Chapter Siegfried von Lindenberg to Silent Woman of S by Brewer's Readers Handbook

Siegfried von Lindenberg to Silent Woman

Siegfried von Lindenberg, the hero of a comic German romance, by Müller (1779). Very amusing and still popular.

Sieglind [Seeg-lind], the mother of Siegfried, and wife of Siegmund king of the Netherlands.—The Minnesingers: The Nibelungen Lied (1210).

Siegmund [Seeg-mund], king of the Netherlands. His wife was Sieglind, and his son Siegfried [Seeg- freed].—The Minnesingers: The Nibelungen Lied (1210).

Sieve (The Trial of the). When a vestal was charged with inchastity, she was condemned to carry water from the Tiber in a sieve without spilling any. If she succeeded, she was pronounced innocent; but if any of the water ran out, it was a confirmation of her guilt.

Sieve and Shears, a method of discovering a thief. The modus operandi is as follows: A sieve is nicely balanced by the points of shears touching the rim, and the shears are supported on the tips of the fingers while a passage of the Bible is read, and the apostles Peter and Paul are asked whether so-and-so is the culprit. When the thief’s name is uttered, the sieve spins round. Theocritos mentions this way of divination in his Idyll, iii., and Ben Jonson alludes to it—

Searching for things lost with a sieve and shears.—The Alchemist, i. 1(1610).

(See Key and Bible, p. 565.)

Sigero, “the Good,” slain by Argantês. Argantês hurled his spear at Godfrey, but it struck Sigero, who “rejoiced to suffer in his sovereign’s place.”—Tasso: Jerusalem Delivered, xi. (1575).

Sight. Nine things are necessary before the form of anything can be discerned by the eye: (1)a power to see, (2)light, (3)a visible object, (4)not too small, (5) not too rare, (6) not too near, (7) not too remote, (8) clear space, (9) sufficient time.—See sir John Davies: Immortality of the Soul, xiv. (1622).

Sight. Zarga, the Arabian heroine of the tribe of Jadîs, could see at a distance of three days’ journey. Being asked by Nassân the secret of her long sight, she said it was due to the ore of antimony which she reduced to powder and applied to her eyes as a collyrium every night.

Sightly (Captain), a dashing young officer, who runs away with Priscilla Tomboy, but subsequently obtains her guardian’s consent to marry her.—The Romp (altered from Bickerstaff’s Love in the City).

Sigismonda, daughter of Tancred king of Salerno. She fell in love with Guiscardo her father’s ’squire, revealed to him her love, and married him in a cavern attached to the palace. Tancred discovered them in each other’s embrace, and gave secret orders to waylay the bridegroom and strangle him. He then went to Sigismonda, and reproved her for her degrading choice, which she boldly justified. Next day, she received a human heart in a gold casket, knew instinctively that it was Guiscardo’s, and poisoned herself. Her father being sent for, she survived just long enough to request that she might be buried in the same grave as her young husband; and Tancred—

Too late repenting of his cruel deed,
One common sepulchre for both decreed;
Intombed the wretched pair in royal state,
And on their monument inscribed their fate.
   —Dryden: Sigismonda and Guiscardo (from Boccaccio).

Sigismund, emperor of Austria.—Sir W. Scott: Anne of Geierstein (time, Edward IV.).

Sigismunda, daughter of Siffredi lord high chancellor of Sicily, and betrothed to count Tancred. When king Roger died, he left the crown of Sicily to Tancred, on condition that he married Constantia, by which means the rival lines would be united, and the country saved from civil war. Tancred gave a tacit consent, intending to obtain a dispensation; but Sigismunda, in a moment of wounded pride, consented to marry earl Osmond. When king Tancred obtained an interview with Sigismunda, to explain his conduct, Osmond