Chapter Two Eyes of Greece to Tyler of T by Brewer's Readers Handbook

Two Eyes of Greece to Tyler

Two Eyes of Greece (The), Athens and Sparta.

Athens, the eye of Greece, mother of arts
And eloquence.
   —Milton.

Two Gentlemen of Verona, a drama by Shakespeare, the story of which is taken from the Diana of Montemayor (sixteenth century). The tale is this: Protheus and Valentine were two friends, and Protheus was in love w ith a lady of Verona, named Julia. Valentine went to sojourn in Milan, and there fell in love with Silvia, the duke’s daughter, who was promised in marriage to Thurio. Protheus, being sent by his father to Milan, forgot Julia, fell in love with Silvia, and, in order to carry his point, induced the duke to banish Valentine, who became the captain of a bandit, into whose hands Silvia fell. Julia, unable to bear the absence of her lover, dressed in boy’s clothes, and, going to Milan, hired herself as a page to Protheus; and when Silvia was lost, the duke, with Thurio, Protheus and his page, went in quest of her. She was soon discovered, but when Thurio attempted to take possession of her, Valentine said to him, “I dare you to touch her;” and Thurio replied, “None but a fool would fight for a girl.” The duke, disgusted, gave Silvia to Valentine; and Protheus, ashamed of his conduct, begged pardon of Valentine, discovered his page to be Julia, and married her (1595).

Two Kings of Brentford (The). In the duke of Buckingham’s farce called The Rehearsal (1671), the two kings enter hand-in-hand, dance together, sing together, walk arm-in-arm, and, to heighten the absurdity, they are made to smell of the same nosegay (act ii. 2).

Two-Legged Mare (The), a gallows. Vice says to Tyburn—

I will help to bridle the two-legged mare.
   —Like Will to Like, etc.(1587).

Two Poets of Croisic, a poem by Browning (1878). The two poets are: (1) René Gentilhomme (born 1610), page to the prince of Condé. He received the title of “Royal Poet.” (2) Paul Desforges Maiuard (born nearly a century later). Maillard’s story forms the subject of a famous play, Piron’s Mélromanie.

Two-Shoes (Goody), a nursery tale by Oliver Goldsmith (1765). Goody Two-shoes was a very poor child, whose delight at having a pair of shoes was so unbounded that she could not forbear telling every one she met that she had “two shoes;” whence her name. She acquired knowledge and became wealthy. The title-page states that the tale is for the benefit of those—

Who from a state of rags and care,
And having shoes but half a pair,
Their fortune and their fame should fix
And gallop in a coach and six.

Two Strings to Your Bow, a farce by Jephson (1792). Lazarillo, wanting a master, enters the service of don Felix and also of Octavio at the same time. He makes perpetual blunders, such as giving letters and money to the wrong master; but it turns out that don Felix is donna Clara, the betrothed of Octavio. The lovers meet at the Eagle hotel, recognize each other, and become man and wife.

Two Unlucky. In our dynasties two has been an unlucky number; thus: Ethelred II. was forced to abdicate; Harold II. was slain at Hastings; William II. was shot in the New Forest; Henry II. had to fight for his crown, which was usurped by Stephen; Edward II. was murdered at Berkeley Castle; Richard II. was deposed; Charles II. was driven into exile; James II. was obliged to abdicate; George II. was worsted at Fontenoy and Lawfeld, was disgraced by general Braddock and admiral Byng, and was troubled by Charles Edward the Young Pretender.

Two or Three Berries. “Yet gleaning grapes shall be left in it, as the shaking of an olive tree, two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough.”—Isa. xvii. 6.

The tree of life has been shaken,
And but few of us linger now,
Like the prophet’s two or three berries
On the top of the uppermost bough.
   —Longfellow: The Meeting.