Occiput

“ Banishment, or the shedding blood for blood.
This stain of blood makes shipwreck of our state.
OEDIPUS
Whom can he mean, the miscreant thus denounced?
CREON
Before thou didst assume the helm of State,
The sovereign of this land was Laius.
OEDIPUS
I heard as much, but never saw the man.
CREON
He fell; and now the god's command is plain:
Punish his takers-off, whoe'er they be.
OEDIPUS
Where are they? Where in the wide world to find
The far, faint traces of a bygone crime?
CREON
In this land, said the god; "who seeks shall find;
Who sits with folded hands or sleeps is blind." ”

“ For some time our friend Octavius’ speech has bitterly vexed and worried me, in which he, attacking you, reproached you with negligence, that he might under cover of that charge more seriously condemn me for ignorance. Therefore I shall proceed further: the matter is now wholly and entirely between me and Octavius. If he is willing that I, a man of that form of opinion, should argue with him, he will now at once perceive that it is easier to hold an argument among his comrades, than to engage in close conflict after the manner of the philosophers. ”

“ The octopus, nevertheless, under the name of pulpo, is popular enough throughout Southern Spain, and is equally common, and equally devoured, on the coast of Algeria and Morocco.—Daily Telegraph, March 15, 1875.
[26] A gentleman engaged in the cod-fishery, and residing at Fogo, Newfoundland, has told me that he was startled one evening by an unusual sound at the back of his house, which is at the head of the harbour, and the next morning found three barrels of squids dead on the shore. ”

“ Octave frowned. It was getting late, and she was anxious to get to her destination before it grew too dark for her to observe what Uncle Fritz called “her bearings.” She had a wild idea of taking a night-train back to the mountain; but if she should find that unadvisable she would have to look up a lodging place.
“I want to go to the house of Prof. von Holsneck,” said the girl, repeating her first statement with the distinctness known at The Snuggery as “Octave’s spunk.” “You certainly must know the residence of a man so famous.”
“Well, I don’t then. I know who he is and what he is ”

“ One hit a horse, the other a rider. There was prancing and rearing, and three riderless horses tore back breakneck in the direction they had come. The Count shouted hoarsely, bidding his men [185] dismount and search. Nigel ran swiftly back and called to Blick and his comrade to follow the gorge to its hinder issue and await him. It may be imagined how Blick splashed through the water and reached the trembling Elspeth, who, standing as high as she could out of reach of the blood-stained water, was trembling all over at the unseen danger she ran. ”

“ The Sepiidæ are the Cuttles; as a type of which we may take the common “cuttle-fish,” Sepia officinalis, the owner of the hard, calcareous shell often thrown up on the shore, and known as “cuttle-bone,” or “sea-biscuit.”
Of the eight-footed cephalopods,—the Octopoda,—there are two families; namely, the Octopidæ, and the Argonautidæ. The first only is found on our coasts. The British members of it are the common Octopus, O. vulgaris, and the Eledone, E. cirrosa, a genus chiefly distinguished from the octopus by its having only one row of suckers, instead of two, along its arms or feet. ”

“ At last he said—
"It may be that the Lord will vouchsafe light I will go even unto the Wartburg and question the Landgravine, if peradventure she knows where the maiden is."
"You need not darken my door again if you find her not," said Nicholas Reinheit. "She can milk against any maid, make butter against any maid or wife in the forest, [269] bake against any, brew against any. God in heaven! she must come back. And I shan't go to the church till she does."
Pastor Rad was too much surprised to say anything. ”

“ One of thy daughters is already seized,
The other I will carry off anon.
OEDIPUS:
Woe, woe!
CREON:
This is but prelude to thy woes.
OEDIPUS:
Hast thou my child?
CREON:
And soon shall have the other.
OEDIPUS:
Ho, friends! ye will not surely play me false?
Chase this ungodly villain from your land.
CHORUS:
Hence, stranger, hence avaunt! Thou doest wrong
In this, and wrong in all that thou hast done.
CREON (to his guards)
'Tis time by force to carry off the girl,
If she refuse of her free will to go.
ANTIGONE:
Ah, woe is me! where shall I fly, where find
Succor from gods or men? ”

“ Those who have studied that monster, the Octopus, at close quarters, as I have, will find no difficulty in appreciating the awfully fascinating glance, in the baleful eye of that odious creature, an eye in itself conveying the most frightfully malignant expression of any living thing upon which I have ever looked. ”

“ If he had grasped it firmly round the neck it would have instantly let go its hold. Aristotle was well aware of this, and it may be well for bathers to remember it.
I have frequently allowed an octopus to fix itself upon, and crawl over, my bare arm. It can always be detached in this manner. None have ever attempted to bite me. But although it is “nothing when you are used to it,” it is not pleasant to have a stranger, of whose proclivities you know nothing, fasten himself upon you with such demonstration of attachment. ”

“ And some one was indeed walking in the ante-room, whilst a voice said: “Well! what’s up? is every one dead?” And Octave appeared. He was quite bewildered by the open doors and the empty rooms. But his amazement increased still more when he beheld the four men in the midst of the denuded drawing-room, one sitting on the floor, and the other three standing up, and only lighted by the meager candle which the counselor was holding, like a taper at church. A few words sufficed to inform him of what had occurred.
“It isn’t possible!” cried he.
“Did they not tell you anything, then, down-stairs?” ”

“ ŒDIPUS THE KING.
No tragedy in history or in fiction can equal the horror of the tale of Œdipus. The plot is so simple as to be told in a sentence. An oracle foretells that Œdipus shall slay his father and be married to his mother; and, against his own will and knowledge, he fulfils his destiny. By a sudden revolution of fortune we see a man, to all appearance as wise as Solomon and as blameless as Job, hurled into an abyss of misery and despair ”

“ But how do you suppose the crushing is to be accomplished? Now listen! The Revelation Mr. Thompson compares the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to a great octopus. The octopus, as you know, is an animal very difficult to kill; but the gentleman remembered that Victor Hugo, in his "Toilers of the Sea," had said that even the octopus had a vulnerable point. "There is one moment in which to seize it—it is when it thrusts forth its head. Then is the time to strike." The reverend gentleman then concludes that the Mormon octopus has thrust forth its head. ”

“ Octa did as he devised, and as his kinsfolk approved. He came forth from the gate of the city with a company of all his barons. Octa wore a chain of iron upon his wrists, and walking at the head of his companions, came first to the king. "Sire," said he, "I beseech you for mercy and pity. The gods in whom we put our trust have failed us at need. Your gods are mightier than they. They have wrought wonders, and set strength upon you, since we are stricken to the dust. I am vanquished, and own myself thy servant. ”

“ If you are found out there is no saying what will happen to you. You see Octavius is a very good chap; makes a god of what he calls honour, and so on, and that makes him a bit of a fanatic in some things. I really don’t know where this would land you if you were found out. I’ve lied about it already; I am absolutely up to the neck in lies. I dare say he half suspects me; and in any case I am quite likely to lose my billet. But one thing he can’t do, Luney, he can’t bring it home to me. ”

“ The concluding paragraph of one was as follows:—“Thus was an end put to a most distinguished and useful life. Octopuses doubtless die every day, but seldom has there been an octopus who will be so much missed as the octopus at Brighton.” ”

“ Saturnin raised his anxious face on a level with the counter; but he dived down again directly he saw Octave take hold of his sister’s hand.
“I beg of you, madame, summon up a little courage,” said the assistant.
“No, I cannot help it,” stammered she. “You were there—you heard everything. For ninety-five francs’ worth of hair! As though all women did not wear false hair now! But he knows nothing—he understands nothing. He knows no more about women than the Grand Turk; he has never had anything to do with them, no never, Monsieur Octave! Ah! I am very miserable!” ”

“ Interest and light thus together were focused upon the climax of the tragedy. Leaving the light, and with it love and hope and life, behind him, Œdipus descended the steps of the palace, leaning upon the shoulder of [253] a slave, and moved toward the thickening shadows. Watching after him with a profoundly sorrowful intensity was the group upon the stage: a gorgeous mass of warm colour, broken by dashes of gleaming white and bathed in a golden glow. ”

“ His anger was bringing on a headache, and he now and again pressed his forehead against the icy-cold panes.
Octave did not arrive till very late. As he reached the landing, he met Madame Juzeur, who had just come down, wrapped in a shawl. She complained of her chest, and had got up on purpose not to disappoint the Duveyriers. Her languid state did not prevent her falling into the young man’s arms, as she congratulated him on his marriage. ”

“ His cousin the cuttle-fish (Sepia) has an eye, round like that of an owl, which stares you out of countenance, and puzzles you by its immobility; the pupil of the eye of an octopus is like that of a tiger turned half round. The perpendicularly-elongated pupil of the cat gleams with hot ferocity: the calm, cunning gaze of the octopus from out the narrow horizontal slit of its compressed eyelids freezes by its cold cruelty. ”

“ The students felt that they had a friend in Mr. Hale, and even did not fear a prosecution for running away with the steamer. We judged that the captain of the Adieno would have to bear all the blame of that occurrence.
"What are these circulars for?" demanded Mr. Parasyte, when the visitor had departed. "Vallington, as the ringleader in this conspiracy, I call upon you for an answer." [293]
"Those whose names are signed to the paper intend to send them to their parents."
"They do—do they?" exclaimed the principal, with compressed lips. ”

“ For, for the sake of business and of visiting me, Octavius had hastened to Rome, having left his home, his wife, his children, and that which is most attractive in children, while yet their innocent years are attempting only half-uttered words,—a language all the sweeter for the very imperfection of the faltering tongue. And at this his arrival I cannot express in words with how great and with how impatient a joy I exulted, since the unexpected presence of a man so very dear to me greatly enhanced my gladness. ”

“ And so the successful adventurer is made king, and takes for his wife Jocasta, who had been the wife of Laius, and by her he has both sons and daughters. For some years all went well with Œdipus. He had children, and lands, and wealth, and honour, and all that helps to make life precious. He was happy in the affections of his family and in the loyalty of his subjects. "Heaven and earth are silent for a generation; one might fancy that they are treacherously silent, in order that Œdipus may have time for building up to the clouds the pyramid of his mysterious offences. ”

“ But there is a haunting sense of the Octopus in the conscientious soul of her son, and even though he is allowed to say "Sally dearest," the burden is on him of knowing that he has been swept away in the turmoil of this whirlwind of self, and he is feeling round to say peccavi, and make amends by confession. He makes "Sally dearest" do for the moment, but captures as a set-off the hand that slips readily enough into the arm he offers for it, with a caressing other hand, before he speaks again. ”

“ No bather would have a chance if he once got within the grasp of such a monster, nor could a canoe resist the strength of its pull; but the Indian, who devours the Octopus with great relish, has all the cunning created by necessity, and takes care that none of the eight sucker-dotted arms ever gain a hold on his frail bark. ”

“ Octavius nodded. He got into the surrey; the hands that took the reins shook visibly. He drove on in silence for a few minutes. He was struggling for control of his emotion; for the truth is Octavius wanted to cry; and when a man wants to cry and must not, the result is inarticulateness and a painful contortion of every feature. Father Honoré, recognizing this fact, waited. Octavius swallowed hard and many times before he could speak; even then his speech was broken:
"She's in there—all right—but Champney Googe is with her—"
"Thank God!" ”

“ When I consider and mentally review my remembrance of Octavius, my excellent and most faithful companion, the sweetness and charm of the man so clings to me, that I appear to myself in some sort as if I were returning to past times, and not merely recalling in my recollection things which have long since happened and gone by. ”

“ However this may be, they have certain persons, who are the oqui, or, as the Algonquins and Montagnais call them, manitous; and persons of this kind are the medicine-men, who heal the sick, bind up the wounded, and predict future events, who in fine practise all abuses and illusions of the devil to deceive and delude them. These oquis or conjurers persuade their patients and the sick to make, or have made banquets and ceremonies that they may be the sooner healed, their object being to participate in them finally themselves and get the principal benefit therefrom. ”