The Facts on File Dictionary of Allusions - Green Valley High School

Andersen, Hans Christian
18
is to the epic poem <strong>The</strong> Rime of the Ancient Mariner
(1798) by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, in which the
Ancient Mariner himself unfolds his extraordinary
and extended life history to a hapless passer- by on
his way to a wedding party. <strong>The</strong>re was absolutely no
escaping this ancient mariner and his tedious stories.
See also albatross around one’s neck; fl ying
dutchman.
Andersen, Hans Christian See hans christian
andersen.
and now for something completely different
Now for a complete change of subject. <strong>The</strong> expression
is usually associated with the BBC tele vi sion
comedy series Monty Python’s Flying Circus (see
monty python), in which it was used to link
unrelated sketches, usually by John Cleese in the
guise of a BBC announcer. Before that it was
already familiar to viewers as a formula used in the
children’s program Blue Peter to introduce new
items. “And now for something completely different,”
said the minister as he closed the book.
Androcles and the lion (andrbkleez) Legendary
incident illustrating the moral that those who
behave kindly to others may reap the benefi t of
their generosity later. Androcles (or Androclus)
was a Roman slave who was sentenced to be killed
by wild beasts in the circus. When he was placed in
the arena with a fi erce lion, however, the lion did
not kill him but greeted him with every sign of
friendship. It transpired that some time earlier
Androcles, having escaped from his master, had
befriended the lion in the wilderness by removing
a thorn from the animal’s paw, thus relieving its
agony. Duly impressed, the authorities released
Androcles and presented him with the lion. <strong>The</strong>
legend is perhaps best known today through its
dramatization as Androcles and the Lion (1912) by
British writer George Bernard Shaw. It was like
Androcles and the lion: <strong>The</strong> magistrate descended from
his bench and warmly embraced the felon who had been
brought in for admonishment.
Andromeda (andrombdb) A constellation in the
Northern Hemi sphere, located between Cassiopeia
and Pegasus. It was named after the legendary
Andromeda, daughter of King Cepheus of Ethiopia
and Cassiopeia, who was greatly admired for
her beauty. When Cassiopeia boasted that her
daughter was more beautiful than the sea nymphs
known as the Nereids, they persuaded the sea god
Poseidon to send a monster to ravage Cepheus’s
land. In order to appease the monster, Andromeda
was chained to a rock and offered as a sacrifi ce.
She was rescued by Perseus, who killed the monster
by showing it the severed head of Medusa,
who turned all who looked at her into stone. Perseus
and Andromeda subsequently married. After
her death she was placed among the stars. “With
these were to be seen at intervals some of maturer
years, full- blown fl owers among the opening buds,
with that conscious look upon their faces which so
many women wear during the period when they
never meet a single man without having his monosyllable
ready for him,—tied as they are, poor
things! on the rock of expectation, each of them
an Andromeda waiting for her Perseus” (Oliver
Wendell Holmes, Elsie Venner, 1861).
and so to bed See pepys.
and that’s the way it is That is how things are.
This was the stock phrase with which U.S. news
presenter Walter Cronkite (born 1916) signed off
at the end of the news bulletins he hosted on CBS
Eve ning News for 19 years (1962–81). “And that’s