Medb

“ It is then too that tidings, intelligencers, and messengers were sent from Eochu son of Luchta to Ailill and Medb with that proposal. That thing was related to Ailill and to Medb. [Medb said] "A false hand was taken by him [63] from whom those counsels were brought. For so long as there shall be among us one to whom it will be possible to take the hilt of a sword and the shield-strap of a shield about his neck, that proposal shall not go to him." [64] "We have not urged on thee that counsel, thou bad woman," [65] said Ailill. ”

“ Whoever would wish to solicit or speak to the king, it is not permitted until that man is appeased."
"Here before these to the east, outside," said Crom Deroil, "I saw a splendid, active trio, clothed in warrior's dress. Two of them were young, child-like; the third had a forked, purple-brown beard. They would not remove the dew from the grass, for the celerity and lightness with which they came; as if not one of the great host perceived them, and they see the whole host."
"Gentle and light and peaceful is the description," said Medb. ”

“ Ailill struck his spear upon this so that it was forced right through it. He leaped so that he lay there on the top of his companions. Flidais comes by from the castle, and throws her cloak over the three.
Fergus' people took to flight; Ailill pursues them. There remain (slain) by him twenty men of them. Seven of them escape to Cruachan Ai, and tell there the whole story to Ailill and Medb.
Then Ailill and Medb arise, and the nobles of Connaught and the exiles from Ulster: they march into the district of Kerry Ai with their troops as far as: the Ford of Fenna. ”

“ Then 3on the next day3 it was that Larinè son of Nos, 4brother of Lugaid king of Munster,4 was summoned to the tent of Ailill and Medb, and Finnabair was placed by his side. It was she that filled up the drinking-horns for him and gave him a kiss with each draught that he took and served him his food. "Not to every one with Medb is given the drink that is poured out for Ferbaeth or for Larinè," quoth Finnabair ”

“ It's a matter I wanted to consult him about, that's all.
PRIMROSE DEANE.
I'll go and find him for you.
JACK MEDBURY.
Oh, it's a shame to trouble you.
PRIMROSE DEANE.
It's brutal, isn't it? (She goes out laughing.)
JACK MEDBURY.
(After a pause; he and Nelly seem careful not to look at one another.) How is Ted? All right?
NELLY MORRIS.
Yes, he's very much better. He seems more cheerful.
JACK MEDBURY.
Ah, yes, things are looking a bit brighter for him, I hope. Change of luck's better even than change of air for putting new life into a man, I should think. ”

“ According to an epilogue by Lord Buckhurst, written for the revival of Jonson's 'Every Man in his Humour,' it would appear that Medbourne was the author of ten plays, but no trace of the others remains. Medbourne was a Roman catholic, and his excessive zeal for his religion laid him under suspicion. ”

“ Medbury replied. "Didn't find it right away. That steward never did leave things where you could put your hand [Pg 270] right on them. He—" Medbury paused. He was about to say that it was the last of the steward's tea that the captain would ever drink, but changed his mind. "I won't trouble the old man to-night," he said to himself. "Morning will be time enough—if there is a morning." ”

“ He paused a moment to relight his pipe, and then added: "On the stern of the Portuguese brig that we had seen, in big white letters a foot high, was the name Villa Real."
In the silence that followed some one forward gave a low laugh; in the fog it sounded strange and unnatural.
"Did you ever hear a loon cry alongshore [Pg 162] at night?" asked Medbury. For the first time on the voyage he had become actually loquacious. "I used to hear them at home when I was a boy. It's a creepy sound, and makes a man feel lonesome and homesick." ”

“ The boy returned, and followed his father, and five minutes later Captain March turned in at the gate. His face was no longer placid, but wore a look of annoyance. Medbury, watching him, saw him go away a moment later, hurrying toward the harbor, taking shorter steps than usual, and biting his bearded under lip in his perplexity.
"Seems kind o' mean to bother the old fellow," Medbury said to himself, looking troubled. He shook the feeling off as he added: "I guess it's for his good. Now [Pg 12] he'll look up Davis; he's the only man he can get." ”

“ Then Medea drew the phial out of her bosom and poured into the water some of the brew she had made in Creon's garden in Corinth. The water in the vat took on a strange bubbling, and the ram sank down.
Then Medea, standing beside the vat, sang an incantation.
"O Earth," she sang, "O Earth who dost provide wise men with potent herbs, O Earth help me now. I am she who can drive the clouds; I am she who can dispel the winds; I am she who can break the jaws of serpents with my incantations; I am she who can uproot living trees and rocks; who can make the mountains shake ”

“ When she got the word to go
Up to Monte Video,
There she found the river low, the bright Medu—sa;
So she tumbled out her guns
And a hundred of her sons,
And she taught the Dons to fight the bright Medu—sa.
{29}
When the foeman can be found
With the pluck to cross her ground,
First she walks him round and round, the bright Medu—sa;
Then she rakes him fore and aft
Till he's just a jolly raft,
And she grabs him like a kite, the bright Medu—sa.
She's the daughter of the breeze,
She's the darling of the seas,
And you'll call her, if you please, the bright Medu—sa ”

“ I know I must guard the hair in the picture, for if anything were to happen to it, there are entities in this house which would take a sure and terrible revenge. I don't even dare to die; for life and death are all one to those in the clutch of what came out of R'lyeh. Something would be on hand to punish my neglect. Medusa's coil has got me, and it will always be the same. Never mix up with secret and ultimate horror, young man, if you value your immortal soul. ”

“ The special statement as to the place where the mercenaries encamped, and the Ammonites gathered themselves together from out their cities (1Ch 19:7) , is wanting in 2nd Samuel. The city Medeba, which, according to Jos 13:16, was assigned to the tribe of Reuben, lay about two hours southeast from Heshbon, and still exists as ruins, which retain the ancient name Medaba (see on Num 21:30) . In 1Ch 19:9, העיר פּתח, “outside the city” (i.e., the capital Rabbah) , more correct or exact than השּׁער פּתח (2Sa 10:8) . On אליהם ויּבא, as compared with חלאמה ויּבא (2Sa 10:17) , cf. ”

“ It so happened that Meda was in the habit of inviting a number of the elders, male and female, to hear my stories of the past, and I had explained much that had taken place in my day to them. On one occasion there was a very old lady in the company, and she, though perhaps innocently, was the cause of all my sorrow.
Women are, I verily believe, at the root of all mischief ”

“ The Medusæ themselves are heart-shaped in form, depressed at the centre of the upper surface, and bulging on either side into wing-like expansions, where they join the stem. These expansions interlock with one another, crossing nearly at right angles. The Medusæ-like buds are the swimming bells; by their contractions, alternately taking in and throwing out the water, they impel the whole community forward, so that it seems rather to move like one animal, than like a combination of individuals. ”

“ Lad, lad, I tell thee thou must not follow Ahab now. The hour is coming when Ahab would not scare thee from him, yet would not have thee by him. There is that in thee, poor lad, which I feel too curing to my malady. Like cures like; and for this hunt, my malady becomes my most desired health. Do thou abide below here, where they shall serve thee, as if thou wert the captain. Aye, lad, thou shalt sit here in my own screwed chair ”

“ Behold, the sons of Pallas rule in Athens, fiercely and disorderly. Thy father is of no force, and in the house with him is a fair witch woman from a far country. Her name is Medea, the daughter of Æêtes, the brother of Circe the Sorceress. She wedded the famous Jason, and won for him the Fleece of Gold, and slew her own brother Absyrtus. Other evils she wrought, and now she dwells with Ægeus, who fears and loves her greatly. Take thou this herb of grace, and if Medea offers you a cup of wine, drop this herb in the cup, and so you shall escape death. ”

“ On that night, in the darkness of their lonesome dwelling, Medusa spake to her sisters of the doom which should one day be accomplished, and she said, "Sisters, ye care little for the grief whose image on my face turns all mortal things to stone. Ye who know not old age or death, know not the awful weight of my agony, and can not feel the signs of the change that is coming. ”

“ We, in our little planet-ship, falling into line, going like comets one day, and then vanishing; but the worlds moving on unconscious of our departure, and yet some power controls them and us. Medoline, to have my faith anchored as yours is, to a beneficent, all-powerful God, I would be willing to die this instant if I might be absorbed into Him, or be taken into his presence forever. You who can calmly accept your religion as you do the atmosphere you inhale, should live as far above earthly passions and entanglements, as those light clouds hanging in yonder vault are above the earth ”

“ But although the locomotor centres of a covered-eyed Medusa are thus, generally speaking, more diffused than are those of a naked-eyed Medusa, if we consider the organism as a whole, the locomotor centres in the margin of a covered-eyed Medusa are less diffused than are those in the margin of a naked-eyed Medusa. In no case does the excision of the margin of a swimming organ produce any effect upon the movements of the manubrium. ”

“ Nothing happens: yet the eyes observe, the claws may, perhaps, itch; but their owner moves not. Such beings are not for him. They are beyond his sphere, too bright, too beautiful, above all, too quick. Medusæ, too, of substance translucent as the waters they move in, and washed with the colours of the sea itself, go by, sometimes in flocks, alternately expanding and contracting their smooth, bell-like bodies, whilst threads and filaments of varied form, and delicacy more exquisite than that of the finest lace, stream in beauty behind them. ”

“ The Medusa.—In the Hydromedusae the medusa-individual occurs, as already stated, in one of two conditions, either as an independent organism leading a true life in the open seas, or as a subordinate individuality in the hydroid colony, from which it is never set free; it then becomes a mere reproductive appendage or gonophore, losing successively its organs of sense, locomotion and nutrition, until its medusoid nature and organization become scarcely recognizable. ”

“ Day seemed to blend into day, week seemed to blend into week, month into month, and year into year, and still we continued to love and to be loved by all around. The Recorder and his wife gave us every encouragement. I felt that we must be united; I felt that I had gained the love, the true, devoted, yes, the sincere, and loving love, of the most perfect and pure being that had ever been created. I declared my love: I was accepted. I spoke to her father and mother, and they gave their consent. The elders of the people were told, and all approved of Meda's selection. ”

“ And Medeia said slowly, "Why should you die? I have an ointment here. I made it from the magic ice-flower. Anoint yourself with that, and you shall have in you the strength of seven, and anoint your shield with it, and neither fire nor sword shall harm you. Anoint your helmet with it, before you sow the serpents' teeth, and when the sons of earth spring up, cast your helmet among them, and every man of them shall perish." ”

“ I have never known a naked-eyed Medusa survive an exposure of fifteen minutes; but they may survive 250 an exposure of ten, and generally survive an exposure of five. But although they thus continue to live for an indefinite time, their vigour is conspicuously and permanently impaired; while in the fresh water irritability persists for a short time after spontaneity has ceased, and the tentacles and manubrium are strongly retracted. ”

“ She made a pet of Maria, and Lord Medway—reclining with half-closed eyes in some luxurious chair—watched his betrothed managing this clever woman, so much [Pg 255] older than herself, with infinite satisfaction and amusement. He foresaw that she would be equal to any social position, and it never occurred to him that it was likely she would manage Lord Medway quite as thoroughly as she managed Madame Jacobus. ”

“ We were still puzzling our heads over the contrivance, when I became aware that Medea herself was moving down the path from the house. Dark-haired, supple, of a figure lightly poised and swayed, but pale and listless—I knew her at once, and having come out to find her, naturally felt no surprise at all. But Harold, who was trying to climb on the top of the sun-dial, having a cat-like fondness for the summit of things, started and fell prone, barking his chin and filling the pleasance with lamentation. ”

“ Medea did not know about this vein when she stood forward upon the ship to use her spells against him. Upon a cliff of Crete, all gleaming, stood that huge man of bronze. Then, as she was ready to fling her spells against him, Medea thought upon the words that Arete, the wise queen, had given her that she was not to use spells and not to practice against the life of any one.
But she knew that there was no impiety in using spells and practicing against Talos, for Zeus had already doomed all his race. She stood upon the ship, and with her Magic Song she enchanted him. ”