nth, or nth plus one, in University slang, means to the utmost degree. Thus, Cut to the nth means wholly unnoticed by a friend. The expression is taken from the index of a mathematical formula, where n stands for any number, and n + 1, one more than any number. Hence, n-dimensional, having an indefinite number of dimensions, n-tuple (on the analogy of quadruple, quintuple, etc.), having an indefinite number of duplications.

Na'aman. In the Old Testament, a leper, "captain of the host of the king of Syria and . . . a mighty man of valor cured by the Hebrew prophet Elisha, of whose power he had heard through a captive Israelite maid. See Rimmon.

Nabob'. Corruption of the Hindu nawab, plural of naib, a deputy-governor under the Mogul Empire. These men acquired great wealth and lived in splendor; hence, Rich as a nabob came to be applied in England to a merchant who had attained great wealth in the Indies, and returned to live in his native country.

Nabob, The (Le Nabab). A novel by Daudet (Fr. 1877), The "Nabob," Jansoulet, returns to Paris from Tunis with a fortune and becomes the prey of all varieties of schemers and parasites. He succeeds in buying his way into the French parliament. The character is said to have an original in François Bravay.

Na'both. Naboth's Vineyard. The possession of another coveted by one able to possess himself of it. (1 Kings xxi.) The Israelite king, Ahab, had Naboth put to death on a false charge in order to obtain a vineyard which Naboth refused to sell.

Nadab, in Dryden's Absalom and Achitophel (q.v.) is meant for Lord Howard of Escrick, a profligate who laid claim to great piety. Nadab offered incense with strange fire, and was slain by the Lord (Lev. x. 2); and Lord Howard, while imprisoned in the Tower, is said to have mixed the consecrated wafer with a compound of roasted apples and sugar, called lamb's-wool.

And canting Nadab let oblivion damn,
Who made new porridge of the paschal lamb
Absalom and Achitophel, Pt. i, 538-9.

Nadgett. In Dickens' Martin Chuzzlewit (1844), a man employed by Montague Tigg (manager of the "Anglo-Bengalee. Company") to make private inquiries. He was a dried-up, shrivelled old man.

N

Where he lived and how he lived, nobody knew; but he was always to be seen waiting for some one who never appeared.

Na'dir. An Arabic word, signifying that point in the heavens which is directly opposite to the zenith, i.e. directly under our feet; hence, figuratively, the lowest depths of degradation.

The seventh century is the nadir of the human mind in Europe. - Hallam: Hist. Lit. in Midd. Ages, I, i, 4.

Na'glfar. The ship of the Scandinavian giants, in which they will embark on "the last day" to give battle to the gods. It is made of the nails of the dead (Old Norse, nagl, and fara, to make), and is piloted by Hrymir.

Naiads. Nymphs of lakes, fountains, rivers, and streams in classical mythology.

You nymphs, call'd Naiads, of the wand'ring brooks, With your sedg'd crowns, and ever-harmless looks, Leave your crisp channels, and on this green land Answer your summons: Juno does command.

Shakespeare: Tempest, iv. 1.

Nain Rouge (Fr. red dwarf). A lutin or house spirit of Normandy, kind to fishermen. There is another called Le petit homme rouge (the little red man).

Nala. In Hindu legend, a king of Nishadha, and husband of Damayanti, whose story is one of the best known in the Mahabharata. Damayanti, through enchantment, falls in love with Nala without ever having seen him. The gods want her for themselves, and employ the unsuspecting Nala as their advocate; she declares that none but Nala shall possess her, whereupon the four gods appear in Nala's shape and Damayanti is obliged to make her choice, which she does correctly. Nala is then given many magic gifts by the gods. wedding is celebrated, but later Nala loses his all by gambling, and becomes a wanderer, while Damayanti returns to her father's court. Many tribulations and adventures (in which magic performs a large part) befall the lovers before they are reunited.

The

Nameless City. Ancient Rome. See under City.

Na'mo. In Carlovingian legend, the Duke of Bavaria and one of Charlemagne's famous paladins.

Nan Hardwick. In Masefield's Tragedy of Nan (q.v.).

Nana. A novel by Zola, one of the Rougon-Macquart series (q.v.).

Nancanou, Mrs. Aurora and Clothilde. A charming Creole mother and equally

charming daughter in G. W. Cable's Grandissimes.

Nancy. (1) In Dickens' Oliver Twist, a poor misguided girl, who loved the villain Bill Sikes. In spite of her surroundings, she had still some good feelings, and tried to prevent a burglary planned by Fagin and his associates. Bill Sikes, in a fit of passion, struck her twice upon the face with the butt-end of a pistol, and she fell dead at his feet.

(2) A leading character in Flotow's opera, Martha (q.v.).

Nancy Lammeter. In George Eliot's Silas Marner (q.v.).

Nancy, Miss. An effeminate, foppish youth.

The celebrated actress, "Mrs." Anne Oldfield (see Narcissa) was nicknamed "Miss Nancy."

Nanki-Poo. In Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera, The Mikado (q.v.), the son of the Mikado.

Nanna. Wife of Balder in Scandinavian mythology. When the blind god Hodur slew her husband, she threw herself upon his funeral pile and was burnt to death. Naomi. In the Old Testament, the mother-in-law of Ruth (q.v.).

Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821). Napoleon is introduced as a minor character in many of the historical romances that Ideal with the French Revolution and the period immediately following. He is prominent in Lever's Tom Burke of Ours (q.v.) and the central figure of Sardou's comedy Madame Sans Gêne (q.v.) and Shaw's Man of Destiny (q.v.).

The Napoleon of oratory. W. E. Gladstone (1809-1898) was so called.

The Napoleon of Peace. Louis Philippe (1773-1850), king of France.

The Little Napoleon. Napoleon III.

Nar'aka. The hell of Hindu mythology. It has twenty-eight divisions, in some of which the victims are mangled by ravens and owls; in others they are doomed to swallow cakes boiling hot, or walk over burning sands. Each division has its name; Rurava (fearful) is for liars and false witnesses; Rodha (obstruction) for those who plunder a town, kill a cow, or strangle a man; Sukara (swine) for drunkards and stealers of gold; etc.

Narcissa. In Young's Night Thoughts, a reference to Elizabeth Lee, Dr. Young's step-daughter. In Pope's Moral Essays Narcissa stands for the celebrated actress, Anne Oldfield (1683-1730). When she died her remains lay in state attended by two noblemen. She was buried in West

minster Abbey in a very fine Brussels lace head-dress, a holland shift, with a tucker and double-ruffles of the same lace, new kid gloves, etc.

"Odious! In woollen?

"Twould a saint provoke!"

Were the last words that poor Narcissa spoke.
Pope: Moral Essays, i. 246.

In woollen is an allusion to a law enacted for the benefit of the wool-trade, that all shrouds were to be made of wool.

Narcisse. In G. W. Cable's Dr. Sevier (Am. 1883), a Creole who wishes to be called Papillon or Butterfly, because, says he gaily" thass my natu'e. I gatheth honey eve'y day fum eve'y opening floweh, as the baod of Avon wemawked."

Narcissus. The son of Cephisus in Greek mythology; a beautiful youth who saw his reflection in a fountain, and thought it the presiding nymph of the place. He gradually pined away for love of this unattainable spirit. According to one version he jumped into the fountain, where he died. The nymphs came to take up the body that they might pay it funeral honors, but found only a flower, which they called by his name. Narcissus was beloved by Echo (q.v) and his fate was a punishment from Nemesis for his cruel indifference to her passion.

Narcissism. See under Complex.

Nardac. The highest title of honor in the realm of Lilliput (Swift's Gulliver's Travels). Gulliver received this distinction for carrying off the whole fleet of the Blefuscu'dians.

Nasby, Petroleum V. The pseudonym under which David Ross Locke (Am. 1833-1888) published his humorous sketches. First created in 1861, the character of Nasby became immensely popular:

A type of the backwoods preacher, reformer, workingman, postmaster and chronic office seeker, remarkable for his unswerving fidelity to the simple principles of personal and political selfishness. To him the luxuries of life are a place under the government, a glass of whisky, a clean shirt and a dollar bill. No writer ever achieved popularity more quickly. The letters were published in all the Northern papers. . and universally read by the Federal soldiers. Cambridge History of American Literature, Ch. xix.

Nash, Beau. See Beau.

Nash, Thomas (1567-1601). English author, one of the " University Wits" (q.v.). His Jack Wilton, or The Unfortunate Traveler was an important precursor of the English novel.

Na'so. The" surname" of Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso, B. C. 43–A. D. 18), the Roman poet, author of Metamorphoses. Naso means nose," hence Holofernes' pun; "And why Naso, but for smelling out the odoriferous flowers of fancy."

66

(Shakespeare: Love's Labour's Lost, iv. 2.)

Nasr-Eddin. In Turkish legend a famous jester, sometimes called the Turkish Tyll Eulenspiegel (q.v.) and like Eulenspiegel the reputed hero of many pranks which have been collected in a jest-book and attributed to him. He is said to have died about 1410.

Nasser. The Arabian merchant whose fables were the delight of the Arabs. D'Herbelot tells us that when Mohammed read them the Old Testament stories they cried out with one voice that Nasser's tales were the best; upon which the Prophet gave his malediction on Nasser, and all who read him.

Nastasia. In Dostoievski's novel The Idiot (q.v.), a beautiful and passionate girl in love with Prince Myshkin.

Na'strond. The worst place of torment in the ancient Scandinavian hell, where serpents incessantly pour forth venom from the high walls, and where the murderer and the perjured are doomed to live for ever. The word means, "the strand of the dead," na, a dead body, and strond, a strand. Nat, Uncle.

The central figure in Herne's drama Shore Acres (q.v.).

Nathalie Haldin. In Conrad's Under Western Eyes (q.v.).

Nathan. In the Old Testament (2 Sam xii), a prophet who rebuked David for his treachery toward Uriah (q.v.) by telling him the story of the rich man who took his poor neighbor's one ewe lamb, ending with the words, "Thou art the man."

Nathan Hale. See Hale, Nathan.

Nathan, Raoul. An affected and eccentric dramatist who appears in several of the novels of Balzac's Comédie Humaine. He indulges in numerous love affairs, notably one with Mme de Vandenesse.

Nathan the Wise. A drama by Lessing (Ger. 1779). The scene is laid in Jerusalem at the time of the Crusades.

More

important than the plot is the character of the trader, Nathan, a Jew but one who has come to look upon all religions as forms of one great truth. A Christian knight woos his adopted daughter Recha; and when the matter is brought to the notice of the Mohammedan Sultan Saladin all three faiths come into the closest of contacts. Nathan's philosophy is aptly illustrated by his story of the father who, possessing one valuable ring and three sons, had two others made exactly like it, so that each son should receive an equal inheritance.

Nathan is said to have a prototype in Moses Mendelssohn.

Nathaniel. One of the twelve disciples, of whom Jesus said, "Behold an Israelite indeed in whom is no guile. He was also known as Bartholomew.

Nathaniel, Sir. In Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost, the grotesque curate of Holophernes. Though grotesque, he is sharp, witty and sententious.

Nation. The Nation of Gentlemen. So George IV called the Scotch when, in 1822, he visited that country.

A nation of shopkeepers. This phrase, applied to Englishmen by Napoleon in contempt, comes from Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations (iv. 7), a book well known to the Emperor. He says

To found a great empire for the sole purpose of raising up a people of customers, may at first sight appear a project fit only for a nation of shopkeepers.

A nation of poets and thinkers. So Bulwer Lytton calls Germany in his introduction to Ernest Maltravers.

The Battle of the Nations. See under Battle.

The Hermit Nation. See Hermit. National Anthems. The National Anthems or principal patriotic songs of the leading nations are:

Austria: In the old Empire, Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser, Unsern guten Kaiser Franz (God protect Franz the Kaiser, our good Kaiser Franz); air by Haydn.

Belgium: The Brabanconne (q.v.).

British Empire: God Save the King. Words and music have been attributed both to Dr. John Bull (d. 1628) and to Henry Carey, author of Sally in Our Alley; also Rule Britannia (q.v.).

Denmark: The Song of the Danebrog (see Danebrog); Kong Christian stod ved hoïen Mast, Rög og Damp (King Christian stood beside the lofty mast, In mist and smoke).

France: The Marseillaise (q.v.).

Germany: In the former German Empire, Deutschland über alles (Germany over all), and Die Wacht am Rhein (The watch or guard on the Rhine).

Holland: Wien Neerlandsch bloed in de aders vloeit, Van vreemde smetten vrij. (Let him in whose veins flows the blood of the Netherlands, free from an alien's strain . . )

Hungary: The Rakoczy March; Tied vagyok, tied hazán! E siv e lélek! (Thine, I am, thine, my fatherland, heart and soul!).

Italy: Mercantini's Italy has awaked; Si scopron le tombe, si levano i morti (The

Nancy. (1) In Dickens' Oliver Twist, a poor misguided girl, who loved the villain Bill Sikes. In spite of her surroundings, she had still some good feelings, and tried to prevent a burglary planned by Fagin and his associates. Bill Sikes, in a fit of passion, struck her twice upon the face with the butt-end of a pistol, and she fell dead at his feet.

(2) A leading character in Flotow's opera, Martha (q.v.).

Nancy Lammeter. In George Eliot's Silas Marner (q.v.).

Nancy, Miss. An effeminate, foppish

youth.

The celebrated actress, "Mrs." Anne Oldfield (see Narcissa) was nicknamed "Miss Nancy."

Nanki-Poo. In Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera, The Mikado (q.v.), the son of the Mikado.

Nanna. Wife of Balder in Scandinavian mythology. When the blind god Hodur slew her husband, she threw herself upon his funeral pile and was burnt to death. Naomi. In the Old Testament, the mother-in-law of Ruth (q.v.).

Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821). Napoleon is introduced as a minor character in many of the historical romances that deal with the French Revolution and the period immediately following. He is prominent in Lever's Tom Burke of Ours (q.v.) and the central figure of Sardou's comedy Madame Sans Gêne (q.v.) and Shaw's Man of Destiny (q.v.).

The Napoleon of oratory. W. E. Gladstone (1809-1898) was so called.

The Napoleon of Peace. Louis Philippe (1773-1850), king of France.

The Little Napoleon. Napoleon III.

Nar'aka. The hell of Hindu mythology. It has twenty-eight divisions, in some of which the victims are mangled by ravens and owls; in others they are doomed to swallow cakes boiling hot, or walk over burning sands. Each division has its name; Rurava (fearful) is for liars and false witnesses; Rodha (obstruction) for those who plunder a town, kill a cow, or strangle a man; Sukara (swine) for drunkards and stealers of gold; etc.

Narcissa. In Young's Night Thoughts, a reference to Elizabeth Lee, Dr. Young's step-daughter. In Pope's Moral Essays Narcissa stands for the celebrated actress, Anne Oldfield (1683-1730). When she died her remains lay in state attended by two noblemen. She was buried in West

head-dress, a holland shift, with a tucker and double-ruffles of the same lace, new kid gloves, etc.

"Odious! In woollen? "Twould a saint provoke!" Were the last words that poor Narcissa spoke. Pope: Moral Essays, i. 246.

In woollen is an allusion to a law enacted for the benefit of the wool-trade, that all shrouds were to be made of wool.

Narcisse. In G. W. Cable's Dr. Sevier (Am. 1883), a Creole who wishes to be called Papillon or Butterfly, because, says he gaily" thass my natu'e. I gatheth honey eve'y day fum eve'y opening floweh, as the baod of Avon wemawked."

Narcissus. The son of Cephisus in Greek mythology; a beautiful youth who saw his reflection in a fountain, and thought it the presiding nymph of the place. He gradually pined away for love of this unattainable spirit. According to one version he jumped into the fountain, where he died. The nymphs came to take up the body that they might pay it funeral honors, but found only a flower, which they called by his name. Narcissus was beloved by Echo (q.v) and his fate was a punishment from Nemesis for his cruel indifference to her passion.

Narcissism. See under Complex.

Nardac. The highest title of honor in the realm of Lilliput (Swift's Gulliver's Travels). Gulliver received this distinction for carrying off the whole fleet of the Blefuscu'dians.

Nasby, Petroleum V. The pseudon under which David Ross Locke hum 1833-1888) published his sketches. First created in 1861

character of Nasby became im: popular:

A type of the backwoods preacher, ref ingman, postmaster and chronic office s ble for his unswerving fidelity to the sin. personal and political selfishness. To of life are a place under the govern whisky, a clean shirt and a dollar bill achieved popularity more quickly published in all the Northern par versally read by the Federal History of American Literature, Cl

Nash, Beau. See Bear Nash, Thomas (156) author, one of the (q.v.). His Jack Will. nate Traveler was an of the English novel. Na'so. The " lius Ovidius Na the Roman poet Naso means pun; "And out the od

1