LITERATURE 



365 



Knights of the Round Table. King Arthur's 

 night* were so called because they sat with him at a 

 round table made by Merlin for King Leodegraunce. 

 This king gave it to Arthur on his marriage with Guin- 

 evere, his daughter. 



K n i-ht 's Tale, The. Canterbury Tales* Chaucer. 

 Two Theban knights, Palamon and Arcite. captives of 

 Duke Theseus, used to see from their dungeon window 

 the duke's sister-in-law, Emily, and fell in love with her. 

 Both captives having gained their liberty, contended 

 for the lady by single combat. Arcite was victor, but 

 being thrown from his horse was killed, and Emily be- 

 came the bride of Palamon. 



Koppenberg. The mountain of Westphalia to 

 which the pieoT piper (Bunting) led the children, when 

 the people of Hamelin refused to pay him for killing 

 their rats. Browning's poem, "The Pied Piper," tells 



ale. 



K riem'hlld. A beautiful Burgundian lady, daughter 

 1 menu and sister of Guniher. She first married 

 ie<l, Kiim of the Netherlanders, and next Etzel, 

 King of the Huns. In the first part of the " Nibelungen- 

 Knetnhild brings ruin on herself by a tattling 

 tongue. In the second part of the great epic she is 

 represented as bent on vengeance, and after a most 

 terrible slaughter both of friends and foes, she is killed 



Idebrand. 



Kubla Khan. Coleridge says that he composed 

 the poem in a dream immediately after reading a descrip- 

 >f the Khan Kubla's palace, and he wrote it down 

 on awaking. 



Lacaedcmonian Letter. The smallest of all letters 

 (in Greek alpha t 



Laconic. Very concise and pithy. The name came 

 from the Spartan manner of curt speech. A Spartan 

 was called a Lacon from name of his country, Laconia. 



Lady-day. The twenty-fifth day of March, anni- 

 versary of the Annunciation. 



Lady of Lyons, The. Pauline Deschappelles. 

 daughter of a Lyonese merchant. She rejected the suits 

 of Beauseant. Glavis. and Claude Melnotte. who there- 

 fore combined. Claude, who was a gardener's son, aided 

 by the other two, passed himself off as Prince Como, 

 married Pauline, and brought her home to his mother's 

 cottage. The proud beauty was very indignant, and 

 Claude left her to join the French army. He became a 

 colonel, and returned to Lyons. He found his father- 

 in-law on the eve of bankruptcy, and that Beauseant had 

 promised to satisfy the creditors if Pauline would con- 

 sent to marry him. Pauline was heartbroken; Claude 

 revealed himself, paid the money required, and carried 

 home the bride. 



Lady of the Lake and Arthur's Sword. The Lady 

 of the Lake gave to King Arthur the sword "Excalibur." 

 She ordered King Arthur to sail out into the lake and 

 take the sword as they could see it rising in the water. 

 He sailed out with the knight and Merlin, came to the 

 word that a hand held up, and took it by the handles, 

 and the arm and hand went under the lake again. This 

 Lady of the Lake asked in recompense the head of Sir 

 i. because he had slain her brother; but the king 

 refused the request. Balin, who was present, exclnnm <1 



1 be ye found I Ye would have my head; tin 

 ye shall lose thine own." With his sword he smote off 

 her head in the presence of King Arthur. 



Lady of the Lake. This tmieh celebrated in the 

 poem of Sir Walter Scott, was Ellen Douglas, once a favor- 

 James; but when her father fell into disgrace, 

 the retired with him into the vicinity of Ixx-h Katrine. 



Latrado. The name of a city belongin: 

 of Laputa. Lagado is celebrated for its grand academy 

 f projectors, who try to extract sunbeams from cucum- 

 ber*. to calcine ice into gunpowder. In the description 

 of this fancied academy, Swift ridicules the pretender* 



ilosophy and science. 



Laer'tes wan the BOD of Polonius. tard-chamberlain 

 nmark. and brother of llainl-r* Moved OP 

 king persuade* him to challenge Hamlet. 

 !ia wander* in tin- .Us him out in "fricnd- 



!<!. I >ut poisons his own raptor. Hi- wound* Haml t 

 and in the scuffle which ensues, the combatants change 

 words, and Hamlet wounds Ijiertcw, so that both <lie 



Lake of the Cat. Name given to Lake Erie until 

 the last of the Seventeenth On tun 



Lampoon* A personal satire, often bitter and 

 malignant. Then,- hl>. K mm.--! t<. ,-\..-~ m th- t.-im > 

 Charles II.. acquired the name of lampoons from the 



lampone, camerada 



to be kept by an invalid officer who returned, crippled, 

 from the Boer War. The suggestion of the diary came 

 from a winning, tantalizing young widow, who cheen-d 

 the invalid by her amusing, paradoxical talk. The 

 i diarist and his sister Palestnna are true English types 

 quiet gentlefolk. 



Lamps of Sleep. A wonderful knight of a mythical 



, land had an equally wonderful Black Castle. In the 



i mansion of the Knight of the Black Castle were seven 



lamps, which could be quenched only with water from 



' an enchanted fountain. So long as these lamps kept 



burning, everyone within the room fell into a deep sleep. 



j from which nothing could rouse them. 



Land of Beulah. The paradise in which souls wait 

 before the resurrection. In "Pilgrim's Progress" the 

 land from which the pilgrims enter the Celestial City. 

 The name is found in Isaiah Ixii, 4. 

 . Land of Bondage. Name given to Egypt in the 

 Bible. 



Land of Cakes. A name sometimes given to Scot- 

 land, because oatmeal cakes are a common national 

 article of food, particularly among the poorer classes. 



Land of Nod. In common speech sleepy-land or 

 land of dreams. 



Land of Promise. The land promised to Abraham 

 I Canaan. 



Land of Shadows. A place of unreality, sometimes 

 meaning land of ghosts. 



Land o' the Leal. An unknown land of happiness, 

 loyalty, and virtue. Caroline Oliphant. Baroness 

 Nairne, meant heaven in her song and this is now ita- 

 accepted meaning. (Leal faithful, and "Land of the 

 leal f> means the land of the faithful.) 



Land of Wisdom. A name given to Normandy, 

 in France, because of the wise customs which have pre- 

 vailed there, and also because of the skill and judgment 

 of the people in making laws. 



Land of Veda. Name often given to India. 



Landlady's Daughter. She rowed Flemming 

 "over the Rhine-stream, rapid and roaring wide," and 

 told to him the story of the Liebenstem. 



Lantern-Land. The land of literary charlatans, 

 whose inhabitants, graduates in arts, doctors, professors, 

 and artists of all grades, waste time in displaying their 

 wonderful learning. The home of egotists. 



Lantern of Demosthenes. This edifice, in Athens, 

 stood in the street of the tripods, so called from the cir- 

 cumstance that in it were erected numerous tripods, 

 which had been obtained as prises in the musical or 

 theatrical contests. 



Laodlce'an. One indifferent to religion, like the 

 Christians of that Church mentioned in the Book of 

 Revelation. 



Laputa. The name of a flying island described by 

 Swift in ' (Julliver's Travels." It is said to be "exactly 

 circular, its diameter 7.837 yards, or about four mile* 

 and a half, and consequently contains ten thousand 

 acres." The inhabitants are chiefly speculative philoso- 

 phers, devoted to mathematics and music; and such i* 

 their habitual absent-mindedness, that they are com- 

 pelled to employ attendants called "flappers" to 

 rouse them from their profound meditations. This i 

 done by striking them gently on the mouth and ears uith 

 a peculiar instrument consisting of a blown bladder with 

 a tew pebbles in it. fastened on the end of a *tj 



Last of the M it'll leans. The Indian chief, Uncaa. 

 is so called by Cooper, in his novel of that title. 



Latltudlna'rlans. Persons who hold very loose 

 views of Divine inspiration and what are called orthodox 

 ,;,,,! rines. 



Laughing Philosopher, The. Democritus 

 Abdera, a celebrated philosopher of antiquity, con 

 porary with Socrates; so called because be mad* a jest 



IWJL and ..tn.KKl.... I!,- IP 



The Weeping Philosopher." 



Latin ( ..I. x, r . Steward of King Arthur. IVUwUnic 



over*, he retired to Garlyoun. and fell in love 



i lady named Tryamour. She gavr him an unfailing 



purse, and told him if he wished to *w her, be was to 



n.to A private room, and she would be with him. 



iunfal now returned to court, and excited murh 



non by his great wrlth. 



vane** to him. but he would not turn from the lad 

 be wa* devoted and lauded her praise*.. . At 



sung to them: "Lempone. lampone, camer 



Lake Port-. II... Wordsworth. Southey, and 

 r*>. who lived about the lakes of Cumberland. 



I>MC*S Diary. The provincial life <>f * little 

 HH*h village is reflected in this clever diary, sup 



tie of Ole'ron: and no one evw saw him 

 % James RuweU Low*ll hat a poem 

 i Vision of Sir Uunfsl." 



entitled "Tb 



le 



La'u'V An'offlcer *ppointed by tb* crown 



O&H , i. ., ; H , f pai i UMI .-.cnfioi.n 



