the cobbler. "Truly, I go away," returned Jesus, "and that
quickly; but tarry thou till I come." And from that time Ahasuerus
became the "wandering Jew," who still roams the earth, and will
continue so to do till the "second coming of the Lord." This is the
legend given by Paul von Eitzen, bishop of Schleswig (1547).--Greve,
_Memoir of Paul von Eitzen_ (1744).
AHER'MAN AND AR'GEN, the former a fortress, and the latter a suite of
immense halls, in the realm of Eblis, where are lodged all creatures
of human intelligence before the creation of Adam, and all the animals
that inhabited the earth before the present races existed.--W.
Beckford, _Vathek_ (1786).
AH'MED _(Prince)_, noted for the tent given him by the fairy
Pari-banou, which would cover a whole army, and yet would fold up so
small that it might be carried in one's pocket. The same good
fairy also gave him the apple of Samarcand', a panacea for all
diseases.--_Arabian Nights' Entertainments_ ("Prince Ahmed, etc.").
AHOLIBA'MAH, granddaughter of Cain, and sister of Anah. She was loved
by the seraph Samias'a, and like her sister was carried off to another
planet when the Flood came.--Byron, _Heaven and Earth_.
Proud, imperious, and aspiring, she denies that
she worships the seraph, and declares that his
immortality can bestow no love more pure and
warm than her own, and she expresses a conviction
that there is a ray within her "which,
though forbidden yet to shine," is nevertheless
lighted at the same ethereal fire as his own.--Finden,
_Byron Beauties_.
AH'RIMAN OR AHRIMA'NES (4 _syl_.), the angel of darkness and of evil
in the Magian system, slain by Mithra.
AIKWOOD (_Ringan_), the forester of sir Arthur Wardour, of
Knockwinnock Castle.--Sir W. Scott, _The Antiquary_.
AIMEE, the prudent sister, familiarly known as "the wise one" in
the Bohemian household described by Francis Hodgson Burnett in
_Vagabondia_ (1889).
AIM'WELL _(Thomas, viscount_), a gentleman of broken fortune, who pays
his addresses to Dorin'da, daughter of Lady Bountiful. He is very
handsome and fascinating, but quite "a man of the world." He and
Archer are the two beaux of _The Beaux' Stratagem_, a comedy by George
Farquhar (1705).
I thought it rather odd that Holland should be the only "mister" of
the party, and I said to myself, as Gibbet said when he heard that
"Aimwell" had gone to church, "That looks suspicions" (act ii. sc.
2).--James Smith, _Memoirs, Letters, etc_. (1840).
AIRCASTLE, in the _Cozeners_, by S. Foote. The original of this
rambling talker was Gahagan, whose method of conversation is thus
burlesqued:
_Aircastle_: "Did I not tell you what parson Prunello said? I
remember, Mrs. Lightfoot was by. She had-been brought to bed that
day was a month of a very fine boy--a bad birth; for Dr. Seeton, who
served his time with Luke Lancet, of Guise's.--There was also a talk
about him and Nancy the daughter. She afterwards married Will Whitlow,
another apprentice, who had great expectations from an old uncle in
the Grenadiers; but he left all to a distant relation, Kit Cable,
a midshipman aboard the _Torbay_. She was lost coming home in the
channel. The captain was taken up by a coaster from Eye, loaded with
cheese--" [Now, pray, what did parson Prunello say? This is a pattern
of Mrs. Nickleby's rambling gossip.]
AIR'LIE (_The earl of_), a royalist in the service of king Charles
I.--Sir W. Scott, _Legend of Montrose_.
AIRY (_Sir George_), a man of fortune, in love with Miran'da, the ward
of sir Francis Gripe.--Mrs. Centlivre, _The Busylody_ (1709).
A'JAX, son of Oïleus [_O.i'.luce_], generally called "the less." In
conseqnence of his insolence to Cassan'dra, the prophetic daughter of
Priam, his ship was driven on a rock, and he perished at sea.--Homer,
_Odyssey_, iv. 507; Virgil, _Æneid_, i. 41.
A'JAX TEL'AMON. Sophoclês has a tragedy called _Ajax_, in which "the
madman" scourges a ram he mistakes for Ulysses. His encounter with
a flock of sheep, which he fancied in his madness to be the sons of
Atreus, has been mentioned at greater or less length by several Greek
and Roman poets. Don Quixote had a similar adventure. This Ajax is
introduced by Shakespeare in his drama called _Troilus and Cressida._
(See ALIFANFARON).
The Tuscan poet [_Ariosto_] doth advance
The frantic paladin of France [_Orlando Furioso_];
And those more ancient [_Euripides_ and _Seneca_] do enhance
Alcidês in his fury [_Herculês Furens_];
And others, Ajax Telamon;--
But to this time there hath been none
So bedlam as our Oberon;
Of whom I dare assure you.
M. Drayton, _Nymphidia_ (1536-1631).
AJUT AND ANNINGAIT, in _The Rambler_.
Part, like Ajut, never to return.
Campbell, _Pleasures of Hope_, ii. (1799).
ALA'CIEL, the genius who went on a voyage to the two islands,
Taciturnia and Merry land [_London_ and _Paris_].--De la Dixmerie
_L'isle Taciturne et l'isle Enjouée, ou Voyage du Génie Alaciel dans
les deux Iles_ (1759).
ALADDIN, son of Mustafa, a poor tailor, of China, "obstinate,
disobedent, and mischievous," wholly abandoned "to indolence and
licentiousness." One day an African magician accosted him, pretending
to be his uncle, and sent him to bring up the "wonderful lamp," at the
same time giving him a "ring of safety." Aladdin secured the lamp,
but would not hand it to the magician till he was out of the cave,
whereupon the magician shut him up in the cave, and departed for
Africa. Aladdin, wringing his hands in despair, happened to rub the
magic ring, when the genius of the ring appeared before him, and asked
him his commands. Aladdin requested to be delivered from the cave, and
he returned home. By means of his lamp, he obtained untold wealth,
built a superb palace, and married Badroul'boudour, the sultan's
daughter. After a time, the African magician got possession of the
lamp, and caused the palace, with all its contents, to be transported
into Africa. Aladdin was absent at the time, was arrested and ordered
to execution, but was rescued by the populace, with whom he was an
immense favorite, and started to discover what had become of his
palace. Happening to slip, he rubbed his ring, and when the genius of
the ring appeared and asked his orders, was instantly posted to the
place where his palace was in Africa. He poisoned the magician,
regained the lamp, and had his palace restored to its original place
in China.
Yes, ready money is Aladdin's lamp.
Byron, _Don Juan_, xii. 12.
_Aladdin's Lamp_, a lamp brought from an underground cavern in "the
middle of China." Being in want of food, the mother of Aladdin began
to scrub it, intending to sell it, when the genius of the lamp
appeared, and asked her what were her commands. Aladdin answered, "I
am hungry; bring me food;" and immediately a banquet was set before
him. Having thus become acquainted with the merits of the lamp, he
became enormously rich, and married the sultan's daughter. By artifice
the African magician got possession of the lamp, and transported the
palace with its contents to Africa. Aladdin poisoned the magician,
recovered the lamp, and retranslated the palace to its original site.
_Aladdin's Palace Windows_. At the top of the palace was a saloon,
containing tweny-four windows (six on each side), and all but one
enriched with diamonds, rubies, and emeralds. One was left for the
sultan to complete, but all the jewellers in the empire were unable to
make one to match the others, so Aladdin commanded "the slaves of the
lamp" to complete their work.
_Aladdin's Ring_, given him by the African magician, "a preservative
against every evil."--_Arabian Nights_ ("Aladdin and the Wonderful
Lamp").
AL'ADINE, the sagacious but cruel king of Jerusalem, slain by
Raymond.--Tasso, _Jerusalem Delivered_ (1575).
_Al'adine_ (3 _syl_.), son of Aldus, "a lusty knight."--Spenser,
_Faëry Queen_, vi. 3 (1596).
ALAFF, ANLAF, or OLAF, son of Sihtric, Danish king of Northumberland
(died 927). When Aethelstan [_Athelstan_] took possession of
Northumberland, Alaff fled to Ireland, and his brother Guthfrith or
Godfrey to Scotland.
Our English Athelstan,
In the Northumbrian fields, with most victorious might,
Put Alaff and his powers to more inglorious flight.
Drayton, _Potyolbion_, xii. (1612).
ALAIN, cousin of Eos, the artist's wife, in _Desert Sands_, by Harriet
Prescott Spofford (1863).
ALAR'CON, king of Barca, who joined the armament of Egypt against
the crusaders, but his men were only half armed.--Tasso, _Jerusalem
Delivered_ (1575).
ALARIC COTTIN. Frederick the Great of Prussia was so called by
Voltaire. "Alaric" because, like Alaric, he was a great warrior, and
"Cottin" because, like Cottin, satirized by Boileau, he was a very
indifferent poet.
ALAS'CO, _alias_ DR. DEMETRIUS DOBOOBIE, an old astrologer, consulted
by the earl of Leicester.--Sir W. Scott, _Kenilworth_ (time,
Elizabeth).
ALAS'NAM (_Prince Zeyn_) possessed eight statues, each a single
diamond on a gold pedestal, but had to go in search of a ninth, more
valuable than them all. This ninth was a lady, the most beautiful and
virtuous of women, "more precious than rubies," who became his wife.
One pure and perfect _[woman]_ is ... like Alasnam's lady, worth them
all.--Sir Walter Scott.
_Alasnam's Mirror_. When Alasnam was in search of his ninth statue,
the king of the Genii gave him a test mirror, in which he was to
look when he saw a beautiful girl; "if the glass remained pure and
unsullied, the damsel would be the same, but if not, the damsel would
not be wholly pure in body and in mind." This mirror was called "the
touchstone of virtue."--_Arabian Nights_ ("Prince Zeyn Alasnam").
ALAS'TOR, a surname of Zeus as "the Avenger." Or, in general, any
deity or demon who avenges wrong done by man. Shelley wrote a poem,
_Alastor, or the Spirit of Solitude_.
Cicero says he meditated killing himself that he might become the
Alastor of Augustus, whom he hated.--Plutarch, _Cicero, etc._
("Parallel Lives.")
God Almighty mustered up an army of mice against the archbishop
[_Hatto_], and sent them to persecute him as his furious
Alastors.--Coryat, _Crudities_, 571.
AL'BAN (_St._) of Ver'ulam, hid his confessor, St. Am'phibal, and
changing clothes with him, suffered death in his stead. This was
during the frightful persecution of Maximia'nus Hercu'lius, general of
Diocle'tian's army in Britain, when 1000 Christians fell at Lichfield.
Alban--our proto-martyr called.
Drayton, _Polyolbion_, xxiv. [1622].
AL'BERICK OF MORTEMAR, the same as Theodorick the hermit of Engaddi,
an exiled nobleman. He tells king Richard the history of his life,
and tries to dissuade him from sending a letter of defiance to the
archduke of Austria.--Sir W. Scott, _The Talisman_ (time, Richard I.).
_Al' berick_, the squire of prince Richard, one of the sons of Henry
II. of England.--Sir W. Scott, _The Betrothed_ (time, Henry II.).
ALBERT, commander of the _Britannia_. Brave, liberal, and just,
softened and refined by domestic ties and superior information. His
ship was dashed against the projecting verge of Cape Colonna, the most
southern point of Attica, and he perished in the sea because Rodmond
(second in command) grasped one of his legs and could not be shaken
off.
Though trained in boisterous elements, his mind
Was yet by soft humanity refined;
Each joy of wedded love at home he knew,
Abroad, confessed the father of his crew....
His genius, ever for th' event prepared,
Rose with the storm, and all its dangers shared.
Falconer, _The Shipwreck_, i. 2 (1756).
_Albert_, father of Gertrude, patriarch and judge of Wyo'ming (called
by Campbell Wy'oming). Both Albert and his daughter were shot by a
mixed force of British and Indian troops, led by one Brandt, who made
an attack on the settlement, put all the inhabitants to the sword, set
fire to the fort, and destroyed all the houses.--Campbell, _Gertrude
of Wyoming_ (1809).
_Albert_, in Goethe's romance called _The Sorrows of Werther_, is
meant for his friend Kestner. He is a young German farmer, who married
Charlotte Buff (called "Lotte" in the novel), with whom Goethe was in
love. Goethe represents himself under the name of Werther (_q. v._).
ALBERT OF GEI'ERSTEIN (_Count_), brother of Arnold Biederman, and
president of the "Secret Tribunal." He sometimes appears as a
"black priest of St. Paul's," and sometimes as the "monk of St.
Victoire."--Sir W. Scott, _Anne of Geierstein_ (time, Edward IV.).
ALBERTAZ'ZO married Alda, daughter of Otho, duke of Saxony. His
sons were Ugo and Fulco. From this stem springs the Royal Family of
England.--Ariosto, _Orlando Furioso_ (1516).
ALBIA'ZAR, an Arab chief, who joins the Egyptian armament against the
crusaders.
A chief in rapine, not in knighthood bred. Tasso, _Jerusalem
Delivered_, xvii. (1575).
AL'BION. In legendary history this word is variously accounted for.
One derivation is from Albion, a giant, son of Neptune, its first
discoverer, who ruled over the island for forty-four years.
Another derivation is Al'bia, eldest of the fifty daughters of
Diocle'sian king of Syria. These fifty ladies all married on the same
day, and all murdered their husbands on the wedding night. By way of
punishment, they were cast adrift in a ship, unmanned, but the wind
drove the vessel to our coast, where these Syrian damsels disembarked.
Here they lived the rest of their lives, and married with the
aborigines, "a lawless crew of devils." Milton mentions this legend,
and naïvely adds, "it is too absurd and unconscionably gross to be
believed." Its resemblance to the fifty daughters of Dan'aos is
palpable.