Chapter Alfred to Alkoremmi of A by Brewer's Readers Handbook

she was, and her body lithe as a weasel. She had a roguish eye, small eyebrows, was “long as a mast and upright as a bolt,” more “pleasant to look on than a flowering pear tree,” and her skin “was softer than the wool of a wether.”—Chaucer: Canterbury Tales (“The Miller’s Tale,” 1388).

Alison, in sir W. Scott’s Kenilworth, is an old domestic in the service of the earl of Leicester at Cumnor Place.

Al Kadr (The Night of). The 97th chapter of the Koran is so entitled. It was the night on which Mahomet received from Gabriel his first revelation, and was probably the 24th of Ramadân.

Verily we sent down the Korân in the night of Al Kadr.—Al Korân, xcvii.

Alken, an old shepherd who instructed Robin Hood’s men how to find a witch, and how she is to be hunted.—Ben Jonson: The Sad Shepherd (1637).

Alkoremmi, the palace built by the Motassem on the hill of “Pied Horses.” His son Vathek added five wings to it, one for the gratification of each of the five senses.

I. The Eternal Banquet, in which were tables covered both night and day with the most tempting foods.

II. The Nectar of The Soul, filled with the best of poets and musicians.

III. The Delight of The Eyes, filled with the most enchanting objects the eye could look on.

IV. The Palace of Perfumes, which was always pervaded with the sweetest odours.

V. The Retreat of Joy, filled with the loveliest and most seductive houris.—W. Beckford: Vathek (1784).