Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction and the Drama Part 52

? The true hero of Ariosto's romance is Rogero, and not Orlando. It is with Rogero's victory over Rodomont that the poem ends. The concluding lines are:

Then at full stretch he [_Rogero_] raised his arm above The furious Rodomont, and the weapon drove Thrice in his gaping throat--so ends the strife, And leaves secure Rogero's fame and life.

=Orlando Innamora'to=, or _Orlando in love_, in three books, by Count Bojardo, of Scandiano, in Italy (1495). Bojardo supposes Charlemagne to be warring against the Saracens in France, under the walls of Paris. He represents the city to be besieged by two infidel hosts--one under Agramante, emperor of Africa, and the other under Grada.s.so, king of Sirica'na. His hero is Orlando, whom he supposes (though married at the time to Aldebella) to be in love with Angelica, a fascinating coquette from Cathay, whom Orlando had brought to France. (See ORLANDO FURIOSO.)

? Berni of Tuscany, in 1538, published a burlesque in verse on the same subject.

=Orleans=, a most pa.s.sionate innamorato, in love with Agripy'na.--Thomas Dekker, _Old Fortunatus_ (1600).

Orleans talks "pure Biron and Romeo;" he is almost as poetical as they, quite as philosophical, only a little madder.--C. Lamb.

("Biron," in Shakespeare's _Love's Labor's Lost_; "Romeo," in his _Romeo and Juliet_.)

_Orleans_ (_Gaston, duke of_), brother of Louis XIII. He heads a conspiracy to a.s.sa.s.sinate Richelieu and dethrone the king. If the plot had been successful, Gaston was to have been made regent; but the conspiracy was discovered, and the duke was thwarted in his ambitious plans.--Lord Lytton, _Richelieu_ (1839).

_Orleans_ (_Louis, duc d'_), to whom the Princess Joan (daughter of Louis XI.) is affianced.--Sir W. Scott, _Quentin Durward_ (time, Edward IV.).

=Orlick= (_Dolge_), usually called "Old Orlick," though not above five and twenty, journeyman to Joe Gargery, blacksmith. Obstinate, morose, broad-shouldered, loose-limbed, swarthy, of great strength, never in a hurry, and always slouching. Being jealous of Pip, he allured him to a hut in the marshes, bound him to a ladder, and was about to kill him, when, being alarmed by approaching steps, he fled. Subsequently, he broke into Mr. Pumblechook's house, was arrested, and confined in the county jail. This surly, ill-conditioned brute was in love with Biddy, but Biddy married Joe Gargery.--C. d.i.c.kens, _Great Expectations_ (1860).

=Orloff Diamond= (_The_), the third largest cut diamond in the world, set in the top of the Russian sceptre. The weight of this magnificent diamond is 194 carats, and its size is that of a pigeon's egg. It was once one of the eyes of the idol Sheringham, in the temple of Brahma; came into the hands of the Shah Nadir; was stolen by a French grenadier and sold to an English sea-captain for 2000; the captain sold it to a Jew for 12,000; it next pa.s.sed into the hands of Shafras; and in 1775, Catherine II. of Russia gave for it 90,000. (See DIAMONDS.)

=Or'mandine= (3 _syl._), the necromancer who threw St. David into an enchanted sleep for seven years, from which he was reclaimed by St.

George.--R. Johnson, _The Seven Champions of Christendom_, i. 9 (1617).

=Orme= (_Victor_), a poor gentleman in love with Elsie.--Wybert Reeve, _Parted_.

=Ormond= (_The duke of_), a privy councillor of Charles II.--Sir W. Scott, _Peveril of the Peak_ (time, Charles II.).

=Ormston= (_Jock_), a sheriff's officer at Fairport.--Sir W. Scott, _The Antiquary_ (time, George III.).

=Ornithol'ogy= (_The Father of_), George Edwards (1693-1773).

=Oroma'zes= (4 _syl._), the principle of good in Persian mythology. Same as Yezad (_q.v._).

=Oroonda'tes= (5 _syl._), only son of a Scythian king, whose love for Statira (widow of Alexander the Great) led him into numerous dangers and difficulties, which, however, he surmounted.--La Calprenede, _Ca.s.sandra_ (a romance).

=Oroono'ko= (_Prince_), son and heir of the king of Angola, and general of the forces. He was decoyed by Captain Driver aboard his s.h.i.+p; his suite of twenty men were made drunk with rum; the s.h.i.+p weighed anchor; and the prince, with all his men, were sold as slaves in one of the West Indian Islands. Here Oroonoko met Imoin'da (3 _syl._), his wife, from whom he had been separated, and whom he thought was dead. He headed a rising of the slaves, and the lieutenant-governor tried to seduce Imoinda. The result was that Imoinda killed herself, and Oroonoko (3 _syl._) slew first the lieutenant-governor and then himself. Mrs. Aphra Behn became acquainted with the prince at Surinam, and made the story of his life the basis of a novel, which Thomas Southern dramatized (1696).

=Orozem'bo=, a brave and dauntless old Peruvian. When captured and brought before the Spanish invaders, Orozembo openly defied them, and refused to give any answer to their questions (act i. 1).--Sheridan, _Pizarro_ (altered from Kotzebue, 1799).

=Orpas=, once archbishop at Sev'ille. At the overthrow of the Gothic kingdom in Spain, Orpas joined the Moors and turned Moslem. Of all the renegades "the foulest and the falsest wretch was he that e'er renounced his baptism." He wished to marry Florinda, daughter of Count Julian, in order to secure "her wide domains;" but Florinda loathed him. In the Moorish council Orpas advised Abulcacem to cut off Count Julian, "whose power but served him for fresh treachery; false to Roderick first, and to the caliph now." This advice was acted on; but, as the villain left the tent, Abulcacem muttered to himself, "Look for a like reward thyself; that restless head of wickedness in the grave will brood no treason."--Southey, _Roderick, etc._, xx., xxii. (1814).

=Orphan of China=, a drama by Murphy. Zaphimri, the sole survivor of the royal race of China, was committed in infancy to Zamti, the mandarin, that he might escape from the hand of Ti'murkan', the Tartar conqueror.

Zamti brought up Zaphimri as his son, and sent Hamet, his real son, to Corea, where he was placed under the charge of Morat. Twenty years afterwards, Hamet led a band of insurgents against Timurkan, was seized, and ordered to be put to death under the notion that he was "the orphan of China." Zaphimri, hearing thereof, went to the Tartar and declared that he, not Hamet, was the real prince; whereupon Timurkan ordered Zamti and his wife, Mandane, with Hamet and Zaphimri, to be seized.

Zamti and Mandane were ordered to the torture, to wring from them the truth. In the interim, a party of insurgent Chinese rushed into the palace, killed the king, and established "the orphan of China" on the throne of his fathers (1759).

=Orphan of the Frozen Sea=, Martha, the daughter of Ralph de Lascours (captain of the _Uran'ia_) and his wife, Louise. The crew having rebelled, the three, with their servant, Bar'abas, were cast adrift in a boat, which ran on an iceberg in the Frozen Sea. Ralph thought it was a small island, but the iceberg broke up, both Ralph and his wife were drowned, but Barabas and Martha escaped. Martha was taken by an Indian tribe, which brought her up and named her Orgari'ta ("withered wheat"), from her white complexion. In Mexico she met with her sister, Diana, and her grandmother, Mde. de Theringe (2 _syl._), and probably married Horace de Brienne.--E. Stirling, _Orphan of the Frozen Sea_ (1856).

=Orphan of the Temple=, Marie Therese Charlotte, d.u.c.h.ess d'Angouleme, daughter of Louis XVI.; so called from the Temple, where she was imprisoned. She was called "The Modern Antig'one" by her uncle, Louis XVIII.

=Orphant Annie.= A bound girl, who is credited by _l'enfant terrible_ of the household with the goblin-lore he lavishes upon a visitor, this being the moral:

"You better mind yer parents and yer teachers fond and dear, An' churish 'em 'at loves you an' dry the orphant's tear, An' he'p the poor an' needy ones 'at cl.u.s.ters all about, Er the gobble-uns 'll git you Ef you Don't Watch Out!"

James Whitcomb Riley, _The Boss Girl and Other Sketches_ (1886).

=Orpheus.= (For a parallel fable, see WAINAMOINEN.)

=Orpheus and Eurydice= (4 _syl._), Gluck's best opera (_Orfeo_). Libretto by Calzabigi, who also wrote for Gluck the libretto of _Alceste_ (1767).

King produced an English version of _Orpheus and Eurydice_.

? The tale is introduced by Pope in his _St. Cecilia's Ode_.

Of Orpheus now no more let poets tell, To bright Cecilia greater power is given; His numbers raised a shade from h.e.l.l, Hers lift the soul to heaven.

Pope, _St. Cecilia's Day_ (1709).

=Orpheus of Highwaymen=, John Gay, author of _The Beggar's Opera_ (1688-1732).

=Orpheus of the Green Isle= (_The_), Furlough[TN-50] O'Carolan, poet and musician (1670-1738).

=Or'raca= (_Queen_), wife of Affonso II. The legend says that five friars of Morocco, went to her, and said, "Three things we prophesy to you: (1) we five shall all suffer martyrdom; (2) our bodies will be brought to Coimbra; and (3) which ever see our relics the first, you or the king, will die the same day." When their bodies were brought to Coimba,[TN-51]

the king told Queen Orraca she must join the procession with him. She pleaded illness, but Affonso replied the relics would cure her; so they started on their journey. As they were going, the queen told the king to speed on before, as she could not travel so fast; so he speeded on with his retinue, and started a boar on the road. "Follow him!" cried the king, and they went after the boar and killed it. In the mean time, the queen reached the procession, fully expecting her husband had joined it long ago; but lo! she beheld him riding up with great speed. That night the king was aroused at midnight with the intelligence that the queen was dead.--Southey, _Queen Orraca_ (1838); Francisco Manoel da Esperanca, _Historia Sarafica_ (eightteenth[TN-52] century).