lled the "Silent Man," because on
one occasion, being accidentally taken up with ten robbers, he never
said he was not one of the gang. His six brothers were Bacbouc, the
hunchback, Bakbarah, the toothless, Bakac, the one-eyed, Alcouz, the
blind, Alnaschar, the earless, and Schacabac, the hare-lipped.--_Arabian
Nights_ ("The Barber," and "The Barber's Six Brothers").

=Silent Woman= (_The_), a comedy by Ben Jonson (1609). Morose, a miserly
old fellow, who hates to hear any voice but his own, has a young nephew,
Sir Dauphine, who wants to wring from him a third of his property; and
the way he gains his point is this: He induces a lad to pretend to be a
"silent woman." Morose is so delighted with the phenomenon that he
consents to marry the prodigy; but the moment the ceremony is over, the
boy-wife assumes the character of a virago, whose tongue is a ceaseless
clack. Morose is in despair, and signs away a third of his property to
his nephew, on condition of being rid of this intolerable pest. The
trick is now revealed, Morose retires into private life, and Sir
Dauphine remains master of the situation.

=Sile'nus=, son of Pan, chief of the sile'ni or older satyrs. Sil[=e]nus
was the foster-father of Bacchus, the wine-god, and is described as a
jovial old toper, with bald head, pug nose, and pimply face.

Old Silenus, bloated, drunken,
Led by his inebriate satyrs.

Longfellow, _Drinking Song._

=Silky=, a Jew money-lender, swindler, and miser. (See SULKY.)

Yon cheat all day, tremble at night, and act the hypocrite the
first thing in the morning.--T. Holcroft, _The Road to Ruin_, ii. 3
(1792).

=Silly Billy=, William IV. (1765, 1830-1837).

=Silva= (_Don Ruy Gomez de_), an old Spanish grandee, to whom Elv[=i]ra
was betrothed; but she detested him, and loved Ernani, a bandit-captain.
Charles V. tried to seduce her, and Silva, in his wrath, joined Ernani
to depose the king. The plot being discovered, the conspirators were
arrested, but, at the intercession of Elvira, were pardoned. The
marriage of Ernani and Elvira was just about to be consummated, when a
horn sounded. Ernani had bound himself, when Silva joined the bandit, to
put an end to his life whenever summoned so to do by Silva; and the
summons was to be given by the blast of a horn. Silva being relentless,
Ernani kept his vow, and stabbed himself.--Verdi, _Ernani_ (1841).

=Silver-Fork School= (_The_), a name given to a