Topaz

“ And remember the oracles," added Topaz; "'If you turn to the east you will turn to the west.'"
"Yes, here they bury the dead with their faces turned westward," said Ebony. "The oracle was plain; why did not you understand it? You possessed and you possessed not; for you had the diamond, but it was a false one, and you did not know it; you got the best of it in battle, but you also got the worst, for you must die; you are Rustem, but you will soon cease to be so. The oracle is fulfilled."
Even as he spoke two white wings appeared on the shoulders of Topaz, and two black wings on those of Ebony. ”

“ The Brazil topaz is esteemed the most valuable next to the Oriental one: it is of a fine yellow, with an orange tint, and takes a very good polish. This topaz, weighing only one carat, is valued, if perfect, at six French livres (5s.) , and encreases in value according to its weight, which is determined by the following calculation, as made for the Oriental topaz. Mr. Dutens esteems the Oriental topaz, when perfect, at sixteen French livres (13s. 4d.) ”

“ On each shore rose precipitous cliffs which bewildered the eye and chilled the heart of man. There was no way of getting across, of turning to the right hand or to the left.
"I am beginning to fear," said Rustem, "that Topaz may have been right to reprehend me for this journey, and I very wrong to undertake it. If he were but here he might give me some good advice, and if I had Ebony, he at any rate would comfort me, and suggest some expedient. As it is I have no one left to help me." ”

“ But certes sorely sunk with woe
Sir Topaz sees the elfin show,
His spirits in him die:
When Oberon cries, 'A man is near,
A mortall passion, cleeped fear,
Hangs flagging in the sky.'
With that Sir Topaz, hapless youth! ”

“ This Sanskrit word is thought by many to be the original of the Hebrew pitdah, a stone of the high-priest’s breastplate. Another Sanskrit name is pushparaga, “flower-colored.” [711] It must be borne in mind, however, 404that these names refer not to our topaz but to yellow corundum, or Oriental topaz, as it has often been called.
A topaz of exceptional size is that known as the “Maxwell-Stuart Topaz” [712] from the name of the owner. It was brought from Ceylon to England with a lot of inferior rubies and sapphires for use in watchmaking, and was believed to be simply a piece of quartz. ”

“ As a love-token the Princess gave him the diamond; and, at parting, Rustem promised to go to see her secretly in Cashmere.
The young Mirza had two favourite attendants who served him as secretaries, stewards and body-servants. One was named Topaz; he was handsome and well-made, as fair as a Circassian beauty, as gentle and obliging as an Armenian, and as wise as a Parsee. The other was called Ebony; a good-looking Negro, more active and more industrious than Topaz, and one who never made objections. ”

“ It would weary you to hear of my long nights of agony following the momentary success of this man or that who wooed her, of my curses upon my own poverty, of my bitterness, and sometimes even of my hopelessness. There is something of this sort in the life of every poor man, but the romance will scarce bear the light of other eyes; it has a place in my story only in so far as it prompted me to steal the topaz, if stealing is the word for the act which gave me its possession. ”

“ The topaz of the ancients had a green color, and is supposed to have been our chrysolite. It was found in the island of Topazios, in the Red Sea. "This place," says Diodorus Siculus, "was ten miles long, and called the Island of Serpents, from the number of reptiles formerly infesting it. The topazion here found was a transparent gem, agreeable in aspect, resembling glass. No one was allowed to land there under pain of death, and no boat was allowed to be kept on the island. ”

“ In plain English, he did nothing worth the materials wasted in its production: masters and pupils urged him to choose some other means of making a living.
“Be a mason, or a shoemaker; your talent lies more in the direction of trade!” It was in truth a pity that Topaz—full-grown ape as he was—should have been the slave of his narrow pride and vanity. That he should have aspired to fill a grand, generous, imposing, humanlike roll. ”

“ There, aided by a black-faced Sapajo called Ebony, after the other servant of Rustan, who became his slave after the manner of men, who find in colour a sufficient reason for drawing the line which separates master from slave, Topaz set up an elegant hut of branches beneath an ample shade of banana leaves, and above his door he placed a signboard, bearing the fable, “Topaz, painter after the Parisian fashion;” ”

“ This topaz, however, which is said to be named after an island of the same name, the Isle of Serpents in Agatharchides and Diodorus, is, according to Pliny, yellowish green, and therefore distinct from the otherwise so-called topaz. To make a candid confession, we grope about everywhere in the dark here, and the ancient versions are not able to help us out of our difficulty. [50]
The poet lays everything under contribution to illustrate the thought, that the worth of wisdom exceeds the worth of the most valuable earthly thing ”

“ To see topaz in a dream, signifies Fortune will be liberal in her favors, and you will have very pleasing companions. For a woman to lose topaz ornaments, foretells she will be injured by jealous friends who court her position. To receive one from another beside a relative, foretells an interesting love affair will occupy her attention. ”

“ So Tsoay had come to that conclusion too? Travis tried to gauge the nearness of twilight. There was a period after the passing of Topaz' sun when the dusky light played odd tricks with shadows. That would be the first time for their move. He said as much, and Tsoay nodded eagerly. They sat with their backs to a boulder, the tree trunk serving as a screen, and chewed methodically on ration tablets. There was energy and sustenance in the tasteless squares which would support men, even though their stomachs continued to demand the satisfaction of fresh meat. ”

“ The loved one was in rapture, and by a peculiar feminine instinct she first suspended the miniature round her neck, then, as instinctively, called together her relatives and friends to form an admiring circle around her lover’s portrait. Thanks to her enthusiasm, before the day was over, all the animal inhabitants for miles round were appraised of the marvellous talent of Topaz, who soon became quite the rage. His cabin was visited at all hours of the day, the camera was never for a moment idle. As for Sapajo he had more than enough to do in preparing the plates for every new comer. ”

“ Our Topaz is a very elegant and very beautiful Gem, of which the Jewellers have two Kinds, the Oriental and Occidental; the Oriental are of a fine pale yellow like the Jonquil Flower. They are of very great Splendour, and equal the Ruby in Hardness. These are brought from Arabia, and many Parts of the East Indies. The Occidental are often very beautiful; but are distinguished from the Oriental by their Softness, for they are no harder than common Crystal: and by a foxy redness with the yellow. We have them from Silesia and Bohemia. ”

“ Itinerant dealers in the streets offer the cut crystals to strangers, and the waiters at the hotels have stocks of them for sale. The collections at the dealers are a bewildering array of amethyst, beryl, topaz, tourmaline, chalcedony, jasper, aquamarine, malachite, quartz, and other stones. ”

“ The attendants were preparing to unload the elephant which carried the dinner, the table, cloth, plates, &c., when, all on a sudden, Topaz and Ebene were perceived by the little caravan to be missing. They were called, the forest resounded with the names of Topaz and Ebene; the lackeys seek them on every side, and fill the forest with their cries; they return without having seen anything, and without having received any answer.
"We have," said they to Rustan, "found nothing but a vulture that fought with an eagle, and stripped it of all its feathers." ”

“ Everyone exclaimed: "It is the will of God that we should perish here! He has broken down the bridge that we may have no hope of returning; He has raised up this mountain to hinder our going forward. Oh, Rustem! Oh, hapless Mirza! We shall never see Cashmere, we shall never return to the land of Candahar!"
In Rustem's soul the keenest anguish and most complete dejection succeeded the immoderate joy and hopes which had intoxicated him. He was now very far from interpreting the oracles to his advantage: "Oh merciful Heaven!" he cried. "Have I really lost my friend Topaz?" ”

“ Tyrwhitt, in his edition of Chaucer, attempted two reforms in spelling, viz. rime for rhyme, and coud for could. Both are most rational, but probably unattainable.
Thopas. In the Supplement to Ducange we find—'Thopasius, pro Topasius, Acta S. Wencesl. tom. 7. Sept. p. 806, col. 1.' The Lat. topazius is our topaz. The whole poem is a burlesque (see vol. iii. p. 423) , and Sir Topaz is an excellent title for such a gem of a knight. The name Topyas occurs in Richard Coer de Lion, ed. Weber, ii. ”

“ Last Chapter in Cocklesea Romance.
Free Gift of a Topaz by The Daily Trail.
Yesterday Miss Ivy Peckaby was the happy recipient of a topaz at the hands of a representative of The Daily Trail. The stone, which is of magnificent colour and quality, is the free gift of The Daily Trail. The Daily Trail is also defraying the entire cost of setting the gem in Miss Peckaby's brooch. Photo on back page of Miss Peckaby acknowledging The Daily Trail's free gift of a topaz. Inset: The topaz. ”

“ I hope Dinky (Rosalind's pet name for her lover) will find the topaz; he is a dear painstaking boy. I have never had such a lovely piece of jewellery in my life and I am going to be married in it." (Photo of Miss Twitter on back page. Inset (1) The brooch; (2) Mr. Micklebrown.)
Search for Missing Topaz at Cocklesea.
Owing to the publicity given to his story by The Daily Trail hundreds of willing hands assisted Mr. Micklebrown in his search yesterday. Pickaxes, shovels and wooden spades were being freely wielded on the cliff. ”

“ We passed through a bare and uneven tract of country, presenting similar characteristics to those above described. Near a place called Capão, I rode down a hill covered with rich iron ore in such profusion, that tons might have been gathered from the surface. Proceeding a short distance farther, we arrived at a house, the owner of which, we afterwards understood, possessed a topaz-mine in the neighbourhood. The mention of a mine of topazes excited my curiosity, as it gave me the idea of a vein worked under-ground, and containing those substances in the matrix as originally formed. ”

“ The principal village in Minas Novas, called Tocaya, is thirty-five leagues distant from Tejuco, in a north-easterly direction. The road thither is parallel with the river Jiquitinhonha, which runs from two to five leagues westward of it [51] . Numerous rivulets flow into it in this direction, in some of which are found white topazes, more commonly known here by the name of minas novas. They are pretty pellucid pebbles, generally rounded, though sometimes they occur perfectly crystallized, in the same form as the yellow topaz. Blue topazes and aqua-marinas are also found here ”

“ Tohfah went out with her and followed her, till she saw where she dwelt, when she left her and returned to the Caliph's palace; and ceased not wending till she went in to the Lady Zubaydah and kissed ground between her hands; whereupon quoth her mistress, "O Tohfah, why hast thou tarried in the Hammam?" She replied, "O my lady, I have seen a marvel, never saw I its like amongst men or women, and this it was that distracted me and dazed my wit and amazed me, so that I forgot even to wash my head." ”

“ Learn to know 106thyself: hast thou no regard for thy life?” So Maymun was silent and Iblis turned to Tohfah and said to her “Sing to the kings of the Jinns this day and to-night until the morrow, when the boy will be circumcised and each shall return to his own place.” Accordingly she took the lute and Kamariyah said to her (now she had a citron in hand) , “O my sister, sing to me somewhat on this citron.” Tohfah replied, “To hear is to obey,” and improvising, sang these couplets:—
I’m a dome of fine gold and right cunningly dight ”

“ The Totonacs are included by the authorities among the primitive, or Pre-Toltec nations in Anáhuac. At the time of the Conquest they occupied central Vera Cruz, their chief city being Zempoala; but they claimed to have migrated from the valley of Mexico, and to have lived long near the banks of Lake Tezcuco, where they built the pyramids at Teotihuacan, a place already noticed as a religious centre in this early period. Torquemada seems to be the original authority for the Totonac traditions respecting their primitive history, having obtained his information from an aged native. ”

“ When Jamrah heard her words, she knew that, an she let her not down, she would assuredly destroy herself. So she said to her, "O Tohfah, between thee and them are a thousand cubits, but I will bring the women up to thee." The Songstress replied, "Nay, there is no help but that I go down to them and solace me in the island and look upon the sea anear; then will we return, I and thou; for that, an thou bring them up to us, they will be affrighted and there will betide them neither joy nor gladness. ”

“ Then he went in to Tohfah and kissing her, said, "Know that thou art this day my life of the world, and indeed the Jinns are gathered together to wage war on me for thy sake. An I win the day from them and am preserved alive, I will set all the kings of the Jann under thy feet and thou shalt become queen of the world." But she shook her head and shed tears; and he said, "Weep not, for I swear by the virtue of the mighty inscription borne on the seal-ring of Solomon, thou shalt never again see the land of men ”