in which the
garden was destroyed, the palace ruined, and Shedad, with all his
subjects, died.
It is said that the palace of Shedad, or Shuddaud, took 500 years in
building, and when it was finished the angel of death would not allow
him even to enter his garden, but struck him dead, and the rose garden
of Irem was ever after invisible to the eye of man.--Southey, _Thalaba,
the Destroyer_, 1. (1797).
=Sheep-Dog= (_A_), a lady-companion, who occupies the back seat of the
barouche, carries wraps, etc., goes to church with the lady,and[TN-173]
"guards her from the wolves," as much as the lady wishes to be guarded,
but no more.
"Rawdon," said Becky, ... "I must have a sheep-dog ... I mean a
_moral_ shepherd's dog ... to keep the wolves off me." ... "A
sheep-dog, a companion! Becky Sharp with a sheep-dog! Isn't that
good fun!"--Thackeray, _Vanity Fair_, xxxvii. (1848).
=Sheep of the Prisons=, a cant term in the French Revolution for a spy
under the jailers.--C. Dickens, _A Tale of Two Cities_, iii. 7 (1859).
=Sheep Tilted at.= Don Quixote saw the dust of two flocks of sheep coming
in opposite directions, and told Sancho they were two armies--one
commanded by the Emperor Alifanfaron, sovereign of the island of
Trap'oban, and the other by the king of the Garaman'teans, called
"Pentap'olin with the Naked Arm." He said that Alifanfaron was in love
with Pentapolin's daughter, but Pentapolin refused to sanction the
alliance, because Alifanfaron was a Mohammedan. The mad knight rushed on
the flock "led by Alifanfaron," and killed seven of the sheep, but was
stunned by stones thrown at him by the shepherds. When Sancho told his
master that the two armies were only two flocks of sheep, the knight
replied that the enchanter Freston had "metamorphosed the two grand
armies" in order to show his malice.--Cervantes, _Don Quixote_, I. iii.
4 (1605).
[Asterism] After the death of Achill[^e]s, Ajax and Ulysses both claimed
the armor of Hector. The dispute was settled by the sons of Atreus (2
_syl._), who awarded the prize to Ulysses. This so enraged Ajax that it
drove him mad, and he fell upon a flock of sheep driven at night into
the camp, supposing it to be an army led by Ulysses and the sons of
Atreus. When he found out his mistake, he stabbed himself. This is the
subject of a tragedy by Soph'ocl[^e]s called _Ajax Mad_.
[Asterism] Orlando in his madness also fell foul of a flock of
sheep.--Ariosto
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