Zoilus

“ But what assurance can such as Zoilus have, that the world will ever be convinced against an established reputation, by such people whose faults in writing are so very notorious; who judge against rules, affirm without reasons, and censure without manners: who quote themselves for a support of their opinions, found their pride upon a learning in trifles, and their superiority upon the claims they magisterially make; who write of beauties in a harsh style, judge of excellency with a lowness of spirit, and pursue their desire to decry it with every artifice of envy. ”

“ Zoilus and his followers, who seldom praise any man, are however careful to do it for their own sakes, if at any time they get an author of their opinion: though indeed it must be allowed, they still have a drawback in their manner of praise, and rather choose to drop the name of their man, or darkly hint him in a periphrasis, than to have it appear that they have directly assisted the perpetuating of any one's memory. Thus, if a Dutch critic were to introduce, for example, Martial, he would, instead of naming him, say Ingeniosus ille Epigrammaticus Bilbilicus. ”

“ You remember our engagement with Zoilus?"
"Yes, I am half sorry I made it. I cannot read that slave. He seems to know every one and everything; and one can scarcely distinguish between his jocose and his serious moods. Do you know where I met him as I came to the crossway of the Appian and Latin roads? Talking to that Jewish beggar who sits morning, noon, and night asking pennies from the passers-by near the Egerian fountain." ”

“ The symptoms were first visible in the changed bosom of Hidaspes. This exemplary maiden—whose cold modesty, almost to a failing, had discouraged the addresses of so many princely suitors that had sought her hand in marriage—by the venom of this inward pestilence came on a sudden to cast eyes of affection upon a mean and deformed creature, Zoilus by name, who was a dwarf, and lived about the palace, the common jest of the courtiers. In her besotted eyes he was grown a goodly gentleman. ”

“ Nay, should great Homer lift his awful head, Zoilus again would start up from the dead. Envy will Merit, as its shade, pursue, But like a shadow, proves the substance true; For envied wit, like Sol eclipsed, makes known The opposing body's grossness, not its own. When first that sun too powerful beams displays, 470 It draws up vapours which obscure its rays; But even those clouds at last adorn its way, Reflect new glories, and augment the day.20 Be thou the first true merit to befriend; His praise is lost, who stays till all commend. ”

“ The village stream swelled to a river, and the river was a kingdom's wealth,
Where is he who boasted he could step across that stream?
Such are the beginnings of the famous: little in the judgment of their peers,
The juster verdict of posterity shall fix them in the orbits of the Great.
Therefore dull Zoilus, clamouring ascendant of the hour,
Will soon be fain to hide his hate, and bury up his bitterness for shame:
Therefore mocking Momus, offended at the footsteps of Beauty,
Shall win the prize of his presumption, and be hooted from his throne among the stars. ”

“ But let not such men tell us they participate in the glory of these great men, and place themselves next to Phœbus, who, like Zoilus, entangle an author in the wrangles of grammarians, or try him with a positive air and barren imagination, by the set of rules they have collected out of others. ”

“ It is either this notion, or a care which the gods may take to abate the pride of insulting adversaries, which a poet goes upon, when he makes his leaders die foretelling the end of those by whom they are slain. Zoilus, however, is against this passage. He says, that every character ought to be strictly kept: that a general ought not to invade the character of a prophet, nor a prophet of a general. He is positive, that nothing should be done by any one, without having been hinted at in some previous account of him. ”

“ An immense benefit—doing evil to one who had done good to him. What is an envious man? An ungrateful one. He hates the light which lights and warms him. Zoilus hated that benefit to man, Homer. To inflict on Josiana what would nowadays be called vivisection—to place her, all convulsed, on his anatomical table; to dissect her alive, at his leisure, in some surgery; to cut her up, as an amateur, while she should scream—this dream delighted Barkilphedro! ”

“ Thus much in behalf of my author to answer Zoilus: as for myself, who deal with his followers, I must argue from necessity, that the word was stubborn, and would not ply to the quantities of an English verse, and therefore I altered it by the dialect we call poetical, which makes my line so much smoother, that I am ready to cry with their brother Lipsius, when he turned an O into an I, Vel ego me amo, vel me amavit Phoebus quando hoc correxi. ”

“ In the assemblage which Sisinnius was scanning, many nationalities had representatives—Phrygians, Cappadocians, Thracians, Britons, Greeks, and Jews.
"Whence was Caipor purchased?" asked Sisinnius.
"The mother of Aurelian," answered Zoilus, "was driving in her four-wheeled chariot (rheda) through the streets of Rome. Her attention was drawn to a dwarfish figure, who, emerging from the forum of Augustus, followed the chariot-wheels, clapping his hands and crying out, 'Well done! little wheel. Run fast! Big wheel can't catch you ”

“ But they being gone, Basilius and Philanax gave good order to the strengthening of the siege, fortifying themselves, so that they feared no more any such sudden onset, as that of Anaxius. And they within (by reason of Anaxius’s hurt, but especially of Amphialus’s) gave themselves only to a diligent watch and ward, making no sallies out, but committing the principal trust to Zoilus and Lycurgus. For Anaxius was yet forced to keep his chamber. ”

“ But when he knew not how to reply, then {419} would he fall to touching and toying, still viewing his graces in no glass but self-liking. To which Philoclea’s shamefacedness and humbleness were as strong resisters as choler and disdain: for though she yielded not, he thought she was to be overcome: and that thought a while stayed him from further violence. But Zelmane had eye to his behaviour, and set it in her memory upon the score of revenge, while she herself was no less attempted by Zoilus; who less fond of brags was forwardest in offering, indeed, dishonourable violence. ”

“ Nor am I acquainted with anything more thorough in the particular species; the modern Zoilus, as a rule, is equally inferior to Malherbe in thoroughness, acuteness, and learning. More than 200 pages—a large page and a small type—are occupied in M. Lalanne’s edition (the only one) with the citations and remarks, the former being rigidly confined to the line or two (rarely more) that Malherbe annotated. It would be almost worth while to reprint [301] the original volume as it exists scored by the critic’s hand, and I do not know that it would be at all unfair to Desportes ”

“ Flinging one arm round Zoe, and tearing away her veil with the other, he disclosed to the gaze of his thronging companions the regular features and large dark eyes which characterise Athenian beauty.
“Clodius has all the luck to-night,” cried Ligarius. “Not so, by Hercules,” said Marcus Colius; “the girl is fairly our common prize: we will fling dice for her. The Venus (1) throw, as it ought to do, shall decide.”
“Let me go—let me go, for Heaven’s sake,” cried Zoe, struggling with Clodius. ”

“ Thereupon Pierre had to begin his explanation, his defence, all over again; and the task soon became the more painful as his words fell from his lips amidst death-like silence and frigidity. Father Dangelis did not stir; with his hands crossed upon his knees he kept his sharp, penetrating eyes fixed upon those of the priest. And when the latter had at last ceased speaking, he slowly said: "I did not like to interrupt you, Monsieur l'Abbe, but it was not for me to hear all this. Process against your book has begun, and no power in the world can stay or impede its course. ”

“ Taine gone, and Renan, and Symonds, and Tennyson, and Browning; the suns go swiftly out, and I see no suns to follow, nothing but a universal twilight of the demi-divinities, with parties like you and me and Lang beating on toy drums and playing on penny whistles about glow-worms. But Zola is big anyway; he has plenty in his belly; too much, that is all; he wrote the Débâcle and he wrote La Bête humaine, perhaps the most excruciatingly silly book that I ever read to an end. ”

“ The lad thanked the old monk, and continuing his journey soon saw, at a distance, Zoolvisia’s magnificent castle decorated with gold and jewels. He did just as the monk had advised him, and at Zoolvisia’s third call jumped up and stood before her gazing at her. Zoolvisia recognized him, and said:
“You have overcome me; you are brave and a real hero worthy of me. No one except you has ever heard my voice and lived. Now my talisman is broken, and I have become a mere woman. Come in, hero, I and my forty maids will serve you.” ”

“ They stood there smiling, though already slightly frightened, while the monk lighted some long, slim candles. He was a man with a bossy brow, the large, massive jaw of an obstinate believer and pale eyes bespeaking an ingenuous soul.
“Ah! Monsieur l’Abbé,” he said to Pierre, “you’ve come just in time. If the ladies are willing, you had better come with us; for three Brothers are already below with people, and you would have a long time to wait. This is the great season for visitors.”
The ladies politely nodded, and the Trappist handed a candle to the priest. ”

“ Overthrow yourself, if you like; I wash my hands of you. I assisted you, not for your own sake, but to please our friends in Paris. They wrote to me and asked me to pilot you, and I did so. But understand this, I will never allow you to come the master over me. It's all very well for little Péqueur, and simple Rastoil, but we are not at all afraid of you, and we mean to remain the masters. My husband conquered Plassans before you did, and I warn you that we shall keep our conquest.'
From that day forward there was great coldness between the Rougons and Abbé Faujas. ”

“ The Zowia itself seemed even more Eastern than most buildings of its kind, the walls merely baked mud, the towers but hardly overtopping them, and all the animals of a superior class to those raised by the ordinary Moors. The tribe ranks high for fighting qualities, as riders, shots, and swordsmen, and though small, can hold its own against all comers. The women, taller and thinner than the women of the Moors, were dressed in blue, after the desert fashion, and in procession walked to the well, with each one carrying an amphora upon her head. ”

“ Seated against a bank by the side of Jean, Maurice pointed [Pg 130] to the north as he had done before. 'Sedan lies there below,' said he. 'And, look, Bazeilles is yonder! And then there's Douzy and Carignan on the right—it's at Carignan, no doubt, that we shall be concentrated. Ah! there's plenty of room there, as you would soon see, if it were only daylight!'
His gesture embraced the whole of the immense shadowy valley. The sky was not so dark as to prevent one from discerning the pale river, coursing through the expanse of black, rolling meadows. ”

“ Eventually she became so mad over it that she forgot all prudence.
“It’s to me you owe all this!” she exclaimed, in an outburst of triumph. “If I hadn’t looked after you, you would have been nicely taken in by the insurgents. You booby, it was Garconnet, Sicardot, and the others, that had got to be thrown to those wild beasts.”
Then, showing her teeth, loosened by age, she added, with a girlish smile: “Well, the Republic for ever! It has made our path clear.”
But Pierre had turned cross. “That’s just like you!” he muttered; “you always fancy that you’ve foreseen everything. ”

“ However, Négrel went off with Dansaert, who was content to approve by a continual movement of his head. And their voices again rose; they had just stopped once more, and were examining the timbering in the gallery, which the pikemen were obliged to look after for a length of ten metres behind the cutting.
"Didn't I tell you that they care nothing?" cried the engineer. "And you! why, in the devil's name, don't you watch them?"
"But I do—I do," stammered the head captain. "One gets tired of repeating things."
Négrel called loudly:
"Maheu! Maheu!" ”

“ Later on, they might lay down branch lines from Smyrna to Angora, and from Trebizond to Angora, by way of Erzeroum and Sivas. 'And after that, and after that,' he continued; but, instead of finishing, he contented himself with a smile, not daring to tell how far he had carried the audacity of his projects.
'Ah! the plains at the foot of Taurus,' said Madame Caroline, in the slow, low voice of an awakened sleeper; 'what a delightful paradise! One has only to scratch the earth, and harvests spring up in abundance. ”

“ Suddenly she recollected, and raised her head an instant to say:
"If madam would like to see her house, the keys are hanging there, near the wardrobe."
But Séverine refused. A shiver had come over her at the thought of going to La Croix-de-Maufras in this snow, in this livid daylight. No, no, there was nothing she desired to do there. She preferred to remain where she was, and wait in the warmth.
"Be seated, madam," resumed Flore. "It is more comfortable here than in the other room; and, besides, we shall never be able to find sufficient bread for all these people ”