LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. (continued 10)

280⁂ In the English version, called The Cheats of Scapin, by Thomas Otway, Zerbinette is called “Lucia,” her father, Argante, is called “Thrifty,” Léandre is Anglicized into “Leander,” Géronte becomes “Gripe” and the sum of money is £200.

Zerbi´no, son of the king of Scotland, and intimate friend of Orlando.--Ariosto, Orlando Furioso (1516).

Zerli´na, a rustic beauty, about to be married to Massetto, when Don Giovanni allures her away under the promise of making her a fine lady.--Mozart, Don Giovanni (opera, 1787).

Zerlina, in Auber’s opera of Fra Diavolo (1830).

Zesbet, daughter of the sage Oucha, of Jerusalem. She had four husbands at the same time, viz., Abdal Motallab (the sage), Yaarab (the judge), Abou´teleb (a doctor of law), and Temimdari (a soldier). Zesbet was the mother of the Prophet Mahomet. Mahomet appeared to her before his birth, in the form of a venerable old man, and said to her:

“You have found favor before Allah. Look upon me; I am Mahomet, the great friend of God, he who is to enlighten the earth. Thy virtues, Zesbet, and thy beauty have made me prefer thee to all the daughters of Mecca. Thou shalt for the future be named Aminta [sic].” Then, turning to the husbands, he said, “You have seen me; she is yours, and you are hers. Labor then with a holy zeal to bring me into the world to enlighten it. All men who shall follow the law which I shall preach may have four wives; but Zesbet shall be the only woman who shall be lawfully the wife of four husbands at once. It is the least privilege I can grant the woman of whom I choose to be born.”--Comte Caylus, Oriental Tales (“History of the Birth of Mahomet,” 1743).

(The mother of Mahomet is generally called Amina, not Aminta.)

Zethus, son of Jupiter and Antiope.

Zeus (1 syl.), the Greek Jupĭter. The word was once applied to the blue firmament, the upper sky, the arch of light; but in Homeric mythology Zeus is king of gods and men; the conscious embodiment of the central authority and administrative intelligence which holds states together; the supreme ruler; the sovereign source of law and order; the fountain of justice, and final arbiter of disputes.

Zeuxis and Parrhas´ios. In a contest of skill Zeuxis painted some grapes so naturally that birds pecked at them. Confident of success, Zeuxis said to his rival, “Now let Parrhasios draw aside his curtain, and show us his production.” “You behold it already,” replied Parrhasios, “the curtain is the picture.” Whereupon, the prize was awarded to him, for Zeuxis had deceived the birds, but Parrhasios had deceived Zeuxis.

Myron’s statue of a cow was mistaken by a herd of bulls for a living animal; and Apellês’s painting of the horse Bucephalos deceived several mares, who ran about it neighing.

Quintin Matsys, of Antwerp, fell in love with Lisa, daughter of Johann Mandyn; but Mandyn vowed his daughter should marry only an artist. Matsys studied painting, and brought his first picture to show Lisa. Mandyn was not at home, but had left a picture of his favorite pupil, Frans Floris, representing the “fallen angels,” on the easel. Quintin painted a bee on an outstretched leg, and when Mandyn returned he tried to brush it off, whereupon the deception was 281discovered. The old man’s heart was moved, and he gave Quintin his daughter in marriage, saying, “You are a true artist, greater than Johann Mandyn.” The painting is in Antwerp Cathedral.

Velasquez painted a Spanish admiral so true to life that King Philip IV., entering the studio, thought the painting was the admiral, and spoke to it as such, reproving the supposed officer for being in the studio wasting his time, when he ought to have been with the fleet.

Zillah, beloved by Hamuel, a brutish sot. Zillah rejected his suit, and Hamuel vowed vengeance. Accordingly, he gave out that Zillah had intercourse with the devil, and she was condemned to be burnt alive. God averted the flames, which consumed Hamuel, but Zillah stood unharmed, and the stake to which she was bound threw forth white roses, “the first ever seen on earth since paradise was lost.”--Southey. (See Rose.)

Zimmerman (Adam), the old burgher of Soleure, one of the Swiss deputies to Charles “the Bold” of Burgundy.--Sir W. Scott, Anne of Geierstein (time, Edward IV.).

Zim´ri, one of the six Wise Men of the East led by the guiding star to Jesus.

Zimri taught the people, but they treated him with contempt; yet, when dying, he prevailed on one of them, and then expired.--Klopstock, The Messiah, v. (1771).

Zimri, in Dryden’s satire of Absalom and Achitophel, is the second duke of Buckingham. As Zimri conspired against Asa, king of Judah, 1 Kings, xvi. 9, so the duke of Buckingham “formed parties and joined factions.”

Some of the chiefs were princes in the land:

In the first rank of these did Zimri stand--

A man so various that he seemed to be

Not one, but all mankind’s epitomê;

Stiff in opinion, always in the wrong,

Was everything by turns, and nothing long.

Pt. i. (1681).

Zine´bi (Mohammed), king of Syria, tributary to the caliph Haroun-al-Raschid; of very humane disposition.--Arabian Nights (“Ganem, the Slave of Love”).

Zineu´ra, in Boccaccio’s Decameron (day 11, Nov. 9), is the “Imogen” of Shakespeare’s Cymbeline. She assumed male attire with the name of Sicurano da Finalê (Imogen assumed male attire and the name Fidelê); Zineura’s husband was Bernard Lomellin, and the villain was Ambrose (Imogen’s husband was Posthŭmus Leonātus, and the villain Iachimo). In Shakespeare, the British king Cymbeline takes the place assigned by Boccaccio to the sultan.

Ziska or Zizka, John of Trocznov, a Bohemian nobleman, leader of the Hussites. He fought under Henry V. at Agincourt. His sister had been seduced by a monk; and whenever he heard the shriek of a Catholic at the stake, he called it “his sister’s bridal song.” The story goes that he ordered his skin at death to be made into a drum-head (1360-1427).

⁂ Some say that John of Trocznov was called “Ziska” because he was “one-eyed;” but that is a mistake--Ziska was a family name, and does not mean “one-eyed,” either in the Polish or Bohemian language.

For every page of paper shall a hide

Of yours be stretched as parchment on a drum

Like Ziska’s skin, to beat alarm to all

Refractory vassals.

Byron, Werner, i. (1822).

282But be it as it is, the time may come

His name [Napoleon’s] shall beat th’ alarm like Ziska’s drum.

Byron, Age of Bronze, iv. (1819).

Zobeide [Zo-bay´de], half-sister of Amīnê. She had two sisters, who were turned into little black dogs by way of punishment for casting Zobeidê and the prince from the petrified city into the sea. Zobeidê was rescued by the fairy serpent, who had metamorphosed the two sisters, and Zobeidê was enjoined to give the two dogs a hundred lashes every day. Ultimately, the two dogs were restored to their proper forms, and married two calenders, sons of kings; Zobeidê married the Caliph Haroun-al-Raschid; and Aminê was restored to Amin, the caliph’s son, to whom she was already married.--Arabian Nights (“History of Zobeidê”).

While the caliph was absent from Bagdad, ZobeidêZobeidê caused his favorite (named Fetnab) to be buried alive, for which she was divorced.--Arabian Nights (“Ganem, the Slave of Love”).

Zohak, the giant who keeps the “mouth of hell.” He was the fifth of the Pischdadian dynasty, and was a lineal descendant of Shedâd, king of Ad. He murdered his predecessor, and invented both flaying men alive and killing them by crucifixion. The devil kissed him on the shoulders, and immediately two serpents grew out of his back and fed constantly upon him. He was dethroned by the famous blacksmith of Ispahan´, and appointed by the devil to keep hell-gate.--D’Herbelot, Bibliothèque Orientale (1697).

Zohara, the queen of love, and mother of mischief. When Harût and Marût were selected by the host of heaven to be judges on earth, they judged righteous judgment till Zohara, in the shape of a lovely woman, appeared before them with her complaint. They then both fell in love with her and tried to corrupt her, but she flew from them to heaven; and the two angel-judges were for ever shut out.

The Persian Magi have a somewhat similar tradition of these two angels, but add that after their “fall,” they were suspended by the feet, head downwards, in the territory of Babel.

The Jews tell us that Shamhozai, “the judge of all earth,” debauched himself with women, repented, and by way of penance was suspended by the feet, head downwards, between heaven and earth.--Bereshit rabbi (in Gen. vi. 2).

Zohauk, the Nubian slave; a disguise assumed by Sir Kenneth.--Sir W. Scott, The Talisman (time, Richard I.).

Zoilos (in Latin Zoïlus), a grammarian, witty, shrewd and spiteful. He was nicknamed “Homer’s Scourge” (Homēro-mastix), because he assailed the Iliad and Odyssey with merciless severity. He also flew at Plato, Isoc´ratês, and other high game.

The Sword of Zoïlos, the pen of a critic.

Zoilus. J. Dennis, the critic whose attack on Pope produced The Dunciad, was so called (1657-1733).

Zoleikha (3 syl.), Potiphar’s wife.--Sale, Al Korân, xii. (note).

Zophiel [Zo.fel], “of cherubim the swiftest wing.” The word means “God’s spy.” Zophiel brings word to the heavenly host that the rebel crew are preparing a second and fiercer attack.

283Zophiel, of cherubim the swiftest wing,

Came flying, and in mid-air aloud thus cried:

“Arm, warriors, arm for fight.”

Milton, Paradise Lost (1665).

Zorai´da (3 syl.), a Moorish lady, daughter of Agimora´to, the richest man in Barbary. On being baptized she had received the name of Maria; and, eloping with a Christian captive, came to Andalusi´a.--Cervantes, Don Quixote, I. iv. 9-11 (“The Captive,” 1605).

Zorphee (2 syl.), a fairy in the romance of Amadis de Gaul (thirteenth century).

Zosimus, the patriarch of the Greek Church.--Sir W. Scott, Count Robert of Paris (time, Rufus).

Zuleika [Zu.lee´.kah], daughter of Giaffer [Djaf´fir], pacha of Aby´dos. Falling in love with Selim, her cousin, she flees with him, and promises to be his bride; but the father tracks the fugitives and shoots Selim, whereupon Zuleika dies of a broken heart.--Byron, Bride of Abydos (1813).

Never was a faultless character more delicately or more justly delineated than that of Lord Byron’s “Zuleika.” Her piety, her intelligence, her strict sense of duty, and her undeviating love of truth, appear to have been originally blended in her mind, rather than inculcated by education. She is always natural, always attractive, always affectionate; and it must be admitted that her affections are not unworthily bestowed.--George Ellis.

Zulichium (The enchanted princess of), in the story told by Agelastes, the cynic, to Count Robert.--Sir W. Scott, Count Robert of Paris (time, Rufus).

Zulzul, the sage whose life was saved in the form of a rat by Gedy, the youngest of the four sons of Corcud. Zulzul gave him, in gratitude, two poniards, by the help of which he could climb the highest tree or most inaccessible castle.--Gueulette, Chinese Tales (“Corcud and His Four Sons,” 1723).1723).

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