NYE 



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NYMPHS 



NYE, ni, EDGAR WILSON (1850-1896), an 

 American humorist, popularly known by lii> 

 pen name, BILL NYE. When he was two years 

 old his parents removed from Shirley, Me., his 

 birthplace, to a farm in northern Wisconsin, 

 where the boy attended the River Falls Acad- 

 emy and fitted himself to be a lawyer. He was 

 admitted to the bar in 1876 at Laramie, Wyo., 

 and in that place he served as postmaster, jus- 

 tice of the peace, superintendent of schools and 

 a member of the city council. He became 

 widely known through his witty newspaper arti- 

 cles and other writings, the humor of which 

 depended to a great extent on his skill in 

 punning and taking other liberties with the 

 language. He also gained great popularity as 

 a lecturer. In 1885 he accompanied James 

 Whitcomb Riley on a tour of the United 

 States, each giving readings of his own com- 

 position. Nye's later life was spent in North 

 Carolina. Among his writings are Bill Nye and 



the Boomerang, Forty Liars and Other Lies 

 and Bill Nye's History of the United States. 



NYMPHS, nimjs, in mythology, lovely maid- 

 ens possessed of eternal youth, who guarded 

 the different realms of nature. Oreads watched 

 over the hills and mountains; Nereids, the 

 sea; Occanids, the ocean; Dryads and Hama- 

 dryads, the trees; and ftaiads, the rivers, 

 brooks and springs. Although of divine birth, 

 only the Oreads and Naiads were immortal. 

 They are usually represented as playing with 

 the fauns and satyrs in the forest, clustering 

 around the keels of ships, or living in trees. 

 Generally they were kind, but occasionally 

 when a mortal had injured anything under a 

 nymph's protection, they showed themselves 

 vindictive. They were very shy and usually 

 fled from the approach of mortals, though, be- 

 ing only half divine, they are represented as 

 marrying men as often as gods. Lowell's Rhoe- 

 cus gives a charming story of a nymph. 



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