ring,
laid it beside his plate, dipped his fingers into the golden bowl, and
wiped them on his napkin; but when he looked to put on his ring, it was
nowhere to be found. It was evidently gone. The floor was searched, the
plates and dishes lifted up, the mugs and chalices, every possible and
impossible place was poked into, but without avail. The ring must have
been stolen. His grace was furious, and, in dignified indignation,
calling for bell, book, and candle, banned the thief, both body and
soul, this life and for ever. It was a terrible curse, but none of the
guests seemed the worse for it--except, indeed, the jackdaw. The poor
bird was a pitiable object, his head lobbed down, his wings draggled on
the floor, his feathers were all ruffled, and with a ghost of a caw he
prayed the company follow him; when lo! there was the ring, hidden in
some sly corner by the jackdaw as a clever practical joke. His
lordship's grace smiled benignantly, and instantly removed the curse;
when lo! as if by magic, the bird became fat and sleek again, perky and
impudent, wagging his tail, winking his eye, and cocking his head on one
side, then up he hopped to his old place on the cardinal's chair. Never
after this did he indulge in thievish tricks, but became so devout, so
constant at feast and chapel, so well-behaved at matins and vespers,
that when he died he died in the odor of sanctity, and was canonized,
his name being changed to that of Jim Crow.--Barham, _Ingoldsby Legends_
("Jackdaw of Rheims," 1837).

=Rheingold.= The treasure given Siegfried by the dwarfs, and the cause of
contention after his death.

=Rhesus= was on his march to aid the Trojans in their siege, and had
nearly reached Troy, when he was attacked in the night by Ulysses and
Diomed. In this surprise Rhesus and all his army were cut to
pieces.--Homer, _Iliad_, x.

A parallel case was that of Sweno, the Dane, who was marching to join
Godfrey and the crusaders, when he was attacked in the night by Solyman,
and both Sweno and his army perished.--Tasso, _Jerusalem Delivered_
(1575).

=Rhiannon's Birds.= The notes of these birds were so sweet that warriors
remained spell-bound for eighty years together, listening to them. These
birds are often alluded to by the Welsh bards. (Rhiannon was the wife of
Prince Pwyll.)--_The Mabinogion_, 363 (twelfth century).

The snow-white bird which the monk Felix listened to, sang so
enchantingly that he was spell-bound for a h