tournament.--Sir W. Scott, _Ivanhoe_ (time, Richard I.).
=Xan´adu=, a city mentioned by Coleridge in his fragment, _Kubla
Khan_. The idea of this poem is borrowed from the _Pilgrimage_ by
Purchas (1613), where Xanadu is called “Xaindu.” Coleridge says that
he composed the poem in a dream, after reading Purchas’ _Pilgrimage_.
=Xanthos=, the horse of Achillês. He spoke with a human voice, like
Balaam’s ass, Adrastos’s horse (Arīon), Fortunio’s horse (Comrade),
Mahomet’s “horse” (Al Borak), Sâleh’s camel, the dog of the seven
sleepers (Katmîr), the black pigeons of Dodona and Ammon, the king of
serpents (Temliha), the serpent which was cursed for tempting Eve, the
talking-bird called bulbul-hēzar, the little green bird of Princess
Fairstar, the White Cat _cum quibusdam aliis_.
The mournful Xanthus (says the bard of old)
Of Peleus’ warlike son the fortune told.
Peter Pindar [Dr. Wolcott], _The Lousiad_, v. (1809).
=Xantippe= (3 _syl._), wife of Socrătês; proverbial for a scolding,
nagging, peevish wife. One day, after storming at the philosopher, she
emptied a vessel of dirty water on his head, whereupon Socratês simply
remarked, “Aye, aye, we always look for rain after thunder.”
_Xantippe_ (3 _syl._), daughter of Cimo´nos. She preserved the life of
her old father in prison by suckling him. The guard marvelled that the
old man held out so long, and, watching for the solution, discovered
the fact.
Euphra´sia, daughter of Evander, preserved her aged father while in
prison in a similar manner. (See GRECIAN DAUGHTER.)
=Xavier= (_François_), Florentine priest, son of a cameo cutter, who
finds on the shore of Lake Superior an uncut onyx stone, called by
Black Beaver, the Indian owner, “the devil-stone.” Black Beaver will
not sell it, but his daughter, Marie, in love with Xavier, persuades
him to offer it to the Virgin. Xavier engraves upon it an exquisite
representation of Venus rising from the sea. Black Beaver, seeing his
daughter pining for love of Xavier, offers her to the chief priest of
the mission as Xavier’s wife, and learns that Romish priests cannot
marry. He drinks heavily all night, and the next day departs on a
journey “for stores.” That evening Marie, kneeling at prayer, sees
that the cameo has disappeared from the Virgin’s breast. Next day
François Xavier is found dead in the forest, an arrow in his heart.
When the shaft is withdrawn, the arrow-head remains in his bosom. A
century later, within the skeleton of a man exhumed near Starved Rock,
Illinois, is found a rarely beautiful cameo. “The uncanny thing
rattled within the white ribs.”--Elizabeth W. Champney, _The
Heartbreak Cameo_.
=Xavier de Belsunce= (_H. François_), immortalized by his
self-devotion in administering to the plague-stricken at Marseilles
(1720-22).
⁂ Other similar examples are Charles Borro´meo, cardinal and
archbishop of Milan (1538-1584). St. Roche, who died in 1327 from the
plague caught by him in his indefatigable labors in ministering to the
plague-stricken at Piacenza. Mompesson was equally devoted to the
people of Eyam. Sir John Lawrence, lord mayor of London, is less
known, but ought to be held in equal honor, for supporting 40,000
dismissed servants in the great plague.
=Xenoc´rates= (4 _syl._), a Greek philosopher. The courtezan Laïs made
a heavy bet that she would allure him from his philosophy; but after
she had tried all her arts on him without success, she exclaimed, “I
thought he had been a living man, and not a mere stone.”
Do you think I am Xenocrates, or like the Sultan with marble legs?
There you leave me tête-à-tête with Mrs. Haller, as if my heart were a
mere flint.--Benjamin Thompson, _The Stranger_, iv. 2 (1797).
=Xerxes denounced.=--See Plutarch, _Life of Themistoclês_, art.
“Sea-Fights of Artemisium and Salamis.”
Minerva on the bounding prow
Of Athens stood, and with the thunder’s voice
Denounced her terrors on their impious heads [_the Persians_].
And shook her burning ægis. Xerxes saw
From Heracle´um on the mountain’s height,
Throned in her golden ear, he knew the sign
Celestial, felt unrighteous hope forsake
His faltering heart, and turned his face with shame.
Akenside, _Hymn to the Naiads_ (1767).
=Xime´na=, daughter of Count de Gormez. The count was slain by the Cid
for insulting his father. Four times Ximēna demanded vengeance of the
king; but the king, perceiving that the Cid was in love with her,
delayed vengeance, and ultimately she married him.
=Xit=, the royal dwarf of Edward VI.
=Xury=, a Moresco boy, servant to Robinson Crusoe.--Defoe, _Adventures
of Robinson Crusoe_ (1719).
=Ya´hoo=, one of the human brutes subject to the Houyhnhnms
[_Whin.hims_], or horses possessed of human intelligence. In this tale
the horses and men change places; the horses are the chief and ruling
race, and man the subject.--Swift, _Gulliver’s Travels_ (1726).
=Yajûi and Majûj=, the Arabian form of Gog and Magog. Gog is a tribe
of Turks, and Magog of the Gilân (the Geli or Gelæ of Ptolemy and
Strabo). Al Beidâwi says they were man-eaters. Dhu´lkarnein made a
rampart of red-hot metal to keep out their incursions.
He said to the workmen, “Bring me iron in large pieces till it fill up
the space between these two mountains ... [_then_] blow with your
bellows till it make the iron red hot.” And he said further, “Bring me
molten brass that I may pour upon it.” When this wall was finished Gog
and Magog could not scale it, neither could they dig through it.--_Al
Korán_, xviii.
=Yakutsk=, in Siberia, affords an exact parallel to the story about
Carthage. Dido, having purchased in Africa as much land as could be
covered with a bull’s hide, ordered the hide to be cut into thin
slips, and thus enclosed land enough to build Byrsa upon. This Byrsa
(“bull’s hide”) was the citadel of Carthage, round which the city
grew.
So with Yakutsk. The settlers bought as much land as they could
encompass with a cow-hide, but, by cutting the hide into slips, they
encompassed enough land to build a city on.
=Yama=, a Hindû deity, represented by a man with four arms, riding on
a bull. He gave the horse to India.
Whether thou didst first spring from the firmament or from the water,
thy great birth, O horse, is to be glorified, inasmuch as thou hast
neighed, thou hast the wings of the falcon, thou hast the limbs of the
deer. Trita harnessed the horse which was given by Yama; Indra first
mounted him; Gandharba seized his reins. Vasus, you fabricated the
horse from the sun. Thou, O horse, art Yama; thou art Aditya; thou art
Trita; thou art Soma.--_The Rig Veda_, ii.
=Ya´men=, lord and potentate of Pandălon (_hell_).--_Hindû Mythology._
What worse than this hath Yamen’s hell in store?
Southey, _Curse of Kehama_, ii. (1809).
=Yar´ico=, a young Indian maiden with whom Thomas Inkle fell in love.
After living with her as his wife, he despicably sold her in Barbadoes
as a slave.
⁂ The story is told by Sir Richard Steele in _The Spectator_, 11; and
has been dramatized by George Colman under the title of _Inkle and
Yarico_ (1787).
=Yarrow= (_The Flower of_). Mary Scott was so called.
=Yathreb=, the ancient name of Medīna.
When a party of them said, “O, inhabitants of Yathreb, there is no
place of security for you here, wherefore return home;” a part of them
asked leave of the prophet to depart.--_Al Korân_, xxxiii.
=Yeardley= (_Lady_), an Englishwoman, living in the American colonies,
receives on Christmas Eve as a guest, an Indian, who brings his
four-year-old boy “to be made like English children.” The lady takes
her dark-skinned visitors to church next day, and a tumult arises that
the Indian father is a spy. A rush is made upon him, but Lady Yeardley
shields the chief, claiming him as her guest.
“They dropped, at her word, their weapons,
Half-shamed as the lady smiled,
And told them the red man’s story,
And showed them the red man’s child;
And pledged them her broad plantations,
That never would such betray
The trust that a Christian woman
Had shown on a Christmas-Day.”
Margaret Junkin Preston, _Lady Yeardley’s Guest_ (1887).
=Yellow Dwarf= (_The_), a malignant, ugly imp, who claimed the
Princess Allfair as his bride; and carried her off to Steel Castle on
his Spanish cat, the very day she was about to be married to the
beautiful king of the Gold-Mines. The king of the Gold-Mines tried to
rescue her, and was armed by a good siren with a diamond sword of
magic power, by which he made his way through every difficulty to the
princess. Delighted at seeing his betrothed, he ran to embrace her,
and dropped his sword. Yellow Dwarf, picking it up, demanded that
Gold-Mine should resign the lady, and, on his refusing to do so, slew
him with the magic sword. The princess, rushing forward to avert the
blow, fell dead on the body of her dying lover.
Yellow Dwarf was so called from his complexion and the orange tree he
lived in.... He wore wooden shoes, a coarse, yellow stuff jacket, and
had no hair to hide his large ears.--Comtesse D’Aunoy, _Fairy Tales_
(“The Yellow Dwarf,” 1682).
=Yellowley= (_Mr. Triptolemus_), the factor, an experimental
agriculturist of Stourburgh or Harfra.
_Mistress Baby_ or _Barbary Yellowley_, sister and housekeeper of
Triptolemus.
_Old Jasper Yellowley_, father of Triptolemus and Barbary.--Sir W.
Scott, _The Pirate_ (time, William III.).
=Yenadiz´ze=, an idler, a gambler; also an Indian fop.
With my nets you never help me;
At the door my nets are hanging.
Go and wring them, Yenadizze.
Longfellow, _Hiawatha_, vi. (1855).
=Yendys= (_Sydney_), the _nom de plume_ of Sydney Dobell (1824-1874).
⁂ “Yendys” is merely the word _Sydney_ reversed.
=Yeru´ti=, son of Quiāra and Monnĕma. His father and mother were of
the Guarāni race, and the only ones who escaped a small-pox plague
which infested that part of Paraguay. Yerūti was born after his
parents migrated to the Mondai woods, but his father was killed by a
jagŭar just before the birth of Mooma (his sister). When grown to
youthful age a Jesuit pastor induced the three to come and live at St.
Joăchin, where was a primitive colony of some 2000 souls. Here the
mother soon died from the confinement of city life. Mooma followed her
ere long to the grave. Yeruti now requested to be baptized, and no
sooner was the rite over, than he cried, “Ye are come for me! I am
quite ready!” and instantly expired.--Southey, _A Tale of Paraguay_
(1814).
=Yezad= or =Yezdam=, called by the Greeks Oroma´zês (4 _syl._), the
principle of good in Persian mythology, opposed to Ahriman or
Arimannis, the principle of evil. Yezad created twenty-four good
spirits, and, to keep them from the power of the evil one, enclosed
them in an egg; but Ahriman pierced the shell, and hence there is no
good without some admixture of evil.
=Ygerne= [_E-gern´_], wife of Gorloïs, lord of Tintag´il Castle, in
Cornwall. King Uther tried to seduce her, but Ygerne resented the
insult; whereupon Uther and Gorloïs fought, and the latter was slain.
Uther then besieged Tintagil Castle, took it, and compelled Ygerne to
become his wife. Nine months afterwards Uther died, and on the same
day was Arthur born.
Then Uther, in his wrath and heat, besieged
Ygerne within Tintagil ... and entered in ...
Enforced she was to wed him in her tears,
And with a shameful swiftness.
Tennyson, _Coming of Arthur_.
=Yguerne.= (See YGERNE.)
=Yn´iol=, an earl of decayed fortune, father of Enid. He was ousted
from his earldom by his nephew, Ed´yrn (son of Nudd), called “The
Sparrow-Hawk.” When Edyrn was overthrown by Prince Geraint, in single
combat, he was compelled to restore the earldom to his uncle. He is
described in the _Mabinogion_ as “a hoary-headed man, clad in tattered
garments.”--Tennyson, _Idylls of the King_ (“Enid”).
He says to Geraint: “I lost a great earldom as well as a city and
castle, and this is how I lost them: I had a nephew, ... and when he
came to his strength he demanded of me his property, but I withheld it
from him. So he made war upon me, and wrested from me all that I
possessed,”--_Mabinogion_ (“Geraint, the Son of Erbin,” twelfth
century).
=Yoglan= (_Zacharias_), the old Jew chemist, in London.--Sir W. Scott,
_Kenilworth_ (time, Elizabeth).
=Yohak=, the giant guardian of the caves of Babylon.--Southey,
_Thalaba, the Destroyer_, v. (1797).
=Yone=, bewitching heroine of Edward H. House’s story, “_A Child of
Japan_” (1888).
=Yone=, diminutive of Giorgione Willoughby, a self-willed, selfish,
fascinating woman, who deliberately allures her cousin’s lover away
from her, and finds when he has married her (Yone) that she has
dazzled his fancy, not won his heart.--Harriet Prescott Spofford, _The
Amber Gods_ (1863).
=Yor´ick=, the king of Denmark’s jester; “a fellow of infinite jest,
of most excellent fancy.”--Shakespeare, _Hamlet, Prince of Denmark_
(1596).
_Yorick_ (_Mr._) is the name used by the Rev. Laurence Sterne,
1713-1768, in _A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy_ (1768)
as that of the author. In his other book, _The Life and Opinions of
Mr. Tristram Shandy_ (1759), where the _Sentimental Journey_ appears,
as it were, in embryo, Yorick is the name of one of the principal
characters, and, as Sir Walter Scott remarks, “Yorick, the lively,
witty, sensible and heedless parson is--Sterne himself.” The name was
borrowed by Sterne from the Yorick of Shakespeare’s _Hamlet_.
=York= (_Geoffrey, archbishop of_), one of the high justiciaries of
England in the absence of Richard Cœur de Lion.--Sir W. Scott, _The
Talisman_ (time Richard I.).
_York_ (_James, duke of_), introduced by Sir W. Scott, in _Woodstock_
and in _Peveril of the Peak_.
=Yorke= (_Oliver_), pseudonym of Francis Sylvester Mahony, editor of
_Fraser’s Magazine_. It is still edited under the same name.
=Yorkshire Tragedy= (_The_), author unknown (1604), was at one time
printed with the name of Shakespeare.
=Young America.= J. G. Holland says: “What we call _Young America_ is
made up of about equal parts of irreverence, conceit, and that popular
moral quality familiarly known as _brass_.”
=Young Chevalier= (_The_), Charles Edward Stuart, grandson of James
II. He was the second pretender (1720-1788).
=Young England=, a set of young aristocrats, who tried to revive the
courtly manners of the Chesterfield school. They wore white
waistcoats, patronized the pet poor, looked down upon shopkeepers, and
were imitators of the period of Louis XIV. Disraeli has immortalized
their ways and manners.
=Young Germany=, a literary school, headed by Heinrich Heine
[_Hi.ny_], whose aim was to liberate politics, religion, and manners
from the old conventional trammels.
=Young Ireland=, followers of Daniel O’Connell in politics, but wholly
opposed to his abstention from war and insurrection in vindication of
“their country’s rights.”
=Young Italy=, certain Italian refugees, who associated themselves
with the French republican party, called the _Carbonnerie
Democratique_. The society was first organized at Marseilles by
Mazzini, and its chief object was to diffuse republican principles.
=Young Roscius=, William Henry West Betty. When only 12 years old he
made £34,000 in fifty-six nights. He appeared in 1803, and very wisely
retired from the stage in 1807 (1791-1874).
=Young-and-Handsome=, a beautiful fairy, who fell in love with
Alidōrus, “the lovely shepherd.” Mordicant, an ugly fairy, also loved
him, and confined him in a dungeon. Zephyrus loved Young-and-Handsome,
but when he found no reciprocity he asked the fairy how he could best
please her. “By liberating the lovely shepherd,” she replied.
“Fairies, you know, have no power over fairies, but you, being a god,
have full power over the whole race.” Zephyrus complied with this
request, and restored Alidorus to the Castle of Flowers, when
Young-and-Handsome bestowed on him perpetual youth, and married
him.--Comtesse D’Aunoy, _Fairy Tales_ (“Young-and-Handsome,” 1682).
=Youwarkee=, the name of the gawrey that Peter Wilkins married. She
introduced the seaman to Nosmnbdsgrsutt, the land of flying men and
women.--R. Pultock, _Peter Wilkins_ (1750).
=Ysaie le Triste= [_E.say´ lĕ Treest_], son of Tristram and Ysolde
(wife of King Mark of Cornwall). The adventures of this young knight
form the subject of a French romance called _Isaie le Triste_ (1522).
I did not think it necessary to contemplate the exploits ... with the
gravity of Isaie le Triste.--Dunlop.
=Ysolde= or =Ysonde= (2 _syl._), surnamed “The Fair,” daughter of the
king of Ireland. When Sir Tristram was wounded in fighting for his
uncle, Mark, he went to Ireland, and was cured by the Fair Ysolde. On
his return to Cornwall he gave his uncle such a glowing account of the
young princess that he was sent to propose offers of marriage, and to
conduct the lady to Cornwall. The brave young knight and the fair
damsel fell in love with each other on their voyage, and, although
Ysolde married King Mark, she retained to the end her love for Sir
Tristram. King Mark, jealous of his nephew, banished him from
Cornwall, and he went to Wales, where he performed prodigies of valor.
In time his uncle invited him back to Cornwall, but, the guilty
intercourse being renewed, he was banished a second time. Sir Tristram
now wandered over Spain, Ermonie, and Brittany, winning golden
opinions by his exploits. In Brittany he married the king’s daughter,
Ysolde or Ysonde _of the White Hand_, but neither loved her nor lived
with her. The rest of the tale is differently told by different
authors. Some say he returned to Cornwall, renewed his love with
Ysolde _the Fair_, and was treacherously stabbed by his uncle Mark.
Others say he was severely wounded in Brittany, and sent for his aunt,
but died before her arrival. When Ysolde _the Fair_ heard of his
death, she died of a broken heart, and King Mark buried them both in
one grave, over which he planted a rose bush and a vine.
=Ysolde= or =Ysonde= or =Ysolt= _of the White Hand_, daughter of the
king of Brittany. Sir Tristram married her for her _name’s_ sake, but
never loved her nor lived with her, because he loved his aunt, Ysolde
_the Fair_ (the young wife of King Mark), and it was a point of
chivalry for a knight to love only one woman, whether widow, wife, or
maid.
=Yuhid´thiton=, chief of the Az´tecas, the mightiest in battle and
wisest in council. He succeeded Co´anocot´zin (5 _syl._), as king of
the tribe, and led the people from the south of the Missouri to
Mexico.--Southey, _Madoc_ (1805).
=Yvetot= [_Eve.toe_], a town in Normandy; the lord of the town was
called _le roi d’Yvetot_. The tale is that Clotaire, son of Clovis,
having slain the lord of Yvetot before the high altar of Soissons,
made atonement to the heirs by conferring on them the title of _king_.
In the sixteenth century the title was exchanged for that of _prince
souverain_, and the whole fiction was dropped not long after. Béranger
has a poem called “Le Roi d’Yvetot,” which is understood to be a
satirical fling at the great Napoleon. The following is the first
stanza:
Il était un roi d’Yvetot
Peu connu dans l’histoire;
Se levant tard, se couchant tôt,
Dormant, fort bien sans gloire,
Et couronné par Jeanneton
D’un simple bonnet de coton.
Dit on:
Oh! oh! oh! oh! Ah! ah! ah! ah!
Quel bon petit roi c’etait; là! là! là!
Béranger.
It was a King of Yvetot
Whom few historians name;
A sleeper sound, a waker slow,
No dreams had he of fame.
By Betty’s hand with nightcap crown’d,
He snored in state the whole clock round
Profound.
Ha! ha! ha! ha! Ho! ho! ho! ho!
A Kingdom match for Yvetot!
Ho! ho!
=Ywaine and Gawin=, the English version of “Owain and the Lady of the
Fountain.” The English version was taken from the French of Chrestien
de Troyes (twelfth century), and was published by Ritson. The Welsh
tale is in the _Mabinogion_. There is also a German version by Hartman
von der Aue, a minnesinger (beginning of thirteenth century). There
are also Bavarian and Danish versions.
=Zabarell=, a learned Italian commentator on works connected with the
Aristotelian system of philosophy (1523-1589).
And still I held converse with Zabarell ...
Stufft noting-books; and still my spaniel slept.
At length he waked and yawned; and by yon sky
For aught I know, he knew as much as I.
Marston (died 1634).
=Zabidius=, the name in Martial for which “Dr. Fell” was substituted
by Tom Brown, when sent by the dean of Christ Church to translate the
lines;
Non amo te, Zabidi, nec possum dicere quare,
Hoc tantum possum dicere, non amo te.
I love thee not, Zabidius--
Yet cannot tell thee why;
But this I may most truly say,
I love thee not, not I.
Imitated thus:
I do not like thee, Dr. Fell--
The reason why, I cannot tell;
But this I know, and know full well,
I do not like thee, Dr. Fell.
Tom Brown (author of _Dialogues of the Dead_).
=Zab´ulon=, a Jew, the servant of Hippolyta, a rich lady wantonly in
love with Arnoldo. Arnoldo is contracted to the chaste Zeno´cia, who,
in turn, is basely pursued by the governor, Count Clo´dio.--Beaumont
and Fletcher, _The Custom of the Country_ (1647).
=Zab´ulus=, same as Diabolus.
Gay sport have we had to-night with Zabulus.
Lord Lytton, _Harold_, viii. (1850).
=Zaccoc´ia=, king of Mozambique, who received Vasco da Gama and his
crew with great hospitality, believing them to be Mahommedans; but
when he ascertained that they were Christians he tried to destroy
them.--Camoens, _Lusiad_, i., ii. (1569).
=Zacharia=, one of the three anabaptists who induced John of Leyden to
join the revolt of Westphalia and Holland. On the arrival of the
emperor, the anabaptists betrayed their dupe but perished with him in
the flames of the burning palace.--Meyerbeer, _Le Prophète_ (1849).
=Zadig=, the hero and title of a novel by Voltaire. Zadig is a wealthy
young Babylonian, and the object of the novel is to show that the
events of life are beyond human control.
=Zad´kiel= (3 _syl._), angel of the planet Jupiter.--_Jewish
Mythology._
_Zadkiel_, the pseudonym of Lieutenant Richard James Morrison, author
of _Prophetic Almanac_, _Handbook of Astrology_, etc.
=Zadoc=, in Dryden’s satire of _Absalom and Achitophel_, is Sancroft,
archbishop of Canterbury.
Zadoc, the priest whom, shunning power and place,
His lowly mind advanced to David’s grace.
Pt. i. (1681).
=Zadoc Pine=, man who makes a good living by attending to his own
business and disregarding the admonitions of “Trades Unions” and
officious wiseacres. “Man must earn his bread in the sweat of his
brow; but some men sweat inside o’ their heads, an’ some outside. I’m
workin’ my brain.”--H. C. Bunner, _Zadoc Pine_ (1891).
=Zaïde= (2 _syl._), a young slave who pretends to have been
ill-treated by Adraste (2 _syl._), and runs to Don Pèdre for
protection. Don Pèdre sends her into the house while he expostulates
with Adraste “for his brutality.” Now, Adraste is in love with
Isidore, a Greek slave kept by Don Pèdre, and when Zaïde is called
forth, Isidore appears, dressed in Zaïde’s clothes. “There,” says Don
Pèdre, “take her home and use her well.” “I will,” says Adraste, and
leads off Isidore.--Molière, _Le Sicilien_ ou _L’Amour Peintre_
(1667).
=Zaira=, the mother of Eva Wentworth. She is a brilliant Italian,
courted by de Courcy. When deceived by him she meditates suicide, but
forbears, and sees Eva die tranquilly, and the faithless de Courcy
perish of remorse.--Rev. C. R. Maturin, _Women_ (a novel, 1822).
=Zambullo= (_Don Cleophas Leandro Perez_), the person carried through
the air by Asmodēus to the steeple of St. Salvādor, and shown, in a
moment of time, the interior of every private dwelling
around.--Lesage, _The Devil on Two Sticks_ (1707).
Cleaving the air at a greater rate than Don Cleophas Leandro Perez
Zambullo and his familiar.--C. Dickens, _The Old Curiosity Shop_
(1840).