SILENCE 3 4 5

Silence

Two ideas are covered here: soundless places and speechless people. •See

also Sound, Speech.

Harpo Marx Adolph Arthur Marx (1888-1964), known as Harpo, was one of the Marx Brothers, a family of American comedians who made comic films in the 1930s. In the films, Harpo is always mute, communicating by means of an old-fashioned car horn.

'How did you know about us?' 'Her mother mentioned it. Talkative woman.' 'Her mother? She's about as talkative as Harpo Marx.'

MAX MARQUIS Written in Blood, 1995

Mary Celeste The Mary Celeste was an American brig that set sail from New York for Genoa, but was found in the North Atlantic in December 1872 abandoned but in perfect condition. The fate of the crew was never discovered, and the abandonment of the ship remains one of the great mysteries of the sea. The Mary Celeste can be alluded to as a place that is eerily silent and empty.

Sleeping Beauty In the well known fairy tale, Sleeping Beauty is a princess who has a spell put on her by a wicked fairy. As a result of this spell, Sleeping Beauty and all those in her palace fall asleep for a hundred years. The instant she is finally wakened from her slumber by a prince's kiss, all life and bustle returns to the palace. Sleeping Beauty's palace can be mentioned as a place of complete silence.

The front door was opened. They entered. In the silent, empty hall three and a half centuries of life had gone to sleep . . . 'Like the Sleeping Beauty' she said, but even as she spoke the words, the spell was broken. Suddenly, as though the ringing glass had called the house back to life, there was sound and movement.

ALDOUS HUXLEY Point Counter Point, 1928

Similarity

Of the pairs below, only ROLAND AND OLIVER are not twin brothers. The

idea of twins can, of course, be used to express physical similarity but also

any strong degree of affinity or association. References to CHANC AND ENC

call to mind the additional notion of inseparability. •See also Duality.

Castor and Pollux In Greek and Roman mythology, Castor and Pollux (also known as the Dioscuri, 'the sons of Zeus') were the twin sons born to Leda,

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wife of Tyndareus, after her seduction by Zeus. They were believed to have hatched from a single egg. Castor was the son of Tyndareus and was mortal; Pollux was the son of Zeus and was immortal. When Castor was killed, Pollux offered to share his immortality between them, spending half their time below the earth with Hades and the other half on Olympus. They were eventually transformed by Zeus into the constellation Gemini so that they would not be separated.

They operated in perfect, entwined counterpoint—a diplomatic Castor and Pollux.

ED VULLIAMY in The Observer, 1997

Chang and Eng Chang and Eng (1811-74) were the original Siamese twins, born in Siam and joined by a fleshy band in the region of the waist. They married sisters and each fathered several children. Their names, or the term 'Siamese twins', can be used to describe any two people or things that are always together or very closely associated.

Now envy and antipathy, passions irreconcilable in reason, nevertheless in fact may spring conjoined like Chang and Eng in one birth.

HERMAN MELVILLE Billy Budd, 1924

Roland and Oliver Roland was the legendary nephew of Charlemagne and one of his paladins, the twelve peers of Charlemagne's court. He is the hero of the Chanson de Roland, a 12th-century medieval romance, and of Ariosto's Orlando Furioso (1532). Roland is said to have become a close friend of Oliver, another paladin, after engaging him in a prolonged single combat which was so evenly matched that neither ever won. The expression 'a Roland for an Oliver' denotes a well-balanced combat or an effective retort or retaliation.

He gave my termagant kinsman a quid pro quo—a Rowland for his Oliver, as the

vulgar say.

WALTER SCOTT Antiquary 1816

Romulus and Remus According to Roman mythology, Romulus and Remus were the twin sons of Mars by the vestal virgin Rhea Silvia. Custom dictated that, because they had been born to a vestal, the twins had to be abandoned in infancy in a basket on the River Tiber, but they were found and suckled by a she-wolf and later raised by a shepherd family. They subsequently undertook to build a city on the banks of the Tiber; after a quarrel, however, Romulus killed his brother. He went on to found Rome, naming the city after himself.

Tweedledum and Tweedledee Tweedledum and Tweedledee were originally names applied to the rival composers Handel and Bononcini in a 1725 satirical poem by John Byrom, making the point that the differences between them were so small as to be negligible. The names were later popularized when Lewis Carroll used them for two identical characters in Through the Looking Glass (1872). They are fat, quarrelsome twin brothers who fight a ridiculous battle with one another. Two people or things that are so alike that they are practically indistinguishable can be referred to as Tweedledum and Tweedledee.

Coffin studied them, then drew the interview to an end. Won't get much more out of Tweedledum and Tweedledee just now, he thought.

GWENDOLINE BUTLER A Dark Coffin, 1995

SIRENS 3 4 7

Sirens

In the stories below, men are lured to disaster and destruction by a

woman's beauty. • See also Temptation.

Circe In Greek mythology, Circe was a beautiful enchantress who lived on the island of Aeaea. When Odysseus visited the island on his return from the Trojan War, she turned his men into swine. Odysseus protected himself with the mythical herb moly and forced her to break the spell and restore his men to human form. Odysseus was detained on Circe's island for a year. Allusions to her are usually in the context of a bewitching, dangerously attractive woman or place. • See special entry D ODYSSEUS on p. 283.

None of the books I had read explained this sinister-fascinating, this Circe-like quality of Greece; the quality that makes it unique.

JOHN FOWLES The Magus, 1977

Lorelei In Germanic folklore, Lorelei is the name of a rock at the edge of the Rhine, held to be the home of a siren with long blonde hair whose song lures boatmen to destruction. The name can also be applied to the siren herself. A Lorelei is a dangerously fascinating woman, a siren.

My parents lived deep in the burg in a narrow duplex that on a cold day like this would smell like chocolate pudding cooking on the stove. The effect was similar to Lorelei, singing to all those sailors, sucking them in so they'd crash on the rocks.

JANET EVANOVICH Three to Cet Deadly, 1997

Mata Hari Mata Hari (1876-1917), born Margaretha Geertruida Zelle, was a Dutch dancer, courtesan, and spy. She became a professional 'oriental' dancer in Paris in 1905 and probably worked for both French and German intelligence services during the Second World War, obtaining military secrets from high-ranking Allied officers. She was executed by the French for espionage in 1917. The term 'Mata Hari' can be applied to any beautiful, seductive woman.

I had a bad time at the hands of male journalists during Julian's trial and in the period leading up to it: some residual paranoia sticks. They look for a femme fatale, a Mata Hari of world finance, a seductress. If a woman is to be taken seriously she must either be past the menopause or very plain, preferably both.

FAY WELDON Darcy's Utopia, 1990

A junior partner promoted by their lover can be seen as a Mata Hari.

The Observer, 1997

Sirens In Greek mythology, the Sirens were sea creatures who lured seafarers to destruction on dangerous rocks by the beauty of their singing. They were usually depicted as women or as half woman and half bird. In the Odyssey, Odysseus had himself tied to the mast of his ship in order to hear their song safely, having first ordered his crew to plug their ears with wax. The word 'siren' is used to describe a seductive woman, who lures men to their doom.

• See special entry • ODYSSEUS on p. 283.

3 4 8 SLEEP

Of	course such a marriage was only what Newland was entitled to; but young men
are	so foolish and incalculable—and some women so ensnaring and unscrupulous—

that it was nothing short of a miracle to see one's only son safe past the Siren Isle and in the haven of a blameless domesticity.

EDITH WHARTON The Age of Innocence, 1920

Faces flashed in front of me. I made out Caro's and Katherine's, then they were both replaced by the flawless mask of the murderess, her lips moving as she spoke. I opened my eyes with a start and she disappeared. But her voice still rang in my ears, sweeter and more deadly than any siren's song.

PAUL JOHNSTON Body Politic, 1997

Sleep

Many stories explore the idea of prolonged sleep. In those referred to below, the duration of sleep varies from twenty years to ioo years, 200 years, or even eternity.

King Arthur Arthur, historically perhaps a 5th or 6th-century RomanoBritish chieftan or general, is in legend the king of Britain who presided over the Knights of the Round Table at Camelot. After being fatally wounded by his nephew, Mordred, the dying king was borne away to the island of Avalon, where he was buried. In some versions of the legend it is said that Arthur is not dead but sleeping, ready to awaken and return in the hour of Britain's need.

Looka there!—is it a girl? Is it a, sorry, woman? No—It's the Phantom Nympho! And she's raring to go, as per! Like King Arthur, see, she wasn't really dead; just sleeping (around) till her people felt in need of her once more. And now she's back. Back!

JULIE BURCHILL 'The Phantom Nympho Rides Again' in Sex and Sensibility, 1989

Dormouse The Dormouse is one of the characters that Alice meets at the Mad Hatter's tea party in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865). The Dormouse snoozes all through the tea party, despite attempts to wake it by pinching it. • See special entry n ALICE IN WONDERLAND on p. 10.

Endymion In Greek mythology, Endymion was a very beautiful young man, loved by Selene, the moon goddess. According to one story, Zeus granted him eternal youth by causing him to sleep forever. This story is the basis of Keats's poem Endymion (1818).

Hypnos Hypnos was the Greek god of sleep, son of Nyx (night).

Land of Nod In the Bible, the Land of Nod was the land east of Eden to which Cain was banished after he had slain his brother Abel (Gen. 4: 16). Although Nod probably meant 'wandering', the phrase, inviting a pun on nod 'to fall asleep', has now come to refer to a mythical land of sleep.

At last I slid off into a light doze, and had pretty nearly made a good offing towards

SLEEP 3 4 9

the land of Nod, when I heard a heavy footfall in the passage, and saw a glimmer of light come into the room from under the door.

HERMAN MELVILLE Moby Dick, 1851

Lady Macbeth In a famous scene in Shakespeare's play Macbeth (1623), Lady Macbeth, troubled by guilt for urging her husband to commit murder, is found sleepwalking. She washes her hands in her sleep in an attempt to remove the spots of blood that she imagines to be on them.

Morpheus In Roman mythology, Morpheus was the god of dreams, son of Somnus, the god of sleep. To fall into the arms of Morpheus is thus to fall asleep.

Just begin a story with a phrase such as 'I remember Disraeli—poor old Dizzy!—

once saying to me, in answer to my poke	in the eye,' and you will find me and
Morpheus off in a corner, necking.
DOROTHY PARKER Book Reviews, 1 9 2 7 - 3 3
After coffee I announced myself eager for	the fleecy crook of Morpheus' shoulder,
and they buggered off.
JULIAN BARNES Talking It Over, 1991

Keith, even more irritable than Cooper to be dragged from the arms of Morpheus far away in London, perked up a little to hear that Jack was under arrest.

MINETTE WALTERS The Scold's Bridle, 1994

Rip Van Winkle Rip Van Winkle is the main character in a story by Washington Irving (1820). During a walk in the Catskill Mountains, Rip falls asleep, and wakes some twenty years later to find that the world has changed considerably. His wife has died, his daughter has married, and he has completely missed the War of American Independence.

There are few more powerful images of traditionalism in English cricket than the elderly man in the striped Hove deckchair. But after snoozing through history with a determination that makes Rip van Winkle look like a cat-napper, he is showing disturbing signs of life.

The	Guardian, 1997
She	led him to the window and swung the panel so that it acted as a mirror.
'See	that antique wreck standing next to that gorgeous woman? That's you. If Rosie

opens her eyes and sees you first, she'll think she's done a Rip Van Winkle and slept for fifty years.'

REGINALD HILL On Beulah Height, 1998

Sandman In children's stories, the Sandman is a man who makes children feel sleepy by sprinkling sand in their eyes.

Now if you're a good little girl and sleep sound so the Sandman won't have to throw sand in your eyes, Santa Claus will bring you something nice for Christmas. CHESTER HIMES Christmas Gift, 1944

Most people find it easy to sleep on trains, but for me it's particularly easy. In fact, I find it almost impossible to stay awake. I grew up in a house that backed on to a train line and night-time was when you'd notice the trains most. My version of the Sandman is the 12:10 from Euston.

ALEX GARLAND The Beach, 1996

Seven Sleepers In early Christian legend, the Seven Sleepers were seven

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Christian youths of Ephesus who, while fleeing persecution, entered a cave and fell asleep. They slept for almost 200 years. The legend is also told in the Koran.

I wonder by my troth, what thou and I

Did,	till we loved? Were we not weaned till then,
But	sucked on country pleasures, childishly?
Or	snorted we in the seven sleepers' den?
JOHN DONNE Songs and Sonnets, 'The Good Morrow',
We	shouted back loud enough to wake the seven sleepers.
JEROME K. JEROME Three Men in a Boat, 1889

Sleeping Beauty In the well known fairy tale, Sleeping Beauty is a princess who has a spell put on her by a wicked fairy. As a result of this spell, Sleeping Beauty and all those in her palace fall asleep for a hundred years. She is finally wakened from her slumber by a prince's kiss.

Edith came in from the back drawing-room, winking and blinking her eyes at the stronger light, shaking back her slightly-ruffled curls, and altogether looking like the Sleeping Beauty startled from her dreams.

ELIZABETH GASKELL North and South, 1 8 5 4 - 5

Somnus Somnus was the Roman god of sleep, father of Morpheus.

Titania In Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, Titania is the queen of the fairies, and wife of Oberon. While she sleeps in her 'flow'ry bed', Oberon drops on her eyelids the juice from a magic flower which will make her fall in love with the first creature she sees when she wakes. This turns out to be Bottom the weaver, who has been given an ass's head by the mischievous sprite Puck.

She lay curled up on the sofa in the back drawing-room in Harley Street, looking very lovely in her white muslin and blue ribbons. If Titania had ever been dressed in white muslin and blue ribbons, and had fallen asleep on a crimson damask sofa in a back drawing-room, Edith might have been taken for her.

ELIZABETH GASKELL North and South, 1 8 5 4 - 5

Wee Willie Winkie Wee Willie Winkie is a nursery rhyme character who makes sure that all children are in bed and asleep:

'Wee Willie Winkie runs through the town Upstairs and downstairs in his night gown, Rapping at the window, crying through the lock,

Are the children all in bed, for it's past eight o'clock?'