Chapter 216

Part 216

2 min read · 318 words

[12] Jacques-Louis David, a famous French painter (1748-1825). [13] Ali Pasha, “The Lion,” was born at Tepelini, an Albanian village at the foot of the Klissoura Mountains, in 1741. By diplomacy and success in arms he became almost supreme ruler of Albania, Epirus, and adjacent territory. Having aroused the enmity of the Sultan, he was proscribed and put to death by treachery in 1822, at the age of eighty.—Ed. [14] Greek militiamen in the war for independence.—Ed. [15] A Turkish pasha in command of the troops of a province.—Ed. [16] The god of fruitfulness in Grecian mythology. In Crete he was supposed to be slain in winter with the decay of vegetation and to revive in the spring. Haydée’s learned reference is to the behavior of an actor in the Dionysian festivals.—Ed. [17] The Genoese conspirator. [18] Lake Maggiore. [19] In the old Greek legend the Atreidae, or children of Atreus, were doomed to punishment because of the abominable crime of their father. The _Agamemnon_ of Aeschylus is based on this legend. [20] The performance of the civil marriage. [21] In Molière’s comedy, _Le Misanthrope_. [22] Literally, “the basket,” because wedding gifts were originally brought in such a receptacle. [23] Germain Pillon was a famous French sculptor (1535-1598). His best known work is “The Three Graces,” now in the Louvre. [24] Frédérick Lemaître—French actor (1800-1876). Robert Macaire is the hero of two favorite melodramas—“Chien de Montargis” and “Chien d’Aubry”—and the name is applied to bold criminals as a term of derision. [25] The Spahis are French cavalry reserved for service in Africa. [26] _Savate_: an old shoe. [27] Guilbert de Pixérécourt, French dramatist (1773-1844). [28] Gaspard Puget, the sculptor-architect, was born at Marseilles in 1615. [29] The Carolina—not Virginia—jessamine, _gelsemium sempervirens_ (properly speaking not a jessamine at all) has yellow blossoms. The reference is no doubt to the _Wistaria frutescens_.—Ed. [30] The miser in Molière’s comedy of _L’Avare_.—Ed.

Alexandre Dumas — text from Project Gutenberg (eBook #1184)

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