Part 41

Roderigo’s suspicious credulity and impatient submission to the cheats which he sees practised on him, and which, by persuasion, he suffers to be repeated, exhibit a strong picture of a weak mind betrayed by unlawful desires to a false friend.--Dr. Johnson.

=Rodilardus=, a huge cat, which attacked Panurge, and which he mistook for “a young, soft-chinned devil.” The word means “gnaw-lard” (Latin, _rodĕre lardum_).--Rabelais, _Pantagruel_, iv. 67 (1545).

⁂ The[TN-132] marquis de Carabas.” (See PUSS IN BOOTS.)

=Rodrigo=, king of Spain, conquered by the Moors. He saved his life by flight, and wandered to Guadaletê, where he begged food of a shepherd, and gave him in recompense his royal chain and ring. A hermit bade him, in penance, retire to a certain tomb full of snakes and toads, where, after three days, the hermit found him unhurt; so, going to his cell, he passed the night in prayer. Next morning, Rodrigo cried aloud to the hermit, “They eat me now; I feel the adder’s bite.” So his sin was atoned for, and he died.

⁂ This Rodrigo is Roderick, the last of the Goths.

_Rodrigo_, rival of Pe´dro, “the pilgrim,” and captain of a band of outlaws.--Beaumont and Fletcher, _The Pilgrim_ (1621).

=Rodri´go de Mondragon= (_Don_), a bully and tyrant, the self-constituted arbiter of all disputes in a tennis-court of Valladolid.

Don Rodrigo de Mondragon was about 30 years of age, of an ordinary make, but lean and muscular; he had two little twinkling eyes that rolled in his head, and threatened everybody he looked at; a very flat nose, placed between red whiskers that curled up to his very temples; and a manner of speaking so rough and passionate that his words struck terror into everybody.--Lesage, _Gil Bias_, ii. 5 (1715).

=Rodhaver=, the sweetheart of Zal, a Persian. Zal being about to scale her bower, she let down her long tresses to assist him, but Zal managed to fix his crook into a projecting beam, and thus made his way to the lady of his devotion.--Champion, _Ferdosi_.

=Rodman= (_Keeper, The_), an ex-colonel of the Federal army, who has become the keeper of a national cemetery at the south. “At sunrise, the keeper ran up the stars and stripes, and ... he had taken money from his own store to buy a second flag for stormy weather, so that, rain or not, the colors should float over the dead.... It was simply a sense of the fitness of things.” He deviates so far from his rule as to fall in love with a Southern girl, whose nearest relative he has nursed through his last illness. She despises him as a Yankee too much to suspect this; she will not even write her name as a visitor to the National Cemetery. She goes to Tennessee to teach school, and Rodman offers to buy the uprooted vines discarded by the new owner of her cottage. “Wuth about twenty-five cents, I guess,” said the Maine man, handing them over.--Constance Fenimore Woolson (1880).

=Rodmond=, chief mate of the _Brittania_, son of a Northumbrian, engaged in the coal trade; a hardy, weather-beaten seaman, uneducated, “boisterous of manners,” and regardless of truth, but tender-hearted. He was drowned when the ship struck on Cape Colonna, the most southern point of Attica.

Unskilled to argue, in dispute yet loud, Bold without caution, without honors proud, In art unschooled, each veteran rule he prized, And all improvement haughtily despised.

Falconer, _The Shipwreck_, i. (1756).

=Ro´dogune=, =Rhodogune=, or =Rho´dogyne= (3 _syl._), daughter of Phraa´tês, king of Parthia. She married Deme´trius Nica´nor (the husband of Cleopat´ra, queen of Syria) while in captivity.

⁂ P. Corneille has a tragedy on the subject entitled _Rodogune_ (1646).

=Rodolfo= (_Il conte_). It is in the bedchamber of this count that Ami´na is discovered the night before her espousal to Elvi´no. Ugly suspicion is excited, but the count assures the young farmer that Amina walks in her sleep. While they are talking Amina is seen to get out of a window and walk along a narrow edge of the mill-roof while the huge wheel is rapidly revolving. She crosses a crazy bridge, and walks into the very midst of the spectators. In a few minutes she awakens and flies to the arms of her lover.--Bellini, _La Sonnambula_ (opera, 1831).

=Rodomont=, king of Sarza or Algiers. He was Ulien’s son, and called the “Mars of Africa.” His lady-love was Dor´alis, princess of Grana´da, but she eloped with Mandricardo, king of Tartary. At Rogero’s wedding Rodomont accused him of being a renegade and traitor, whereupon they fought, and Rodomont was slain.--_Orlando Innamorato_ (1495); and _Orlando Furioso_ (1516).

Who so meek? I’m sure I quake at the very thought of him; why, he’s as fierce as Rodomont!--Dryden, _Spanish Fryar_, v. 2 (1680).

⁂ Rodomontade (4 _syl._), from Rodomont, a bragging although a brave knight.

=Rogel of Greece= (_The Exploits and Adventures of_), part of the series called _Le Roman des Romans_, pertaining to “Am´adis of Gaul.” This part was added by Feliciano de Silva.

=Roger=, the cook who “cowde roste, sethe, broille, and frie, make mortreux, and wel bake a pye.”--Chaucer, _Canterbury Tales_ (1388).

_Roger_ (_Sir_), curate to “The Scornful Lady” (no name given).--Beaumont and Fletcher, _The Scornful Lady_ (1616).

=Roger Armstrong=, clerical lover of Faith Gartney, and her preferred suitor.--A. D. T. Whitney, _Faith Gartney’s Girlhood_.

=Roger Bontemps=, the personation of contentment with his station in life, and of the buoyancy of good hope. “There’s a good time coming, John.”

Vous pauvres, pleins d’enviè; Vous rich, désireux; Vous dont le char dévie Après un cours heureux; Vous qui perdrez peut-être Des titres éclatans; Eh! gai! prenez pour maitre Le gros Roger Bontemps.

Béranger (1780-1856).

Ye poor, with envy goaded; Ye rich, for more who long; Ye who by fortune loaded Find all things going wrong; Ye who by some disaster See all your cables break; From henceforth, for your master Sleek Roger Bontemps take.

=Roger Chillingworth=, deformed husband of Hester Prynne. He returns to Boston from a long sojourn with the Indians, and sees his wife in the pillory with a baby--not his--in her arms. From that instant he sets himself to work to discover the name of her seducer, and, suspecting Arthur Dimmesdale, attaches himself to the oft-ailing clergyman as his medical attendant. He it is who first suspects the existence of the cancer that is devouring the young clergyman’s life, and when the horrible thing is revealed, kneels by the dying man with the bitter whisper, “Thou hast escaped me!”--Nathaniel Hawthorne, _The Scarlet Letter_ (1850).

=Roger de Coverley= (_Sir_), an hypothetical baronet of Coverley or Cowley, near Oxford.--Addison, _The Spectator_ (1711, 1712, 1714).

⁂ The prototype of this famous character was Sir John Pakington, seventh baronet of the line.

=Roge´ro=, brother of Marphi´sa; brought up by Atlantês, a magician. He married Brad´amant, the niece of Charlemagne. Rogero was converted to Christianity, and was baptized. His marriage with Bradamant and his election to the crown of Bulgaria concludes the poem.--Ariosto, _Orlando Furioso_ (1516).

Who more brave than Rodomont? who more courteous than Rogero?--Cervantês, _Don Quixote_, I. i. (1605).

_Rogero_, son of Roberto Guiscardo, the Norman. Slain by Tisaphernês.--Tasso, _Jerusalem Delivered_, xx. (1575).

_Rogero_ (3 _syl._), a gentleman of Sicilia.--Shakespeare, _The Winter’s Tale_ (1604).

⁂ This is one of those characters which appear in the _dramatis personæ_, but are never introduced in the play. Rogero not only does not utter a word--he does not even enter the stage all through the drama. In the Globe edition his name is omitted. (See VIOLENTA.)

=Rogers= (_Mr._), illiterate, tender-hearted, great-souled old father of _Louisiana_. When she begs his pardon for having been ashamed of, and having disowned him, he tells her, “It’s _you_ as should be a-forgivin’ _me_ ... I hadn’t done ye no sort o’ justice in the world, an’ never could.”--Frances Hodgson Burnett, _Louisiana_ (1880).

=Roget=, the pastoral name of George Wither in the four “eglogues” called _The Shepheards Hunting_ (1615). The first and last “eglogues” are dialogues between Roget and Willy, his young friend; in the second pastoral Cuddy is introduced, and in the third Alexis makes a fourth character. The subject of the first three is the reason of Roget’s imprisonment, which, he says, is a hunt that gave great offence. This hunt is in reality a satire called _Abuses Stript and Whipt_. The fourth pastoral has for its subject Roget’s love of poetry.

⁂ “Willy” is his friend, William Browne, of the Inner Temple (two years his junior), author of _Britannia’s Pastorals_.

=Roi Panade= (“_king of slops_”), Louis XVIII. (1755, 1814-1824).

=Roister Doister= (_Ralph_), a vain, thoughtless, blustering fellow, in pursuit of Custance, a rich widow, but baffled in his endeavor.--Nicholas Udall, _Ralph Roister Doister_ (the first English comedy, 1534).

=Rokesmith= (_John_), _alias_ JOHN HARMON, secretary of Mr. Boffin. He lodged with the Wilfers, and ultimately married Bella Wilfer. John Rokesmith is described as “a dark gentleman, 30 at the utmost, with an expressive, one might say, a handsome face.”--Dickens, _Our Mutual Friend_ (1864).

⁂ For solution of the mystery, see vol. I. ii. 13.

=Ro´land=, count of Mans and knight of Blaives. His mother, Bertha, was Charlemagne’s sister. Roland is represented as brave, devotedly loyal, unsuspicious, and somewhat too easily imposed npon.[TN-133] He was eight feet high, and had an open countenance. In Italian romance he is called Orlan´do. He was slain in the valley of Roncesvalles as he was leading the rear of his uncle’s army from Spain to France. Charlemagne himself had reached St. Jean Pied de Port at the time, heard the blast of his nephew’s horn, and knew it announced treachery, but was unable to render him assistance (A.D. 778).

Roland is the hero of Théroulde’s _Chanson de Roland_; of Turpin’s _Chronique_; of Bojardo’s _Orlando Innamorato_; of Ariosto’s _Orlando Furioso_; of Piccini’s opera called _Roland_ (1778); etc.

_Roland’s Horn_, Olivant or Olifant. It was won from the giant Jatmund, and might be heard at the distance of thirty miles. Birds fell dead at its blast, and the whole Saracen army drew back in terror when they heard it. So loud it sounded, that the blast reached from Roncesvallês to St. Jean Pied de Port, a distance of several miles.

Roland lifts Olifant to his month and blows it with all his might. The mountains around are lofty, but high above them the sound of the horn arises [_at the third blast, it split in twain_].--_Song of Roland_ (as sung by Taillefer, at the battle of Hastings). See Warton, _History of English Poetry_, v. I, sect. iii. 132 (1781).

_Roland’s Horse_, Veillantif, called in Italian _Velian´tino_ (“the little vigilant one”).

In Italian romance, Orlando has another horse, called Brigliado´ro (“golden bridle”).

_Roland’s Spear._ Visitors are shown a spear in the cathedral of Pa´via, which they are told belonged to Roland.

_Roland’s Sword_, Duran´dal, made by the fairies. To prevent its falling into the hands of the enemy, when Roland was attacked in the valley of Roncesvallês, he smote a rock with it, and it made in the solid rock a fissure some 300 feet in depth, called to this day _La Brêche de Roland_.

Then would I seek the Pyrenean breach, Which Roland clove with huge two-handed sway, And to the enormous labor left his name.

Wordsworth.

⁂ A sword is shown at Rocamadour, in the department of Lot (France), which visitors are assured was Roland’s _Durandal_. But the romances says that Roland, dying, threw his sword into a poisoned stream.

_Death of Roland._ There is a tradition that Roland escaped the general slaughter in the defile of Roncesvallês, and died of starvation while trying to make his way across the mountains.--John de la Bruiere Champier, _De Cibaria_, xvi. 5.

_Died like Roland_, died of thirst.

Nonnulli qui de Gallicis rebus historias conscripserunt, non dubitarunt posteris significare Rolandum Caroli illius magni sororis filium, verum certe bellica gloria omnique fortitudine nobillissimum, post ingentem Hispanorum cædem prope Pyrenæi saltus juga, ubi insidiæ ab hoste collocatæ fuerint, siti miserrime extinctum. Inde nostri intolerabili siti et immiti volentes significare se torqueri, facete aiunt “Rolandi morte se perire.”--John de la Bruiere Champier, _De Cibaria_, xvi. 5.

_Roland_ (_The Roman_). Sicinius Dentātus is so called by Niebuhr. He is not unfrequently called “The Roman Achillês” (put to death B.C. 450).

=Roland Blake.= Hero of a war-novel of the same name.--Silas Weir Mitchell, M.D. (1886).

=Roland and Oliver=, the two most famous of the twelve paladins of Charlemagne. To give a “Roland for an Oliver” is to give tit for tat, to give another as good a drubbing as you receive.

Froissart, a countryman of ours [_the French_] records, England all Olivers and Rowlands bred During the time Edward the Third did reign.

Shakespeare, 1 _Henry VI._ act i. sc. 2 (1589).

=Roland de Vaux= (_Sir_), baron of Triermain, who wakes Gyneth from her long sleep of 500 years, and marries her.--Sir W. Scott, _Bridal of Triermain_ (1813).

=Rolando= (_Signor_), a common railer against women, but brave, of a “happy wit and independent spirit.” Rolando swore to marry no woman, but fell in love with Zam´ora, and married her, declaring “that she was no woman, but an angel.”--J. Tobin, _The Honeymoon_ (1804).

The resemblance between Rolando and Benedick will instantly occur to the mind.

=Rolandseck Tower=, opposite the Drachenfels. Roland was engaged to Aude, daughter of Sir Gerard and Lady Guibourg; but the lady, being told that Roland had been slain by Angoulaffre, the Saracen, retired to a convent. The paladin returned home full of glory, having slain the Saracen, and when he heard that his lady-love had taken the veil, he built Rolandseck Castle, which overlooks the convent, that he might at least _see_ the lady to whom he could never be united. After the death of Aude, Roland “sought the battle-field again, and fell at Roncevall.”--Campbell, _The Brave Roland_.

=Roldan=, “El encantado,” Roldan made invulnerable by enchantment. The cleft “Roldan,” in the summit of a high mountain in the kingdom of Valencia, was so called because it was made by a single back-stroke of Roldan’s sword. The character is in two Spanish romances, authors unknown.--_Bernardo del Carpio_ and _Roncesvalles_.

This book [_Rinaldo de Montalban_], and all others written on French matters, shall be deposited in some dry place ... except one called _Bernardo del Carpio_, and another called _Roncesvalles_, which shall certainly accompany the rest on the bonfire.--Cervantes, _Don Quixote_, I. i. 6 (1605).

=Rolla=, kinsman of the Inca Atali´ba, and the idol of the army. “In war a tiger chafed by the hunters’ spears; in peace more gentle than the unweaned lamb” (act i. 1). A firm friend and most generous foe. Rolla is wounded in his attempt to rescue the infant child of Alonzo from the Spaniards, and dies. His grand funeral procession terminates the drama.--Sheridan, _Pizarro_ (altered from Kotzebue, 1799).

=Rolleston= (_General_), father of Helen, in _Foul Play_, by Charles Reade.

=Rollo=, duke of Normandy, called “The Bloody Brother.” He caused the death of his brother, Otto, and slew several others, some out of mere wantonness.--Beaumont and Fletcher, _The Bloody Brother_ (1639).

=Rollo=, boy who is the hero of Jacob Abbott’s celebrated and delightful “_Rollo Books_,” embracing _Rollo Learning to Read_, _Rollo Learning to Work_, _Rollo at School_, _Rollo’s Vacation_, etc., etc. (1840-1857).

=Roman= (_The_), Jean Dumont, the French painter, _Le Romain_ (1700-1781).

Stephen Picart, the French engraver, _Le Romain_ (1631-1721).

Giulio Pippi, called _Giulio Romano_ (1492-1546).

Adrian von Roomen, mathematician, _Adriānus Romānus_ (1561-1615).

=Roman Achillês=, Sicinius Dentātus (slain R.C.[TN-134] 450).

=Roman Brevity.= Cæsar imitated laconic brevity when he announced to Amintius his victory at Zela, in Asia Minor, over Pharna´cês, son of Mithridatês; _Veni, vidi, vici._

_Poins._ I will imitate the honorable Roman in brevity.--Shakespeare, 2 _Henry IV._ act ii. sc. 2 (1598).

Sir Charles Napier is credited with a far more laconic despatch, on making himself master of Scinde, in 1843. Taking possession of Hyderabad, and outflanking Shere Mohammed by a series of most brilliant manœuvres, he is said to have written home this punning despatch: _Peccāvi_ (“I have sinned” [Scinde]).

=Roman Father= (_The_), Horatius, father of the Horatii and of Horatia. The story of the tragedy is the well-known Roman legend about the Horatii and Curiatii. Horatius rejoices that his three sons have been selected to represent Rome, and sinks the affection of the father in love for his country. Horatia is the betrothed of Caius Curiatius, but is also beloved by Valerius, and when the Curiatii are selected to oppose her three brothers, she sends Valerius to him with a scarf, to induce him to forego the fight. Caius declines, and is slain. Horatia is distracted; they take from her every instrument of death, and therefore she resolves to provoke her surviving brother, Publius, to kill her. Meeting him in his triumph, she rebukes him for murdering her lover, scoffs at his “patriotism,” and Publius kills her. Horatius now resigns Publius to execution for murder, but the king and Roman people rescue him.--W. Whitehead (1741).

⁂ Corneille has a drama on the same subject, called _Les Horaces_ (1639).

=Roman des Romans= (_Le_), a series of prose romances connected with Am´adis, of Gaul. So called by Gilbert Saunier.

=Romans= (_Last of the_), Rienzi, the tribune (1310-1354).

Charles James Fox (1749-1806).

Horace Walpole, _Ultimus Romanorum_ (1717-1797).

Caius Cassius was so called by Brutus.

The last of all the Romans, fare thee well! It is impossible that ever Rome Should breed thy fellow.

Shakespeare, _Julius Cæsar_, act v. sc. 3. (1607).

_Romans_ (_Most Learned of the_), Marcus Terentius Varro (B.C. 116-28).

=Romance of the Rose=, a poetical allegory, begun by Guillaume di Lorris in the latter part of the thirteenth century, and continued by Jean de Meung in the former half of the fourteenth century. The poet dreams that Dame Idleness conducts him to the palace of Pleasure, where he meets Love, whose attendant maidens are Sweet-looks, Courtesy, Youth, Joy, and Competence, by whom he is conducted to a bed of roses. He singles out one, when an arrow from Love’s bow stretches him fainting on the ground, and he is carried off. When he comes to himself, he resolves, if possible, to find his rose, and Welcome promises to aid him; Shyness, Fear, and Slander obstruct him; and Reason advises him to give up the quest. Pity and Kindness show him the object of his search; but Jealousy seizes Welcome, and locks her in Fear Castle. Here the original poem ends. The sequel, somewhat longer than the twenty-four books of Homer’s _Iliad_, takes up the tale from this point.

=Roma´no=, the old monk who took pity on Roderick in his flight (viii.), and went with him for refuge to a small hermitage on the sea-coast, where they remained for twelve months, when the old monk died.--Southey, _Roderick, The Last of the Goths_, i., ii. (1841).

=Rome Does= (_Do as_). The saying originated with Saint Ambrose (fourth century). It arose from the following diversity in the observance of Saturday:--The Milanese make it a feast, the Romans a fast. St. Ambrose, being asked what should be done in such a case, replied, “In matters of indifference, it is better to be guided by the general usage. When I am at Milan, I do not fast on Saturdays, but when I am at Rome, I do as they do at Rome.”

=Rome Saved by Geese.= When the Gauls invaded Rome, a detachment in single file scaled the hill on which the capitol stood, so silently that the foremost man reached the summit without being challenged; but while striding over the rampart, some sacred geese were disturbed, and by their cackle aroused the guard. Marcus Manlius rushed to the wall, and hustled the Gaul over, thus saving the capitol.

A somewhat parallel case occurred in Ireland in the battle of Glinsaly, in Donegal. A party of the Irish would have surprised the Protestants if some wrens had not disturbed the guards by the noise they made in hopping about the drums and pecking on the parchment heads.--Aubrey, _Miscellanies_, 45.

=Ro´meo=, a son of Mon´tague (3 _syl._), in love with Juliet, the daughter of Cap´ulet; but between the houses of Montague and Capulet there existed a deadly feud. As the families were irreconcilable, Juliet took a sleeping draught, that she might get away from her parents and elope with Romeo. Romeo, thinking her to be dead, killed himself; and when Juliet awoke and found her lover dead, she also killed herself.--Shakespeare, _Romeo and Juliet_ (1598).

=Romeo and Juliet=, a tragedy by Shakespeare (1598). The tale is taken from _Rhomeo and Julietta_, a novel by Boisteau, in French, borrowed from an Italian story by Bandello (1554).

In 1562 Arthur Brooke produced the same tale in verse, called _The Tragicall History of Romeus and Juliet_. In 1567 Painter published a prose translation of Boisteau’s novel.

=Romola=, superb woman, high-spirited, pure and single of heart, the idol and co-laborer of her scholarly father. She wrecks her life by the marriage with the fascinating Greek, Tito Melema.--George Eliot, _Romola_.

=Romp= (_The_), a comic opera altered from Bickerstaff’s _Love in the City_. Priscilla Tomboy is “the romp,” and the plot is given under that name.

A splendid portrait of Mrs. Jordan, in her character of “The Romp,” hung over the mantelpiece in the dining-room [_of Adolphus Fitzclarence_].--Lord W. P. Lennox, _Celebrities, etc._, i. 11.

=Rom´uald= (_St_).[TN-135] The Catalans had a great reverence for a hermit so called, and hearing that he was about to quit their country, called together a parish meeting, to consult how they might best retain him amongst them, “For,” said they, “he will certainly be consecrated, and his relics will bring a fortune to us.” So they agreed to strangle him; but their intention being told to the hermit, he secretly made his escape.--St. Foix, _Essais Historiques sur Paris_, v. 163.

⁂ Southey has a ballad on the subject.

=Romulus= (_The Second and Third_), Camillus and Marĭus. Also called “The Second and Third Founders of Rome.”

=Romulus and Remus=, the twin sons of Silvia, a vestal virgin, and the god Mars. The infants were exposed in a cradle, and the floods carried the cradle to the foot of the Palatine. Here a wolf suckled them, till one Faustulus, the king’s shepherd, took them to his wife, who brought them up. When grown to manhood, they slew Amulius, who had caused them to be exposed.

The Greek legend of Tyro is in many respects similar. This Tyro had an amour with Poseidon (as Silvia had with Mars), and two sons were born in both cases. Tyro’s mother-in-law confined her in a dungeon, and exposed the two infants (Pelias and Neleus) in a boat on the river Enīpeus (3 _syl._). Here they were discovered and brought up by a herdsman (Romulus and Remus were brought up by a shepherd), and when grown to manhood, they put to death their mother-in-law, who had caused them to be exposed (as Romulus and Remus put to death their great-uncle, Amulius).

=Ron=, the ebony spear of Prince Arthur.

The temper of his sword, the tried Excalibor, The bigness and the length of Rone his noble spear, With Pridwin his great shield.

Drayton, _Polyolbion_, iv. (1612).

=Ronald= (_Lord_), in love with Lady Clare, to whom he gave a lily-white doe. The day before the wedding nurse Alice told Lady Clare she was not “Lady Clare” at all, but her own child. On hearing this, she dressed herself as a peasant girl, and went to Lord Ronald to release him from his engagement. Lord Ronald replied, “If you are not the heiress born, we will be married to-morrow, and you shall still be Lady Clare.”--Tennyson, _Lady Clare_.

=Ronaldson= (_Neil_), the old ranzelman of Jarlshof (ch. vii.).--Sir W. Scott, _The Pirate_ (time William III.).

=Rondib´ilis=, the physician consulted by Panurge, on the knotty question, “whether he ought to marry, or let it alone.”--Rabelais, _Pantagruel_ (1545).

⁂ This question, which Panurge was perpetually asking every one, of course refers to the celibacy of the clergy.