Chapter Valladolid to Vanoc of V by Brewer's Readers Handbook

Valladolid to Vanoc

Valladolid (The doctor of), Sangrado, who applied depletion for every disease, and thought the best diet consisted of roast apples and warm water.

I condemned a variety of dishes, and argued like the doctor of Valladolid, “Unhappy are those who require to be always on the watch, for fear of overloading their stomachs!”—Lesage: Gil Blas, vii. 5 (1735).

Valley of Humiliation, the place where Christian encountered Apollyon and put him to flight.—Bunyan: Pilgrim’s Progress, i. (1678).

Valley of Waters (The), the Mediterranean Sea.

The valley of waters, widest next to that
Which doth the earth engarland, shapes its course
Between discordant shores [Europe and Africa].
   —Dante: Paradise, ix. (1311).

Valley of the Shadow of Death, a “wilderness, a land of deserts and of pits, a land of drought, and of the shadow of death” (Fer. ii. 6). “The light there is darkness, and the way full of traps… to catch the unwary.” Christian had to pass through it after his encounter with Apollyon.—Bunyan: Pilgrim’s Progress, i. (1678).

Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me; They rod and Thy staff they comfort me.—Ps. xxiii. 4.

Valunder, the Vulcan of Scandinavian mythology, noted for a golden arm-ring, on which was wrought all the heathen deities with their attributes. It was once stolen by Sotê, but being recovered by Thorsten, became an heirloom, and of course descended to Frithjof as one of his three inheritances, the other two being the sword Angurva’del andthe self-acting ship Ellida.—Tegnér: Frithjof Saga, iii. (1825).

Farewell, and take in memory of our love

My arm-ring here, Valunder’s beauteous work,

With heavenly wonders graven on the gold.

Valverde, a Spaniard, in love with Elvira. He is the secretary of Pizarro, and preserves at the end the life of Elvira.—Sheridan: Pizarro (altered from Kotzebue, 1799).

Vamen, a dwarf, who asked Baly, the giant monarch of India, to permit him to measure out three paces to build a hut upon. The kind monarch smiled at the request, and bade the dwarf measure out what he required. The first pace compassed the whole earth, the second the whole heavens, and the third all pandalon or hell. Baly now saw that the dwarf was no other than Vishnû, and he adored the present deity.—Hindû Mythology.

There is a Basque tale the exact counterpart of this.

(See Bursa, in Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, p. 190, for several similar tales.)

Vamp, bookseller and publisher. His opinion of books was that the get-up and binding were of more value than the matter. “Books were like women; to strike, they must be well dressed. Fine feathers make fine birds. A good paper, an elegant type, a handsome motto, and a catching title, have driven many a dull treatise through three editions.”—Foote: The Author (1757).

Van (The Spirit of the), the fairy spirit of the Van Pools, in Carmarthen. She married a young Welsh farmer, but told him that if he struck her thrice, she would quit him for ever. They went to a christening, and she burst into tears, whereupon her husband struck her as a mar-joy; but she said, “I weep to see a child brought into this vale of tears.” They next went to the child’s funeral, and she laughed, whereupon her husband struck her again; but she said, “I truly laugh to think what a joy it is to change this vale of